Young Writers Society

Prologue

A dark shape crouched in front of me, not five feet away, barring my path. I could see its unfamiliar human face, beautiful and deadly, its human hands, shaking slightly, and its human body, tensed to spring. But its yellow, glowing eyes weren’t human. They were unmistakably the eyes of a hungry and triumphant predator.

And I was the prey.

Frozen into immobility, I tried to force my feet to move, to put distance between me and those cold, merciless eyes, but I couldn’t seem to do it. I couldn’t work up enough breath to scream. ‘Deer in the headlights’, came into my mind, and I laughed humorlessly in my head, knowing that I was about to die.


Chapter 1

“My life is over.”

“Aren’t you being a little over dramatic? I mean it’s not the end of the world, Alessa.” Carly said, obviously delusional. It was the end of the world. Aliens could attack, destroying the entire human race and I couldn’t possibly be any more devastated.

“I’m moving to Colorado. I am being thrown into the wilderness.” I rolled onto my back on my huge queen size bed. I’ll probably end up living in a hut in the forest, sleeping on the ground, covered with bugs. I pulled my imagination in when my skin started to crawl, and tried to remember if I had ever been his depressed in my life. No, I decided, this transcends all other horrors, and I told Carly so.

“Of course you’ve been this depressed before. What about last week when your boyfriend broke up with you, or the week before that when you couldn’t get those shoes, or when-“

"Okay, Carly, I think you’ve made your point. Could you be a little sympathetic please?” I sat up angrily when she rolled her eyes. This was serious business and Carly didn’t seem to understand that.

“It’s not like I don’t hate that your going away, Alessa, but I’ve been here for two hours. I think I’ve heard it all.” Carly flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, trying to look aloof. My eyes narrowed. I see how it is, oh fair-weather friend of mine. When I need a shoulder to cry on, you remember that you don’t want to ruin your designer shirt.

“Fine, leave then. You obviously don’t want to be here.” I said shortly.

“Look Alessa,” She was angry now too, “This isn’t my fault-“

“Oh, so it’s mine? My fault my mom had to get a job in the middle of nowhere, my fault we can’t afford to live in Los Angeles anymore, my fault my dad had to die?” I could feel myself falling apart, all my carefully built walls crumbling. I knew Carly was just the scapegoat for my unspent anger, but I couldn’t stop. It felt too good to scream all the things that had been bouncing around inside my head for so long. “You think I don’t know that?” I whispered, “Or do you think I don’t care?”

“Alessa, that’s not what I meant-“ Carly looked sorry, but that didn’t mean much. She would probably inform the entire city that I was unhinged and should be avoided as soon as she left.

“It doesn’t matter. I thought I was going to be leaving something behind when I left, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Alessa-“ When I just stared at her, empty now of feeling, she made her escape, “I guess you’d rather be alone.”

I watched her scurry through my rock poster covered door, hands itching to whip out her cell phone and call as many people as possible. “I don’t have much of a choice.” I muttered. Why had I even bothered calling her over in the first place? Then I remembered; because no one else would come. Had I been so off the last couple months that no one wanted to be around me anymore?

Ever since dad had died my smiles had been a little too forced, my conversations a little too empty, and apparently my friends had noticed. Everyone started being ‘busy’ and stopped spending time with me. Josh broke up with me over the phone and now Carly was going pretend I didn’t exist, just like the rest of them. I wasn’t ever really popular, but I hadn’t been a total loser. I guess I was stupid when I assumed my friends were real. But even worse, was it me that was the horrible person? Was I the one that was out of line? I realized belatedly that I may have been a little harsh on Carly. No wonder I have no friends.

I heard the front door open and close, my mom returning from her million-hour-a-day, low paying job. I groaned, dropped onto my bed, and rolled over, hoping she would think I was asleep.

Her heels clacked across the kitchen floor, then turned toward my bedroom, until finally they stopped somewhere near my feet. Go away, I thought uselessly.

“What’s wrong, honey?” I felt her sit down on the edge of my bed, wondering vaguely how she had managed to wade through all the junk on my floor.

“Life sucks.” My neon-purple blanket muffled my words, but I didn’t have the energy to repeat myself. Maybe she would leave now that I had proven I was incapable of speaking coherently.

“You know I’m sorry we have to leave, Alessa, but I have to take this job and living expenses are just too much in the city.” She sounded so patient, but her voice was strained and tired.

When I turned over to talk, I noticed for the first time the extra lines on her face, the beaten look in her eyes and my heart cracked. My poor overworked mother. How could I lay there and look at her feeling sorry for myself, when I should be helping her? It wasn’t a year ago she was insanely happy and carefree, but so mellow she could take things one step at a time, and now, working as a manager in some second rate restaurant, my mother had lost her sparkling personality.

She still had her same movie star face, although in my opinion she was more beautiful than any movie star I had ever seen. Her large blue eyes that I had inherited slowly acquiring crow’s feet, her full mouth only now forming laugh lines, and her long voluminous blonde hair still the envy of anyone in the same room as her, especially me with my stubbornly wavy black hair passed to me by my father. My mother could have become famous, acting or advertising, but instead she had chosen to chase her dream of becoming a psychologist, only to fail utterly when disaster struck, forcing her into a dead end job to make ends meet.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek, thinking of everything my mother had given up just to make me happy. Would she end up just like dad, working constantly, losing sleep, and building stress until her heart simply couldn’t take it anymore? I choked back a sob, panicking, until my mother rushed to take me into her arms, soothing me, gently as ever.

“It’s alright, Alessa, it’s okay. Sssh.” Just like when I was three. I miss being three, I thought to myself sarcastically, but I only cried harder.

