"Chained" by XX reminds me of how devastated Violet and Radley were when they were apart. Violet's father forbid them to be together. Violet kept waiting for Radley's secret calls, but they never came. Both of them were crushed and pined in their hearts for each other. Yet, Radley had new secrets that would force him to shun her. The odds were against them from every angle, but true love will prevail even if death awaits around every corner.
This video was created in conjunction with the Creators Project where they are trying to combine mind and matter together. Using cancer cells and bacteria they create art. Beautiful and inspiring, a strange contradiction, like Heavenly Killers where "Heaven" and "Horror" are combined. I find beauty in contradictions of the extreme. Love and Hate, Holy and Evil, Beautiful and Ugly. Check out the Creators Project and Their Art
XX, Brighton
Heavenly Killers
(Roseville Vampires)
by Brighton Hill
Chapter One
It was dark in Roseville
Mountains at Blood Falls as Violet Paris and Radley Aston embraced at the edge
of the cliff. His fingers dug a little too strongly into her back as he held
her in his lean muscular arms. She felt the pain, but as weird as it was, she
liked it.
The full moon overhead lit up the
riverbed below causing glimmers of light to dance like sparks of fire on the
black waters. A summer wind rushed through the trees and their hair as they
kissed breathing in each other’s essences for the last time.
Violet pulled away just enough to
look into Radley’s scorching green eyes. She inhaled a long jagged breath. His
expression was unreadable which confused her. His thoughts seemed turbulent
like the waterfalls that rushed off the side of an adjacent mountain. If only
she could figure out what he was thinking.
He stroked her long black hair
and then held the back of her head in his hand. She wanted to memorize his
perfect tan face like a clear picture in her mind that would last forever. His fingers
brushed across her cheek lightly, but then his jaw clenched. The tension in his
demeanor caused Violet to wonder if he was angry.
At once, he pulled out his switch
blade and looked behind them away from the cliff’s edge, past the grassy park
and toward the woods. His eyes were wide, his glare intense.
“What is it?” Violet asked
looking around and not seeing anything suspicious just darkness, trees, and
flashes of light from the lodge in the distance.
He didn’t answer for a minute,
but just kept still like a deer frozen in shock before the headlights of a car
right before it gets hit. It appeared now as if he was listening for something,
his eyes violent, his nostrils flared.
Violet’s heart pounded fast in
her chest. “Come here,” she said taking his hand.
At first he ignored her, but when
she took off her shirt, he relaxed and pulled her up against him, putting the
switch blade back into his pocket, and smiling wryly. “I sense an impending
doom coming my way,” he whispered.
To her surprise, he took the shirt
from her hand and pulled it back over her head, dressing her. “I wish you didn’t
have to go,” he murmured into the night, looking out at the dark forest again.
He turned back, his mind in some other place. But then their eyes met. He
blinked. His irises looked glassy, deadpan as he leaned in and kissed along the
line of her ear.
She could feel the warmth of his
breath. Tingles rushed through her body, but she couldn’t help but sense by the
way his hand pressed powerfully against her lower back that he was subduing
some sort of inner rage unrelated to the skittishness toward the forest beyond.
Maybe it was over his mother who
had abandoned him on the side of a desert road as a young kid. She never came
back for him. Or possibly it was over his foster parents who he had run away
from. Maybe he was having second thoughts about returning to them as they had discussed.
It bothered her that he wasn’t open enough.
“This has been the best summer
vacation of my life.” She tried to keep her voice soft and steady. It would be
embarrassing to reveal the emotions she was feeling inside.
He grinned. “You better believe
it has.” His voice was teasing. “You were with me.”
“Oh, yeah?” she asked mockingly.
“As good as it was for me, it was better for you.” The inflection in her tone
was facetious.
His expression shifted and the
way his eyes bored into her now caused her stomach to flutter. Why was he
looking at her like that? Her mind spun. She tried to hold his gaze. She was
afraid she would never see it again.
He was good looking in a rugged
sort of way. She loved his thick dark lashes and his mop of disheveled black
hair. His voice was almost lyrical like a rock star. When he spoke, she often
felt like he was strumming her soul, each sound lifting her up to a higher
realm. How would she ever find another boy like Radley Aston? He was a drug to
her—her own personal ecstasy.
In Arizona all the boys weren’t
interested in her. Most of them made fun of her and her out of fashion
clothing. And anyway, they were boring. Life was dull there. Maybe the guys were
uninteresting in California too, but Radley sure wasn’t and he lived in Los
Angeles and she lived in Phoenix. And it seemed like he really liked her for
some unfathomable reason.
“Okay, love birds,” Violet’s
younger sister, Ariel, called from the rock bed set off to the side and below
the plateau of the cliff. She and her new
boyfriend for the night who they met at the tavern restaurant, Clark something
or other, climbed back up the rocky hill laughing and teasing each other.
“It’s almost 10:00,” her sister
hollered out to Violet again.
“Dude, this is steep,” Clark
exclaimed as he looked up at Ariel climbing above him. “I could pull you off
the side by your hair,” he chuckled hoarsely as he wedged his foot into the
dark crevice of a sizable stone. His hands held tightly to the branches of a
small tree before him. “Just yank that brown hair and throw you down under me.”
Ariel flinched at that thought
and quickened her step up the side, now not as carefully. She didn’t really
know Clark. Was he joking? Not sure what to do, she tried to ignore him and
called out again to her big sister. “Violet, stop making out and help me up.”
“Come on.” Radley released Violet
and motioned quickly with his chin toward the far side of the cliff where Ariel
and Clark were ascending. “I’ll get her.”
