First Awakening [Diablo Falls]

by Alexx Andria

  Copyright © 2019 by Alexx Andria

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Awakening

  A Diablo Falls Paranormal Short Story

  Alexx Andria

  Alexx Andria

  Contents

  Back cover blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Newsletter Sign Up

  More Bite Club

  Also By Alexx Andria

  About the Author

  Back cover blurb

  Fate will not be denied — no matter how hard he tries.

  On the trail of a supernatural killer, Paranormal Crimes Operative Beckham Carter lands in Diablo Falls and right in the crosshairs of his Fated Mate, Lyric Johnson.

  Lyric doesn’t know what she is and Beckham isn’t interested in teaching her the shifter ways but when danger comes for them both, they must work together or die fighting an ancient evil.

  Welcome to Diablo Falls, where the world of the supernatural is out in the open, and where fangs, fur, and magic are the norm. Join the authors of Bite Club and meet those who are experiencing paranormal firsts in our growly, filthy collection of thirteen steamy “First Time” short stories.

  Because we all know… you never forget your first.

  Lyric

  “I had a really weird dream last night,” I shared, the remnants still on my mind even hours later, which was unusual for me. I slept like the dead and rarely remembered my dreams. “I mean, like super weird.”

  “Do tell,” my best friend Rachel MCormick said, perking up. “As in, weird sex dream or weird as in, you wearing a T-Rex costume while running in the Boston marathon?”

  “Um, neither of those but if that’s what you’re dreaming about, I have questions. So. Many. Questions.”

  Rachel shrugged but didn’t elaborate. Instead she popped a French fry in her mouth and said, “Okay, so spill it, girl. What kind of weird are talking?”

  “Well, the fact that I can remember the dream at all is kinda strange. You know I never remember what I dream about.”

  “Did you eat something spicy before bed? That always gives me cray dreams.”

  “No, I wasn’t hungry and went to bed without dinner.”

  “Hmm, okay, so what was so disturbing about this dream?”

  I hesitated. Even to my own ears, it was going to sound psychotic but I kept trying to remind myself that dreams were just mental garbage, odds and ends of data that the brain was trying to sift through, keeping some things and tossing others. Dreams didn’t mean anything. I could trust Rachel not to get judgy but what I was about to say, was hard to get out of my mouth.

  “I dreamed I was running, like through the forest…”

  Rachel cackled a laugh. “You? Run? Girl, I’ve known you since kindergarten and you definitely do not run.”

  “Right? But I was in this dream and it felt really good. Like I was invincible or something. I didn’t want to stop.”

  “That was definitely a dream. With those giant boobs, you aren’t going to love running. You could end up with two black eyes.”

  “Just because you’re a solid A cup doesn’t mean mine are huge,” I retorted. “Now shut up and stop making jokes, I haven’t even gotten to the weird part yet.”

  Rachel nodded and ate some more fries. “Yes, right, my bad. You were saying?”

  “So, I was running and it was cold outside but the night air felt amazing against my skin. My sense of smell was sharpened and it was almost like I could smell color. The forest was alive with so many different sights and scents. Like being on a acid trip but without your cognitive abilities being affected. It was wild.”

  Rachel approved. “Nice. I wish I had dreams like that.”

  Yeah, except the dream took a turn and then it was a nightmare. “It was all good until…I fucking took down a deer and ate it. Like, as in, ripped the poor thing apart and ate it raw.” I swallowed the bubble of horror rising in my throat, remembering how the blood tasted running down my throat, dripping off my chin. “It was a scene out of a horror movie.”

  Rachel’s eyes widened, a handful of fries midway to her mouth. “Damn girl, that’s savage. I didn’t even realize that you eat deer?”

  “I don’t. I barely eat hamburger. My dad’s not a hunter, he’s an accountant. It’s not like I’ve been exposed to the hunting way of life, you know? My parent’s idea of camping is staying in a four-star hotel. They’re definitely not about that life, if you know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, that’s crazy. So…what happened after you went full-on beast-mode on the deer?”

  “I started running again, I guess. I mean things got a little fuzzy after that. Nothing about the dream makes any sense but it’s definitely weirded me out. Something else bothered me when I woke up.” I paused a minute before revealing, “I had a twig in my hair.”

  “A twig? As in a stick?”

  “Yeah, like a stick from the forest.”

  Rachel held my stare for a long minute then burst out laughing. “Girl, are you trying to tell me you’re worried that whatever crime scene you dreamed up in your head was actually real? That you were out galavanting in the forest, chewing up wildlife, in your sleep? Like sleepwalking but sleep running and hunting?”

  Said out loud, it did seem a bit much. I laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, no I guess not. Maybe the twig had been in my hair when I went to bed and I just hadn’t noticed.”

