Chapter 1
Dan was working on the nail on the headboard's metal frame. His fingernail was bloody and loose on its bed, but he was so close from removing the nail. Then, all he had to do was wait for the old woman to come down the stairs. He'd knock her out and make his escape.
The door creaked open on the top of the stairs. Dan's hand stopped moving.
"Dan, darling, dinner," she said. Her voice had that awful sweet pitch to it again. Was she delusional?
Dan sat up straight, pressing his back against the cool, dank wall. He hid his bloody hand under his leg.
She stopped at the top of the stairs, a tray with dinner in her hands and an irritating know-it-all look on her face. She looked down on him in the humid basement, his prison, and let out a tsk sound.
"What are you doing, boy?" she asked.
Dan wanted to laugh. He could ask her the same thing.
Instead, he said "I'm not doing anything."
She sighed and shook her head. "I hate when you lie to me, darling."
She reached the bottom of the stairs and walked straight to her left, where the washing machine was. She put the tray with Dan's dinner on it and left it there. Then, she made a show of removing her worn, leather belt from the loops on her jeans.
He kept his eyes glued to her belt. "What makes you think I'm lying?"
"You got that look on your face." She got closer, the belt dangling from her hand in a veiled threat. "That mischievous, I'm up to no good look. You've done that since you were a little boy."
He looked up at her, keeping his face as blank as possible.
"I'd never lie to you, Mom," Dan said.
"You promised me you wouldn't go after that little whore and-"
"Don't talk about Evie like that," Dan snapped.
She raised her hand and lowered it fast. The bite of the leather belt wasn't nearly the worst thing. He had gotten used to it by now. Neither was the humiliation of it all. The worst thing was that it was his father's belt. The same man his mother had driven to suicide.
"You think I enjoy doing this to my only child?" Another bite of the belt. "Do you think I liked moving all the way to this shit hole?" Another stroke. "I moved to save you. To help you." She dropped the belt and took a deep breath, her face clean of any anger. She smiled and turned to the dinner tray. "I'm here because I love you, my boy."
Dan, who had curled into a ball, didn't move.
"I thought we could see a movie upstairs after your dinner." She sounded giddy again. "I'll get the restraints and we can-"
Dan tuned her out. If she wanted to play house, to treat him like a little pet, she'd have to do it alone. His face was only inches away from the loose nail. His bloody hand drifted from its hiding place underneath the covers. Dan's eyes darted to the woman fixing him a sandwich, her back set in a straight, unyielding line. She was still talking about the new movies that had come out on Netflix. Dan turned to his handiwork and continued, working at a feverish pace. He had to break free. He had to leave. If he didn't, she would drive him crazy and he would kill himself - just like his father had done years before.
He had tried to escape the week before. Dan had gotten all the way to the living room. Then, she had turned the tables on him and hit him in the head with the old block of wood she used as a cutting board. As it turns out, he had made one crucial mistake: he had left her wide awake. When he woke up, he was chained to his bed. She said she was doing it to cure him, because she loved him. Funny. He liked her sense of humor.
The nail wavered on its resting place and fell on his hand, rolling between his fingers and falling on the floor. He was free.
Dan raised the head of the bed and freed his arm.
"What are you doing, Dan?"
No matter how old he was, the anger in her voice always made his blood freeze in his veins.
He sat up and pressed his back against the wall, his eyes wide both in fear and awe at this joyous moment.
"I'm free, Mom."
They stood there, frozen, for a moment. His eyes were on her face. Her eyes were on his wrist still sporting the handcuff.
Her hand curled around the knife she had been using to cut his sandwich in neat halves.
Everything after that happened too fast for Dan to really think about it.
She started towards him, her face once again set in angry lines. Dan shot to his feet and grabbed the loose head of the bed, yanking it from its spot.
