Vampire Beach: Initiation
Read Vampire Beach: Initiation Online
Authors: Alex Duval
InitiationVampire Beach #2
Alex Duval
Contents
THE A-LIST BITES.
Jason Freeman is getting the hang of DeVere Heights. Then life from his flyover past pays an unexpected visit in the form of his old friend Tyler. Jason's surprised -- but psyched to see a familiar face.
Having his friend around turns ou
t
to be a downer -- especially when Jason realizes that Tyler is running from some kind of crisis.
But Tyler isn't in on DeVere Heights's little secret.
Now instead of escaping his problem, he's about to put himself in mortal danger.
Literall
y.
“H
ey,
Freeman!"
Wait up!"
Jason Freeman grinned as his friend Adam's voice carried across the wide
-
open courtyard of DeVere High. He turned, and found himself staring into a camera lens. Adam
Turnball
jogged toward him, jostling his ever
-
present camcorder as he filmed.
"I haven't been getting the handheld
-
camera effect I want in my film," Adam explained. "The camera's not shaking enough, so I'm thinking I must walk very smoothly. I'm extremely graceful, you know."
"Hence the jogging?"
Jason asked.
"Yeah."
Adam turned off the camera and bent over, sucking in a long breath. "I tell you, bro, I suffer for my art. Running is not my strongest subject."
Jason chuckled. He rarely understood what Adam was talking about, but he always found him amusing. "I don't even think that thing's switched on half the time," Jason teased him. "You've been making this movie ever since I met you, and so far I haven't seen
Adam fell into step beside him as they made their
way toward the parking lot with the rest of the juniors and seniors who could drive. "Let me guess: You think I use the camera as a shield between myself and the harsh realities of high school society. That I don't feel safe without a camera. That I'm only comfortable viewing the world at a distance, through a sanitizing
camera lens
.”
"No, actually, I think you just like to freak people out by pretending to film them all the time," Jason
"Damn, you got me." Adam grinned. "But you know I always like footage of you.
The Michigan farm boy wholesomeness, the all
-
American blond good looks.
Why, you could be the next Brad Pitt, my friend."
"I've never set foot on a farm in my life," Jason said. "I'm from a suburb of Detroit."
"Details."
Adam waved his hand dismissively in the air, his hazel eyes twinkling.
As they passed through the tall arch over the entrance to DeVere High, Jason took in a lungful of the warm California air. The scent of flowers mingled with the smell of the ocean half a mile away. It had been several months since his move to Malibu, but the place hadn't lost its ability to impress him. "I can't believe
it's
November and I'm still wearing
Tevas
," he commented. "Do you have any idea how cold it is in Michigan right now?"
"Too cold for me," Adam said. "Anything below sixty
-
five qualifies as freezing as far as I'm concerned."
"Hey, Freeman," Brad Moreau called as they passed him.
"
Turnball
."
"What's up?" Adam replied.
Jason nodded at Brad, his best friend on the swim team. But he didn't head over to the carved stone bench where Brad sat. Because Brad wasn't alone; he had Zach
Lafrenière
with him. And Zach was radiat
ing "no humans allowed" vibes that could probably be felt on Mars.
"What's with the vampire conference?" Adam asked, lowering his voice. "Something going down I should know about?"
"You shouldn't know about any of it," Jason mut
tered. "And neither should I." That was the single most astonishing thing about Malibu so far: the fact that the in
-
crowd wasn't just your average love
-
to
-
hate
-
them group.
They were vampires.
Most days, Jason expected to wake up and realize that half his new friends being vampires was just a bizarre dream. But so far it hadn't happened. Adam was the only other person he knew who understood the truth about Zach, Brad, and the rest of that posse. And Adam didn't seem to find it nearly as freaky as Jason did.
But then, Adam had grown up with the vampires. And Jason had only met them a few months ago. Maybe over time, he'd get used to knowing such a massive secret.
Maybe.
"Let's just go," he said gruffly, wanting to change the subject. The way Zach looked at him made him nervous. Of all the vampires, only Zach put Jason on edge. The
others mostly acted like normal -
normal for SoCal
-
people. But Zach was different.
More powerful.
More reserved.
And definitely more unwill
ing to befriend Jason
-
and probably any human.
"Aren't you going to wait for Brad?" Adam asked.
Jason shook his head. "We don't have swim practice today. Coach Middleton said since it's a holiday week, we could have the time off. He figured nobody was going to be at their best two days before Thanks
giving."
