Dark Realms Read online

  Sudden gunshots echoed in the darkness, startling everyone. Someone screamed in pain and Adrianne watched as all of the women began to scatter into other parts of the woods, their pale bodies glowing in the moonlight.

  “Girls, follow me!” demanded Lisbeth, grabbing her robe. “Hurry!”

  Vivian and Adrianne quickly snatched up their cloaks and followed their mother while more gunfire exploded all around them. Just when they reached the ravine that would lead them back towards the safety of their cabin, Adrianne felt intense wave of dread and she could barely breathe. It was then that her mother stopped and turned towards the girls, her face as pale as the moon.

  “Mother? Why are you stopping?” asked Vivian, looking around nervously.

  Lisbeth didn’t say anything¸ instead she crumbled to the ground. Both girls screamed in horror as blood began to spread across the top of their mother’s robe.

  “Mother!” cried Adrianne, dropping to her knees beside Lisbeth. She touched her cheek and began to cry. “No!”

  “Devil worshipper!” growled their father as he sprang out of the woods with a shotgun clutched tightly in his hands. His dark eyes were filled with loathing as he stared at Lisbeth’s still body. “Now, Witch, you can spend eternity with him!”

  Adrianne choked on her sobs as father raised his gun and aimed it at her this time.

  “Daddy?!” she screamed.

  He stared at her for a moment and then his eyes filled with tears. “I can’t… I just can’t, dear Lord,” he moaned, falling to his knees. He held out his arm. “Adrianne… will you repent child… and seek God’s forgiveness?”

  Before Adrianne could respond, Vivian grabbed her wand, then closed her eyes and began to chant. It was then that Adrianne noticed the wand in her hand that was beginning to sparkle.

  Mother’s wand.

  “What in Heaven’s name are you doing, daughter?!” hollered their father, now raising the gun towards Vivian. “Put that down!”

  Vivian stopped her chanting, pointed the wand towards their father, and whispered a single word. “Die.”

  His face turned white and then red. He dropped the gun and clutched his chest, staring at Vivian in anguish. “Viv, what have you done?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Die,” she repeated, this time with much more venom.

  Adrianne screamed in horror and ran towards their father, who now lay writhing on the ground, howling in horrendous pain. She kneeled down and took his hand. “Stop it!” she yelled, staring up at her sister. “You’re killing him!”

  Vivian smiled darkly. “That’s the point.”

  Chapter One

  (Now – 25 Years Later)

  Bayport, Michigan

  “Kendra, for the last time, wake up!” hollered my mother, who was now standing outside of the bedroom door, tapping her nails impatiently against the doorframe.

  “Fine,” I groaned, turning over. I looked at the clock – seven o’clock, and I only have twenty minutes to get ready. That was barely enough time to find clean underwear.

  My sister flounced into the room, dressed in her new pink skinny jeans and white lace top. She plopped down next to me on my bed and shook me. “Get up, lazy bones! Aren’t you excited? I just love the first day of school.”

  Summer was officially over and both Kala and I were starting twelfth grade. She was excited and I was resigned to the fact I still had nine more months of school before my “Great Escape.” June couldn’t get here fast enough.

  “Yay,” I mumbled, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. As always, she was a little too chipper for me to handle this early in the morning.

  “So, what are you going to wear?” she asked, hopping off of the bed.

  I yawned. “Um, clothes?”

  Kala laughed and then started digging through our closet. She pulled out one of the new outfits my mom had chosen for me and held it out. Unlike both my mom and sister, I loathed shopping.

  “Here, you should wear this purple hoodie with your white cargo pants,” she said. “It’s super cute.”

  I snorted. “Cute? Sure, on someone else.”

  My sister frowned. “Don’t be so negative. It does look nice on you. In fact, if they would have had it in my size, I would have snatched it up in a heartbeat.”

  Kala, my skinny twin sister, never had to worry about clothes. Being a twig, everything always looks awesome on her.

