Date = 31 OctoberPlace = San Francisco (paintball place)POV - MelaenaA loud noise judders me to close my ears with my hands. It’s the siren signaling a win. Somebody grabbed a flag. I quickly look over, and then a big smile spreads across my face. Luke is jumping up and down, wildly waving the green flag through the air. I remove my hands slowly, letting them fall down my sides.We won!Jackson stops shooting his brother and Ilkay jumps up from his hiding place and slowly walks over to us with Enrique in tow.“Congratulations.” He intentionally hits Damion on his back, knowing it must hurt like shit. Then he sees the paint marks covering my front and his eyes turn dark. A cameraman is standing close by, recording our win. It must be the one lucky dude Kiara was talking about.“Who the bloody hell shot you like that?” Enrique seems angry and it’s ironic because just a few moments ago he was the one shooting at me.“Chloe went all out killer crazy … emptied her gun on her,” Kiara expl
Date = 31 OctoberPlace = San Francisco (Reaper venue)POV - DamionI think I fucked up again.How is it that I could swirl on two wheels at over 220 miles an hour around a track, but I can’t scrape together enough courage to speak to the one person who means the most to me?“We’re very proud of you, son,” Dad says. Mom just smiles.“Thanks. I love you guys to bits.”“Right back at you, champ.” My father winks at me and leads his wife to their table. They’re sitting with Uncle John, Dean, and some other high-and-mighties that in one way or another, form part of our team.I throw back the cloak of my grim reaper suit, feeling the material scrape against my bruised back, and sit down at my assigned spot at our table, next to Ilkay, all dressed up in bloody scrubs as a mad doctor.“Hey, dude,” Axel, a werewolf, opposite me says, “Nice body paint.” I look down at my exposed torso, professionally painted along with my face, to look like a skeleton, up to where it disappears into some black
Date = 31 OctoberPlace = San Francisco (Reaper venue)POV - DamionI swing her playfully onto the dance floor, turn, and come face-to-face with the 5-foot-4, heart-stopping, stubborn-as-hell beauty as we wait for the music to start.You hurt me you did … Several timesIt hurts to admit that we’re no different … I find it hard to commitBut you don’t even tryStill, I’m better with than without youI pull her tight. She closes her eyes, sucks in a breath, and leans into me — as if it’s an extremely difficult thing to do. Her breasts brush against my chest, her thighs to mine, and everything in between connects, as we slide over the floor.“Culture Code,” she says. “Did you choose the song?” A loose long blonde strand of her hair gets stuck to my stubble.“Yes.” I feel odd. And a fuckload of other things — breathless, anxious, hot, frightened, excited, arrhythmic, drunk, restless — but talkative is not one of them. As we dance, the tight black dress offers peek-a-boo hints of some red l
Date = 5 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Stanford) and San Jose (Santana Row)POV - Melaena“My brother was released from hospital this morning —” I break off and shake my head. Not quite right. I tighten my grip on the backpack I’m hugging tightly to my chest.“I fell my ass off right in front of one of the hottest men in the world, who just happens to be the dog trainer of the team —” Nope, even worse.“Prof, have I told you that you’re my most favorite —” No one likes a suck-up. Even if it’s the truth. Anne Jones, a lady in her fifties with the language skills of a 16-year-old, and the scorn of Dolores Umbridge when you get on her wrong side, really is my favorite professor.Why am I so tense? I was only 10 minutes late for class. I’m sure she’s not going to let me write out ‘I should not be late’ a hundred times with a magical quail. I rub my knuckles in anticipation, clear my throat, and knock on the door.“Come in!”I slowly open the door a few inches and peep around it. She’s on
Date = 5 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Inferno)POV - MelaenaA neon sign lights up above us. INFERNO. I drive around the building to the private parking area at the back. Inferno has three entrances … the front, for anybody … but being underage I can’t go in there. The club’s bouncers are extremely strict and thorough — even with me.Then there’s the VIP entrance on the side. To get in there you need to be a somebody … and not just any somebody … one of the very special somebodies that are important enough to qualify for a special disk. Without the disk, you’ll have to wait in line like anybody else.And then there’s the third entrance … the one I’m heading to know. This one requires another disk … the closed-circle one — for family and friends only. This disk opens a gate to a private underground parking area with a staircase leading straight to the VIP section on the second floor. The only area, except for the restaurant, where I’m allowed to go — yet.I park the car and Lucinda’s
Date = 6 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Paws and Claws)POV - MelaenaDamion took me home.The thought is trying to sink into my hangover tequila brain. At this very moment, it’s all working against me … the shame, the headache, the nausea, the lack of sleep, my annoying friend … and it all combines to leave me cranky and yearning for my bed.I’m contemplating turning around and running back to bed and never getting out of it again.And the sunglasses are not helping. The sun is so bright and the sky so blue, a pleasant wind blowing through my hair — I feel like punching the heartwarming day in the face, grabbing it by its ear, and beating the shit out of it until its heart is a little less warm.“You look like shit.” Of course, Kiara will disapprove of my current state. You would not catch her dead in public looking like this — jeans, a hoodie, and unbrushed hair bundled in a crow nest on my head, held in place with a clip. And no makeup.Too bad. She forced me out of bed this mornin
Date = 6 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Mel’s house)POV - DamionBANG BANG BANG“Go left,” Logan shouts, “we’ll attack from two sides.” I move my man to the left.THUD I’m hit.“Fuck.” I duck my man behind an old car, trying to find the shooter.BOOM BOOM“It’s Sean … on that building,” I say.“Keep him busy. I’m going in.”I shoot to cover Logan so he can take out Sean.BANG BANG BANG BANG“Holy fuck!” Someone touches my shoulder.I jerk and crank my neck, at the same time pulling off my headset. It’s Mel. She’s home. My mouth moves into an automatic grin.Because of this planned game date, I was forced to leave her with that stuck-up trainer. The one that makes my gut turn. But now she’s here.Logan notices her “Wait, guys, girl in the house. I’m going to pause,” he says into his mic and then he removes his headset as well.“Hi, Sis, you’re home.” He says in the sweetest voice he can master.“What are you doing in my house?” she pries, crossing her arms. Her eyes are balls of fire
Date = 7 NovemberPlace = San Francisco (Mel’s house) (Scoma’s Restaurant)POV - Melaena“Ouch,” I grimace as I lift the razor. Blood trickles from just below my knee where I nicked myself with the blade. I hate shaving my legs, but I hate waxing even more. Carefully I glide the razor over my knee, removing the last bit of golden hair. I rinse it away under the tap.Now for under my arms.I wipe the steam from the mirror and stare at myself. My intestines pull into a knot as I look into my own eyes, trying to ignore the message my ‘windows to the soul’ portray back to me. My deepest, darkest secrets; the ones I’m desperately hiding from everybody — including myself — I have more feelings in my right tiny toenail for the devil I hate, than I have for the guy who is picking me up later.How messed up is that? And what’s more, I want that devilish naked body sprawled over mine. That there is not just messed up, it’s juiced up crazy.And even worse is that the devil was right. I do want a