Dark Realms (6 page)

“Okay, honey. Are you sure you’re okay?”

No.

Was it really Saturday?

Am I still dreaming?

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Call us back as soon as you can,
dear.”

“I will.”

“I love you, honey.”

“I love you, too, mom.”

We hung up and I looked at my phone. Sure
enough, it showed Saturday and several missed calls.

Dazed, I shuffled to the bathroom and turned
on the light.

“What the hell?” I whispered, staring at my
pale face.

Scratch that, it wasn’t just pale, it was
ghostly white.

I leaned closer and studied my emerald eyes,
which seemed unusually bright.

“Okay, I’m still dreaming,” I said out
loud.

I touched my cheek and it was cool.

“Okay, wake up,” I said, pinching my cheeks,
hard. “Come on.”

I winced. Okay, I’m not sleeping.

Was I
sick
? That made sense. It would explain a
lot and I had to admit, my throat was a little scratchy.

I opened my mouth to check my tongue and
screamed out loud.

Fangs!?

“Oh, my God,” I gasped, touching them. The
tips were sharp. Sharp enough to sink into someone’s throat. To
drink their blood.

My stomach growled hungrily.

Horrified, I slid down to my knees and began
to cry.

The End

Blur

(Night Roamers)

Book One

By Kristen Middleton

Copyedited by:

Carolyn M. Pinard

www.thesupernaturalbookeditor.com

Cover Design – A collaboration by

Mae I Design and Emma Michaels

www.maeidesign.com

www.Emma Michaels.com

The characters and events portrayed in this
book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or
dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright ©2012 by Kristen Middleton

All rights reserved.

Warning – This book has adult situations and
is intended for mature readers.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without express written permission of the author.

Prologue

“Mom left the door unlocked,” I hollered at
my twin brother as he slammed the door to his ’67 Mustang. It was
the last day of eleventh grade, and we’d stopped off for burgers
and malts at Grannie’s Diner with some friends to celebrate after
school. Nathan and I were officially seniors and neither of us
could wipe the grins from our faces.

“That’s weird,” he said, brushing a hand
through his sandy-brown hair. “You know how she’s always nagging us
about doing it.”

I grinned and held the door open for him.
“I’m certainly not going to let her live this one down.”

Mom was married to a cop once, my father,
and he’d drilled into her head how important it was to keep the
doors locked, even when you’re home.

Nathan followed me into the kitchen and
opened the refrigerator.

“Oh, my God,” I teased him. “How can you
still be hungry after eating that monster burger and malt?”

He flexed a muscle. “I’m growing,” he said.
“Just ‘cause you’re a skinny little twerp doesn’t mean everyone
else has to eat like a bird.”

I walked over and punched him in the arm.
“Very funny.”

He smiled and raised the milk carton to take
a swig when we both heard it.

“What’s that?” I whispered.

He slammed down the milk and rushed out of
the kitchen.

“Nathan?” I yelled, chasing him upstairs.
The sobs were coming from somewhere in the upper level of the house
and my stomach twisted in horror.

Mom?

“Oh, my God,” he choked, entering her dark
bedroom. She was lying naked on the floor next to the bed, her face
swollen and bleeding, her body badly bruised.

We rushed to her side and she cracked open
one of her black eyes. “Call the police,” she mumbled, barely
coherent.

I started to cry as I grabbed the phone and
dialed nine-one-one. I don’t even remember talking to the person
who’d answered. All I know is that I was blubbering and she was
trying to console me with the fact that help was coming.

I hung up and stared at my broken mother in
shock, feeling helpless and frightened. Thankfully, Nathan handled
stress much better than I did.

He grabbed a comforter and covered her
gently. “Mom, what happened?” he asked, pushing her dark bangs away
from her eyes.

The shame on her face was heart-wrenching
and I pretty much knew by her appearance what had happened. She’d
obviously been beaten and raped.

I brushed the tears from my face, kneeled
down next to her, and lightly touched her hand. “The police and
ambulance are on their way.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

“Mom?” prodded Nathan. “What happened?”

“Nathan, think about it,” I whispered.
“She’s been raped.”

His lips trembled as he searched her face.
“Mom, some stranger broke in here and… did this?”

She opened her eyes and stared at both of us
for a few seconds. “No… no stranger,” she whispered hoarsely. “It
was your father.”

Chapter One

“Are we almost there?” I asked, staring
through my sunglasses at the endless rows of cornfields. We’d been
driving for hours through the countryside and I could no longer
tell the difference from one town to the next. More than anything,
I just wanted to get out of the car and stretch my legs, which were
starting to tingle in an uncomfortable way.

Mom cleared her throat. “Pretty soon.”

Nathan was following us in his Mustang and I
glanced back to see him talking on his cell phone once again.

“Oh, Lord,” I said, leaning my head back
against the headrest. “He must be talking to Deanna for the tenth
time. She just won’t get over the fact that we’re really
moving.”

Mom tightened her hands on the steering
wheel and glanced at me. “I’m sorry about this. I’m just so sorry…
about everything.”

I groaned. “Mom, for crying out loud, it’s
not your fault. I can’t even believe you’re feeling guilty about
it. I mean, nobody had any idea that he could be so violent.”

