Dreams, Spells, and Moonlit Tales (The Parker Harris Series Book #2

By Amy McClung

This is Book #2 of The Parker Harris Series. (Cascades of Moonlight Book #1) Parker Harris desires a normal life, but it's just not in the cards for her. Parker is a werewolf. She has been for three years now. It’s the summer after she graduated high school and she is preparing for college. If only grades and college classes were her only worries. Parker and Jackie are trying to mend their fractured friendship from her betrayal. Jackie and Mitchell are working on their relationship, fighting jealousy and trust issues of their own. Quinn, a vampire, is the love of Parker’s life. He begins to look into his family’s past and what he finds is not pretty. In fact, it could mean the end for his relationship with Parker. A mistake from Parker's past is revealed and proves to be more enormous than she realized. Dreams—Parker is having dreams and visions of Will. She can’t decipher real from illusion it seems. Spells—Charisma, a new friend to the group, brings magic into the fold. Moonlit Tales—it seems that the full moon is not only a time for Parker to feel the pain of shifting. It’s also a time for unexplained occurrences and secrets being revealed. Can Parker and Quinn's love survive the obstacles they encounter? Is Jackie trustworthy? Are Parker’s feelings for Mitchell becoming too strong for her to ignore? Dreams, Spells, and Moonlit Tales summarize the events of Parker's life in this book

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amy McClung
• Release date: Apr 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301663088

Amy McClung

Amy K. McClung was born in Nashville, TN. She is the second oldest of four girls and occasionally suffers from middle child syndrome. She met the love of her life online in August of 2004, on his birthday of all days, and married him in September 2005. Currently they have no human children only the room full of colourful robots that transform into vehicles and the large headed Pop Funko’s who represent their favourite characters. Collecting movies, shotglasses, Pop Funkos, and dust bunnies are some of her favourite pastimes. She began writing in September of 2011 and independently published her first YA novel called Cascades of Moonlight, Book one of the Parker Harris Series the following May. Her first book was a means of therapy for her as it enabled her to escape reality for a while during a difficult transition in her life.

Book preview

Chapter One

Today is the start of my new life. Last month, I graduated from high school. This month I am moving away from home and out on my own. This is in preparation for furthering my education, at Boise State College, just a mere eighty five miles from Cascade, Idaho, my hometown. It was a challenge talking my parents into letting me live off campus. It was even more challenging to convince them to let me have a roommate that was male. The final compromise, that tipped the scale, was that my best girlfriend, Jackie, would be living there as well. In fact, I ended up having three roommates total, Jackie, Mitchell and Quinn.

Quinn lived in the house several years ago when he was attending college for a while. It's crazy to think that he went to college so many years ago, yet just graduated high school a month ago. Oh the joys of being a vampire, I guess.

The house is two stories, with grey siding, four bedrooms and a pool in the backyard. The living room has a stone fireplace, hardwood floors, and French doors leading to the backyard. There is an intimate dining room with a large picture window that offers a beautiful view of the woods behind the house. The kitchen has a bay window and is quite large, which is great for me, because I love to cook.

There is a door between the living room and kitchen. My assumption is it leads to a basement, or possibly an attic, but I haven't opened it. Being a bit cowardly, when it comes to horror movies, basements and attics are not my favorite places. The staircase, to go up to the bedrooms, is curved and made of cedar which gives the room a nice natural aroma. Two of the bedrooms have balconies. One is a view of the front yard and the other is a view of the backyard, overlooking the pool. The backyard has a pool with a small table, covered by an umbrella, beside it. On the other side of the yard, there is a courtyard with a stone tile floor and a picnic table next to a small Koi pond.

My dad whistled when he first saw the place and was curious as to how my boyfriend, who is only eighteen, could afford such a lavish home. Quinn informed him that it was left to him by a rich uncle and it was just lucky that it happened to be close to the college we all were going to attend this year. My father's left eyebrow inclined curiously at this story, showing that he was a bit skeptical as to the validity. It often piqued my curiosity as well, how he has money all the time, but whenever I asked, he just told me he could be very persuasive.

