Tainted (Vastow Vampires Book 1)

by J Johnson

  “Go ahead, love. It’s okay.”

  The tone in which Zane says this confuses and intrigues me. He knows I don’t like touching people, but I take Mr. Fellway’s hand anyway and wait for the vision, but nothing happens. No thoughts. No visions.

  “Zane here has told me so much about you, Ashlyn. I knew I needed to come introduce myself.”

  I glance over at Zane who is grinning from ear to ear then back at Mr. Fellway.

  “It’s nice to meet you too.”

  I’m still not sure what is going on or why he’s here or why I didn’t see his future, so I take a seat on the sofa and wait for someone to explain.

  “Mr. Fellway is an expert in… gifts.”, Zane starts. “I told him about your abilities, and he was very excited to meet you in person.”

  “You told him? Why?”

  “I knew you wanted answers and to learn how to control it, so I did a little digging and found him. He’s here to help you.”

  “How are you going to help me? And why didn’t it work on you just now?”

  “I can control what others see or hear from me. I wanted to get your attention. Let me show you something. Take my hand.”

  I hesitate again, but take his hand.

  I can help you, Ashlyn. If you’ll let me. I can teach you how to control it, where you only hear or see what you want and not from everyone you come in contact with.

  I jerk my hand away and gasp. “How did you do that?”

  “I told you. I can control my abilities and if you’d like, I will help you learn to control yours.”

  “I’m at a loss for words. I most definitely would like to learn how to control these gifts, as Zane puts it. I think of it more as a curse.”

  “No, dear. It’s far from a curse. It’s a gift. Imagine what you could do with it if you could control it. You could hear a person’s thoughts that’s not able to speak or use your visions to warn people of their deaths.”

  “I’ve tried that before. They always think I’m crazy.”

  “Not if you can show them.”, he replies, making my eyebrows raise.

  “What do you mean, show them?”

  “Show them the vision.”

  “Okay. Why can’t I see Zane’s death or hear his thoughts?”

  “You’ve blocked him out. He told me how you two first met and I think it has something to do with the trauma and the fact that he saved you. You didn’t want to see your savior’s death.”

  “I’ve never been able to control it before.”

  “Did you not feel connected to him from the beginning?”

  “I did. Even in the state I was in, I felt something towards him. I can’t explain it.”

  “You’re his mate and even though you are only human, you knew deep down he was important.”

  “Okay, so how do I control it?”

  “I want to try a little exercise first. Take Zane’s hand and I want you to close your eyes. Focus on your love for him and his thoughts. Zane, I want you to think one thought.”

  I don’t think there is any way this will work, but I do as I’m told and focus on our love. Nothing happens.

  “It’s not working.”

  “I know it isn’t. It won’t work that way.”

  “Then why am I doing this?”, I ask with irritation.

  “Because I need you to clear your mind and focus on Zane only. Not your love, not any feelings or emotions, just him. Clear your mind like you did just now and focus on him. Focus on his thoughts, his mind. Feel the power within you and push into his mind with yours and tell me what you hear.”

  I do as I’m told again, this time focusing on Zane’s mind. I imagine a thousand thoughts racing through his head because he’s always busy doing something. The man never sits still.

  Ashlyn, I love you.

  My eyes pop open. Did I hear him think that or did he say it?

  “What did you hear?”

  “My name and he said he loved me.”

  “Okay. Zane think something that isn’t basic like that. Something that she could in no way know unless she hears it. Not her name or I love you. Nothing like that. Something random.”

  I focus again, and I can feel the power somehow. I’ve felt it before when touching someone, but I always push it down. This time I push it towards Zane.

  I hope we have a girl someday as beautiful as you are love. I’m thinking of the number two hundred forty-seven.

  My eyes pop open again and I smile.

  “No fucking way.”, I say out loud. “I can’t believe it. It worked.”

  “What did you hear?”, Zane asks.

  “I heard you say you hope we have a girl someday as beautiful as me and the number two hundred forty-seven.”

  Zane’s eyes widen and so does his smile. He nods at me and the Dr. “She’s right.”

  “It’s really that simple, Ashlyn. You can feel the power and what to do with it. You pushed it towards him to hear his thoughts. Now try it again with me. I’m going to open my mind up like any other person and I want you to pull the power away from me. Take it back and don’t let it push into my mind.”

  I can’t believe this is happening. After only an hour of practicing, I’m able to control it. I can turn it off and on at will. It’s amazing.

  “Thank you so much, Dr. Fellway. You do not understand what this means to me. Really.”

  “My pleasure.”

  After he leaves, I walk up to Zane and kiss him.

  “Thank you so much. I don’t know what to say. I love you.”

  “I love you too, my Aroha. And I will always do what I can to make you happy. Always.”

  Epilogue

  Two Years Later

  Zane and I are as happy as ever. We’ve moved into a new home, one big enough for us and our almost two-year-old son, Brayden. He’s a handful, but we love him dearly. He’s already trying to use his little vampire powers. It’s cute as hell, but dangerous, so we teach him to only use them at home.

  Zane turned me right after I had Brayden. It took some getting used to, but I love it. Mainly because I know our family will always be together.

  Zoe knows everything now, and she’s okay with it. Jordan, not so much. He was pissed when he found out I agreed to be turned. It took some time before he finally accepted it, but I don’t think he’s fully come to terms with it yet.