“Did that guy say he was going to
yank her off the rocks?” Violet asked in a panic. The blood rushed to her
cheeks.
“Sounded like it.” Radley hurried
over as Violet followed.
Her pulse raced as she watched Radley
edge his way down the rocks.
Clark was laughing and reaching
for Ariel’s hair from below her. “I’m going to get you,” he snorted. His face
was pale and ashen colored in the moonlight.
Radley looked at him fiercely in
the eyes and just as Clark caught a thin lock of her long hair in his hand, Radley
grabbed Ariel by the arm and kicked Clark on his chest. He fell backwards and
hit the rocks at the edge of the creek, landing right on his back.
Clark let out a loud cry. “Dude,
what the hell?” As he rolled over to his side, he coughed something up and spit
it to the ground. “What? Are you trying to kill me?” He moaned and wrapped his
arms around himself.
Radley ignored him and helped
Ariel up to the narrow plateau where Violet stood with her hands over her mouth
and her eyes wide in shock.
“Let’s get out of here.” Violet
pulled her sister to her clutching her in her arms.
But Ariel broke away and leaned
over the edge. “You freak,” she screamed out to Clark who was grasping his head
in his hands as he lay on his back still grousing. Furious, she coughed up some
phlegm and spit it at him.
If the wad landed on him, he
didn’t show any recognition of it.
“Let’s go,” Radley said to the
girls.
“Gladly.” Ariel’s tone was
incensed.
“Are you okay?” Violet took her
sister by the hand as Radley led them along the narrow plateau that led away
from the craggy rocks and to a grassy park.
“I’m fine,” Ariel responded in a
huff. “That guy was weird.”
“You shouldn’t hang around with
boys like that,” Violet reprimanded her sister.
Her eyes widened in indignation.
“Like, I was supposed to know he was a creep.” Her voice was condescending.
“I thought he was strange from
the beginning,” Violet retorted. “He had all those glass animals in his
backpack. Why would he carry stuff like that around?”
Ariel rolled her blue eyes in
annoyance. “He was damn cute and he said he won those figurines from the games
at the amusement park.”
“Oh, please.” Violet put her
hands on her hips. “They don’t give away glass animals for prizes at Red Lake
Pier.”
Ariel pulled out a tiny glass
fawn from her jean’s pocket, examined it for a second, and then stomped it on
the ground with her shoe. “Idiot,” she breathed, tossing her hair over her thin
shoulder.
“You or him?” Radley lifted a
dark eyebrow.
“Very funny, prick.” She tried to
swat him with her hand, but he jumped back sort of dancing around in his cocky
way.
“We better call the police,” Violet
interrupted their play. Her face had paled and she looked nervous.
Right then the girls’ dad pulled
up along the dirt road by the closed ranger’s station where they were supposed
to meet him at ten. He honked the horn to signal them to his car. For a minute,
Violet just stood there staring at Radley. A million thoughts twisted in her
mind. But Ariel ran over without hesitation and got into the backseat.
“We should call the police,” Violet
whispered to Radley as she bit at the edge of her finger.
He shook his head. “I’ll take
care of him. Don’t worry about it.” He took her hand away from her mouth and
kissed it lightly.
But she tried to ignore how tempting
his lips felt on her skin; she looked over at her father. “My dad is going to
be angry.”
He nodded. “Who cares.” His eyes
gleamed with mischief.
Her body sort of shuddered
involuntarily as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he had never
kissed her before. She dug her fingernails into his neck.
“Ouch,” he murmured, his lips
still pressed to hers.
At that, her father got out of
his vehicle in a rush. Before the kiss could end, his massive body was across
the street and pulling them apart. “Get in the car, young lady,” he commanded
in a self-contained rage.
Violet hurried over to the car,
glancing over her shoulder to look at the boy she loved for the last time.
“You stay away from my daughter.”
He put his hand on Radley’s shoulder. His eyes locked with his in a threatening
stare.
“For now.” Radley backed away
from her father with his hands in the air and ran away across the grass and
through the trees. He howled into the wind like a wild animal as he leaped
agilely over a fallen oak.
He hid in the forest for a while
listening to the night sounds as he leaned up against the outer rocks of a
cave. With his switch blade, he brushed
away some fallen leaves and dug into the damp earth carving a heart into the
ground. Somehow he would find a way to take Violet away from her horrible
father. They would steal away to some place absent from all this.
As he was fantasizing about their
futures, playing guitar under the stars, rock concerts, endless nights of
revelry, he was startled out of his thoughts. Something was moving inside the
cave. In the darkness, he heard a rustling within. Were there wild animals in
there?
He jumped up, holding the switch
blade tightly.
Now it sounded like wings were flapping
inside and there was a clawing against the rocks. He backed away and hid inside
a bush. Did he hear a voice? There were angry whispers. He held perfectly still
and listened, his heart thumping madly against his chest, ready to kill.
At once, a group of teenage boys in
black leather jackets rushed out of the cave tossing red wilted roses to the
air as they moved in odd form. Their knees seemed to bend backwards rather than
forward. Their faces were pale like bone, their eyes black as coal. A faint
high pitched squeaking sound seemed to be emitting from their bodies. One boy
grabbed up a frog from the muddy earth as he ran and bit off its head.
As still as a stone, Radley held
his breath until they were gone. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with
the back of his hand. His eyes were wide with shock. What the hell had he just
seen? It was unfathomable.
As much as he didn’t want to
move, he couldn’t sit there all night. Those things might return. He made his
way back to the cliff. He still had to take care of Clark. But once he neared,
he heard the sounds of voices coming from below at the tide pools where he had kicked
Clark down. Who could be down there?
