Blood: An Affinities Novel (The Affinities Book 1) Read online

  “It’s not funny,” Tray sneered, unable to stop the warming of his cheeks. “Stop laughing like that.”

  “I find it amusing,” Adara said. “I’m considering getting in the van just because this kid is mocking you.”

  “I thought you were trying to stick up for me now?” he hissed. “I thought that was why you broke into Kiki’s—” He paused when he noticed Aethelred staring at them, waiting. With a hefty sigh, Tray gripped her arm and shoved her into the van. “C’mon, let’s just go…”

  “Yes!” the orange-haired kid cheered as Adara, with clear reluctance, squeezed onto the seat between the two Stark twins. Tray tried not to let his legs touch hers, but it was inevitable. “Now we’ve got four hot girls in this van. All right!”

  “There’s nothing hot about Stromer,” Kiki scoffed. “She’s evil, you know. She set my house on fire today.”

  “Okay, that’s an exaggeration,” Adara said over the sound of Tray slamming the van door shut.

  “You set her house on fire?” the orange-haired kid questioned with bulging eyes. His freckled face was one of juvenile excitement. “That’s hot—literally.”

  “I didn’t set her house on fire, okay? I hate fire,” she barked, crossing her arms and jabbing Tray with her elbow in the process. He readied a snide remark but chose to keep his mouth shut when he noted the pure indignation in her eyes as she glared past him, out the window, where their neighborhood flashed by in a blur.

  “You did,” Kiki persisted. “I came home from getting a manicure to find fire trucks in front of my house, and I overheard some cops saying your name. Besides, who else has broken into my house eight times?”

  “Nineteen, actually. I’ve only been caught eight times.”

  “You’re a thief?” the orange-haired kid blurted out.

  “Shut up,” was all Adara had to say in response.

  “And then,” Kiki continued, “to terrify me even more, this white van pulled up and they kidnapped me!”

  “We asked her very nicely to accompany us, and she agreed,” Aethelred chimed in.

  “Well, there’s no reason to be afraid now,” Seth assured her as he draped his arm over her shoulders. Tray struggled not to gag. “I’m here to protect you.”

  “No, no, no,” Kiki snipped as she flinched away from him. “I saw you flirting with Leela Hall in school the other day.”

  “I wasn’t flirting! I just told her she looked good. You know, never mind that. I got you something,” he said before digging through his pocket for the stupid necklace. When he pulled it out, Tray cringed at Kiki’s squeal.

  “Jewelry! For me? Oh, babe!”

  She wrapped her arms around Seth and accidentally brushed Adara, who recoiled instantly, shoving Tray into the door. He was about to grumble a complaint, but then his vision locked on one of the two girls seated across from them, her skin like moonlight in the dimness of the vehicle. With quiet curiosity, she observed the scene before her. It was not her vigilance that captured his attention, however, but the bluish tint of her dark eyes and hair, reminiscent of denim.

  “What are you looking at?” At first, Tray thought Adara was snapping at him, but then he realized her narrowed eyes were trained on the blue-haired girl, as well.

  “N-nothing,” the girl stuttered, her gaze immediately falling to the ground.

  “Don’t bother her,” the other girl in the back row droned, glaring at Adara with contempt. “She’s clearly shy.”

  This other girl certainly wasn’t shy, and her posture was as irritatingly lazy as Adara’s. Her warmly-tanned skin was dark compared to the paleness of the other two strangers, and her unnaturally mustard-colored hair was pulled back in two tight braids. Faded scars covered her face, and from this angle, Tray could just barely discern a nick in one of her eyebrows. The short sleeves of her t-shirt revealed defined muscles far more impressive than Tray’s would ever be.

  “Fine, I’ll bother you,” Adara concluded, avoiding the girl’s intimidating athleticism and focusing on her other features. “Why are your eyes yellow? Who has yellow eyes?”

  “Plenty of other Affinities must. I assumed in this van, prejudices would have vanished, considering we’re all outcasts.”

  “What’s your power?” Seth asked eagerly.

  “No one here has powers,” Tray groaned with an exaggerated eye roll. “It’s not possible—this is a scam.”

