Stormy Knight- Prom Queen of the Undead Read online

  "With a nod to Buffy, this whimsical chick-lit urban fantasy is an entertaining tale due to the heroine who wants to live life as an ordinary teen, but fate keeps forcing her to use her paranormal skills to perform good deeds. A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine, and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character-driven charmer." -- Harriet Klausner

  Stormy Knight

  Prom Queen of the Undead

  By Shannon Duffy & John Zakour

  Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead

  by Shannon Duffy & John Zakour

  ISBN: 0975509594 / ISBN-13: 9780975509593

  ©2011 All Rights Reserved

  Published in 2011 by Blue Leaf Publications

  “A New Leaf in the Publishing Industry…”

  Website: http://www.BlueLeafPub.com

  Edited by Dehanna Bailee & Kate Blackham

  Proofreading by H. J. Harding

  Photo credit to Dakota Duffy

  Cover illustration by Saxon Erdman http://moonkittyproductions.tumblr.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be produced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book, except for the minimum number of words needed for review.

  Every effort was made in the production of this work to avoid errors, but some mistakes are unavoidable. Readers are encouraged to submit information on any errors they discover.

  Chapter 1

  Standing over first base, Stormy rocked back on her heels and then forward onto her toes. She pounded her hand into her softball mitt. Her team, Littleton High, was up by one run, but Northville had bases loaded and only one out. It was going to be a close one—especially seeing how Northville’s best slugger, Cindy Cheeks, was up to bat. At almost six-foot tall, the rumor was Cindy wanted to play linebacker on the boy’s football team but they wouldn’t let her because she hit too hard.

  Cindy pounded the plate once with her bat, sending dirt flying. She glanced Stormy’s way and grinned.

  “Okay team, two more outs,” Coach Paul yelled from the dugout.

  The ball flew from the pitcher’s hand.

  Cindy, being over anxious, swung early, hitting a lazy ground ball to the shortstop. The shortstop scooped up the ball, bobbled it just a bit, then touched second base for the force out before she whipped the ball towards first, going for the double play to end the game.

  Stormy stretched out to meet the ball.

  Cindy chugged toward first, like a moose—just not as graceful.

  Wham! The ball hit Stormy’s mitt.

  It appeared that Cindy knew the game was over so now figured she might as well take Stormy out with her. Lowering her head, she zeroed in on Stormy. Onlookers didn’t need to understand Newton’s laws of motion to know that this was about to get ugly.

  Cindy and Stormy collided.

  Stormy remained standing, no more bothered than if a fly had hit her.

  Cindy didn’t fare so well; she went bouncing off Stormy and fell over backwards. She hit the ground with an impressive thud, and lay there stunned.

  The dust cleared; the fans gasped, “Wow! Is she all right?” “How’d she do that?”

  “Sorry about that.” Stormy bent down to offer Cindy a hand. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength…” but Cindy was still too dazed to take Stormy’s offer. (Not that she would have anyhow.)

  The Northville coach ran over to the still-confused Cindy. “Are you all right?”

  “Did you get the number of that wall that hit me?” Cindy asked.

  A couple of Stormy’s teammates, Carol and Kathy, rushed to her side.

  “Stormy, are you okay?” Carol asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  Kathy pointed at the still prone Cindy. “You were trying to hurt Stormy on purpose!”

  A couple of Cindy’s teammates heard the shouting and ran over to Cindy.

  “Hey! Leave our captain alone!” one of them shouted.

  “Yeah, she just plays hard,” another added.

  “Ladies,” Northville’s Coach barked, frantically trying to calm the situation, “the game is over.”

  But none of the girls were listening. And more girls from both teams were now racing over. This had the potential to be a full scale bench-clearing brawl. Making matters worse, some of the parents in the stands were starting to get upset.