  “Fine, I’ll wear it,” I said, grabbing the outfit. I brushed past her to the small bathroom we shared and hoped I could still fit into the pants. Locking the door, I turned around and stared at my reflection in the mirror, wishing it was someone else – long brown hair, ghostly white skin, and blue eyes, which, actually… weren’t half bad.

  I sighed. Who was I kidding? Nobody even noticed my eyes with this double chin.

  “Don’t forget, we only have fifteen minutes,” she called through the door. “I’ll be downstairs in the kitchen.”

  Groaning, I quickly got ready, stuffing myself into the new clothes. When I finally got the zipper up, I stood sideways and groaned at the result. Although they were a size fourteen, they were much tighter than the last time I’d tried them on. Even the hoodie looked tight.

  Crap.

  Shuffling out of the bathroom, I grabbed a pair of sandals and looked longingly towards my soft bed, wishing I could just crawl back inside and veg out for the entire day.

  “Hurry up, Kendra!” bellowed my mother’s voice from downstairs.

  “Hold your horses,” I mumbled, wondering if I could talk her into online schooling.

  God, that would be awesome.

  Online, nobody would notice the thick roll of skin above my waistband or the way my legs jiggled when I moved too quickly. I’d be just another faceless student in pajamas, trying to finish up my senior year until I went to college, which to me, didn’t seem quite as daunting. I’d never heard of any bullying in college, just stories about all of the crazy drunken parties and an occasional date rape.

  Eh, come to think about it, online college was starting to sound more interesting, too.

  Sighing, I decided to run the online idea by my mom later and went downstairs to the kitchen. I crossed my fingers, hoping that she’d made her famous chocolate-chip pancakes for our first day of school. It was an annual tradition.

  “You look… nice,” said my mom, who was a terrible liar. I could tell by the expression on her face that she also noticed the extra weight I’d put on in the last three weeks.

  “We have to go,” said Kala, grabbing her new designer clutch purse and a flaxseed granola bar. We’d both turned eighteen last month and she’d used her birthday money for the ridiculously priced purse, which I thought was gaudier than all hell. But, because of the French name imbedded on the inside of the thing, which nobody even saw, it was a ‘must have’ among many of the girls at our school. “I’ll meet you outside.”

  “Take this,” said my mom, handing me one of the flaxseed bars as I stared the bagels on the counter.

  My eyebrows shot up. “Seriously, a flaxseed bar? This bird food isn’t going to fill me up,” I pouted. “Can’t I just have a bagel instead?”

  She brushed a few strands of her jet-black hair behind her ears. “Sidney’s mom brought them over for the daycare kids and I don’t have enough. I’m sorry, honey. You know they’re loaded with carbs anyway,” she said, leaning over and kissing my cheek. She’s always trying to control my carb and fiber intake, which almost always leaves me hungry and unapproachable. It’s one of the reasons I keep a stash of candy bars under my bed. Fortunately, my sister doesn’t say anything about them. She’d rather let me eat than deal with my grumpiness from lack of sugar.

  “Daycare kids,” I mumbled, scowling at the granola bar. “They eat better than I do.”

  My mom runs a daycare in our home. Eight smelly little punks who’ve invaded our home and now there’s never any peace. Since my dad died earlier last year, though, it’s the only way my mom’s been able to afford t
he house payments. She blames it on lack of college, and that’s why she insists we both earn a degree.

  “You eat very well, my dear,” she answered with a wry smile. “Now, you’d better get moving before you miss your bus.”

  “Fine,” I said, walking towards the door. “But if I can’t concentrate this morning, it’s probably because I’m trying not to poop.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “What?”

  “Yeah, mom… flaxseed… fiber… what are you trying to do to? Give me diarrhea?”

  “Kendra, detoxifying your body is good for you!” she called as I shut the door behind me and stepped outside.

  “Here it comes,” said Kala, who was applying more lipstick to her already glossy ones.

  The bus was just turning down our lane and we both rushed over to get to the bus stop across the street.

  Our neighbor, John Frances, smiled at me as I stopped next to the curb. “What’s wrong, out of breath?” He’s our age and a total jerk. I despise him with a passion.

