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Authors: Cassandra Giovanni

Walking in the Shadows

 

 

Walking in the Shadows

 

 

Cassandra Giovanni

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © Cassandra Giovanni, 2012

All Rights Reserved

PUBLISHER’S
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Giovanni, Cassandra

Walking in the Shadows

ISBN:
978-1478118190

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012912435

1. Murder—Fiction. 2. Vampires—Fiction. 3. Mystery—Fiction. 4. Love—Fiction. 5. High school—Fiction. 6. Amherst, MA—Fiction. I. Title

 

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, events or locations are wholly coincidental.

Any unauthorized use of this document (i.e. scanning, uploading, reproduction) using the Internet or paper method is illegal and punishable by law. I appreciate your support and respect of my novel.

Cover Art: Gio Design Studios © 2012

 

Printed
in the United States of America

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To my husband for continuing to support me as we enter the new chapter of our lives, where I am a writer and he is my muse.

 

 

To my parents for reminding me that there was never a time when I wasn’t writing as a child and that this is who I am. I am a writer.

 

 

Special thanks
Ellen,
an amazing writer, mentor, and most of all
,
friend.

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

I
hadn’t always been like this;
a shadow person always on the edge of my lies. It was a matter of
circumstance more than anything—a
circumstance
that
I
avoided telling him. When I walked into the classroom I avoided his eye
s and shuffled to take a seat as far away from his livid glare as possible
.

“Good
m
orning
,
class
;
m
y name is Mr. K
nightley,”
h
e
greeted
.

I already knew
who he was
. He made me happy and undeniably flighty, so flighty that I had congratulated him on his acceptance of his dream job at the local high school. It was the high school
that I was
enrolled
in
as a
student
.
Now sitting in
his
class. 
I looked up into the eyes of the man
with whom
I was utterly in love and beseeched him to unde
rstand
. His aquamarine
eyes were dark with condemnation and fury
, yet his voice gave away none of those
emotions
as he continued
.
“Let’s start by going around the room and introducing ourselves. Say your name and one
thing about yourself that is o
f interest
,
as well as your favorite book,” h
e
instructed.  H
e swallowed and looked
away from me.
Now h
e nodded at the girl in the front row.

She smiled sugar sweet
,
and I swore I tasted bile in my throat
as she giggled
,
“Why don’t
you
begin
Mr. Knightley
?”


Well
,
you know my name. I just recently graduated
UMass
Amherst and
here I am
teaching for my first year
at Amherst
h
igh school
,” h
e answered
,
and
I could hear
the
anger in his
voice.
Despite the fact that
I was looking
at my notebook
I knew he was looking directly at me
.
“My favorite novel
is
The
Thirty Nine Steps
by John Buchanan
.

Almost every girl said their
favor
ite book was some novel from
The Crimson
Reign
saga
;
a craze I thought
would
never
end. I would not be one of them, for I had never picked up
one of those
books and now never could
—another matter of circumstance
. The girl i
n front of me turned with
a sn
arky
smile on her face.
“Your turn newbie.”

I looked up at h
im;
his eyes were distant because
he already knew all my
answers
. I opene
d my mouth to speak, but shut it.
I felt paralyzed
,
and I
felt I
looked like
a complete idiot
to the class
. I didn’t
car
e what they thought of me
, but what
he thought meant the world
,
and I
had no idea what he was thinking
.

“My n
ame is
Vera
. I
fear there is nothing of interest about me,
” I
replied
,
a
nd I
saw a faint smile
on
his lips
.
I could tell he was remember
ing when I had said that to him and
I continued,

Emma
by Jane Austen is my favorite novel.”

The smile quickly faded and his
acidic
eyes met mine agai
n.
I looked away in agony—
an agony I had not felt since the day my parents had been murdered.

Chapter 2

 

“You’re
acti
ng strange
Vera
. W
hat’s wrong?” m
y boss
Kirsten
asked.
I
had
priced a shirt
with an unusual amount of force
with the gun
.


Mhmm

What?”
I mumbled back.

“You’re
acting strange?”

“I had a bad day at school. I’
m sorry
Kirsten

you un
derstand
--
I don’t exactly fit in,

I fumbled
with the words.
I was fine with not fitting
in;
it was everything else about the day that was wrong.

“You grew up fa
st—
they’
re still growing up. I
t’s not necessarily a bad thing…y
ou have your head on straight.”

“I’m
not so sure about that,
” I replied as
I picked up the shirt and admired it.

“You
like it?”
Kirsten
asked
as she watched me smooth the shirt
with particular care
.

“Yeah, it
’s pretty.
” I
was
glad
the subject changed
.

“It’s yo
urs and these,” s
he said as she dug
through a pile of
shoes, “w
ill look great along with
your skinny jeans.”


Kirsten
, I can’t take this fr
om you. . .”

“I can spoil you as much as I want. Your parents woul
d want me to because they can’t,

s
he replied
,
and I took them
,
knowing there was
no fighting her on the subject.
She leaned in and whispered,

So
. . .
it was Tad’s first day at his new job
,
right?
Have you talked to him yet?

“Not
really,
“I
answered
,
trying
hard to sound
unemotional so
that
I wouldn’t have to explain what I had done.


Did you see him today?”

I looked up
,
sure my eyes said it all.

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