Before he had time to hit her, she crashed on him. They both fell on the bed, struggling. It swayed under their weight. She tried to pin him down. The edge of her blade bit against his wrist. She was incredibly strong for a woman her age, but her real edge was the fear Dan felt whenever he was in her presence. They both knew that. He shoved her away and shot out of the bed, running for the stairs. He would lock her here. He was bigger and faster than he was when he was a boy. He could out run her now.
A sharp stab of pain hit him in the leg. He looked back. She had thrown the knife at him, hitting him on the back of his thigh. Dan removed the knife and looked at it. She wouldn't wait for him to lose the will to live. She was going to kill him herself.
Her scream cut through his fear. He looked up. She was running towards him. Her hands curled in claws.
Dan took a step back.
Their bodies slammed together.
And then there was silence.
Their eyes locked. His eyes wide in shock; hers in bewilderment.
He shoved the knife a little deeper in her, pulled it up, ripping her open.
His voice was just a whisper, the voice of a confused little boy. "Mom..."
She staggered back. Her hands shot to the gash on her belly that now oozed blood and entrails. She looked at the sticky red liquid covering her hands as if it was something alien.
She looked at Dan. "My darling boy..."
Her body collapsed on the floor, lifeless.
Dan dropped the knife, his eyes on his mother's dead body. Then, he thought of Evie. He loved her and now there was nothing between them. Where was he? Was he still in Thunder Bay or had Mom dragged him back to Oregon? It didn't matter. He was free to track her down and bring her home. She was meant for him. He would make her see that - even if it killed them both.
Dan looked at the bright kitchen on the top of the stairs. It had seemed miles and miles away for months. Now, it was so close he could taste it.
Chapter 2
"My life is uncomplicated. It's mind-numbingly boring." Evie watched Lucy roll her eyes. Her heart started racing. "And that’s exactly what I want."
"Don't you wish things were different?"
"Sure I do." She gave her statement just enough time to give Lucy some hope before adding, "Then I remember everything that happened." Evie looked out the window. The streets were covered in knee-deep snow. Most people hated it, but Evie loved it. "So, boring is good. Boring is safe."
Evie's story was very simple. Girl and Boy grow up together. At one point, out of the blue, Girl falls for Boy. He falls for her, too. They become a couple. Her love changes him, gives him focus. He overcomes his troubled family life. Girl comes out of her shell. They are each other’s firsts: first I love you, first sex partner, first fight, first trip to the hospital because Boy beat the crap out of Girl, first restraining order. Then, Girl decides to run off to another state for college, putting over 2,000 miles between her and Boy.
But that’s it. Boy is out of the picture, right?
Wrong.
Because about two years after Girl fled from her hometown, Boy tracked her down and sent Girl's second boyfriend to the hospital. Then, Boy disappeared. Just like that.
"How do you even know it was Dan, Evie?" Lucy asks, her
voice quiet and soft. "I never asked you because I thought you had your reasons, but the police said the place was trashed and some stuff was missing. Even Patrick said that."
"It was the song." Evie's breath started coming out in short bursts.
Not again, Evie thought. Please, not again.
"What song?"
"Foreigner's Waiting For a Girl Like You," Evie said, another chill running down her spine. "It was the song that was playing on the radio when Dan and I first kissed. I used to call it our song. It used to be my ringtone for him and his for me." Evie hugged her jacket a little tighter and wrapped her arms around herself. "When I found Patrick, that song was playing in his stereo, on a loop. It was a message."
Lucy started talking again, something about Dan being gone for a year and how he might as well be dead. But Evie was only half listening.
She was feeling that way she always felt - the way she had felt right before Dan hit her. The tingling right under her skin, the feeling that things were changing pace. She had learned, long before Dan attacked her, to trust this feeling. When it came along, Evie dropped everything and ran for cover.
"Stop the car," Evie said.
"What?"
"Stop the car, Lucy," Evie snapped. "Now!"
