Ethan Randall seemingly has a perfect life. Girls are crazy about him; all the guys want to be his friendwhat more could a teenage boy want? Ethan has no idea his idyllic life is about to hit rock bottom.
While on a mission one evening to seek revenge on a rival, Ethan and his friend, Anthony Williams, are attacked by a gigantic, wolf-like creature. Although the two boys manage to escape, Ethan soon lapses into a brief coma of sorts, leading to the eventual discovery that, whether he likes it or not, he has transformed into a werewolf. Ethan tries to carry on as if everything is normal, but when he and his rival get into a fight, Ethan loses control and kills him. Even worse, three more people die in mysterious wolf attacks. Ethan believes he has no one but himself to blame, but his best friend, Anthony, wonders if someone else is responsible for the killings.
In this exciting, suspenseful tale, Ethan must find a way to protect everyone he cares for before they all end up victims of the menacing monsters that lurk in the shadows of the nightjust waiting to pounce.
Ethan Randall seemingly has a perfect life. Girls are crazy about him; all the guys want to be his friendwhat more could a teenage boy want? Ethan has no idea his idyllic life is about to hit rock bottom.
While on a mission one evening to seek revenge on a rival, Ethan and his friend, Anthony Williams, are attacked by a gigantic, wolf-like creature. Although the two boys manage to escape, Ethan soon lapses into a brief coma of sorts, leading to the eventual discovery that, whether he likes it or not, he has transformed into a werewolf. Ethan tries to carry on as if everything is normal, but when he and his rival get into a fight, Ethan loses control and kills him. Even worse, three more people die in mysterious wolf attacks. Ethan believes he has no one but himself to blame, but his best friend, Anthony, wonders if someone else is responsible for the killings.
In this exciting, suspenseful tale, Ethan must find a way to protect everyone he cares for before they all end up victims of the menacing monsters that lurk in the shadows of the nightjust waiting to pounce.
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Overview
Ethan Randall seemingly has a perfect life. Girls are crazy about him; all the guys want to be his friendwhat more could a teenage boy want? Ethan has no idea his idyllic life is about to hit rock bottom.
While on a mission one evening to seek revenge on a rival, Ethan and his friend, Anthony Williams, are attacked by a gigantic, wolf-like creature. Although the two boys manage to escape, Ethan soon lapses into a brief coma of sorts, leading to the eventual discovery that, whether he likes it or not, he has transformed into a werewolf. Ethan tries to carry on as if everything is normal, but when he and his rival get into a fight, Ethan loses control and kills him. Even worse, three more people die in mysterious wolf attacks. Ethan believes he has no one but himself to blame, but his best friend, Anthony, wonders if someone else is responsible for the killings.
In this exciting, suspenseful tale, Ethan must find a way to protect everyone he cares for before they all end up victims of the menacing monsters that lurk in the shadows of the nightjust waiting to pounce.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781469778181 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | iUniverse, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 03/14/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 291 KB |
| Age Range: | 13 - 17 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Cursed
By Victoria Greene
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Victoria GreeneAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4697-7816-7
Chapter One
The school bell rang loudly and all the remaining students in the hallways dashed off to their classes. Only one strolled behind, looking casual yet charming in an ochre t–shirt and black denim pants with a few textbooks under his arm.His hair was a coal black, his eyes a dark coppery brown and his lips a pale peach colour. His jaw line was simple yet attractive, extenuating his masculinity. The boy's eyebrows were angled softly and medium in thickness. As for his nose, the celestial structure he had was topped with perfect nostrils and curvature. His lips were full yet daring and teasing as if wanting to start a fight.
Over all, the boy appeared manly, glorious, radiant, confident, and charming with his heart shaped face and his perfect features. He was average sized; not too big and not too small, not fat but not as thin as a noodle either. His muscles weren't like that of a high school football player but they were big enough to convince you he was powerful.
But his grandest weapons were his eyes. They could pierce through your soul and find out your darkest secrets; they could send a chill down your spine an instant or make you feel warm and loved; they could stare down any person and make them realize who's the boss around here; they could make a woman fall for the man and love him until the last day of forever.
No one could read his poker face; he always kept a cool and confident demeanor.
The boy walked into class and gave the teacher a casual smile, making her drop the subject of being late for class as he took a seat at one of the empty desks.
"Mr. Randall," the tall woman said, "would you please take a wild guess on what the class and I were discussing before you strolled in?"
The boy stiffened up in his seat and said in a polite manner, enunciating each word, "My guess, by looking around at the class, is that the students have been assigned to open their textbooks to a page and read from it."