  Stormy knew she had to do something or this would get ugly. Really ugly. Yet, there wasn’t a lot a normal girl could do to stop this impending scrap—luckily Stormy wasn’t a normal girl…

  * * * *

  It all started a little over sixteen years ago…when Stormy’s dad, Sidney, was a letter carrier for the Littleton Post Office. Other than being chased by the occasional dog, he found the job to be mostly boring, so to liven up his life, he started dabbling in magic as a hobby. Nothing on a grand scale, mind you; just a bit of tinkering here and there in his basement, completely unaware of how dangerous dealing with magic could be.

  And it was on one lonely Saturday night that Sidney decided he needed a date (not that all his other Friday and Saturday nights were any less lonely), so he figured he would try his hand at conjuring up the perfect companion. He referenced a spell, albeit badly, that he had found in a very old magician’s journal he’d bought the summer before at a local county library book sale.

  “As night falls upon me,” he recited,

  “I bend down on one knee

  Oh Great Spirit, great powers that be

  Grant me one wish. One lover from thee

  As I send up my energy

  Please allow us to form perfect synergy

  Sweet is the sound

  That comes from the wind

  I call for you love

  Once and again

  Send a woman to eat me good.”

  It was not until right after he muttered the last line he realized there was a breadcrumb from the sandwich he had just been eating covering the letters of a word.

  “Uh oh,” he gulped.

  The last line should have been: “Send a woman to treat me good…”

  Pop!

  “I’m so hungry!” a sultry voice said from behind him.

  Sidney turned to find the most beautiful woman he had even seen. She had long blonde hair that draped loosely, almost playfully, over her shoulders. Her eyes were big, green and soulful; her skin was creamy and her complexion smooth.

  Sidney took a step backward, hand on his heart. “Who are you?”

  “I am Candi.” The woman smiled; two of her corner teeth were longer and sharper than the others. “Queen of all Vampires.”

  Sidney gave her a polite bow. “I am Sidney...”

  Candi took a step forward, licking her lips.

  “…Sidney Knight, of the US postal service.”

  Candi froze. “Excuse me?”

  “Uh, Sidney; Sidney Knight of the US postal service,” he repeated.

  It was unfortunate that no one had ever told Sidney about an old legend that said that when an extraordinary vampire queen met an ordinary human being they would create an extraordinary child; because at about 5 foot 10 inches, with a bit of a stomach and starting to lose his hair, Sidney couldn’t be more ordinary if he tried.

  “So Sidney, Sidney Knight,” Candi smiled, putting her arm around him, “what do you do for fun?”

  Sidney gazed up at her. He had never seen such a beautiful and powe
rful being. “Do you like bowling?”

  She did.

  So they went bowling. He bowled a 155. She bowled a 299.

  And the rest was history.

  Strange history, but history nonetheless. Candi and Sidney had fallen in love—kind of like beauty and the beast except that, in this case, they were both the same person. Months later, Stormy was born. Having gotten what she wanted out of the deal, Candi returned to her realm knowing that her daughter was in good hands and although Sidney didn’t want Candi to go, he knew a supernatural being like Candi would never be happy living in ordinary Littleton.

  Since Stormy was the daughter of the Queen of the Vampires and a mortal magic user (albeit not a very good one), she had all the perks of being a vampire without any of the quirks. Well, without most. Seemed she still sunburned easily and eating garlic really upset her stomach. Luckily, there was sunscreen and her keen senses helped her to avoid any foods with garlic.

  But what Stormy did have was the strength of ten men, agility that would make Spiderman envious, and all her senses, even her sixth one, incredibly heightened. She could, if she was in the right mood, dominate the minds of those around her. Plus Stormy had exceptional magic skills, even though she rarely used them. And to top it off, Stormy had absolutely no blood lust. True she could probably drink blood or absorb energy if she wanted to. It’s just that, well, she preferred tea.

  In her heart, all that Stormy wanted was to be normal and to fit in—of course, Stormy was smart enough to realize there were times when having some of the powers of a vampire queen came in handy.

