Venom (The Reawakening Series Book 1) Read online

  Credits

  VENOM

  The Reawakening Series I

  Written by

  Daniele Lanzarotta

  Edited by Amanda Sorrells-Larsen

  Art Direction Meredith Hancock

  Front cover photography © Geber 86

  Published by Rocket Science Productions

  © Copyright 2014 Daniele Lanzarotta

  All rights reserved

  ISBN: 978-1-939954-64-0

  eISBN: 978-1-939954-63-3

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblances to actual events, locales, persons living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To all readers who have missed Nicholas.

  CHAPTER ONE

  I always knew I would regret leaving her and for the first time, I find myself envying humans. Humans eventually move on. Humans get it in their heads that they only have one life to live and they use that as a way to justify their actions, but even when they don’t move on, their regrets have a deadline… death.

  ***

  NICHOLAS

  (TENNESSEE – 2043)

  Dreams… yet another side effect of the angel blood Lexi gave to save me from being destroyed. Lexi was my minion, and much more. We were together for the first thirty years of her vampire life. That was before I broke our bond and handed her off to the one guy she ever truly loved. I know it was the right decision in more ways than I can count. Guys like me don’t get the girl. I knew that from day one.

  I enjoyed the dreams at first. They were my only opportunity to see her again, but then, something changed. As days passed, the dreams started to take more out of me. When I’m awake, I miss her more than I care to admit and I’m thirsty as if I haven’t eaten in weeks.

  Today, like any other day, I sit on the couch across from the bed and fight going to sleep, but it’s useless. Eventually, I give in and there she is once again.

  She lays by the pool while I swim at night. When I get done swimming, I get out of the pool and walk toward her. She is listening to music and her eyes are closed. I get even closer and as I stand over her, the cold water drips from my hair to her neck and runs down her pale skin. She knows I’m watching her, but she doesn’t open her eyes. I bite my bottom lip, careful not to pierce my skin with my fangs. I keep watching her… I love how her pale skin allows me to see her veins and how the scent of her blood makes my mouth water just like a human’s blood would. I lick my lips and lower myself to lie next to her. It’s not until she feels my body next to hers that she opens her eyes and smiles.

  We’ve been together for so long and our imprint is so strong that we know each other’s needs without having to say a word.

  She leans her neck to the side, exposing my favorite spot on her neck. I trace the vein on her neck with my finger. I then move my other hand, resting it on the back of her neck. I lean closer and kiss her on the lips before moving slowly toward her neck. I kiss it once before sinking my fangs into her cold skin. I let out a moan as soon as I feel the sweet taste of her blood, and I drink and drink until I can feel that she is getting weaker. That is when I stop immediately. I lick where I bit her and, being that she is a vampire herself, it heals right away. When I look back at her, her eyes are empty, distant… and I can’t feel her anymore.

  “Lexi, are you okay?”

  She shakes her head. “How could you have done this to me? to us?”

  I want to say something… anything, but I can’t, and in a matter of seconds, I find myself helplessly watching her disappear right in front of me; her body, fading into ashes until there is nothing left.

  I wake up drenched in sweat and hating that this keeps happening. Yes, I have a love-hate relationship with my dreams, which is pathetic, especially for a vampire like me. I try to think of something else…anything, but the memory of her haunts my every single moment and no matter what I do, I can’t get her off my mind. But what I hate the most is that after breaking our bond, I can no longer feel whether she is safe or not. And even if I did know, I wouldn’t be able to get to her because, for one thing, my ability to track her was attached to our bond which is now gone. But that would also be putting her at risk.

  There are so many reasons why we—Harvey, my sister Sarah, and I, are on the run. I took the fault for the death of vampires who were after Lexi, leading some vampires to believe that I hunt and destroy my own kind. Unfortunately, that is not even the most complicated reason...

  Anyway, in yet another attempt to stop thinking about her, and the reasons that led me to make the stupidest decision of my existence, I decide I need to get up and find something to do. Honestly, what I need is to find a way to keep these dreams from happening.

  I get up and almost fall back down. That is when I realize how thirsty I am. I rush into the bathroom and jump in the shower, my thirst increasing by the second. I rush out, get dressed, and get down to the living room where I see Harvey and Sarah watching TV. Sarah is the other reason why we are on the run. Sarah is a little over nine years old… in human years. She is my stepsister from over three centuries ago. She used to be a vampire, and vampire children are forbidden in our world. The blood of a human child is toxic to vampires. The humanity in it tends to drive the vampire insane; not that this knowledge makes them crave that blood any less than others. Today, she is no longer a monster like Harvey and I. The same angel blood that allows me to sleep and dream, cured her. She is stronger than humans, but she is mortal and she now ages, or at least she is supposed to, but vampires don’t know that, and so, we have to hide her.

  “Where are you going?” asks Harvey.

  “To feed.”

  “There are bags of blood in the fridge.”

