Pure Blood (The Pure Blood Series Book 1) Read online

  I nod. "Yeah. That's fine."

  He smiles. "Thank you, baby girl. I really could use the help."

  Since I'm my parents' only daughter, they call me "baby girl." Sometimes I don't like being referred to as "baby," but I acknowledge my parents' good intentions.

  He looks down at his watch. "I better get going. I guess I'll see you after school."

  I give him a hug and tell him I love him before he heads out the door.

  "Momma, where's the syrup?" I ask my mother.

  "In the cabinet. The boys finished off the last bottle," she informs me.

  I open the top cabinet and start rummaging for it. "Uh, sweetheart," Mom addresses me.

  I turn to her. "Yes, ma'am?"

  She smiles at me like I did something cute. "Other side."

  I smile to myself and turn to the other side of the cabinet.

  I spot the syrup in the back, but I have to move a few things to get to it. I pull down a box of cereal, a jar of peanut butter, and a container of chips before I reach it. But the container feels almost empty. I open the lid. Sure enough, more than half of the chips are gone. I sigh. "Seriously! We just went to the grocery store. Why are the chips almost gone already?"

  Mom gives a puzzled look. "What're you talking about?"

  I hand her the container. She promptly looks inside then puts the lid back on. I run a hand through my hair. "Please, tell me the boys ate them all."

  My mom puts a hand my shoulder. "We'll find out what's going on soon enough," she assures me.

  I hope so, I think to myself.

  For a few years now, different, unexplained things have happened here in the house. Footsteps in the middle of the night—when nobody has claimed to have been out of bed. Objects being in different places—when no one has touched them. Some missing food from our cabinets—the chips, for instance. And sometimes the horses seem pretty spooked about something.

  It's like we're living in another Paranormal Activity movie. Strange and stranger things keep happening. It starts off as something occasional and turns into something frequent. Pretty soon the demon will possess one of us, to take the rest of us. I laugh quietly at that.

  I am somewhat of a skeptic. I believe the paranormal is possible, but not likely. I have to see it, to believe it. Then it's a slight maybe that I'll still believe it.

  I grab my plate of waffles and join my brothers at the coffee table. "How old is Scooby-Doo?" Casey asks, as I sit down.

  I shrug. "I don't know. I think Momma said it started in 1969, so about forty-six years old."

  "Really?" Kendall asks.

  "Yep. Scooby-Doo is as old as Mom and Dad," Derek says. "Which is pretty old."

  I shake my head. "Mom and Dad aren't that old! And despite its age, it's still my favorite."

  Derek looks at me like duh. "Isn't it everyone's?"

  "It's mine," Casey says.

  Derek gives a look of annoyance. "I kinda got the memo, Case. Now, finish your waffles."

  I try to ignore my brothers. Sometimes they can be annoying, and other times, they can be amusing. It depends on what moods they're in. They particularly make me angry when they taunt my dog.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Kendall wave part of his waffle around in front of Troy. "You want the waffle, Troy? You want it?" He stuffs the waffle into his little mouth. I am just barely able to make out his next muffled words. "Well, you can't have it!"

  Yep. My brothers are their own show. Together they are a real big handful; separately they are manageable. I'm one of the very few people who can handle them when they are wild and crazy. I guess because I'm a little crazy, too.

  When I finish my waffles, I run upstairs to my bedroom. I get dressed, brush my teeth, and get the rest of my school supplies together. I also throw a T-shirt and a pair of jeans in my bag for when I go to help my dad later.

  I hastily run a brush through my long blonde hair. Most days, I take the curling iron to my hair, but not today. Today, I leave it straight.

  I fasten my favorite necklace. A thin, silver chain with a silver and diamond snowflake pendant. My parents gave it to me for my birthday last year—which is the day after Christmas, December 26th. Hence the snowflake.

  Lastly, I throw on my shoes, grab my bag, and practically leap down the stairs. I can't help but fear what's to become of school—particularly because of Dean Lyle.

