All sixteen-year-old Alec Somers wants to do is catch waves with his friends. Unfortunately for him, his father’s job is taking the family from California to Louisiana—a swampland rumored to be rampant with wiccans, vampires, and swamp creatures called wookies. As he bids farewell to his friends, Alec cannot help but wonder if the legends are really true. Already haunted nightly by vivid nightmares that seem to foretell of danger, Alec is about to find out. Strange things begin happening as soon as Alec arrives in the airport and is greeted by a creepy old man who warns him to beware of the wookies. Despite the foreboding feelings that overwhelm him, Alec starts school with a positive attitude. But after he meets Buba, a quiet teenager who others call a wiccan, Alec’s nightmares become more intense as he unintentionally begins to uncover the dark secrets of the swamplands. As he slowly develops an insatiable thirst for blood, Alec soon realizes it is too late to turn back. In this tale full of suspenseful twists and turns, a teenage boy caught in the middle of an ancient battle between vampires and wookies must somehow summon the courage to stop an evil plan before vampires are wiped out from existence forever.
Ultimate Blood
By Dawn Maxwell Kaleigh MaxwelliUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Dawn Maxwell and Kaleigh Maxwell
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4759-4427-3Chapter One
It was a day I wish I could forget. Leaving sunny Laguna Beach, California, was just something I didn't want to deal with. It might have been okay if not for the dreams. I started having them a few weeks before the move. And a couple of days before we left, I had one of the worst ones. I remember it clearly.
After dozing off, I started dreaming of myself alone in the dark, humid woods. The only light came from the moon, shining brightly enough that the trees cast shadows. The shadows and moonlight made me feel bizarrely lonely. I continued deeper into the woods and soon noticed a soft but steady deep growling noise ahead of me behind some trees. Unable to make out the sound or where it was coming from, I increased my pace across the damp, dark ground, looking behind each tree as I passed it.
The noise came again, this time louder and clearer, and I realized it was an animal growling. I could tell it was coming from the tree straight in front of me. A chill ran down my spine, making me afraid to move. I noticed two glowing yellow eyes peering at me as my heart started pounding harder and my pulse increased. I kept thinking to myself, "Run! Run!" as my legs trembled in fear. I couldn't. I stepped back slowly. The animal or thing continued to peer and growl at me.
Knowing that if I continued to stand there I would be attacked, I finally turned and started running. I felt my heart racing rapidly in my chest as beads of sweat were streaming down my face; my lungs began to hurt as I continued to run. I could hear the thing's panting not far behind me. I twisted my ankle and slipped down to the spongy ground, falling forward and hitting my hands and knees first as my face rushed toward the moist earth. The growls were almost right behind me as I lay facedown, panicking. I quickly rolled onto my back. My eyes were burning from the sweat and dirt in them. Trying to wipe them off with the back of my hand only seemed to make it worse. I felt a warm, heavy panting at my feet. I lifted my head up slightly off the ground and saw a shadow standing there with two glowing eyes, staring at me. I sat up as the animal let out a loud, deep growl and lunged forward at me. I let out a horrifying scream and raised my hands up to stop it. The weight of the animal on my chest knocked the breath out of me. "Am I dying?" I wondered. I felt a cold breeze blowing against my face, sending chills down my spine.
As I reached up to cover my face with my hands, I felt a warm hand tugging on my arm and heard a voice asking,
"Alec, are you awake?"
Opening my eyes slowly, I saw my mom standing beside my bed. I sat up rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?"
"It's about seven."
"Why didn't my alarm go off?"
"We had a bad storm early this morning and lost our power for a little bit. You must have slept through it."
Yawning, I said, "Yes, I guess I did. Thanks for waking me."
"You're welcome," she said, smiling at me as she left room.
I hurried up and got dressed and grabbed my backpack. When I started walking out of the house, my mom hollered at me, "Don't forget the movers are finishing up today."
