House of Night: Texas

Chapter 1

House of Night: Texas

Chapter 1

          "But mooooooom! I want to be a vampyre! You're going to have to face it when the time comes and the Tracker finds me!"
          Finally giving up on doing my homework I closed my laptop and glared towards my bedroom door. My younger sister was annoying my mother yet again about how she's going to become a famous vampyre one day. She's barely even fifteen and thinks she can see her entire future while I'm stuck doing boring college work from my mom's house. I sighed and leaned back into my desk chair.
          "Vampyre's haven't been in our town longer than three years and yet we haven't seen any of them around. Almost like once you're Marked you become a prisoner in that school." My mother's voice had a hint of concern, especially having her youngest baby girl wanting to become one of those "prisoners".
          "You don't see them because they hide their Mark." I call to them in the next room, "They have this special kind of cover up that makes them look, well, human." I stood from my chair and left my lavender colored room to my sisters crimson one. She was bouncing around her room, unable to find the words that would convince our mother. I leaned against the doorway and met my mother's eyes, blue clashing with blue.
          "We've probably met dozens of vamps and never even knew it." I stated and remembered something that had happened a few days ago, "Didn't one of your coworkers' son get Marked?"
          With a slight nod her gaze went to my bouncing sister, "Yes, Leslie knew him. That's why I think this sudden urge to be a vampyre appeared. You two were close, weren't you?" Leslie stopped in her tracks and then slumped onto her bed. My mother patted her back and whispered sweet things to her as I walked out towards our living room.
          We were taught about vampyres in school for as long as I can remember, but it was only recently that they actually lived in our tiny town. Well, it used to be tiny. Ever since the first few kids were Marked and had to travel who knows how far for a House of Night, I had heard rumors of one going to be built near us. Never would have imagined that it would be this close. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against vampyres. They were very interesting and what I have learned they're just like us. Except for the flip flopped times and bloodlust.
          Our living room was filled with Christmas music, a tree and the smell of pine cones. Being only a week till Christmas, I'm surprised we weren't all singing carols and drinking eggnog by now. That's when I noticed my grandmother, Jeanie, rocking in her recliner with a big gingerbread shaped mug and seemed to be humming something. Spoke too soon.
          "Oh, Lindsey! Come look! The news says we're going to get snow!" My grandma cheered when she saw me sit on the couch near her. I glanced at the flat screen to see a news woman babbling on about where snow was going to hit. She said that there was a slight chance of snow for us, but to everyone in my house it sounded like she was saying we're going to get snowed in. I smiled at how happy she was and then how Leslie charged into the room at the word snow.
          Close to dinner time, everyone was now sitting in the living room together with their mouths stuffed with food. I looked around the room at each of them as they ate.
          My grandma was a tall lady with short, curly strawberry-blonde hair and very thick glasses that made my eyes water looking at them. Sitting next to me on the couch was my mom, Laurie Grubbs. Her dark brown hair was very short, a buzz-cut like style and was shorter than grandma's. Leslie looked just like our mom when she was younger, or that's what she tells us. Leslie usually wore her shoulder length dirty-blonde hair up in a messy bun but tonight she had left it down, leaving it very wavy. Her brown eyes nearly popped out of her skull when her father, Johnny, sitting in the other recliner said something that made her laugh. He was just slightly shorter than my grandma and always wore a hat on his thin, black hair. He's been my step father since I was about two, but he's always been a second dad to me.
          As for me, I'm the shortest of the bunch. A five foot, nineteen year old with short, blonde hair who wears glasses. There is so much that can be said, and has been said, about everything odd with me. Not that it bothers me, I laugh right along with everyone. Being the total bookworm I am, I had my face buried in one of my favorites instead of eating. My stomach told me as soon as I woke up this morning that it wasn't going to play nice today. So I settled for a glass of water.
          "Look! A story on the vamps!" Leslie yelled which made my mother scowl at her. As she told her the "how many times must I tell you not to yell inside" lecture, I turned up the volume on the TV. A young man, not much younger than me, was standing next to the news woman from earlier. She had long, blonde hair that had been curled neatly. Her bright green eyes showed how excited she was to be doing something other than the weather.