“I’m sorry, mom, I know you’re trying. It’s just so hard.” I finally managed, hiccuping into her shoulder. I’m sixteen years old, this is pathetic, I thought, but the release was so satisfying I just hugged her tighter. I knew the emotions would just build up again, exploding uncontrollably at whoever was closest when I finally couldn’t hold them in any longer, but for now my heart was clearer than it had been. I gathered my mental walls back together shutting myself up in my own little emotional prison, to save me from myself.

“Better now?”

I nodded, “Mom, why are we moving to that specific town? Almont? Couldn’t we move to Denver or Colorado Springs?”

“Then we would have the same problem with housing costs. And this town was offering a job that I couldn’t resist. The job and the salary are good.” I questioned her with my eyes, so much like hers, and she continued, “They want me to be their school counselor and office assistance. And we can always move back to L.A. once we get our feet under us again if we don’t like it.”

“Mom that’s amazing! You’ll finally get to be a psychologist, just like you wanted!” Half my misery fell away instantly knowing that she would be happier if we moved. The crushing weight of my grief started to lift a little at the realization that things could get better. They have to, I thought, logically, they can’t possibly get any worse.

My mom noticed my sudden uplift in mood and decided it was time to stop wallowing in self pity, “You’re a mess. Get cleaned up so we can go get something to eat. Maybe get some Chinese,” She said matter-of-factly, holding me out by my shoulders, smiling.

“Thank you shrink. That was supportive.” I jumped up, pulled on some ripped jeans and a t-shirt, then shoved my favorite sneakers on. “Ta-da.”

“Amazing. Your hair still needs to be fixed.” I pulled it back into a ponytail, then considered putting some make-up on, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “Good enough?”

“Let’s go get some eggrolls.”



There were only two days left until moving day, and I was surprisingly very calm. Once I had finished throwing my temper tantrums, I realized that living in Almont might not be completely horrrifying. I mean the mountains are supposed to be beautiful right? Although I knew nothing could compare with the bright California beaches, I’d heard that the Rocky Mountains are wonderful and they’ve always looked pretty in pictures I’ve seen.

My mother seemed to like my newly found positive attitude enough to let me stay home from school the day before we left. I’ve always liked going through my old stuff, and knew it would take me forever to pack, so I was kind of glad I’d have a whole day to put all my crap in boxes at my own speed. I knew it would be especially hard going through my huge collection of memorabilia, because I’d have to get rid of a lot of it. We had limited space in the moving van and my mom informed me, her packrat daughter, that we couldn’t keep everything.

But however much I was looking forward to packing day, today I had my last day of school and I was forced to concentrate on my education so I could keep my grades high for when they transferred them to my new school. My grades have always been good so I wasn’t worried about a few tests that had gone unstudied for and a few assignments left undone. Most of my teachers, at least the ones that had even a tiny fragment of soul left, understood that I was going through a tough time and gave me a break so I got off pretty easy. My only wish was that we could wait a few months longer to move, because the school year was almost over. Everyone notices the new kid that comes in the middle of the year more than the one that comes in the beginning. Not that I was too confident I wouldn’t be noticed. After all we were moving to Nowheresville where everyone knew everyone else.

Lots of people said goodbye to me, but the problem was that I didn’t even know most of those who did. Only a few of my friends said anything to me all day and when I finally got home I was thoroughly gloomy. I had realized, however, that it was mostly my fault they had ditched me. I must have driven them away with my excessive self-pity and willingness to only talk about myself, two things I had discovered quite recently. I found that I didn’t even recognize myself and wished that I had more time in L.A., time to convince my friends that I was sorry and not completely self centered. Unfortunately my time was up.

Once packing day arrived I actually found myself subconsciously excited about moving, but I made sure to keep up my depressed and dejected act, hoping futily at the same time that my mom might get a job closer to home. But she left for her last day of work at the same time as usual and I didn’t her any phone calls so around noon I gave up lazing about and got to work.

My small room was already a mess and I considered that a plus, because I didn’t have to waste as much time pullling stuff out if it was all already on the floor. Cardboard boxes were stacked on my bed and I was armed with tape and scissors to seal up my belongings. First I pulled all the concert posters and celebrity pictures off my blue walls, rolling them up carefully and sticking them into a box. My room in Almont would look as much like this one as possible. Next I proceeded to shove everything I absolutely could not throw away into the boxes in a very unorganized fashion, stopping every now and then to look at a photo album or read old notes form my friends. After a few hours I had a sizeable pile to throw away and did so, shoving it all into black plastic trash bags; clothes for the needy and trash for the trashman.

I took a break then began phase two of my packing; dumping everything out of the boxes again and narrowing down my holdings even more. Later, my mom got home and found me deliberating on keeping my old beat up skateboard, since it didn’t even fit in a box.

“Why would you even want to keep that thing? You don’t use it.” She stared at the chipped edges and worn grip, obviously wondering why she hadn’t already thrown it away years ago.

“I broke my arm on this skateboard, mom! It holds memories!” I knew it was a lost cause.

“Don’t remind me.” The item was pried from my hands and put with the trash, my mom’s eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter. My mood skyrocketed. I hadn’t seen her this happy since… since before dad had died. The emptiness between the pieces of my broken heart started to fill as I watched her look at my handiwork.

My mom finished packing before I did, later that night, but I didn’t mind because I had relived a lot of good memories today, looking through things I had lost or forgotten. I fell asleep on my sheet-less bed with just my purple blanket and an uncovered pillow. Early the next morning we would pack up the van and leave.

