Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters Read Free

thoughts. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just taking a trip down memory lane, that’s all.” My heart skipped a beat as a cold chill blew across the driveway.
    “We need to be taking another trip right now. Put some pep in your step and let’s get on the road.”
    New beginnings , I thought. New house, new life, new friends.
    “You could have left with Mom and Dad, you know?” I teased while opening the driver’s door.
    “And listen to six hours of nonstop music from the nineteen hundreds? I don’t think so,” he replied as he got comfortable in the passenger seat.
    I gave the house one last glance, staring up at the wide window on the second story where my room had once been. “It’s all for the best isn’t it, Ash?” I said in an almost a whisper, trying to cast the memories aside. The more I thought about it, my heart ached.
    “Yeah, maybe. You might like it there more than here.”
    I put the car in reverse and began backing out of the driveway; I looked up once more, shifted into drive and sped down the street. Leaves fell from the trees and stuck to the windshield as we traveled out of Hot Springs. I was surprised my parents had let Ash and I make the drive alone, since we’d never even seen the new house before. Lately though, they’d been letting us get away with more stuff than usual, including staying out after curfew. I guess it was their way of apologizing for moving us away from everything we knew and loved.
    “So what are we going to do for the next six hours?” I said, turning the radio off and nudging Ash lightly.
    “I know what I’m going to do,” he replied, pulling a small pillow from under the seat. “Wake me when we get there.”
    I shook my head and turned the radio back on, turning the volume up as high as it could go.
    “Turn it down, Aliza. Are you crazy?”
    “I love this song!” I screamed over the horribly loud and horribly stupid song.
    Ash sat up and hit the power button, turning the song off. “Immature.”
    “You would know. It is your middle name after all.”
    A light mist fell over the road as I rounded the curves in the highway. Traffic was minimal to none so I drove slightly above the speed limit. Instead of riding with the air conditioning on, I wanted to feel the coolness of the mist and warmth of the outside air blow through my hair. Since I didn’t have a convertible like Ash, I opened the sunroof, letting the breeze blow through my long hair.
    I looked into the rearview, glancing at the road behind and catching a glimpse of my almond-shaped eyes. They were light hazel, in fact almost the same color as my wavy hair, which was actually closer to chestnut than hazel. I took one of my hands away from the steering wheel and ran my fingers through the tangled mess; I wished my hair was as tamable as Ash’s. Contrary to my loose waves, Ash’s hair was straight and silky; its color was even different, almost the opposite. But I’d figured he’d just inherited the jet-black from Dad, while I’d gotten light-brown from Mom. Not what you’d expect from a pair of fraternal twins, but we were merely born on the same day because nothing about us seemed the same at all—except our last name.
    Ash had let his pillow rest against the window, and he snored lightly. I let the window down on his side only. When the window had completely come down, the pillow flew out and Ash’s head hit the frame of the door.
    He bolted upright. “Are you freakin’ serious?” He turned to look out of the window and watched his pillow fly momentarily, then slam onto the road like a brick.
    “House rules still apply. No sleeping, loser.” I repositioned myself in the seat; my back was beginning to feel strained.
    “Well, while you were sleeping last night, I was up packing your shit out into the hauler. So sorry I’m not well rested, princess.”
    I shrugged. “You’ll get no sympathy from me.”
    We were halfway through the longest stretch of highway in America before I had started to