Demon in My View

Prologue The night is full of mystery. Even when the moon is brightest, secrets hide everywhere. Then the sun rises and its rays cast so many shadows that the day creates more illusion than all the veiled truth of the night. I have lived in this illusion for much of my life, but I have never belonged to it. Before my birth, I existed for too long in the realm between nothingness and life, and even now, the night still whispers to me. A strong cord binds me to the dark side of the world, and shields me from the light. Chapter 8 After school Jessica took the bus to the center of town. She walked to the bookstore, hoping to find Tiger, Tiger on the shelves. The book was supposed to have come out more than a week before, but this was the first chance Jessica had had to look for it. The advance copies she had at home didn't hold quite the same allure as the sight of her work in a bookstore display. Jessica sighed when she saw Caryn browsing the shelves, but she wasn't about to let the annoying teen chase her away. "Oh...hi, Jessica," Caryn said, sounding surprised. "You looking for anything? " "A book. What else would I be in a bookstore for? " Jessica answered crossly. It took her only a second to spot Tiger, Tiger on the shelf next to Caryn, and she reached past the girl to grab a copy. As the book was written under Jessica's pseudonym, Ash Night, Caryn wouldn't be able to connect Jessica with it. Even so, Caryn's eyes widened when she saw the book. "I've read that one," she said in a voice that sounded falsely casual. "So have I," Jessica answered, turning away from Caryn and toward the counter. "I wonder what the author is like," Caryn commented. "Where do you suppose her ideas come from?" Jessica ignored Caryn effortlessly until she added, "What if it was all real? If Ash Night's vampires actually existed? If Ather and Risika and Aubrey--" Jessica spun on Caryn as she spoke that last name. "Vampires don't exist," she snapped. "Get over it." After having had this conversation with herself all day long, she was glad to finally have an excuse to say the words aloud. "But-- " "Caryn, I've been subtle, rude, and even offensive," Jessica interrupted. "Now it's time for direct." She met Caryn's delicate blue eyes with a glacier-cold glare. "I don't care if you think vampires exist. I don't want to talk about it, just like I don't want to chat about combination locks or anything else. I don't want to talk to you at all. Do you understand? " With a bit of a sigh, Caryn nodded, deflated. That had been rather satisfying. Next Jessica just had to convince herself that Alex Remington wasn't the Antichrist, and she could return to the regularly scheduled tedium of her daily life. "Cold," she heard behind her. "Very cold. I approve completely." Jessica turned and saw Alex leaning against a shelf. His gaze as he watched Caryn hurry away reminded Jessica of a wolf watching a rabbit run to cover. "Maybe I'm paranoid, but I could swear you've been following me." The words were out of Jessica's mouth before she had a chance to consider them. Hearing her own tone, she almost choked. If she caught herself flirting, she was likely to become ill. "On and off," he answered vaguely, and didn't add anything more. He turned to wander down the aisle, glancing from shelf to shelf as if looking for something. After a few yards he looked over his left shoulder to see if she was still behind him, and it occurred to her that she was following him. Embarrassed, she stopped doing so. "Anything good in here?" he asked, returning to the shelf where Jessica had found Tiger, TAtwater-Rhodes, Amelia is the author of 'Demon in My View' with ISBN 9780385327206 and ISBN 038532720X.