Howl - Brieanna Boyce (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

queen was right across from me and the vampire queen probably wanted me dead.

I grabbed the plates, pots, and pans rinsing them and throwing them into the dishwasher turning to my guest. It was funny really having a stranger so close that is your enemy. Could she really even be considered an enemy? I didn’t even know her.

“May I ask what your name is?” The girl asked.

I smiled and said in a joking tone, “only if you tell me yours first.” In truth there was no joking about it I didn’t trust her for a moment there was no way I could.

She seemed put off for a moment but quickly caught herself and smiled, “My name is Delilah.”

I didn’t necessarily know if I believed that to be true, “My name is Raven.” I added my own fake hospitable smile.

“I see,” she said examining me although I was an experiment, “well tell Tristan I came by.” Then she simply sauntered out of the house leaving as fast as she came. I didn’t trust her not to spy on me either so I would have to be careful. I headed upstairs and got changed into pajamas, brushing my teeth and hair then heading to bed.

I closed my eyes and let sleep overcome me and then I called out Tristan’s name in my head until I saw him appear. I then showed him the events of the day.

“Crap!” Tristan shouted then paced, “alright well looks like I won’t be able to visit anytime soon then.”

I nodded, “but what do I do? I know she’s going to spy on me so what do I do?”

Tristan shrugged, “well you’re going to have to deal with it, just don’t do anything weird.”

I sighed, “I’ll do what I can; Tristan why don’t you want to be part of the court?”

Instead of answering my question he disappeared and the words “she’s evil,” Floated around in my head. Then the rest of my dream slipped into blackness.

I woke up the next morning, my hair wild and untamed and drool dried onto the side of my face. I begrudgingly ascended from the extremely luxurious mattress and grabbed a towel making my way to the bathroom. Each step on the wooden floor made a sound like a groan as if they loathed these dismal mornings too.

I entered the bathroom and got unrobed then turned on the bathwater. The bathroom like the rest of the house was elegant and over the top, everything was made out of some form of marble and there were at least a dozen shampoos, conditioners, and body washes. You could tell that the girls picked the bathroom necessities. There was a large bay window but designs were painted on the outside so no one could see you. When the bath finally filled up I turned off the water and stepped into the water letting it envelope me with warmth and taking my time washing myself off, thinking deeply about my situation.

Delilah was Tristan’s sister and although he avoided her I doubt he hates her. However Delilah was stalking me and is the assistant to the queen of the vampires; as if that didn’t make matters worse the queen was looking for me. Although she wasn’t aware she was looking for me, she was also looking to recruit Tristan. Which meant Delilah would be in extremely close quarters, I had literally shared dinner with someone who could ultimately lead to my death. No pressure.

I sank deeper into the water until it almost reached my nostrils and I sighed making a medley of bubbles chaotically dance to the surface. Okay, so now that I’d figured out what my problems were how do I fix them? That was the real question. Then again, I suppose it isn’t that complicated of an answer, as long as I get on Delilah’s good side I can avoid being suspect and Tristan will be safe. What if I overdo it and she suspects me more for it? I suppose it was a risk I had to take… Taking risks wasn’t exactly ideal at the moment but that seemed like my only alternative.

I got up out of the bath tub instantly hit with a violent shudder, the air chilling me unforgivably. Motivating me to quickly grab a towel and wrap it around my body and another towel to wrap around my hair. Making my way to the bedroom when I heard a creak I whirled around and Delilah was a few feet away. Why were vampires so incapable of using a door?

“Wow you caught me again, how do you do it?”

“What do you mean?” I asked Delilah confused her features bright with curiosity, “I heard you.”

“How?” Delilah asked, “You are but a fledging.”

Apparently I was weird even to the standards of mythological creatures; in fact it seemed I was incapable of meeting anyone’s standards. A theory that I found terribly depressing, even if I’d stayed human I’d probably been incapable of meeting anyone’s standards. My father was not impressed by anything I did, my brother mocked me, my friends wanted me to be less stubborn and more conforming. Would mom be proud? Would I have met her standards? I doubt it.

“I don’t know how I do it. I just do,” I replied feeling suddenly drained. I walked into Tristan’s room and Delilah sat on the bed her blonde hair sweeping over her shoulder, her blue eyes examining.

“Can I change?” I asked somewhat irritably.

“Go ahead,” Delilah said sitting on the bed unmoving.