"Oh, great!" I said disgustedly as I continued out the front door.
Kye and Tate waved to me. "Hey, Alec, you look a little tired."
"Thanks for noticing, Kye."
"Do I hear sarcasm in your voice this morning?" Tate asked as he started laughing.
"So what if you do!"
"Hey, dude, chill. We are just teasing you, aren't we, Kye?"
Giving Tate a dirty look, I said, "I'm not in the mood for teasing."
"We're sorry, dude," said Tate.
We continued our walk to school without any conversation. I felt guilty about snapping at them, so I said, "Sorry for being a jerk," as we reached the school.
Tate looked at me and said, "It's your last day, dude. All is forgiven. We'll see you at lunch."
I nodded as Kye said, "Only if you leave your mean twin behind."
We laughed as we walked into the school and separated from each other to go to our classes. I noticed Caleigh walking into our history class. I followed her in and took my seat. I smiled at her as our history teacher started the class lecture. I tried to listen, but my mind kept wandering back to the last few days at the beach with Caleigh and how much I had enjoyed them. We'd never hung out much before I told her I was leaving town. I'd always wanted to ask her out, but I figured I had plenty of time. Now I wonder what would have happened if I'd just taken the chance with her. What if we'd tried a long-distance relationship? What if I had told her I was crazy about her and found out how she really felt before I left? Not that it matters now.
Occasionally the mumble of my teacher's voice would interrupt my thoughts. I glanced up at him and was acting like I was listening when the bell rang to signal the end of the period. I gathered my books and got out of my seat to walk over to Caleigh, but I found she had already left. Feeling disappointed, I walked out to my next class hoping the morning would end fast so I could see Caleigh at lunch.
Unfortunately, all of my classes dragged. I was thinking the morning was never going to end. Finally the bell rang, and I hurried out to the cafeteria. When I entered the cafeteria, a butterfly feeling entered my stomach. I noticed Caleigh sitting with my friends at our usual table. Feeling nervous, I approached them. "Why am I feeling this way?" I thought, "Especially when I know that the whole thing is pointless because I'm leaving." Interrupting my thoughts, Kye lightly punched me in my left arm and said, "Hey, Alec."
I smiled. "Ow, thanks Kye," rubbing my arm as I sat down next to Caleigh.
She glanced over and said, "Hello."
I could feel my face becoming warm as I looked into her eyes and said, "Hi." She faintly chuckled.
"So, Alec, are we surfing today, dude?" asked Tate.
"Sure, I'm in."
"How about you, Kye?"
"Why not, dudes? Sounds good to me."
"Would you mind if I come?" asked Caleigh.
Just as I was about to answer her, Brynn and Traci walked up. Tate smiled and said, "Hey, girls."
They laughed and smiled at him. In a shy voice, Kye said, "We were talking about surfing after school today, would you girls like to come?"
Brynn parted her lips to answer, but the bell rang, ending lunch period. We all got up to leave. Brynn turned back and looked at Kye and said, "See you at the beach." All three girls walked away together.
We headed off to our afternoon classes, which pretty much dragged as the morning had. I continued to daydream about the beach and the dreadful move. Finally the eighth-period bell rang, ending my day at school. I hurried up to my locker to put away my books. As I walked out of the school, I saw Tate and Kye waiting for me. "Ready to go catch some waves, dude?' asked Tate.
I smiled and said yes as we continued walking toward our houses.
Kye noticed the moving truck in my driveway and said, "Looks like the movers are still there."
"Lucky me," I said. "I better hurry and go grab my surfing stuff before they do."
"All right, Alec," said Kye. "We'll see you in little bit."
I walked up the front yard past the moving truck. I could feel myself becoming anxious as I opened the front door. Echo ran over and greeted me. I reached down and patted him on the head. I stood there watching the movers walk past me with boxes of our stuff, going out to the moving truck. Moving out of their way as I passed the kitchen, I saw my...