"Sweet," Adam said appreciatively. "Hey, that means we can hang after school tomorrow, right? I've been meaning to force you to watch the entire oeuvre of Stanley Kubrick, a subject in which your knowledge is sorely lacking."
"Hey, I've seen
The Shining," Jason
protested.
"That's not enough," Adam told him. "What do you say
-
a DVD marathon
chez
moi
tomorrow?
"Sure," Jason told him. They'd reached the parking lot. He nodded toward his 1975 Volkswagen bug,
parked under a palm tree to the right. "I'm that way."
"And I remain in the bike parking section," Adam said ruefully. "Not that I don't love my Vespa. I just wish it had, you know, four wheels and a backseat to make out in." He held up a fist, knuckles out toward Jason.
Jason bumped fists. "Later."
Adam took off for the Vespa with a wave, and Jason headed for his car. He wondered where his younger sister, Danielle, was. He'd forgotten to tell her there was no practice today. He could've driven her home. But a quick scan of the parking lot revealed no sign of Dani. She must have caught a ride or taken her usual
"Guess I'm flying solo," Jason murmured, unlock
ing the car. He began to lower the
roof,
it was way too sunny and gorgeous to ride with the top up.
"Want some help?" a voice asked from behind him.
Jason recognized that voice:
Sienna.
He felt a rush of nervous energy
-
that
was just one more thing he'd got used to. Sienna Devereux made him hot, she was a vampire, and she was taken. Strangely, perhaps, he was having the most trouble with that last one.
He didn't turn around. "I've got it, thanks," he said.
Sienna didn't leave. He laughed and glanced over his shoulder. "You're not really here to offer help, are
you?”
"Nope," she said, her plump lips curving into a smile. "I'm here to ask for some. Can you give me a lift
home?”
Jason finally turned to look at her full
-
on. Man, she was sexy. Her dark eyes were gleaming with amuse
ment, and her long black hair was pulled into some kind of messy knot on top of her head. Jason longed to pull out the pins that held it up and let her silky hair spill down over his fingers. He shook the thoughts away. She was Brad's girlfriend. He was Brad's friend. That meant that most interesting thoughts about Sienna had to be banished from his mind.
"What's wrong with the Spider?" he asked. Sienna
’
s imported Alfa Romeo always seemed to be
out of commission.
She shrugged. "I think it hates me."
"That's impossible," Jason replied. She raised one perfect eyebrow, and he realized that he sounded like a complete dork. "Cars don't have feelings," he added quickly. "Unless you know something I don't."
"I know
lots
of things you don't," she said ligh
tl
y. She opened the passenger door and folded her long legs into the VW.
"So I guess I'm giving you a ride home." Jason laughed. He hooked the folded top into place and climbed in beside her. "Why don't you just get a new car? Your parents have the money."
Sienna turned in her seat to look at him. "Really now, Michigan," she purred. "If I had a new car, I wouldn't need rides home, would I?"
"My point exactly," he told her.
She shook her head, smiling. "Well, where would be the fun in
that?”
Jason grinned and found himself gazing directly into her beautiful dark eyes. Then he realized he'd been staring at her for just a bit too long.
Sienna leaned toward him. Close. So close, Jason thought she was about to kiss him....
In fact, she gave his Michigan State key chain a casual flick with her finger. "I think you have to use the little metal thingy on the end of this in order to make the car go," she teased.
Jason turned the key in the ignition, trying to shake off the feeling that something had just very nearly happened between him and Sienna. "Ha! Like you'd know," he retorted jokingly. "Your car
never
goes."
As he pulled out of the parking lot onto the Pacific Coast Highway, he caught a glimpse of Brad and Zach still sitting on the bench outside school. "Why didn't you just wait for Brad to take you home?" he asked Sienna.
She didn't answer, and for a moment he wondered if she'd even heard him. He shot a glance at her, and she was frowning.
"He had to... do something with Zach," she finally replied.
Jason nodded. He'd suspected as much. Brad and Zach were busy with some vampire
-
related business. Sienna didn't want to be specific about it, and that was okay with him. When he'd first found out about the
vampires living in his gated community of DeVere Heights, he'd gotten pretty involved, pretty fast. One rogue vampire had killed a girl from school. Jason had ended up tracking him down and fighting him all alone in an alley, trying to prevent a second murder.