It had been less than three months since my
father had brutally attacked my mother. They’d been separated for
the last couple of years because of his sporadic temper tantrums,
along with his inability to stop screwing other women. When my
mother had finally gotten up the nerve to leave him, surprisingly,
he’d actually been pretty civil about it. Then, when he’d found out
she’d moved on emotionally and started dating again, he’d went off
in a jealous rage, striking back at her viciously. We were all
still stunned about the horrifying ordeal.

“I just wish they could locate him,” she
said, staring straight ahead. “He’s… crazy.”

I nodded. I was so ashamed, that any
thoughts of him made me physically ill. It was still really hard to
believe that my own father was capable of being so violent,
especially since he’d been a cop and responsible for keeping people
safe. After the attack, he’d disappeared, and my poor mother had
spent several nights in the hospital recovering. When she finally
came home, she wasn’t able to sleep at night without drugs,
terrified that he’d show up and beat her again. Then, just
recently, she’d been given a gift; a way out. Her employer offered
her an accounting job in Montana and that’s where all three of us
were now headed; to start a new life.

“I think it’s good that Nathan’s getting
away from Deanna anyway,” I said, staring in dismay at my short,
stubbly nails. Not that they’d been perfect before, but all of the
packing and cleaning had taken its toll. “She’s so whiny and
annoying.”

Mom smiled wryly. “Now, Nikki, you haven’t
liked any of Nathan’s girlfriends.”

“
It’s not my fault he
attracts the psycho ones.”

She burst out laughing and I smiled,
enjoying a sound that was finally finding its way back into our
lives again.

“
God, you’re awful,” she
said, shaking her head in amusement.

I snorted. “Oh, come on. You know I’m
right.”

She grabbed her Ray-Bans from the center
column and plopped them onto her nose. “Yeah, he’s a little too
young to be tied down to just one girl. So if you ask me, this move
will be healthy for the both of them.”

“Oh, I’m sure Deanna will find someone else
by next week anyway.” I made a face. “She’s so freaken needy.”

“You really don’t like her, do you?”

I shrugged.

Deep down, I knew I wasn’t being totally
fair, because the truth was, I was a little jealous. My brother and
I had always been very close, especially living in such a
dysfunctional family environment. My earliest memories were of my
parents screaming and fighting, especially during the holidays. So,
we’d weathered the storms together. In fact, for all of our lives,
we’d been best friends; sharing and doing everything together. That
is, until the tenth grade, when he’d discovered boobs, I mean
girls. Of course I’d discovered boys as well; I’d discovered that
most of them in my school were crude, boring, or just plain
boobs.

“So, mom,” I said, changing a subject in
which, I had to admit, left me feeling a little guilty. “What were
you saying about this place we’re renting?”

She grinned. “I guess it’s just beautiful.
It’s a cabin on Shore Lake that’s been on the market for some time.
The owners are related to Ernie, and because of our circumstances;
they’re letting us stay there relatively cheap.”

Ernie was my mom’s boss; a really nice old
man who’s been very supportive. He’s been like a father-figure to
her, which is good because both of her parents passed away several
years ago, and aside from us, she doesn’t have anyone else.

“A cabin sounds really cool. Do they happen
to have a boat?”

“Yes, actually, and Ernie
says he’s caught
hundreds
of fish on the lake, so we’ve got to check it
out. I’m really excited about staying there. Honey, are you
okay?”

“Something in my eye,” I muttered as I
pulled down the visor. I blinked until I finally got the eyelash
out.

I touched my long, unruly hair and frowned.
It had been almost six months since I’d last had it cut; now it was
down to my lower back and I was constantly fighting snarls. “Jeez,
I could really use a haircut.”

She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
“Don’t worry, honey. We’ll get you one before school starts. Once I
get some extra money, you know?”

“Sure.”

I bit my lower lip and
examined my reflection. Sandy brown hair, light blue eyes, and a
pug nose. I’d always considered myself average looking, even though
my mom said I looked exactly like her when she was growing up, and
she turned out to be attractive. In fact, most of Nathan’s friends
said she was a hot MILF, which
was
pretty gross, but I guess that meant there was
still hope for me.

I closed the visor and leaned my head back
against the seat. “I wonder what the school is like.”

I was definitely a little nervous about
going to a new school, although, truthfully, I knew I wouldn’t
particularly miss the old one much. In fact, you could say I was
sort of a loner. Sure, there were a couple of girls I’d hung out
with back home occasionally, but I preferred to be alone most of
the time, or hanging out with Nathan.

“Ernie didn’t say much, but honestly, I
don’t expect him to know. He’s in his seventies and never had
children.”

“I’m sure it will be fine.”

I really didn’t want my mom to worry about
me. She was the one who needed the extra support from us and I
wasn’t about to make her feel any more guilty about moving than she
already did.

She slapped her fingers on the steering
wheel. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, they have a computer, so you can
surf the Internet.”

“Really? That’s cool,” I smiled. Although we
used computers at school and my mom had her own laptop, I’d been
nagging her forever about getting me one of my own.

“Yes, but you’ll have to share it with your
brother. I’d let you guys use mine, but…”

I smirked. “I know, you have too many
important files and you don’t want anything happening to your
computer.”

“Now
you
have one to use,” she answered.
“And I won’t have to listen to you two badger me about it,
anymore.”