Blayke Read online

  Table of Contents

  Blayke

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  From the Author

  Acknowledgments

  About The Author

  Copyright 2017 © Dawn Sullivan

  Language: English

  Published by Dawn Sullivan

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events or persons, living or dead are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names or featured names are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.

  Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or in part, mechanically or electronically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Published in the United States of America in September 2017; Copyright 2017 by Dawn Sullivan. The right of the Authors Name to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with The Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988.

  Cover Design: Marisa-rose Shor- Cover Me Darling

  Photographer: Michel Prince-Royal Touch Photography

  Model: Ashlynne McKown

  Interior Formatting: Cover Me Darling and Athena Interior Book Design

  For my daughter. Never stop chasing your dreams.

  She sat at the top of the stairs, her hands wrapped tightly around the white wooden railing, her head bowed so that her long, dark hair hid her face. Her body trembled at the chill in the air, and she wished she would have worn her warm jammies that night. The whispered voices below were so quiet, that the little girl had to remain very still and concentrate to hear them. She knew she should be sleeping, but the tone in her mother’s voice scared her. It held something she had never heard from her mother before…fear.

  “It is time. We cannot wait any longer, Father.”

  Her grandfather’s stern voice rose slightly, “No, Alyiah. She is a Jackson. This is her life. Her heritage. It is her duty to fight against evil someday, and she must stay here so that we can raise her and train her in our ways.”

  “We don’t know that!” Now her mother’s voice rose in agitation. “The gift could pass her by, just like it did Leo.”

  “Your brother was not strong enough to handle it,” a gentle voice broke in. “You know that, Alyiah. He is living the life that is meant for him, just like your daughter will live the one that has been chosen for her.”

  “Well, until we know what the Goddess will require of her, she will be placed somewhere safe, where no one knows who she is,” Alyiah insisted, before her tone softened. “I don’t want to send her away, Mama. I don’t want to live a life without my baby. But it needs to be done. I cannot do my job when I am worried about whether or not someone will find out about her. What if the rogues realize there is a new generation of Jacksons? They will come for her. You know that! I already live in fear whenever I leave at night, afraid that when I come back, she will be gone. I can’t let anything happen to her, Mama. I won’t.”

  There was silence, and then her grandfather spoke gruffly, “I will find a place for her to go.”

  “I’ve already found one,” her mother interrupted. “She leaves tonight.”

  “Tonight? But, that is too soon,” her grandmother protested. “It doesn’t give me the chance to say a proper goodbye. There are things I need to do. Preparations that need to be made so that she remains safe.”

  “You have four hours. I am taking her away from here at midnight.”

  “Where is she going?” her grandfather demanded. “Who will be guarding her?”

  “It is best that you don’t know,” her mother told them quietly.

  Tears filled the child’s eyes, and she reached up to quickly brush them away. She knew they were talking about her. They were sending her away. She didn’t understand why, and did not want to go.

  Blocking out the rest of what was being said, she stood and rushed back to her room. Crawling into bed, she pulled the covers up over her head and cried. “I will not go,” she vowed. “I won’t leave you, Mommy. I won’t!” She was exhausted, and soon fell asleep, her tears drying on her cheeks.

  Loud voices woke her just an hour later, and the acrid smell of smoke was in the air. She started to cough as it seeped into her nose and mouth, filling her lungs and making her gag. She heard her mommy screaming her name, but was too scared to move. She lay frozen in terror, her eyes growing wide as flames reached in from outside the window and engulfed the curtains, before quickly climbing over and up the wall. “Mommy! Mommy!”

  My eyes flew open, and I reached up to clutch at my throat as I gasped for breath. I struggled to make sense of what was happening as my gaze flew wildly around the room, searching for flames and destruction. My chest heaved, my heart pounding wildly, and I fought the urge to cry out for help. It took a few moments for me to realize that I was in my bedroom, with the pale blue walls and white curtains with blue trim. Not the white walls and pink curtains in my dream. There was no fire, no smoke preventing me from breathing. It was just a dream. A horrible nightmare that I had endured every night for the past week. One that had me waking every morning feeling as if I was about to be burned alive by bright yellow, orange, and red flames.

  There was a quick knock on my door, and then it was flung open and my older sister, Chandler, stalked in. Her dark green eyes were filled with concern. “It happened again, didn’t it?”

  Nodding slowly, I laid my head back down on the pillow and held my covers up to my chin, hoping to hide how shaken up I was. My whole body trembled in fear, and I didn’t understand why. I had no idea who the little girl in my nightmare was. Not once did I ever have a clear view of the child’s face. I probably wouldn’t know who she was even if I did. It was just a dream…but if that was true, then why did it feel so real?

  Chandler sat down on the bed beside me, reaching out to gently brush a stray piece of dark brown hair away from my sweaty brow. “Maybe your dreams are trying to tell you something,” she whispered. “Maybe you should listen to them.”