Clouds covered the full moon. It was
even darker now. He could not see who was talking below. It sounded like
several boys speaking at once. The voices were muffled with the wind.
Someone shined a flashlight up at
him. He ducked, trying to get out of the light. His adrenaline was rushing.
Something was not right.
“It’s him!” One of the boys yelled.
“Get him,” another voice said.
Radley started to run. He slipped
on some rocks and fell. The boys were climbing up the side of the cliff. Radley
hardly had any time to get away, but he struggled to his feet, ignoring the
pain from his fall. He felt around in his pocket for the switch blade as he
ran, but it was gone. It must have slid out when he fell.
The boys were right behind him. It
was the same guys from the cave, but they looked perfectly human now. Had he
imagined their black eyes and disjointed legs? He heard the patter of feet
coming in on him. He ran through the forest, the branches scratching at his
skin as he rushed by.
But when he got to the dirt alley
behind the lodge and the tackle shop, one of the boys grabbed him and threw him
down forcefully. He saw there were four guys about his age, almost eighteen. At
once, he scrambled to his feet.”
“What’s your problem?” Radley
demanded, backing away from the angry teens.
“You think you’re so tough?” a
guy with a spider web tattoo on his face asked.
Radley looked around trying to
see if there was a way out. He was trapped. Two of the other boys had circled
around behind him. There were log walls on either of his sides and the spider
guy and his side kick were in his face.
“What do you want?” Radley asked
sharply looking into the spider guy’s bloodshot green eyes. It almost looked
like the boy had been crying.
The spider guy’s nostrils flared.
“You wanna kill my brother?” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Who the hell are you?” Radley’s
body tensed up.
But before there was a chance to
figure out what was going on, all four teenagers charged at him, slamming his
body against the back side of the tackle shop.
“You’re going to die,” The spider
guy said with Radley’s shoulders pinned against the wooden logs. He spit in his
face.
Radley struggled to get away, but
the four of them threw him to the ground. In rapid repetition, they took turns
kicking him in the chest. He was gasping for air and moaning.
“Finish him off,” one of the boys
said to the spider guy. He’s yours for dead.”
Chapter Two
Violet was startled out of her
sleep by a tap at the window of their new log house in Roseville Mountains. She
threw the blankets off of her legs. Her sister was still asleep in the twin bed
beside hers. When she glanced over at the window, she was surprised to see a
black crow pecking at the pane of glass.
Its eyes were dark as the night,
but somehow gentle. Once their gazes met, the bird held still. Violet froze. It
was the strangest thing to see a crow act like such.
But again, it began to tap its
beak against the glass. It stopped and lifted its talons. There was something
in its grasp. It looked like a gold chain.
Violet’s heartbeat sped up,
pattering against her chest. She got the oddest intuition; she got the feeling
it wanted her to let it in. Before she knew what she was doing, she was opening
the window.
Once she had the pane open, the
crow sat there. Violet’s body shuddered slightly. It made her nervous to see a
wild creature show no signs of fear. She ran her finger from the top of its
head, down its spine. Though the proximity made her uneasy, she liked the feel
of its soft, sleek body. At once, she plucked out a feather from its back. It
cawed at the sudden pain and flew away in a rush, dropping the necklace on the
ledge.
She lifted it, holding it up. The
most beautiful big red gemstone carved in the shape of a rose dangled from the
center.
Violet breathed in a jagged
breath—it was the most magnificent jewel she had ever seen. It looked like an
antique, but was polished to a beautiful shine. As she examined it more
closely, she noticed there was some sort of liquid trapped inside. And as she
held it, her fingers seemed to tingle ever so slightly.
She walked around some big brown moving
boxes and stepped into the bathroom where she fastened the gold chain around
her neck. “I’ll wear this forever,” she whispered in satisfaction as a gentle
comfort surrounded her. It looked so beautiful in the mirror. Like nothing she
had ever seen before. She wondered what kind of liquid was inside. It seemed
strange for someone to carve a stone and fill it with something, but somehow
that made it more special. It was mysterious and unique because of it.
At that, she woke Ariel. “Come
on; wake up. You don’t want to be late.”
“What? Huh?” Ariel didn’t want to
go to their new school.
“You have to hurry or Dad will
get mad,” Violet insisted.
Ariel threw her pillow at her
sister playfully and got out of bed. “Let him throw a fit. I’m sick of his
crap.” She got out of her twin bed and threw all of her clothes off without
even closing the curtains or waiting for Violet to leave. She strutted in her
naked, thin body over to the shower, holding her messy brown hair up like she
was hot.
Violet was used to her sister, so
she just ignored her antics. She perused her new walk-in closet for clothes and
quickly dressed without much thought. In some ways, she was a bit anti-social
and didn’t care much what other people thought of her, so she didn’t bother
with makeup and hairstyles. She just quickly ran a brush through her long black
hair and put some red lipstick on because it was all she had and it kept her
lips from chapping. Her pale white skin would have to suffice—she hated
bronzers and foundation. Okay, so she looked a little like Snow White, but who
cared.
As she walked into the yellow
with white trim country style kitchen, she wasn’t surprised at all to see her
father on his laptop. But she was surprised to see him eating hot biscuits.
Usually, he just drank coffee and sometime he just had a shot of vodka instead.
But today, he had baked sweet smelling biscuits fresh out of the oven special
for their new start. Maybe he was going to turn around after all, she hoped.
“Good morning, Daddy.” She almost
sang the words as she kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so happy you made Mom’s
favorite recipe.”
His cheeks reddened. “Do you have
to talk about her?” His voice was harsh.
