Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue: Hampton Cove
Chapter One: A Light Extinguished
Chapter Two: A Bright New Start
Chapter Three: Time for the Fall
Chapter Four: Meeting Sunshine
Chapter Five: Mmmmm Toffee
Chapter Six: Scarlett Fever
Chapter Seven: Bad Girl, Bad Coffee & a Bad Boy
Chapter Eight: Strange Angels
Chapter Nine: Disconnected
Chapter Ten: The Problem with Knowledge
Chapter Eleven: Shadows in the Dark
Chapter Twelve: Parasitic Nightmares
Chapter Thirteen: Boom. Smash. Crash.
Chapter Fourteen: What’s Up Doc?
Chapter Fifteen: Treasure Hunt
Chapter Sixteen: Late Night Drop In
Chapter Seventeen: Triple Terrors
Chapter Eighteen: Dodgy Detention
Chapter Nineteen: Battered and Bruised
Chapter Twenty: Master Mess
Chapter Twenty-One: Crimes Against Humanity
Chapter Twenty-Two: Digging up Doughnuts
Chapter Twenty-Three: Tainted Food
Chapter Twenty-Four: Harbinger
Chapter Twenty-Five: Truancy, Tricks and Treats
Chapter Twenty-Six: Carnival Highs and Lows
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mystical Emporium
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Purge
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Take Care
Chapter Thirty: Heating Up The Kitchen
Chapter Thirty-One: Sonic Boom
Chapter Thirty-Two: Survive the Week (end)
Chapter Thirty-Three: Red Lake
Chapter Thirty-Four: Heaven or Hell
Chapter Thirty-Five: Payback Session
Chapter Thirty-Six: D isn’t just for Danger
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Let the Tainted Blood Flow
Chapter Thirty-Eight Bloody, Blue Blood
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Hunter’s Lair
Chapter Forty: Daughter of Darkness and Light
Chapter Forty-One: Fight for Freedom
Chapter Forty-Two: Pandora’s Box
Chapter-Forty-Three: A New Day of Hope
Acknowledgements
About the Author
To the two loves of my life, my special boys, you are the shining stars in my universe.
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
William Shakespeare.
A thunderous crash echoed through the gymnasium, the glassed doors of Marsol Grammar flew open as two bodies tumbled out. Luxor Everstone stumbled, her sneakers squeaking on the mahogany floorboards as she tripped over her shoelaces from the hard shove in the back from her best friend Verity.
“Get in there,” Verity growled, digging her sharp manicured fingers into the underside of Luxor’s arm, and droplets of blood trickled down. She hadn’t let up since they left the adjoining girl’s locker room
“Verity, let go.” Luxor’s arms flayed as the red and white pom poms were strewn and landed underneath the bleachers.
“No, not until I’ve said my piece.”
“You need to calm down. You’re being irrational.”
“Calm down? Calm down? Tell me, would you be so calm if somebody stole your boyfriend?” Verity said, blue eyes blazing. “Aiden is mine!”
“It wasn’t like that,” Luxor gargled out and rubbed her tender neck, the fingerprints of Aiden’s choke hold continuing to burn. She wasn’t sure what hurt more. Verity or Aiden.
Verity scoffed. “You had your chance, and you blew it. Regret is a sad, sad thing. Choose someone else to pop your cherry,” she spat.
Luxor never saw Verity envious. She was always a confident, beautiful and determined. Now her bitterness amped up her bitchy factor to bring Luxor down.
After weeks of leering and unwanted comments when nobody was around, Aiden cornered Luxor in the girl’s bathroom. Pinned against the wall, he immobilised her with his closeness, his sweaty body flat against hers. What looked like a hook up to an observer was something much more sinister. The second time in as many weeks he’d assaulted her.
Verity believed the words of her boyfriend of a week, over her friend of a lifetime.
“Let me explain,” Luxor pleaded.