The teacher cleared her throat. "Well, that was very accurate, Mr. Randall. Would you please do so yourself?"
The boy took out a beige textbook that had a label with the name Ethan on it and opened it to the same page number as the textbook of the classmate next to him. All of the girls were staring at him with eyes wide open, not paying attention to what the teacher was saying. They were trying to get him to notice them and smile at them but Ethan wasn't paying attention to any of it. He glanced back at his best friend, Anthony Williams, who was slumped in his seat, staring out at the window and gazing into the empty courtyard.
Ethan had nothing better to do himself than daydream this lesson away. It's not like he was going to learn anything new because they had covered Hamlet last year. Plus, the teacher always droned on and on, changing the subject until she ended up talking about her three cats.
All he could do was daydream his tiresome thoughts away and rest at ease into the world of imagination. All he could do was pretend he wasn't stuck in a room with flirty girls and jocks that would beat the guts out of him.
Yep, all he could do was daydream.
Time seemed to fly by quickly as it was now lunchtime, a much needed break from the learning environment. Ethan and Anthony were leaning on a tree in the shade as Ethan studied the face of every student around him.
"Big tests are coming," Anthony broke the silence.
"You mean the exams?" Ethan replied.
"Yeah."
Ethan stood up and got a drink from the water fountain. "I got no problem with those," he gulped.
Anthony chuckled. "Hey, you have no problem with anything! I mean, look around! All the pretty chicks are dying to talk to you and you brush them off just like that!" He snapped his fingers to prove his point.
"Look, they're not my type," Ethan protested.
"The hell they aren't!"
Out of the corner of Ethan's eyes, he spied a muscular guy exiting the school surrounded by a bunch of other bulky and muscular guys. He had short auburn hair and eyes as black as coal, cold and cruel. He looked like the typical jock that gets whatever his heart desires.
Ethan groaned and began to close in on the guys as Anthony trailed behind.
The jock raised an eyebrow and then chuckled as if having supreme power and control. "Well, well, rival," he sneered in Ethan's face, trying to tick him off. "We meet again."
"Of course we do, Jared," Ethan shot back with a tint of amusement in his eyes. "We go to the same school, remember?"
A few people gathered around them, hoping for a violent end. They started to giggle at Ethan's remark.
Jared shot an evil eye at Ethan, his fists clenched. Anthony patted Ethan's shoulder. "Come on, man," he suggested. "It's not worth it."
"Yeah," a Jared–wannabe, Daniel Flanders, mocked. "It's not worth it."
Ethan glared at him.
"Now you've done it." Anthony sounded pleased. Ethan turned towards the wannabe.
"You shouldn't be talking," he smirked. "All you do is huddle behind Jared and let him do all the mocking, and make all the sarcastic remarks and let him get the blood on his hands. You just follow him around like a puppy."
"Take that back!" Daniel shouted in Ethan's face.
"You know what? I don't think I will. Deal with it." Ethan began to grin.
Suddenly, the principal, Mr. Mendez, broke through the crowd. "What's this all about?" he inquired. "Mr. Randall, is there a problem here with Mr. Flanders?"
Ethan shifted his gaze to the man and answered, "No, sir. We were just talking. That's all."
"Uh-huh." He didn't seem convinced. "Well, get back to your lunches and hurry up. Class starts in fifteen minutes."
"Yes, sir," Ethan replied.
Everyone backed away as the principal shooed them, constantly reminding them that they don't have much time till classes started.
"Are you okay?" Anthony asked Ethan with a worried look upon his face. "You seem ... different. As if there's another person inside you that has been unleashed when you got into that quarrel with that Daniel kid, or as you call him, the Jared–wannabe. That was good, by the way."
"I honestly don't know why that is." Ethan lowered himself on a ramp. "You watch too many movies. As for the wannabe thing, that's just what he is."
"How can you keep your cool like that?"
Ethan just shrugged. "Frankly, it's not hard. You just have to think that losing it is exactly what they want. And you can't give them the pleasure of seeing you weaken to your desires."
"That is hard," Anthony chuckled. They both positioned their gaze to the sun. In the distance, a wolf howled.
"So for mapping, we need to create a political map of the world. I suck at coloring and I have seen your art, Ethan, so I think you should be the one with the pencil crayons."
Anthony was explaining what he thought he and Ethan should do for the mapping project their teacher assigned to the whole class. Ethan was nodding, paying as much attention as he could, but his eyes were wandering off to everyone's faces. Jared or any member from his gang usually gets their revenge once someone stepped out of line. It's like they were the posse of the whole school or something like that. Ethan didn't see Jared, but he saw a huge crowd gathered in the school yard.
