Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Saturday, September 5
Sunday, September 6
Monday, September 7
Tuesday, September 8
Wednesday, September 9
Thursday, September 10
Friday, September 11
Saturday, September 12
Sunday, September 13
Monday, September 14
Tuesday, September 15
Wednesday, September 16
Thursday, September 17
Friday, September 18
Saturday, September 19
Author's Note
More Books by Scarlett
Find Me Online.
Vampire School
Elite Academy: Book One
Scarlett Haven
Copyright © 2019 Scarlett Haven
http://scarletthaven.net
All rights reserved.
Cover by Pixie Covers
Edited by Ms. Correct All’s Editing & Proofreading Services
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Saturday, September 5
8:27 pm
Elite Academy.
At first glance, Elite Academy doesn’t stand out amongst the five star resorts that line the beach. The school does its best to try and blend in. Some people even pull in to see if they can get a room for a few nights. But Elite Academy is no resort, it’s a school.
I can’t help but wonder if this small Floridian beach town would be nearly as popular if they knew the truth about who attends, or rather what attends.
My dad stops the SUV in front of the school right at sunset. A lot of students are waiting in line to get dropped off, but my family gets priority because of who we are. The thought is almost laughable.
Honestly, it’s not even a big deal. I’m like fifteenth in line for the throne, or something stupid like that. My uncle is the king, and I have no interest whatsoever in ever becoming the queen. Not that I ever would. Vampires are immortal. My uncle won’t be kicking the bucket anytime soon.
My two older brothers, Brody and Kolton, get out of the car first. Brody holds the door open for me as I slide from the middle, where I was smooshed between them. I’ve been smooshed between them since we were in the womb.
Brody and Kolton technically are only ‘older’ than me by a few minutes, but they constantly remind me that they’re my older brothers. We are triplets, which is super rare. We were the first, and only, triplet vampires ever born. I don’t even think there have been any multiples before us at all.
My mom walks around the vehicle. Tears pool in her eyes as she comes up to us, which doesn’t surprise me. My mom has been crying for the past month, anytime somebody brought up us leaving for university. Honestly, with the way she is acting, you’d think we were going off to war and not just to college.
Blood spills over from her eyes and streams down her cheeks. She wipes at it, only succeeding in smearing it on her face.
Vampires don’t cry regular tears. We cry blood. I’m not sure why it happens, but it’s why we have to keep our emotions in check, especially when we’re around humans.
My dad pulls her into his arms to console her. He gently strokes her hair. “Riley, it’ll be okay.”
“I know that.” Mom sniffs. “It’s just going to be so quiet in the house without any kids.”
“We can have more kids if you want.” Dad grins as he says it.
Gross.
The thought of my parents ‘making babies’ is disgusting and I want nothing to do with this conversation.
Mom swats at Dad’s arm. “Maybe in a few hundred years.”
Even though I am only eighteen and have a hard time comprehending it, I know that I am going to live forever. Well, forever unless somebody kills me, which is possible, I guess. But there have only been a handful of vampire deaths ever recorded. It’s very unlikely that somebody is going to murder me. Which means I’m going to always be around. It’s weird to think about it.
My mom had Brody, Kolton, and me relatively young in life. Mom was in her early twenties. Dad always says that we were the best mistake he’s ever made, and then Mom always yells at him for calling us a ‘mistake.’ But we know he’s just joking. Both of our parents love us unconditionally, even if we weren’t planned.
Somebody who I don’t recognize walks out the front doors of the school, heading right toward us. The guy is wearing a suit and he has a smile pasted onto his face. I know that it’s bad to judge somebody by the way they look, but this guy is wearing a suit, and his entire body is stiff. I can tell by the way he walks he’s going to have a stick up his butt.
“Mr. Ingram.” The guy bows at my dad. “What an honor.”
Suck up.
“It’s Cayson.” Dad holds out his hand for the guy. “Mr. Smith, right?”
“Call me Archer,” he corrects, then turns to me. “Everleigh.” He looks at Brody and points. “Kolton and Brody.”
“I’m Brody.” Brody corrects him. He’s smiling, but I know him well enough to tell that the smile is forced.
Brody and Kolton don’t look that much alike. I mean, we all look alike because we are siblings, but Brody and Kolton are not identical. They even have different colored hair. Brody’s is brown and Kolton’s is blond, like mine. But people still have a hard time telling them apart. I just don’t get it.
Archer, or Mr. Smith, offers to walk us to our dorm rooms, but thankfully Dad declines. We head inside, to our new ‘home’ for the next four years.
The one good thing about being part of the royal family is that we get really awesome dorms. I got to see the room that I’ll be staying in when we toured the school earlier in the year. My room has a balcony that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, which I am excited about. Brody and Kolton are sharing the room right next door to mine, which makes me happy.
