Venom (The Reawakening Series Book 1) Read online

  As we moved, Nicholas taught me a lot as far as computers and modern technology are involved. He spent countless hours showing me how much computers and phones changed over the years. He showed me things about the human world and how humans are able to go to school, work, and shop without leaving their homes. He said it started out as being convenient but over the years, humans started to feel safer that way. He did mention that some towns kept their old ways and people still leave their homes to go to school and to buy groceries. Harvey taught me all other subjects, which gave Nicholas more time to be depressed. Really, he only ever left the house to feed, and that was only because Harvey chewed him out, saying that bringing random girls to the house was a bad example for me.

  Now, things have changed. That special scent from my blood faded more and more and Harvey says we should be able to stay at our next home for a longer period of time and I can’t wait!

  Tonight we have our family meeting… the one where we, and by we, I mean Harvey, decides where we are going to go next. My input isn’t usually considered at all, and Nicholas just doesn’t care.

  Harvey and I watch TV in our house in New Orleans and as soon as Nicholas walks in and flops down on the couch next to me, he looks at Harvey and says, “Just tell us where to now.”

  “Gloucester, Virginia.”

  Nicholas just rolls his eyes.

  He gets up, but Harvey stops him.

  “Wait a minute. We have more to talk about.”

  Nicholas flops back down and gives him the look.

  Harvey looks at me and smiles.

  “Well, that scent that gives away Sarah’s blood has faded a lot since the last move, and I think she should be able to experience going to school and living her life outside of the confinement of our house.”

  Harvey looks at me and we smile at one another. I can barely contain myself. I have been trying to get them to send me to a real school for at least two years now.

  “Not a chance,” says Nicholas.

  Harvey stands up. “Look, you seem to forget that Sarah is no longer immortal. She has one life to live and she needs to live it.”

  Nicholas rolls his eyes. “Fine! But if she is going to school, so am I.”

  “Don’t be pathetic. There is no need for that. You can find better things to do with your existence other than go back to high school again.”

  Nicholas crosses his arms. “I’ve been to high school… I know what it can be like, especially for a kid who has no experience in the real world.”

  “Do I get a say in all of this?” I ask.

  “No!” they both say at the same time. Yeah… usual response. At least this time, Harvey is sticking up for me.

  “Nicholas, she will be going in as a freshman, at the beginning of the school year. She will be as lost as all of the other kids. She will blend in. It will be perfect!”

  “I don’t know why you call these family meetings when all of the decisions are already made,” Nicholas says in a sarcastic tone.

  Harvey shrugs. “You could be part of the decision making if you ever made reasonable decisions.”

  “Fine,” says Nicholas. “But if I notice anything that I don’t like, I will pull her out of school.”

  I’m grinning from ear to ear. At least that is a start.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  It takes a few days for us to move to Gloucester, Virginia. As always, our house is distant from the others. School will start in one week, and Nicholas has endless rules. He is worried about my lack of protection during daylight, especially during summer time, when the sun will definitely weaken him and Harvey. In our world, vampires react differently to sunlight. Certain bloodlines will burn to their true deaths if they step outside during the day, others, like Nicholas and Harvey, come from special bloodlines. They can go out during the day and although direct sunlight won’t kill them, it could weaken them to the point where they might wish they were dead… I mean, really dead.

  Harvey has rules of his own. He insists that I change my name in case vampires were looking for Sarah Taylor, even though Taylor is such a common name and I had used my caretaker, Eliza’s, last name for the centuries that I spent with her. I didn’t think so at the time, because all I had to compare her to was a mother who neglected me, but… Eliza was just as awful, if not more.

  “She’s not changing her name,” says Nicholas. “It’s a part of who she is and there is just no way.”

  I can tell Harvey is already losing his patience. “How about she uses her middle name?”

  Finally, Nicholas agrees.

  I don’t particularly love my middle name, but if that is what I have to do to get to school, I don’t care. From this point on, I will be Noelle Taylor.

  Once that is settled, we get into the routine rules; the ones that Harvey reminds Nicholas of every time we move.

  “So,” says Harvey. “As a reminder, don’t feed on the neighbors.”

  Nicholas laughs.

  “I’m serious,” warns Harvey.

  “Yeah, yeah… I know. You might as well put one of those signs on the kitchen wall that lists the kitchen’s rules… ‘Don’t feed on thy neighbors.’”

  Harvey sighs and shakes his head and then turns his attention back to me.

  Up until this point I haven’t entirely interacted with humans my age, and I’m starting to get nervous about it, but Nicholas reluctantly assures me it isn’t much different than interacting with him or Harvey.

  “You have no reason to be nervous,” Nicholas assures me. “You watch enough reality TV to know what is out there in the real world.”

  “But there are so many things that I don’t know. Like my clothes… I always wear dresses because that is what I’m accustomed to.” Moments like this are when I wish that Nicholas had decided to stay with Lexi. I knew that she would be able to help me. For the millionth time, I think about calling her.

  Yes, I have ways to contact her. She was pretty easy to find, really. I got her phone number months back, right before we moved from one place to another. I figured that if anyone found me based on me looking for her, we would soon move and that would no longer be a problem.

