Strange Angels 1-14

Ok so I didn't do this book chapter by chapter and for this book it's pretty ok to do that.

See the chapters in this book are pretty short. We're talking about eight to maybe fifteen pages if you're lucky. It was really easy to get to chapter 15.

From chapter one you're introduced to a relatively normal sixteen-year-old girl. From the synopsis it's pretty hard to believe, I know. Dru worries about the same things we did in high school, hair, make up a female body, you know the usual lol.

Here's the difference: her father and her hunt things that go bump in the night. I know, I know, that line is so cliche but it's true. Lili St. Crow calls it different stuff but it's basically the same. They hunt vampires (suckers) and werewolfs (werewulf) and other random demons and nasties.

Dru's always been the assistant, never the brains or brawn of the duo. But when her dad busts through her kitchen door a zombie, Dru has to act fast. It's hard to kill your own dad even though it's not really him anymore. Somehow she does and leaves him rotting on their frozen living room floor. Dru never turned the heat on the night before while she was waiting for her dad to come home from his hunt.

With her father dead, what will she do now? Enter her new "friend", Graves. She made his acquaintance the first time she skipped school. He gave her a normal place to be at rest for a few hours. Except now she couldn't afford any type of normal. She was digesting killing her father, her father turning into a zombie. The biggest one was that she killed him. When Graves sat in front of her at the mall's food court, his company was not welcome.

Thankfully though he didn't pay attention to her attitude. Graves bought her food and gave her a place to hole up for a while.  Oh yeah and he did this with no questions asked. The break only lasted for a day though, come night time again trouble had found her again.

A burning dog "the size of a shetland pony" had found her in the mall. Thankfully it was after closing time and there was no one there but her and Graves but Graves had gone to someplace else in the mall. Dru had no idea what this thing was, nothing that they had ever encountered before with her dad.

While trying to dodge it she runs into a dumbfound Graves. The burning dog drowns in the mall fountain and behind Graves is a werewulf. Dru raises her gun to fire too slow and it attacks Graves. Sadly it bites him in the shoulder. She fires again and blows out the wolf's jaw, buying her time to get Graves and run.

Think Dru, think. She can' stay in the mall, she has an injured boy that's loosing a lot of blood and going in shock. Oh yeah and he can turn anytime within twelve hours because he was bit and "infected". Dru forces herself to go to the only place that will offer them any shelter: Her house. You know the one where she just shot her dad.

Once they got there and it was a long journey, Dru was so tired she wasn't thinking straight. She striped them both down to underwear and huddled under her blanket in her room. Classic way to fight hypothermia.

Of course she wakes up first and instantly starts thinking again. Need to tie Graves up, wipe down more and get something in her stomach. She wasn't impressed with the plan but it was all she had. If Graves changed she'd be in trouble and more than likely dead. Better to be safe and tie him up.

She wipes down, eats cereal and tried to think about what comes next when Graves wakes up. Needless to say it was an interesting scene, or it would have been for them if she hadn't had the gun in her hand the whole time she was asking questions. The last one asking if he's a virgin and the gun to his head. Yeah, Dru traumatized the poor boy. Satisfied though she untied him and went back downstairs.

So here's where we are in the book now. Graves comes to the conclusion that Dru isn't all that bad and sticks around to help her and asks her twenty questions about what's really out there. Dru is still trying to figure out what to do next. Though having someone with her that isn't abandoning her....at least yet makes her feel a little better.

The burning question in her right now is who hurt her dad and turned him into a zombie because it WAS done on purpose. This was no accident.

First Days are Horrible- Chapter Six

Yeah Sydney's day may have started off great but like most first days of school they take a turn for the worst. Think about. When have you had a great first day of school?

The first day of school you worry about how you're dressed and where you'll end up, where your friends will end up. It never goes completely smooth. 

In Sydney's case though, she was homeschooled her whole life so this experience is even more foreign to her then Jill or Eddie because though they are coming from a Private school, they still had to be social with others. 

The dress at Amberwood is about the same as Sydney wears day to day as an Alchemist so the uniform doesn't bother her in the least. Jill on the other hand detests it, as any girl used to wearing her own style would say lol. 

Jill and Eddie were easily placed in classes while it was Sydney the poor girl that was hard to place. With her being homeschooled she knew everything. However with this being a cover up and all, the Alchemists had her records faked and she had to take mostly classes that she already knew. The counselor mentioned she had to take a course in forgein language and that was Sydney's line. When she told the woman that she spoke five languages fluently, of course she wanted Sydney to take the tests to prove it. 

Sydney became a teacher's pet in her Ancient History class. She loves the topic and the sub-topics were things that her father had felt that she didn't need to know but loved to learn about. Many of the topics, Sydney had taught herself in what down time she had from the Alchemists. 

Here's one of the best parts about this chapter, you get the definition of an Alchemist plus how it relates to the book. For once I'll quote the book. 

"The Alchemists had arisen in the Middle Ages as 'magical scientists' trying to turn lead into gold. From those early experiments, they'd gone on to discover the special properties of vampire blood and how it reacted with other substances, eventually branching out into the crusade to keep vampires and humans separate from one another."

I think that it's amazing how an author can combine their fictional world with actual facts and actually be clear. Some can't mix the two and have a clear definition. 

Now here is where we also add another layer of mystery in the plot. Everyone keeps staring at Sydney's tattoo on her face. All Alchemists have one to keep them from talking about the Alchemists and their duties. The two girls that Sydney actually talks to so far actually asks her what it does. Weird question to ask about a tattoo don't you think? 

A Tattoo doesn't do anything but look good. When Sydney asks why they would ask that type of question.....go figure bell rings, time to go back to class. On top of that quizzical conversation, Jill seems to be missing. Not trying to cause a stir, Sydney asked her P.E teacher where her 'sister' might be. All she could tell her was that she was sent to her dorm. 

Try not to laugh on this one, Jill was sent back to her dorm before first period even ended for.....you ready?....For having a hangover. Now Sydney had been with Jill all night, they're roommates after all and Sydney even got up to check on Jill once during the night. Jill was sound asleep. 

However if you were to look at the girl you would think the exact same thing. The only thing she asked of Sydney was to take her to Adrian. Now Sydney had stood up for the girl saying she would go fight her case for her but Jill didn't want that, just Adrian. 

Oh yeah and to not tell Eddie about the trip because for some reason he would flip out. 

So lets just recap the mysteries we have in only six chapters:

*Why Jill is so tightly bound to Adrian?

*Why Sydney's tattoo is such a big deal?

*And why is Eddie so nervous around his roommate, Micah?

Three mysteries in six chapters, will there be more lol