We're All Stories In The End by Megan Rees (novel24 .TXT) 📖

in style.”

“Purebloods: Slaying Demons while still staying fashionable,” Ash chipped in, strolling over. “Sounds like a really threatening motto. Maybe the Demons keep attacking us because they’re jealous that our looks are ahead of our time.”

“I bet Alpha would be killing for a pretty dress,” Luna added. “He’s probably searching for matching dresses for the rest of the Demons.”

Clarissa rolled her eyes at them. “Honestly, you three need to learn maturity. Everyone back at Nighthollow would be disgusted to hear you were saying those things.”

“If you want us to be late, by all means keep bickering,” Isabelle sighed. “Come along.”

“How are we getting there?” Rune asked timidly.

Jason grinned at her. “You’ll see.”

~

The Purebloods were fascinated to learn that Jason owned a pickup truck. There weren’t enough seats for everyone, so Clarissa and Rune joined the two Normals in the car while Luna and the boys sat out at the back. Jason turned up the radio on full volume and wound down the windows so they could hear it.

“I never thought I’d be sitting in the back of a truck on the way to a Normal party.” Ash remarked, leaning back and staring up at the night sky.

“Try standing up, guys!” Isabelle yelled. “It’s awesome!”

“Is she mad?” Ash hissed, muttering a curse under his breath.

“Aw, come on Ash,” Atlas insisted, smiling cheekily. “I’m supposed to be the awkward geek and I’m willing to try it. What about you, Luna?”

“You didn’t need to ask!” Luna laughed, carefully rising to her feet and steadying herself with the roof of the truck. Admittedly, she was a little wary of standing fully up, so she just crouched.

Atlas kicked her lightly with his black trainer. “Stand up. It’s not that bad – trust me.”

Gulping, Luna let go of the roof and stood up, dodging a pigeon as it swooped low from the sky. She held her arms out, enjoying the cool air as it raced past her. Laughter bubbled up inside her and she just had to release it. Atlas was laughing and cheering. I’ve never seen him so excited. Luna reflected.

Turning her head, she noticed Ash staring out at the other cars as they drove past. He looked a little miserable, so she carefully moved over to him and held out her hand. “You won’t fall, I promise.”

“It’s not that,” Ash sighed. “I just don’t feel safe here. I mean, look what happened to Jason.”

“We’re stronger than the average Normal – we’ll be fine,” Luna assured him. “We haven’t got long here, so we might as well enjoy it while it lasts.”

With an inaudible mutter, Ash took her hand and she led him towards the front, where Atlas was still laughing and whooping like a little child. Luna smiled at his enthusiasm and held out her free hand to him, which he took and squeezed tightly. With her two friends at her side, she lifted her hands to the sky and cheered. Atlas followed not long after, his pale face beaming with delight.

“You’re bizarre, Luna Wilde,” Ash murmured into her ear. “Bizarre, but a miracle worker.”

He then started cheering too, laughing. Luna felt like she was on top of the world – she’d never  had this much fun in her whole 14 years of life.

“You guys should take a look to where we’re heading!” Jason shouted. “Take a listen to the radio too!”

Straining her ears to here, Luna faintly recognised the start of a song she’d heard before. When she was 13, she found a radio and had put it on for her entertainment. The exact same song was on now. Since that time a year ago, Luna had kept the song close to her heart, hoping to hear it again.

“Really helpful to say ‘listen to the radio’ when we don’t know any Normal songs!” Ash called back sourly.

“I know it,” Luna pointed out, nudging Ash hard in the side. “It’s called On Top Of The World and it’s by a group called Imagine Dragons.”

Ash narrowed his dark green eyes at her suspiciously. “How do you know?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” Luna commented with a smile. “Just listen and learn the song as we drive through the bright lights of the cities.”

The lights were almost blinding as Jason drove his truck through the traffic. Some people were looking exceptionally miserable as they waited to get past, but they looked surprised to see the three Purebloods laughing and joking. Luna had started singing along to the radio, trying to get Ash and Atlas to join in. She eventually did, and the three friends were happily singing as they drove through.

Some of the passing Normals had stopped to listen. Most of them were smiling; some were taking pictures and films of the bright teenagers. Some were jeering, but Luna didn’t care. As the song described, she was on top of the world: she didn’t care what they thought.

The song came to an end as Jason parked his truck next to a tall brick building. Balloons were strung around the iron fence and Luna could hear loud music from inside.

“How long will this party be?” Atlas asked, jumping down. Luna just about traced the nervousness in his voice – she knew Atlas wasn’t a party animal.

Isabelle grinned at him. “As long as we need it to be.”

As the large group entered the building, a tall boy about Jason’s age with short blonde hair and narrow brown eyes appeared. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt, normal casual clothes. He gave the group a crooked grin. “Welcome to my place. Invite?”

Isabelle handed him an invite. “Some ginger-haired girl gave this to me.”

“Ah, that’ll be my Nora,” the boy’s voice was almost like a purr. “Please, do come in.”