          "Hi, Miranda Cox here, live in Granbury, Texas. I'm standing here with Tyler Young, a fledgeling attending the recently opened House of Night. So tell us, what's your new life like?" Her perky voice made me jump as much as it did him. Tyler had light brown hair and eyes that seemed to dull in comparison of the dark blue crescent moon in the middle of his forehead. He smiled politely at her and then towards the screen. His voice was soft and you could tell he was nervous.
          "It's pretty great, actually. All the teachers here are amazing and the other fledglings are really nice. I was very glad when I was Marked the school had just opened." He turned to face the school. It was once a large conference center, but they expanded it and it now had three floors. The building was made of different colored beige bricks and the front of it had four tall columns connected to each other at the top. The front walls are made entirely of windows with a long tin roof extended over them. The rest of the building was the same type of rock with occasional windows. It looked so ordinary that it almost seemed out of place.
          "And a good perk is that you're right next to the beach! Does your High Priestess let you go night swimming?" Miranda asked gleefully. Tyler gave a slight nod as he looked out at the sandy white beach adjacent from the school. Even though they were so close to each other, the school didn't own the beach entirely, so everyone could swim there. While they talked a bit more on the subject I could see in the corner of my eye that my mother looked lost about something.
          "A High Priestess is like their version of a principal, but only she is very special to their Goddess, Nyx, and usually has a very strong affinity. She might have the power to wield the wind or can read your thoughts. A fledgling trains to be a High Priestess when she shows that Nyx has something planned for her after she completes the Change." I tell her.
          "If they complete the Change," Leslie chimes in. I felt my heart sink at the thought of her first losing a friend to another world and then possibly losing them to death itself. My grandma let out a sad sigh and we all turned back to the chatty Miranda.
          "Thank you again for speaking with us, Tyler. We had hoped we could also speak with your High Priestess, but I heard that she was busy with a personal matter. Is it serious?" She asked.
          Tyler hesitated with his answer, "I don't know the full extent of the situation, but hopefully she'll be able to speak with you another time."
          Miranda smiled big at the screen as she signed off and Tyler gave a small wave goodbye. It was when the screen went back to a large man behind a desk that was talking about who knows what when my stomach churned. A sudden wave of heat covered my body and my head felt like it was hit with a frying pan. I tossed my book on the couch as I rushed to the bathroom across from my bedroom.
          I don't know how long I was in there, but it was long enough to leave a butt mark on the shower rug I had been sitting on. I didn't dare look at what I had coughed up. It'd only make my stomach feel worse. Plus, my vision was already blurred with tears to see anything. My mom had brought me a warm washcloth to put over my eyes and forehead. I had to tell her repeatedly that I had no idea why I suddenly got so sick and that I'd figure it out later.
          Flushing down what I had hoped was the last wave of sickness, there was a soft knock on the door. Leslie poked her head in and had a sad look on her face. I waved for her to come in and she sat near me on the floor. In her hand was my slim, white iPhone. She shakily handed it to me and I gave her a small smile. A sharp pain pierced through my head again and I had to bite my lip to keep from passing out. Again.
          "He called you..." Leslie said quietly and I looked down at my phone. Three missed calls and a ton of unread messages.
          "I answered it earlier, to let him know how you're feeling." She then smiled at me mischievously, "He said he'd be over tomorrow in the morning to see you." I could feel my cheeks get warm as I smiled. My boyfriend Steven is such a sweetheart. We've been together for almost eight months and he still gave me butterflies. His picture was my screensaver. He had dark, black hair and deep brown eyes, his skin was like he had a permanent tan. He also wore glasses, his are a sleek black color while mine are a mixture of blues. I scanned through the messages he had sent. Most were trying to get my attention and then they escalated to worry. I smiled sadly at my phone and desperately wanted to call him. To hear his voice...
          I dropped my phone as I doubled over in pain and groaned. Leslie jumped up quickly and apologized as she ran out. What the hell was wrong with me? I laid down and used a towel as a pillow. My legs felt like jello and my head wouldn't stop pounding. Maybe if I shut my eyes for a bit the pain would settle. I closed my eyes tight and tried to relax.
          The soft ticking of the clock hanging above the toilet seemed to lull me to sleep...