Blood-Red Tear Read Free Page B

months afterward. After seeing what the famous vampire could do I did everything Paul asked without question, until my parents found out what he had done and chewed him out for his duplicity.
    “Three minutes or you’re walking,” he said, looking pointedly at the clock before leaving the room.
    H e wouldn’t leave me, I reassured myself, but just to be sure I finished my breakfast quickly, grabbed my backpack from the floor, gave my mother a hug, said goodbye to my father, and hurried outside to where he stood waiting impatiently beside the new truck my parents had brought him for his birthday a few weeks before.
    The truck was dark blue with s kulls and white ghostly wisps hovering over tombstones custom-painted on the sides, and stood on wheels so high I struggled to get inside by myself. He chuckled, lifted me inside, and then handed me my book bag before he got in the driver’s side, revved the engine, and took off down the long driveway that hid our palatial home from the rest of the world.
      The drive down the mountain to the town below was peaceful and we drove in silence, both of us caught up in the beauty of the late summer morning. We reached the center of our small town, where a few local shops and restaurants were situated, and he slowed down to obey the thirty-mile-an-hour speed limit, cautious as always when I was in the car with him, and I couldn’t help but smile. Although he was annoying for the most part, as most brothers were, his concern for my safety was touching.
    Just outside of the town center, tree-lined streets with family homes were situated in neat rows. American flags waved in the morning breeze in front of each house as mothers passed on the sidewalk with their young children, stopping periodically to talk with their neighbors as they walked down the street to the small elementary school. Small-town America was alive and thriving in our little community. Everything was so idyllic that no one would ever suspect vampires lived amongst them, which I suspected was why we lived there.
    At the town border, we turned into Rosemont High’s Parking lot. Well-maintained lawns and fields surrounded the red brick high school. Although it was not by any means large, it was sufficient for our small town’s need, and thanks to a generous donation made to the school the year before I had started there, we had the most advanced technology available and boasted some of the best teachers in the state.
    Paul pulle d into his assigned parking spot and his friends converged on us, all of them focused on his shiny new toy. My brother was oddly popular amongst the teens at school despite being a hundred years old. He once told me that it was because vampires learned to quickly adapt and fit in no matter where they were, but I thought it had more to do with his outgoing personality, though I didn’t dare tell him that. He prided himself on his ability to “blend in.”
    He helped me from the truck , picking me up and placing me on the ground before handing me my book bag. Conversation that had been plentiful just moments before ceased as I stepped in front of the vehicle. All eyes turned in my direction, many of the males gathered staring at me as if seeing me for the first time, and I felt my cheeks warm in response.
    Matt, m y brother’s best friend, found his voice before anyone else and pushed past everyone, walking directly to my side, giving me the once-over with his eyes. “Well, well, little Katie, you sure have grown up,” he said, leaning against the truck, trying to be smooth but failing miserably.
    I smothered back the chuckle that rose in my throat . Before I had a chance to respond Paul moved to my side, pulling me away, giving all of the males present a warning glare that had them lowering their gazes.
    I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment and wanted the pavement to swallow me whole, but thankfully I saw my best friend Jess waving from across the parking lot, which gave me an excuse to