Midnight

Five friends: Caleb, Leion, Dean, Armand and Zahir, attend Astoria High School, like every other day until five new students arrive. From the minute they walked into their classroom the boys got a feeling that they didn't want to be friends. As they find out that the new students are hunters they begin to fear for their lives. Because Caleb and his friends aren't just human but they are also vampires and werewolves. Until the day they turn eighteen they will remain human, but on their eighteenth birthday they will turn into what they need to be. Will the hunters let them turn into the creatures that are waiting to come out? Will they be able to stop the hunters from hurting their friends and families? And to top it all off, will they be able to control their new side once they turn?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

MIDNIGHTBy Kathryn MorenoAuthorHouseCopyright © 2009 Kathryn MorenoAll right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-1391-2Chapter One It was a cold, wet, and foggy autumn morning. At least I was thankful that the house was a little warmer than it was outside. I turned over to my side to look at my clock; it was as I expected it to be, five in the morning. For some strange reason, I was waking up at this time now. My mother said it was my hormones; then again, she said everything that happens to me was my hormones. I looked up at the ceiling and wondered what my friends were doing at this precise minute. I figured they were sleeping, so there was no point in calling and waking them up. But knowing them, they would be up at this very same hour, as well. I started to recall the look on Leion's face when my mother told the five of us that it was "just hormones, dears. There is no need to worry. All this will pass, you'll see." That look was priceless. I decided it was time to put in some more study time before I got ready for school. I got out of bed and grabbed my black leather book bag. It was getting old, but I didn't want a new one. I opened it, pulled out my AP Biology book, and began to look for the chapter I was going to study. I never understood why people would freak out when we had a pop quiz. The lessons were beyond easy and everything felt like first grade science to me. I placed my book on the dark maple cherry desk that I had inherited from my great-grandfather. I made damn sure it was still in perfect condition. I turned on the desk lamp and began to study. The light illuminated the desk, but not the room. I was able to see the dark blue paint on my walls. The border of the wall that met the ceiling had pieces of tile the same dark blue color; they were engraved with a writing I knew well: the werewolf language. The language was older then the first Bible-actually it was older then the first person to even put pen to paper for the first Bible. That amazes to me because-after all that time-every werewolf still speaks this language. A language no one knew about. A language I was afraid to speak in front of anyone but my mother and my four friends: Leion, Zahir, Armand, and my best friend Dean. The sun began to creep through the bathroom window and spilled into my room through the open door. My clock read 6:30, which meant I had to get ready. I grabbed my book, shoved it back into my book bag, and walked into the bathroom. I turned on the cold water and got in. The water was icy cold, but it didn't bother me. My body was used to the temperature. I dried myself and wrapped the towel around my waist. I walked over to my dresser, which was made out of the same wood as my desk. Another gift from my great-grandfather. I grabbed a pair of faded blue jeans; I walked toward my walk-in closet and found a black shirt. I pulled on the shirt and the faded jeans. I grabbed my socks, tossed myself on the bed, and put them on. As I walked out of my room, I grabbed my book bag, wallet, and cell phone. I closed the door behind me and stepped into the hallway leading to the stairs. The hallway had been repainted with its original cream color a couple weeks earlier because my mother didn't want to choose between cream and egg white. I glanced at the oil paintings that hung on the walls. Each painting contained a portrait of a relative of mine. There was one portrait of an uncle whom I supposedly looked like. It's ironic because I'm peaceful at times and he wasn't. Everyone says that we have the same turquoise eyes and the same shade of dark-blond hair-even the same temper. The house was filled with everything from the early-fifteen hundreds. This house hasn't been in my family as long as the furniture, but we were always more concerned about what people would think of us if we didn't buy into the crazes at the time. I'll give you a little history on this house. The house was built from the ground up; as in: my ancestors had the house designed and it was the second mansion ever built. The first mansion that was built was in the year 1885 for Captain George Flavel and his wife. My ancestors-as well as Leion's, Zahir's, Armand's and Dean's-had lived under the same roof. Once each of their family's mansions was built, they moved out. It didn't take too long, since our families were-and still are-very wealthy. I got to the stairs and ran my fingers over the mahogany railing. It had a little design carved into it with solid gold. I reached the bottom of the stairs and walked toward the breakfast room. I dropped my book bag next to the closet, pushed my wallet into my back pocket, and placed my cell phone on top of my book bag. I straightened myself out and walked into the breakfast room. "Morning, Caleb," my mother said as she greeted me with a smile. "Isabella made some pancakes with sausages, eggs, and hash browns." "Good morrow, mother." I took a seat