  The yellow-haired girl raised her eyebrows. “Seems like quite a few of you haven’t done much research.”

  Tray gaped, struggling to splutter a response. “I—well, of course I’ve done research. Who do you think I am?”

  “Who are you?”

  “Tray Stark,” he answered instantly, feeling the need to prove himself. “You’ve probably heard of me. I’ve won some academic honors, and I got a perfect score on—”

  “Don’t care,” the girl interjected, her blandness setting him into a dazed state. “I could probably kill you—could definitely break your arm right now, if I wanted to. You should just be glad your girlfriend doesn’t have my ability. I don’t think she would be able to resist.”

  After following the girl’s yellow gaze to Adara, his eyes bulged. “You think—oh, oh no.” He laughed without humor. “Stromer is not my girlfriend.”

  “I would never date Nerdworm,” Adara confirmed coolly. “You seem interested, though.”

  “Twins intrigue me,” the girl admitted as she glanced between the two Stark boys, her examination unnerving Tray. “Identical but wildly different: neat hair and stiff posture versus shaggy hair and slouch. The only similarity is the way you both exude a sense of superiority.”

  “Mind reader,” Seth breathed in disbelief.

  “No, but I think she is.” She jabbed her thumb in the direction of the blue-haired girl, who blanched with alarm. “Not so sure what this kid does.”

  “It would blow your minds,” the orange-haired kid mused, bouncing in his seat. He fidgeted so much that it was hard to tell, but when Tray leaned a little closer, he noticed the boy’s eyes were as orange as his hair.

  “You all have…oddly-colored features…”

  “And you all know your powers,” Adara added speculatively.

  “The hair and eyes change as the Affinity is harnessed,” Aethelred explained from the driver’s seat. “Your color will begin to morph as you discover your power. Yours, Adara, have already seemed to shift.”

  “But you don’t know your power,” the blue-haired girl barely whispered, avoiding Adara’s eyes.

  “You are a mind reader,” she decided sourly. Tray was accustomed to her constant distaste, but something about her tone toward the shy girl sparked a surge of protectiveness in him.

  “Ooh, ooh, tell me what I’m thinking right now,” Seth prompted as he stared intensely at the girl.

  She suppressed a light smile. “Your mind seems a little… blank, actually.”

  “Wow, she’s good,” he said, nudging Adara’s arm. “I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

  “What are your names?” Tray asked, his voice edged with impatience.

  “Your name should be Rude, clearly,” the yellow-eyed girl retorted, “but I’m Lavisa, if you must know.”

  “Hartman Corvis,” the boy greeted, raising a hand, “unfortunate stepbrother of Nero Corvis. You’ll meet him when we get to Periculand, I’m sure.”

  Tray’s intrigue heightened with the name of their destination. “Have you been there?”

  “Nah, but I remember when my stepbrother was taken two years ago. He sends us messages every now and then—talks about how fun training is and how he can’t wait to beat me up when I get there.”

  “Nero certainly could,” Aethelred said from the front, “although we certainly wouldn’t allow it. The only time physical combat is permitted is during training sessions, which are carefully monitored.”

  “Physical combat?” Tray echoed incredulously.

  “Yes!” Seth enthused. “That’ll give me a chance to wh
ip out my super strength.”

  “Of course you have super strength,” Lavisa snorted, shaking her head. “I assume the other twin has an Affinity for being incessantly snooty?”

  Tray’s jaw clenched, but instead of snapping at her, he turned his attention toward the other girl. “What’s your name?”

  “Uh…Eliana,” she stuttered, her eyes darting between him and the floor. “Eliana Mensen.”

  “Hm,” Tray said as he inspected her. He wasn’t completely convinced she could read minds, but her blue eyes were too dark to be natural, and her hair… “Interesting.”

  “It’s not interesting, it’s weird,” Kiki sneered, “just like Lavisa and Adara and whatever the hell the ginger kid’s name is.”

  “Hartman,” he informed her, taking no offense at her nasty attitude.

  “Whatever. Are we almost there? My petite bladder won’t hold forever. I would also like to stop and buy some makeup, since you kidnappers wouldn’t let me bring any of my own.”

