Share
Chapter 74
Outside, the cold hit Leesa immediately, waking her up even better than the water she had splashed on her face. She put her blue ski cap on her head, tugging it down over her ears, and grabbed her gloves from her pockets. Her friends similarly fortified themselves against the chill. Cali’s hat was a funky brown fur thing, complete with a chin strap and a pair of ears sticking up from the top that resembled wolf ears. The edges of both ears were torn ragged, making it look like some wild animal had gnawed on them. Leesa could barely keep from laughing.
“What the heck is that thing?” she asked.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Cali said. “I found it at a garage sale last year. Just because I need to be warm doesn’t mean I can’t make a statement at the same time.”
“Yeah, and your statement is ‘I’m one very weird chick,’” Leesa said, laughing.
“You know what they say,” Stacie added. “There’s no accounting for taste—or lack of it.” They all laughed.
“You’re all
Related chapters
Leesa's Advent Chapter 75
Leesa was sitting on her bed reading when her mom and Bradley walked in through the open door. She had gotten a good night’s sleep after the bonfire and was feeling pretty rested this morning. Smiling, she bounced up off the bed and gave her mom a big hug. When she was done, she moved into Bradley’s arms.“Hi, pumpkin,” he said, squeezing her tightly.“How are you feeling, big brother?” she asked when she stepped out of his embrace.“I feel great.”In truth, he did look great, a far cry from the gaunt, glassy-eyed apparition Stefan had led out of the darkness when he had come to fulfill his side of his bargain with Leesa. Bradley’s blue eyes were bright and clear, and he seemed to have put on another pound or two since she had seen him a week or so ago. But the best thing about him was his wide smile, a smile that had helped Leesa through so many difficult days during her childhood.Her mom look
Leesa's Advent Chapter 76
Leesa sat on the front steps of her aunt’s house, arms resting on her thighs, gazing off to the west. The sun hung low in a cloudless sky, a pale yellow orb that seemed almost to balance atop the rolling hills on the far horizon. No wonder it was so cold out here, she thought—the barely glowing disc seemed incapable of providing any real warmth.She had bundled up against the cold, adding a black wool scarf around her neck to her usual winter garb of ski cap, parka, leather gloves and Ugg boots. She had been sitting out here for almost half an hour, thinking and watching the sun slowly sink lower and lower. Max was running around the front yard, occasionally coming back to the steps for a few moments of petting before racing out onto the lawn again and resuming his fun.Today was the twenty-first of December—the winter solstice. The reason Rave was gone. Leesa was watching to see if she might notice anything different about the sun today, some slight
Leesa's Advent Chapter 77
Kristi Brolen was glad to be home. This past semester, the first of her junior year at UConn, had been her most difficult by far. Upper level courses were much tougher than those she had taken her freshman and sophomore years. She had done okay, but it had required a lot of work. All she wanted to do now, at the beginning of her three week holiday break, was relax.So that was exactly what she was doing, sitting and reading in the backyard of her parents’ Ledyard home. She had dragged one of the heavy, dark green Adirondack chairs close to the edge of the yard—not an easy task for the five-foot five-inch, blue-eyed brunette—onto a small cement patio her dad had built a few years back to hold their propane gas grill and a wooden picnic table. She could have read at the table, but the Adirondack was so much more comfortable.She loved it back here. Every breath she drew was tinged with fresh pine fragrance from a row of slender Blue Spruce a few feet be
Leesa's Advent Chapter 78
“Oh, dear,” Aunt Janet said, “not another one.”“Another what, Aunt Janet?” Leesa asked, emerging from the kitchen with her mom where they had been doing the dishes. It was the first time since Leesa arrived in Connecticut that her aunt had permitted her to help with the clean up for any meal. Since all Leesa’s previous visits had been for just a few days or less, Aunt Janet had brushed off all Leesa’s offers to assist by saying she was a guest and guests did not do dishes in her house. This time, Leesa was staying for more than a week, which apparently moved her out of the guest category. She was happy to finally have the chance to pitch in.“Another young woman has disappeared,” Aunt Janet said.Aunt Janet was sitting on the couch next to her husband, watching the news on television. Max lay on the floor by their feet. Bradley was perched on the front of the big easy chair, staring intently at the TV.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 79
Christmas had ceased to be special for Leesa a long time ago. She had a few faint memories of joyous mornings and big, beautifully decorated trees from when she was very young, but once her father left all of that ended. Bradley tried to keep the day special for her, but he was just a kid himself, and there wasn’t much he could do. He usually managed to find a small, scraggly “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree they could hang a few decorations on and always provided one small present for Leesa, but that was about it. Not the stuff memories were made of, not by a long shot. This morning was different, though. This was a real family Christmas. It started late yesterday afternoon, when they all piled into Uncle Roger’s Expedition and headed to a nearby Christmas tree farm. Aunt Janet and Uncle Roger had a tradition of not purchasing their tree until the last moment, insuring it would be as fresh and lovely as possible for the actual holiday. They all wandered around the hug
Leesa's Advent Chapter 80
Three days after Christmas, Leesa and Bradley were in the new apartment, assembling inexpensive furniture purchased from the IKEA store in New Haven. They had driven down the day before in Uncle Roger’s Expedition and picked out everything they thought they would need for their mom and Bradley to be at least semi-comfortable. Leesa would be going back to school in less than a week, so they had just borrowed an air mattress from Uncle Roger for her to sleep on up in the loft. They didn’t really have to figure out how to furnish the loft until school ended for the summer. They had already put together a bed for their mom and one for Bradley. The instructions were clear and simple and few tools were necessary. Leesa was now assembling a pair of dining chairs to go with the table Bradley was building. Their mom was at the bakery, working. Bradley had set up a CD player, but all of Leesa’s music was back at the dorm, so they were listening to a collection of Christmas carols borr
Leesa's Advent Chapter 81
Rave looked at her sheepishly. Leesa loved it when he looked that way, because it did not happen often. He was usually so confident and in control. “Well, I did miss you,” he said. “And I wanted to check on you and make sure everything was all right. But you are right. There is more. I might be gone a bit longer than I originally expected.” That was definitely not something Leesa wanted to hear. “Oh, no. Why?” “The Council has decided it is safer for everyone that way. For volkaanes, vampires and humans.” “How long will you be gone, then?” Rave shrugged. “I’m not sure. Unless we hear that vampires are running out of control and our presence is needed, it could be awhile.” Leesa’s heart sank. Why did she have to fall in love with a volkaane? She quickly squashed the thought. Rave was by far the best thing ever to happen to her, despite the obstacles. And there were more than a few, for sure. “Three people disappeared within two
Leesa's Advent Chapter 82
The first thing Leesa DID when she got back to school, after putting her stuff away in her room, was go down to Cali’s room. She had only seen her friend once over the break, when Cali had borrowed her mom’s car and driven to Meriden two days before Christmas. That had been nearly two weeks ago, and Leesa missed her best friend. Texts were nice, but there was nothing like getting together in person.Cali’s door was wide open. Inside, Leesa could see Cali and Stacie sitting at Cali’s desk, their backs to the doorway. She knocked lightly on the door to let them know she was there and entered the room.The two girls turned at the sound of Leesa’s knock, and she immediately saw she had been mistaken. The second girl was not Stacie—this girl’s long straight black hair, so similar to the half-Japanese Stacie’s—had fooled Leesa. She had never seen this girl before. She was very pretty, with large, almond-shaped dark brown
Latest chapter
