ROMANCE: Paranormal Romance: The Valley (Book One) (Fun, Sexy, Mature Young Adult Vampire Shape Shifter Romance) (2 page)

“Ha? Ummm…” Aria looked around to find the right adjective to explain herself, but her vocabulary ran short.

“Let her go, honey. She just wants to do her job like what you said,” Garth interrupted, destroying the awkward situation between the girls.

“I’m warning you, Aria. Make another mistake and I’ll make sure you’d find yourself living in slums,” she threatened, but Aria’s ears were used to her intimidating remarks. So in response, she held her head up high as she walked with such elegance that infuriated Moana even more.

“She’s fucking annoying,” she said to Garth, but he was too busy drooling over Aria’s round ass.

“Hey,” she tapped his bicep to steal his attention.

“Oh, what were you saying?”

She rolled her eyes away to show her disappointment. Having been spoiled with such authority, Moana loved staying on the spotlight for everyone to see. Her glory must always be noticed, or else she’d go berserk. Without warning, she made her way out to make him chase her. Only, he’d do so because of her money, not her. True love can never be purchased. It comes without a price!

Around the corner, Aria gazed ahead watching Garth depart and banish from her vision. She sighed at the thought that he’d never chase her the way he went after Moana. Well, who was she to deserve such attention? If she only finished high school, maybe then, there was someone who could give her a more decent job than what she had right now. But because of her dark past, she barely survived elementary. Damn his uncle for what he’d done to her!

Her heart sunk as she saw Garth turned around. “Text me,” he motioned his lips for her to read.

What? she thought, eyes bulging out in disbelief. And then, she glanced over the table and saw a piece of paper. She walked to it, and an inch away from taking it, she fathomed that it was his number written on a piece of napkin. Oh dear, Moana would’ve been so angry if she found this out. Not if they kept it secret.

*****

As usual, New York never slept. Its sparkling eyes dotted the face of its surroundings, giving lights to its citizens who were so busy drinking, clubbing, having sex at the hotels, but some decided behind the bush was fine. Just across the Maggie restaurant where Aria worked, a group of strangers mingled in the shadow of the unlit pavement. They stood there as if watching diners finish their meals. Perhaps, they were backpackers who did not have enough cash to afford to eat at such affluent restaurant as this.

Inside the restaurant, Moana stood at the entrance door asking diners for their names so that she could view their details on her attendance booklet of reservation. Of course, she loved the job, and why wouldn’t she if she always had the chance of meeting hot guys, not to mention some of them were NFL players.

One of the strangers crossed the road and made his way into the restaurant. It seemed he was the only one who had enough money.

“Hi sir,” Moana greeted.

The man uttered not a word. Moana’s countenance fell at the man’s rude response, tasting the dosage of her own attitude. She looked at his outfit with such curiosity. He was wearing this expensive tuxedo that looked like the ones that were stolen the other day at the shop few blocks away from the restaurant. Because the light was dim, she couldn’t tell if he was an average looking guy or a Hollywood actor, perhaps it was Channing Tatum because of his height and stance – so distinguished and practiced.

“Sir, may I have your name, please?” She looked at the booklet, pretending to be trying her best to impress him, but without avail.

For the third time, she tried again. But this time, she ran out of patience. “Sir, are you here to dine or stare at people? Please, get out of the way!” she shouted, but he was untamed by her mouth.

Aria walked out of the kitchen with trays of food in her hands. All of a sudden, the man turned his gaze at Moana. Finally, she could now see what he looked like.

“What’s her name?” the man demanded.

Oh, goodness gracious me, she beamed as she saw his green whirling eyes with eyelashes so thick that made him even more attractive. She could feel the tongue of her pussy tingling with lewdness as she scrutinized his visage. Surely, he must be a model, she thought to herself, completely ignoring his question.

“Lady, what’s her name?” he asked again.

“Ha? Oh right, ummm…” she paused, recalling what he’d asked. “Who is it again?”

“That lady over there.” He pointed at Aria.

