New Beginnings: The Final Volume

The final volume in the Dark Love Series begins where volume 7 left off. Bella's fate in Maven's hands is determined. Bella's life takes an unexpected turn when Maven sets her evil plan into place.

The Dark Love Vampire Series

New Beginnings

The Final Volume

Ella Price

This book is a work of fiction, and does not
represent real events. Characters, names, places, and incidents are works of the
authors imagination and do not depict any real event, or person living or dead.

Copyright © 2014 by Ella Price

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or
distributed in any printed or electronic form.

First Edition: January 2014

Cover by AEPBOOKCOVERS.COM

Prologue

I
could have fought, but I didn’t see what I had to gain. My friends would die.
They were really my only reason for living at this point. I had fought so hard
to keep them alive, and now it came down to them or me. I chose them. Of course
I chose them; without them there was no me. I was nobody. I had so much power,
and I was absolutely nothing without my friends. I had put them all through
enough. I was ready to surrender. I had enough. Enough of the lies and the
battles.

“Why
so down? You got what you wanted. Your friends are alive. It isn’t as if they
cared about you anyway. They thought you were dead and they all moved on,”
Maven said as she watched her henchmen chain me. She was thoroughly enjoying
herself.

“If
I got what I wanted you would be dead,” I countered watching her. I still
despised her. It was impossible for me to disguise it. I wouldn’t mind watching
her suffer and die in agony; but it appeared I would never see it.

She
laughed and it was high pitched cackle. “Unfortunately for you; you won’t have
the pleasure of ever seeing me die.” Just the sound of her voice made me
angrier. I could feel my rage just below the surface. It was suffocating; but I
couldn’t do anything. I surrendered for them. I had to keep telling myself
that.

I
looked away refusing to play her game. I wouldn’t fight. I would rather die;
then cause my friends anymore harm. Her two goons finished chaining me. They
lifted me and shoved me into a coffin. I hated coffins, but I refused to show
any emotion. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

“Ah
there you are Nina,” Maven said happily. “Do your thing; make her forget. I
don’t even want her to have her memories to hold on to.”

I
swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my mouth shut. Maybe it was better
this way. Maybe not remembering anything would make this less painful. Then
again it could make it torture because I wouldn’t know why I was there in the
first place. “Why not do it yourself, you coward? You are a witch,” I said
trying to keep Maven talking.

She
laughed. “Because your friends would come after me. If they don’t know what
witch did it, that is if they ever do happen to find you, they won’t know where
to look. I will be the only one that can tell them; so if they ever kill me
they can’t help you.”

She
was right. They wouldn’t know where to look. She was trying to make sure I
would suffer. I didn’t say anything else. There was nothing else to say. A
woman that looked a lot like Rita looked down at me. She held her hand just
above my head and started speaking in a language I didn’t understand.

Maven
sighed as she looked down at me. “Well Bella I suppose this is goodbye. It
really is a shame. You were one of my greatest adversaries. It is too bad you
have so much of a heart.” She made a motion with her hand and the lid was
brought down and locked into place. This was it; I was trapped. I closed my
eyes as a warm tingling sensation came over me; then everything went black.

Three Weeks Later….

“Bella
wake up. You are no longer on summer vacation. School starts today and you are
going to be late,” my mother chided.

I
groaned and looked at the ceiling. I wasn’t looking forward to college. I
wished the summer hadn’t gone so fast. This last summer with my grandmother was
a blur. I didn’t remember much of it. My mother said after the car accident I
forgot much of the summer. I was in a coma for a week, and they didn’t think I
would recover; but here I was two weeks later getting ready for college. My
mother had moved to a new town, and I had forgotten all of it. I decided to
quit procrastinating. I climbed out of bed and went to shower. I could already
tell it was going to be a very long day.

After
I dressed I walked downstairs. My mother smiled at me as she set a plate of
pancakes on the table. “Why are you so happy?” I asked as I sat down.

“I
am just glad I get to see you go to college after everything.” I could see her
eyes start to tear up.

I
hated when she did this. I know I was in an accident and all, but sometimes she
acted like I died. “Mom I’m fine. I promise,” I muttered.

She
sniffled. “I know. I am just happy.”

I
attempted to eat in silence, but my mother was watching me like she was worried
I would just fall over or something. “What?” I asked starting to get slightly
annoyed.

She
waved her hand as she stood. “Nothing, just finish your breakfast and be
careful going to school.”

I
nodded and she walked off to do whatever it was she did all day. I finished
breakfast as quickly as possible. I didn’t want my mother to decide to come
back out and make me uncomfortable. I grabbed my bag and walked toward the
door. “Bye mom,” I called.

“Bye
honey. Be careful,” she called back.

I
shook my head and walked outside. Luckily the college was in walking distance
so I didn’t need a car. I missed my Camaro, but apparently I totaled it. I was
glad I didn’t remember the accident. If there was one thing that would have
broken my heart it would have been the fact that my car was demolished.