Hey this is good, this felt more like a background 'get to know' but it's going to help if you're going to continue the story. Maybe not the main plot, but you have to start somewhere. Your first p.o.v. was great. I think you got your point across, (introductions). A few little mistakes, besides that..... I think the length was fine, by me, you don't have to make it longer. Somewhere there you got my attention and I'm hoping you'll make the second chapter.

Thanks for your comment. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 2

I sat staring out the car window watching the rain stream across, long rivulets running in front of my eyes. The sun hadn’t come out all day and the pouring rain had refused to let up, making it impossible to see more than a couple hundred feet in any direction. I took this as an omen. I was doomed. My mother was still perky and excited, but I no longer had to pretend I wasn’t happy; my forehead resting sulkily against the cold glass. I already missed the sun sparkling across the sand and waves, crowds of beach-goers rushing around me as I slowly made my way down the waterline. I sighed, fogging the glass in front of my mouth. At least mom had said we could go back eventually if we didn’t like it. I already knew my half of the vote would be for going back to L.A.

“Mom, how much longer ‘till we get there? We’ve been driving forever.” My voice was whiny and I began to work on crushing the sadness out of my words.

“Only a few more hours, I would think. We should start getting into the mountains any time now. We may be already, but I won’t be able to tell until this rain lets up.” She glanced over at me and smiled at my too obvious impatience. “Looking forward to it then?”

“Looking forward to getting out of this car.” I muttered darkly. Her constant optimism was getting on my nerves. I just wanted to be depressed in peace.

Her only answer was another smile as she looked back to the road.

Later the terrain became obviously mountainous even though we couldn’t see much; the road rising and twisting. We arrived at a small town called Montrose and stopped for a late dinner then continued east to Gunnison. Finally we reached our new home. At first I thought the town would continue out of our sight, but suddenly it ended. I was shocked. I had thought the earlier towns barely counted as any sort of civilization, but this…this was a village. We turned around. Nice little cottage style houses lined the road we drove down, and a few department and grocery stores, but that was it. Where’s the mall? I asked myself sarcastically.

Then the rain started to clear and we began to glimpse the surrounding countryside. Mountains blocked huge portions of the sky, rising up black against the starry night sky, and all around us was forest, trees coming almost to the town limits.

My mouth fell open, “Mom…this isn’t it is it? There’s a real town somewhere farther on right?” But I knew this was it. I had seen the quaint little wooden sign right before we reached the buildings.

Not only was the town of Almont insubstantial in size, lacking in entertainment, and completely surrounded by wilderness, but it also felt somehow slightly ominous. I didn’t see anyone out, although since it was raining I hadn’t expected to, and there wasn’t a light on in the whole place. Coming from the always lit and busy L.A. this was disturbing. It wasn’t really that late and I had thought I would see someone. And not only was there a complete lack of movement, but it also some how felt wrong. Like my mother and I shouldn’t be there at all, almost like we were invading their privacy.

I shivered slightly, then jumped out of my seat when my mother slammed onto the brakes; wheels squealing for half a second before we came to a halt. Great way to make an entrance, I thought, wake up everyone in the neighborhood. She pulled into the single car driveway in front of a small two story house. It had white siding, black shutters, and a big wooden door inset with a glass panel. All in all it looked pretty much like all the other houses in Almont.

“Almost missed it, again.” My mother said cheerfully before hopping out of our nameless four-door sedan. The moving van would be following us in, some time later tonight, so until then we had almost nothing to bring in.

Inside, the blank walls were all a uniform white and paired with the light biege carpet made me feel like I was in an insane asylum’s padded room. There weren’t as many windows as I would have liked and the rooms were small, but mostly I thought it would be a pretty house once we livened it up. My mother seemed to think so too because she was grinning from ear to ear, running her hand over the polished wooden banister that traced the stairs.

“What do you think? Isn’t it great? I got it really cheap too, they were almost giving it away.”

“It’s really nice, mom. Are the bedrooms upstairs?”

She nodded, still smiling, her face glowing, and I couldn’t help but grin back. I trudged up the stairs into the smaller of the two bedrooms, which I claimed for my own. It had a window on the back of the house, facing away from the town and towards the mountains and woods. It was only partially blocked by a huge oak tree that grew near the house, its new leaves a deep green in the darkness. I walked over to open the window, pulling at the locks until they opened then slid the glass up. My mom came in behind me, tossed me my blanket and wished me goodnight, closing the door. The cool spring mountain breeze trickled into my window ruffling my black hair and filling my nose. The air here is a lot fresher and sharper than in the city, I admitted to myself, before lying down on the plush carpeted floor. The scent of leaves and grass was in my head as I drifted off to sleep.

But it seemed like no sooner than I had closed my eyes than something startled me awake. It was sprinkling again outside; not enough to blow into my window, but that wasn’t what had woken me up. I sat up quickly when I heard it again. Somewhere beneath my window there was a low snarling and scuffling like bodies being thrown on gravel. Did they have wild dogs here? I thought mildly afraid. There’s probably wolves in all these woods, or maybe even bears. I stood, the blanket sliding off my legs, and stepped over to close the window, debating on slamming it in the hope of scaring whatever was down there away. I decided against it, not wanting to wake my mother up, and softly eased the window shut. The sounds stopped before I had finished, but since it had gotten kind of chilly in my room I closed it anyway.

I laid back down, but the hair on the back of my neck was standing up, and I slept badly the rest of the night.


I had only one day left before I had to go back to school and I had already discovered that there was nothing to do in Almont. There was nowhere to shop, there wasn’t a movie theater, and our T.V., which had arrived early this morning instead of last night, only got local channels. I had no friends to talk to and my mom had left earlier to fill out paperwork for her new job. I was about to die of boredom.