at the breakfast table. "Thanks, Bella," I said as she set my breakfast in front of me. "Oh!" my mother said. "I'm sorry, Bella. I had forgotten you didn't like to be called 'Isabella.' Please forgive me." "No ma'am," Isabella looked at my mother with her sad eyes. "Please don't apologize. It's all right if you call me Isabella-I don't mind. Anything to drink, Master Caleb?" "Please, Bella," I pleaded. "Don't call me 'Master' or 'Master Caleb' or 'Master Deux!' But can I please have a glass of apple juice?" Isabella nodded and left to get my drink. I looked at my plate and was thankful to see that she had remembered not to include eggs. I really didn't like them-how people could eat them was beyond me. I looked up at my mother and saw her drinking deeply from her glass. "Mother," I said, picking up my fork, a little annoyed. "Please don't overdo it. I don't want another incident like last time." "You know," she said as she put her glass down. "I should be the one worrying about you, not the other way around. Since your father-" "Please, Mother," I said and looked away. "Can we for once not speak about him?" She smiled and let it go-though her eyes clearly said it was hardly her last word on the subject. Isabella came back with my apple juice and I finished my breakfast. I got up, took my plates over to the kitchen, and walked back toward my mother. "Leaving now?" She turned her head slightly. "Yes," I said as I approached her. "I love you, Mother." I leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. "I love you too, dear." She smiled and gave me a hug. "Say hi to the boys for me, okay?" "I will," I said, walking out of the breakfast room. "Bye!" I grabbed my black leather coat, my book bag, cell phone, and the keys to my custom-made 750Li BMW. I walked toward the garage, opened it, and walked by my Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R motorcycle. I was tempted to take it out, but I hadn't driven the BMW in a while and with that I turned my back on it. I opened the door and threw my book bag into the passenger seat. I pulled out of the garage quickly. I revved the engine; it roared to life and a huge smile came across my face. Today was going to be a great day. I zoomed past the courtyard and came to a complete halt as the gate to the house opened automatically. I waited until there was a big enough gap for the car. I turned left, pulling out of the driveway and onto the street. I began to speed right through stop signs, stoplights, traffic-even a couple of police officers who hadn't seen me zoom by. The speedometer read 260. My cell phone rang. " Deux," I answered. "Morning, buddy," greeted Leion. "Hey, by any chance do you know whose history homework I can copy?" "Good morrow to you, too." I thought about why he was asking me this, but I didn't bother asking. "Why don't you ask Zahir? He's got the class in the morning-he'll probably be able to give you the answers." "I totally forgot about him! All right, I'll see you in a couple of minutes." I hung up and finished driving to school. It took only ten minutes to get from my house to the school. Well, ten minutes if you drove like me. I turned right into the parking lot of the school and took my usual parking spot. I came out of the car with my book bag over my shoulder. Zahir, Armand, and Dean were already here. "Caleb!" called Dean, as he walked toward me with Zahir and Armand at his heels. "Hey!" I looked at them as they approached me. "So why did you get a new Lambo, Zahir?" I asked as I looked at his car. "Dad said that the Diablo was old and ugly. It wasn't fitting for a kid who's going to be a senior next year. He said I should get a new car. He bought me the Estoque-what a surprise that was. It's the same dark red color as the Diablo, but the only thing is that I think it doesn't look like a Lambo, right?" "Is it comfy?" "Oh yeah," he said. "It's better than the Diablo, I'd say." "Well, at least it's a dark red," said Armand. "It's still sexy, but not as sexy as my car." He grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah, well, at least I don't show people how big my ego is," Zahir sang as his dark green eyes with a hint of gold looked around. The gold in his eyes were cause by some kind of birth defect. "Besides, I don't see how a Jeep SRT8 is sexier than a Lamborghini, do you?" he looked at Dean. Dean just laughed. "Don't get me involved in this again," he said, waving his arms. "The last time I agreed with one of you, neither of you would stop calling me to ask my advice on how to make the cars better. I won't do it again." "Fine," said Armand in his Spanish accent. "Whose car do you think is sexier, Caleb?" Before I even got to answer him, a white Volvo C70 came screeching into the parking lot. It parked next to me and the door flew open. I began thanking my stars that Leion had come just in the nick of time to save me from one of their petty little arguments. "What happened to your Camaro?" Dean asked as Leion pulled his backpack out of the back seat. "I'm having a new engine put in." He pushed back his blood-red hair. "With a couple of new tricks as well. Should be done by the Hallows Eve dance." "And you said I had a big ego," Armand said. "Whatever," Zahir sounded defeated as he rolled his eyes. "I give up!" We walked out of the parking lot toward the lunch area. Leion asked Zahir if he could copy the answers from the homework. Zahir told him he had turned it in on Friday. "What?" Leion's face dropped. "Don't worry," Zahir reassured him. "Wait for me, you guys, I'll be right back." He ran to his car and came back with a piece of paper in his hand. "I knew you weren't going to do it." He handed Leion the paper. "You can thank me after you pass the test today." "Thanks, bud!" Leion put one arm