Ultimate Blood

By Dawn Maxwell and Kaleigh Maxwell

All sixteen-year-old Alec Somers wants to do is catchwaves with his friends. Unfortunately for him, hisfathers job is taking the family from California toLouisianaa swampland rumored to be rampant withwiccans, vampires, and swamp creatures called wookies.As he bids farewell to his friends, Alec cannot help butwonder if the legends are really true. Already hauntednightly by vivid nightmares that seem to foretell ofdanger, Alec is about to find out.

Strange things begin happening as soon as Alec arrivesin the airport and is greeted by a creepy old man whowarns him to beware of the wookies. Despite theforeboding feelings that overwhelm him, Alec startsschool with a positive attitude. But after he meetsBuba, a quiet teenager who others call a wiccan, Alecsnightmares become more intense as he unintentionallybegins to uncover the dark secrets of the swamplands.As he slowly develops an insatiable thirst for blood,Alec soon realizes it is too late to turn back.

In this tale full of suspenseful twists and turns, a teenageboy caught in the middle of an ancient battle betweenvampires and wookies must somehow summon thecourage to stop an evil plan before vampires are wipedout from existence forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475944297

Dawn Maxwell

Dawn Maxwell is a mother of four beautiful children and a loving husband who understands her passion for writing suspenseful tales. Together her and Kaleigh create a novel full of suspense that will keep their fans looking forward to book two. Kaleigh Maxwell is Dawn’s oldest child. In 2011, some of her drawings and a story called “Terror on Hallows Eve” were chosen by her school for an art and writing contest. She is currently pursuing her dreams of becoming a Manga and Anime artist along with writing with her mom. Her goal in life is to have one of their novels turned into a movie and an Anime series.

Book preview

ULTIMATE

BLOOD

DAWN MAXWELL

AND

KALEIGH MAXWELL

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ULTIMATE BLOOD

Copyright © 2012 Dawn Maxwell and Kaleigh Maxwell.

Illustration's by Kaleigh Maxwell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4427-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4428-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4429-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914917

iUniverse rev. date: 12/08/2015

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We want to thank all the readers of Ultimate Blood who have passed the word to all their friends. Without your wonderful support through reviews, blogs, and the web, we couldn't have gotten this far. A billion thanks!

A special thank-you goes to our husband/father for his love, for his support of our novel, and especially for his understanding all the times we ate out. We couldn't have done it without you!

A heart warming thank- you goes to our three children/siblings for showing us your support and understanding when Mom and your sister were busy writing. We love you!

Thank-you, Mom/Grandma, for believing in our dream of writing.

We want to dedicate this book to our Papa, and Nana. We know you were looking down on us and smiling with every chapter we wrote. We love and miss you.

Once again, thank-you all for your marvelous support!

Your request for more will bring about book two.

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PROLOGUE

I feel life is very fragile, like a flower. Its little bud holds so much beauty before it opens. Then the day finally comes, and the petals open slowly, exposing themselves to this cold, harsh world. The only warmth they feel until the end is the sun's rays.

I like to think our lives are very much like this flower. We have our youth and beauty, which slowly fades away as we move into our elder years. Then silent fate sweeps us away. What if each and every one of us could prevent this fate from happening, cheat death, and stop aging and disease? Would you want to stay young and beautiful forever? Surely you would like to know if this is possible, and if so, what would it cost you?

Well, I'm about to tell you a story that may seem unreal at first. If you're thinking to yourself that I won't tell you everything, then you're wrong. We live in a crude, brutal world where humans thrive for the thrill of living on the edge, even if happy endings aren't always true. Sometimes, when I think back, it's still hard for me to believe. I will never think of myself as having died, yet I have been reborn in a much different way. Let's start at the beginning so you will know who I used to be.

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CHAPTER 1

It was a day I wish I could forget. Leaving sunny Laguna Beach, California, was just something I didn't want to deal with. It might have been okay if not for the dreams. I started having them a few weeks before the move. And a couple of days before we left, I had one of the worst ones. I remember it clearly.

After dozing off, I started dreaming of myself alone in the dark, humid woods. The only light came from the moon, shining brightly enough that the trees cast shadows. The shadows and moonlight made me feel bizarrely lonely. I continued deeper into the woods and soon noticed a soft but steady deep growling noise ahead of me behind some trees. Unable to make out the sound or where it was coming from, I increased my pace across the damp, dark ground, looking behind each tree as I passed it.

The noise came again, this time louder and clearer, and I realized it was an animal growling. I could tell it was coming from the tree straight in front of me. A chill ran down my spine, making me afraid to move. I noticed two glowing yellow eyes peering at me as my heart started pounding harder and my pulse increased. I kept thinking to myself, Run! Run! as my legs trembled in fear. I couldn't. I stepped back slowly. The animal or thing continued to peer and growl at me.

