Turned at Dark: A Bonus Shadow Falls Short Story

By C. C. Hunter

Turned at Dark: A Bonus Shadow Falls Short Story

Independent and strong-willed Della Tsang did not believe in ghosts, until she sees her dead cousin in a dark alley. She did not believe in vampires, until she turns into one. Should she follow her vampire cousin's lead and walk away from everything she knows, or join Shadow Falls, a camp for special teens?

This short story from C.C. Hunter gives readers a look into Della's history—a must-read for Shadow Falls fans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Mar 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781429996471

C. C. Hunter

C.C. Hunter is the author of the young adult fantasy series Shadow Falls, including the books Born at Midnight and Awake at Dawn. She grew up in Alabama, where she caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and regularly rescued potential princes, in the form of Alabama bullfrogs, from her brothers. Today, she's still fascinated with lightning bugs, mostly wears shoes, but has turned her focus to rescuing mammals. She now lives in Texas with her four rescued cats, one dog, and a prince of a husband, who for the record, is so not a frog. When she's not writing, she's reading, spending time with her family, or shooting things--with a camera, not a gun. C.C. Hunter is a pseudonym. Her real name is Christie Craig and she also writes humorous romantic suspense romance novels.

Book preview

Sixteen-year-old Della Tsang had never seen a ghost until she saw her dead cousin zip across the street and duck into the alley. If it hadn’t been for the streetlight spitting out its spray of wattage overhead, she might have missed him.

And if it hadn’t been for a scar that ran along his chin, she might have thought it was just someone who looked like Chan. Then again, it was after midnight. But she had spotted the scar. A scar she’d sort of given him when they’d been six, jumping on the trampoline and he’d collided with her head.

Hardheaded Della had been her family nickname after that. Sometimes Della wondered if she’d really been obstinate then, or if the name had just been another thing for her to live up to. Being of Asian descent, there were high expectations, sometimes too high. But because she and her sister were half-white, her father insisted they work twice as hard to prove that their parents’ love hadn’t tainted the family tree.

A pair of headlights moving down the road pulled Della’s attention from the alley where Chan had disappeared. Not that she completely believed it was Chan. Did she?

The car drew nearer, and thinking it was Lee to pick her up, Della stepped off her best friend Lisa’s front porch, leaving the sound of the party still going on behind her.

At least twice a month, Della and Lee tried to sneak away so they could be together for an entire night. She knew her parents would freak if they knew she and Lee were sleeping together. It wouldn’t even matter that they were practically engaged. But at least Lee had gotten a stamp of approval from her father. Luckily, she agreed with him, too. Not that she agreed with her father on everything. However, Lee was everything Della wanted in a boyfriend—hot, popular, smart, and thankfully for her father’s sake, Asian. It didn’t even bother her that Lee wasn’t totally into the party scene.

She gave the alley one last look. It couldn’t have been Chan. She’d attended his funeral less than a year ago—had seen his casket being lowered into the ground. She remembered she hadn’t cried. Her father had insisted she not. She wondered if her father would be disappointed if he knew that very night, while alone in bed, she had cried her eyes out.

When the car drove closer, Della realized she’d been wrong. It wasn’t Lee. She watched as the car moved down the street, past the alley. She stood there, staring, suddenly feeling alone in the dark, when her phone beeped with an incoming text.

Pulling it out, she read the message. Parents still up. Will b late.

Frowning, she re-pocketed her phone and her gaze shifted back to the alley. What would it hurt to just…go check? To prove that ghosts didn’t exist.

Moving slowly in the shadows, she neared the alley. The cold of the January night seeped through her leather jacket and the soft tap-tapping of her footsteps seemed loud. Maybe too loud. No sooner had she cut the corner than she heard yelling. She stopped short. Her breath caught at the sight of the fight—or out-and-out war—taking place. The sound of fist hitting flesh filled the cold darkness and she saw bodies being tossed up in the air like rag dolls.

Della might not have been familiar with this darker side of life, but she immediately knew what she’d stumbled on. A gang war. Her heart jumped into her throat. She had to get out of here and fast.

She stepped back, but the heel of her shoe twisted and she lost her footing. Her leg shot up in the air and she went down with a loud thud.

Slamming butt first, her hands went back to catch herself. She felt a sharp pain in her palm, no doubt from a piece of glass from a broken beer bottle a few inches away. Wincing, she muttered, Shi… The one-word curse hadn’t yet left her lips when the dead silence suddenly drew her attention upward. The fighting had stopped and at least six guys, young, about her age, starting moving toward her. Moving oddly, as if… Their posture reminded her of a pack of animals coming to check out their prey.

