Part 4
If only she could pull the covers over her head and forget the rest of the world existed. Shara wished she could just go back to sleep. She wouldn't have to put up with the boring monotony of high school. If only she could drift into the world of dreams and forget things like the Night World existed.
Unfortunately, being hit on the head with a pillow was not helping achieve the peaceful bliss she had been hoping for.
"Get /up/ already! God, I swear you could sleep through the end of the world."
Fellow Daybreak shapeshifter Lori Walton was unrelenting. Shara groaned, sitting up, her curly blonde hair falling around her shoulders like a messy mop.
Lori just laughed. Shara's eyes rolled. "Is there a reason you're bothering me at this ungodly hour on a Sunday morning?"
Lori snorted. "It's nine thirty! And I really, really need to borrow your car."
Shara sighed. "Why?"
"I'm meeting Barclay for lunch at his family's estate. He's just /so/ dreamy. And it's either me borrow your car or you give me a lift."
"Did you miss the fact that he's a /vampire/ and a vicious jerk on top of it?"
Lori waved dismissively. "Those are just rumours. Besides, he's not as bad as you think."
It was Shara's turn to snort. Bleached blond brat Barclay Menendez was one of those arrogant jerks who thought he could smile at a girl and she'd destroy the world for him. Lori was an idiot if she thought she could make him a Daybreaker.
"Why do I have the feeling I'm doing to regret this - and /don't/ squeal."
Lori clapped her hands together with glee. She was like an excited six year old on her first trip to Disney World. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." She hopped off the bed. "I should go out and buy something new. I don't have to be there until eleven, I've got time."
Lori looked stunning as always in a silky blue sundress that clung in all the right places, it's skirt just short enough to show a decent amount of leg without being too slutty. Her light brown hair hung in soft curls to her shoulders, shining healthily in the morning sunlight.
"You don't need something new, you look fine." Shara couldn't keep the note of envy out her voice.
"Hey, if it helps I've noticed Chiron Crowe checking you out the other day, he and Barclay are friends, maybe I could get him to set you guys up, then we could double date." Lori waved and danced off down the hall.
Shara's eyes rolled. The last thing she wanted was a date with Chiron Crowe. Lori couldn't seem to recognise the Night Worlders unless they hit her over the head and /told/ her. Besides, Chiron was already dating the daughter of Hunter Redfern's latest love interest.
She dragged herself out of bed, washed, dressed and went into the kitchen to se who else was around in the Daybreak safehouse she lived in.
The kitchen was quiet, there was no one else downstairs. Since it was Sunday, Shara guessed the other residents were still asleep. The other three in the house were werewolf Brad, his roommate Neil and their only vampire Adele. Her witch and Lori shapeshifter made up the group.
Las Vegas itself was probably over run with Night People. The last two Harman witches lived there, as well as Thierry Descouedres, the founder of Circle Daybreak, his mansion was somewhere in the city. So a safehouse with a bunch of supernatural creatures in the suburban areas wasn't such a weird thing anymore.
Well, it might be weird for the humans who didn't know about the Night World.
"I don't understand why they would even bother."
Shara turned, surprised to see Neil and Brad coming into the house through the back kitchen door. The alarm in Neil's voice sent of warning bells in Shara's mind. "What's happened?"
Brad sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "Adele is dead."
Shara stared at him. Adele was one of the nicest vampires in the world. "Who would want to kill Adele?"
"We found her in the dumpster outside the White Orchid. I recognised the ring tone when her cell went off," Neil told her.
The White Orchid chain was a new group of clubs Thierry had set up around the country for Daybreakers. Their locations were supposed to be secret, there were specific pass words for each one.
Shara was too shocked to know what to say. She leaned against the counter in silence, staring blankly at the oven. Someone had killed Adele outside a secret Daybreak club.
"Maybe whoever it was just wanted a convenient place to dump the body and didn't know about the club." Brad cringed at his own words.
"And there were no clues - are you /sure/ it was Adele?" Shara just didn't want to accept that Adele was /gone/. She could feel tears starting to form. "Lots of people have the same ring tone."
"She had this on her wrist." Neil held up a silver bracelet with tiny moon and star charms dangling from it. The bracelet had been specifically designed for Adele for her sixteenth birthday. The tears spilled. Shara normally prided herself on her control, right now she couldn't care about her composure.
The murder of an innocent girl like Adele was just /cruel/, even if she had been a vampire. There was just no reason to kill her.
"Do you know if this was Adele's?" Neil held up another piece of jewellery.
The necklace was a delicate gold chain with a row of sapphires hanging from it. Shara frowned at the pretty chain. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "No. But I've seen it before somewhere. I know I have."
Brad nodded. "Me too. But I can't for the life of me remember who it belongs to."
Shara turned away from them. She was going to /find/ the owner of that necklace. They knew something about Adele's killer. That monster was going to /pay/ for what they did.
