Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition (3 page)

When I opened up my hand, my palm was red with blood. I quickly opened the other and it was the same way. I jumped to my feet and hurried into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. I didn’t have to look too closely to see the slits in the palms of both hands. In the midst of my anger I had unknowingly dug my fingernails into my palms.
I so need to trim my nails.

I took a wet washcloth to my room and cleaned up the floor then went downstairs to borrow some nail clippers. I almost had a heart attack when I rounded the corner and saw William with his back leaned against the kitchen counter. Aunt Bev was talking with someone, but it wasn’t him.

I quietly backed up to the hallway and peered in the mirror. My reflection was enough to scare anyone. My hair had always been extremely kinky in the past just like one of those cheap frizzy-haired wigs, but now the curls had relaxed quite a bit, which I didn’t understand. My face greatly resembled that of a gothic girl turned psycho due to tears and mascara.
Mental note: buy waterproof mascara.

After a quick spit and tissue face wash, I hurried back down the hallway toward the kitchen, but stopped abruptly when I heard my name. Aunt Bev had said, “Genevieve doesn’t know yet.” Who could she be talking to about me? I wanted to stay quiet and keep listening, but as I was inching my way backward, I bumped into an end table and knocked over a lamp.

“Gen? Is that you?” my aunt called out. Who else could she have possibly thought it was? I mean, we were the only two living there, we didn’t own any dogs or cats—which by the way, was something I intended to change—and as far as I knew we weren’t expecting anyone.

“Yeah,” I answered reluctantly. My mouth went dry and my heart fluttered at the thought of being in the same room with William, yet I couldn’t understand why. Sure, he was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever laid eyes on, but I had seen plenty of hot guys before, and never had this kind of reaction. Maybe it was the Alaskan air or something.

“Genevieve,” Aunt Bev called impatiently. “Come in here, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

“Coming.” I back-stepped to the mirror for one last look. Staring at my reflection I suddenly wondered why I was bothering. A guy as hot as he was would already have a girlfriend … or three.

“Gen, I’d like you to meet Ezekiel Novak and his son William.” Aunt Bev was leaned against the stove next to a tall dark haired man who looked entirely too young to be William’s dad. His features were as smooth as silk and his skin was a creamy, pearl color. When my eyes met his, a sudden feeling of embarrassment came over me, like he knew my thoughts.

“N-nice to meet you.” I would have shook his hand, but didn’t want him to see how bad mine was shaking all on its own.

“Hello, Genevieve. This is my son, William.” When Mr. Novak spoke, his voice was smooth and his tone even, almost melodic and hypnotizing.

My tongue promptly felt swollen and stuck to the roof of my mouth so I couldn’t speak, all I could do was stare. My body trembled and I grabbed the edge of the counter.

“Hi, Genevieve.” William smiled, and right away my legs grew weak and shaky.

“Call m-me …” I floundered, and my voice trailed off. The room grew dark and the last thing I remembered was falling.

***

But when I raised my arm my skin was its normal white color. I furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about?” I asked, still utterly confused.

After she inspected my arm, I watched her expression change from worry to confusion. “But-but, I don’t understand. Gen, your skin was red as fire, and extremely hot to the touch.”

“Well, I’m fine now, just hungry. I can feel my stomach churning.” I smiled and then it quickly dawned on me that William and his father had been there when I passed out. “Oh my God.” I slapped my hand against my forehead. Aunt Bev came rushing back from the kitchen.

“What is it? Are you feeling sick again?” She sat down on the edge of the couch.

“No. Just humiliated. William saw me pass out. That’s it. I’m quitting school.”

Aunt Bev smiled. “Don’t be silly. He seemed genuinely concerned about you. Here.” She handed me a sticky note. “His cell number. He said for you to call him later if you felt up to it.”

***

When I pulled into my parking space at school, Luna and her brothers loitered under a tree, and I assumed they were trying to get out of the rain without going inside the building. I saw her looking around anxiously, like she was watching for someone. When she spotted me climbing out from the Jeep, she smiled and waved me over.

I still didn’t feel any less guilty for what I’d done to her brother. I couldn’t help but smile every time I thought about it. For a guy that looked so muscular, I sure didn’t have a hard time shoving him across the hall. I must have just caught him off guard.

I looked at the ground while walking and chewed the inside of my lip the whole way. When I got to the spot where Luna was standing, I reluctantly looked up. Joseph smiled as he came to join us.

Relief instantly washed over me. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I could tell he was as shy as me by the way he looked down and kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. “I’m really sorry about yesterday,” I said sincerely.

“Hey, it’s all good. It’s just that when I saw my sister standing with you, I thought she had told you about us already.” He got quiet for a minute then looked up with a huge smile. “How’d you get so strong? Do you lift weights? ‘Cause you don’t look like you do.”

I could tell he was being totally serious. “Nah, I’m really not strong at all. I guess between the adrenaline and catching you off balance, I just got lucky.”

The school buzzer rang and he turned to leave, but quickly stopped and looked back. “We’re all going to Wolf Point for a bonfire Friday night. Luna’s going. And some of the kids from school. You wanna come?”

“Sure … but, I don’t know where it is—I don’t know where anything is.” We smiled simultaneously. Luna must have been listening because she looped her arm through mine and said she would ride with me. I think it was more to make sure I would go.

When I walked in to English class, I was almost at my desk when I started feeling lightheaded again and was suddenly very hot. My vision tunneled, but I managed to make it to my desk and drop into my seat. I laid my head down for a minute and then heard a familiar voice. Without lifting my head I opened my eyes. William was sitting two seats over and talking with Luna. I had this nervous pit in my stomach and my heart drummed in my head.
What is it with this guy and why is he suddenly in here?