  Zoe has been dating Jordan’s brother Jackson, and somehow the two of us have convinced the three men to get along. Now they are somewhat friends. At first it was awkward for all of them, but they got through it. Life couldn’t be better. Zoe sometimes tells me she doesn’t know how I am with a vampire. It’s weird to her. Don’t get me wrong, she loves Zane like a brother, but she doesn’t think she could do all the blood sucking. It freaks her out.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Brayden comes running over to me because the noise scares him. Zane flings the door open, ready to kill whoever scared his little boy. He stops dead in his tracks when he sees who’s on the other side. It’s Jordan, and he’s holding a body wrapped in a blanket. I can’t tell who it is from here, but whoever it is, they aren’t moving.

  “What the fuck, Jordan?”, I yell as I hold on to Brayden and cover his eyes.

  “Help me, Zane. Please, I need your help.”, he begs.

  Zane is already shaking his head no, like he knows what he wants. I still have no clue what the hell is going on.

  “Jordan. Why are you holding a body? Who is it and why did you bring them here?”

  I carry Brayden to his room using vampire speed and tell him to stay put. When I get back down the stairs Zane is obviously stressing. He’s running his hand through his hair and pacing the floor.

  “Please Zane, he only has minutes. Please do this for me.”

  Zane shakes his head again and looks over at me, then back at Jordan.

  “HE’S DYING!”, Jordan yells.

  “FUCK!”, Zane yells, making me jump.

  He grabs the wrapped-up body and lays them on the
floor. When he removes the covers, I gasp. It’s Jackson. He’s covered in blood and looks like he’s not breathing. The next few minutes I’m stuck. I’m stuck on the bottom step, not able to move, not believing what I’m seeing.

  “Love. Get over here and touch him. Tell me what he’s thinking. If anything.”, Zane orders. When I don’t move quick enough, he yells again. “ASHLYN!”

  I race over and grab Jackson’s hand and focus. I know I’m a vampire now and I’m supposed to be all super strength and scary, but my human side still exists. I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack at any moment.

  “Focus love. Tell me what you hear.”

  “What the fuck are you doing!? He’s going to die if you don’t turn him!”, Jordan yells.

  “Give her a minute.”

  I close my eyes and focus on Jackson’s mind, his thoughts, and finally I hear something. It’s faint, almost like someone is talking to me from a mile away, but I hear it.

  Don’t let him do this. Please. I don’t want to be a vampire. Don’t turn me into one of those things.

  I release his hand and look over at Jordan. “He doesn’t want to be turned Jordan. He doesn’t want to become one of those things, is how he put it.”

  “I don’t care. And since when can you read minds? We’ll talk about that later. Turn him Zane. Please.”

  “If he doesn’t want it, then why would I?”

  The look on Jordan’s face pushes Zane over the edge. For a vampire, he has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen. I can tell he’s torn between not doing it for Jackson and doing it for Jordan. In the end though he does what Jordan is asking.

  He pierces his wrist with his fangs and puts it over Jackson’s mouth. Jackson has no choice really but to let it go down his throat. He’s too weak to fight Zane off. I keep thinking about his thoughts while Zane does this. He’s going to be pissed.

  “Thank you. Thank you.”, Jordan sighs.

  “I’m sorry, Jackson.”, Zane mumbles. “When you wake up, if you wake up, kill your brother. It was his idea.”

  Zane leaves his wrists at Jordan’s mouth for a few minutes and then removes it. As soon as he does, he turns and attacks Jordan. They both go flying into the wall across the room, knocking a giant hole in it.

  “Why the fuck would you bring him here and ask me to do that? FUCK!”

  “I had no choice. He was going to die.”, Jordan says frantically. “I couldn’t let him die.”

  Zane is pacing the floor again, running his hands through his hair and he keeps glancing at me. My phone rings startling me. It’s Zoe. I tell her to get her ass here as quickly as possible and hang up. A few minutes later she busts through the door.

  “What’s wrong? Where is he?” She takes one look at Jackson, then over at the other two, then at me. “What is going on?”

  Zane and Jordan look down at the floor, not willing to answer her question, so I speak first.

  “Zane just turned Jackson into the one thing he hates the most in this world. A vampire.”

  Acknowledgement

  I want to thank each one of you that decided to pick up this series. Without you I wouldn’t have been able to continue writing this series. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know some of the scenes are graphic and disturbing, but I felt it needed to be in the book.

  When I finally decided to sit down and write, I never dreamed anyone would actually read it. It took numerous rewrites and editing chapters and scenes, to give you what I thought you would love to read.

  I want to thank my husband for his patience and support. For waiting until I was done with a scene or sentence or chapter even. Without that kind of support, I’d still be writing the beginning chapters.

  Thank you all so much for the support!

  About The Author

  J. Johnson

  J. Johnson is a poet, writer, and author of the new novel, Tainted, the first of many in the Vastow Vampire Series. She began creating other worlds and characters as a teenager, using it as a distraction from her own unbalanced life. Her love for all things paranormal is what brings her stories together in a wild, dangerous, and sexy way.

  J. Johnson lives and works out of her home in North Central Texas and spends her summers on the beach or camping with her husband and four children. She didn’t want to deviate from the typical Texas stereotype, so she married her high school sweetheart and became pregnant while barefoot.

  Books By This Author

  Tainted

  Vastow Vampires Book One

  Turned

  Vastow Vampires Book Two