A crowd was gathering in the school's parking lot after classes. In the air, you could sense a fight coming.
People were starting to cheer for both fighters. Almost everyone was gathered around, squirming for a front–row spot to see the action.
Ethan was not interested in the fight but students trapped him in the front as they were gathering like cows in a herd. Anthony was backing away slowly, unaware that Ethan was getting nearly stampeded by the crowd.
"Hey!" Ethan shouted. "Move over!"
Instead of going out, he was going into the crowd. Finally, he stumbled into an opening where he caught a glimpse of the fighters.
One of them was a big, burly football player with huge sideburns and cold, daring green eyes and the other was ... Daniel!
"What the–"
The burly guy punched Daniel so hard his lip started to bleed. Daniel struggled to stay on his feet as he tried to punch him back. The football player caught Daniel's arm and twisted it, making Daniel fall on his knees.
Anger started to boil up inside Ethan. Even though he and Daniel were enemies, he still couldn't let him get his butt kicked like that. All of a sudden, Ethan smacked the burly guy right in the face, making him drop Daniel's hand and let Daniel waddle into the crowd.
All the girls started to go crazy once they saw their handsome Romeo stand up to the bully like that.
"Come on, meat sack!" Ethan snapped. "Is that all you can do? Fight like a man!"
The crowd went wild and so did the jock only in a different way. He tried to hit Ethan only Ethan dodged it like a snake and elbowed him in the stomach. Tired of games, the bulky jock tried to do the same maneuver as he had done on Daniel. For a while it seemed to work: Ethan did get his arm twisted. The only difference was that instead of falling on his knees, Ethan kicked the guy in his most sensitive area.
That's when Ethan lost control. He kept clobbering the jock once he saw that he had no more power to fight. His nose and his lips started to bleed and blood drops slipped down his cheeks.
The principal broke through the crowd just like he did at lunch, and grabbed Ethan's hands as he got him off of the jock with difficulty.
"Mr. Randall!" he cried. "In my office, now!" He glowered at the bleeding guy. "You too, young man! Get an ice pack from the nurse and meet me in my office as well!"
The whole crowd dissembled as Ethan caught sight of Anthony standing in the school doorway looking dazed and confused.
"What happened?" he mouthed silently.
Ethan lowered his gaze to the ground. All this time, he was trying to keep his cool but it always happened like that. He always lost control in the end.
The principal sighed with exasperation. All of this time, he wanted to know who started the fight. All he got from both of them was "I did."
"For God's sake, who started it?" he snapped.
"I did," Ethan replied.
"I did," the jock mumbled.
"That cannot happen! One of you had to punch the other first!"
Ethan still wouldn't give up. He still said that he was the guilty one.
"Fine," the principal sighed again. "Since you both did it, I will give you the same punishment. You are to stay in detention after school until four o'clock for two weeks, wiping chalkboards and taking gum off from desks. And at the end of each week, I will quiz you on all your subjects; and yes, those will count toward your final marks. Is that understood or do you want me to draw it out for you?"
"Yes, sir," they replied.
"And you, Mr. Randall, need to learn to control your temper! Such behavior is unacceptable in this school. I am trying my best to maintain discipline and if you intend to stop me from doing so, there will be serious consequences. Starting now!"
Once they were outside, the jock turned to Ethan.
"Why did you protect me?" he asked.
Ethan didn't answer.
"Thank you, anyway." He held out his hand but Ethan pushed it back.
"We still aren't friends," he warned. "Just because I said that I started it doesn't mean I am friendly. I was just telling the truth. I did start it. I did punch you first, didn't I?"
"Still, it was risky," the persistent boy continued. "He could have doubled your punishment or—or—"
"Look," Ethan interrupted, vexed. "Don't count on my friendship. You're not someone I'd stick up for. And I didn't stick up for you. I told the truth and that's that." He enunciated the last word harshly.
The boy just nodded and left.
Anthony jogged up to Ethan.
"What happened?" he questioned. "I saw the mob and I thought that some guys must be fighting but then I saw you were one of them."
"I don't want to talk about it." Ethan stopped and turned to face Anthony. "Look. I don't want to be rude or anything but could you please let me rest? I got into two quarrels today, one of them got bloody, and the principal slammed me with detention for the next two weeks, and quizzes and chalkboard wiping duty, not to mention gum plucking. I'm just not in the mood for juicy details, okay?"