  I laugh. “We both know that I’m not drinking that.”

  “Nicholas, we are hiding. We can’t afford the exposure.”

  I roll my eyes at him. “We are in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee. There are two houses close to us and then not another for miles and miles. Seriously… what are the chances that our neighbors know other vampires and will tell on us?”

  “Fine! Make it quick and at least make the effort to go to the next town or something.”

  “Yes, father.”

  Sarah just watches the conversation looking puzzled. “Father?” she asks confused.

  “He is being sarcastic,” says Harvey. “The best thing you can do is to never take anything he says seriously.”

  I shake my head and walk out the door.

  I have to drive for a while, but I end up at a small bar. There are some guys shooting pool and who I assume to be their girlfriends, whispering as I walk in. I go straight to the bar hoping to find someone who has been drinking. I know that the alcohol mixed in their blood will make me forget… at least for a little while.

  There is a young woman working the bar.

  “What can I get ya?” she asks.

  “Water will be fine.” I have no intentions of drinking anything anyway. I don’t know how humans can stand the taste or scent of alcohol. Not without it being mixed with something anyway.

  The bartender gives me a puzzled look, but gets the glass of water and starts small talk.

  “Are you from around here?”

  I roll my eyes. Obviously, she can tell that I don’t have a country accent. “Nah. From up north.”

  She nods and seems turned off by my attitude.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

  “Tough day?”

  “Tough existence.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” she says.

  Someone from the other side o
f the bar calls her over and buys himself and her a drink. She takes the shot and goes on with her work. Every once in a while a new customer walks in and buys her a drink, and she drinks it. I shake my head. ‘Humans…’

  An hour later, I find myself sitting at the same spot, just people watching. The guys are still playing pool… their girlfriends still gossiping… it all seems so… normal and boring.

  “I’m going on my break. Do you want to go for a walk?”

  I turn to find the bartender watching me curiously.

  “Sure.”

  “I’m Marlene by the way,” she says with a sweet smile.

  I nod. “I’m Nicholas.”

  She calls someone from the back of the bar to take her place and I get up and follow her out.

  There is nothing but empty fields on both sides of the bar.

  “Is this what you do on your breaks? It doesn’t seem very… safe.”

  She shrugs. “All I see are empty fields. If someone suspicious comes around, I will see them from a distance.”

  It’s hard to keep myself from laughing. Here is this woman, next to a vampire, and she thinks she is safe. We start to walk toward my car, which is not too far away.

  “So, do you always drink whenever someone buys you a drink? It doesn’t sound like the healthiest job around.”

  She giggles. “No. That was just tonight.”

  “How come?”

  “I thought it would help me get the nerves to talk to you.”

  “Really?”

  She nods.

  The wind blows in a different direction right when we approach my car and my hunger increases to a level that is nearly impossible to control. I need to get her in the car and feed. If I wait too long I will lose control and I know I won’t be able to stop drinking. Not that I’m a good little vampire with a conscience, I just don’t feel like dealing with Harvey. Him lecturing me for an hour would be punishment enough to keep me from ripping her throat out.

  “This is my car over here. Do you mind if we just sit for a while?”

  She looks at her watch. “I guess. I don’t have much time before I have to go back though.”

  “Okay.”

  “Nice car,” she says.

  I open the passenger side door of my Camaro for her. After she gets in and I close the door, I go to the driver’s side and get in.

  I glamour her right away. I look into her eyes, “I’m going to bite and drink from you and you are not going to scream.”

  Even glamoured, she looks confused.

  “Tilt your neck to the side, Love.”

  She does and I approach her. I ignore the smell of alcohol. I close my eyes and without wasting any time, I pierce her skin with my fangs. She gasps, but doesn’t scream. I start to drink… and drink…”

  At some point, she moans into my ear, and right when I stop, she says, “Don’t stop, Nick.”

  I feel like I’ve been punched on the chest. Only one person ever called me Nick, especially like this. That pushes me over the edge.

  I lose my mind and with that, the glamour is gone. She is suddenly very aware of what is happening and she freaks out.

  Her hand moves straight to her neck. Surprisingly, she doesn’t scream, but she looks terrified.

  “What happened? Why does my neck hurt so much?”

  I fake a confused look. “Maybe you had too much to drink,” I say, not bothering to compel her again. “Look, maybe it’s best if you just go back to work or to your home, but I think I should go.”

  “Bu—but my neck,” she pulls down the visor and looks in the mirror. “These look like—”

  UGH! I have no time or patience for this. “Let me see it.”

  When she turns back around, we make eye contact long enough for her to be glamoured again. At least that is what should have happened. The glamour doesn’t work, probably because I can’t focus. “I don’t know what happened to your neck, Love, but you are sounding a bit crazy right now. Hopefully just because of the alcohol… I think you should go.”

  She gives me a look of disbelief.