  Dean and I go way back to pre-kindergarten. We never paid each other much attention. My mom taught our class, and I referred to her as "Mommy" instead of Mrs. Thompson. One day, Dean called me a baby, so I spilled water on him and told everyone he wet his pants. He has hated me ever since.

  I kneel down and put my arms around Troy. "I'll see you later, buddy." He stares at me with those deep blue eyes and lets out a small whimper.

  "I'm sorry, boy. But I have to go." I pat the top of his head. I stand up. As I start to walk away, Lenny also begins to whine.

  I feel bad for leaving them because we're with them all the time. Leaving them at home alone just doesn't seem right. Derek walks over and gently pats Lenny on the top of his head. "We'll be back soon," he assures him. Lenny tilts his head and perks his ears up. Derek turns his attention to Troy. "It's okay, guys. We'll be back before you know it."

  I sling my bag over my shoulder and take Casey's little hand. We reluctantly make our way to the kitchen. The two dogs watch as we leave. They whine and groan until we're out of their sights. Never have I seen dogs so upset about their family leaving for a few hours. They both know we'll come back. I'll probably never truly understand them.

  TWO

  I SIT IN THE passenger seat of the car, staring out the window. For most people my age, it would be embarrassing to have your mom drive you to school. But I don't care. I have my driver's license, but I really don't like to drive. Besides, my mom has the same destination. Brighton Christian Academy.

  Like most Christian schools, ours has elementary, middle, and high school all together on one campus. We also wear school uniforms. Boys wear navy or khaki pants with a lighter blue polo shirt. Whereas, girls wear navy skirts—that at least come down to our knees—and a lighter blue polo or a navy sweater for colder days.

  Rude or violent behavior is not allowed at Brighton Christian Academy. The principal and most of the teachers believe that we should be respectful of others. I wish Dean felt that way. He likes to pick on me. Sometimes I get back at him, but most of the time I ignore him.

  The sound of Derek's voice pulls my attention away from the window. "Just wait until my classmates see what I can do." He pulls out a deck of cards from his bag and offers them to Kendall. "Pick a card, any card!"

  Kendall hesitates on deciding which one to pick, then finally takes one.

  "Now, put it back."

  Kendall puts the card back. Derek hands the deck to me. "Shuffle them, my lady!"

  I take the deck and shuffle them up really good. I hand the deck back to Derek. He picks one, smiles, and shows it to Kendall. "Is this your card?"

  Kendall smiles and nods his little head. "Yeah!"

  I roll my eyes. "For the last time, you're not a magician! None of us are!"

  Derek smiles at me. "I never said I was or we were. I'm just that awesome. And besides, I was right about the car crash."

  I roll my eyes again and cross my arms over my chest as I sink into my seat. My mom shakes her head. "Let's just keep this to ourselves, okay? We don't exactly know what's going on."

  It's true. We don't know. My brothers and I are most certainly not normal. And as much as I hate to admit it—Derek had been right about the car crash.

  He'd kept saying, "If you go out with Tom tonight, you're gonna end up in a car crash." He'd been certain of it. But I hadn't believed him. I, too, had seen it in my dreams. But with my skepticism, I hadn't thought of it as anything more than an odd dream.

  When Tom had arrived to pick me up, Derek had kept coming up with reasons to get us to stay. But eventually we'd headed out anyway. Alt
hough sure enough, when we'd gone halfway to the movie theater it had almost happened. A woman texting on her phone had run a red light as we approached the intersection. Derek's stalling had saved us. But he was not the only one possessing these oddities.

  Kendall, Casey, and I, too, share them—Isaac had them as well. We all can predict things in a different way from just the bizarre dreams. Sometimes it's more like some uncanny intuition. A gut feeling, if you will. For instance, I keep feeling as if something dark and evil is coming to Brighton. Something that will result in many deaths and many tragedies. Derek and the twins feel this as well. But until we have more to go on, there's nothing we can do. All we can do is hope for the best.

  When we get to school, my mom walks with Kendall and Casey to the elementary building—as we call it. Derek and I walk to the high school building. The middle school classrooms are on the first floor, while the high school classrooms are on the second. All of the lockers, the gym, and the cafeteria are on the first floor. The elementary building is similar. There is also a small chapel on campus—but we go to a different church.