So I was forced to do what I hadn’t done since I had quit doing sports freshman year of high school two years ago; go running. I knew I should begin unpacking, but I had a sudden dislike of staying inside this alien house so I laced up my running shoes and slipped into some gym shorts before heading through my backyard towards a trail in the woods that came right up to our fence.

The people had come out this morning, but more and more I felt like an intruder, so I tried to ignore them as much as possible and make my presence as little known by staying out of sight. Because of this I chose to run in the woods instead of on the sidewalks in town.

There was an open gate in the tall fence around my yard where through my window I had spotted the trail. It was still foggy outside and walking through the tall grass left my legs wet, but I continued heading toward the darkness under the trees. I had woken up disappointed this morning, the fog hiding the mountains around Almont and obstructing the view I wished to have, but now I was almost appreciative of how the weather had changed to suit my state of mind; dark and secretive.

I reached the path and saw that it used to be a dirt trail, but now instead it was all mud. I smiled. Right now I was in the perfect mood for running in mud; I didn’t particularly care if I got covered in it. I set off down the path at a slower pace than I was used to since I was so out of shape; splashing through puddles until I was splattered up to my knees in muck. The trees on either side of me were still quiet and shadowy, but the morning fog was beginning to lift, the air becoming less close and smothering. My legs started to burn and my breathing was hard, but I forced myself to keep running until I reached some sort of checkpoint where I could mark my distance on later runs. Soon I came to a tiny clearing where the weak sunlight had filtered through the remaining clouds.

Here I threw myself onto the wet grass, trying to catch my breath. Suddenly the mist swirled away and the sky opened up, revealing the breathtaking scenery all around me; mountain peaks reaching upward, tipped with snow and endless trees; pines, aspen, and maple. I slowly rose to my feet, mouth hanging open. This was way more stunning than any sparkling beach. Everything was so huge and majestic, making me feel small and insubstantial as I stood, panting, my creamy skin flushed. The fog was wound between the mountains like low lying clouds, concealing valleys and giving the whole sight a mystical, surreal tinge.

I remained motionless for a full five minutes, just staring wordlessly, but I needed to head back home so I ripped my eyes from the mountains and jogged back into the trees. The woods were even quieter now, as if even the animals were awed by their surroundings , and I began to feel like I was being watched. Several times I glanced over my shoulder, looking for the eyes I felt, but always the path behind me was clear. I sped up, my heart beating faster not from exertion, but my growing fear. When the gate came into sight I was sprinting, and had covered the same distance much quicker on the return trip. I slowed to a walk before the fence then entered my yard, closing the gate behind me, blocking out my imaginary pursuer. I tried to convince myself I was just being foolish, but I couldn’t get the feeling of being watched out of my gut. I locked the sliding back door behind me, then went upstairs to shower, the water running brown until my legs were clean and my muscles and tense feelings had relaxed.

Hours later when my boredom had risen to a peak again almost driving me outside, my mother arrived home nearly ecstatic with happiness. Her job, apparently, was everything she had hoped for and she was extra excited for my first day at school because she would be there. I, on the other hand, wasn’t looking forward to being stared at all day in a school smaller than my class had been in L.A. I also tended to be known as the shy girl because I don’t talk much around people I don’t know so it’s hard for me to get to know people, and I knew it would be even worse in this tiny excuse for a town. My nerves were already shaky just thinking about it. Not to mention my mom was working at my school and all my prospective friends would see her. I wasn’t as mortified by that as a lot of other kids would be because I considered my mom pretty cool, but her being there constantly wasn’t exactly wonderful.

Thinking about tomorrow made me feel slightly nauseous so I decided it was time to announce my arrival by walking around the town. These people would have to get used to me sooner or later and I would much rather it be sooner so that maybe I could make some friends. Already I was starting to feel a little lonely with only my mom for company and I was looking forward to meeting some new people, even if they ended up being small town hicks. I pulled on a pair of my nicer jeans and a t-shirt, not wanting to look like a total slob, but also unwilling to make them think I was something I wasn’t by dressing too well. My mom encouraged my little expedition by bringing me my black jacket from one of the cardboard boxes in the living room and telling me to be home by dark.

The gust of cold wind that hit me when I opened the door surprised me, sending shivers up my arms, but I left anyway, making my way to the sidewalk across the lawn. A few people were walking on the opposite side of the street and I saw a woman planting flowers a couple of houses down, but not much else seemed to be happening. I was already debating on whether or not to go back now while I could still feel my fingers, but I stubbornly continued, beginning my walk through Almont, mostly just looking at my rapidly numbing feet. The end of the street was much the same and I turned toward what I hoped was the center of town.

Old style glass-fronted buildings lined the streets further in, displaying wares that seemed very out of date, and only a few cars traveled the streets. Main Street Almont was bricked, giving it the aura of an era long gone, but there seemed to be more people here than in the rest of town so I continued. Locals gathered around the grocery stores and restaurants, chatting and trading news, but I started to get the feeling as I passed another large group, that they were changing subjects or quieting their conversations when I came within hearing distance. Every time I neared them, eyes seemed to always be following me discreetly and talk wasn’t as loud as it had been. What surprised me more though was that every face I looked at, male or female, seemed to be absolutely gorgeous. The women were all unbelievably beautiful and the men all seemed to be uncannily handsome. I felt like I was back in L.A., but instead of seeing only a few celebrities at a time, I was instead looking at a whole street full that were infinitely more attractive than any I had ever seen before.