“Oh.” Violet backed up. “I just
thought…”
“Well, don’t think,” he
reprimanded. He picked up his newspaper and opened it. “Take some before I
throw them out,” her father grumbled.
Violet picked up a biscuit and
ate it over by the refrigerator while she made her school lunch.
“Where the hell is your stupid
sister?” He looked toward their bedroom and called out, “Get your butt down
here, Ariel. It’s time to go.”
***
Even though it was morning, the
sun was already bright and hot through the leafy trees when Daryl Paris dropped
Violet and Ariel off at their new school. Teenagers were hanging around on the shaded
lawns, in the parking lot and in the quad. Some football players who were tossing
a ball to each other stopped playing to check out the new pretty sisters.
“Thanks Dad.” Violet stepped up
to her father’s open car window. “I’m glad you got the Roseville Mountain job
transfer. Even though Ariel’s mad about it, I think she’ll adjust.”
“Let’s go,” Ariel tugged at the
sleeve of Violet’s conservative long sleeved blouse. “Everybody’s staring at
your ass.”
Violet turned to look and saw the
football players watching her. They looked more developed, harder than the
jocks at her previous school. She got the feeling that life was rougher in the
mountains of Roseville than it was in Phoenix. A knot formed in the pit of her
stomach. She wasn’t going to fit in.
“Okay, girls,” Daryl said with a
blank expression, checking his short hair sprayed brown hair in the rear view
mirror. As he cleared his throat, he straightened his tie. He seemed
preoccupied. “Have a good first day.” He didn’t even look away from the mirror
now.
Nervously, Violet leaned in to
kiss her father on the cheek, but Ariel just waited in annoyance with one hand
on her hip.
“Hurry up.” Ariel was already
walking toward the high school office building in her tight jeans, cowboy boots
and tank top without a bra.
Violet got the feeling that
somebody other than the football players was watching her. She looked over her
shoulder and noticed a girl with golden hair duck behind a tree. It seemed like
she was trying to hide from her. How strange.
Confused at that, Violet jogged
to catch up to her sister, but her skirt was so long that she tripped and fell
on her face. “Oh, no!” Her purse spilt its contents on the ground. The knot
tightened in her stomach at the thought of what a geek she must look like. She
much preferred to go unnoticed. It wasn’t pleasant to be the one everyone
picked on. Been there, done that, she thought, trying to erase the painful
memories.
“Oh, my! Are you okay?” The same
girl she had seen hiding from her behind the tree helped Violet off the ground.
She had wild long hair like a lion’s mane.
Violet looked up at her and was
surprised to see so much hair. The girl’s face was hidden under a shaggy mess
of golden locks. Only her blue eyes were just barely peeking through. She
seemed to be torn between leaving and helping her. How odd, Violet thought. Aside
from her disheveled hair, the girl looked quite beautiful and stylish.
Violet tried to dust herself off,
but she wasn’t very good at it. In one way, she looked like an even bigger mess
than before she started to clean herself.
She accidentally smeared mud all over her blouse and skirt as well as on
her cheek. She leaned over and gathered
up the contents of her purse: a ruler, her retainers, sparkly pens, and a
bullet. Oh, no. She hoped the girl didn’t see that. At once, she stuffed
everything back in her hand bag.
“Gosh darn it,” Violet mumbled as
she stood up. “I forgot my cell phone at home.” She was frustrated because now
she would have to wait until after school to see if Radley called her yet.
“Here.” The girl kept her head
down as she pulled out a handkerchief from her purse. She tried to cover her
hands with her jacket sleeves. But wrinkly fingers protruded as she fumbled
with the cloth. “Let me help you.”
Violet tried to keep a blank
expression when she noticed her rough, parched fingers. What was with this
strange girl? On one hand she looked as gorgeous as a supermodel with a hot
physique and on the other hand she looked like a wild animal.
But then a thought occurred to
her. Maybe she was a burn victim and was embarrassed of her face. That must be
it Violet decided. She was probably covered in scars after being nearly burnt
to death as a child. Oh, the poor girl.
Bewildered, Violet shrugged and
looked around wondering how many people were watching them. But nobody seemed
to give them any attention. Maybe they were accustomed to this shaggy haired
diva and maybe clumsy geeks like herself were all too common. I guess that
would be a good thing if the students at her new high school were used to nerds,
she thought. Possibly she would fit in after all.
Some cheerleaders were sitting on
a low brick wall nearby that circled around a tree. They were too engaged in
looking at pictures on somebody’s cell phone to care about some awkward new
girl. High school bitches, Violet thought thinking back to the time the cheer
squad in Phoenix filled her locker with condoms. That was a dirty trick. People
laughed at her for weeks after the condoms spilt out all over the ground.
“Hold still.” The lion girl said
in a sweet voice as soft as silk. Quickly, she spit on the hanky without
showing herself and wiped Violet’s face with it.
“Ugh. That’s okay, Mom.” Violet
said sarcastically as she backed away in disgust. “Just leave it.”
“I got the dirt off.” Her hands
started to reach for Violet’s neck, but then pulled back suddenly. “Where did
you get that necklace?” Her voice was harsh. Her hands even started shaking as
they fell to the sides of her body.
“Oh.” Violet blushed as she
fumbled with the rose shaped jewel. “I, uh… it’s a family piece.” She didn’t
want to tell her the truth.
“Can I buy it from you? My
grandmother is very sick. She collects roses. This would make her very happy.”
she pulled out a wad of cash from her purse.
Violet’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
She shook her head in surprise. “It’s sentimental. I couldn’t sell it.”
“Name your price,” she encouraged
as she counted out hundred dollar bills.