Maybe some eighteen-year-old girls wouldn’t like their overprotective brothers living in the dorm room next to them, but I like that they can keep an eye on me. Plus, it helps Mom and Dad stay calm. As much as they won’t admit it, they don’t like the idea of me going off to college. They worry about me more than they worry about Brody and Kolton.
“This is nice,” Mom says, as we walk into the large space that I will be living in for the next four years.
I nod. “It is.”
A tear falls down her cheek and she squeezes me against her. “I’m going to miss you so much.”
A tear leaks from my own eye. “I’ll miss you too.”
And I will.
But I know I’ll be seeing them a lot. Home is only an hour drive from campus, and I plan on visiting often.
9:37 pm
Crush.
My parents aren’t ready to say goodbye to us after we get everything unloaded in our room, so they take us to a restaurant not too far from the school.
I use the word ‘restaurant’ loosely. The ‘food’ part is for the humans. In the back, there is a special ‘vampires only’ section where you can get blood to drink and just hang out, kind of like humans do when they eat dinner. My mom, being formerly human, loves family dinner. It’s something we’ve always done every night since I can remember. We’d sit around the table, drink our ‘dinner,’ and talk about our day.
When we get seated, I notice there is already somebody sitting at our table. My heart accelerates when I realize who it is.
Asa Ferreira, also known as the guy I have crushed on since I was old enough to know what a crush is. The probl
em is, he’s also my father’s best friend. Never mind the fact that the guy won’t even look at me. Most of the time, he completely ignores me, unless I talk to him directly. The guy hates me.
My chest aches and I rub at it to try and ease the pain as we sit down at the table.
Asa smiles at everybody.
Except me.
He conveniently looks over me, and my heart is crushed, quite literally.
“College, huh.” Asa rubs at the scruff on his chin. “Hard to believe they’re old enough.”
Asa and my dad have been friends for over one hundred years. Naturally, Asa was around when I was growing up. Not a lot. I’d see him a few times a year. Even as a small kid, I was drawn to him in ways I didn’t understand. As I got older, I understood perfectly what those feelings meant. But about that time, Asa stopped visiting altogether. I haven’t seen the guy since my fourteenth birthday party. I guess I hoped he would’ve gotten over his disdain for me by now, but I can see that’s clearly not the case.
“They’re eighteen now.” Mom’s voice cracks as she says it, and I know she’s on the verge of tears again.
“You would know that if you had been around more.” Dad narrows his eyes at Asa.
Asa squirms in his seat.
I know exactly what it feels like to be on the other end of a look like that from my dad. I have been there many times. He has a way of making you feel so guilty with one single glance.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around in a few years.” Asa sighs, his shoulders sagging a little. “I’ve been so busy.”
I know he’s lying. He hasn’t been busy. But how can I call him out on his lie when I can’t even explain how I know that he’s lying?
It’s weird. I’ve always felt like I’ve had a connection with Asa. For a while I thought maybe he was my mate, but if that were the case, he wouldn’t hate me as much as he does. It has to be something else.
I bite my lip. I’m unable to shake the feeling that I am the reason he hasn’t been around for the past four years.
But that’s crazy, right?
“Everleigh.”
I turn, blinking. “Hmm?”
“Off in Lala Land again?” Brody’s hand slaps down onto my back. He and Kolton both laugh.
I roll my eyes, not bothering with a response.
“Asa is wondering if you’re nervous for school to start,” Mom says.
Asa is wondering something about me?
My eyes wander to Asa, who is conveniently looking at something on the wall behind me instead of at me. I try to ignore how much my chest aches when he does that.
I shrug one shoulder. “What do I have to be nervous about? It’s just college.”
Mom grins, turning to Dad. “She gets her nonchalant attitude from you.”
Asa and Dad both laugh, knowing that I actually get it from my mom. She is sad right now, because we’re leaving for college, but usually she doesn’t let anything get her down.
“Asa is going to be teaching one of your classes,” Dad says. I look at him to see that he is talking to me and not to my brothers.
My eyes widen and I try to hide my grin when I realize that it is me who is taking Asa’s class. “Really?”
“What class is it?” Dad looks at Asa.
He clears his throat. “Vampires in Modern Ages. It’s a stupid class, really. But they pay me to teach it.”
The thought of sitting in Asa’s class each week has my heart racing. I happen to know that I have that particular class on Monday and Wednesday. I now have a reason to not hate Mondays.
I hate how excited I am for the class.
I sit up straighter. “I suppose I’ll have to call you Mr. Ferreira in class.”
He plays with the straw in his drink, not looking at me. “Asa is fine. We’re really informal at Elite Academy.”
The ache in my chest only grows as he refuses to look at me, even when he’s talking to me. The pain hurts so much that it nearly takes my breath away.
Why do I feel this way about him? It doesn’t seem fair.
Dad, Mom, and Asa begin talking about mundane things. I’m vaguely paying attention until Dad starts talking to Asa about his dating life. I’m relieved when Asa says he hasn’t been out on a date in quite a few years.
But then he has to ruin it by saying, “I’m thinking about starting to date again.”