I dropped my gaze back to the sidewalk self-consciously, careful not to meet anyone’s eyes. I didn’t want them to see how obviously I didn’t fit in. My pace quickened and I turned around the corner, relaxing slightly when I finally came to a less crowded district, but I couldn’t forget those eerily beautiful faces looking back at me.

Then I was on the ground staring up at the most shockingly dazzling living being I had ever seen. I hadn’t even noticed him coming, but his body had hit me like I had run into a wall and now, sitting on the rough concrete, I was still struggling to regain my train of thought, blinking stupidly. I could feel my pale cheeks burning with embarrassment, but couldn’t seem to force myself to move.

“Sorry about that.” His voice was enchanting, his grey eyes cutting deep into mine. He had tousled blonde hair, lightly tanned skin, and the kind of soft even features any man would kill for.

Once my mind began to clear, the thoughts that had only a second ago been filled with his appearance, became wary and cautious. The last good-looking young man, although much less so than this one, had only managed to hurt me. Even as I thought of my ex-boyfriend I realized just how disconnected I was with my old life, just how long ago it all seemed. My life had changed forever when my father had ended his.

I shook my head and remembered where I was, suddenly aware of just how long I had been sitting, gaping at this total stranger. He was smiling, unconcerned, as if girls ran into him then gawked everyday. (Which they might for all I know. He’s so amazing looking I wouldn’t be surprised.) I scrambled awkwardly to my feet, muttered an apology, then sped off trying to put distance between us. I heard a female laugh behind me and glanced back at the stunning girl who must have been there the whole time I was on the ground. My anger flared watching her snicker, obviously at me and I strode off onto a different street, holding my expression emotionless, but unable to stop the blush creeping up my neck. Already I wished I could crawl into a hole and die, and the butterflies in my stomach began to grow horns, claws ripping at my insides, at the mere thought of going to school tomorrow. Being around all these beautiful people was making me feel just that much more worthless.

Chapter 3

It was noon and I hadnt spoken a single word all day. I was on my way to the cafeteria, dreading sitting alone almost more than I was afraid to associate with one of these perfect strangers. Everyone seemed to be keeping well away from me as if I were a sickness they could catch if they were to stray too close, but I found that I was happy for it. Their flawless faces were beginning to creep me out, making me shiver every time I accidentally caught someone’s eyes. My first classes had been pure horror, discovering that the gatherings on Main Street hadn’t been some sort of freak accident, that all the students were just as attractive. I felt like a weed in a flowerbed, eating their dirt and drinking their water, only to find that for me its poison. The hostility I sensed was no mistake, the others obvious dislike of my intrusion almost like a living thing. So much for small town welcome, I thought.

The classes themselves had been disorienting and unorganized, math being taught in history, english in science, like the teachers knew it all and taught the students what they felt like at that moment. Only my first class teacher seemed to notice me at all, appearing at my desk as I dug a pencil out of my bag.

“Alessa Rivers?” His voice was offhand, like he was only asking to be polite.

I nodded. He instantly became my favorite teacher, having been the nicest person I’d met so far.

“I’m Mr. Dalanus. Welcome to Almont.” He left as quietly as he had come, gliding off in the graceful manner of all the townspeople.

That was the last time that anyone had acknowledged me. I was beginning to fee like I didn’t exist, imagining eyes sliding over me without seeing, as if I weren’t there. I bought a bottle of water from a vending machine, one of the few pieces of technology in this school, and slowly made my way toward an empty table, winding between the others skillfully. School was pretty much the only thing I had been good at. I wasn’t so sure about that anymore, remembering the way the teachers had taught as if the students already knew most of the material.

The lunch table was still empty so I claimed it for my own; sitting on the end farthest from the bulk of the rest of the school. I opened my water, drank a little, closed it again, then commenced to slosh the contents back and forth idly, wishing I was somewhere that I had friends. Everyone I had known back in L.A. hated me and everyone here in Almont refused to admit that I had ever come. So basically all I had was my mom.

I dropped my head into my hands, groaning. I was so pathetic. There was only one person in the entire world that cared if I lived or died and that one person was my mother. I had no living grandparents, my mom was an only child and my dads family lived in Texas, probably ignorant of me even being born. Just me and my mom.

My silent, pitiful depression was interrupted by someone saying my name and I looked up to glare at the last person I wanted to see, sitting across from me; the unbearably hot guy I’d run into on Main Street. How predictable, I thought, the only person who talks to me is the only one I don’t want to. I looked at his face, immune to its charm now that I was no longer surprised, then looked away at the full cafeteria. I noticed that not many people had food in front of them and no one seemed to be eating. No wonder these people have perfect bodies; they don’t eat.

“Your Alessa Rivers, right?” His voice made me turn my face back to his sharply, “I’m Derek Royce.”

I remembered the laughing girl and was sorely tempted to say, “That’s nice,” but instead I just responded with the traditional, “Hi.”

“Sorry about running into you yesterday, but I had thought you’d seen me coming.” The way he said it made it sound less like an apology and more like a blame. He continued, “I could give you lessons on walking if you like.”

He seemed like he was joking, but his tone made me want to walk away quickly before I punched him in the face. Derek seemed like the kind of guy who always go what he wanted, so I found great satisfaction in rejecting him.

“No thanks.” The words were simple, but so full of contempt that there was no way he could believe I wished to be around him at all. No matter how much I was coming to hate being invisible, I still didn’t want to associate with this arrogant snob.

His face darkened at my tone and his hand started across the table. I wasn’t worried much since we were in a room full of people, but a little piece of me wondered if they would even notice or care if he hurt me. Fortunately before his fingers could even come close a voice sounded behind me and he stopped dead; staring, eyes narrowing, over my shoulder.