Quinn, my dad and I began unloading the car and I picked up a box that said 'Living Room' in black marker. With my backside, I pushed the front door open and immediately the box flew out of my hands. As I was spun around in a circle, and lifted off my feet, I let out a yelp. The room was spinning so fast, I couldn’t focus on what had grabbed hold of me. In seconds, I was dropped to the couch where my eyes met with a pair of big brown eyes and a goofy grin that belonged to Mitchell, or Fangs as I like to call him.

Fangs, you big doofus, my dad is right outside! It was an attempt to scold him, but I can hardly stay mad at him. I broke out in laughter instead and punched his arm in jest. Jackie was standing at the bottom of the stairs shaking her head at us. Quinn had come barreling through the door, because he heard me scream, and he looked a bit annoyed to see the reason for the commotion.

Jackie and I have been best friends since, well, forever really. Our parents are best friends so we grew up together like sisters. Jackie and Mitchell have been in a relationship for almost three years now and they are what I consider to be my two best friends. Quinn and I have been dating for eight months and are completely in love with each other. Oh yeah, and just a little inconsequential fact about us as a group, Jackie and I are werewolves and Mitchell and Quinn are vampires.

It has been a rough few months for the four of us. Quinn was kidnapped by his former best friend, slash first love, slash vampire, slash sire Lizzy, who brainwashed Jackie into turning against the three of us by convincing her that Mitchell and I were having an affair behind her back. Lizzy used her brother Will, who happens to be a werewolf, actually the werewolf who changed Jackie and me, to torture all of us, including Quinn. Will was in love with me and tried to get Quinn out of the picture until he realized that was impossible, so Will fell for Jackie instead. Together, they threw Mitchell in a cave and left him to slowly bleed and starve to death with a stake in his chest.

While searching for Quinn, I rescued Mitchell and we developed feelings for each other. During that time, we shared a kiss that we immediately regretted, well me more than him at first. Once I got Quinn back, the story of the kiss almost tore us apart. Then my dad was almost brutally murdered and we were able to work through the issues we had and find our way back to each other. Now, Mitchell and I are the best of friends, Jackie and I are working on rebuilding our friendship and Quinn and I are enjoying our relationship instead of trying to pick it apart with jealousy or mistrust. Trying is the operative word; there are still times when the jealousy shows through.

Whew, told you it was a rough few months, and that is just the condensed version of it. Lizzy is dead now and Will…well, no one knows for certain if he is dead or alive. The night that my dad was attacked, Quinn spent the night with me and I woke up after a nightmare and saw Will staring at me through my window. It was a brief sighting, I'm not sure if I was still asleep and it was a nightmare or if it was just something I imagined. It's been six months now and I haven’t seen him since that night, except in what were obvious nightmares.

When I saw him, I sat up and screamed which woke Quinn up. He searched outside for hours to see if he could find anything, any sign that he had been there. The two of us came to the conclusion that it was just my imagination running wild. I'm not sure I'm totally convinced of that because I get strange calls, periodically, where no one answers. No, I haven’t told him, and I know I should, but he would just worry so I keep it to myself.

Quinn's eyes were a little greener at the moment, as you could see the jealousy stirring in him, with me sitting on Mitchell's lap. The room felt like it dropped in temperature, from the look we were getting, so I scrambled up and went to gather the box that I had dropped in the commotion. Once I packed the box back up, in order to get things calm again, I threw my arms around Quinn's neck and jumped up on him. He made an oomph sound as I wrapped my legs around his waist making him hold me up. Planting a big kiss on him seemed to do the trick because he embraced me and let out a slight chuckle against my lips. The next noise broke us apart with extreme awkwardness, my dad clearing his throat.

He dropped me to the floor, like a hotcake, and apologized to my father, then apologized to me as he reached to help me up. My face was probably blood red. In fact, I know it was from seeing it in the mirror by the door. Dad, look…

His hand came up as he interrupted me, Stop, Princess. I'm not naïve, I had a girlfriend at your age. I trust you and I trust Quinn to be responsible.

At the word responsible, I knew what he was referring to, I flinched with even more embarrassment. He continued by saying, This young man has proven himself more than once, it's obvious that he cares for you. If I didn’t trust him, you wouldn't be living here. Your mother and I are smarter than you give us credit for sometimes. I appreciate your whole charade of getting four bedrooms, but I'm not ignorant enough to believe that you're going to all sleep in separate rooms every night. The fact is, you're an adult now and you can make your own decisions.

