Excerpt of Moonlight Mayhem by Sherry Soule

My body relaxed for the first time in weeks without the fear of demon blood infecting me with Darkness. Or a portal to the Underworld opening up under my feet. Or ghosts inhabiting my body. No, I was just a normal teen like the others here tonight. At least that's what I kept telling myself as I sat slouching in the back booth at Luna Pizza along with my BFF, Ariana Parsons, while we both critiqued the band, especially the bass player but not the seriously cute lead singer. I propped my cheek on my fist and sighed, watching the other kids dancing. The loud music, a thudding hum inside my chest.

Summer vacation had ended and we were already a week into our junior year. School was good. Normal. Something I'd missed a bunch, after months spent dealing with the paranormal.

No demons around to vanquish, or evil witch covens to break up. Nope—I was back to being an ordinary teenage girl. Well, almost normal. If you didn't count the whole prophesied Thirteenth Daughter thing. Which I was conveniently ignoring.

"I can't believe summer's over. No more sleeping in," Ariana said around a mouthful of pizza. "When is Thanksgiving break?"

I smiled. "Already counting down the days?" I stretched my legs under the table, getting a peek at my boots—ankle–high pink Doc Martens, useful for everything from partying to kicking ass—and looked around. Ari was right. Mostly teens dressed in summer attire: tanks, halter–tops, and shorts. Some girl in a super short skirt was giving the band's singer the you're–so–hot–I–could–die look.

"Duh." Ariana wiped her mouth with a napkin and gestured to the room. Flaxen hair hung in wild curls past her shoulders, and wide blue eyes stared blatantly at me. "If ya haven't noticed, I'm not the only one with summertime blues. Most of the junior class is here tonight. It's our duty as teenagers to have as much fun as possible before summer officially ends."

During the month of September, the weather remained muggy and hot. A mixture of jocks and cheerleaders had clustered in a booth near the band. Stuck to a bulletin board, notices for missing people flapped in the air–conditioned draft. In this town, a lotta crazy stuff happened—including teens who'd never runaway disappearing in the dead of the night. The restaurant's decor resembled a typical pizza parlor, with old street signs and framed movie posters on the walls. Luna Pizza was an all–ages venue for live music. Every teen in town hung out here. The bands were rockin'. The pizza was even better.