Bloodlust: Mystic River Vampire Academy (Year Two)

by Annalise Clark

  He really did know exactly what I needed and when I needed it. What would I do without him?

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, dropping my hands to my side after wiping sweat from my brow with the back of my forearm. I’d done enough today. In fact, it would be more beneficial to rest now. I was catching the train tomorrow and I didn’t want to overwork myself before arriving for the big event.

  “Let me shower first though, okay?” I asked as I dropped by boxing gloves to the floor.

  “Please do. You reek!” He teased as I just shook my head. This is the way it always was with us. I don’t know what I’d do without him after all I’d been through the past couple of years.

  I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want to spend my last night here with. Well… except for Brent, but that wasn’t an option. So, Ryder is second best.

  I showered and threw on some decent clothes and we went out for dinner at that Italian place I loved. It was nice having someone in your life who knew what you loved and exactly when you needed it.

  While I was excited to be doing the Trials, it also brought up a lot of memories for me, memories about my dad, specifically. Ryder was probably the only person in my life who could understand that. He’d lost his dad, too. We were good friends before that, but after we both lost our fathers, we bonded in a way other friends couldn’t understand.

  A night out was exactly what I needed before leaving for the Trials. We ate our fill and then some (isn’t that what every Italian food place does to you?), laughed about old times, strategized for the Magic Trials, and he dropped me off at my place around 10p.m. I had an early start tomorrow; I wasn’t trying to pull an all-nighter.

  After I changed and put on my PJs, I was ready to crash almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. It’s a good thing, because I needed the rest. My train was coming very early tomorrow.

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  Fall from Grace (sample)

  Opening my eyes, I strain against the bright lights to see what is around me. I’m met with a flash of white light, some shadows in the background, and blurred colors. My eyes sting and opening them makes the burning worse, so I close my eyelids again.

  Perhaps my other senses can help me find my way out of this predicament.

  My nose takes in the scent of something sweet - wildflowers, like honeysuckle, or maybe it’s morning glory - I can’t be certain. There’s something else in the air, as well. An offensive smell that’s almost like a blend of raw sewage and skunk spray. Once my nose zeroes in on this smell, it won’t let it go. It lingers and overpowers the flowers.

  Where am I?

  I turn to my ears for answers, but there aren’t many to be found. It’s eerily quiet, wherever I am. No voices, no vehicles, and no animal sounds, either. I strain harder, hoping to pick up something; anything, that might help me know where I am. There’s the sound of rushing water, perhaps from a stream or a fountain nearby. I will my body to move, but it doesn’t budge.

  I don’t feel pain, but a pins and needles sensation starts to creep up on my toes and feet. Maybe that’s a good sign? Whatever was causing me to feel paralyzed may be fading away. Then I could finally get up out of the dirt and figure out where the hell I was.

  That tingling sensation that was starting in my feet could now be felt at my fingertips. I squeezed my eyes together as I used all the energy I could muster to will my fingers to move.

  Move. I thought inside my head.

  Move!

  Nothing.

  I tried again, but still nothing happened. Just a little bit of tingling and a lot of disappointment. I’d never had anything like this happen before and I was trying to think of a way out of this logically, and practically.

  Opening my mouth to call for help, no sound would come out. My brain was willing all of the muscles of my body to do it, but they were not responding. I felt utterly helpless.

  How long would I be like this before someone found me? Surely help would come along soon if I couldn’t pick myself up off the ground.

  Not wanting to leave it to fate, I resigned myself to getting up - one way or another.

  Next, I tried to lift my head or to at least move it a bit to the side, so that I might see where I was and understand what was happening to me.

  Still no luck.

  I could feel my wings crumpled underneath me and they hurt. It was the first time awareness of pain started to set in. I wasn’t a complete stranger to pain, but it also wasn’t something our kind experienced very often.

  My head was pounding like a thousand drummers were practicing on my skull. My back hurt, too. In fact, I couldn’t name a part of me that didn’t hurt right now. It was a head-to-toe full body ache, coupled with sharp stabbing pains in specific places that would come and go. But I wasn’t concerned with the pain.

  I knew how to deal with pain. This was not my first rodeo with pain, and it likely wouldn’t be the last.

  What worried me was the fact that I didn’t know where I was or how I got here. Try as I might, my memory could not conjure any answers.

  This place smelled funny, and the sky above me looked strange and distant. Although I couldn’t put my finger on why, I knew I wasn’t at home anymore. I was in some strange place that I had never been before, and I had no idea how I got here.

  The holes in my memory were the scariest part.

  And that was when I heard the rustle of wings and a male voice call out, “I’ve got you!”

  I did not recognize this voice, and I strained to raise my head enough to see him, but it failed. It wasn’t until he had gotten much closer to me that I was able to see him, leaning over me, a look of concern on his chiseled face.

  My mysterious rescuer was handsome.

  He reached two very strong arms underneath me and began to lift me from the ground. As he did, every inch of my body screamed out in pain, but my eyes stayed focused on his face.

  His dark skin glistened in the sunlight, his defined muscles forcing themselves to be seen. His dark eyes glittered and shined behind a face that showed concern and intrigue at the same time.

  He had high, defined cheekbones and a strong jaw. While in many ways, he was cut and strong, he also had soft, full lips and a gentle smile, and his eyes were so kind. I didn’t feel afraid, although I had no idea who this stranger was.

  I’d never seen him in the Heavens before, and he had a face I was sure to remember.

  As he scooped me up in his arms, I tried to say “thank you” but my mouth would not form the words. A slight moan that almost sounded like a whimper came out instead.

  For a moment, I felt embarrassed. I was strong; one of the strongest of my type, even. It was shameful to be whimpering like a human girl while a sexy man scooped me up in his strong arms.

  “Don’t try to speak,” he said. “Just relax. You’re going to be okay.”

  I tried once in vain to protest, but his voice was so calming and soothing, and as he lifted me from the ground, an intense, unbearable pain shot through my wings and into my back and suddenly, everything turned black.

  As my eyes rolled back in my head and I sucked in my breath from the pain, the last thing I remember is his face. And then everything goes black and I’m gone again.

  About the Author

  Fantasy/ PNR/ Paranormal RH author ❤