  “I don’t want to listen. I just want them to go away,” I rasped, shuddering when I remembered how hard it had been to breathe. “It was so real, Chandler. There were flames everywhere, but I couldn’t move. I thought I was going to die.”

  Chandler leaned forward and gave me a hug, squeezing tightly before letting go. Tugging gently on my hair, she stood, her gaze fierce as she told me, “I would never let that happen, Blayke. You know that.”

  A small smile spread across my lips as I looked at my sister. We were nothing alike. She is small and petite, where I am tall and curvy. She has blonde curls that frame her face, compared to my dark brunette locks. Her eyes are a deep, emerald green, where mine are
green, but with a rim of blue around them. I have always thought mine were strange, but my mom says they are unique. Chandler likes books, and learning anything and everything she can. I prefer dance and cheerleading, although I do like to read for fun sometimes. We could not be more different, but we are the best of friends. I don’t know what I would do without her.

  “Thanks, Sis,” I said, sighing as I flipped my dark blue comforter off me and sat up. I needed to get ready for school. As much as I wanted to stay in bed, I knew if I tried to my mother would soon come up to my room, wondering what was wrong. No one knew about my dreams except Chandler, and that was the way I was going to keep it. At least until I could figure out what they were about and why they kept coming back.

  Chandler grinned, her eyes dancing with laughter as she flipped her hair over one shoulder. “Come on, Blayke. Get ready and I’ll take you to school. I need to go in early today to work on my history project.”

  I watched as she left, thinking how lucky I was to have her as a sister. She was two years older than me, a senior in high school, and I dreaded the thought of her leaving for college next year.

  Groaning when the annoying sound of my alarm filled the air, I reached over and shut it off, wishing I could close my eyes again and forget about the long day ahead. Just when I was about to crawl back under my warm covers, Chandler peeked her head back into my room. “Bathroom’s yours!”

  Grabbing my pillow, I threw it at her, laughing when she slammed the door shut just before it reached her. Sighing, I looked at my pillow that was now lying on the floor, before rising and going to my dresser. After picking out my clothes, it didn’t take long to get dressed for practice that morning, and then pack my cheerleading uniform that I would wear during the day because we had a game that night. A quick trip to the bathroom to brush my teeth and grab my makeup, and I was ready.

  “Blayke,” my mother hollered up the stairs, “you better hurry. You’re going to be late for cheer practice!”

  Shoving my feet into a pair of hot pink tennis shoes, I slung my book bag over my shoulder, quickly followed by the long strap of my duffle bag. After one last glance at the clock, I turned and ran out of my room, down the stairs, and out the front door. I didn’t even bother to stop in the kitchen for breakfast first. Mom was right. I was already ten minutes late. Coach White was not going to be happy. Every girl on my squad had been tardy at least once this week, except for me. It figured that I would mess up and get there late on Friday. Normally we didn’t have practice on game days, but according to the coach, we needed it. It was the truth. We couldn’t seem to do anything in sync lately. Not only that, but our stunts sucked. Brittany and Chloe accidently dropped Lacey at the last game, causing a badly sprained wrist, and the squad to be down a cheerleader for the rest of the season. At least we only had two games left.

  “Blayke.” I stopped beside my sister’s car, turning to look back at the house. My parents stood on the front porch, Dad’s arm around Mom’s waist, as he held her close to his side. “Blayke,” he said again, then seemed to hesitate. There was a look in his eyes, one that I had never seen before. It was almost as if he wanted to tell me something, but was afraid to.

  “Yes?” I prompted, in a hurry to get to practice.

  “Is everything okay?” he finally asked, letting go of Mom to take a step closer to me.

  Frowning, I gripped the strap of my bag tighter. What was going on? Could they have somehow found out about my dreams? Did Chandler tell them? No, she wouldn’t have done that. “Of course,” I said, with a reassuring smile. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  When he took another step forward, and it looked like he was going to start down the stairs, Mom reached out and grabbed his arm. “Daniel, stop.”

  Dad stiffened, his gaze going from my mom back to me. “I just want to make sure…”

  “Have a good day at school, girls,” my mother interrupted, giving us both a tight smile.

  Looking back and forth between the two of them in confusion, I began to suspect that something was not right, but I pushed the feeling aside as I opened the door of the Cavalier. “Remember, it’s a home game tonight. I have dinner with the football players and other cheerleaders after school, so I won’t be home until after the game is over.”

  “Do you need a lift?”

  Shaking my head, I opened the car door and threw my bags in the back seat, before climbing in the front. “No, I’ll grab a ride from someone else,” I told them, slamming the door shut and putting on my seatbelt. Chandler didn’t bother waiting to see if I was ready before she pulled out of the driveway and turned toward school. Laying my head back against the seat, I shut my eyes and sighed. I was so tired. We lived in the country, about fifteen minutes from school, and I was going to take full advantage of it.