"It's okay," Anthony smiled reassuringly. "I get it. You just want to be left alone. It's alright."
Ethan just spun on his heels and marched towards his street, leaving Anthony behind.
Ethan caught sight of Daniel stomping furiously on the road.
Daniel's jacket was slung over his shoulder, one hand in his pocket, keys jingling from inside. His face was nearly red—probably with anger or embarrassment from being rescued by the same guy that called him a puppy.
Ethan crossed over to the other side, running to catch up with him.
Daniel seemed to know that Ethan was behind him so he spun around saying, "I could have handled it myself."
Ethan cracked a little smile. "Not very friendly, are we?"
Daniel didn't seem one bit amused. "You couldn't just let me handle my own fight! You just had to get involved! I was going to give that guy what he deserves!"
"Sure you were. After you regained conscience!"
"You saying I can't take care of myself?"
"I know you can't take care of yourself."
"I don't give a damn about your opinion!" Daniel was so close to losing it.
"Why did you even want to fight him?" Ethan braced himself on the fence near the sidewalk. His attitude dimmed Daniel's, leaving only motes of anger in his system.
"He ... he ... he threatened another student," Daniel admitted. "I didn't even know who it was, but he said that he would beat the tar out of him right then and there. I–I–I couldn't let it happen! Some part of me was dreading being made fun of for standing up against what I usually did every day, finally admitting what I did was wrong ... but it felt right and that's what counted at that instant. And ... thank you for jumping in when I need it. I was helpless, that bully nearly beat my soul out of me."
Ethan then sighed. "You did the right thing. At least you had the courage to stand up against another Jared–wannabe. This brings me to another thing." He paused. "I take back what I said about you being a Jared–wannabe."
Daniel's eyes widened. "What?"
"You made me think twice about what I said at lunch," Ethan replied. "I guess that after what you just said, I had very good reasons to try and apologize."
"So, can we call it a truce?" Daniel suggested. His face was glittering with hope. "I don't want to hang out with Jared and his gang. They tend to pick on the weaker people. I guess it's their way of having fun." He held out his hand. "Please, Ethan? You can always count on me, I can promise you that."
Ethan locked his gaze on his hand and then glimpsed back at Daniel's face. Cautiously, he shook it, thinking it might be a trap. But after what Daniel has been through and his desire to change, Ethan decided to cut him some slack and give him a chance. Maybe someday, he might need Daniel's help and friendship.
Then they both walked to their houses.
Chapter Two
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!" Anthony bellowed in fury.It was a few days after the incident, all seemed calm—that is until Anthony discovered a little surprise in his back yard.
Ethan sprang out of his chair and hastened towards Anthony. "What?" he asked casually.
"I cannot believe this!" Anthony repeated. He pointed to a huge pile of sports equipment, all damaged and broken. "Jared?" Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"That jerk just tore apart all my sports equipment. That is a serious act of vandalism. I can sue him for that, can't I?" Anthony spun around and grabbed a black garbage bag. He placed all the damaged items into it and sighed. He closed it and then hoisted it on his shoulder. Then, Anthony made his way to the back porch and threw the bag on a bench.
Ethan leaned against the fence. "You can't really prove it was Jared," Ethan said rolling his eyes.
"You're right," Anthony agreed. "But I just know it was him! It had to be. He did it three times before, and I even saw him run down the street last time! He vowed he'd be back and when we ticked him off a few days ago at school—well, that might be a main reason why he would want to do this."
Ethan rolled his eyes again.
"Loosen up, Anthony. Last week, Jared battered my trashcans. I saw him running away too. I know how it feels to have your stuff destroyed. Let's just bring the equipment back to his house and let him throw it out. He'll have to explain to his parents why all of a sudden some damaged sport equipment ended up in his trashcans."
"Tonight?"
"Tonight," Ethan concluded.
Ethan and Anthony snuck up on Jared's back porch with the garbage bag behind them.
"Should we drop it here?" Anthony whispered.
"Sure," Ethan mouthed back. Once the bag was dropped, Ethan and Anthony heard a noise coming from the back door. They hid in the nearby bushes, trying hard not to make a sound.
A burly figure came out and gazed around. He then noticed the garbage bag. He picked it up and shook it, causing the contents to make a massive discord.
He then groaned, heaved the bag on his shoulder and cursed under his breath as he brought it inside for a closer look. Before closing the door, he glimpsed around to make sure no one was there and then cursed under his breath.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Cursed by Victoria Greene Copyright © 2012 by Victoria Greene. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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