A guilty smile came over my face and I gave my dad a hug. You're the best. Thanks for helping us with everything today. As he was turning to leave, he reached his hand out to Quinn. They exchanged a firm handshake and Quinn nodded at him as he turned to leave.

He turned back around and said, And, Princess, don't forget our stipulation for you living here. My parents had said that I could live here as long as I call them at least twice a week to check in. Also, they request that Quinn and I come to dinner at least once a month. It was pretty easy to agree to those terms.

Yes, Dad, I'll call you in a couple of days. He smiled and waved goodbye to everyone.

Yikes, that was just a little awkward! Quinn exclaimed once we made sure my dad had driven off.

You think that was bad, wait until they start grilling us next time we have dinner with them, not looking forward to that, I said. We all burst out laughing and started gathering up boxes and moving them to various rooms.

Chapter Two

Even though we did plan on sharing rooms, we all claimed a separate bedroom to keep our things in and to have some personal space when needed. We each went to work on our own spaces getting things organized. My movie collection is quite large so at home I kept it in my closet; I was going to have to get Quinn's help to set that arrangement up again by building me some shelves. As I was unpacking clothes, and organizing them in drawers, I heard the door to my room open. I turned around and Quinn was standing there.

Hey baby, what's up? I said, with a grin from ear to ear, as I walked over and put my arms around his waist. He smiled and pulled away, took my hand in his, led me out of the room and down the stairs.

I have a surprise for you. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a scarf and tied it around my eyes.

What the heck? My words were interrupted when I felt his cool lips against mine. My arms encircle his neck as I pull him closer, but he pushed me back from him and spun me around to lead me towards what seemed like the living room or kitchen from the direction he was taking me.

All I could see was the scarf over my eyes, as he led the way. Then I felt him start to untie it and, as he did so, he said, This is something that I built just for you. Up until now, I've kept this room locked so you'll be the first to see it. No one else even knows about it. My stomach was filled with butterflies and I was quite eager to see the surprise. He was aware of my growing impatience and he relished it, continuing to keep the scarf over my eyes. The smell of cedar was all around me and I tried to reach out and feel the walls, but he stopped my hands.

Come on, let me see! I jumped up and down and I could tell he was taking too much pleasure in my curiosity. He dropped the scarf and the room was dark.

I could hear the amusement in his tone as he said, Reach to your left and switch on the light. With a gigantic smile on my face, I eagerly turned and flipped the switch. When the lights came on, my hands flew to my mouth in astonishment. The room was larger than I initially thought. There were just a few small windows on one side of the room, but they had been blacked out. The walls were filled with bookshelves and DVD's—my DVD's. At the front, and center of the room, was a giant screen and there were four leather movie seats with cup-holders.

Once I was able to find my voice again, I said, You…you built this for me? Why?

He shrugged his shoulder, I was bored I guess. Playfully, I smacked his shoulder and he laughed. He moved his hand up to my face and his thumb stroked my cheek as he said, "I built this for you because of how much you love movies and because I love you and wanted to see you happy. You are happy, right?"

Instead of answering, like a normal person would, I ran around the room hooting and hollering and within seconds Mitchell and Jackie both were at the door to see what was going on. They were in awe when they laid eyes on the room. After finishing my run around the room, I ran and jumped on Quinn knocking him to the floor as he laughed, I love you so freaking much; no one has ever done anything this amazing for me. You are awesomesauce! As I was saying this, I was planting kisses all over his face.

Jackie spoke up first, Geez, Parker, we know you're excited, but get a room already. She was being sarcastic and gave me a grin when I looked up at her. We were laughing and I stood up and helped Quinn off the ground.

This is amazing Quinn, I can't believe you built this all on your own, man. You could've said something, I'd have loved to help, Mitchell said. Jackie had stepped into the room and was perusing the shelves. She tried out one of the chairs and I heard her sigh as she reclined the seat and relaxed.

When I turned to say something to Quinn, I noticed he and Mitchell had left the room. A few minutes later, he was standing with a bucket of popcorn and Mitchell was holding drinks for all of us. He held up the bucket and said, What do you say we take a break from unpacking and catch a movie?