“Leave her be, Derek. I’m not really surprised she doesn’t like you; your pick up lines are absolutely ghastly.”

Derek’s perfect eyes widened in shock and anger, his reaching fingers clenching reflexively into a fist. “I –“ He stuttered in rage.

A small girl, straight auburn hair flowing down her back, slid into my view. Of course she was stunning, but I was becoming almost used to the struggle of ripping my eyes from the townspeople’s faces, so I wasn’t completely paralyzed. She was even prettier than some of the others, with large green eyes and a full mouth. Her voice was light and slightly accented, which confused me at first, wondering why she would have an accent if she had lived here her whole life like everyone else seemed to have. Maybe I wasn’t the only one to move here in the last decade, I thought hopefully.

“Move along now. You’re in my seat.”

I admired her bravery. I had never been able to talk to people like I didn’t care what they thought; I didn’t have the confidence. Derek didn’t seem to be enjoying her conversation though, and I was a little concerned that he might attack the fragile looking girl, the look on his face was so hateful.
But instead he rose gracefully to his feet, muscles relaxing slowly. “I’ll talk to you later, Charlotte.” His voice was all venom and darkness and I had to force myself not to wince as he walked away.

The girl looked unconcerned and soon drifted over to sit across from me where Derek had been, resting her perfect chin in her hand. “You must be Alessa Rivers, the new girl in town. Don’t mind Derek, he’s just an idiot.”

I smiled tentatively, unsure of what this beautiful girl wanted, “Yeah, thanks for that.”

“No problem. Someone has to keep him in line. I’m Charlotte Aleena by the way.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Actually I was still confused as to why she was speaking to me, but I didn’t want to remind her that I was supposed to be invisible so I kept my mouth shut.

“So how do you like Almont?” Her eyes were sparkling.

“It’s umm…unique.” I struggled to come up with a positive comment that wasn’t a lie.

To my surprise, Charlotte burst out laughing; a sound like bells and midnight rain. “I understand completely. Welcome to the most boring place on the planet.”

Relief washed through me, suddenly. I had started to believe that the people here were more than human, what with being so perfect, but Charlotte acted just like anyone else I had ever met. “So what do you do for fun around here?” I sounded raspy next to her sweet liquid voice.

“We do have some pretty wild parties, but other than that…not much.” She smiled again, her white teeth brilliant, as if she was remembering an inside joke.

I grimaced, “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

She laughed again and I was beginning to think that living in Almont might not be so bad, when the bell rang ending lunch.
“I’ll see you later.” Charlotte disappeared into the flood of students moving toward the doors. I walked to my next class, not quite smiling, but in an altogether better disposition than earlier, even though I was still being avoided like the plague. I had reason to believe that I had just made a friend.

My assigned seat was near the back of the classroom (Thank you alphabetical seating), and I dropped into it gratefully. At least when we were sitting I could almost pretend my classmates liked me. This class was supposed to be English, but since I had already learned that today I wasn’t exactly sure what would be taught now; a repeat of my earlier class or something different. The room was starting to fill, but I paid little attention, until a bag dropped to the floor loudly behind me, making me twitch up my hand and knock my fingers into the desk. I shook them, swearing under my breath, then glanced behind me. My eyes widened and my cheeks flushed. He had been facing the other way, but that magnificent physique and golden blonde hair was unmistakable. Derek Royce was sitting behind me.

I forced myself to breathe and turn my face toward the front of the classroom. I could almost feel his eyes on the back of my head; boring into my brain, scrambling it. When the teacher started talking I couldn’t concentrate long enough to take in an entire sentence, so I never found out what this class would be covering. The sheer torture of knowing he was only a few feet away, the memory of his hand reaching for me, kept me from ever relaxing. I could feel the anger pouring out of him, almost hear his teeth grinding in hate, and although he was just a nearly ordinary high school boy I felt immensely threatened.

When English finally ended I felt like I was going to scream, but I restrained myself and instead walked as slowly as I could manage out into the hall. Only one class left and then I would be free to leave and scream as much as I wanted. Sitting there for over an hour, Charlotte’s words running through my head, insulting Derek, had been excruciating. Even though I hadn’t been the one saying them I knew his hatred would focus on me just the same, the new alien girl that didn’t know who was to be left alone. Just my luck that I ran into one of those highly inclined to smash my face in. Although he had barely moved to grab me, somehow I knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to do worse; the intense, enraged look in his eyes was unforgettable.

The next class was slow and boring and I couldn’t get my mind off Derek so I didn’t take much in. The only thing I really noticed was a tall dark haired boy with shockingly pale skin who kept looking over at me from the other side of the classroom. I thought I recognized him from my last class, but couldn’t be too sure since I hadnt exactly been paying attention. I acted like I didn’t see him, but I was a little curious as to why he even realized I was there.

My desire to be out of this building, however, smothered all other thoughts out of my head and before too long I had forgot about him.
When the bell rang I almost started crying with happiness. I rushed out of the room, unaware and uncaring of the stares that followed me out, turning toward the tiny main office. I tried to act like I’d had a good day for my mom, then begged her to let me walk home. After all it was only a few streets and it was a small price to pay for being out of this school a few minutes earlier. I sped off, sighing when I left the building, visibly straightening when I came into contact with the crisp mountain air. I felt like I had just escaped prison and was coming out into the open for the first time in years.

