Die for you, p.1
Die For You, page 1
About the Book
Twilight meets The Vampire Diaries in this steamy new adult romantasy.
A human searching for her sister, a grumpy vampire bodyguard in charge of keeping her alive, and a malicious creature hunting them down. What could go wrong?
THE SURVIVOR
The death certificate says my sister died two years ago in the accident but her body was never found. I was the sole survivor. Then I saw her. Someone lied. Now, I must travel across the country to find answers from a bloodthirsty vampire with one thing on his mind. I will find out the truth. Even if it kills me.
THE PROTECTOR
I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen. Now Raya is here. She is mine, and I must protect her at all costs. If she dies, I die. It doesn’t add up, and it’s all a mess. It’s my job to fix it and find my brother. She knows I’m hiding something, but I’m terrified to tell her the truth.
THE PREDATOR
It’s been years since I had a lead.
Now, I have one.
I will watch. I will wait. I will strike.
He will be mine.
Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
Playlist
Part I
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
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Part II
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Epilogue
Thank You
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Let’s Be Social!
Also by Lauren Jackson
Extract from Meant To Be
Imprint
Read More at Penguin Books Australia
To those who never grew out of their vampire era.
Thank you for choosing to read Die For You, I really hope you enjoy it!
Some of the content may be triggering to some readers. Content warnings include profanity, explicit sexual scenes, and descriptive scenes of death, violence, and brutality.
PLAYLIST
‘Shivers’ – Ed Sheeran
‘Never Say Never’ – The Fray
‘Die First’ – Nessa Barrett
‘Hold On’ – Chord Overstreet
‘Do It For Me’ – Rosenfeld
‘Closer’ – Samuel Jack
‘Die For You’ – The Weeknd
‘False God’ – Taylor Swift
‘Love In The Dark’ – Adele
‘Killer’ – Valerie Broussard
‘I’m Yours Sped Up’ – Isabel LaRosa
PART I
1
RAYA
The Survivor
ON THE DEATH CERTIFICATE, it states my sister died a year ago. Who would have thought a single piece of paper could hold so much weight? There was a funeral, there is a gravestone. But there is no body.
With a sigh, I look around the small apartment that has been my home for as long as I can remember. Warm, light, and cosy. My happy place. The one space that is filled with all the things, and the people, I love most in the world. At least it was.
Once upon a time, the thought of leaving this place would have had me on the floor in tears, but that version of me feels like a lifetime ago. People have always told me how overly emotional I am, that I feel too much, that I’m too empathetic. Not anymore. While I was the only one to survive the accident, I know a piece of me died that day too.
My mind floods with memories; running around the apartment, getting into all kinds of mischief. From children, to teenagers, these walls watched us grow into adults.
Now, there is just me.
I turn around slowly, remembering how it once looked. Now, everything is gone. The paintings, the lounges, the cabinets we assembled as a family. Looking to my right, I trail my fingertips down several markings on the wall, each one a new milestone as we grew up.
Cora and me. My sister. My best friend.
There’s a tightening in my chest at the thought of her, and I distract myself by gripping the strap of the bag, feeling the weight of the box inside it. When I was clearing out the apartment, I discovered my sister’s journals. Thick notebooks filled with Cora’s messy scrawl. I know I should never read my sister’s journals, but she’s gone, and I’m glad I read them – they changed everything. Now, I carry the box everywhere I go. A gift, a curse – I haven’t decided which yet – but the moment I started reading them, I knew my life would never be the same.
Pulling the front door closed behind me, I take a deep breath in an attempt to prepare myself.
You can do this. You owe it to her. To yourself.
Forcing myself to walk, I stride down the dingy hallway, refusing to look back. Eager for a distraction, I let my eyes roam around, taking everything in, knowing this is the last time I will ever walk this path. It’s an eerie feeling, though it’s not until I enter the elevator, that it starts to sink in. This is the last time I’ll take this elevator, listening to it whirr and clunk, wondering, like I always do, if today will be the day it breaks down, trapping me inside.
Despite the heartache, I allow myself to feel everything, just for a few moments. Years of memories spill forward to the forefront of my mind. All the good times, the bad, and everything in between. Just when the despair reaches an overwhelming level, the elevator doors stagger open. Releasing a shaky breath, I leave those painful memories inside the lift as I walk out with my chin held high, feeling strangely cleansed.