* * *
If only she could pull the covers over her head and forget the rest of the world existed. Shara wished she could just go back to sleep. She wouldn't have to put up with the boring monotony of high school. If only she could drift into the world of dreams and forget things like the Night World existed.
Unfortunately, being hit on the head with a pillow was not helping achieve the peaceful bliss she had been hoping for.
"Get /up/ already! God, I swear you could sleep through the end of the world."
Fellow Daybreak shapeshifter Lori Walton was unrelenting. Shara groaned, sitting up, her curly blonde hair falling around her shoulders like a messy mop.
Lori just laughed. Shara's eyes rolled. "Is there a reason you're bothering me at this ungodly hour on a Sunday morning?"
Lori snorted. "It's nine thirty! And I really, really need to borrow your car."
Shara sighed. "Why?"
"I'm meeting Barclay for lunch at his family's estate. He's just /so/ dreamy. And it's either me borrow your car or you give me a lift."
"Did you miss the fact that he's a /vampire/ and a vicious jerk on top of it?"
Lori waved dismissively. "Those are just rumours. Besides, he's not as bad as you think."
It was Shara's turn to snort. Bleached blond brat Barclay Menendez was one of those arrogant jerks who thought he could smile at a girl and she'd destroy the world for him. Lori was an idiot if she thought she could make him a Daybreaker.
"Why do I have the feeling I'm doing to regret this - and /don't/ squeal."
Lori clapped her hands together with glee. She was like an excited six year old on her first trip to Disney World. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." She hopped off the bed. "I should go out and buy something new. I don't have to be there until eleven, I've got time."
Lori looked stunning as always in a silky blue sundress that clung in all the right places, it's skirt just short enough to show a decent amount of leg without being too slutty. Her light brown hair hung in soft curls to her shoulders, shining healthily in the morning sunlight.
"You don't need something new, you look fine." Shara couldn't keep the note of envy out her voice.
"Hey, if it helps I've noticed Chiron Crowe checking you out the other day, he and Barclay are friends, maybe I could get him to set you guys up, then we could double date." Lori waved and danced off down the hall.
Shara's eyes rolled. The last thing she wanted was a date with Chiron Crowe. Lori couldn't seem to recognise the Night Worlders unless they hit her over the head and /told/ her. Besides, Chiron was already dating the daughter of Hunter Redfern's latest love interest.
She dragged herself out of bed, washed, dressed and went into the kitchen to se who else was around in the Daybreak safehouse she lived in.
The kitchen was quiet, there was no one else downstairs. Since it was Sunday, Shara guessed the other residents were still asleep. The other three in the house were werewolf Brad, his roommate Neil and their only vampire Adele. Her witch and Lori shapeshifter made up the group.
Las Vegas itself was probably over run with Night People. The last two Harman witches lived there, as well as Thierry Descouedres, the founder of Circle Daybreak, his mansion was somewhere in the city. So a safehouse with a bunch of supernatural creatures in the suburban areas wasn't such a weird thing anymore.
Well, it might be weird for the humans who didn't know about the Night World.
"I don't understand why they would even bother."
Shara turned, surprised to see Neil and Brad coming into the house through the back kitchen door. The alarm in Neil's voice sent of warning bells in Shara's mind. "What's happened?"
Brad sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "Adele is dead."
Shara stared at him. Adele was one of the nicest vampires in the world. "Who would want to kill Adele?"
"We found her in the dumpster outside the White Orchid. I recognised the ring tone when her cell went off," Neil told her.
The White Orchid chain was a new group of clubs Thierry had set up around the country for Daybreakers. Their locations were supposed to be secret, there were specific pass words for each one.
Shara was too shocked to know what to say. She leaned against the counter in silence, staring blankly at the oven. Someone had killed Adele outside a secret Daybreak club.
"Maybe whoever it was just wanted a convenient place to dump the body and didn't know about the club." Brad cringed at his own words.
"And there were no clues - are you /sure/ it was Adele?" Shara just didn't want to accept that Adele was /gone/. She could feel tears starting to form. "Lots of people have the same ring tone."
"She had this on her wrist." Neil held up a silver bracelet with tiny moon and star charms dangling from it. The bracelet had been specifically designed for Adele for her sixteenth birthday. The tears spilled. Shara normally prided herself on her control, right now she couldn't care about her composure.
The murder of an innocent girl like Adele was just /cruel/, even if she had been a vampire. There was just no reason to kill her.
"Do you know if this was Adele's?" Neil held up another piece of jewellery.
The necklace was a delicate gold chain with a row of sapphires hanging from it. Shara frowned at the pretty chain. She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "No. But I've seen it before somewhere. I know I have."
Brad nodded. "Me too. But I can't for the life of me remember who it belongs to."
Shara turned away from them. She was going to /find/ the owner of that necklace. They knew something about Adele's killer. That monster was going to /pay/ for what they did.
* * *