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    Before Dawn: Book 2 - Bad Blood In Lobo Cliff
    Before Dawn: Book 2 - Bad Blood In Lobo Cliff
    Before Dawn: Book 2 - Bad Blood In Lobo Cliff
    Ebook175 pages1 hour

    Before Dawn: Book 2 - Bad Blood In Lobo Cliff

    By Rod Martinez

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    About this ebook

    There’s a secret in Lobo Cliff, Florida, a small town just miles from Tampa Bay. A quartet of fourth graders, all close friends, had discovered something in the woods that would haunt them for the rest of their lives - a secret only they knew about, until Mr. King shot it. Not only was the werewolf a friend, but before he was killed, each kid had inherited its curse, and now a newcomer to town, the new school principal, suspects. Something ain’t right in this town as he’s about to find out - and that discovery could cause serious repercussions to all who dwell in Lobo Cliff, and eventually – to the world. It’s up to the kids to stop him and they will give it all they have, even if it means losing it all, to keep the curse at home... in Lobo Cliff.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRod Martinez
    Release dateFeb 8, 2012
    ISBN9781465702104
    Before Dawn: Book 2 - Bad Blood In Lobo Cliff
    Author

    Rod Martinez

    Rod was born and raised in Tampa, Florida and was attracted to words at an early age. He wrote his first book "The Boy Who Liked To Read" (about himself) with construction paper and pencil in the grade school on his own – wasn't a class assignment. His teacher then decided to keep the masterpiece and show other students in class what they could do if they "applied" themselves. Later in life, Rod discovered comic books and was determined to work for Stan Lee once he was old enough. As a student in school he was taken to reading, writing and drawing and by high-school had completed several comic books of his own creation. It was his English teacher in high school that pulled him aside and told him "You should delve into short story writing, give the comic books a rest." He listened. Rod got into writing prose and fiction, but only as a part-time hobby, wasn't till his later adult years that he started to take it seriously, having written a middle-grade fiction adventure titled "The Juniors" (it was a challenge from his son) that was picked up by a publisher. He quickly decided that he wanted to do this for the rest of his life.

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      Book preview

      Before Dawn - Rod Martinez

      : BOOK 2 – BAD BLOOD IN LOBO CLIFF

      There’s a secret in Lobo Cliff, Florida, a small town just miles from Tampa Bay. A quartet of fourth graders, all close friends, had discovered something in the woods that would haunt them for the rest of their lives - a secret only they knew about, until Mr. King shot it. Not only was the werewolf a friend, but before he was killed, each kid had inherited its curse, and now a newcomer to town, the new school principal, suspects. Something ain’t right in this town and he’s on a quest to find out - and that discovery could cause serious repercussions to all who dwell in Lobo Cliff, and eventually – to the world. Not only do they have this investigation to worry about, but there’s another four legged guest in the woods, haunting their stomping grounds – and the Friends of Lobo Cliff will have none of it! It’s up to the kids to stop him and they will give it all they have, even if it means losing it all, to keep the curse at home… in Lobo Cliff.

      BEFORE DAWN: BOOK 2 – BAD BLOOD IN LOBO CLIFF

      Copyright 2012 Rod Martinez

      Smashwords Edition

      Cover and interior art by Robert Gustilo

      All Rights Reserved

      This book is dedicated to:

      My great-grandmother, who encouraged my creative spirit as a child

      BEFORE DAWN: BOOK TWO

      BAD BLOOD IN LOBO CLIFF

      CHAPTER 1:

      She felt the brisk wind crawl over her, and that was what woke her up. She lazily popped her head up from off the moist ground; Marcie was lying on the floor of the Lobo Cliff Forest, the woods that lie just on the border of the cul-de-sac where she lived. She got up, brushed the leaves off and heard the footsteps stomping on the grass toward her; someone was trying to reach her. It was morning and she knew she had to get up anyway. She turned a blurred eye.

      Marcie! Come on, we're going to miss the bus!

      Huh?

      Man you gotta stop sleeping outside, Marcie! It ain't natural!

      She got up, brushed her hair off and ran toward her house to get her book bag. Alex hopped up on her porch right behind her just when his best friend’s mother stepped out, pushing the squeaky screen door in front of her.

      Marcia, did you sleep out in the woods again? Girl, how many times..?

      Hi, Mrs. Kevons, top of the morning.

      He did that on purpose to stop her from yelling at her daughter, knowing it would slow them down.

      Hello, Alexander, dear. Are you two ready for the new principal in school today?

      Yeah, our teacher Mrs. Rivera told us to dress good and be on best behavior.

      Alex’s smile calmed the already jittery mom, who was dressed in scrubs for work. Marcie hopped out of the house with her backpack on and a pop tart in her mouth. She was brushing her hair as she pounced off the wooden porch.

