The Zoey Chronicles: Discovery (Vol. 2) Read Free Page A

facts. I decided to go with the second option, and blurted out the most important piece of information. “My best friend turned into a vampire.”
                 
    He lurched forward and stubbed out his cigarette. “Tell me everything,” he said, and I did.
     
    When I’d finished he rubbed his chin. “They are going to the Council, I’d wager.”
     
    “The Council?”
     
    He waved a hand. “It’s where new vampires are taken, I think. It’s meant to be a secret location, but I had a vampire girlfriend a while back. A feisty thing she was! Always wanted to bite me! She told me where it was one day when we were . . .” He coughed and looked away. “. . . together.”
     
    “Do you know where it is?” I said eagerly. If he knew where it was then I could follow Zoey, I thought. I didn’t know what the hell I’d do when I got there, but I could figure that out later. Right now all I needed to focus on was finding her. I could worry about the rest once I’d done that.
     
    He nodded. “I do, but it’s a long and hard trip, and no offence lad but you don’t look up to it.”
     
    I was about to tell him that I was, but then I saw the futility of it. I must look a mess, plus I wasn’t exactly the fittest person in the world. “I need to find her,” I said.
     
    “You love her, don’t you lad?” he said.
     
    I didn’t have the energy to deny it. “How did you know?”
     
    “It’s obvious. I knew as soon as you mentioned her name. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to come here every day for training. I’ll build you up, intense army training that will get you fit and strong enough to make the trip. And I’ll teach you how to fight and hunt vampires, if that’s what you want.”
     
    “You know how to hunt vampires?”
     
    He smiled grimly. “Yes,” he said.
     
    “Why would you do that for me?”
     
    He shrugged. “Because you’re in love and I need a project. I haven’t done anything exciting for a while.”
                 
    Could I do it? Could I train as a vampire killer? “Yes,” I said without thinking. “Let’s do it.”
                 
    He grinned. “Alright, lad. You be here every day after school, and don’t be late and never miss a day and you should do alright.”
                 
    “Okay, John,” I said.
                 
    His smile grew even wider. “Call me Johnny. My friends call me Johnny.”
                 
    “Okay, Johnny. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
                 
    I left Johnny’s place feeling good. I had a plan. I didn’t stop to think about how good of a plan it was. It was a plan, and that was all that mattered. I walked through my front door with a strange sense of hope, and it immediately disappeared. My father was home.
                 
    He turned on me with fury in his gaze, and I could tell that he’d been drinking. He was a big man, covered in hard-packed muscle, and when he came at me I didn’t stand a chance. He didn’t say anything, didn’t give me an insight into why he was beating me. He just did it.
                 
    I tried to defend myself, but his fists came with too much power, and my pitiful defences were less than useless. Pain exploded in my nose and he threw me onto my back and pounded my face. He kept hitting me, again and again, until all I could see and taste was blood. I tried to cry out, but all I could do was splutter blood.
                 
    He took a swig of his whisky and turned out the light, leaving me in dark. “You’re pathetic,” he said, and then left the room.
     
                 

Zoey
     
    The next couple of weeks were quiet and awkward. We barely spoke, and when we did it was strictly vampire business. I was getting better at hunting, slowly, and was beginning to have more control over my blood cravings.
                 
    The nighttimes were the most