Authors: Aria Declan
With her big eyes, Mama smiled. “When you were eight you stabbed the family dog out of nowhere because you were mad and threatened to kill me if I stopped you from killing the neighbor's cat. Of course, I stopped you but you would just do it at night. You would wake up the next morning as beautiful as ever without a clue,” she paused. “I was supposed to tell you the family secret when you are eighteen, but I guess you're close enough.”
“What family secret?”
“Doctors diagnosed you with everything from Bipolar, Sundowning, to Schizophrenia being the worst one of them all. But, little did they know all you needed was a little of this.” Mama held up the same medicine dropper that was filled with a dark red substance. “Derek was supposed to supply you with this stuff every morning, but little did I know he would end up in jail. I paid him five-hundred dollars just to do this simple thing. And he ruined it. I told him it was your medication, which is somewhat true,” she laughed. “I cannot believe I did not put the pieces together that it was you!”
My nostrils flared up and I began to laugh hysterically. “Are you saying what I think you're saying? Are you saying I was the one killing all those people because I needed blood to survive?”
“You didn't think you were naturally beautiful, did you? Your grandma and great grandma were both hanged for revealing their secret to the men they loved most. Apparently, none of the men in our family are like us,” she laughed. “It just sucks because now you found out what human blood taste like, that you would never want the artificial kind that I have supplied. I wondered how you were more vibrant than me.” Mama licked her lips about the thought. “I mean, it wouldn't hurt if some more people were accidentally harmed,” she grinned. “I haven't had the real stuff in years and Lola would love to have her first real taste since her teeth are now in.”
“What exactly are you suggesting?” I sighed.
Mama smirked and I soon realized she did not have various boyfriends for no reason.
***
Johnny was in tears as Christian’s body was buried in a beautiful casket. Mama rubbed Johnny's back as he replayed memories about the good times with Christian. Mama was getting overly excited as she could feel Johnny's pulse pounding. I pushed her aside. Men loved Mama but what was even better was fresh, now adult meat—it was my birthday and I could have anyone I wanted at eighteen.
I stood up and agreed to walk Johnny to his awaited car. “I'm so sorry Christian is gone,” I said. “I know how much he loved you.”
“I know this must be hard on you, Leanna. You are so wonderful.”
“Maybe later I can come over and help you get settled in your home.”
“I would enjoy that.” Johnny licked his lips as I was back to my old ways. He walked closer to me as I unzipped my coat, showing enough skin to get his blood flowing.
I whispered for him to come closer. He checked to see if anyone was standing around us, but people were still talking to Christian’s estranged mother who was in tears.
I puckered my lips to kiss him. At that moment he was all I wanted. But, him kissing me would be like kissing the devil. I was possessed by another human who had other intentions than holding hands.
It was good he took a step back from me and he got into his car. I smirked knowing my power. All men loved the bad girls, maybe I was too bad for him. Johnny left my heart racing and aching for more. I could smell his scent and I knew he was the one. I needed him so badly that I wanted to scream.
Mama walked over to me with Lola on her hip. “So, is he the one?” she whispered.
“He's a keeper.”
“Yeah!” Lola cheered. “Yeah!”
“I wish I had a nose like yours. We are going to have a wonderful time in this old town.”
I smirked and I knew I was not just beautiful for no reason. I was on Earth for a reason and now that I was in control of myself, I realized I was even more powerful than before. The only downfall was I now had no conscious and no worries about life. I was amused thinking I needed a man to love me, but in reality I just wanted their candy. Maybe, I was more like Mama than I thought.
We were both killer beauties and born terribly devious.
Notes
Thank you for reading “Devious” by Aria Declan. The author would greatly appreciate an email (
[email protected]
) about where you read the book and your thoughts. Some questions to consider when emailing could be:
-who did you believe was the murderer in the beginning?
-what do you think the family secret was?
-if you had a different ending, what would have happened?
-do you think Leanna knew about the family secret before and was just being “bad”?
-what is your opinion on the main characters (Leanna, Tyler, Christian, Mama, etc)
All chapter titles were based on various song titles by singer Lana Del Rey. The character Leanna was highly based upon Lana as well. Check out her album “Born to Die”, which is out now.
The book cover is by AcidicGlamour, you check out her other work
here
.
More books coming soon. To stay updated, bookmark Aria Declan's official
website
.
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