After a few deep breaths I started feeling a little better, but was still weak. For some reason when I got close to him a weakness came over me. “But that can’t be. People don’t have that kind of effect over other people,” I said under my breath. When I glanced back over at him the corner of his mouth curved up with that same crooked smile of his. Just then, I thought I might actually melt onto the floor.

Luna whispered, telling me there had been a scheduling change and William had gotten moved to my class. I found it rather odd that he was the only one to change classes.

All during class I sat with my head propped on my hand and kept catching myself staring at William. You know, one of those open-mouthed stares. Then, the most embarrassing thing of my teenage life happened.

“Miss Labreck,” Mr. Donovan snapped at the same time as he slammed his pointer stick on someone’s desk in the front row.

I jerked and sat up straight. “Huh … uh, yeah?”

“You can worship
your
Romeo after class. Right now we are talking about Juliet’s Romeo.”

A burning flush flew over me when the entire class busted out in laughter. I pulled my hoodie further over my head and sunk down into my seat as far as I could go. I would have gotten under my desk if I could have fit.

For the remainder of the class, I had to fight to keep from looking at him. When the bell rang, I grabbed my backpack and hurried out the door. Even though I already had my book for my next class, I went to my locker anyway. I thought maybe if I kept my face buried inside it, I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone I was just in class with.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Two cheerleaders from class stopped just behind me and purposely talked over the loud voices that filled the hallways between classes.

“Hey, Gen.”

I looked briefly over my shoulder, then went back to rearranging my bubble wrap—like there would be more than one way to stuff it into my locker in the first place.

“You might as well hang it up,
new girl—
William is mine. You got it? Keep your pasty-white paws off!”

I pretended not to hear them. Luna had warned me about the cheerleaders here. They thought because they were popular, it gave them first dibs on everything—even guys. She said she’d once dated a boy for two years, and one night she caught him with a cheerleader at the bonfire. The worst part was the girl had been her best friend since the first grade.

What did I care anyway? He was way too beautiful for someone as plain as me. There was something about him, though, that I couldn’t shake. He was like a drug … and I was quickly becoming addicted.

Chapter 4

At lunch I sat with Luna and her friends, again. They were all hyped up about the upcoming bonfire. Truthfully, I wasn’t paying attention to anything they were saying. Instead, I was lost in the crowded lunchroom hoping that I might catch a glimpse of William. I even turned sideways in my seat to get a better view of the kids behind me, but I sensed William wasn’t there even before I looked.

I must have looked like a little lost puppy because Luna put her arm around my shoulders and nudged me.

“Who are you looking for?” she asked, but her smile lead me to believe she already knew the answer.

“No one.” I sighed. “Just looking.” When I glanced to my left, I spotted the cheerleader from earlier. “Hey, Luna. Who’s that girl right there?” I whispered, but I’m not sure why. With the dome-like roof, and the metal walls, it was like one giant echo that never stopped.

Luna’s normally open face closed up a bit. “That’s Elise Decker. Super cheer-whore,” she said through gritted teeth while glaring at the girl.

“Is she … the one?” I asked reluctantly. Luna’s eyes started to fill with tears, which told me she was. “I had trouble with her this morning after we left English class.”

“Yeah. She’s the one. Why…what did she do?” Luna asked, but kept her eyes trained on Elise. I glanced down after Luna had moved her arm and her hands were balled into tight fists. I thought Luna might jump up from the table any minute and punch her.

“Oh, it was nothing. I’ll tell you later.” I didn’t want to add to the already volatile situation, instead I tried changing the subject. “So … tell me, what goes on at the ‘bonfire’?” I did air quotes for bonfire. “I mean, why does everybody get so psyched about going?”

Luna opened her mouth to answer until Elise decided to grace us with her presence. That was her first—and last—mistake.

“Wuz up, Goonie Lunie? Who’s your pasty friend?” Elise asked sarcastically, while twirling a piece of her over-processed hair. Luna turned her head away from Elise, and I got the feeling she was scared of her for some reason. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. You talk a big game when I’m not around, but I don’t see you talking now.”

I gave Luna a sidelong glance and saw a tear about to spill over onto her cheek. “Leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything to you,” I said looking up at her from my chair.

Elise turned her attention to me by reaching out and flicking one of my curls.“What? You think I’m scared of you?” she asked, and let out a fake giggle.

Adrenaline raced through my veins and my hands began to shake. I had no patience for stuck up girls, especially those who thought they were better than everyone else.

I promptly stood and my chair flipped backwards. I don’t exactly remember what happened, but the next thing I knew Elise and I were being lead out of the lunchroom by two teachers and Elise’s face was bleeding. I heard the crowd in the lunchroom screaming, “Go, Gen!”

While I waited inside the counselor’s office, I overheard a teacher saying that I’d had a wild look about me when they pulled us apart. Pulled us apart? I don’t remember touching her. Suddenly, the back of my neck started itching again and when I rubbed across it, I could feel a raised line. I pulled my compact out of my backpack and used the mirror over the tiny hand sink in her office to get a look at it. Although it was red and irritated, nothing was there. I quickly sat back down when I heard voices drawing near.

Miss Baylor, the counselor, came in and closed the door behind her. She quietly walked around her desk and sat down across from me. She was a young woman, probably mid-twenties. I noticed her jet black hair wrapped up in a knot with two pencils holding it in place. She had on a Haven High School sweatshirt and, like so many of the teachers, she wore blue jeans.

She placed her elbows on her desk and folded her hands. “Well, Genevieve, this is not the way I had intended for us to meet.” She pulled off her glasses and looked at me severely. “Would you mind telling me what happened?”

I didn’t know what to say. She was expecting an explanation, and I couldn’t give her one. “I-I-I don’t exactly know.”