Surface Below: Dark Secrets (The Surface Below Book 1) Read Free Page A

coffee. When he pulled open the drawer on the end, the glass clinked together. He pulled a vial from it, the contents a thick, dark crimson fluid, and emptied it into a new mug. The Beast stirred some but it drifted off again, unimpressed with the aroma Hybrid gave off. It barely put out the raging wildfire that burned in his chest that reminded him of what he was.
    He went back to the window and looked out; silently begging whatever force was out there to give him the same boring, normal life as the rest. He was what he was and the rules he was bound by left him lonely and oppressed. He couldn’t surround himself with humans but he didn’t want to be around his own kind. So he chose to be alone. If choice was an option.
    William needed more though. He needed to be amongst humans, he was drawn to them. Fascinated by their habits, emotions and energy. And when he had graduated he had made the decision to go to college and stay on the Surface. His mother and uncle had protested the notion, for good reason, but those reasons were not enough for him not to go.  
    And there his needs were met. He could feed on the energy around him, absorb the human emotions that he thirsted for. And he could spend time with women. He couldn’t touch a woman though; not that it stopped him. William just wasn’t satisfied being with a vampire. Female vampires were competitive, hard to please creatures. A human, though, had so many emotions. He welcomed the passion rolling off them in waves, and the affection, he could appreciate it. It was the closest thing he had to being human.
    Defeated, he went back and poured coffee into the mug. The crimson mixed with the blackness of the coffee. The Hybrid would sweeten it to perfection. It was the only way William cared to drink the blood replacement.
    Crossing to the other side of the room, he went over to the large desk in the corner. Unopened letters from his mother sat stacked on the edge of the desk, begging to be read. He was sure each one was the same: she begged him to listen, be rational, and to come home. They would fall on deaf ears because no matter what she said, he continued to believe the worst about his father. He wasn’t sure how far the letters went back, but they had started sometime after college.
    Pushing some papers off to the side, he settled into the black leather office chair. He set his coffee cup in its familiar spot on the wood, a dark ring stained beneath it from many cups before.  
    He lifted up the screen on the laptop and it came to life. A picture from a different time looked back at him. It was of Markus, Miranda and him. Blues skies and white sand surrounding them. They all had big smiles that touched their eyes. In that singular picture were so many happy memories. He pushed it out of his head though and quickly clicked the browser.
    He scrolled through his emails, but there was nothing of interest to him. Mostly junk and bills.
    He went on to check his stocks, happily surprised that a couple turned out to be a good sell. And he had turned a nice profit.
    As he clicked through and purchased some promising ones, he recalled a distant memory. Not so distant college years. It made him realize it had been five years since he’d graduated. William had been two years into his English Lit degree and already losing interest. He had loved books and had an arsenal against the wall next to him to prove it. Everything from Poe to King had lined the shelves. But college in general hadn’t interested him. Partying and the girls is what had kept him lingering around.
    By that point, William had cut himself off from his mother and the people who cared for him. Which meant he had cut himself off from the money. He had done it to himself. William knew even through the rebellious years his mother would have given him money. And at times she had insisted but he didn’t want it. And then a curious professor had taken the young William under his wing. Turning him into his little