If you’re reading this chapter, I’m quite positive you like the book. ;) Otherwise, why would you read so many chapters?
If you didn’t buy the book yet, you definitely should! It has new and exciting scenes, no more stupid mistakes, and the entire thing was edited & polished.
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Sam looked around the room, where everyone was sitting on the ground or one of the beds. We’d all changed into our PJ’s an hour ago, after everyone had had enough of Guitar Hero and Sing Star. Eros and his roommates turned out be amazing at the letter game – almost as good as me and my friends were at Guitar Hero. Eventually, Sam’s eyes locked on Hailey. My old and new friends had been making a real effort to get to know each other, which explained why Sam would be choosing Hailey.
“Truth or Dare?” Sam asked with a nice smile – much nicer than her usual grimace. I guess the recent full moon was still working wonders on her mood.
“Truth,” Hailey replied.
So far, pretty much everyone had picked Truth. And with so many people that didn’t really know each other, some of the questions had been pretty basic: where would you like to live of you could pick any place in the world? When was your first kiss? What is your most embarrassing blunder ever?
Sam tapped her chin, mulling over the possibilities. “Which guy in this room do you think is the hottest?”
It wasn’t a shameful question in my opinion, but Hailey turned bright red. On the other side of the room, Paul choked on his sprite. A few of the guys jeered and everyone was looking at Hailey intently.
“Just tell them it’s me,” Dylan teased. “Everyone in here has the hot for me, obviously.”
“You wish,” Eros grinned.
“Hey, I’m still in the mix too,” Antwan brought in. He was sitting with his back against the wall, an arm around Minnie. She kissed his cheek, murmuring something that made him smile.
I was looking at Paul, and I could see Anne and Greg were too. Jen and Sam were too engrossed in each other to notice much else, but the three of us just knew something was going on here.
“So?” Sam pressed. “Who is it?”
“I’m switching to a Dare,” Hailey told her with pink cheeks. “We can still do that, right?”
“Sure,” Sam replied with a frown. “But you’ll have to do the Dare no matter what.” When Hailey agreed, Sam shrugged and gave Hailey a Dare. “Kiss the guy that you think is the hottest.”
Hailey grunted. “That almost the same as Truth!”
Sam grinned. “There are no rules that say I can’t tell you to kiss someone, so…”
When Hailey got up from the floor, I already knew what she was going to do. She took three big steps and then stopped in front of Paul. He looked positively flustered, but he got up too and when she put her hands on his shoulders, I could tell that it was not the first time they were standing like that. The way their heads tilted, their eyes closed and his hands knotted in her hair… This wasn’t the first kiss they’d shared – it was one of many.
“Oh my God!” Jennifer screamed. “Oh my fucking God!”
Hailey and Paul broke apart and looked like they just wanted to disappear.
“How long have the two of you been dating?” Anne asked before I could do so.
Paul cleared his throat. “Erm… about three months.”
“You kept this a secret for three months?” Greg asked, shocked. “Why?”
Sam was looking a little confused, and so were many others. They sure hadn’t expected this to happen when Sam had asked her question. Hell, they were my friends and I hadn’t seen this coming either.
“When Jen and Samuel started dating…” Hailey started. “Well, Anne and Greg, the two of you were always together, always going off on your own… Ever since Demona left… things haven’t been the same. It kinda left me and Paul alone a lot, and something just changed… But we didn’t want to make things awkward.”
“Awkward how?” Anne asked. “We would’ve supported you, you know that!”
“We heard you talk to Greg about how our group dynamics have changed even since Dam left,” Paul told her. “And with Jen and Sam all over each other all of the freaking time… With Paul and me together, Greg and you would be isolated and we didn’t want to do that to you.”
Anne got up and hugged both of them. “I can’t believe you hid something like this from me. You shouldn’t have! I didn’t mean for you to overhear that conversation!”
“You think we’re over each other all the time?” Jen asked, her voice wobbly. “Why didn’t you tell us that you were bothered by it?”