“Oh, her… She’s my slave. Her name is Aria Hensley. She’s not really pretty, is she? In fact, I’m prettier than her, see…” She showcased her face, but he wasn’t interested. Only, if she knew who she was talking to…

“Hey, where are you going?” she asked as the man quickly left without even acknowledging her help. “What a rude guy!” she complained and turned her gaze at Aria who was nowhere to be seen. She must have gone back to the kitchen.

The poor kitchen was nocturnal. Dead during the day, and alive every night.

“Table 29,” the head chef yelled, competing against the noise of the pans tossing all at once.

“Where’s Aria?” Gilbert, one of the leading chefs asked.

“I think she’s gone to the toilet to change her blouse,” Tasha, Aria’s best friend replied.

Inside the lady’s bathroom, Aria took off her blouse stained with oyster sauce. If Moana saw her smelling like a fish, she’d think she’d stolen a diner’s dish which was very unlikely given the circumstances that all the employees were present.

“Oh shit,” she muttered as she saw the oyster sauce penetrated into her white bra. She walked for her bag to see if she happened to bring an extra one. Without luck, she sighed to the reality that she had to walk back and forth with her breasts soaked with fishy sauce she hated the most. She wasn’t a fan of seafood ever since.

Knock. Knock. Knock… the bathroom’s door rang.

Who could that be? she thought as she was about to put her new blouse on.

“Who is it?” she asked as her voice echoed. But the door kept on ringing, so she decided to see who it was, thinking it was just another woman who needed to take a piss so bad that she couldn’t handle the pressure.

“Yeah?” she unlocked the door and peeked her head out. As soon as she saw who it really was, her breathing became heavy as if the oxygen deprived her of air. In that instant, she knew she was in immense trouble.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just checking if you’re alright…” Garth said. Of course, she was! It was not as if the spill of an oyster sauce could melt her skin.

“Go away!” she protested, but he already placed his foot against the door so if ever she tried to push him away, he could instantly push her back and let himself in without hassle.

“Hush… they’d hear you. Let me in so that I could show you the world you’ve never been to,” he convinced her, but she wasn’t too foolish to construe what he was after. A feeling of disgust clouded her mind as she remembered her uncle spreading her legs to play with her young pussy. Without thinking, she rapidly shut the door. But he was a man of full force and quickly pushed her back.

She fell on the floor, bottom first. “Get out…” she screamed at the top of her voice, alarming everyone in the kitchen of what was happening.

At full speed, he prostrated himself on her. She covered her bosom with her hands, disallowing him to exploit her. She cried for help, but it seemed she just put herself in more trouble.

“What the fuck are you two doing?” Moana enraged, scandalising the entire scene to everyone, even to the oblivious customers who just wanted to have decent Friday night meals to celebrate the weekend.

“Moana… help me,” Aria pleaded, but Moana’s anger toward her grew even larger. Not in a million years she ever wanted her to be here, and now that she had the reason to kick her out, she was not going to let it escape.

“M-Moana… it’s not what you think,” Garth explained, trying to cover up his mischievousness.

“How could you do this to me, you’re a slut!” Moana spat out at Aria, making her look like a fool to everyone that was outside the door. Without a doubt, they’d think she was what Moana had described. Look at what she was wearing. 

“No. It’s not my fault… I-I’m innocent,” she cried, turning her gaze to her colleagues who were now very confused about what was going on. They knew she couldn’t do this thing to anyone, but because Garth had his clothes on, they thought she was alluring him to betray Moana. Sucks!

Moana picked up her bag and chucked it outside the bathroom. “Go! Don’t make yourself look like a fool,” she commanded.

“P-please, don’t do this to me…” she begged, but Moana’s heart was a stone. Not even a hammer could crack it down.

To her aid, Tasha walked forward bravely. Although she was terrified of losing her job, she swallowed her fear to stand up for her best friend. Bless her soul!

“Aria, stand up. I know it’s not like you to behave like this,” she forced a smile to appear on her face, restraining her tears from falling. She didn’t want anyone to think of them two as weak.

Without a choice, Aria compelled her legs to lift her up and stand with dignity. Tasha quickly took off her white jacket and wrapped it around Aria’s frail body.

“Let’s go,” Tasha urged her.