  A while back I promised myself that if Nicholas ever got worse than he already was or if he remembered her at all, I would call her, but then I wondered if talking to her would make things even worse for him and I ended up leaving it alone. Either way, Harvey would have been pretty mad if I did call. That was good enough reason to talk me out of it.

  ***

  Harvey doesn’t register me for school until we get the name situation handled, which is one day before school starts.

  That is when Nicholas starts to have doubts… again.

  “I don’t like this school idea.”

  “You don’t have to like it,” says Harvey. “Just stay home and feel sorry for yourself, but I’m taking Sa—Noelle to be registered at school.”

  “Have fun!” says Nicholas before he turns the xbox on and shuts everyone out.

  Harvey takes me to the school, where we get a tour and I register for my classes. My stomach feels as if it is in knots the entire time.

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” Harvey asks as we are leaving.

  I’m not so sure anymore but I nod.

  “It’s normal to be nervous about something as big as this,” he says. “You will do great. Just… don’t let your brother get to you. He is nervous about this, which means he is going to try and make you fear this whole thing. Don’t let him get to you.”

  “I won’t.”

  Harvey catches me staring at the school bus and looking uncertain.

  “Don’t worry. I can drive you to school and back for as long as you want me to.”

  I nod. “Thanks,” I say as I smile at him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Today is the day, my first day of high school. Nicholas and Harvey are both up and waiting for me to get ready.

  “Ready to go?” asks Harvey.

  “As ready as I will ever
be.”

  Nicholas gives him what I refer to as ‘the look’.

  “I still don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Look,” says Harvey, “she has her phone. If anything goes wrong, she will call. Right, Noelle?”

  “Of course.”

  I try to give Nicholas a reassuring smile before leaving, but that clearly doesn’t work. He just turns around and goes back to his room.

  “Let’s go,” says Harvey.

  Harvey decides to take Nicholas’ car, which attracts a lot less attention and I’m in a way, glad for that.

  He stops the car right in front of the school. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

  He is grinning when I look back at him. “You will be fine, you know?”

  “I hope so.”

  “Make sure you call or text ME if you need anything. If you call Nicholas instead we’ll never hear the end of it, and it will be that much harder to convince him to let you go back.”

  I sigh. “Well, I dealt with vampires for centuries. Humans can’t be that bad, right? I mean… I haven’t even had the urge to feed in so long.”

  “That is the spirit!” he says. “Now go on before you are late.”

  ***

  As much as Harvey prepared me for this day, he overlooked the basics. I find myself making up lies as I go along and it feels awful. I just hope I will remember it all later.

  It all starts with homeroom, which is my English Lit class. I have no doubts that I will do well in that class. I thought it would be a good start, but then... Ms. Johnson asks the students to introduce themselves, starting with me.

  I stand up and feel glad that most students don’t seem to be paying attention to me. I feel completely out of place. I’m wearing what I would later come to describe as a Sunday church dress where everyone else is mostly wearing jeans, really short skirts or shorts, and shirts or cute tops that I have seen on so many of the TV shows that I watch.

  I try to focus on the teacher and hope that no one else will look up. 'Well, my name is Noelle Taylor, and I'm new here… to the school and to this town.”

  “I do notice an accent,' says Ms. Johnson. 'I just can't figure out from where. Where are you from, dear?”

  Truth or lie? I’m stuck not knowing what I should or should not say and I have to think fast.

  I shrug. “From everywhere really. My family moves a lot.”

  ‘Yes!’ I thought to myself. That seems random enough and not exactly a lie.

  “Military family?” she asks.

  “Yes,” I lie. “My brother Harvey was in the Navy.”

  “Ms. Greene, do we have a problem?”

  I follow Ms. Johnson’s gaze to the girl who has been whispering to her friend and laughing while I was talking.

  “No, Ms. Johnson.”

  The girl looks in my direction and gives me a fake smile. She goes back to talking to her friend as soon as Mr. Johnson’s gaze meets mine again.

  “Very well, welcome to the school, Noelle.” She turns back to the girl. “Ms. Greene, since you are in a talkative mood, maybe you’d like to go next.”

  The girl stands up and starts talking like she owns the school. Her stylish skirt and top, long blond hair, and perfectly manicured nails... well, I try not to stereotype, but as soon as she speaks, I know exactly what ‘group’ she is a part of.

  “I’m Megan, which obviously everyone who was here last year already knows. If you haven’t heard about me already, you will by the end of the day.”

  With that, she proceeds to sit down.

  The girl sitting next to me, who looks a lot like Megan, shakes her head, which makes me laugh.

  After Megan’s introduction, Ms. Johnson gives up. “Alright. Quiet down, everyone! Just… get to know the person next to you. They will be your partners for class projects that require you to have one.

  The girl who is sitting next to me quickly turns to where she faces me. “Hi. I’m Cassandra Hamilton,” she says.

  I must have looked surprised that she talked to me.

  “Noelle Taylor.”

  “Yeah… I caught that,” she says.