  “Shut up, tool,” snapped my sister, giving him a dirty look.

  One thing I could say about my Kala was that she never thought twice about defending me.

  I stabbed him viciously with my eyes and followed Kala onto the bus while everyone stared in shock at my sister. Kala never rode the bus. At least not last year, but that was because she’d been dating this superhot senior, Jamie Grant, who’d driven her to and from school every single day. Unfortunately, for Kala, he’d left for college two months ago and neither of us had our licenses yet, so it was the bus for the both of us.

  “Sit here, Kala!” yelled Brandi, my sister’s best friend.

  Brandi was obviously still grounded from using her Mustang after sneaking out in the middle of the night last week. Apparently, she’d snuck to a concert that she’d been forbidden to go to, and her parents had busted her when she’d tried to get back into her window early the next morning. I didn’t feel sorry for her, however. Brandi was blond with the perfect body and all the guys at school wanted to get into her pants, which I think most of them already had. Kala said she was a complete nympho and didn’t hide that fact. In fact, she flaunted it with her short skirts and low-cut tops. The fact that my sister was friends with someone like that was a little unsettling, but I also knew that Kala held her virginity very sacred. More than once she’d told me she was saving it for Jamie, when he was finished with college and came back to put a ring on her finger. Only then would she let him go all the way with her.

  Personally, I thought Jamie, who looked and dressed like a glamorized Ken-doll, was gay, and had been ecstatic to have someone like her for his girlfriend. She’d told me that he’d never pressured her to do anything as far as sex, and they’d barely kissed. Most of their time together was spent shopping or going to movies, and I’m not talking drive-ins. She’d mentioned it once to him and he’d stared at her in horror, complaining that the humidity would make his hair droop.

  Yeah, if he was straight then I was definitely winning the next “America’s Top Model” competition.

  Kala went to the back of the bus and flopped down next to Brandi while I sat towards the front, as far away as I could from the others. I wasn’t about to give anyone a chance to start teasing me during the first day of school. Last year had been bad enough. Apparently, being the pudgy sister of one of the most popular girls in school was hysterical to many.

  I stared out the window and sighed, wishing that I would have stuck with the diet my mom had tried to put me on during the summer. But just like all the others, I’d cheated and then had finally given up. It was a horrible feeling, but what was even worse was looking at my sister, and knowing that if I’d lost weight, I’d be more like her – beautiful, confident, and able to wear “skinny jeans.” Coincidently, most of my jeans already looked like “skinny jeans” on my thighs, but were supposed to be “relaxed fit.”

  That’s why I hated to shop for clothes. Nothing fit like it was supposed to.

  The bus made one last stop before it dropped us off at North Central High School, and we all stared at the person who stepped onboard. He was tall with longish, dark hair and a slender build. A fairly average looking guy, really, dressed in all black and wearing dark sunglasses.

  “Vampire,” somebody snickered from the back of the bus.

  The “vampire” smirked and then stopped when he arrived at my seat. “Can I sit here?”

  “Uh, sure,” I said, staring up at him in surprise. When he sat down, I noticed right away that he smelled like vanilla, which was kind of odd, especially for a guy. I didn’t mind, however, as it kind of reminded me of vanilla-bean ice cream or my mother’s homemade sugar cookies.

  He removed his sunglasses. “Hi, I’m Tyler.”

  “I’m Kendra,” I said turning my face towards him.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  My breath caught in my throat as our eyes locked. His were the most amazing shade of green I’d ever seen. They were so deep and hypnotic, I couldn’t look away. In fact, I found it physically impossible to do anything but to try and stay afloat in those deep emerald pools. Just when I thought I was losing my mind, he turned his head and broke the spell.

  “So, what grade are you in?” he asked, staring towards the front of the bus.

  “Eleventh. I mean twelfth,” I answered in a breathless whisper, still confused at what had just happened.

  “Me, too,” he said, smiling faintly.

  I cleared my throat. “You’re new to Bayport?”

  “Yeah, my mother and I just moved here.”