Wow! This girl is rich. Who
carries around that kind of cash? “I’m sorry, but no.” Violet felt bad for her ill
grandmother, but she felt like she could never part with the necklace no matter
what.
Putting the money back in her
wallet, the girl started to leave, but called over her shoulder, “You should be
glad I didn’t let you walk around looking like a mud patty. This school isn’t
kind to slobs.” She laughed sweetly; her tone had a musical quality to it kind
of like a movie star’s voice. She started to text a message on her cell phone.
“Oh.” Violet wondered how bad she
looked. “I have to catch up with my sister. We’re new here.” But the girl was
too far away to hear by now.
The cheerleaders looked up at her
and laughed. They were eyeing her clothing and whispering about her amongst
each other. Oh, no. Violet hoped she wasn’t going to have a repeat episode.
For a moment, her mind reeled
with ways to hurt them. But she didn’t want to be that kind of girl again,
doing evil things to bitches like them just to make herself feel better. She
wouldn’t dump a jar of red ants in the head cheerleader’s bed while she was
sleeping at this school. It was against the law to break into someone’s house
and she didn’t want to be that type of girl anymore. Now was a new start for
her and she was going to be good.
She just shrugged it off and
headed toward the office. Her mind was on the girl with wild hair. She couldn’t
believe how striking she was in an unusual sort of way. All her curves were in
perfect proportion. So sleek and muscular. In fact, her body was a little too idyllic
which made Violet wonder if she had plastic surgery or some kind of hard core
personal trainer. She looked strong as hell. This school, way up in the
mountains, didn’t seem like the place for all her glitz.
Even though the girl’s hair was a
wild mess, it was shockingly beautiful and as shiny as silk. She wanted to
touch it. There was just so, so much of it. It was the most attractive hair she
had ever seen.
Violet entered the office. To her
surprise, the lion girl was behind the counter now. And her hair was out of her
face. Oh my! Her face was like that of an angel’s. She was so damn pretty. And
there weren’t any burn scars whatsoever. And her hands were silky smooth, the
kind of hands you’d see in a hand cream commercial.
The lioness straightened her
blouse over her voluptuous breasts and then leaned on the cool linoleum
surface. “Name please,” she said in a liquid smooth voice that was as alluring
as her face to Violet’s sister Ariel who was waiting at the counter.
Was she the school secretary? Violet
wondered. She looked way too young for that. A girl like her ought to be
famous, not working in an ordinary high school office.
“Ariel Paris and my sister, Violet.”
Ariel glanced over at Violet and winked. “I wondered what happened to your
skinny ass,” she said to her sister.
“You should have waited for me.” Violet
frowned, feeling out of sorts and confused by this apparition before her.
But before Ariel could answer, the
beautiful girl interjected, “Oh, yes. We were expecting you.”
She pulled their schedules up on
a computer screen and started typing away. After a couple of minutes, she
printed out the programs and handed them to the sisters. “Welcome to Roseville
High School.” She tapped the tips of her long nails on the counter.
Ariel just scowled at her. “Am I
welcome?” she retorted in irritation. It seemed apparent to her that this girl
was just full of crap.
The girl wasn’t put off. She looked
at Ariel and bit the tip of her finger, eyeing her as if to let her know that
she was checking her out, making opinions about her. “I see you don’t want to
be here.” She grinned like she was in on a secret.
Ariel shrugged her off, rolling
her blue eyes. “Come on Violet.” She pulled her sister by the arm toward the
door, but when she got there, she couldn’t get it open.
An old woman waddled out of the
office bathroom. Her eyes darted to the lioness. “Get out from there,” she
yelled in a crabby voice. “Students are not allowed behind the counter.”
The golden haired beauty just
shrugged while she subdued a smile. “Just wanted to help out, Miss Marks.”
“Well don’t.” The lady made her
way over and the girl sauntered over to the door to help Ariel who still couldn’t
get it open.
“What’s your name?” Violet whispered
to her as she made room for her to help. Violet was surprised at what a rule
breaker she was to take over the secretarial job without permission. It was
kind of funny. A secret part of her felt a kindred to people with guts to mess
around like that. That’s what she liked about Radley—he was always taking
risks.
“I’m Drew Collins.” She pulled
the doorknob right off and laughed.
The sisters looked at each other
wide-eyed.
“What the hell?” Ariel said as
she looked at Drew in wonder.
But the girl held her hand out,
motioning Violet and Ariel through the exit. She just dropped the doorknob on
the ground. “I know your names already,” she smirked. “We have almost every
class together.” She looked at Violet as the three girls walked together
through the outdoor halls. “You’re going to love this school. Even though there
are only about four hundred and fifty students, most everybody’s so nice.”
Violet smiled wondering if Drew
was totally clueless. It was already obvious that the cheerleaders were snots
and the football players were lewd. But regardless of her unfounded optimism, she
already liked Drew even though she wiped saliva on her face with her hanky only
five minutes ago.
But Ariel looked bored as she
stared at her, eyeing her red jacket. “It’s a little hot for velvet,” Ariel said
to Drew.
Drew rolled her eyes and laughed
as she looked up at the cement overhang. “I’m always cold. And anyway, I wear
this because it’s my clique’s jacket.” She tilted an embroidered label on the
front toward Ariel.
Ariel read the words. Her voice was
laced with light condescension. “Crimson Devils.”
“What’s that?” Violet asked as
she repositioned her headband and placed locks of her long black hair over her
shoulders. She was surprised this girl would be in a club with such a dark
name.
Drew winked like they were close buddies
in on some inside joke. “Come, I’ll introduce you girls to my friends. They’re
in the quad hanging out before school starts.”