The four of us proceeded to take our places and put in a movie. As we were watching the screen, I looked at Quinn and his face was full of amusement. He turned and met my eyes, reached out and entwined my fingers with his. I turned to look at Jackie and she and Mitchell were stealing a kiss. This is what life for college kids should be like, independence, fun with friends, and no worries. Over the past few years of my life, I have come to realize that these moments are the ones I must cherish the most because these normal times are few and far between.

After the incident with Lizzy and Will in the woods, we spent the next few months trying our best to regain our relationships. The only one that flourished, instead of being damaged, was the friendship between Mitchell and me. He was my rock when everything was going wrong and, while trying to work things back to a good place with Jackie and Quinn, he was still my rock. He would come by and see me at night and we would sit and talk for hours. Most nights neither of us could sleep due to nightmares.

My nights were overrun with nightmares of Will torturing me, many times they seemed so real it was like he was alive. The fact that he 'died' once before, and came back, constantly kept me attune to my surroundings, just in case. Mitchell's nightmares consisted of Jackie's betrayal, which is why he couldn’t talk to her about it, because she already beats herself up enough about that time and the last thing he wanted to do was cause her more suffering.

Jackie and I tried to get back to the friendship we had before, but it was more difficult than we imagined. Since she is a werewolf now too, we spend the full moon shifts together and I have been teaching her different aspects of living as a wolf. That helped us get back a little of what we had before, but we still have awkward moments which is something that was non-existent between us before Will came into our lives. Every now and then, I see her annoyance, if Mitchell and I are being too friendly with each other or, if he is showing me more attention than her. She feels bad about it too, I know that she cares about me and wants things back to normal as much as I do. Unfortunately, I think the road back to our friendship is going to be a long, and slow paced, one due to everything that has happened.

Quinn and I, well we are better than ever. There are moments when I see his discomfort at my relationship with Mitchell, but mostly he has been very gracious about it. When he first asked me to move in with him, I freaked out a bit at the commitment that entailed, after all I am only eighteen. He is the one who mentioned it to my parents and you can imagine my surprise when they agreed to it…with rules of course. In classic Parker style, I threw a fit when he asked my parents before I had decided for myself, but then quickly grew fond of the idea when he mentioned we would have roommates. It's not that I wouldn’t love to be alone with him all the time, but living together alone feels like marriage and I feel too young for that just yet.

A loud guffaw from Mitchell brought me out of my thoughts and back to the movie. He is such a goofball. He caught me looking at him and stuck his tongue out at me as he crossed his eyes, I suppressed a giggle. My left hand felt pressure as Quinn squeezed it and whispered something in my ear. Of course I couldn’t hear it, because the movie was loud, but I'm sure it was super sweet. The feel of his breath against my neck and my ear was enough to distract me momentarily from the world around me. His mouth brushed against my earlobe and it made me shiver. When I turned to face him, he was only about an inch from my face and he ran his hand along my cheek and his lips gently touched mine. Again, I felt shivers all over.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I curled up next to him throughout the rest of the movie. Occasionally, my eyes drifted around the room still amazed at what he did for me. The fact that he built an entire movie room, practically a theater for me, was unbelievable. He is literally my own personal Prince Charming. His hand kept grazing my shoulder, his index finger was making circles against my skin and it was sending tingles into my fingertips. We have been together for eight months now, but he still manages to give me the tingles and makes each moment feel new between us.

When the movie ended, Mitchell and Jackie excused themselves and headed to bed. Quinn took my hand and led me upstairs as well. We went to his room because it was a bit more organized than mine. He opened the door and literally swept me off my feet and I shrieked, What are you doing?

His mouth turned up in a grin, he replied, I didn’t get to do this downstairs when we first got here, so I'm doing it now, carrying you over the threshold.

He is so old-fashioned and I couldn't help but laugh nervously, Um…isn’t that what you're supposed to do after you get married?

His shoulders lifted slightly with me in his arms, Eh, what's the difference; it's a new home for us, same thing basically. Then he turned and walked me into the room and spun me around for a moment and I laid my head back as I laughed.