Greg shrugged. “We figured it’d get less over time and when it didn’t… let’s just say it’s not the kind of thing you just say to someone.”
I heard all of them talking, saw all of them hugging, but I did not participate. Of course I thought it was great that Hailey and Paul had turned their life-long friendship into something more. Sure it was great that they could finally come clean and be together in public. But there was something nagging at me, making it impossible to focus on anything else. Anne and Greg had apparently talked about what me leaving had meant for the group – and they thought it had changed the group dynamics, whatever that meant.
“What changed when I left?” I asked finally, when everyone had quieted down a bit.
Anne, Greg, Paul, Hailey, Jen and Samuel all looked ill at ease.
“Well…” Paul started carefully. “We all felt really weird about you leaving, since it was all such short notice and you were acting really strange. And then we barely heard from you, which was especially hard on Anne and Greg.”
“You didn’t text, you didn’t call… And when you did, you were secretive, unwilling to let me in like you used to.” Anne had tears in her eyes – I’d had no idea she had been keeping so much sadness and resentment bottled up inside. “Do you have any idea what that was like for me?”
I buried my head in my hands. She was right of course: I had been guarded, but I could hardly be open and honest about my life now that I was enrolled in a supernatural boarding school. “I’m sorry,” I murmured.
“It’s okay,” Anne assured me, throwing her arms around me. “You’re back now, right? You invited us here. It’s all okay, Demmy.”
“Hey!” Samuel said indignantly. “Only I get to call her that!”
“Sounds like a name for a fluffy bunny,” Simon observed.
“She kind of is,” Sammy teased, ruffling my hair.
I grunted and pushed everyone off. “Okay, enough of this sappy reunion thing. Let’s get on with the game. Hailey – you get to pick someone.”
And on went the game. For a while, Anne and I just sat side to side, smiling at each other occasionally. Greg was behind us, and soon we were lying on the bed, our hands on his legs – the way we used to do when I still lived back home.
After listening to some more Truths and me having to dance with a pair of underpants on my head after a Dare from Will, I got to choose someone.
“Dylan,” I decided, looking straight at him.
He frowned. “Truth.”
“Why do you hate me so much?”
He grunted. “Because you’re bad for Eros. I already told you that.”
I heard Simon chuckle. “Bad for Eros?” he asked surprised. “You don’t mean that.”
“Everyone always assumes that Eros is the bad influence here,” Dylan complained. “But in my opinion, Demona is the main problem. Isn’t she the one that broke both his and your heart, Simon? Didn’t she cheat on you? Wasn’t she the one to shut her old friends out? I don’t get why everyone gathered here tonight to be with her and to meet her other friends. She doesn’t seem worth it.”
“Hey!” Greg glared at him. “That’s my best friend you’re talking about.”
“I know you think I’m bad for people,” I told Dylan irritated. “You made your point. But I don’t think that’s it. Your au-” Crap, I couldn’t tell him his aura was all over the place, indication to me he was lying. I did not use to be able to see such a thing, but along with the red I had seen in Simon’s and Eros’ auras today, I also noticed everybody’s auras were more… flexible, always changing. “You’re not telling the whole truth,” I finished lamely.
“Fine,” Dylan agreed. “I’m not. I’ll take a Dare then.”
I sighed, very much annoyed. “Fine. I dare you to… stick three ice cubes in your underpants and let them melt.”
“You’re cruel.” Dylan scowled, but he did the Dare without further complains. Soon, his pants were starting to get wet and everyone was laughing at his uncomfortable expression.
Dylan then picked Simon, and I was pretty sure he was only doing it to spite me. When Simon picked Dare, Dylan smiled wickedly. “Call Amy Matters and ask her out.”
“Dylan!” I exclaimed angrily. “You’re…” There were no words for how awful he was. Why the hell had I invited him here in the first place?