Lucy glanced quickly over her shoulder, making sure no one was too close. She slammed the brakes. Both she and Evie kept moving forward, their bodies unable to stop. Their seatbelts did their job and pulled them back.
"What the hell, Evie?"
Evie didn't answer. She kept her eyes on the crossing ahead of her. Her head was buzzing. At the time Lucy's Honda was supposed to be crossing, a car came out from the opposite lane in a mad dash. The driver didn’t seem like he could control his car on the slippery, ice-covered road. The light must have been red for him. He would've hit Lucy's car head on.
The throbbing in Evie's head slowed down. The tingling under her skin disappeared. She slumped on her seat.
"Did you..." Lucy's eyes were burning a hole on Evie's face. "Did you just save my life?"
Evie looked at her best friend. Lucy looked so earnest, so awed. A laugh bubbled from someplace deep within her. Had she just saved Lucy's life? The whole thing was so ridiculous, so impossible. Evie was a girl with a steady routine. She woke up. She went to the gym. Then school. After classes, she went to work at a café near campus. Then she went home to sleep. Next day, she did it all over again. She didn't save lives. It just wasn't her thing.
The only thing Evie could do was laugh.
Lucy started laughing too.
For a moment, there was nothing but the nervous giggles of the two girls bouncing in the car. Then, their laughter died down. They tried to catch their breaths.
Finally, they looked at each other.
Evie felt both spent and filled with nervous energy. Judging by the way Lucy's hands were twitching on her lap, she felt the same.
"So," Lucy said. She started the car again. "Moonlight. Tonight. I promised."
"Yeah. Yeah," Evie said, heaving a sigh. "I know."
***
Lucy followed Evie into the café, an extra bounce in her step. She was talking a mile a minute.
Evie glanced over her shoulder. "Are you still talking about that nightclub?"
"It's not that nightclub. It's Moonlight."
Deep down, Evie was dying to go to Moonlight. How could she feel any differently? Moonlight was the new, hot, exclusive nightclub in town. She'd been hearing a lot of buzz about it for months. It was supposed to be Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! meets Studio 54. But she had been on edge for days now, feeling like something bad was about to happen. Usually, the way things worked, she'd feel that buzzing in her head and tingling in her skin right before something bad happened. Now, it was on at odd moments, making Evie nervous, jumpy. It was driving her crazy because it made her unsure of everything she did.
She marched to the back of the café and opened her tiny locker. She shoved her messenger bag inside, along with her coat, scarf and gloves.
"What are we celebrating, by the way?" Evie asked.
"Do we need to have a reason?" Lucy answered.
"If you want me to go, yeah." Evie crossed her arms over her chest. "Otherwise, I'll stay home. Midterms are just around the corner."
Lucy's lips twisted in that disapproving way only she could pull off. Evie picked up a clean apron from the stack near the ladies' room. When she turned around, Evie found Lucy waving a sheet of paper, something she had printed. She snatched the paper from Lucy's hand.
"Why did you print this?" Evie asked, her eyes going over every word on the paper.
"Because I'm proud." Lucy lifted her chin a little bit. "I want to frame it."
Evie handed the paper back to Lucy.
Evie knew where Lucy was coming from. She had gone through a series of majors in the four years Evie knew her. First, Lucy had her English Major phase during freshman year. That's when she met both Evie and Tamara. Then, toyed with Law, Art, and Philosophy. But last year something clicked for her and she settled on Business. She has taken a bunch of extracurricular classes and worked really hard to graduate with the rest of her class. Evie couldn’t be more proud. Then, it became a no-brainer. She would go to Moonlight or wherever else Lucy wanted her to go. But she'd still make Lucy work for it.
“Come on, Evie. You promised." Lucy pouted.
"Lucy, I-"
"Please,” Lucy said, stretching the word to its breaking point.
Evie pressed her lips together, trying to smother the smile that insisted on coming alive.
"Okay," Evie said.
“Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
Lucy pulled Evie into a tight hug, chanting thank you over and over.