As they made their way out, she picked Aria’s bag from the ground. No one wanted to touch them as if they were clean themselves. Hypocrites! pretending to be clean, while in full truth they were the ones doing the ‘dirty’ stuff.

Just before they finally left, Gilbert stopped them. “Are you sure, you guys want to live?”

“Have no choice, Gil. But don’t worry, we’ll be fine…” Then, they disappeared as quick as the lightning struck in the dark sky above them.

They were heedless the three strangers standing opposite the restaurant earlier were now standing opposite the back exit where they had gone out. Their eyes were reddish, apart from the man who entered the restaurant and asked for Aria’s name. His were whirling green.

Chapter Two

Danilo Axton

Wolves howled at the other side of Dark Valley, where vampires like Danilo Axton were never permitted to cross unless they wanted to commit suicide like what the anarchists did as they rebelled against his father’s rulership. It was an epidemic crisis that was fast spreading in the kingdom. Every soldier tried their best to capture and defeat the anarchists, but they grew stronger and more vicious to the point that Dark Valley’s army was often killed or held as captives – but those desperate ones decided to join the rebels.

At the rooftop of Verda castle where the monarchs of this valley lived, the wind whispered at Danilo’s face forcing him to accept the truth that sooner or later, Dark Valley would fall in the hands of the increasing number of Anarchy rebels.

“You have to make up your mind now, Dan. Tomorrow might be too late.” Hamish played with a ball of fire hovering over his palm.

“I know that. But my father wouldn’t let me out of this prison… I’m trained enough to defend myself,” Danilo complained as he brought his gaze at the green carpeted hills in the north, wishing Dark Valley would receive the sun’s generous light as if he wanted everyone in his kingdom to perish and turn into a vapour of dust.

“So what’s your plan now?” Hamish clenched his hand as the ball of fire disappeared.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect her. I could feel that the anarchists are on their way to snatch her.” His gaze was still fixed on the hills as he watched the sun broke the darkness that shawled the forest in the north.

Hamish stood up as he noticed the sun coming up. “Beautiful, isn’t?”

“Yeah,” Danilo agreed. “It’s beautiful but deadly,” he sighed as he remembered Aria’s future. For the past three years of finding out that Aria would be the death of his kinds, he couldn’t understand how such gentle person as her could commit such crime.

“Like the woman you’ve been spying on…” Hamish continued, emphasizing the danger Aria could bring if the inevitable prophecy came to life.

Danilo exhaled. “I have to kill her, don’t I?” Although it was hard to admit, there was no point of hiding it. If he wanted his people to live for another century, as the prince of Dark Valley, he’d do whatever it took to save his people – even it meant losing his own life. Such sacrifice would certainly earn him great merit, but what was the point of honour if you don’t see it?

Hamish became quiet. He knew that it was out of Danilo’s nature to harm anyone and it pained him to see his friend agonised over such deadly decision that would determine Dark Valley’s existence.

“Is there any way I could save her?” Danilo turned his gaze at Hamish.

“Not that I know of. But let me talk to the fairies and see if they have any suggestions to save the mortal.” His voice sounded unsure. With all his experiences with this business, he knew that the only way to save Aria’s soul was to kill her before she turned into their kinds.

A mist of relief calmed Danilo’s troubled spirit. “Thanks! I’d look forward to it,” he said solemnly as he put his trust in Hamish’s hands. But what could a second-class vampire do to delay Dark Valley’s annihilation?

Without a word of goodbye, Hamish turned into a multitude of white hummingbirds. His well-built body with a face that belonged to every woman’s dream turned into these innocuous tiny birds that flew in the mid-air. All of sudden, the Verda castle’s rooftop shone with such light that put every vampire who’d seen it in awe. Even Danilo found his friend’s shape-shifting mesmerizing.

“Till then, Hamish,” Danilo finally blessed Hamish to depart. As a royal class vampire, before anyone could depart his presence, they must bow at his feet before leaving to show respect and submission.

In the blink of an eye, Hamish flew away, illuminating the entire valley with his affluent light. With pride without arrogance, Danilo turned around and watched the sun came to its full glory, agonising the thought that he’d soon depart his kingdom and go forth to the world of mortals where Aria lived.