around Zahir and the other around Dean. "This is going be a great day!" "Hi," said a girl walking toward us from the office. "I'm new here and I can't find my first class-even with this map." She smiled at us. "Who do you have?" I smiled back at her, not wanting to be rude. "We know all the teachers in this school." "I have ..." She looked at her class schedule and back at us. "I have Mr. Ryu for history." "I have that class!" Zahir said. There was no doubt that he was going to use his good looks to get her number. He flashed his "you'll-soon-be-hooked-on-me" smile and she instantly began to blush. He walked away with her and his eyes lit up. "Why is it that Zahir gets all the good-looking girls?" asked Leion, who looked a little disappointed that she hadn't even glanced his way. "I mean, we're all as handsome as he is and they all seem to like him ... at first, anyway." "If we weren't so creepy to be around, they'd like him a lot more," said Dean, pulling away from Leion. We laughed and walked toward our classes as the bell rang. Dean and I had French together. As soon as we walked through the door, every girl seemed to hold in her breath. They looked at us and only saw beauty-the beauty of their favorite actors. If only they knew our real colors. They wouldn't stare at us with admiration, but with fear. I took my seat in the middle row next to my partner, Rebecca Torrez. She was just a head smaller than I was-pretty, black hair, and brown eyes with a little hint of green in them. However, like every girl here, she was of no interest to me. I found her a good classmate and partner-but nothing more. "Good morning, Dean," said Samantha Newton. Her big blue eyes looked at Dean from head to toe. She took in every single detail about him. "Good morning, Sam," Dean said, showing off his perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. "How are you doing in this cold, wet, foggy, beautiful morning?" "Beautiful?" she repeated. "The only thing beautiful here is you." She blushed a cherry red and looked at her hands. Dean winked at her with a crooked smile and I took out my books and homework. Zahir sat down at his desk, but kept smiling at the new girl. For some strange reason, he still hadn't bothered to ask for her name or number. He just stared at her as if he was watching his prey before he pounced to feast on it. "Please sit by Mr. Forrest," the teacher said and pointed to Zahir. "Hi again," she said, a little less nervous than she had been earlier. "Hey," he said. "I never caught your name. I'm Zahir Forrest-and you are?" He stared at her honeycombed eyes. "I'm Emily Watson," she said and looked down at her desk, blushing even more. "It's a pleasure to have you in my presence, Ms. Watson." He held his smile, took her hand, and lightly kissed the back of it. She melted and didn't pay attention for the entire class. Zahir decided it was another reason why he should spend the day with her-even though there was something about her that attracted him. Armand and Leion were both in chemistry class, but they were taking very little interest in what the teacher was saying. Leion took the opportunity to talk to a girl on his right; she wouldn't stop staring at him. "Hey there, beautiful," he said. "Can I ask you something, doll face?" "Anything," she said. For a minute, she looked as if she didn't know how to breathe anymore. "Can I borrow your mirror?" he asked, still looking into her hazel-blue eyes. "Um ... yeah." She handed it to him and he winked at her. Armand shook his head and decided that he wasn't going to stoop that low. No girl was worth his time if he didn't feel anything for her. The girls he knew at this school were more like practice-not anything too serious. At least, that's what he thought. "Hey, Armand?" asked Leion, looking at himself in the mirror. "Mm?" he responded, not daring to look at him. "Do you think we need a suntan?" He looked at his pale face. Armand didn't answer him. "Well?" "No," Armand said simply. "Why would I want to look like that pathetic loser Paris Hilton?" "Good point," Leion agreed. "And another thing." "Mm?" he looked at him. "What do you think of this handsome, gorgeous piece of meat?" He acted like a little five-year-old boy as he pointed at himself. Armand laughed so hard that tears were on the verge of coming out. Leion looked at him and tried to think of a comeback, but nothing came to mind. He handed the mirror back and began to do his work. "Oh, come on," Armand breathed, trying to control his laughter. "You set yourself up for that one! I mean, if you haven't noticed, we're all slabs of meat. The five of us are 'handsome, gorgeous pieces of meat.'" "I guess you guys are. I mean, I'm still better looking than all of you put together," Leion said. Armand groaned and decided to ignore Leion for the rest of the class period. As soon as the bell rang, the five of us met up in trigonometry. Since we had to sit in groups, the five of us sat together. As we were taking our seats, Armand began telling us what had happened in chemistry. "Well, it's true." Leion stood up for himself. "It ain't my fault if I'm better looking than you guys." "See what I have to go through in first period?" Armand asked. "Will you ever change?" "Nope," Leion said. "That's the same smile he had when he pointed at himself," Armand said. "Aw," I said, pinching Leion's cheek. "He's our little baby." We all laughed together as Leion rubbed his cheek. When Leion removed his jacket, we realized that we were all wearing the same thing: faded jeans, black shirts, and black leather jackets. (Continues...) Excerpted from MIDNIGHTby Kathryn Moreno Copyright © 2009 by Kathryn Moreno. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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