"How did your parents ever set boundaries for you?" Evie watched Lucy as her face lit up. "You must have been disgustingly adorable."
"I was." Lucy opened her locker and shoved her bag inside. "So, I'll drive you back to your place when work ends and within the hour, Tamara and I will pick you up, ok?"
"Tamara is coming too?" Evie said, her happiness slipping a notch or two.
"She's the one with the connection, remember?" Lucy did a little twirl and marched to the door.
"And what about her boyfriend?" Evie tried to remember the guy's name. “Jamal? Jeremy?”
“Jackson,” Lucy corrected. “They broke up.” Lucy glanced over her shoulder and caught the look on Evie's face. "What is your problem with Tamara?"
"Nothing," Evie said, raising both her hands in mock surrender. "I just think she's full of it."
Lucy rolled her eyes. She turned to Evie and crossed her arms over her chest.
"She's always been a good friend to you, you know?"
Evie let her eyes drift to her feet. She didn't need the reminder to feel any guiltier than she already felt. Tamara had been a good friend to her and, over the years, Evie had come to know and like her. But sometimes she couldn't help it. She straightened her shoulders and shook her head back, sending her hair flying down her back. She would stick by her gut feeling.
"I like Tamara. Don't get me wrong," Evie explained. She heard Lucy snort before she added "But she's lying about something. Something big."
That got Lucy's attention. She dropped her arms and her face was wiped clean of sarcasm. "How do you know? Do you know something I don't?"
Evie hesitated. She knew she would sound crazy. She sighed and shook her head.
"I don't," Evie admitted. "But I feel this thing sometimes when she's around. Like a tingling in the back of my neck. Every time I've felt that, someone was lying to me."
Lucy went through a series of contrasting emotions while Evie explained herself. First, she was relieved to find out Evie didn't know anything bad about Tamara. Then, she looked puzzled. Finally, she was amused. She was trying very hard to keep a straight face, but her lips were curling into a grin.
"I know," Evie said. "I sound crazy."
Lucy arched an eyebrow at h
er but said nothing.
"Nevermind," Evie said. She sounded as defeated as she felt. "Moonlight it is. Yay."
She pushed the door open and went to the café's salon, trying to ignore the look on Lucy's face.
Chapter 3
There were very few things Chris didn't love about being a vamp. Running. Limitless amounts of cash - which was a perk of being Darcy's son. Not dying. He loved the not dying part, in fact. Sure, there was some getting used to it. At first, he hadn't been used to the way people would react to him, to how different the world had felt to his senses. But he had gotten used to it all pretty fast. The one thing that still bugged him was the sameness of everyday life. Darcy said Chris would get used to it as the years went on. After 100+ years, he was still struggling. Still, he had lived long enough to know that the pros outweighed the cons by about a thousand to one.
That fine December evening he'd been sharing a meal with his vampire family. Darcy, his father for all intents and purposes, had sipped from his teacup with elegance he had probably already had in his mortal days. Elliot, Chris's brother from another mother, had tried very hard not to smash the delicate china set the hotel had offered them. Lydia and Louisa, Chris's sisters, had sniggered while watching Elliot suffer. Louisa had been sired when her family had lost everything during the Civil War and Lydia had been raised in luxury. They had no problem with the dainty cups in their hands.
But for the past twenty minutes, they had been watching Elliot fight with Lydia. Again.
Chris sighed. He knew exactly what would happen next. Some of the setting was different but the scene before him wasn't.
"We cannot be seen together," Lydia said. "It would defeat the purpose of the alliances Darcy negotiated."
"You can't seriously think we're fooling either Gaius or Monicelli," Elliot said. He huffed in frustration. "Everybody knows the truth!"
"What do you think people know, Elliot?" Lydia snapped.
Their voices mingled together again.
Chris and his older sister, Louisa, watched the argument with as much excitement as watching paint dry.
Her Blood Sings: Episode 01 Page 1