Apparently she didn’t understand that I wanted my privacy to change. Or, more likely she was seeing how I’d react. I simply took the clothes I needed and made my way into a guest room where I changed then walked back to Delilah.

“How’s your search for Tristan going?” I asked in a monotone voice.

“It is not going well,” Delilah said gauging me, “Would you happen to know where he is?”

“No,” I said sitting at a vanity and brushing my hair. “If I did I probably wouldn’t tell you.”

Delilah walked until she was behind me, apparently not reacting well to my comment her eyes ablaze with anger. She managed to keep a flawless, radiant smile. She grabbed a necklace and wrapped it around my neck. She progressively wound the necklace tighter cutting off my air supply. I didn’t gasp for air or gulp it greedily, or look at her with desperation and a wild reaching for air and life. Instead I reached my hand up and grabbed her hand squeezing it until I heard a series of snaps and the necklace fell to the ground with a clatter.

Delilah licked her wounded bloody hand, she was trying her best to keep a calm façade but I could see right through it. Her blue eyes became cold fire, trying to chill me to the bone, intimidate, and bite. However my one advantage was that she was not used to someone like me. I questioned her, also unlike her I had to fight all the time where as I’m sure she kept her hands clean and had lower ranking vampires deal with problems, fighting, and those kinds of things. I on the other hand was already no stranger to fighting and although I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed it I found it necessary then again I supposed it had been awhile…

She clearly was no fan of bleeding, she was not used to that kind of treatment but if she expected an apology it wasn’t going to happen. Even though she was as radiant as ever and her beauty was disarming her glaring also had a biting hate to it. However she quickly composed herself as though she slipped on a rubber mask her lips curling up but her eyes empty. “Very interesting…”

She bowed her head and made her leave. I sighed, well it looked like that whole trying to be inconspicuous and amicable thing wasn’t going to work out. My pride, thick head, and big mouth never ceased to get me into trouble. I just continued with the daily schedule even though there was good chance that I’d messed things up, and may possibly have my life at stake for it.


I distracted myself from destructive thoughts like that and focused on cleaning the whole house top to bottom. My only issue was I had to first find flaws in the cleaning; I used a tiny scratch to rewash a whole floor. I just needed something, anything to distract myself. Finally after I felt like I’d collapse from exertion and everything gave a reflection I was satisfied. I looked up to the clock and found I’d only killed an hour. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge grabbing a pack of blood and sticking a straw in it sipping it thinking of what would take up more time; I looked back into the refrigerator and saw there was hardly any food. I went upstairs into Tristan’s room and dug through the pants pockets in my laundry and found one with a wad of cash, 60$ and I supposed it would be enough. I shoved it into my sweatshirt pocket then made my way out of the house. I figured walking was the safest bet, especially since I recently crashed Tristan’s luxurious sports car. I didn’t feel bad for most things but I did feel bad for that.

I shoved my hands in my sweatshirt pockets and made my way trying desperately to walk the same pace as the other humans, it seemed the more time that passed the more distant I became from humans and yet I couldn’t help thinking like who I was originally. It seemed like I didn’t fit in anywhere, in truth it was a common theme in my life, one I didn’t particularly mind until now. I suppose I just hated having to decide things, to face the future was a scary thing. I know I would’ve had an extreme amount of difficulty facing life decisions as a human. Like where to go to college, or what career to pursue, whether I’d go into the military or not or how to get the money for college, whether or not I had well enough grades. (Which I certainly did not) See what I mean? I’m stressing out and I don’t even have to worry about it. In a way this whole vampire werewolf drama was a little relieving. I didn’t have to worry about school or my future. Then again the only difference I didn’t have to worry about my future is because there was no guarantee I’d even have one. Thankfully, I reached the grocery store before my inner turmoil could consume me.

I focused merely on the task at hand, I formed a list in my head, and I decided I would make sopa which if you weren’t aware is delicious Spanish soup. I would need potatoes, bacon, and goya seasoning, with some steak and noodles. I got a little basket and headed off getting everything on sale. I found pineapple and a big ham on sale too so I figured I can make that another day too.
When I got to the register I found I had like 20$ left over which left me really excited. I left the grocery store with my bags and made my way home but then I was relieved to find when we got into the neighborhood that no one was there so I raced home. Even going as fast as I can was effortless my heart remained