      Let's go Alex, bye Mom.

      The two friends ran to the corner off the cul-de-sac.

      Marcie’s mom watched the two friends run off to the corner, then shook her head and let the screen door shut by itself as she went back in.

      I don’t know about that baby girl of mine. she whispered.

      The two were almost at the corner when Marcie started talking after her last bite of the blueberry toaster snack.

      Man this is going to be weird, she smacked, …Mr. James was our principal forever, and now we have to deal with some new guy.

      Yeah, I know. And they tell me he looks mean, too.

      Hey guys!

      Their two other nine year old friends ran up to them and the four came to the bus stop together. Though they’d known each other for years, this was only the second month of being in forth grade together.

      Hey Dorian, Fabian. Marcie smiled.

      Guys, the new principal starts today, I can't believe it, I'm still getting over Mr. James' death.

      "I know Fabian, everybody in town went to his funeral."

      Fabian is the nerd of the group, he never leaves anywhere without his trusted iPad in his sack. Though nerd is somewhat not the right description, since their adventure in the woods over a month ago, Fabian went through a change.

      I just don't know why they made like he was killed accidentally in a hunting accident.

      Well geez, Marcie, we already went over this. It made more sense to tell them that… than to tell them, the truth.

      The four friends stared around at each other… those last two words bounced around in their heads. "The truth; something even this group of fourth graders had a hard time battling with inside. The truth", the fact that their old beloved principal, Mr. James, was actually Santiago, the fabled werewolf who haunted the woods here in their neighborhood, something only they knew in secret. And they watched him get gunned down by Alex's father's boss in a failed attempt to bulldoze the woods. The other hired hands ran off in fright and left town, never to be heard from again and the boss ended up in the mental ward of Lobo Cliff General Hospital, leaving Alex's dad in charge of the company. The truth; the fact that before he was killed, the werewolf bit each of the kids turning them each into mini werewolves, and pleaded them into a pact to keep it secret from everyone else, and to take care of his family.

      Marcie and Alex took their new found powers in stride. They didn't want to give any hint of their secret. Dorian was just happy that being bitten by a werewolf saved him from a near death health issue, a rare blood disorder that almost killed him, but FabianRoss - or Fabian as he now wanted to be called - felt empowered by his new abilities. His choice in clothes changed, his hair style changed, he hardly even wore his glasses anymore.

      Hey guys, let's go howling in the woods tonight, huh?

      "Shh, Fabian! Geez man, we all agreed not to tell people about this."

      Come on Alex, we're like super heroes now. All these jokers have no idea what's going on, we should bite one person a night.

      Fabian, did Principal James go around biting people? He didn't even like the taste of humans, remember? He bit us only because I pleaded with him to, so we could save his family.

      And you see where that got him, Alex! I don't intend to go like he did. Face it guys we’re different than everybody else. You know how in the X-men movie, Magneto tells them all that mutants are above the human race? That’s how I feel, above the human race.

      Dorian shoved him against the old wooden fence.

      What's come over you Fabian!?

      The thin framed honor roll student pushed Dorian off him, and then put his finger in his face.

      Dorian, all my life I've been the geek, the nerd, the kid no one played with, no one listened to, no one even bothered to look at in school. Now that's changed. I'm not a geek anymore, people notice me. I have confidence, it gives me power, I don’t know about you guys, but I like this. The kids in school don’t even know how I changed or why, but they do notice… and it feels good.

      Dude, that's cool and all, but you don't have to let it get to your head, this is supposed to be a secret, we're not going to turn this town into a bunch of werewolves. Does that even make sense to you? Think, Fabian, think! Alex said standing next to him.

      The bus drove up and other kids walked up to the corner. Marcie walked in first, and Fabian was right behind her. He stopped, looked the bus driver up and down, and then smiled.

      Tasty. he smirked.

      Dorian smacked him on the back of the head and Marcie grabbed his arm, pulling him to the second seat behind her.

      CHAPTER 2:

      Walking into class, the four friends took their seats. Mrs. Rivera walked up to Dorian.

      Dorian, te sientes bien?

      Yes Mrs. Rivera, I'm feeling ok. It’s hard to believe, but I'm really not sick anymore, you know?

      I know, Dorian. I just can't get over how well you've gotten over your illness. We all were sure we would be attending your funeral, but we were so glad to know you were Ok. It was like a miracle.

      More than you know, Mrs. R. Fabian smirked, …ow!

      Marcie smacked him on the back of his head. The bell rang and they took their seats, just when a tall, thin man walked into the classroom. He was in a suit and tie and his hair was combed back, clearly showing his receding hairline. Fabian gave him the once over, staring him from head to toe, he was the history buff in the class and the man reminded him of a young, thin Richard Nixon, the former

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