Luxor had never been in a situation where she had to deal with confrontation. She almost had it all, an idyllic life everybody envied; pretty, popular, a cheerleader and team captain of the track team who hailed from one of the most affluent families in Hampton Cove. The only thing she lacked were parents who cared enough to be present. But she had her best friend. Verity was her non-blooded sister and the single most important person in her life. Luxor would have cut off her pinkie finger before hurting her.
Luxor almost tripped as she escaped Verity’s clutches. The snowball effect quickly became so monstrous it spiralled out of control. She watched a montage of her life pass her by, all the happy and monumental moments, and reached out to grab hold of them. Luxor refused to let this argument break them. Nothing was unbreakable, especially their bond. A simple misunderstanding started the domino effect. Luxor locked away Aiden’s assault, not wanting to burst Verity’s happiness.
Verity stalked at a predatory pace. “I hate you,” she spat. “Tomorrow everybody will find out you’re not the elusive ice queen, but a dirty whore. You’ll be the school pariah, and I will reign supreme, just like it should be.”
“Do you think I care what anybody thinks? You can’t hate me. Anybody but you,” Luxor pleaded, knowing it was futile.
Once Verity hated, it was for life and nobody wanted to be her enemy. Her vicious nature was akin to a cobra, one strike from her venomous tongue and you’d cease to exist. She could make the high school experience more tortuous than possible. The one person Verity never hurt was Luxor…until now. They forged their bond over the lack of parental care. Verity was strength, Luxor the nurturer. Now it came to blows and Luxor refused to bow down to Verity. Luxor was the Queen Bee, and even though she wasn’t cruel, she was underestimated. Her classmates respected her, but didn’t cower. She loved being loved, however superficial it was. She needed to get it from somewhere.
“Because Vicious Verity is a rational person. Isn’t that what everybody calls me behind my back? Wake up and smell the lilies, Ellie. Can I still call you that?” Verity hissed.
“Stop, just stop!” Luxor cried out. Verity pushed her to the edge and used her weakness against her, something she told her in confidence.
"Oh, why don't you go cry to your mummy." Verity leaned down and let out a heinous laugh. She kneed Luxor in the stomach and shoved her against the bleachers.
Luxor doubled over, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Shut up,” she screamed, the sound tearing through her throat, each word stinging more than the last.
“Make me.” Verity spun around and skittered towards the nearest basketball and wedged it underneath one arm. She twisted her body slightly and let the ball fly.
Luxor dropped to her knees, and cradled the side of her head as the basketball hit, and blinded for a moment. When she fluttered her eye open, black spots dotted her vision.
“Get up,” Verity ordered, and bounced another basketball. “The Queen Bee should never kneel.”
Luxor rose on shaky legs. “I didn’t choose to be popular.”
“Oh, that’s right. Everybody appointed the perfect Luxor,” Verity gagged out her name. “Pretty, popular and sweet. The triple threat.”
A flicker of a flame started up in the pit of Luxor’s stomach and she raised herself up. Bead
s of sweats trailed down her temples, the animosity burning like acid teetering on the tip of insanity. She clenched her fists until they turned white and ground her molars against each other.
Luxor bunched the material of Verity’s cheerleading top and dragged her forward. Without a second thought, she let her hand fly across Verity’s cheek, the smack reverberating through the gymnasium.
Verity gasped and blinked repeatedly. “You slapped me?” She held her reddened cheek.
“Oh, did it hurt? God, I hope so,” Luxor sneered, wanting to harm her as much as the basketball did to her. She contemplated slapping her again. The consequences would be severe, but nothing she couldn’t wriggle herself out of.
“You’re a psychotic bitch,” Verity pushed her back and Luxor landed on her backside. Like a regal eagle catching its prey, Verity swooped in and pinned Luxor’s hands with the heels of her sneakers.
“Get off me!” Luxor choked out. She wriggled with as much power as she could. Again, she was held against her will.
“Isn’t this how you like it? You sure enjoyed did when Aiden did it.” Verity twitched, her eyes crazed and feral.
“What is wrong with you?” Luxor spat, lifting her head up only to drop it down again.
