Pj Hawkinson - Half Bitten Revamped

by

PJ Hawkinson

Teenager Trudy Purdy is left for dead on the beach after being abused by one of the most popular boys in school and his three friends. She awakens uninjured in her home and initially has no memory of the horrifying experience or the roving band of vampires who saved her. As her memory returns, she realizes she is undergoing a mysterious transformation that gives her the power she needs to seek revenge on her attackers.

2014 by PJ Hawkinson

All rights reserved.

ISBN

ISBN

This book was first released under the title Half Bitten in 2010. The issue has been revised and released as Half Bitten ReVamped. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations and events in this work are either products of the authors imagination or used fictitiously.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To my husband Leonard who has never once complained of the many hours I spend writing. And to my daughters Denise and Randi, and my friend and co-author, Karen Wodke, who all helped edit this novel.

O wild and wondrous midnight,

There is a might in thee

To make the charmed body

Almost like spirit be,

And give it some faint glimpses

Of immortality.

~James Russell Lowell, Midnight

Half Bitten was my first novel. Since its writing, I have joined forces with Karen Wodke. As of today, we have published three short story volumes under the penname of Wodke Hawkinson: Catch Her in the Rye, Blue, and Alone. We have also released five novels: Dark Longings, Tangerine, Betrayed, Zeke, and Sue (a sequel to Zeke). At this time, we are working on a fantasy/sci-fi.

Working with Karen has honed my writing skills and I now feel driven to rewrite the original novel, Half Bitten. What you will find in the following pages is a ReVamped version of Half Bitten.

I apologize beforehand for taking liberties with the towns of Abbyville and Lerado, Kansas. Most of what you will read of these towns came directly from my vivid imagination.

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as the first version, and remember, above all else, avoid being half-bitten!

~PJ Hawkinson

Im bored. A young woman who looked to be about eighteen years old repeated for the hundredth time. Why cant we move on; weve been here more than long enough.

A boy approximately the same age agreed with vigor. Come on, Damien, its time to go somewhere new. These hills have lost their appeal. He referred to the hills surrounding the city of Edinburgh, in Ireland, where their family lived in luxury in a smallish castle.

Damien looked questioningly at the two complainers, and then turned to the third member of his family. What about you? Do you want to leave also?

This boy, who could easily be the same age as the other two, glanced up from studying a book of art on Leonardo da Vinci with mild confusion. Leave? he questioned. And go where?

Spin the globe, Damien, the girl entreated, and Ill stop it. She bounced on the tips of her toes and performed a perfect pirouette. This will be fun; I know well go somewhere good.

Sure, the first boys voice dripped with sarcasm. And if your finger lands in the middle of an ocean?

Very funny. She sneered. Come on, Damien, what do you say?

Damien sighed and rose from his position in front of an exquisite grand piano. He had been playing a haunting tune, its melody drifting eerily through the chamber and echoing down long hallways; at least he had been, before his oldest children interrupted him. Now he moved to a beautiful globe centered on an ornate mahogany stand. Reaching out a long finger, he gave the globe a nonchalant spin. The girl closed her eyes, stuck out a finger, and stopped the orb in its tracks.

Where are we going? asked the first boy.

She squinted at the globe, and then frowned. Spin it again, Damien.

Nope, thats not the way it is done, said the first boy. Where are we going? He moved forward and looked. Oh lord. Shes right, spin it again.

The second boy came over and looked briefly at the point where the girls finger met the orb. He laughed. You know the rules. As long as Damien spins the globe, where it stops is where we go. And it looks like were off to the center of the United States of America. Better start packing.

Damien frowned and gave a deep sigh. Ill contact the movers and find us a place to live. Turning, he was gone.

The center of the United States of America was the home of a young girl who was exactly the age she appeared. This girl was living her life in the way of most fifteen-year-old girls. But for the last year, she had been teetering upon turning a corner of life. The wrong corner.

As she moved towards this corner, another family moved towards her; a family that could mean her salvation; or her death.

I scurried around, searching through my clothes for something decent to wear, angry with myself for waiting until the last minute to get ready. Finally, I grabbed a pair of hip-hugger bell-bottomed jeans, a blue and pink vertically striped top, and a pair of fringed moccasins.

I darted into the bathroom, dressed while I peed, washed my hands, and brushed my hair. Rushing back into the bedroom I happened to catch my reflection in the mirror attached to the inside of the closet door. I scanned myself from head to toe and scowled. I wasnt gross or anything, not too horrible to look at, but I always felt like I should have been better somehow. At five feet, six inches, and a hundred and two pounds, I was built on the slight to medium side. Average. I turned sideways and pulled my shirt tight around me. My tits seemed about right and my butt wasnt too big, but I wished my waist were smaller. Next, I examined my face. I had green eyes, heart-shaped lips, and a slightly crooked nose were all okay; but, as the phrase went, my face wouldnt stop any trains.

I ran my fingers through my hair. Plain old brown, wavy, tending towards curly. I wished I had time to iron it straight, but I didnt. Oh well! I sighed and walked away from the mirror, bounced down the stairs, and out the front door.

Our next door neighbors were just getting in the car. You better hurry, Trudy, Brad said.

Yeah, his wife, Cindy, agreed. Another minute and you would have been out of luck.

Sorry, I said as I slid into their backseat. I couldnt decide what to wear.