  For instance, when your teammates were about to get into a fight with an opposing team…

  * * * *

  More and more players from both sides were racing out onto the field. Kathy and Carol had squared off with a couple of Northville girls and all were pushing each other back and forth with open hand shoves. Other girls were pointing fingers and shouting towards the potential brawl. Cindy was back to her feet and blaming Stormy for not getting hurt when she crashed into her. Northville’s coach was trying to get his body between Cindy and Stormy, but was having a difficult time holding the larger girl back. Coach Paul darted back and forth to keep as many girls separated as he could.

  Stormy had to stop this fast. She didn’t like using her powers on people, but if she didn’t use her calming voice lots of people could get hurt.

  Stormy took a deep breath, and another—then out of the corner of her eye, she thought she spotted a short male figure running towards her. Maybe it was some Northville nut trying to blindside her; it made her angry. Focusing on the figure, she noticed he didn’t look right. Yes, he did look about her age, but outside of that he was nothing like anybody she had ever seen. For starters, his red hair was cut short and straight and he was wearing an old, faded jacket with a big ‘L’ on it. He almost looked like he belonged in one of those old black and white movies her dad loved to watch. And if that wasn’t strange enough, he was also transparent.

  The young male rushed up to Stormy, passing right through Cindy and her coach.

  “Hi,” he said to Stormy.

  Stormy remained silent. Could anyone else see what she was seeing?

  “My name’s Kenny,” the boy said. “And until a few minutes ago I was dead. But I don’t like this. It’s too noisy and too crazy. Will you kill me again? Please?”

  Stormy had never seen a ghost, but that didn’t mean she didn’t recognize one when she saw it.

  “Get out of here!” she shouted without even thinking about it. It wasn’t that she was mad or angry at the ghost; it was just that he startled her because, even if she was only half mortal, it wasn’t like ghost encounters were a part of her everyday life.

  The ghost looked down at his feet. “Okay, I see you are busy right now…” then he faded away.

  “What do you mean, get out of here!?” Cindy yelled back, breaking free of her coach and lunging at Stormy. “You ain’t the boss of me, Stormy Knight!”

  Stormy stepped to the side, dodging Cindy, who fell flat on her face. She knew she had to collect herself fast. She didn’t know what Cindy would try next.

  “Everybody be calm,” Stormy said in her calming voice, using the nice hypnotic tone her mom had taught her. Being half vampire does have its benefits.

  The second she said the words, Kathy, Carol and the other Northville girls stopped shoving each other. They turned to Stormy.

  “We are calm,” they all said.

  “Good,” Stormy said with a smile. “Now shake hands. The game is over.”

  Kathy and Carol started to shake hands with the Northville girls.

  Cindy Cheeks stood up then walked over to Stormy and smiled.

  “Good game.” Cindy held out her hand.

  Stormy shook Cindy’s hand and grinned. Yes, there were times it was good to be part vampire.

  However, all the while, Cindy’s cousin, Rosey Cheeks, had been watching from the sidelines. An interesting girl, Rosey was tall and slim with short, black hair, brown eyes, and a smooth peach complexion. Everybody thought she was pretty. The only problem was, at least in Rosey’s eyes, that everybody else thought Stormy was prettier and while they would never tell her this to her face, she knew it and it ate away at her like termites on wood.

  The fact was, Rosey could never be happy if Stormy was happy.

  As the team started to come back off the field, Rosey raced over to the dugout to complain. “Coach Paul, Stormy wasn’t a very good sport with that last play.”

  “Rosey, I really don’t think Stormy is to blame, Cindy was just a little too well…overzealous with her—”

  “Before you say anything else,” Rosey pointed at Coach Paul, “let me remind you that my mom is the mayor of this town.”

  “Don’t worry, Rosey.” Coach Paul sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that your mother Mandy is the mayor and that your other mom, Barb, is the county sheriff.”