“Nothing. I’m perfect. You, on the other hand.” Verity unzipped the pocket from the side of her skirt, and retrieved a long band with a key attached. She swung the band around and crouched down. “Let me add one more scar to that pretty face of yours. Then Aiden won’t look at you.”
“Don’t do this,” Luxor screamed and thrashed, flinching as the key came closer to her face. Verity titled her head to the side and slashed Luxor’s neck.
Tears accumulated at the corners of Luxor’s eyes but she blinked them away and instead, she bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood. There was no way she would show weakness regardless of how much agony she was in. Luxor clenched her first, as a painful throbbing began at her wrist, below her palm. A strength emerged, and in the next moment she flipped Verity over until she could wrangle free of her clutches. She quickly swiped the key from Verity and threw it across the room.
“How can you do this? Hurt me? Believe him over me?” She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. “This isn’t the first time. Remember my study session with him? He tried to rape me. How can you be with someone like that?”
The first time Luxor and Aiden were truly alone she had innocently gone over to his house where he would have helped her for Biology. Before that they had gone on a couple of dates to the movie or out for lunch and she had felt comfortable around him. When she got there Aiden was quick to put on “a girl flick” for her despite her protests to study. He eventually won and over the course of the evening, the movie seemed to have been forgotten and he had inched too close, a dangerous look of lust entered Aiden’s eyes. In one fell swoop he pinned Luxor down on his parent’s couch, his hands roaming her outer thighs, creeping inwards. She sobbed, and wriggled, to break free of his grasp, but that only urged him on. He was much bigger and overpowered her.
Sparks exploded, and lightening flashed through the windows, a power surge plunging the mansion into darkness.
Luxor used the opportunity to flee with one strappy sandal attached to her foot and her knee-length sundress torn on one shoulder. Outside, menacing grey clouds covered the house, and the further away she ran, the brighter the clouds became. Underfoot, the pavement was dry as if no storm had occurred. Once she had gotten back to the sanctuary of her own home, she vowed to herself not breathe a word of what happened and swallowed his indiscretion which she wanted to forget about all together. Even reliving it in this moment with Verity made her shudder.
“Rape? Your virgin, frigid brain freaked out. Aiden friggin’ Hollister doesn’t need to rape,” Verity scoffed. Her footsteps retreated backwards, before she spun and bolted towards the doors, collecting a basketball along the way.
Blood boiled under Luxor’s skin, her veins ropes of livewire, as Verity refused to believe her. Platinum hair whipped about across Luxor’s tanned complexion as she caught up to Verity in two effortless long strides, grabbing a fistful of Verity’s hair and yanked out chunks.
Luxor kicked one shin, then the other with more vigour and Verity dropped to her knees, her necked craned back. “Apologise.”
Verity yelped. “Apologise? You’re the one who wronged me. Me! How dare you?” She half-turned and elbowed Luxor in the chest.
Luxor wheezed at having the wind knocked out of her.
Verity seized the opportunity, assailing her in a flurry of punches, kicks, hair pulling and scratching. She tired easily and spent most of the time dodging Luxor’s moves and eyeing the door to escape, again resorting to lame defences.
Luxor regain her composure and tapped into her athleticism from a lifetime of ballet lessons mixed with her regimented track training, which included gym sessions.
“Ready to apologise, or does that hurt your ego?” Luxor spat and circled around her.
Verity scoffed, but it came out more like a sharp hiccup. “You’ll be hurting in many ways, your ego will be the least of it.”
Luxor heard the threat loud and clear. Blonde and blue eyed, both mirror images of each other, only she was damaged on the inside. Sick of being disrespected, Luxor asserted her dominance and spun around, launching and cuffing Verity’s wrists in one of hers. Luxor hunched over and released another harder slap to match the other one cheek. Verity’s flaw was her vanity, and Luxor wanted to make sure she marred her pretty face, just as Verity had done hers.
“Please stop,” Verity whimpered, her eyes brimming with tears. “I give up.”
A spasm boomed at her core, and she grabbed her midsection. A white light, the goodness which encompassed her, flickered and fought against the burgeoning evil wanting to come out and rear itself.