  “No one is allowed to bring anything to Periculand, girl,” Fraco snapped.

  “Are there stores in this Wacko town?” Kiki demanded. “Where will I shop? Where will I purchase my new wardrobe?”

  “There are shops, Miss Belven,” Aethelred assured her. “Adults live in Periculand, as well—many people with Affinities are migrating there willingly, actually. They feel more…welcome, you can imagine.”

  “Why have we never heard of this place?” Tray questioned. “Where is it located?”

  “Its exact location is a secret to the public,” Aethelred explained, “but it is in this state. It’s the first of its kind—the first town for Affinities. Other states are adopting the idea, and I imagine, within a few years, each of the fifty states will have their own Affinity town and training school.”

  “Wonderful—we’ll be forever confined to a town of Wackos,” Adara grumbled.

  “Once you graduate from the training school, you’ll be able to leave if you please,” Fraco informed her. “If you graduate.”

  Tray snorted to himself. “That’s unlikely.” Adara was apparently too grumpy to physically assault him for this.

  “Who are we picking up next?” Seth asked as he turned toward Fraco and Aethelred. “Anyone good?”

  The oily man ignored the second question as he sifted through the papers on his clipboard. “Next, we will be stopping in a rather rural area to pick up another boy—a boy named Ackerly Terrier.”

  “Ackerly!” his mother called, her voice echoing off the condensation-covered windows of the greenhouse. The air was damp and dense with the smell of dirt and pollen. Crouched in the far corner of the vast, rectangular room, Ackerly weeded the soil beneath a bell pepper plant without making physical contact with the dirt. He simply waved one of his bony arms, and as his face scrunched, the weed would pop out of the ground, fully uprooted. When he heard his mother’s voice, he dropped his hands and stood.

  “Are they here?” he asked, pushing his glasses farther up his nose with clean hands. Popping up onto his toes, he saw over the tall growths of vegetation that his mother stood in the doorway leading from the greenhouse to their home, her dirt-brown eyes soft but sad.

  “Yes,” she replied solemnly, “they’re here.”

  Sighing, Ackerly snapped his fingers, and one of the yellow bell peppers flew off its stem and into his hand. “All right,” he said as he weaved through the rows of plants to his mother. Once he stood before her, he sunk his teeth into the pepper and smiled as the familiar, homey taste permeated his mouth. “They turned out good.”

  “They always turn out good,” she cooed as she stroked a hand across his scrawny arm. He wore a clean, green t-shirt that matched the mossy color of his hair and his eyes, which were hidden behind rectangular glasses. As usual, the knees of his jeans were the only dirt-stained part of him. “I still don’t know how you eat them plain. They make my throat itch.”

  Ackerly gave her a toothy grin before taking another bite of the pepper. “You’ll take care of the garden while I’m gone, won’t you? I don’t want to come home and find all of my plants dead.”

  “No guarantees,” she said wryly, pulling him into a hug. Any other teenager probably would have pushed away, but Ackerly, like a five-year-old, savored his mother’s touch. He knew she probably thought he would miss his garden more than her, but when would be the next time he would see her? “Have fun, okay? We’ll always be here for you if you need us. And make some friends, all right? Some human friends.”

  Chuckling softly, he scratched his forehead. “I’ll try…”

  “Good,” she said, but her voice was drowned out by a string of knocks on the front door of the small main house. With an encouraging smile, she guided him through the hall, toward the entrance, where Ackerly’s father was just opening the door.

  “Move, move, move!”

  His father stumbled back as a girl stomped into the house. Her wedged shoes allowed her to tower over all of the Terriers, and her skirt was so short that Ackerly could almost see under it. He smiled sheepishly at her, mesmerized by her eyes, which glowered down at him, like two blue poppies.

  “Where is the bathroom?” she demanded.

  “Uh—uh, that way,” Ackerly stammered as he pointed past her. She whipped around, causing her skirt to twirl, and then stomped down the hall. He let out a breath and found it difficult to turn his attention toward the two men standing on the front porch.