  Just as I slipped off to sleep, I heard Chandler say quietly, “I promise to protect you, Blayke, no matter what.”

  I made it through practice that morning, along with most of the day, before my exhaustion caught up with me. Fifth period was a free one, and I should have spent it studying. However, since I didn’t have any homework, I decided I was going to do what several other kids in that class did. Making my way to the very back of the room, I chose a seat in the corner. Opening my math book, I propped it up in front of me in an attempt to try and hide what I was doing from the teacher. Folding my arms, I placed them on top of the desk, and then lowered my head to let my cheek drop to them. I stared out the window for a moment before my eyes slowly began to drift shut. I had to get some sleep, or there was no way I would last until after the game that night. I was counting on the fact that I was so tired that I couldn’t force my eyes to stay open, to keep my nightmares at bay. I was wrong.

  The dream came fast, and was almost the same as the one before, only this time there was one small difference. It started with the child making her way down the hall and sitting on the very top step, clasping the railing so tightly in her small hands that her knuckles turned white. The conversation between the woman, Alyiah, and her parents seemed to fly by quickly, probably because I had already heard it so many times. Soon the girl was rising from her hiding place on the landing to make her way back to her bedroom. That was where the dream changed from all of the other times. When she turned to run to her room, I managed to catch a glimpse of her small features. Denial hit me hard, and I struggled with the knowledge that I knew who she was. I had seen that face before many times. It couldn’t be!

  The child crawled into bed, tears staining her small cheeks, and soon she was falling asleep. Just as smoke started to enter the room, there was a loud, blaring noise that yanked me out of the dream and back to reality. Letting out a gasp of surprise, I couldn’t stop my arm from jerking out and hitting the book on my desk, knocking it to the floor. I glanced around quickly in embarrassment to see if anyone had noticed, blushing when my eyes met the stare of one of the Varsity football players. He was a junior, with blond hair, blue eyes, and deep dimples that appeared in both cheeks when he grinned. A boy I had been watching since the year before when I became a freshman. He’d been dating someone at the time, one of the other cheerleaders, but he wasn’t now. Lately I had noticed him glancing my way more and more often. When he raised his eyebrows, then picked up my book and handed it to me without a word before gathering his own books and leaving the room, I figured that was probably going to stop now.

  “Are you okay?”

  Turning to my friend Katie, I smiled and shrugged. “I’m fine. It was just a dream.” But that was a lie. I was not fine. Far from it. And it didn’t feel like just a dream. I wasn’t ready to admit what I thought it was, but I was starting to suspect that I was going to need to have a talk with my parents soon.

  “Well,” Katie said, slipping her book bag over one shoulder and sliding her arm through mine, “you certainly managed to get Noah’s attention this time.”

  A short burst of laughter left my lips, and I shook my head as we walked toward the door. “His, along wit
h half the class. It definitely wasn’t my best moment.”

  When Katie giggled, and then changed the subject to the game that night, I halfway listened to her as I began to scan the hallway for my sister. I really wanted to tell Chandler about what I saw this time. I was still trying to come to terms with who the girl in my dream was, and I needed someone to talk to.

  It wasn’t until after school that I was able to track my sister down. She was just getting into her car, her phone to her ear. Yelling her name, I ran across the parking lot, but I was too late. She was already gone before I could get there. Sliding my cell phone out of my pocket, I quickly dialed her number. Just before I hit send, I heard someone coming up behind me. “Come on, Blayke! Let’s go eat!”

  Sighing, I put my phone away and turned toward Chloe. Talking to Chandler was going to have to wait.

  Dinner after school was at the local pizza parlor, A Slice of Heaven. Not only was it the best place in town to eat, it was also one of the only places. Our town was so small, that you could count the restaurants on one hand; a diner, a bakery, two fast food places, and A Slice of Heaven. If you wanted anything else, you had to go an hour away to the nearest city. I couldn’t wait until I turned sixteen so that I wasn’t stuck here all of the time. Just three more months, and not only would I have my license, but I would have a car too. My parents were already looking for one for me.

  “I am so glad it’s Friday,” Brittany groused as she sat down beside me, dropping her purse on the floor by her chair. Flipping her light blonde hair over her shoulder, she went on, “I have a date tomorrow that I have been waiting for all week.”

  “Oh yeah?” I honestly didn’t really care, but with Brittany things always went bad unless you acted like you did. I wouldn’t necessarily classify us as friends, but I tried to do whatever I could to stay off her list of enemies. That was a place that nobody wanted to be.

  Brittany smiled, her pale green eyes dancing with excitement. “Logan and I are going to see a new movie that just came out. The werewolf one. You should find someone to bring and come with.” She paused, leaning in closer to whisper loudly, “Oh, wait. You aren’t allowed to date yet, are you?” The gleam in her eyes told me that she knew damn well I was not allowed to date yet. She just wanted to rub it in. “Maybe I can get Chloe to go with us instead. I bet Noah would come with her.”