Della’s focus shifted from the group’s strange body movements to their eyes. Her heart jolted when

Reviews for Turned at Dark

[Chelsea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book does a good job of introducing Della Tsang. I have read the Shadow Falls Series before but this book is a nice introduction to the world and I am glad I read it.

This is Shadow Falls Book #0.5
Shadow Falls Book #01 is Born at Midnight

Della Tsang is also the main character in the spin-off series Shadow Falls: After Dark
Shadow Falls: After Dark Book #01 is Reborn

[makereta1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

an awesome book!
its that well written I can almost picture this story being reality through my eyes ?

[Heather demouey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely love this series!!! I LOVE all of C.C Hunter's book series's

[beammey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read any of the Shadow Falls series yet because I want to read them in chronological order, but if they're all like this I think I'll like them very much. The story was a good introduction, I think. You got a taste of the authors style and word building and such. It was an easy and quick read and I liked it. 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[payday1999-430350 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a short story telling about how Della turned into a vampire. I really like Della in the other books but I just wasn't feeling it for this story, it was just meh to me. Maybe I was expecting it to be more than it was but that is just how i felt.

[wearylibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short story is all about Della and how she became a vampire. Still loving this author.

[lrhubble · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Contemporary, Paranormal, Young AdultTexasDella Tsang is strong-willed and independent and she most certainly didn’t believe in ghosts. At least she didn’t until she sees her dead cousin in a dark alley. Della also didn’t believe in vampires until she became one. Now she has to decide if she should follow her cousin and leave everything she knows or go to Shadow Falls a camp for special teens. This is great short story that adds to the overall story plot of the Shadow Falls series. It is short and sweet and gives readers some history on Della and helps readers understand her better. It manages to cover a great deal of story in a very short amount of pages. While it isn’t necessary to read to understand the world of Shadow Falls it helps readers to understand where Della is coming from and how her past shapes her life now. It fits well with the other books.

[annesanse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was cool to read from Della's perspective and kinda get a feel for what the vamps at Shadow Falls go through. We already knew a lot of Della's background, but it was still awesome. And we got to see the caring side of Chan which we don't see at all in the other novels.

[guiltypleasures_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Turned at Dark is a short pre-quel to the upcoming Born at Midnight. It is a freebie for Kindle and Nook right now. Even though it is Young Adult, I can't wait for Born at Midnight. C.C. Hunter also writes contemporary romance as Christie Craig and I absolutely love all of her books!!

[pacey1927 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have had the pleasure of already reading "Born at Midnight" so this prequel was a little out of sequence for me. I believe we have already read a condensed version of "Turned At Dark" in "Born at Midnight" but still this was an enjoyable or more detailed version. I like Della a lot and I really liked getting another peek into her world. "Born at Midnight" is a favorite already. If you are a fan of other paranormal YA novels, go ahead and take a peek at this short story and then read "Born At Midnight" when it releases soon!

[shelleyjax · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Free from Kobobooks.comTurned at Dark is a novella in the Shadow Falls Series for which I am definitely going to read. It follows 16 year old Della Tsang who has never seen a ghost until the night she sees her dead cousin Chan zipping across the street and ducking into an alley. Chan has been dead for less than a year, or so she thought. Della actually attended his funeral. Della is hardhead and refuses to believe what is right in front of her with a world full of Vampires, Shape-shifters, Fae, and Werewolves. Della, as it turns out, is a carrier of a virus that transforms her into a vampire. By touching Chan with her open cut, the virus spreads rapidly throughout her body like it did to Chan. The transformation into a vampire takes 4 days and which point she can no longer drink or eat normally.In the end, Della has to make a difficult choice about remaining with her human family and boyfriend, or going to Shadow Falls summer camp like other supernaturals where she can find answers about her new found existence.

[girlaboutbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was thrilled when I found out that C.C. Hunter’s Born At Midnight, one of my anticipated reads for this year, has a prequel and it's available up on the publisher’s site and we can all read it for free! So I went there in a heartbeat and read it.Turned At Dark is a quick-read yet it includes ideas and glimpses on what to expect on Born At Midnight. I really enjoyed Della as a character and I also like the fact that she was actually a human first. I thought the way she struggle and deal with her transformation at the same time was really vivid and tangible in a way. The way the story was presented, the verbiage and the characterization was all great, which also gives us a foretaste of the author’s writing.Overall, Turned At Dark is a fantastic way to warn-up the fervently awaiting fans (that includes me!) of Born At Midnight. I’m giving this 4 out of 5 stars because I simply enjoyed reading it!