Drew looked over at Ariel who was
walking beside Violet in boredom. “They are going to love you,” she whispered specifically
to Ariel. Violet wondered why she didn’t include her in that statement, but
when she thought about it, she realized, why the hell would they like
her?—hardly anyone ever did.
They walked through a row of
lockers and stepped out onto the cement quad. Drew bent over to pick up a pen
she dropped, but when she stood up, her hair was all in her face again. She
rushed across the quad ducking like it was raining even though it was perfectly
sunny out while the girls followed behind.
The football players were talking
in a group now over by the lunch lines. Some of them were eating hot cinnamon
rolls that they bought at school while others snacked on French fries. A few of
them stopped talking or eating and stared at Violet and Ariel.
“Take a picture. It’ll last
longer,” Ariel snapped at them as she, Violet, and Drew passed by.
Some of the guys laughed and one
actually held his phone up and snapped a photo. And then he licked the screen
of his phone where the picture was.
Ariel rolled her eyes as she
mumbled under her breath, “So juvenile.”
Drew motioned with her head and
they joined her friends who were leaning against a brick wall looking off in
varying directions.
“Hey guys,” Drew almost sang the
words in her liquid voice. “Meet Violet and Ariel. They are new to Roseville.”
The clique of pale faced girls
looked at the sisters coldly, except for one girl with shiny red hair who
smiled and backed away from them slightly like a wary fox. Violet was surprised
how gorgeous all of Drew’s friends were. They all had such thick, luxurious
hair. In different ways, each one of them had animal-like features. There was something
wild looking about the group.
They were all wearing the same
red velvet jackets that were much too hot for late August. From the way they
stood, one crouched on the low wall, another with her fingers spread,
supporting herself against the lockers, and the other two watching with stony
eyes, Violet felt like prey.
“Hi, I’m Lucy.” The red head said
to the sisters. She seemed a bit unpredictable like she might snap off their
heads at any moment, but she was friendly. “Where are you from?”
Ariel was looking away down the
hall now and didn’t answer, so Violet took the lead. “My dad took a position at
a law firm in Roseville, so we left our hometown of Phoenix, Arizona.”
“Oh, I’ve been there,” Lucy added
as she twisted her long hair up into a knot with the ends fanning out of the
top like a fox tail. “Phoenix is so fricken hot!” She licked her lips.
Violet laughed politely. She was
not comfortable and wanted to get to her first class. “You’re right. We make
our houses as cold as refrigerators and never go outside in the summer.”
The other Crimson Devils were looking
away now and Violet got the feeling they wanted them to leave. But before she
could excuse herself, Drew introduced the others. “Violet and Ariel, this is Angie.”
She pointed to the tallest skinniest one with long straight dark brown hair.
Angie nodded disinterestedly as
she held her hand casually on her hip. She started to say something, but Drew
interrupted motioning to her other friend, “This is Chanel.”
“Hi,” Chanel said in an ambiguous
tone. She was thin with long legs and straight long blond hair. Her blue eyes
sparkled out of her pale skin. But, like the others, she looked almost dangerous.
“And this is Nona.”
Nona’s eyes narrowed at the
introduction. She had pale olive skin with black long layers of silky hair. Violet
noticed that she had a dark, quirky air that reminded her of some of the gothic
characters she had seen in movies.
“Okay,” Ariel said suddenly as
she clapped her hands together once. “I’ve got to piss.”
Everyone, but Drew laughed.
“Want me to go with you?” Violet
asked her sister.
But she was already walking away.
She called over her shoulder, “I’ll be back soon.” As she started to jog, she
glanced at her watch.
Violet noticed that the girls were
looking at her conservative clothing. Uncomfortable, she felt entirely out of place
with this group. She sensed that there was something not quite right about
them. They were intimidating, maybe even a little frightening in some
inexplicable way. She wished she was off somewhere reading a good book under a
tree away from all people.
“Did you leave a boyfriend back
in Arizona?” Angie asked in her husky voice that overpowered.
“Why do you ask?” Violet
responded, trying to sound confident even though she felt like running away.
“You look love struck,” Chanel
said as she tucked a strand of her blond hair behind her ear. Unlike the
others, she slouched slightly in that cool girl way.
Her mind was whirling now as she
shook her head and looked down at her hands. “Interesting that you sensed
that.” She looked back at Chanel searching in her eyes as if they could give
her some sort of reassurance. “I met a boy while vacationing at Blood Falls this
summer. I thought we had something special, but I never heard from him again.”
“What’s his name?” Lucy asked
excitedly. She couldn’t help but make a silly expression on her pretty pale face.
To Violet’s surprise, something about her ways seemed almost genuine.
“Radley Aston.” Violet blushed
when she said his name.
The Crimson Devils looked at each
other and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Violet asked
in surprise.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Drew put her
arm around Violet’s shoulders and gave her friends a dirty look.
“What was he like?” Chanel asked.
Her voice was edged with the slightest melancholy.
Violet’s face lit up
uncontrollably when she described him. “Radley was the kindest, most genuine,
heroic boy I have ever met. He was just real. You know what I mean?”
Everyone but Drew and Lucy
chuckled.
“He sounds very sweet,” Angie’s husky
voice was laced with sarcasm.
“Yes,” Violet agreed, wondering
why Angie was such a bitch. “He is very well mannered.”
The girls laughed again.
***
Ariel couldn’t find the bathroom
and was too proud to ask anyone in the halls. The first bell directing everyone
to class was bound to ring anytime now and she still had to get back to her
sister to save her from the witch models. She cut across a lawn and passed the
library.