“Prepare yourself, Danilo. You have to go after her…” he said to himself, trying to convince his conscience that killing an innocent woman was part of his tasks as a royalist.

Chapter Three

The night time singers, katydids and other insects sang continuously at the Woodlawn cemetery where Aria’s mother who died in her father’s hands rested. Despite the danger of seeing a ghost, Aria sat bravely on the gravestone opposite her mother’s, disrespectful of the corpse’s tomb.

She held a long-necked bottle of vodka and took a gulf to ease the pain of her misery. “Why? Why does my life suck?” she cried as tears began streaming down her cheeks. “You told me, you’d never leave me. You’re a liar…” she talked to her mother as if she was going to answer back.

Above her, the moon was kind enough not to leave her in complete darkness and allow the three strangers to approach. These mysterious and rather dangerous sojourners had been following her all along. They stood there, undisturbed by the fact that they were in the cadavers’ territory. Aria never paid attention to their presence, oblivious of her worth. If she only knew why they were here, maybe then, she’d be more cautious about her decisions…

“She’s the one. I could feel it,” one of the strangers finally broke the silence.

“So can I…,” one said, closing her eyes to hide her red shimmer. She breathed in the air into her lungs, sensing the souls of deceased people underground.

“As soon as the dark clouds cover the moon, we need to abduct her. We’ve got little chance of convincing her to join us,” the man with green whirling eyes spoke up. He was still wearing the suit he wore the night Aria was kicked out of the restaurant. Didn’t he have any more clothes?

“Good idea, Milo.” His sister agreed as she brought her red glinting eyes at their target.

“Marissa, you’re in charge of carrying her to the Woods since you’re the oldest,” Maricar cut in, annoying her twin sister. Not a single second that she couldn’t keep her mouth shut and say something stupid to Marissa.

“What?” Marissa turned her gaze at her twin, completely fallen to Maricar’s bait. “Are you fucking serious? Do you have any idea how heavy that bitch is?” she spat out as her voice went an octave higher, forcing Aria to turn in their direction.

Aria dropped the empty bottle of IGANOFF vodka down to the ground as she drove her head at the three strangers who were now dead silent. Who are they? she thought as she felt herself passing out under the influence of the alcohol she consumed. She stared for about a minute, but her vision was poor and her head was aching. How she wished to meet her mother on the other side, but her fate would determine her destiny – either in or against her will, she couldn’t seize the prophecy. It was written in every cell of the body.

“Hush! She’s staring at us…” Milo stood still as he stooped down to pretend he was lamenting over the corpse in front of him.

“This is all your fault!” Marissa blamed her twin sister.

“What? No, I’m just the telling the truth sister. You’re the oldest of us all, right Milo?” Maricar asked as she grinned to see her sister’s face turned grim.

“That’s enough…” he raised his voice as he sensed someone powerful was coming. He looked around, analyzing every gravestone, tree, and plant to find who that was. A sudden fear crept into his mind for the lives of his second class vampire sisters. He knew they weren’t strong enough to combat such vigorous creature who was about to appear. He could because he was a first class, second to the royalists.

“What is it, brother?” Marissa held Milo’s arm as she saw an unexpected change in his countenance, while Maricar held herself back and decided to listen.

“S-someone is coming…” Milo stuttered as the thick sweat of fear dripped down his face. It wasn’t like him to tremble over such little thing, but this time, he knew they might meet their end.

“Who is it?” Maricar finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

Instead of answering, Milo looked around the vicinity again as his heart pounded in disappointment. Emperor Marcus might have sensed they were coming to steal what was theirs as if they owned Aria. Yes, they found her first, but that didn’t give them any authority to own her whatsoever. At least not on Earth.

On the other side, Aria felt something strange in the air. It was supposed to be summer, but the night breeze suddenly changed. As the wind hugged her, she shivered as she became desperate to grab her jacket and disallow the cold to travel any further. She lowered down and grabbed her red jacket. As she put it on, the moon’s light vanished.

“Hey there,” a man’s voice appeared from the behind.