  “Yes, and I’m sure my parents would be VERY upset to learn that their niece got hurt at one of our games and the person responsible wasn’t punished. Plus, I am pretty certain I heard Stormy yell at my cousin to ‘get out.’” Rosey folded her arms across her chest and tapped a foot rapidly. “And I don’t think that is good sportsmanship at all.”

  The coach shook his head. “Fine. I will talk to Stormy.”

  Rosey smiled. “Good.”

  “Stormy,” Coach hollered across the field, “please see me in my office before you head home today.”

  “Sure, Coach. No problem. Just give me a few minutes to grab my stuff from my locker.” Stormy trotted off the field and into the gym.

  As she was making her way to the locker room, Stormy was intercepted by Miss Hunter, the science teacher. She was a tall, slim woman with long auburn hair and a dark complexion. She wore glasses that blended into her face so perfectly they helped make her look professional. She was so young looking and peppy that more than one freshman had mistaken her for a fellow student.

  “Mind if I walk with you?” Miss Hunter asked.

  “No, not at all.” Stormy shrugged.

  “Good,” Miss Hunter said with a smile. “As you may know I am facility advisor to the prom.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard that,” Stormy said as they continued walking.

  Miss Hunter leaned toward Stormy. “Well, as you also may know, ever since the year when Dylan Jackson was nominated for and won prom queen without his knowledge, it’s been school policy to inform all nominees that they have been selected as a candidate for prom queen.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Stormy said. “But how does this involve me?”

  Miss Hunter stopped. “Because, Stormy, you’ve been nominated.”

  “What?!” Stormy dropped the baseball equipment she’d been carrying.

  Miss Hunter nodded. “Yes, you’ve been nominated. And not by just one person. Lots of them.”

  Stormy thought about what this all meant. On one hand she was flattered, very flattered.
What girl wouldn’t be? But the thing was, she didn’t want to be prom queen. It wasn’t her style. Plus, if by chance Stormy did win, it would really eat away at Rosey Cheeks and Stormy knew Rosey would then proceed to do everything in her power to make her life miserable.

  “Miss Hunter, I’m honored but I think I am going to pass.”

  Miss Hunter’s smile faded. “But, why?”

  “Well, for one, I hadn’t really planned on even going.”

  “What were you going to do?”

  “I don’t know; maybe go bowling with some friends.”

  Miss Hunter looked at Stormy. “Ah, well, bowling is fun too, but this is the prom. It’s a once in a lifetime event.”

  “But don’t they have the prom every year?” Stormy asked.

  “Yes, of course,” Miss Hunter said, “however each one is so unique that it makes it a once in a lifetime experience.”

  Stormy thought another minute then shook her head. “I’m sorry, Miss Hunter, but I think I’m just going to respectfully decline.”

  * * * *

  Stormy changed out of her uniform and then hung her lucky socks back in her locker. She really didn’t need a lucky anything, but out of a matter of habit on her quest to just to fit in, she opted for lucky socks.

  Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she headed to Coach Paul’s office—actually, calling it an office was a bit of a stretch. It was more like a broom closet by the gym with a desk and two chairs shoved into it.

  “You wanted to see me, Coach?” Stormy walked into the room.

  “Yeah, Stormy. About what just happened out there on the field, I’m not going to yell at you or anything, but for the sake of keeping Rosey’s moms at bay—”

  “I know, Coach,” Stormy interrupted. “And I don’t want you to lose your job.”

  “It’s just that I had to at least make it look like I…”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Coach Paul suddenly froze as Stormy’s mom, Candi, appeared. Even if she weren’t a vampire queen, most would have been dazed by her sheer beauty. She was clothed in a short red dress that was slit down the middle and at both sides—the kind of dress you needed to be very confident about your body to wear, which Candi was. And with good reason. If there were any flaws in her figure, they couldn’t be seen by humans or half-humans.