Eros and Simon were both tuned into me, analyzing my emotions. I didn’t even know exactly what I felt myself. Yes, I was jealous of Amy. Simon had risked losing me when he had kept texting her. That stung – I had not been enough for him. Of course he hadn’t been enough for me either, but that did not change the fact that I had wanted to be all Simon needed. And even though it was me, who had broken up with him, I selfishly didn’t want him dating anyone else.
“Okay,” Simon decided, even though I had expected him to switch to Truth. “I’ll call her.”
While Simon waited for her to pick up – it was past midnight already – I quickly told my old friends who the hell Amy Matters was. They all looked sympatric and Anne took my hand in hers.
“Hey, Amy! Did I wake you?” Simon asked when she finally answered. “Oh, I’m really sorry… Yeah… yes… Oh, yeah I was calling to ask you if you’d like to go on a date with me… No, I’m not kidding… Yes, this Friday works just fine for me… Thanks, sleep tight, Amy.” He was practically glowing when he hung up – he obviously felt flattered that a girl agreed to go out with him so eagerly.
I was fuming by now, but I tried to keep it down. I had no hold over Simon, no right to judge him, to expect him to wait for me while I figured out what I wanted. I just hadn’t anticipated he would be going out with someone else so soon after we had broken up.
Dylan looked very pleased with himself, and Eros didn’t exactly look sorry about the situation either. I could hardly blame him: he was getting exactly what he wanted today.
“I guess I’ll ask… Eve,” Simon was saying.
I was paying attention to the next Truth though – I was focused on something else entirely. A scent that had not been there a second ago was clouding my mind. It was blood. Sweet, delicious, warm, fresh blood. I could feel my fangs extending, so I quickly closed my mouth and raised my hands to my face. I looked to the side and saw Sammy had cut himself while opening a bottle of coke. His hand was bleeding, the scent of it making me want to jump his bones.
Shaking, I got up and started toward the hallway. “Bathroom,” my mumbled to Anne when she looked up questioningly.
Eros and Simon were already on their feet, rushing after me. Before they could catch up to me, I hurried into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I could tell they were just outside and I felt their worry through the bond. With a sigh, I shut them out. It was silent for a while, but I had a hard time getting my fangs back to normal. Every time they started shrinking, I recalled the sweet smell of Samuel’s blood, the smell of Antwan’s the other night, the taste of the cop’s blood… My fangs would shoot all the way out again.
The bathroom consisted of three parts: there was a small shower cabin, a toilet – with another door, this one without a lock – and the little space I was currently in. It had a mirror, a small white porcelain sink and a trashcan. I saw myself in the mirror and it was appalling: I looked like a monster. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen myself with my fangs out, but I had never seen my eyes wide with longing, my skin pale and my mouth open so wide, anticipating the sweet taste of blood again. I had never before resembled a mythical vampire so much.
Shuddering, I sat down, not wanting to look at myself anymore. I huddled underneath the sink and rested my head against the wall. How was I going to deal with this? Maybe I shouldn’t keep seeing my old friends after all. I was a danger to everyone: witches, fairies, humans… Only werewolves and vampires would be able to keep me off if I jumped at them. Sure, Greg was strong and fast, but I doubted he’d be able to keep my fangs from cutting through his flesh once I got out of control.
“Hey!” I exclaimed when the door hit my leg. I looked up in shock – I was sure, that I had locked the door behind me.
Standing over me was not Eros or Simon. The person towering over me was Dylan – the last person I had expected to come after me.
“I’m very daft at picking locks,” he told me flippantly. “Now, let me see those bad boys.” He sat down in front of me cross-legged and reached for my face. When I recoiled, he sighed deeply. “I’m not gonna do anything bad, I just want to see what we’re dealing with.”
Hesitantly, I opened up my mouth and let Dylan put his hands on either side of my face. He peered at my teeth and smiled.
“They’re still relatively small. You’ve got a long way to go before your full transformation, obviously.” He then pulled up his right sleeve and offered me his wrist. “Well, bon appetite.”
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