Alex is waiting for me outside, standing there, his back against the brick wall, dressed all in black – as usual. His hands are dug deep inside his pockets as he gazes across the road, oblivious to my arrival. His unruly, midnight-black hair is kept in check by the black beanie he has pulled down over it.
‘Hey.’ I say, walking towards him.
As he slowly turns and looks at me, I see sympathy sweep across his expression when he notices my watery eyes. I swallow thickly, clenching my teeth and trying to keep a grasp on the grief threatening to break through.
‘You okay?’ he asks, with a slight frown.
‘Fine.’ I reply, wishing I had a more convincing poker face.
He nods, keeping his thoughts to himself, though I can tell by the slight raise of his eyebrow that he doesn’t believe me. Silently, he picks up his bag from where it rests at his feet, and together we begin the short trek to the train station. It’s an unusually cold night tonight, and for a while I’m distracted by the puffs of mist that release as I breathe. I find it somehow comforting, like a reminder that I’m still here. I’m alive.
Don’t look back. Don’t look back. Don’t look back.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Alex asks as if he can hear my thoughts. ‘This is the last chance to turn back.’ Reaching into his pocket, he withdraws a packet of cigarettes and offers me one before taking one himself.
‘I’m sure,’ I nod firmly, waving off his outstretched hand. ‘Are you?’
‘Yeah.’ He holds the lighter against the cigarette, puffing as he encourages the flame to take, the orange embers bright in the darkness of the night. I watch him from the corner of my eye as he inhales deeply, holding it in for a moment before blowing out a cloud of smoke. ‘Life sucks for me here, it will probably suck for me there. Doesn’t really matter where I go.’
‘Inspirational,’ I reply dryly.
He grins. ‘I should put that on a bumper sticker.’
‘Totally.’
I’ve only known Alex for a couple of months. I discovered an online forum – They Walk Among Us – dedicated to people seeking answers to the unusual and unexplainable things happening around them. Knowing that my sister’s disappearance was unusual, I thought the forum could help me uncover the truth about what really happened. Yet what I discovered was beyond anything I could have imagined. I mean, these people talk about vampires and other creatures as though they’re real. At first, I thought they were joking, but the more I read, the more I realised that maybe the things I’d believed only existed in movies are in fact real.
And that was where I met Alex.
Alex went on the forum after experiencing a bizarre situation when travelling a few months ago. He woke up in an isolated park with blood stains on his shirt, and no memory of how he got there. Reading about that made goosebumps scatter across my skin. Yet our actual friendship started with an argument after I reposted an article I had read discussing the origin of vampires. He disagreed with the information I shared and what sources I used to obtain
I never intended to bring Alex – or anyone – with me, but as soon as he suggested it, I realised it would be so much easier having someone else there with me. Safety in numbers is always the smart way to go about things and having company wouldn’t be so bad. The support Alex has given me since we met has really helped me to stop doubting my sanity. Not once has Alex ever called me crazy for the thoughts and theories I’ve shared with him. Maybe because we’re both crazy.
Noticing my lower lip trembling, he wraps an arm around me, drawing me close to him. The scent of his aftershave drifts over me; the warm, spicy scents of cinnamon and sandalwood. Sure, I hadn’t known Alex long, but his presence, and his signature scent, have become a comfort to me. I’m not stupid, I know that I’m attaching myself to him, because everyone else has left me, but I am powerless to resist it. And I don’t want to. Considering Alex doesn’t have many people in his life either, I think he feels much the same way.
Slowly, he drops his arm back to his side, and I offer him a tight-lipped smile of thanks, not quite trusting myself to speak yet without bursting into tears. He smiles back, a dimple appearing in his left cheek. As we walk, my mind runs back through everything that has led me to this point. After all this time, it’s still hard to make sense of, and I am becoming increasingly frustrated. All I can recall was sitting in the car – me, mum, and Cora. The next memory was waking up inside the wreckage of our car; one of us conscious, one of us missing, one of us dead. I was the conscious one.
‘The Survivor’, the newspaper articles dubbed me as. I didn’t feel like one, not when my mother was dead, and my sister seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Even if Cora was thrown from the car in the accident, she would have been found, injured. But no. Instead, she disappeared without a trace – and I am determined to find out what happened.