But just as she found the
restroom, she noticed some attractive, but dangerous looking boys in black
leather jackets joking around with each other under a thick cluster of trees on
the lawn. Is that who she thinks it is? She took a second look. One of the boys
looked like Radley Aston!
Oh, my God. Violet won’t believe
it! It is… It’s him! He looked so different now. His face was paler and harder.
His features looked sharper like anger had carved its way into the contours.
She was about to walk over to Radley,
but then she heard her sister’s name. The idea of it was shocking. What could
he possibly be saying about her to those wild guys?
Chapter Three
“We don’t care about her name, bro,”
Shark teased Radley. “We just want the action.” He ran his hand over his curly
black hair.
Ariel flinched as she hid from
them tucked away to the side of the wall of the entrance of the bathroom.
“Violet.” Henry sang the name in
a high pitched tone. His smile broadened, showing his buck teeth, his only odd
feature on his otherwise perfect face.
“Come on man. Who is she?” Nathan
taunted as he unzipped his leather jacket. The blood rose to Ariel’s
cheeks—that guy was hot with black straight hair and dark eyes like the Devil’s.
“Violet,” both Henry and Lewis
sighed melodramatically. Lewis was almost as hot as Nathan. He just had blond
hair which didn’t appeal to Ariel as much as Nathan’s black locks. And there
was just something about that dark eyed devil that made her blood boil.
“Violet was cool,” Radley
responded. “Big breasts.” He held his hands over his chest and squeezed. “Out
of town chicks are the best—hump ‘em and dump ‘em.”
The guys laughed and gave each
other high fives.
Ariel was incensed at the way
they were talking about her older sister. She wanted to run out and slap Radley’s
face, but she refrained. Violet was a virgin. There was no way she had sex with
him.
“What about her ass?” Shark asked
as he jumped around.
Radley grinned. “Round and tight.
And she liked to use it if you know what I mean.”
Ariel couldn’t stomach anymore.
Anger rushed through her veins. She hurried into the bathroom and purposely did
not come out until the first bell rang, waiting until Radley and his friends were
gone.
***
“Why don’t you and your sister
come with us to the race Friday night between the Night Ryders and the Dirts?”
Angie asked Violet in as sweet of a voice as she could muster.
The weather was heating up. Violet
unbuttoned the top button on her blouse to cool off. “What kind of race?” she
asked in a soft voice.
“Oh, do you think that’s a good
idea?” Drew said to Angie. She sounded concerned.
“Hell yeah.” Angie ran her
fingers through her dark hair. “It’s a motorcycle race.”
“Chicken,” Nona added. Her
expression on her fine features looked mischievous.
“What?” Violet wondered if she was
challenging her. “I’m not afraid. Should I be?”
They laughed. “We weren’t calling
you chicken,” Nona said as she licked her lips. “It’s a chicken race. Two guys
race with high stakes. The winner gets the honor for their gang.”
“Well, thanks for inviting me.
Sounds fun. I’ll talk to Ariel about it.” Violet put her hands in her skirt
pockets nervously.
“Come,” Drew said to Violet.
“I’ll show you to English class. We’re in it together.”
“I wonder what happened to
Ariel?” Violet thought out loud as she looked down the hall.
“She’s a junior,” Drew sighed.
“She’ll be fine. It’s not like she’s a measly freshman, right?”
Violet just shrugged, not knowing
how to respond. Because she was a year older than her, she couldn’t help but
feel protective. She worried about her, especially since she was known to be a
trouble magnet.
When they arrived at class, some
of the kids were throwing wads of paper across the room. The teacher walked in
and frowned. He stepped up to the podium and turned to write his name
extraordinarily large across the white board. “Mr. Zappo!” He said it as he
wrote.
The rest of the students filed in
as the bell rang and everyone took seats. Violet sat beside Drew, but at the
last second, Joaquin Elfman slipped in the desk beside her. In his conservative
slacks and button down short sleeved shirt, he looked conservative in dress
like Violet, but the tribal design tattoo down his arm confused her. He set his
guitar in the aisle.
Once his tall, lithe body got settled
in his seat, he glanced at Violet. His eyes nearly popped out of his head. He
was so enamored that he thought he was sitting beside an angel. For a moment he
fixated on her dimples when she smiled and her violet blue eyes that looked so
innocent and heavenly. She looked like the sweetest girl he had ever seen.
Mr. Zappo jabbered on and on
about all the books he was going to make them read and the endless array of
quizzes and tests ahead. Violet loved English class, but feared this one was
going to be challenging. Again, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Joaquin
kept looking at her. He tousled his short, preppy brown hair with his fingers.
When class was over, he leaned
over on her desk. “I’m Joaquin Elfman,” he said coolly. He held out his hand
for her to shake it, but when she lifted hers to his he pulled it away and
winked.
Violet tried not to laugh at his
play. “I know. The teacher called your name during roll call.”
His brown eyes lit up. “You
remembered?”
Violet noticed his Adam’s apple
lifting in his throat. “It would be hard to forget.”
He chuckled and then stretched
his arms over his head and leaned back in his chair. “So what do you do with
yourself?”
Drew leaned in, her golden hair falling
over one eye. “She likes hanging out with me and the Crimson Devils. Mostly, we
just cast spells, but voodoo dolls are our specialty.”
He stepped back. “Lucky her.” Do
you know how to dance?” He looked at Violet’s heart shaped lips and imagined
parting them with his tongue.
Violet couldn’t help but gain
interest at his question. “I’ve been taking tap dance lessons for the past ten
years.”
“Perfect,” he chuckled, not
caring one bit if she was the worst dancer in the world as long as he got to do
what he wanted with her. “We need a new back up dancer for our rock band, Hell
Razors. We can work together.”
