Blood Rose (Vampire/Ballerina Book 1)

Chapter 4: Hope

Kayla Harris, a dark-skinned girl with yaki hair, plucks a book from a case. A thirteen-star symbol designs the jet black book, pure white in design. A witchcraft grimoire titled 

Spell Benders: Runes and Incantations.  

Kayla observes the hardcover, trailing her finger across the star. My mom is one weird collector. I never asked why she has these. I guess because I've seen them all my life. They're so familiar...yet I don't understand why we have them. Kay looks over the bookcase enclosed in the wall. The shelves are full of hardcovers; the only difference is the year of the editions. The oldest one dates back to 400 B.C. The latest stops at the year 1931. They're sixty in total. I never asked what the literature means. I assume that my mom is superstitious. Kay slips the grimoire back into its slot on the case.

Anyway, where's that Chanel perfume? That's why I'm snooping in her room. She maneuvers a pale pink bedroom. Its walls are paneled and trimmed gold. The floor holds fluffy carpet. The teen goes to a vanity table with a heart-shaped mirror. It's full of makeup, perfumes, and lipsticks. All the accessories are in a large sorter, organized into categories. Kay leans to pick a fragrance from the back row. A bulky glass bottle full of gold liquid. 

Coco Eau De Parfum. Chanel Paris. 

She pops off the diamond cap and squirts her neck twice. The citrus blossom scent is dreamy. Kayla sniffs the air. "Ahh!" She spritzes her hair, which drops past her shoulders. The ends are curled, and the color is black as night. She returns the fancy bottle to its spot and treks from the room; her curls bouncing as she does.

Kay passes a massive bed cluttered with pillows. Wedding pictures of her parents frame each nightstand. Her mom glows in a white gown, and her dad is tall and handsome in a classic suit. Kayla smiles at the candid photos while closing the door. The hallway is grand, just as the bedroom, only it bears crown molding. Many doors line the corridor; each is labeled as if in a hotel. Plaques captions the doors: 

Bathroom, Powder Room, Office, Guest Room. Kayla's Bedroom. 

She nears the end of the hall to the living room.

Luxurious floor-to-ceiling windows view the city of downtown Chicago. The ceilings are high and beamed. Off to the side, a spiral glass staircase leads to a second level. She taps up the stairs to a rustic art studio caged in by windows. There, easels hold sketches of ballerinas. Kay goes to retrieve a purple bookbag beside one. As she bends to get it, she eyes a sketch. A figure is posed like a teapot, wearing a cream leotard and tutu, just as Kay. She picks up a pencil from the easel tray and streaks it down from the hips of the dancer, drawing lines for legs and feet. I have a solo audition coming up. I need to complete my dance sequence soon. She lifts the large paper to view the drawings underneath.

Kay swipes through the many illustrations. Each of the models display different ballet positions. Waltz, pirouette, pilè, twirl, wide lunge, fouettés, arabesque, assemble, attitude, and penchè. Hmm, that's less than a minute. I need more than that if I want to dominate tryouts. My instructor will expect a show-stopping performance. I'll have to work on the choreography. She arches the ends of the tutu, then drops the pencil. Kayla returns downstairs and heads to an industrial elevator. She quickly checks herself out in a mirror, running her hands down the leotard. Okay...I look fine enough. She leaves the sunny penthouse.

Outside the high rise, Darius, a chestnut-skinned boy, waits. His kinky hair is brown in the sunlight. He wears a black bookbag. When he sees Kayla, he beams widely. "Morning, cutie."

Kay blushes. "Morning." She quickly smooches him.

Darius grabs her hand and strolls past the side shops. The towering skyscrapers of downtown Chicago cut out the sun, allowing great shade. The glass surface of the towers sparkle in the sunshine. Noisy traffic booms from all directions. Vehicles jam up at traffic lights as far as the eye can see, puffing out gas from exhaust pipes.