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Knowing that if I continued to stand there I would be attacked, I finally turned and started running. I felt my heart racing rapidly in my chest as beads of sweat were streaming down my face; my lungs began to hurt as I continued to run. I could hear the thing's panting not far behind me. I twisted my ankle and slipped down to the spongy ground, falling forward and hitting my hands and knees first as my face rushed toward the moist earth. The growls were almost right behind me as I lay facedown, panicking. I quickly rolled onto my back. My eyes were burning from the sweat and dirt in them. Trying to wipe them off with the back of my hand only seemed to make it worse. I felt a warm, heavy panting at my feet. I lifted my head up slightly off the ground and saw a shadow standing there with two glowing eyes, staring at me. I sat up as the animal let out a loud, deep growl and lunged forward at me. I let out a horrifying scream and raised my hands up to stop it. The weight of the animal on my chest knocked the breath out of me. Am I dying? I wondered. I felt a cold breeze blowing against my face, sending chills down my spine.

As I reached up to cover my face with my hands, I felt a warm hand tugging on my arm and heard a voice asking,

Alec, are you awake?

Opening my eyes slowly, I saw my mom standing beside my bed. I sat up rubbing my eyes. What time is it?

It's about seven.

Why didn't my alarm go off?

We had a bad storm early this morning and lost our power for a little bit. You must have slept through it.

Yawning, I said, Yes, I guess I did. Thanks for waking me.

You're welcome, she said, smiling at me as she left room.

I hurried up and got dressed and grabbed my backpack. When I started walking out of the house, my mom hollered at me, Don't forget the movers are finishing up today.

Oh, great! I said disgustedly as I continued out the front door.

Kye and Tate waved to me. Hey, Alec, you look a little tired.

Thanks for noticing, Kye.

Do I hear sarcasm in your voice this morning? Tate asked as he started laughing.

So what if you do!

Hey, dude, chill. We are just teasing you, aren't we, Kye?

Giving Tate a dirty look, I said, I'm not in the mood for teasing.

We're sorry, dude, said Tate.

We continued our walk to school without any conversation. I felt guilty about snapping at them, so I said, Sorry for being a jerk, as we reached the school.

Tate looked at me and said, It's your last day, dude. All is forgiven. We'll see you at lunch.

I nodded as Kye said, Only if you leave your mean twin behind.

We laughed as we walked into the school and separated from each other to go to our classes. I noticed Caleigh walking into our history class. I followed her in and took my seat. I smiled at her as our history teacher started the class lecture. I tried to listen, but my mind kept wandering back to the last few days at the beach with Caleigh and how much I had enjoyed them. We'd never hung out much before I told her I was leaving town. I'd always wanted to ask her out, but I figured I had plenty of time. Now I wonder what would have happened if I'd just taken the chance with her. What if we'd tried a long-distance relationship? What if I had told her I was crazy about her and found out how she really felt before I left? Not that it matters now.

Occasionally the mumble of my teacher's voice would interrupt my thoughts. I glanced up at him and was acting like I was listening when the bell rang to signal the end of the period. I gathered my books and got out of my seat to walk over to Caleigh, but I found she had already left. Feeling disappointed, I walked out to my next class hoping the morning would end fast so I could see Caleigh at lunch.

Unfortunately, all of my classes dragged. I was thinking the morning was never going to end. Finally the bell rang, and I hurried out to the cafeteria. When I entered the cafeteria, a butterfly feeling entered my stomach. I noticed Caleigh sitting with my friends at our usual table. Feeling nervous, I approached them. Why am I feeling this way? I thought, Especially when I know that the whole thing is pointless because I'm leaving. Interrupting my thoughts, Kye lightly punched me in my left arm and said, Hey, Alec.

I smiled. Ow, thanks Kye, rubbing my arm as I sat down next to Caleigh.

She glanced over and said, Hello.

I could feel my face becoming warm as I looked into her eyes and said, Hi. She faintly chuckled.

So, Alec, are we surfing today, dude? asked Tate.

Sure, I'm in.

How about you, Kye?

Why not, dudes? Sounds good to me.

Would you mind if I come? asked Caleigh.

Just as I was about to answer her, Brynn and Traci walked up. Tate smiled and said, Hey, girls.

They laughed and smiled at him. In a shy voice, Kye said, We were talking about surfing after school today, would you girls like to come?

Brynn parted her lips to answer, but the bell rang, ending lunch period. We all got up to leave. Brynn turned back and looked at Kye and said, See you at the beach. All three girls walked away together.