The
campus was huge, but I had been here a little less than a week ago, so I knew
how to navigate it pretty well. Unfortunately one of my first classes was
European history. I found the classroom and my seat pretty easily. I looked
around at all the other bored looking students. I wasn’t exactly looking
forward to this class, but it was better than my other options. The door opened
and the professor came in. A murmur went through the room. The professor had
all the girl’s attention. I could see why. He was tall and slim. He looked
elegant in a way. His hair was longer and curled. I was sitting near the back
of the room so I couldn’t tell what color his eyes were. Just looking at him
made my skin tingle. It was like I had seen him somewhere before, but I didn’t
quite remember where.

“I
am Professor Alexander Lockwood and I am looking forward to guiding you through
European History,” he said as he looked the class over.

Just
the sound of his voice made me shift nervously. His eyes landed on me and I
quickly looked away. I wasn’t the type of girl to get all mushy over a guy. I
didn’t really understand why it was happening to me now. I pushed the feeling
away and started to scan through my textbook. He had the entire class in a
trance as he spoke. It was odd, but I continued to try to ignore it. His gaze
made me uncomfortable, and I made it a point to keep my eyes down.

I
was never so relieved to be out of that classroom. It seemed stifling, and it
was hard to focus. It wasn’t exactly the best start to what was turning out to
be a very long day. I walked toward my chemistry class hoping that this teacher
would be either ugly or female. 

“Hey
wait up,” a male voice called from behind me.

I
hesitated and looked behind me. A really good looking guy hurried toward me. He
had ruffled black hair and he was tan. He had a tribal tattoo covering one arm
and disappearing under his tight black tee shirt. I got the same odd sensation
that I did when I looked at my professor. “Do I know you?” I asked confused.

He
hesitated then smiled nervously. “No, I saw you in class and I thought I would
come meet you. My name is James,” he said offering his hand.

“Bella,”
I replied then turned and started walking toward class.

“So
are you new in town?” he asked catching up to me.

I
watched him. I wasn’t entirely sure what to think about him. He didn’t look
like he belonged here. “No it’s my first day of college, and I’m late for my
chemistry class.” I was trying to brush him off politely, but he wasn’t giving
up.

“I
have chemistry too. Maybe w63++6*-6+e could sit together,” he offered looking
hopeful.

I
sighed. “Ya sure,” I muttered as I walked into the classroom. I felt a little
off today. I felt like someone was watching me. I also felt like I knew the
professor and James. I just couldn’t place them. We took our seats near the
back of the class. I glanced at James and he smiled. “Are you sure we haven’t
met?” I asked again hoping maybe he would say we had.

“Nope
never met. I just moved here,” he said and smiled.

“Oh,”
I said quietly and pulled my chemistry book out. The classroom was getting
crowded and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. The professor came in
and I watched him. I knew him, I know I did I just couldn’t figure out from
where.

“You
ok?” James asked from beside me. He sounded worried like he thought there was
something wrong with me.

I
glanced at him then nodded. “Yes I’m fine,” I muttered.

“Quiet
down all of you. My name is Michael Dorian. You may call me Professor Dorian.”
His tone was clipped and I shifted nervously. I recognized his voice, his
facial expression, everything about him, but I couldn’t place him.

My
head started to ache. I was trying to remember and it was starting to hurt.
Maybe I was just going crazy. After the accident I had been having odd
sensations. I would hear or see something and I would feel like I should
remember something, but there was nothing there. My doctors all said it was
from the accident. A drop of blood fell on the page of my text book. I cussed
in annoyance. My nose was starting to bleed again. Whenever I got the headaches
I would get the nose bleeds. I grabbed a napkin out of my bag and pressed it to
my nose.

“You
ok?” James asked looking worried.

I
nodded. “I am going to the bathroom,” I said slightly annoyed. I stood and
quickly left before he could ask me anymore questions.

In
the bathroom I stood and waited for the bleeding to stop. This wasn’t going to
work. Maybe I wasn’t ready for college. Maybe I was stressed, and that was what
all this was. The door opened and I glanced up.

It
was a girl around my age. She had red hair and she looked like one of the
bookworm types. I got the same odd feeling from her as I did from the others. I
was really starting to feel like I was losing my mind.  “Hi, I’m Lexi.
Professor Dorian sent me to check on you,” she said softly.

My
nose started pouring blood again as my head ached. “I’m fine just leave me
alone,” I growled as I tried to stop the bleeding. She quickly left the
bathroom. I took deep breathes and my headache eased. I didn’t want to be here.
I wanted to go home. I got my nose to quit bleeding and I quickly walked toward
the exit. I wasn’t ready for this. It was too soon after the accident.

I
opened the door to my house and walked in. My mother was waiting for me. “Oh
thank god. Are you ok?” she asked sounding worried.

“I’m
fine,” I said quietly.

“Your
professor called the house and said you left in the middle of class. He was
worried about you and he wanted to make sure you were ok,” she said as she
watched me.

I
looked at her confused. “Why would he care? I had a stupid nosebleed and I
wanted to come home. I should have never even tried to go,” I muttered as I
hurried up the stairs. I walked into my room and tossed my bag aside. I sat on
the bed and took a deep breath. I walked over and closed the blinds. The
sunlight spilling through was annoying me. I flopped down on the bed. I felt
like I was going crazy.