My thumb absently circles over the scar on my left arm. A half-moon-shaped indentation that almost looks like a small bite or a deep scratch. I figured it must have happened during the accident. I’m sure it is only in my head, but it tingles whenever I think of my sister.
Two months ago, I saw her. Some viral video showed a guy backflipping from a moving vehicle in a bustling street banked with traffic. Yet, it was the sight of a girl walking in the background of the video which caught my attention. Even though it was posted after my sister was formally announced dead – it was her. I know it was.
Because she has a distinctive birthmark on her face. A small line across the top of her cheek, looking like a straight-lined freckle. We were often mistaken for twins growing up and that was an easy way people could tell us apart. Tall, with long dark hair and soft green eyes, framed by dark, thick lashes. That’s the reason I have a violet stripe in my hair, as we were both sick of people getting us mixed up all of the time.
As soon as I saw the video, I messaged the poster, who told me it was filmed in a town called Red Thorne, which is the first stop on my journey.
I’m pulled from my thoughts by the sound of the train approaching. Alex drops his cigarette to the ground, grinding it with his shoe before picking it up and tossing it into the bin. We walk onto the platform as the train pulls in, and exchange matching looks of foreboding as we step into the carriage.
The train isn’t as busy as I thought it might be, given that it is early evening. We are later than the peak traffic time, but I still thought there would be more people out and about.
Weaving down the aisle, we find a pair of seats facing each other towards the back of the carriage. I drop down across from him, dumping my bag beside me before nervously turning the thin black ring on my finger. I don’t remember when my sister gave it to me, but since she disappeared, I haven’t taken it off.
Alex props his feet up on the edge of the seat beside me, pulling out a book from his bag. He leans back, half-turning his back against the window as he gets comfortable, since we will be travelling for a few hours. In turn, I take out my laptop and place it onto the small table between us. I bring up the forums on Red Thorne, even though I’ve read through them all countless times.
Red Thorne. The place where people disappear.
Intrigued, I clicked on that one. Leaning forward, I rest my chin in my hand as I drag my finger across the mouse pad, scrolling through all the comments.
SoulEater888: I can’t believe people still say they don’t believe when these types of towns exist. Red Thorne isn’t the only place around. Wake up people, they walk among us.
Clicking on this, I read the comments.
ThatGirlSteph: What walk among us?
SoulEater888: The supernatural.
ThatGirlSteph: Like what?
SoulEater888: Vampires. Werewolves. Witches. God knows what else.
SugarPlum71: I hope they’re hot. Like in the books and shows.
SoulEater888: There’s nothing ‘hot’ about people being murdered in cold blood.
WhiteFox89: Proof, or it didn’t happen.
SoulEater888: *Attachment*
Clicking on the attachment, I narrow my eyes, scanning over the articles. It’s a collection of newspaper articles reporting missing people, violent attacks, and mysterious deaths.
I don’t know what any of this has to do with my sister, if anything at all. What I do know is that she was the girl in the video, and if someone took her, I’m going to fight to get her back.
Then there is the other thought. The one I hate letting myself even consider. The fact that she may have willingly done this. A lump lodges in the back of my throat. It’s honestly unthinkable. That she would choose to leave me . . . That my sister could be so cold as to force me to return to our apartment after losing her and our mother on the same day. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain and loneliness on my worst enemy – and I couldn’t let myself believe Cora would have wished it on me, despite what her journals may say.
Swallowing thickly, I turn my attention back to the forum and continue reading.
ThatGirlSteph: Why would anyone willingly go there?
SoulEater888: To die.
ThatGirlSteph: Damn . . .
SoulEater888: Or to become one.
ThatGirlSteph: Become what, exactly?
SoulEater888: A monster.
The comments stick with me. More than I’d like to admit. My mind wanders to some dark places because of it. Between these comments and reading my sister’s journals . . . I’ve wondered about things.
Things that I thought impossible.
Rummaging through my backpack, I grab one of Cora’s journals. Flicking through it, I find the page I tabbed.
He is so handsome. The most handsome man I have ever laid my eyes on. And he noticed me!
I can’t stop thinking about the way his mouth inched upward into a smirk as he beckoned me over. His hands were cold to touch. When they slid over my skin . . . I lost my mind.