  “Oh.”

  Okay, so I was no expert at conversations, especially with boys. Most guys avoided me like the plague anyway, unless they were trying to get closer to my “superstar” of a sister.

  We didn’t say anything to each other for the rest of the bus ride. When it finally rolled into the parking lot at school and the door opened, he stood up and moved back, allowing me to get out. He then followed me off of the bus and stayed next to me as we entered the school. When we got to the office, he stopped abruptly, and for some reason, so did I.

  “Well,” he said, replacing his sunglasses. “Maybe I’ll see you in class?”

  “Uh, sure,” I said, still surprised that a cute guy like him was actually being nice to me.

  “Good,” he said, giving me a lazy smile that made my stomach flutter.

  Chapter Two

  My first class was “Homeroom” and I quickly sat down towards the back of the room.

  “Hey, Kendra,” said Amy, who I was semi-friends with. She sat down next to me and took off her eyeglasses, then proceeded to clean them with a small cloth.

  “So, how was your summer?” I asked, relieved that I had at least one friend in Homeroom.

  She plopped her glasses back on and smiled. “It was great! I went to band camp for a couple of weeks and learned some new songs.”

  Amy plays the clarinet, and that’s all she talks about. I went over to her house one day last year after school, and she played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for me over and over. Now I can’t even sit through the “The Wizard of Oz” without wanting to throw the remote control at the television.

  “Brenda!” squealed Amy, waving her hand in the air.

  I also smiled at Brenda, who squeezed into the desk in front of me. Like me, she indulged in a little too much ice cream and pizza.

  “Hi, guys,” smiled Brenda, flashing a set of shiny new braces.

  “Oh, wow,” said Amy. “When did you get those?”

  Brenda blushed. “During the summer. I have to wear them for a couple of years.”

  I nodded, smiling sheepishly. “I had my braces taken off last month. It was the highlight of the summer.”

  “Oh, I forgot that you even wore braces,” said Amy, pushing her dark hair behind her ears.

  “That’s because nobody notices Kendra,” snickered Mark Davis, who was sitting a couple desks away, “unless she’s standing next to her
hot sister with the perfect teeth.”

  It was true, for some reason Kala hadn’t needed braces but my teeth had overlapped in the front so bad, I had to have them.

  Some of the other kids laughed as he continued to mock me. I wanted to curl up into a ball and roll away. Instead, I looked down at my hands and wished that I could vaporize into thin air. I seriously hated Mark and all of his jock friends who picked on me whenever they were bored and wanted to look cool.

  “Check out the new weirdo,” said Mark with an ugly smirk. He turned his body back towards the front of the class and folded his arms across his chest. “He looks like something out of a cheap horror movie.”

  I looked up and my eyes locked with Tyler’s – rather, his dark sunglasses. He was standing at the front of the class and scanning the room for a place to sit. There was a desk next to mine that was vacant, and for some reason, I really wanted him in it.

  “What? It’s too bright in here?” snorted Mark. “Nice shades, Dracula.”

  Of course, his friends only fueled his stupidity by laughing.

  I glared at Mark, who was still chuckling at his own lame jokes, and wished I had the guts to tell him off; although, something in Tyler’s expression told me that he didn’t need any help from me.

  Ignoring everyone else, Tyler removed his glasses and began walking towards me. Just when I thought he was going to sit at the desk next to mine, he took the seat behind me instead.

  “Hey,” he said as I turned around.

  “Hey,” I answered back, trying not to blush.

  Some of the other girls in the classroom started checking him out, and soon were staring with glazed expressions, as if he was some kind of celebrity. I couldn’t blame them, however. Not only was he cute, but his eyes were beautiful, magnetic, and more than a little… unnerving.

  When the bell rang, the teacher, Mr. Henry, passed out the school’s handbook and we spent a half hour going over each boring rule. No fighting, no swearing, no running, no guns, no tank tops, no pets, no gum, and last, but not least, no fun. My head was spinning by the time class was over and I was almost afraid to breathe, in case that was also against school policy.