The veil of darkness receded, and Luxor released her grip, the urge to harm Verity drained at a slow but an unsteady rate.
Verity crawled away with effort, and cowered, his attention on Luxor’s every move.
“I-I don’t know what happened.” Luxor pulled her knees to her chest and clenched her eyes shut to will away the war for dominance over her soul.
“W-what is that?” Verity pointed a shaky finger.
Luxor dropped her arms and flipped her palms over. She trailed a finger up the lines of her palms and circled up her wrist and stopped short. Dark veins thrummed like a heartbeat and inched upwards towards her elbow.
“My arms,” she shrieked, grasping her arms and held them in shackles.
“You’re a freak,” Verity heaved, pure terror in her eyes.
Freak.
In the world of the wealthy and privileged anything which cast somebody as an outcast would be degraded and be shown of a lower class, to be laughed at and not admired.
A sinister cloud immediately accumulated in the air; thick and puffy like a burgeoning bruise at the derogatory word. A surge of power activated, forming a blazing bright ball, and her midsection pulsated erratically and looped in Luxor’s core. She balled her fists as a deadly poison pumped through her bloodstream, and an icy chill invaded her veins, screeching for violence and destruction.
Verity lobbed basketball after basketball.
Luxor deflected them with her arms and closed the distance. The added provocation strengthened her core, and it spiralled out of control, the rage ballooning as her self-control snapped. She ignored her subconscious, who urged her to calm down as her mind switched to an ominous place where her morals had been eradicated.
A boom of pure white light beamed through Luxor, her life source engorged and radiated through her skin. A cloud of black mist blurred her vision and goose bumps prickled her skin.
Luxor barrelled forward and pounced like a lithe and deadly leopard, knocking Verity back and pinned her down. She sneered and pressed a firm thumb against Verity’s larynx.
Verity choked and flailed, her eyes rolling at the back of her head.
&nbs
p; Luxor growled and fisted the material of Verity’s top, lifting her off the ground, as her legs kicked out. She rolled her shoulders and flew her through the air with ease. A sickening crunch sounded as Verity’s spine smashed against the wall. Luxor ran at full speed to the immobile body and held Verity up like a flinching rag doll, not done with her yet. Blood trailed down one of Verity’s eyes, resembling a crimson tear.
“Nobody overthrows me,” Luxor said, low and chilling. “Do you understand, I will always reign?”
Verity blinked in affirmation as blood and bile gurgled from her mouth and trailed down her chin.
The darkness swallowed Luxor, as her fury bloomed in full force. She dropped to her knees as she screamed from the depths of her soul, her vocal cords searing as they took a lashing.
Hate. Betrayal. Loss. All bundled up and exploded like dynamite.
One by one, light bulbs shattered and plunged the interior into darkness. Spider web like lines travelled around the gymnasium walls as shards of plaster splintered and tumbled in fragments from the ceiling and piercing the floorboards. The sturdy foundation fell apart and crumbled, the fancy architecture creating a domino effect. One wall hit another, and another collapsing the basketball rings and bleachers. Roof tiles hailed and obliterated the ceiling, exposing the stars.
Luxor jumped to the side to avoid the oncoming debris. She swayed and eyed an unmoving Verity a few metres away. She hastily scooped Verity up over her head and flung her with ease, pretending to shoot a three pointer. When Verity’s body crunched to the ground, Luxor dusted her hands to rid her proximity to the vermin which was once someone she considered her sister.
A tremor vibrated the floorboards and giant cracks split the gymnasium in half until one half was considerably higher than the other. Luxor jumped metres across the gymnasium onto the higher ground, a wicked smile across her face, an expression of satisfaction with no iota of fear. She revelled in the destruction, at the way the whole world shattered around her, instead of inside. Hard plaster pieces from the ceiling struck her shoulders, and she peered up. Larger pieces fell fast and strong and she swayed from side to side, adamant not to submit. Nobody could bring her down. Not her parents. Not Aiden. And especially not Verity. She was untouchable.
Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Page 1