We headed off to our afternoon classes, which pretty much dragged as the morning had. I continued to daydream about the beach and the dreadful move. Finally the eighth-period bell rang, ending my day at school. I hurried up to my locker to put away my books. As I walked out of the school, I saw Tate and Kye waiting for me. "Ready to go catch some waves, dude?' asked Tate.

I smiled and said yes as we continued walking toward our houses.

Kye noticed the moving truck in my driveway and said, Looks like the movers are still there.

Lucky me, I said. I better hurry and go grab my surfing stuff before they do.

All right, Alec, said Kye. We'll see you in little bit.

I walked up the front yard past the moving truck. I could feel myself becoming anxious as I opened the front door. Echo ran over and greeted me. I reached down and patted him on the head. I stood there watching the movers walk past me with boxes of our stuff, going out to the moving truck. Moving out of their way as I passed the kitchen, I saw my mom talking to one of them. I walked by the two of them and continued to my bedroom. There were boxes everywhere. It had been an exhausting day, so I lay down on my bed. I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew . . .

I was in the woods, the same one from my dream the night before. I'd been there in lots of dreams, except this time it was more like a swamp, because I noticed moss hanging down from the trees. I heard a girl's voice calling my name. Standing still, I looked around but was unable to see anyone. I decided to start walking toward the voice calling me. I moved forward and the voice stopped. I noticed the sun was setting behind the trees, and the darkness began to close in on me.

Feeling nervous, I turned around and started walking back toward the swamp as the voice called my name again. I hesitated to turn around and follow, but the voice called again in a familiar tone, though it sounded farther away. My curiosity got the best of me, and I started running toward the voice, trying to catch up to it as darkness was approaching fast. Still unable to catch up to it, I stopped and paused, trying to catch my breath in the warm, humid air. I heard a branch snap just to my right. I noticed a figure in that direction but couldn't make out whom it was. I hollered to it in hope of getting a response, but nothing happened. I decided to take a few steps toward it. The moonlight shining down on it outlined its human figure, but it was too dark to see its face. I moved my trembling legs forward another step and noticed it looked like Caleigh. In surprise, I hollered to her, Caleigh, is that you? I cautiously stepped toward her. When no response came forth, I slowly reached my trembling hand up to touch the black figure. I noticed the face changing into an unfamiliar male's face. I started panicking and could feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest as my hand passed though the figure. A low whimper came as if from nowhere. It sounded a lot like my dog when he wants my attention.

I opened my eyes and saw Echo licking my face. I sat up and looked out the window. The dream kept running through my head as I gazed at the beautiful blue sky. It brought up all the frustration I was feeling because of the move. How could my parents think I would ever want to leave this place? Surfing was in my blood. What more could a sixteen-year-old California boy want to do than to catch some waves with his best friends. The more the thought ran through my mind, the more it made me more furious with my parents. I understood that my dad had an important job that made us move a lot, but I felt in my heart that maybe, just this one time, we would get to stay here and call it home. Who was I kidding? I knew what I needed as I reached for my surfboard. Surfing always had a way of clearing my mind. I turned back to look at my dog, Echo. Come on, boy; want to go catch some waves?

He jumped down from the bed and followed me out of my room. I walked down the hall to the kitchen, where my mom was talking on the phone. She told the person on the phone to hold on a minute. Alec, have you finished packing?

I'm sure she knew the answer from my facial expression. I was walking toward the front door when she caught me and asked, sounding upset, Aren't you staying to help?

Dreading turning around, I answered softly. What?

I noticed her spiteful look as she said, You heard me!

Looking down, I said, The movers have everything under control.

So you feel that gives you the right to go surfing?

We both just stood there staring at each other. Then her face softened and she said, Go ahead, but be careful!

I smiled at her and gave her a hug. I grabbed my surfboard and walked out of the house and onto the front porch. My pulse was racing, causing my face to become warm as I continued down our front yard. Hearing my friends Kye and Tate calling me interrupted my distress. I reached in my pocket and put on my shades. I hollered back to them, Hey, dudes.

They looked as sad as I felt. I had told them I was leaving the night before, and we'd still had a good time. I guess the reality had settled in. Fortunately, Tate forced himself to cheer up and said, Let's catch some waves, dudes.

Right on, I said.

Kye started running and yelling back at us. Last one at the beach is a loser!

Tate and I started running faster to catch up to Kye. I passed Kye first, with Echo and Tate close behind me. My feet were starting to sink in the cool, wet sand; deeper and deeper with every fast pace forward. It made my legs feel heavier to pull up. At last the cold water was splashing on my feet. I stopped and looked back, breathing heavily. Echo reached me first, with Kye and Tate running a close tie. What took you guys so long?