  After an awkward silence, I say, “So, what is the deal with Megan?”

  Cassandra rolls her eyes. “She thinks she owns the school. Her brother is a senior… a popular one in fact. He is actually pretty cool, but she uses him to get people to like her.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah…”

  “What grade is she in?”

  “Sophomore. The school has had a lot of students leave to be home-schooled recently. Ever since then, they started combining all grade levels into classes. Anyway, you need to stay out of her way. She will think that just because she is not a freshman anymore, she can rule them, and by them, I mean you.”

  “Great!” I say in a sarcastic tone.

  Cassandra smiles.

  “Just stick with me,” she says. “I will do what I can to keep you away from the school’s evil slut.”

  I laugh.

  “Are you a sophomore?”

  “Oh, no way. Junior.”

  I give her a puzzled look wondering why she would want to hang out with me, but she just ignores it.

  “So where did you move here from?”

  “New York.” Another lie… that’s the one place Nicholas and Harvey both said that was off limits for as long as I live.

  “Oh, now THAT sounds awesome! I’ve always wanted to go there.”

  I smile at her.

  “Let me see your schedule,” she says.

  I hand it to her.

  “Damn. We only have two classes together counting this one. I’m in your history class too…. Well, we do have lunch together, so I will meet you there, okay? You can meet the rest of the gang.”

  “Thanks,” I say awkwardly.

  “Oh, and you can call me Cassie. Every time I hear Cassandra I suddenly feel like I’m an eighty year old woman.”

  I laugh.

  After that I go to my algebra class. I’m glad that we skip introductions in this class. I don’t think I could do that again. Then it is time for economics and at least the introductions were with our class partners again. That is where I meet Chloe, who is also a freshman. The day isn’t going nearly as bad as I expected. Chloe and I have a lot in common. She is also new at the school and she has moved from Boston. We also have mostly the same classes and the same lunch.

  When lunchtime approaches, I tell her about meeting Cassie and the fact that Cassie is a junior makes her uneasy.

  We walk in the cafeteria and Cassie is already sitting down with a few people. Once she sees me, she waves me to the table and I have to practically drag Chloe there with me.

  “Alright, guys,” she says. “This is Noelle and…” she looks at Chloe up and down, which makes Chloe feel even more uncomfortable. “Chloe,” I say.

  “Right.” She finally gives Chloe a genuine smile, which makes me feel better. “Hi Chloe. You can call me Cassie. And these are Cody, Jenna, and Adam.”

  Chloe and I get our lunches and they all make room for us to sit down.

  “So, what classes are you in?” she asks Chloe.

  Chloe shares her schedule and Cassie seems strangely happy when looking at it. The rest of the group just looks bored, except for Cody who listens attentively.

  “This is really good,” she says. “Tough classes for freshman year.”

  Chloe and I shrug as if it’s no big deal.

  By that point, Megan walks in with her group of friends. I can’t help but to look over.

  “Don’t worry,” says Cassie. “She will stay out of your way.”

  “Oh, I just thought she had a different lunch, that is all.”

  “Unfortunately not. She usually leaves the school to get lunch and then comes back here to grace us with her presence.”

  “Are her friends as pleasant as she is?” I ask.

  For the first time, Adam and Jenna look up, and Cody laughs.

  Jenna is the one w
ho speaks. “Just do yourself a favor and stay away from all of them.” Then she goes back to playing a game on her phone and Adam on his.

  Cody says, “They are not as bad, but Megan doesn’t exactly like when they associate with people outside of their group… Especially when it comes to her precious Ian,” he says.

  “And Ian is?” asks Chloe.

  “The guy with the football jersey and baseball cap.”

  We look over… there are three of them who fit the description.

  Cassie rolls her eyes. “The hottie with brown hair and green eyes who Megan is all over. That is her boyfriend. He is a junior too, which adds to her ego. Don’t even look at him and you will be fine.”

  “Okay,” Chloe and I both say at the same time.

  Cassie smiles. “Very good.”

  ***

  My next class is with Chloe and Cody… Cody seems pretty awkward. The entire time I feel as if he wants to say something, but can’t… or won’t. He just keeps staring. It’s creepy, although Chloe seems to like the attention.

  Finally, we get to the end of the last class of the day. I walk outside where Chloe heads for the bus and Cassie is hanging out with Cody and Jenna. Adam is heading for the bus too.

  I freeze in place and feel like running back in when I see Nicholas waiting inside his bright red Camaro.

  CHAPTER SIX

  NICHOLAS

  I feel like I’m losing my mind. Something is wrong, but I have no idea what it is. Something is just… missing.

  I tell Harvey that I’m going to pick up Sarah from school. It’s not like I have anything else to do. My days consist of complete boredom. Even feedings are not what they used to be. Drinking from humans is no longer satisfying. I might as well drink from one of those disgusting bags.

  I get to the school early and park the car. I sit there looking around… my mind is a complete blank. At a distance, I see a couple leaving the school holding hands. At the end of the block, they both stop. The guy says something that makes the girl smile. He then pulls his backpack off his shoulder, reaches inside, and pulls a red rose out of it.