The little white house came into view not five minutes later. I didn’t have a key yet, so this morning we had left the back door unlocked just in case. I crunched through the piles of accumulated leaves lining the fence then made my way through the backyard, wondering if there was someone we could get to cut the long grass. The back door opened, as promised, and I entered into the kitchen, staring balefully at its boring white walls. I decided that since I didn’t have anything else to do this weekend I was going to do some painting.

I was bored to death before I got to my room. Although, I reminded myself, I’d rather be bored here than bored and invisible at school. To keep myself busy and my mind off of my torturous existence I started unpacking and setting up my room. I put my bed together, dragging it piece by piece up the stairs from the living room, but gave up trying to bring the mattress up when I dropped it the third time. The posters wouldn’t go up until I’d had a chance to paint the walls, but I had more than enough to do; unpacking my clothes and putting them all away in the small dresser I had been able to drag up myself.

It had been almost two hours since I had gotten home when I realized that my mother hadn’t come in yet. Taking a break, wiping my forehead, I went downstairs to see if she was there, but found that I was alone in the house. I was beginning to get a little worried, wondering why she wasn’t home. She couldn’t have had too much to do for work, just straighten up some papers.

The sky was already beginning to get dark, so I decided that I would go for my run and if she wasn’t here by the time I got back then I would walk up to school and see if she was still there. I pulled on some sweatpants and a loose fitting t-shirt, then prepared the house for my mothers arrival, turning off all the lights but the front porch and locking the front door again out of habit.

I waded back through the grassy backyard toward the trail, already shivering. The air was wet and cold again, promising rain and maybe even a storm. I looked around at the beautiful mountain scenery before pulling in a long stinging breath of air and setting off at a brisk pace, following the path into the dark, endless forest. The woods had seemed ominous enough the other day, but now, the sun fading away behind the mountains, it seemed even more frightening. I continued down the thin dirt path, my instincts whispering that things weren’t altogether right in this forest, that something was out there that shouldn’t be. The silence was deafening. Shouldn’t there be birds or animals making noises and moving about? Even the wind was quiet, barely rustling the countess leaves.

A twig snapped to my left and I jumped mid-stride, suddenly afraid. Something dark sped across the path ahead of me, stopping me dead, until I realized with a sheepish smile that, judging by the size and shape, it must have just been a rabbit or a squirrel. I started running again, pushing myself harder to make up for my useless halt. Or was it because I felt once again that someone or something was watching me?

Before I could answer myself I burst into the clearing and sharply turned around again to start back. I wasn’t in the mood for looking around right now. The anxiety over my mother’s absence hadn’t worn away like I’d hoped it would and the darkness beneath the trees kept making my already strangled breathing catch, seeming to move out beyond the reach of normal shadows. It was starting to become difficult to see the trail in front of me and each turn came abrupt and unexpected.

As I turned around one particularly sharp corner I was forced to skid to a halt, unable to simply step over the obstacle. A dark shape lay in the middle of the path, small and motionless. When I leaned down to look at it I found that it was a rabbit, and I would have thought it was alive, but for its awkward position and lifeless eyes. There wasn’t any blood or damage to it that I could see so I carefully picked it up to remove it from the path. I didn’t want it to become a hazard by bringing larger animals and plus it would smell when it started to decompose. That’s when it’s head suddenly lolled to the side, revealing a tiny patch of blood-matted fur and a small wound on its neck. Instantly I dropped it into the scrub beside the path. My heart was beating fast from the run and the shock, my skin freezing cold, but still sweaty. What sort of animal just bites its prey like that and then leaves it? All I could think of was a snake, but that still didn’t make any sense. Then I realized another horrifying fact. This rabbit hadn’t been on the path on my way out. So something had killed it in the short time I had been in the woods. The predator must still be close.

The gate was just ahead and I darted through it as noiselessly as possible, not bothering to close it in my haste to get inside. The lights were on in the kitchen and I could see my mother pacing back and forth across the room. I realized guiltily that I hadn’t left a note saying where I would be, but this thought was soon driven out of my head by the loud snick of a branch hitting the wooden fence. My fear-filled blue eyes flickered once around the small yard before I quickly ducked into the calming safety of the house.

Chapter 4

The last week had been long and lonely and I was definitely looking forward to the weekend. Although it wouldn’t be any less boring than school or any less lonely, at least I wouldn’t have to endure being stared at like I was some kind of freak. Ever since Charlotte had started talking to me the other high schoolers had changed their tactics to noticing me way more than I wanted instead of not at all. Eyes followed me everywhere, although when I met any, they quickly glanced away, and no one seemed any closer to accepting me than the first day I had come to Almont.

Charlotte was the only one who spoke to me and I found that I really enjoyed being around her more than I had liked my old friends. Whenever I put up my mental walls to protect myself from the stares and the isolation she always found a way to wiggle in the cracks and make me laugh. Besides protecting me from Derek’s constant needling, she also provided the one thing I needed most; a friend.

Today especially I needed Charlotte to help me cope. My patience was wearing thin, my excitement for the freedom of the weekend growing, and I was beginning to feel like I would snap and tackle the next person who breathed too loudly.

Not that these people ever breathed too loud. They never did anything clumsy, embarrassing, or in any way ungraceful. Their faces were still just as enchanting as the first time I’d seen them, but they were no longer stunning me into near unconsciousness every time I looked at someone. Derek did nothing to disprove my fear that he wanted to force me into unconsciousness in a less gentle manner, however, and I found myself constantly dreading English class, where he would sit behind me and think dark, violent thoughts at the back of my head. Once I had dropped my pencil and it had rolled behind me to the point where I was forced to turn around to pick it up. When I had gone to get it, carefully averting my eyes from his, I could have sworn he had hissed at me.