  As we walk, I can't help but glance at Derek. My little brother has really grown up in the past year. He's almost my height now. But his height isn't the only thing that's changed.

  He always used to keep his blonde hair short but has grown it out longer—not long enough to break the academy's rules though. His eyebrows are more bushy. They almost take away the blue from his eyes. At least that's one element in his appearance that will never change.

  Derek gives me a sidelong glance. "What? Why are you staring at me?"

  I stumble over words, not wanting to talk about his newfound maturity. Instead, I think about how he and the twins don't have very many friends. Neither do I.

  My only friends consist of my best friend, Riley Dase, and my boyfriend, Tom Lucas. I guess not having a bunch of friends, runs in the family. "Uh. I was just gonna ask if maybe you would wanna hang out with my friends and me?"

  Derek ponders this for a second. "Hmm. I don't know. It would be nice to have some people to hang out with. But in all the years I've known Tom and Riley, we've never really had much of a conversation."

  I look down at my feet as I walk. "Okay. Well, just think it over."

  Derek nods and agrees. "Alright. I will."

  "Britt!" A voice from behind calls my name.

  I know exactly whom the voice belongs to. I smile as I turn around. My boyfriend, Tom, swaggers toward me. I pull him into an embrace, and he does the same to me.

  "I've missed you, Brittany," his voice says, right behind my ear.

  "I've missed you, too. And don't call me that!" Tom knows I prefer Britt over Brittany. He only says it to aggravate me.

  He pulls back slightly to kiss me, but Derek's voice stops him.

  "You've missed each other?" he scoffs and continues, "Y'all just went on a date last week!"

  I ignore Derek and run a hand through Tom's reddish-brown hair. "Who in the heck styles your hair in the morning?"

  His cheeks turn red, and he laughs. "I do. Why?"

  I shake my head and run my hand through his hair again. "No reason."

  Tom's unruly reddish-brown hair compliments his light brown eyes. I've loved his hair since the day we met, but even then, it was still a mess.

  Tom had been the new kid. Nobody had even bothered talking to him. He'd sat alone at lunch, staring down at his tray. Riley and I had our own table, keeping away from the other kids. We'd noticed Tom sitting all by himself and had felt sorry for him. We'd joined him, but he hadn't really paid much attention to us. Eventually, he'd come around.

  He stares down at me. His brown eyes are not as pretty as Troy's dark blue ones. Troy is an exception. The perfect dog—at least to me anyway.

  "We should probably be getting inside," Tom suggests.

  "Yeah. Probably. You two love-struck idiots!" Derek says. Tom and I laugh at him. Derek rolls his eyes. "Now, come on. Let's get inside."

  Tom and I watch as he walks away. "Wow. He hasn't changed much over the summer has he?" Tom asks.

  "In that sense," I reply.

  We start toward the high school building again. Derek leads the way, and Tom and I hold back hand-in-hand. "You still got the ghost voices, and voodoo, and monsters hiding in your closet?"

  I glare at him. "Don't do that."

  Tom is just as puzzled as I am about all of the weird things going on in my house. Riley, on the other hand, thinks I'm insane. At least I know someone believes me.

  It's ironic though, considering the fact that Tom is the most skeptical person I've ever met. More so than me. But it's kinda hard not to believe this stuff is real when you get out of bed to get some water and hear footsteps walking down the hall. It's been happening for years now but lately more than usual. It has started to pick up over the past couple of weeks.

  For all the peculiar things happening in my life, I wish something good would happen. Something like, the intruder gets arrested for breaking and entering, or my brothers and I aren't freaks after all. I guess anything better really. Although, none of that is likely to happen anytime soon.

  Maybe the sleepover tonight will help take my mind off it. My parents agreed to let Riley sleepover. We've been planning it for about a week now. We've probably had about a hundred sleepovers in the past thirteen years that we've known each other. And maybe tonight she'll experience something aberrant and actually believe me.

  When we get inside, Derek takes off to search for his locker, and Tom tells me he has to run to the office. He asks me to save him a seat in class and leaves me. I walk down the hall alone to find my locker.