Look who is waiting for us on the beach, Tate said.

We glanced over and noticed the girls smiling at us as they walked up. These are the images of Caleigh that stick with me even now. She was wearing shorts and a sweater---an odd combination, but one she wore often. And she had her brunette hair pulled back in a headband. It was my favorite look on her.

We've come to watch you surf, said Brynn.

Great! Tate said as we started walking off into the surf.

The cold, salty water splashed my face as I paddled out on my surfboard. Kye and Tate paddled out past me. Having the girls there kept my mind off the move. I tried to keep my eye on them, until I noticed the first big wave starting to crest. Kye and Tate mounted their boards to ride the wave in. I turned myself into the wave as I mounted my board. The wave was brutal, but also wonderful. The adrenaline rush it gave me was an incredible feeling. That moment riding the wave in made me forget how upset I had been earlier. When I reached the shore, the mad, upset feeling had returned. I looked behind me and saw Kye and Tate weren't too far behind. Echo stood beside me as I waited for my friends to reach the shore as well.

I couldn't keep the thoughts of the move from my mind. The guys were starting to feel down again too. The cold water splashed in our faces as we caught wave after wave. Just as I began to feel a little tired, I noticed Brynn waving to us to come ashore. We walked up to them on the beach. Traci asked, Are you guys hungry yet?

Tate looked at us and asked, Dudes, do you want to go get something to eat?

Kye answered first, saying, Sure, let's go.

We all started walking toward the sub shop on the beach. I noticed everybody was having a conversation except for Caleigh and me. Feeling uneasy, I asked, Did I do something wrong?

No, Alec, why would you say that?

It's just you haven't said anything to me.

I was just thinking about tomorrow being your last night here.

I wasn't sure what to say to her, but I could tell from the solemn look on her face that she didn't want me to move. Trying to smile, I put my arm around her shoulder and, in a pleasant voice, said, We still have some hours left tonight.

She smiled back and said, You're right, we do.

We set our surfboards down by our table as the girls sat down and waited for us to get the sandwiches. As we were walking back with the sandwiches, the girls started to tease Tate that Kye was a much better surfer. We all started laughing except for Tate, who was still wondering how they all could feel that way. Traci turned to Tate and said, We're just teasing you.

Thanks, girls, Tate said sarcastically.

Kye stood up and said, Hey, we almost forgot to toast Alec.

Raising his Coke can, he said, Here's to our best friend we are all going to miss!

Let's not forget---a better surfer than Tate, said Caleigh.

Hey, watch it! said Tate as we all started laughing tapping our cans together.

Well, enough of this mushy stuff, let's eat, said Tate.

The evening passed by pretty quickly. We told stories of our first surfing days and how foolish we had looked back then. Tate, of course, had to remind me of the time a wave beached me in front of some good-looking girls. These were times I was really going to miss---sitting here with my friends, talking about old times. I started thinking to myself, What will my new friends be like? And will I ever see these guys again? With these questions running through my head, I continued to listen to the old stories. I looked down at my watch and noticed it was late. I knew I needed to leave, but I didn't want to interrupt Tate. I waited for the right moment and broke in and said, Hey, guys, I hate to break up the party, but it's getting late, and I need to go.

I got up from the table. Caleigh leaned over and gave me a kiss. Have a safe trip, and try to come back and see us, she said.

Feeling my heart break in two, I stood up and said, I will if I can. Goodnight, everyone.

Kye said, I'll come with you.

He grabbed his surfboard and walked away with me. Our walk home was quiet until Kye broke the silence by saying, I feel for you.

I could tell what he meant by the tone of his voice. Thanks, Kye.

Neither one of us had anything else to add. I soon spotted my dad's car in the driveway. I glanced back at Kye. We banged our fists together, and I said, Thanks for understanding. See you tomorrow.

Sure, Alec, see you then.

Kye walked off to his house as I continued into mine. My mom and dad were discussing the plans for our trip. Hello, I said. I walked past them to the bathroom and turned the shower on. While standing there, waiting for the water to get warm, I noticed how extremely tired I felt. I reached in and noticed the water had become warm. I stood in the shower with the warm water running down my back. I closed my eyes and started to relax, thinking about my friends. I noticed the water getting cold, so I turned it off, reached for a towel, and began drying myself off. I noticed Echo was already on my bed, ready for the night. I yawned as I put on pajamas and got into bed.

Just as I was about to turn off the light, my dad walked into the room and said, The movers will be taking our cars and furniture tomorrow. Since we won't have any beds, I thought we could just stay in a hotel by the airport tomorrow night.

I nodded my head, and he said, "This means you won't