Zoe Anderson is out for revenge. With the help of an elaborate plan, Zoe has just faked her own death in order to pay back her abusive exhusband, Doug, for all the anguish he has caused her. But in order to carry out her vengeful scheme, she must rely on help from a mysterious stranger. As she heads to a seedy part of town to meet him, Zoe is uncertain if he can help her with her dark request. Zoe wants to become a vampire. After the stranger leads Zoe to Tobias, a twohundredyearold vampire, Zoe decides she has no choice but to move forward and sacrifices her life. Fueled by her nightmares and the bloodlust in her eyes, Zoe immediately immerses herself into manipulating her exhusband into thinking he is going crazy. As she sneaks, spies, and tortures the man who stole her children, she fights her hunger for blood, even as she develops feelings for the mysterious stranger who has not left her side since the day she met him. In this urban vampire tale, a scorned woman eager to shed her emotional scars soon learns that being gifted with supernatural powers may come with a price.

TAINTED

By VICKY ST. JOHN

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Vicky St. John
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4697-6511-2

Chapter One

LIFE AND DEATH

To the Cherry Hill cemetery please," the girl told the cab driver after she got in. The cabby nodded and drove off. She looked out the window as the small town of Clover passed her by. Everyone who lived in this small town was at the one and only cemetery in Clover. Someone had died, and the entire town felt the loss.

"This is the seventh trip to the cemetery today," the cabby said, looking back at the girl who still gazed out the window. "You don't look dressed for a funeral. Did you know her?"

"Yes, we were close," she answered, not making eye contact with him at all. With her long curly blonde hair tucked in a baseball cap and almost- black sunglasses covering most of her face, she knew he couldn't tell who she was. She wore a large sweatshirt under an even larger jacket with jeans that were about two or three sizes too big. There was no way a person could tell who she was, which was the entire point.

The girl paid the cab driver, said good-bye, and started off to the entrance of the cemetery. There were enormous groups of people, for this town, heading through the main gate. Not wanting to be noticed, she looked around; and off to the right, barely visible through the trees, she saw another way in. Moving the large limbs, the small unused, withered path came into view. With the trees swaying slightly with the fall breeze, it instantly gave her the chills. After taking a deep cleansing breath, she started into the cemetery. This particular trail was almost completely covered by low-lying weeping willow branches. She had to move several dense limbs to make her way down the trail, which didn't seem like a trail at all.

Walking discreetly, she looked at the tombstones that lay on either side of her. She noticed how grandparents lay next to parents, who lay next to children, in the family plots. It warmed her heart to see that entire families stayed together even in death. She couldn't help but wonder if they were a close-knit family when they were living. That question, of course, would go unanswered.

She stopped when she noticed two very small name plates of twins who only made it to three years of age. Both arrived in this world together, both left the same way. There weren't any parents, or grandparents or anyone else to watch over them in this particular plot they lay in. She brushed off the leaves from their resting places, letting them know someone cares enough to at least do that. She wished she could do more, but she had an appointment she had to get to that wasn't going to wait so she continued her walk down the path.

Suddenly the path stopped. She was nowhere near where she had to be. On the left was an iron-gated family plot for a very large family. She had no choice but to jump the fence and walk through the sacred ground. Feeling as if she was intruding on the dead that lay there, she ran through, hopping over the other side quickly. Once on the other side, there were single plots. Some occupied, some not. She walked carefully not to step on someone's grandpa, grandma, mother, or father. She started to hear chatter and mumbles coming from the large group of people just up ahead. Her pace slowed.

Standing behind only large trees, she snuck closer and closer to the funeral that had the whole town gathering in one place. Once close enough to see and hear some of the conversations and see some of the faces clearly, she stopped. Thankfully it was behind a very old, very massive weeping willow that was probably older then the town itself. She couldn't help but pat the time-worn tree as it swayed as sadly as the people that whimpered and cried in front of her.

The girl looked through the crowd to the casket, only catching glimpses of it as people paid their respects, blocking her view. It was a beautiful dark-colored wood with what looked like, from where she hid, shiny brass handles and hinges. It was a closed casket, which the girl seemed relieved about. The flowers that covered the chairs and casket were amazing white- and-purple orchids surrounded by baby's breath.

A break in the crowd made visible the invitation to this particular funeral. It brought tears to her eyes as she read it to herself.

Zoe Anderson Born Feb. 3, 1976 Died Oct. 4, 2009 A Mother, A Daughter, A Sister, A Friend.

She looked past the sign to see an older woman and a girl sitting up front. Even from behind, she recognized them instantly.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," Zoe murmured to herself. It about killed her to see her mother and younger sister grieving because of her. "I wish things could've been different. This is just the way it has to be," she said, trying to compose herself. She was doing a pretty good job of it until her sister turned to greet someone sitting behind her. That's when she noticed just how tore up her sister, her best friend, her confidant was as she sat there with swollen eyes. All because of her sister, who she thought was dead but was actually behind the tree not one hundred feet away watching. This would be the time she would comfort her and tell her everything will be okay. She turned around, leaning back against the tree, trying to pull her emotional state together before she ran out there screaming, "I'm not dead! I'm not dead!" She took a few dozen large breaths before beginning to watch again.

After she wiped away a few tears, she noticed many of the people she went to school with paying their respects. It was truly laughable how many of them showed up. Most of which she'd never talked to. The absolute funniest was that of the high school football jock who ruled the school back in the day. He showed up in the same letterman's jacket he wore in school. With his faded letter, ripped elbows, and bulging belly hanging out, she couldn't help but cover her mouth to giggle. It amazed her how some people never moved on past high school.

The service was about to start, and people started taking their seats. Once the seats were all occupied, people lined up behind them. The stragglers made their presence known once the talking died down.

"I don't believe it! What the hell are they doing here?" Zoe hissed loudly when she noticed a group of five that was considerably later then all the rest. Her eyes widened as her anger rose. The entire reason for doing what she had done was because of those three little kids standing there, looking at the coffin that they thought held their mother.

Her ex-husband Doug; his new wife, Tabatha; and Zoe's kids, Alex, Lily and Little Kourtney. Alex was the oldest at twelve, Lily was seven, and Kourtney was six. They were Zoe's life, and today would be the first time she had seen them in over four years.

Zoe's body twitched behind the tree that hid her. She wanted to run out there, grab her kids, and run for dear life, never looking back. The only thing that stopped her was the sliver of hope that this plan she's been working on would in fact work. Deciding she'd seen enough, "I love you" was all she mouthed before running back the way she came. Going through the plots down the path, she dialed her cell for a cab on her way back to the parking lot. She paced, waiting for it to arrive.

"This is going to work. This is all going to work," she repeated as she paced impatiently. "I don't have another option. I...