He smiled at Isabelle and Jason, but seemed to frown at Ash, who was staring at the ground. He then noticed this and tilted his head up, not afraid. “Can I help you, whoever you are?”

“Steven,” the boy corrected him. “I haven’t seen you around here. Who are you?”

“You’ll see that when he goes viral on the internet, mate,” Jason remarked. “He, the nerdy kid and the little girl caused quite an excitement earlier.”

“So I see,” Steven replied icily. “Well, what are you waiting for? In you go.”

Luna was amazed by the scene. People gathered in a large room with a wooden floor, joking and dancing about. Three small children were running around, making Luna smile warmly at them.

She then noticed Atlas heading towards a row of chairs against one of the walls, but Isabelle grabbed his wrist. “You don’t escape that easily!” she laughed. “Parties are for having fun, not sitting around! Besides, I think you could use a little fun to spice up your life.”

“Maybe I do.” Atlas agreed, smiling shyly at her.

Beside Luna, Rune nearly choked on her glass of lemonade. “Is my brother flirting with a Normal?”

“She is right, though. He only sits and hunches over his books,” Luna pointed out. “Here, he can actually escape from his shell and let himself go. You should have seen him when we were going through the city.”

“You should have heard Clarissa!” Rune groaned. “She can’t shut her mouth for a second! Honestly, I think she could talk for the solar system. Did you know she brought the Demon Tracker with her?”

“That’s probably a safe idea. We don’t know if the Demons are disguising themselves as Normals.” Luna contradicted her friend, tossing her glittery hair back behind her shoulders.

The three children Luna had seen earlier suddenly ran over to her and Rune. The smallest of the three – a curly blonde haired girl wearing a red dress with a red flower in her hair – gazed at the two teenagers in awe. “You’re so pretty.” she breathed.

“Not as pretty as you,” Rune insisted kindly. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Gracie,” she replied. “What about you? How old are you?”

“I’m Rune, and that’s my best friend Luna. We’re both 14,” Rune went on. “How old are you, Gracie?”

“I’m 7.” Gracie admitted proudly.

Rune’s muddy brown eyes widened in amazement. “No way! I thought you looked at least 13!”

Gracie laughed. She had a beautiful sunny laugh that Luna envied beyond belief.

“So, who are your friends?” Rune asked, gesturing to the other two children. One was a brown haired girl wearing a dark purple dress and the other was a ginger haired boy wearing a checked shirt and green jeans.

“Sophia and Alex,” Gracie pointed to each in turn. “They’re 8 years old and taller than me, but one day I’ll grow to be as tall as a giraffe!”

“I’m sure you will,” Rune assured her kindly. “Are you any good at dancing?”

“You bet!” Sophia boasted. “We’re only the best!”

“Prove it.” Rune challenged playfully, leading the three youngsters to the dance floor. Luna laughed at them, but inside she felt quite sad. She was meant to be having fun, but she felt very low and lonely.

Atlas and Isabelle rushed over to her, laughing. Isabelle held out her hand to Luna. “I got Atlas away from the shadows, you don’t get away either.”

Flashing a grateful smile, Luna took her hand and allowed them to drag her onto the dance floor, where Atlas took her other hand and the three friends span around in a circle, singing at the top of their voices along to the cheerful number that was being played. They soon let go of each other’s hands and spun around to their own delight, laughing and beaming.

The happy song soon faded and a slow song replaced it. Boys danced round with girls, who were smiling and humming along to the song. Atlas offered his hand out to Isabelle, who happily took it with a smile, and the two 15 year olds began waltzing round.

Luna spotted Ash leaning against the wall with his arms folded, his dark green eyes observing the people dancing. He seemed a little amazed to see Atlas dancing with Isabelle, but he didn’t seem bothered.

Pushing her way through the crowd, she stood in front of her friend and stared up at him. “Everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ash replied, resting his gaze on her. “Where’s Rune?”

“She’s with these three little kids. They like her a lot.” Luna remarked.

Ash shrugged. “She likes little kids. They like her. No big deal. She’ll probably be hired as their nanny by the end of the evening.”

“I haven’t actually seen any parents for them,” Luna commented, her voice wavering with concern. “Who do you think is supposed to be looking after them?”

Before Ash could reply, Steven stalked over, his narrow brown eyes like chips of ice. “Enjoying the party?” he asked blandly.

“It’s truly spiffing, old bean.” Ash answered, imitating a posh person Luna remembered from the TV.

“You’re beginning to outstay your welcome, Pureblood.” Steven hissed.

Ash widened his eyes in amazement. “How on earth did you…”

His voice trailed off as Steven disappeared off, setting questions in Luna’s mind. How does a Normal know what we are?

Chapter 9 - Demon's Party

The slow song came to an end after Steven disappeared, and a jazz number started playing. Ash’s gaze followed after Steven, suspicious. “I’ve got a bad feeling about him. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“Clarissa would have told someone if something wasn’t right. She brought the Demon Tracker.” Luna pointed out.

“She did what?” Ash looked like he’d