  “Of course, because that’s logical. Thinking that you suddenly turned into a ravening beast during the night is definitely not logical. You’ve been listening to too many stories about Diablo Falls. I mean, I get it, Diablo has all these freaky stories attached to it, which frankly, I wish were true because, damn, this place is dull as fuck, and it just got into your head. That’s all. I wouldn’t let it bother you.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. The stories about Diablo are wild. Founded by witches and whatnot? Please. If only we were that cool.”

  “I know, right? If I found out I was descended from like, witches? I’d be all over that heritage. Instead, I’m just boring ol’ Irish and German.”

  I felt infinitely better having talked it out with my bestie. I sagged with relief. “Yeah, totally. I mean, deep down I knew there was a logical explanation but the dream was so damn vivid that I woke up a little disoriented and then my brain started playing tricks on me.”

  “I totally get it. One time I ate too much pizza before bed and that night my dreams were off the hook. Now, I never eat anything spicy at least two hours before beddy-by. You know?”

  “Yeah, makes sense,” I said but I kept to myself how I’d actually felt full when I woke up. In fact, it was already lunch and I wasn’t the least bit interested in grabbing a few of Rachel’s fries but I should be starving since I’d skipped out on dinner and breakfast. Maybe it was hormonal. I’d read that when your hormones were out of whack, it could cause all sorts of havoc in your body. Maybe I’d mention it to my mom so she could send me to get my labs done. I switched subjects. “So, how’s the job hunting going?”

  Rachel made a face. Definitely not her favorite s
ubject. “Ugh. It’s so lame. My parents are totally on this ‘character building’ kick where they insist that I get a job for the summer before I leave for college in August. I mean, give me a break, it’s a month. What job am I going to find for 30 days? Babysitting? Mowing lawns? As if I’m going to do either of those things. It’s ridiculous.”

  I nodded but Rachel had a way of turning everything around so that she was the victim. I loved her to death but she was a bit of a diva. Her parents were loaded and before this new agenda they were on, they’d never had a problem indulging her every whim.

  Which had given her a skewed sense of entitlement but I loved her anyway.

  I felt bad for her though. I mean, my parents weren’t loaded but they were comfortably settled in the upper middle class bracket and I’d never had to suffer the indignities of true poverty.

  I’d had an allowance and pretty much never knew what it was like to wonder if my parents could afford the basics of life. But if my parents suddenly started looking to me to help pay the power bill or the mortgage? I’d probably freak out like the sky was falling because my world was tipping upside down.

  That’s where Rachel was right now. Staring up at the proverbial sky, freaking out because the sky was disintegrating right before her very eyes.

  Her parents had cut her allowance to a pittance and insisted that she get a job to figure out what life was really about.

  Too little, too late, I imagine. Rachel was just waiting them out because we were both leaving for college in August.

  “Well, you could always just put the applications into a few places and if they call back, don’t take the job and don’t tell your parents. But it will look like you’re putting forth the effort and they might actually loosen up.”

  “That idea has some merit,” Rachel admitted with a grumble. “I just hate that I have to go through these stupid hoops just to land back where I should’ve been in the first place. Talk about inefficient. I mean, my parents are just being dumb. I blame this new guru they’re enamored with. Everything Belinda says is gospel.”

  “So who is this Belinda chick and how did she hook her claws into your parents?”

  “You’ve hit the nail on the head — she’s definitely hooked herself onto my parents’ wallet that’s for sure. That’s why my parents have practically cut me off. Belinda told them that I needed to learn responsibility and that the best way to accomplish that goal was to make me fend for my own needs for a while.”

  “This Belinda character sounds like a real drag,” I said, but I was a teensy bit curious as to who this person was. Diablo Falls was a small town. New people were usually noticed right away but I hadn’t heard anything about a new person drifting into town.

  “Maybe it’s just a phase. You know how people in their 40s suddenly go through a mid-life and try to find new purpose. It usually passes.”

  “Yeah, well, why am I being made to suffer? Why couldn’t my dad go buy a motorcycle or something? For fuck’s sake, their mid-life is screwing up my actual life. Doesn’t seem fair.”

  “We’re going to be out of here soon enough. Just play the game while you’re here and then we can kiss this place goodbye in a month,” I said, reaching for a fry even though they didn’t look appetizing at all.

  I nearly gagged the minute the rubbery fry hit my tongue. Grimacing, I slowly chewed and swallowed. “Cold,” I answered when Rachel looked at me funny.

  As I rose from the hard bench seat and prepared to leave, I realized it wasn’t the temperature of the fry that’d turned me off — it’d been the memory of how amazing that bloody deer had tasted in comparison.

  The potato fried in days-old oil simply hadn’t compared.

  But I couldn’t say that because the deer situation had been a dream and to admit anything else, would be social suicide.

  And I liked my life just the way it was.

  Even if all I could think about was another bite of that dream deer.

  Lyric

  Crunch of bone, spurt of arterial blood coating my throat in a thick, coppery gulp — utter ecstasy.

