Warriors Blue - XXL - Preview - Jeanette Peters (the reading list TXT) 📗

To Esther and Anna.
This book would never have come to life without you.

Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart!
Nathaniel Hawthrone

Many centuries ago, vampires decided to reveal their existence to mortals. Humans shivered as they became aware of the hunter among them. Out of shadows, vampires had been guiding the fate of different peoples for a long time. It was necessary for their survival to enter into a symbiosis with humans. They were used by the vampires as food. During the centuries many people fell victim of the bloodlust of the vampires. But that didn’t stop many of them offering themselves as bloodwhores at an early age.

Dealing with mortals was also not safe for the beings of the night. Sometimes a strong spiritual bond developed between human and vampire. If this happened, the immortal had only the choice to make the human being one of their own or to perish as soon as his soulmate died. Over time, both species learned to live together.

But human or vampire, neither fate nor life care about any of these species ...

 Victim

 6

She had been waiting for quite a while. When was the slut gonna leave? She had to get to her stupid job now, didn’t she? She had always left at this time in the last few weeks.
The babysitter shouldn’t be a problem. If she said who she was, the kid already would confirm that. Once she’s in the apartment, it’d be easy to get rid of the babysitter. She’d be alone with the kid. There was no reason why her plan shouldn’t work.
It had to work! Then her problems would be gone. Not only that. If everything worked out as she planned, she’d be able to beat the old slut. This was the much greater incentive behind her plan.
Finally she saw the light going on in the hallway. The time was right. And who else would sneak through the dilapidated house at this hour? The apartments were not only small, but rancid. For Miranda it had been a reason to escape from home as soon as possible. One of a number. It was her goal to find her luck elsewhere. And it looked like she had succeeded.
Providing her plan worked out...
The front door opened and a tall, tired looking middle-aged woman stepped onto the street. She wrapped the brown coat around the skinny body to protect herself from the wind. Slowly she walked along the sidewalk, while some strands of red-brown hair came loose from her plait and fluttered back and forth in the wind.
Miranda pulled her lips and turned up her nose when she saw how old her mother had grown. She avoided them consciously. The only contact she kept in secret was with her sister. The girl was the key to her success.
In the last weeks Miranda had visited the little one again and again at school. Every time she pretended it felt like the worst thing in the world for her to leave her. And the little one? Of course, she jumped straight at it. The only thing that didn’t work as planned was the effort to pass the buck to her mother. The little girl always remained stubborn and explained how much her mother missed her.
Miranda, of course, didn’t believe a word the little brat said. She wasn’t stupid. Her mother was to blame for all the problems she was now threatening to crush. And she was not a bit better than her. That’s what Miranda told her when she packed her things and ran away. Well, she had no choice anyway. If she hadn’t left voluntarily, her mother would have kicked her out. However, Miranda did not want to give this satisfaction to her. Neither then nor now.
Her sister had just turned five at the time. Certainly her mother had succeeded in distorting the circumstances and portraying Miranda as the evil one. But she didn’t care. Okay, at least it didn’t until she realized how useful her little sister could be.
Finally her mother turned the corner and disappeared from Miranda’s field of vision. She took a quick look at her watch. She had a few more minutes before she had to be at the meeting point with her sister. What a happy coincidence that her mother worked at night.
She waited another five minutes in anticipation. She needed to be sure. If her mother returned unexpectedly, her plan was dead. Then she jumped up and walked to the front door. Right next to the door there were countless bells, but Miranda did not have to search for long. She unerringly pressed the button to the apartment where she had once lived herself.
»Theresa? Have you forgotten something«, a unknown voice rang out.
»Um, no, it’s Miranda. I am Theresa’s daughter«, she explained quickly and waited. It remained silent for a while at the other end of the intercom.
»Daughter? She didn’t tell me about another daughter«, the voice declared suspiciously.
»I haven’t been there for a while because I’m very enthusiastic about my studies. But now I have a few days off and wanted to visit my family. You can call my mother if you want, or you can just ask Penelope«, Miranda replied. Hopefully the babysitter chose the second option. After all, her mother didn’t know about the contact she had with her small sister. She certainly wouldn’t be happy about that.
A click sounded in the intercom and Miranda waited. She had to be patient. Anything else wouldn’t get her any further. She wasn’t supposed to let on. It took a little while until it clicked again. »Mira?«, her little sister’s excited voice asked.
»Yes, Penny. Can you open the door for me? It’s really cold down here«, Miranda replied.
»Yes«, Penelope said and right afterwards the buzzer sounded. With a wildly beating heart Miranda stepped into the house and hurried up the stairs.

»Will you stay here forever?«, Penelope asked her again. Miranda suppressed a groaning and instead forced herself to take a loving look at her sister. »Just for a while.« Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the babysitter. That old scaredy-cat had to go. Ideally quickly, because time was running out.
»I think it’s great that you’re here«, Penelope kept babbling. Miranda looked at her little sister. She had the same reddish brown hair as her mother. Miranda had had it too before she decided to bleach it. Now blond hair cut to a fashionable short hairstyle adorned her head.
»Me too, little one«, Miranda vowed with a dripping sweetness in her voice. Then she looked at the babysitter. It was time to give it a try. »If you want, you’re welcome to go home. I’m here now and I can watch Penelope.«
»I don’t know. I promised your mother I’d take care of her until she got back«, the woman replied and looked doubtfully back and forth between them and the front door. Apparently, Miranda’s offer didn’t come at a bad time.
Miranda gave the stupid cow her sweetest smile and drew Penelope to herself. She willingly let it be done and replied the embrace.
»Oh, please, can’t Mira take care of me? I want her to take me to bed«, Penelope explained and unexpectedly helped Miranda. The babysitter could not oppose the child’s pleading gaze.
»All right. I’ll call your mother in the morning so we can figure out how to do this the next few nights. And Penelope has to go to bed in half an hour«, the woman finally stepped in.
»Don’t worry, I’ll do it«, Miranda promised and made a symbol of innocence. »Have a nice evening and enjoy your free time.«
»I’ll probably do that«, the woman replied while she was already slipping into her coat. Miranda watched with great satisfaction as the woman left the apartment with a final greeting. Now it was finally time. Their plan has been turned into reality. She was waiting a few minutes for the babysitter to disappear.
»Can we play something before I go to bed?«, Penelope asked. Miranda’s heart began to beat faster. The little girl offered her the perfect model. »I have a better idea. What do you say we take a little walk? I really want to show you something.«
»Oh, yeah, I’d love that«, Penelope explained immediately and jumped up. She ran into her room to put on her coat and shoes. Miranda picked up her cell phone and dialed her contact man’s number. »It’s me, Miranda«, she just said and listened with one ear to the sounds her little sister made while dressing. »We’ll be there in half an hour. Get the car ready.«