  I periodically look over my shoulder to make sure Dean is not there. I know he has not changed schools. I'm not that lucky. But I am secretly hoping he has been held back a year. I may be lucky enough for that.

  The sound of Dean's voice catches my full attention. A brief moment of fear sweeps over me, as does a flare of anger. I decide not to cause a scene on the first day back. So to avoid conflict with Dean, I keep my head down low and my back facing him. It's not much, but it works. He and his brother walk right past me.

  I take the opportunity to head in the opposite direction. I find my locker and open it up. Fortunately, the door will block part of me from Dean's view. I just pray nothing happens today.

  "So, what're we having for dinner tonight?" A familiar voice asks, from behind me.

  Riley. She smiles at me, and I return the favor. "I think my parents are gonna let us order pizza."

  "Sweet! My parents decided to eat all healthy and stuff. Instead of letting me get something from the cafeteria today, my mom packed me a disgustingly healthy lunch. I think they're going vegan."

  I put a hand on her shoulder. I have sympathy for her. I don't like to eat healthy either. Not entirely. "Well, don't worry. I have three brothers. My house is full of bad food."

  She laughs. "And what about lunch?"

  "I'll share mine."

  I quickly return to my locker door again, concealing my face from Dean's sight. I'm not going to get into it with him. Not today. I refuse to give him that satisfaction.

  "What're you doing?" Riley asks.

  "Do me a favor. Do you see Dean anywhere?"

  Her expression becomes content. She now knows my reason for hiding. "So that's what this is about. You're hiding from Dean."

  I avoid her gaze. She thinks I should let Dean have it—like I have done many times before. The problem is, it hasn't done anything for me yet. He continues to antagonize me.

  "Just answer the question, Ri."

  She looks every which way, but does not spot Dean. "I think you're good. Surely he won't start any fights on the first day."

  I'm doubtful. "Maybe."

  I gasp as realization hits me. I promised my dad I would help him after school. I quickly explain to Riley that I wasn't thinking about the sleepover at the time. "I'm so sorry, Riley."

  She waves it off. "It's fine. I'll just go
with you."

  "You sure?"

  "Hey, I get to spend the night away from my parents. I'll do anything."

  The bell rings and we head to class. Half of the students are already seated. Riley and I find three empty desks toward the back of the room. We sit down and save the third desk for Tom.

  Riley leans over to me. "I saw Derek in the hallway earlier. I didn't know he grew his hair out. It's kinda cute."

  I stare at her with wide eyes. Derek is fifteen, there is nothing cute about him. Casey and Kendall? Sure. Derek? Not so much.

  When I shake my shocked trance, I scoff. Normally I would come up with a witty quip, but something else piques my interest. "Wait. You think Derek is cute?"

  She rolls her eyes. "I was only saying that it's a good look for him. But now that I think about it, I guess he is kinda cute."

  I roll my eyes and shake my head.

  My brother and Riley? Gross. The two have never been in a room together long enough to be interested in each other. Riley's sudden attraction to him is unexpected. This definitely tops my freak show list.

  "Okay. Changing the subject, have your parents agreed to let you come to Charleston?"

  My family is planning on going to Charleston for a small weekend vacation next month. I've managed to convince my parents to let Riley come, but she's still trying to get her parents on board.

  I have only been to Charleston a couple of times. It's about a two-hour drive from Brighton. I love it for its beauty and abundance of history.

  "They haven't said anything. But I'm certain they'll let me go. They have to," Riley says.

  "I hope so," I say, trying to remain optimistic. "If they don't, then they're a real buzzkill."

  Riley tries to keep a straight face but ends up smiling. "You're just putting that together now?" We both laugh.

  We both sit quietly, as we wait for class to start. I watch Dean talk and laugh with his friends about the divorce of a fellow classmate's parents. The poor guy sits in the desk in front of me, trying to ignore Dean and his group of weasels. I feel sorry for him. It already has to be hard enough that his parents are divorcing, but Dean's mockery has to make things a million times worse. At least Dean's not irritating me directly.