  “Jerk,” she says as she gets out of the car and slams the door shut.

  She runs back toward the bar and I get the hell out of there.

  I speed the entire way home, where I practically jump out of the car and rush in through the front door.

  I find Harvey sitting in the living room, reading a book.

  Once he hears me, he puts the book down.

  “What is wrong with you?” he asks.

  “Where is Sarah?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “We have a problem.”

  He laughs. “I don’t have a problem. You might. In fact, you have more than just one problem, but please, go on.”

  “Man, just… I’m not in the mood, okay?”

  I guess at that point, he realizes I’m serious and that something really is wrong.

  “What happened?”

  “We have to move and I need you to do something for me.”

  His tone changes immediately. “Why the hell do we have to move and what do you need?”

  “I kind of bit someone and couldn’t compel her into forgetting it.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Telling you what happened won’t change anything. Now, I’m going to ask you this once and I don’t want to talk about it. You either do this for me or you don’t.”

  He gives me a puzzled look.

  “I want you to compel me into forgetting Lexi. I want to forget everything about her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “I don’t like this,” says Harvey.

  I roll my eyes at him. “You don’t have to like it. Look, this will be good for all of us. I will forget and we can all move on. Just do it.”

  Harvey paces around the living room and I know he is contemplating it. I honestly don’t know why he even has to think about this.

  He finally stops and looks at me. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  “Damn right you will. Let’s get this over with.”

  “Right now?” he asks.

  “Might as well.”

  Harvey shakes his head. “I’m going to give you a few minutes to yourself before we do this.”

  Before I can even say anything, he turns around and leaves the room.

  I relax back on the couch, close my eyes, and let my mind wander one last time and think about her. Within seconds, I can picture her face, her eyes, her smile… the sound of her heartbeat from when she was human and the sweet taste of her blood from both before and after she was turned.

  I sigh and open my eyes. I know this will be good in so many ways.

  “Come on, man, I don’t have all night,” I yell at Harvey.

  He walks silently into the living room and sits across from me.

  I ignore the look of pity in his eyes.

  “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  I roll my eyes at him. “Do I need to compel you into compelling me?” I laugh.

  He gives me a puzzled look. “Would that even work?”

  I shrug. “Who cares.”

  Harvey shakes his head. “Let’s get this over with.”

  HARVEY

  His willingness to be compelled makes things easier. In a matter of seconds, he is in a trance like state. I hate doing this. It’s one thing to compel people into forgetting memories that lasted seconds or minutes, but this… this is messing with a lifetime of memories and something is bound to go wrong.

  I’m stressed out wondering how I’m even going to do this and know that I have to act quickly before the compulsion is lost.

  I sigh.

  “Nicholas, I want you to forget everything about Lexi… everything about having a romantic relationship over the last few decades.”

  I stop there. I know there are so many things that will make no sense to him without those memories of Lexi, one being how Sarah is human again. Ugh. “About your sister… you know she is human again and you know that we are hidin
g from others. I was the one who gave you both the angel blood. That is all you need to know. As for being accused of hunting and destroying vampires, you are clueless. You didn’t do it and you know nothing about it.”

  Knowing that I need to get rid of pictures and whatever else might remind him of Lexi, I say, “Now I want you to help Sarah get her things ready to leave town. We’re done here. I’ll make sure your stuff is ready to go soon. Understood?”

  He nods and as soon as the compulsion is gone, he just sits there for a minute with an empty look in his eyes.

  “You okay, man?” I ask.

  He nods. “Yeah, I—I’m just going to go help Sarah get things ready to go.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  FOUR YEARS LATER

  SARAH

  I look at my brother and all I see is sadness. He has been like this for a while now… four years to be exact. He can’t remember her, but he knows that something is missing. Several times throughout the day, I catch him staring at things for a while as if his brain is trying to make a connection. Harvey says that it had to be done. He says that Nicholas’ love for Lexi was like venom and that it was only a matter of time before he let that love destroy him. I’m just afraid of what will happen if he ever remembers anything.

  I always thought that it was my fault, but Harvey says it isn’t. I should have no reason to doubt him. He is older than Nicholas and insists that he is the only sane person, or should I say, vampire, in the house. He says that Nick… I mean, Nicholas…he hates being called Nick, even though he doesn’t remember it’s because only Lexi ever called him that. Anyway, he is the way he is because of a choice that he made and Harvey insists that his choice didn’t have to be that way.

  I just don’t see how that is possible though. Looking at Nicholas and knowing what Harvey told me… there is no way he would have willingly chosen to leave her or to forget her.

  Yes, as Harvey seems to remind me of whenever I say that, is that I’m only fourteen years old, and that is true, but he seems to forget that I’ve been around since the early 1700s and I know more than he gives me credit for.

  I know why we started running. That was mostly because my blood is special and would attract other vampires, but also because Nicholas took the blame for a lot of bad things so that other vampires would stop hunting her.