“Really?” Violet was very
interested even though she didn’t like the name of the band. She wasn’t that
comfortable with Drew and her friends. The idea of dancing in a rock band,
hopefully soft rock, sounded promising. “I want to audition.”
A huge smile spread on his face.
“You’re hired. I just have to introduce you to Mr. Peters and the Hell Razors
will love you.”
“It’s a paid position?” She had
been saving up for a Ruger 10/22 for her secret gun collection and with the
extra money she might just be able to get one.
“Sure is.” He tapped his fingers
on the table. “You get paid with every gig. It’s small time so far, but the Indian
reservations have us play and we’ve gotten some Ocotia Wells gigs. We practice
every day during third period for music credit and for two hours after school.”
Violet looked at Drew who was
gathering her books in her designer backpack.
“Go ahead,” Drew whispered. “I’ll
see you after the break in history.” She smiled, showing her perfect white
teeth. “Like I said, we have almost every class together. I’ll save you a
seat.”
“Thanks, Drew.” Violet was
touched at how kind she was being to her even if she did stare at her necklace
a little too much. She wasn’t used to having girlfriends. Aside from Ariel, she
had mostly been a loner at her other school. She had a few pals but she never
seemed to connect with them in a genuine way.
And Drew looked like the popular
type with her good looks and designer styles. Certainly, none of her friends
had ever been popular. The whole idea of hanging out with the Crimson Devils was
much too foreign and intimidating to her. The band practice was just what she
needed to soothe her fears and keep her out of trouble. Maybe she could even
learn to play the flutophone or the bagpipes.
Joaquin walked Violet over to the
band room and introduced her to the teacher. He was tall and skinny with a
hooked nose and dressed in slacks and a tie that he kept messing with.
Mr. Peters liked her immediately
and enrolled her on the spot. Violet was relieved to have a place of refuge at
school. She got to swap her cooking class for band credits. Every day she was
to spend third period dancing and playing the tambourines and two hours after
school practicing.
The teacher said that if they had
enough time, he might help her learn the flutophone or the bagpipes like she
asked, but he suggested singing with their voice coach. He explained that he
was too busy to focus too much on a beginner student.
Aside from band class, she spent
every period with Drew. That seemed like an odd coincidence to her that their
schedules were the same, but it was reassuring knowing someone in all of her
classes. To her surprise, Drew wanted to sit by her in each subject. She wasn’t
used to getting that much attention from a girl.
“So you have to sit by us at
lunch,” Drew said as they were walking out of calculus.
“Uh.” Violet paused for a moment.
She wasn’t sure if she was up to spending time with the Crimson Devils. The day
had been stressful enough so far and she didn’t feel like Drew’s friends liked
her. Though, to her surprise, she was growing to like Drew. “Okay.” Her voice
was hesitant.
“Come on,” Drew said cheerily.
“They’re tough at first, especially Angie and Nona…”
“And Chanel,” she interrupted
with a sigh.
Drew swayed her head side to side
as if taking consideration of what Violet just said, “Okay—you’re right—and Chanel.”
They started to cut across the lawn. Sunlight broke through the trees. “They
are a bit intimidating, but Lucy is a goofball and a lot of fun. And eventually
you’ll get used to the others.” She looked down and her hair fell in her eyes.
Violet smiled tightly. “I’ll go.”
Drew shrugged, still looking down.
“Don’t let me force you,” she said in her sweet voice as she put her hands
under her hair that was covering her face.
“No, I’ll go.” Violet’s smile
lifted as the stepped under an overhang. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Okay, great!” Drew’s expression
was cheery now as she tossed her hair back and away.
As they walked through the crowds
of students talking in the halls and hurrying off to lunch, Violet asked, “I
didn’t notice a cafeteria. Where do we eat lunch?”
Her voice lifted in pitch. “Everybody
just finds spots in the quad. Some kids eat on the lawns and others sit in
groups along the short brick walls that circle the grass and trees.” She waved
to a girl in the hall and blew a kiss to some guy with short hair in overalls.
When they got to the lunch area
with their trays of food from the checkout, Violet was surprised to see Ariel
sitting in the shade along the wall with the Crimson Devils. She was even laughing along with Angie. They
looked like great friends already.
“Violet, come here—sit by me.”
Ariel motioned her sister over.
Violet sat down beside Ariel and
Drew sat beside Violet, but she didn’t sit too close. As usual, she always
seemed to keep a considerable amount of personal space between them. That
didn’t bother Violet though. She was used to people always crowding in on her
and she considered Drew’s ways to be refreshingly polite and respectful.
Violet looked at Ariel
suspiciously. “Have a good day so far?”
“Actually, it was,” she responded
nonchalantly.
“We have every class together,” Angie
said in her husky voice as she stared into Violet’s eyes making her
uncomfortable.
“Oh.” Violet’s voice lifted to a
higher pitch. “What a coincidence.”
“Yeah,” Ariel said flipping her
brown locks. “Angie invited us to the race Friday night between the Dirts and
the Night Ryders.”
“I know,” Violet breathed. “She
told me to ask you.”
Ariel’s eyebrows scrunched.
“We’re going.”
“Uh, alright.” Her sister’s
strong conviction surprised her. “I guess we can do that. As long as it’s over
by ten.”
Ariel shook her head in
annoyance. She was frustrated with her father’s strict curfews. But rather than
complaining, she simply rejoined in conversation with Angie and now Nona.
Suddenly, the loud roar of
motorcycle engines sounded through the lunch area as a gang of motorcycle
riders entered the parking lot in view of the quad.