  I was in the forest again. Running like the wind was carrying me, the pine needle floor like velvet beneath my feet. Nothing could stop me. I was a force of nature, a beast without a master.

  The song in my heart rang with ancient voices. I was unconfined, free to roam without expectations weighing me down. My actions were ruled by simple need. I accepted no societal burden nor recognized any social structure. I was free to be vicious, slave only to my hunger to feed.

  This was heaven. I knew indescribable joy. When I was running through this dark place, the smells sharp and crisp, the night air caressing my face, tingling with awareness, all I felt was heady, intoxicating happiness.

  I could sense the trees talking amongst themselves. I heard the shadows whispering.

  I was more alive in that moment than in all my eighteen years.

  And yet, it was a dream.

  I slipped unwillingly from the dream state, my eyes refusing to open. I groaned, still yearning for that feeling before it slipped away like morning mist under the heat of the summer sun.

  Why was it so real? I opened my eyes with sluggish discontent. My jaw felt slightly fatigued, as if I’d been grinding my teeth all night. I worked my cheeks, listening to the tiny pops and clicks, noting that a lingering copper taste remained. Maybe I’d bitten myself in my sleep? My tongue searched the interior of my cheek, searching for evidence that my teeth had pieced my own flesh but found nothing but smooth surfaces.

  I rose from my bed, stretching as I walked to the bathroom, strangely sated yet again. I should be exhaustively ravenous. My eating habits in the last two days had been spotty at best and yet, I felt ready to take on the world without a hint of hunger.

  My skin glowed as if I’d been in the sun all day. Maybe I did need to have my mom take me to the doctor. Something didn’t feel right but it didn’t feel wrong either. I just felt…different.

  Bounding down the stairs I found my parents, normally absorbed in their own worlds, standing in the kitchen with stricken expressions. My dad looked at a loss for words.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, surprised by the tone in the room. Geesh, did someone die? “Everything okay?”

  My mom broke away from my dad and came at me with tears in her eyes. “Honey, I have really awful news but I don’t want you to hear it from anyone else…”

  I stilled, not liking the direction of this conversation. “What is it?”

  Her mouth worked as if she were searching for the right words, then finally said with a deep exhale, “It’s Rachel. There’s been an accident of some kind…”

  Alarm spiked my adrenaline. “Accident? What do you mean? Is she okay? Is she at the hospital? What happened?”

  “We don’t have a lot of details but honey, Rachel is gone.”

  “Gone where?” I asked, refusing to believe what my mom was implying. I just saw Rachel yesterday. She was complaining about getting a job. “What are you talking about? What do you mean, gone?”

  My dad decided to help when he saw my mom struggling, answering gently, “She was killed last night.”

  I stared, unable to process that information. Killed? What? No. That wasn’t possible. Nope. I refused to accept that news. “Someone has bad information. There’s no way Rachel is…dead. No. Not possible. I’m sorry. Fake news, Mom. No.”

  I was babbling but I couldn’t help it. My body began to shake and I felt sick. My mom wrapped me in a fierce hug but I felt nothing. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my bestie since kindergarten wasn’t going to be around anymore. That she wasn’t going to college with me. That I wasn’t going to have to listen to her bitch about her nutty parents and their strange quirks.

  I disentangled from my mom, my eyes welling. “This can’t be happening,” I said, my voice cracking. “I don’t understand.”

  “Well, from what we know, her body was found in the woods beneath Blackwater Moun
tain. She might’ve been mauled by a bear or something.”

  “Mauled? What? And why the hell would Rachel be out at night in the woods? She hates to hike. Mom, nothing about what you’re saying makes any sense. I need to talk to the police. There’s no way Rachel would be out in the woods on her own accord. Someone had to have forced her there.”

  “Police aren’t thinking it was a homicide because of the condition of the body. Honey, I know we forget sometimes that we live in an area filled with wildlife and get careless.”

  “Who told you all of this?” I asked.

  “Rachel’s mom called me about a half hour ago. She didn’t want you to find out on the news or through social media. Poor thing, I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

  I blinked, still unable to process. “I need to talk to the cops. Rachel was murdered. I’m telling you, she hated nature. She hated everything about the idea of hiking. She’d never go willingly.”

  “I’m sure the police have things well in hand,” my dad said. “Let’s let the professionals do their jobs.”

  “If they’re saying anything but homicide, they aren’t doing it well,” I maintained, wiping at my eyes. “Dad, you don’t know Rachel like I do. I mean, she really, really hates nature.” My voice broke as I did. My mom hugged me again and I sagged against her. “Mom, someone killed my best friend. What am I going to do without her?”

  “We’re here for you, sweetheart. We’ll get through this together.”

  It was the right thing to say but I didn’t want to hear appropriate things. I wanted to hear how justice would be served for my murdered friend.

  I wanted blood.