Note: This chapter's been rewritten. New direction, pacing, and content. Recommend you read it again if you'd read it before October 7, 2021, or you might not understand the events of the next chapter.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Roanoke, Part 1
Most people don’t know this, but Forest Hills is one of the oldest towns in the US, dating back to way before the American Revolution… and that kind of history brings a lot of baggage with it, some that still haunt our town to this day. — Tweet from Raven_Eye.
“Vampire?” I couldn’t help rai
Hey gang, This is a rewritten chapter with a lot more content, different pacing, sentence structures, grammar, and direction. If you'd already read this prior to Oct. 7, 2021, I do recommend you read it again or you might not understand the next chapter. Thanks. Also, I would really appreciate it if you guys could write a review/comment for the novel. A rating too. Only if you're enjoying it so far of course. Thanks!
Note: Please read the previous chapter first as it's been mostly rewritten (Oct. 7, 21) or you might not understand what's happening in this chapter. Sorry, and thanks. CHAPTER SIXTEEN Roanoke, Part 2 “Are you okay?” Ollie asked in that gentle voice of his that just made me weak in the knees. I know, I really have become a cliché. But I guess that wasn’t such a bad thing. He had his arms around my waist while I leaned against my beetle’s front door and resisted the urge to kiss him again. We’d done that en
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Love, Ghosts, and Alcohol, Part 1 Never ever walk the streets of the town at night alone… but if you really, really have to then make sure to bring some protection. Garlic or sage will do because, apparently, evil spirits don’t like herbs. — Tweet from Raven_Eye. I was so nervous I imagined there was a little drummer boy beating his sticks against my heart. That’s how loud it had become. It didn’t help that I was running like my life depended on it, which it might if Ollie’s story really was true. “Jessica,” the sing-song voice called. Every time I heard that voice, I would get the shivers and that made it twice as hard to catch my breath. I raced down a street that ha
CHAPTER ONEHomecomingAnother missing person in our idyllic little town... shit, Forest Hills is going to hell. In more hopeful news, a new hottie just rolled into the suburbs and the ravens say she’s a feisty redhead from Orange County. — Tweet from the Raven_Eye.I don’t like stories that start with someone moving into a new town, which, ironically enough, is exactly what this was. But I guess it’s more of a homecoming for my dad. I was just the seventeen-year-old girl who was along for the ride because I wasn’t old enough to live on my own yet.“It’s going to be great, Jess, I promise,” dad said.“Sure, great, who wouldn’t want to restart senior year at a school full of strangers in a town like Forest Hills, last stop in the middle of nowhere,” I replied wryly.My dad had grown up in Forest Hills back in the nineties, which he claimed had be
CHAPTER TWOBoy Meets GirlHow many kids have to plunge down Suicide Cliff before #sheriffclueless blocks access to it...? #Governmentfails whenever we really need them... Forest Hills, the place kids go to die. — Tweet from Raven_Eye.No, I don’t know how I did it either. Call it an adrenaline rush or whatever — because I’m no track star — but it just happened. I literally leaped the distance between us and slid over to the edge to tackle him right before this gorgeous idiot jumped off the cliff. It was an honest-to-god miracle for both him and me.And no, we didn’t fall to the ground in a heap like I imagined we might. He was pretty damn sturdy. Still, I managed to drag him back a few inches so it counted as a win.I clung to him, my arms tightening around his waist, with words spilling from my mouth, “Are you crazy?!” and then, “Why would you do this?”Yes,
CHAPTER THREEStranger Things, Part 1There are way too many wolves outside town, and the ravens say there are even a few within. Whatever the case, don’t forget to lock your doors at night, people. We are not safe. That should be the town logo. LOL. — Tweet from the Raven_Eye.Dad was livid.“Do you know what time it is, Jessica?” he snapped at me.Jessica — he never called me that unless he was really, really angry.“I was about this close from calling the cops!” he continued.The lecture about how dangerous it was to be out at night alone would go on for a full five minutes, and I was honestly just glad none of the neighbors had come out to see why a forty-two-year-old man was raving like a lunatic on our front porch. I was also glad he didn’t notice Ollie earlier, either. That would have been a whole other rant.Still, seeing how pale dad’s freckle
CHAPTER FOUR Stranger Things, Part 2 Two days after my night in the woods, dad surprised me with a car. I know! A freaking car! And it had been such a struggle just getting him to pay for driving lessons last year. “Driving before you’re eighteen and responsible just leads to accidents, Jess, and I’m not comfortable with you driving in the city with all the other drunk drivers who populate California’s teenage driving population,” he’d once lectured. But now, mere days after we’d left Orange County behind, he actually got me a car... a car! Yeah, I still can’t believe it. “Okay, who are you and what did you do with my dad?” I joked, although I w
CHAPTER FIVE The New Girl, Part 1 The ravens come bearing news. A certain new redhead was spotted in Midtown today. And I hear her daddy dearest is every bit the #mchottie his daughter is. Forest Hills could certainly use middle-aged eligible bachelors. Too many of them leave. #foresthillsmysteries — Tweet from Raven_Eye. They say lightning never strikes twice, but it apparently does in Forest Hills. Ollie’s life was in danger once more, and there I was trying to rescue him again. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure how I did it, but I managed to reach him just before the truck did. “Hey!” I grabbed onto the sleeve of his arm and then pulled him back in desperation. I didn’t mean to twirl him around so he
CHAPTER SIXThe New Girl, Part 2I woke up on the wrong side of bed the next day thanks to yesterday’s weirdness, and I was still feeling like an extra on the Walking Dead by the time I parked my car in the parking lot of the place that filled me full of anxious vibes.Yep, you guessed it. Today was D-day, and first day as a senior at Forest Hills High.I glanced over at the rearview mirror to stare at my tired-looking face. “It’ll be okay, Jess. You’ll make a ton of friends, breeze through AP classes, and not make a fool of yourself on your first day in a new school.”No, I didn’t believe anything I’d just said, but it cost me nothing to try to feel upbeat about it all.&nb