I stand up from the table. “I’m going to go back to campus.” I search my brain for some kind of excuse. “I just… I’m feeling antsy.”
Really, I just don’t want to hear about Asa’s dating life. The thought of him dating some other woman makes me want to vomit up the blood I just drank.
Kolton and Brody both stand up too, eager to get back over there. “We’re going with her.”
Mom and Dad both stand too. Each of them gives us hugs and they tell us how much they’re going to miss us. And I tell them the same, but I’m just so hurt by what Asa said, even though I have no right to be.
Maybe I should date somebody. I know I wanted to wait until I met my mate, but it could be hundreds of years. It might not be bad to date somebody, just so I can get over Asa.
Love sucks.
11:03 pm
Get your hands off her.
I am feeling really down after we leave the restaurant. My brothers probably think that I’m upset about our parents leaving, but that’s not true. I mean, I’m a little sad about it. I’m going to miss seeing them every day while we’re here. But the reason I’m sad is all because of Asa, not that I would ever admit that out loud to anybody, especially not my brothers.
I wonder if I’m going to be sad every day now because I am going to be seeing him in class. Is he going to ignore me like this when we’re in class? Is he constantly going to be looking over me at other people? Just the thought of it has me on the verge of tears once more.
I feel hands go around my waist and I am hoisted up on top of Brody’s shoulders.
I squeal. “Brody, let me down.”
But of course he doesn’t. He just carries me on his shoulders.
I dunk under the light fixture that is hanging down, nearly hitting my head.
“Brody Ingram, put me down this instance, or I will shave your head in your sleep.” It’s an empty threat and we both know it. I am too nice to ever do something like that to my brothers, no matter how much they terrorize me.
“Should I let her down Kolt?” Brody asks.
Kolton smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Nah, she’s got a smile on her face.”
It’s true. I’m no longer moping over Asa. Brody and Kolton have successfully gotten my mind off of him. I still have a dull ache in my chest, but it’s hardly noticeable.
A few people are coming through the entryway where we’re goofing off. They’re unloading all of their things, ready for school. They give us a sideways look as they walk by, but I don’t care. I’ve never cared what people think.
“Get your hands off her.”
I turn toward the voice, confused by it. I don’t recognize whoever it is, but the person sounds so… angry.
When I look down, I see who was speaking, but now I’m even more confused.
The guy is tall, but probably four inches shorter than my brothers. He has dark brown, almost black, hair, and teal blue eyes that are narrowed at Brody.
I’m not used to anybody glaring at Brody. He’s the nice one. Always. In high school, he was the class clown. And even now, he makes it his mission to make sure everybody is smiling. Nobody ever gets mad at him. Ever.
Kolton on the other hand…
Kolton steps forward, closer to the guy.
“How is she any of your business?” He stops directly in front of the guy, blocking my view of him.
The guy steps around Kolton, his gaze focused up at me. His eyes soften when he looks at me.
My heart flutters when I meet his eyes. It’s a strange feeling. I have never felt this way before about anybody, other than Asa.
“
Eyes off Everleigh.” Kolton steps in his way again, blocking his view of me.
“Everleigh.” The guy repeats my name causing butterflies to fill my stomach.
I tap Brody’s chest. “Will you let me down?”
“No.” Brody tightens his grip, and I know he’s not about to let me down. He’s already made up his mind, and I won’t be changing it.
I turn to the boy who is hidden from my view. “What is your name?”
The guy steps over again, and this time Kolton turns around to face me, letting me talk to him.
“I’m Jude. Jude Cooper.” The boy takes a step closer, but Kolton puts out an arm to stop him.
“That’s close enough.”
“Jude.” I like the way his name feels on my lips. “Do I know you?”
Jude shakes his head. “You were sad.” He puts his hand against his heart. “That’s how I knew… your soul called out to me.”
My soul called out to him.
Which only means one thing.
He’s my mate.
“Are you my mate?” I ask, just to clarify.
“Yes.”
With that one word, everything changes.
I lick my lips. “I’m Everleigh Ingram.”
Brody shifts his weight from one foot to the other, and I can tell he’s impatient. He doesn’t like this conversation I’m having with Jude right now. In fact, he doesn’t like Jude at all.
“Ingram… like… royal family Ingram?” Jude arches one eyebrow.
I shrug, like it’s not a big deal. “My dad is Cayson, but it’s like not a big deal or anything.”
My dad is the opposite of ‘royal’ as you can get. He doesn’t agree with my uncle, his brother, at all. It makes our family dinners very awkward.
My uncle, the king, is all about elitism. He’s against ‘turned’ vampires, and he thinks they’re below born vampires. But my dad sees everybody as equal. Born. Bitten. It doesn’t matter. We’re all the same.
Jude takes a step closer, so Kolton holds out a hand to stop him. Jude turns to Kolton and narrows his eyes.
Vampire School (Elite Academy Book 1) Page 1