What the hell? she jumped out of her seat and made a significant distance between her and the man behind her. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“I’m Danilo, but call me Dan,” he beamed as his blue eyes glistened with delight.

Oh, he’s cute, she thought to herself as she stared at his sculpted nose with jaws that contoured his perfectly structured face. By the looks of his hair, she knew he wasn’t an average American man next door – far from it. His white shirt showcased his musclebound chest that inevitably made Aria wet. His copper brown hair gave him that edge she was looking for a man.

She looked around first to see if the three strangers were still there. Where did they go? she wondered as she scanned the place for anyone. “W-what are you doing here?” she bravely asked, despising the truth that she was glad he was here as a temporal company.

“Ummm… nothing really. I just happened to see you as I stroll around, you know having a little of exercise every now and then…” he excused, and it seemed to work out as Aria took his lies as truth. A man with such splendor did not know how to lie. Really?

“Right. Well,” she looked down at the bottle of vodka and bag of chips lying on the ground. “I guess I have to leave now. I still have work tomorrow,” she lied.

“Is that right? Do you mind if I dropped you off?” he asked politely, inviting her to fall into his hands.

“Oh, that’s very kind of you! But, it’s okay. I could manage,” she forced herself not to smile, but he was too kind not to deserve it, so she broke her lips and grinned as her dimples deepened, giving her that extra cuteness that drew men for her affection.

“It’s dangerous to be around here at this time of the night. Are you sure, you’ll be alright?” A sharp object glinted on his index finger. The tip was sharper than a needle, and one bite could send Aria next to her mother’s grave.

“I know… don’t worry, I should be fine. No one really cares about me, so no one would come to my funeral if ever I die,” she joked, completely riding his concern.

Danilo looked down at the vodka bottle beside her, thinking of any excuse to make her stay so that he could accomplish his mission before he went back to the Dark Valley and declare to his people they were now safe.

“I see that you’ve been drinking a lot, haven’t you?” he giggled, not wanting to make his mission pronounce.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Aria felt dizzy and thought she was going to pass out. “Ha? Ummm… yeah, I drank quite a few. But, I’m good. I’ll manage to drive back home,” she said as her body swayed in harmony with her head. The alcohol’s spirit was so strong for her frail body.

Danilo approached as he saw the opportunity to slay her. Such opportunity as this was rare and now that he had it, he couldn’t afford to let it slip off his grip. Unless, he had another reason to prolong her death.

“Here, let me help you.” He took Aria’s left arm and flung it over his shoulder. As he took her waist, she leered at him with suspicion.

“Are you gonna rape me?” she asked as her eyes clawed his face, warning him not do such thing.

Instead of replying to her rather stupid question, Danilo pulled her up and make her stand on her feet. Aria must be dreaming… Not in a quintillion year he would ever want to have an affair with a slave like her. He was out of her reach, and a royalist like him was forbidden to fall in love with mortals – they were seen as weak and an abomination to their kinds.

“Hey, are you still awake?” Danilo gently tapped her cheeks. But the alcohol’s spirit subdued her as she fell into his arms, completely under his mercy. Now was the right time to accomplish his mission. Kill her!

Forgive me! I have to save my people, he confessed to Aria in his thoughts, as if she’d hear him. And even if he said it aloud, she was too busy sleeping to pay attention to what he had to say. The silver sharp object on his index finger choked his hand as it longed to poke her on the neck where her blood stream flowed.

He lowered himself down along with Aria. With great uncertainty, he stretched her neck as he stared at her angelic face. He then brought his hand up and raised it above his head as he prepared to prick her.

“Aaargh…” Aria groaned as she felt a sharp object pierced her neck. By now, her blood was oozing out of her flesh, inviting the three strangers to feast on her pure dark blood.

Danilo lowered his face to her neck, and on the brink of tasting her blood, Aria turned her head around. Her lips touched his, and without warning, he dropped her to the ground. He stood up away from her as he felt his heart beating twice its usual speed. His hands trembled against his will as he noticed the moonlight glowed at her. Her skin glistened like a multitude of diamonds and her face so pale that he thought she was one of his people. Little did he know, this was the foreshadowing of her vampire appearance. Be careful, she would bite you.