Turned (Book 1 in the Vampire Journals) by Morgan Rice Read Online Free PDF

container. Had she just drank all of that? In her life, she’d never drank more than a half a glass. She watched herself reach up and crush the cardboard container in a single hand, down to a tiny ball. She couldn’t understand what this newfound strength was that coursed through her veins. It was exciting. And scary.
    She was still thirsty. And hungry. But not for food. Her veins screamed for something more, but she couldn’t understand what.
    *
    It was strange to see the hallways of her school so empty, the complete opposite of the day before. With class in session, there wasn’t a soul in site. She glanced at her watch: 8:40. There were 15 minutes left to her third class of the day. She wondered whether it was worth it to even go at all, but then again, she didn’t know where else to go. So she followed the hallway numbers towards the room.
    She stopped outside the classroom door, and could hear the teacher’s voice. She hesitated. She hated to interrupt, to be so conspicuous. But she didn’t see what other choice she had.
    She took a deep breath and turned the metal knob.
    She entered, and the entire class stopped and looked up at her. Including the teacher.
    Silence.
    “Ms….” the teacher, forgetting her name, walked to her desk and picked up a piece of paper, scanning it, “….Paine. The new girl. You are 25 minutes late.”
    A stern, older woman, the teacher glared down at Caitlin.
    “What do you have to say for yourself?”
    Caitlin hesitated.
    “Sorry?”
    “That’s not good enough. It may be acceptable to be late to class wherever you are from, but it’s certainly not acceptable here.”
    “Unacceptable,” Caitlin said, and immediately regretted it.
    An awkward silence covered the room.
    “ Excuse me?” the teacher asked, slowly.
    “You said ‘not acceptable.’ You meant ‘unacceptable.’”
    “OH—SHIT!” exclaimed a noisy boy from the back of the room, and the entire class erupted into laughter.
    The teacher’s face turned bright red.
    “You little brat. Report to the Principal’s office right now!”
    The teacher marched over and opened the door beside Caitlin. She stood inches away, close enough so that Caitlin could smell her cheap perfume. “Out of my classroom!”
    Normally Caitlin would have slinked quietly out of the room—in fact, she would have never corrected a teacher to begin with. But something had shifted within her, something she didn’t entirely understand, and she felt a defiance rising. She didn’t feel that she had to show respect to anyone. And she no longer felt afraid.
    Instead, Caitlin stood where she was, ignoring the teacher, and slowly scanned the classroom, looking for Jonah. The room was packed, and she looked row to row. No sign of him.
    “Ms. Paine! Did you not hear what I said!?”
    Caitlin looked defiantly back. Then she turned and slowly walked out of the room.
    She could feel the door slam behind her, and then heard the muffled clamor in the room, followed by, “Quiet down, class!”
    Caitlin continued down the empty hallway, wandering, not really sure where she was going.
    She heard footsteps. In the distance, a security guard appeared. He walked right for her.
    “Pass!” he barked at her, still a good twenty feet away.
    “What?” she answered.
    He got closer.
    “Where’s your hall pass? You’re supposed to hold it out visibly at all times.”
    “What pass?”
    He stopped and examined her. He was an ugly, mean-looking man, with a huge mole on his forehead.
    “You can’t walk the halls without a signed pass. You know that. Where is it?”
    “I didn’t know—”
    He picked up his CB radio, and said into it, “Hall pass violation in wing 14. I’m bringing her to detention now.”
    “Detention?” Caitlin asked, confused. “What are you—”
    He grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her down the hall.
    “Not another word out of you!” he snapped.
    Caitlin didn’t like the feel of his fingers digging into her arm, leading