  “Apologies,” the man in red said with a warm smile. His eyes were like red anthuriums, and his matching hair was just as glossy in the light of the mid-afternoon sun. Though he couldn’t have been much older than Ackerly’s father, this man was at least a foot taller, and Ackerly began to worry that all other Affinities were giants.

  “She—she doesn’t have…different hair,” he stammered, referring to the girl’s normal blonde hair, “or eyes. Does she have an Affinity?”

  “Yes, yes,” the second, and to Ackerly’s relief, shorter man replied as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard. Grease seeped from his hands onto each piece of paper, and the gleam of his oily hair was almost blinding. “Not everyone has managed to harness their Affinity as you have, Mr.…Terrier. Now, come along—we haven’t got time to waste.”

  Ackerly’s mother gave his hand a squeeze, and his father enveloped him in a hug, only to be torn apart by the girl as she barged through them.

  “This house is small and old. And you.” She paused as her vision really settled in on Ackerly. “Your—your hair is green!”

  Ackerly tried to speak, but it only came out as a cough.

  “Let’s move along, Miss Belven,” the shorter man sang with impatience. “Mr. Terrier, please.”

  With one last smile at his parents, he followed the two men and the girl out of the house, leaving his family, garden, and life behind for the dingy white van that sat in his driveway.

  4

  Little Lavisa

  “How is it that everyone else has figured out their powers except for us?” Adara complained after the other teenagers in the dreary van had finished fawning over how prominently green Ackerly Terrier’s hair was.

  Honestly, she thought it resembled an unkempt bush. She refrained from saying so simply because he looked just as uncomfortable to be wedged between Hartman and Eliana as she felt to be in such close proximity to Kiki and her nauseating vanilla perfume. Since entering the van twenty minutes ago, the scrawny boy hadn’t stopped fidgeting with the half-eaten bell pepper in his hands, and Adara had spent just as long debating whether she wanted to ask the question she’d just voiced or what the hell compelled him to eat plain, raw peppers.

  “I know my power,” Seth said proudly. His muscly arm was nestled casually around Kiki’s shoulders, and Adara inwardly cringed at the way his fingers twirled through her blonde hair so listlessly. “Super strength.”

  “You will all discover your abilities soon enough,” Fraco assured them from the front passenger’s seat as he rubbed his
slippery temples. “Let’s see who has the ability to remain silent until we arrive at the detention facility, hm?”

  Tilting her head back into Seth’s arm, Kiki moaned. “How much longer? I need to pee again.”

  “No one is coming in with us!” Fraco said in his high-pitched tone. “This is a dangerous place.”

  “Looks better than it did last time we were here, though, wouldn’t you say, Fraco?” Aethelred mused.

  Whipping her head around, Adara peered through the front windshield to see the silhouette of a building against the blue sky. Giant, rectangular, and composed of concrete, the juvenile detention facility resembled a drab, oversized high school surrounded by intimidating fencing.

  “Now they even have barbed wire over the fences,” Aethelred observed. “What a delightful addition.”

  “This is exactly the kind of place you deserve to be,” Tray said to Adara as they neared the building. “It’s a shame Mitt hasn’t sent you here yet.”

  “Can we just leave Stromer here, please?” Kiki asked the two adults as she sent the other girl a venomous glance. “She deserves punishment for lighting my house on fire.”

  “I did not—”

  “Hey,” the twitchy, orange-haired kid, Hartman, interrupted as he nearly sprung out of his seat. “This is the juvie my stepbrother went to!”

  “Huh. Your stepbrother seems like someone I would be friends with,” Adara commented, mostly just to piss off Tray.

  It was almost impossible for her not to smirk when he was the one to reply with a mockingly girlish, “Yeah—maybe he can be your boyfriend when we get to Wackoworld.”

  “Wait,” Ackerly piped up, blinking at the two of them through the thick lenses of his glasses. “You guys aren’t dating?”

  Both Adara and Tray were opening their mouths to give piqued responses when the van came to an abrupt halt.

  “We’ll be back shortly,” Fraco announced as he grabbed his clipboard and attempted to open the car door. “Tray Stark can be in charge—he seems most responsible.”