Now, heading toward English, I prayed fervently that he wasn’t in the class already so that I could fulfill my goal of not seeing so much as his little finger all day. He hadn’t harassed me at lunch today and I had made a point of not looking around the cafeteria, so so far my wish was being fulfilled, but as soon as I opened the dull wooden door my heart skipped and then sunk about a foot. Derek was already in his seat. In just one short week I had already developed a deep loathing of walking past him. I always felt like his foot would shoot out, tangle in mine, and send me toppling to the floor in a huge books-and-papers mess, but it had never happened, always left me half anticipating it until I fell into my seat.

Today though, Derek apparently wanted to shake things up. The foot came out, unexpected even though I had been seeing it in my worst daydreams for the whole week. My feet collided with one another, just as I imagined, and I felt myself begin to tip. How can anyone fall this slowly? I asked myself, seeing the desk rushing up at my face, but not feeling the impact. Shouldn’t I have hit by now?

But nothing happened. I was just realizing I had closed my eyes and could already feel the hot blush in my cheeks, when the hands that I hadn’t known were on my waist straightened me out to where I was standing again. It all happened within a few seconds, but I already felt like I had been standing with my eyes squeezed shut much longer than was necessary. I was having trouble convincing myself the desk wasn’t going to smash into my face at any second. My eyes flew open.

I recognized the light amber eyes less than a foot away instantly, though it took a moment for me to remember who they belonged to. He stood looking back at me cautiously, the boy who had noticed me the first day at school, his dark brown to the point of being black hair curling down to just cover the tops of his ears. He was a different kind of gorgeous than Derek; rougher and darker, although his skin was almost too pale, as if he hadn’t seen sunlight in much too long. His face, so close to mine, was sharp and angular, his features thinner and less fleshy than Derek’s, but no less handsome.

His light brown eyes looked deep into my own sky blue ones, holding me motionless as I tried to remember how to breathe.

“Are you okay?” His voice was musical, a soft whispering tenor.

“I – I’m fine.” I stuttered, feeling more and more like an idiot. At least my mouth wasn’t hanging open…

“Good.” He sent a glare in Derek’s general direction apparently aware of what had made me fall.

“Thanks.” I glanced down at his hands, still on my waist, and he quickly pulled them away, like he’d been burned.

“Your welcome.” He mumbled as he walked away. Everyone wasn’t in the room yet; the whole exchange had been so fast. I glanced back, giving up my prayer as a lost cause, at Derek who was scowling at me like I had been the one to knock him to the floor. My eyes slid away quickly toward the other boy, who was expressionlessly watching the teacher rustle around at his desk. My eyes narrowed. Whey hadnt the teacher, the real authority, done anything about Derek’s behavior? Something was going on here and I found myself increasingly wanting to know what it was.

The bell rang and a few more students came in late; trickling in like water from a broken faucet. Derek stared at the boy who had caught me now, with even more loathing than he had ever directed at me. I wondered what he had done prior to today, since Derek surely couldn’t hate him this much just for helping me. Could he? The dark haired boy, his clear, open eyes toward the front, was starting to seem like he might not intend to ignore me forever. What was that saying, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’? Maybe that’s what he was; another friend. Although if I had just made him Derek’s enemy I wasn’t exactly sure he’d want to even associate with me. That brings me up to a grand total of two, I thought half in sarcasm, half in self-pity; if he ever wants to speak to me again.

The rest of the day went by just as slow and uneventful as the one before it and I was beginning to wonder if monotonous, small town life was going to drive me crazy. It seemed like the more time I spent in Almont the realer it felt. I had only been here a week and I already felt like this was the only place I had ever lived, and yet the very place that I didn’t belong. I was the duck amidst swans, the one poor soul that didn’t fit in. My mother seemed to be doing quite well, however, always invited to dinner parties and get-togethers. Envious as always of my beautiful, perfect mother, I knew we were drifting apart, but was too stubborn to put a stop to it.

Without even my mom to talk to I found myself thinking a lot; about L.A., things I had done wrong, and the few things I had done right. Every time I stopped moving, stopped busying myself with useless tasks, I felt my mental walls eroding; weakened by my spastic flood of emotions. Running was the one thing that seemed to distract me, pushing everything but the feel of the ground and the rhythm of my breathing out of my mind. The day after I had found the dead rabbit I hadn’t dared to go outside by myself, afraid of what awaited me there, beneath the trees. Not even my extreme boredom had been able to drive me out of the house. I had gotten over my fear the next day and although I still had that odd feeling of observation every time I was in the woods, I spent at least an hour in them everyday; going further and further from the clearing every time I ran.

Today when I reached the little meadow, I turned to cut across it diagonally to the place where I knew the trail continued; not stopping to admire the view. The woods were quiet and damp, misty wetness clinging to my hair. The run was quick and exhilarating leaving me back at the gate almost before I’d realized I had turned around. I was relieved that nothing weird had managed to happen today in the forest, but at the same time a little…let down. It seemed like the only interesting things that happened in Almont were Derek hating me and the woods scaring me. I never looked forward to the former, but the latter had become almost routine. I expected something to happen on my daily jogs. I almost looked forward to it.
I’ve lost it, I thought, I’ve finally snapped. Something has to be wrong with me if I’m disappointed that I didn’t get scared witless today. I entered the house to find it empty, my mother off frolicking with the townspeople again, and dropped dejectedly onto the couch, not caring that I was sweaty and wet. She always has something to do. My mom had made oodles of friends already with her charming personality and magnetic smiles. Charlotte hadnt offered to do anything outside school yet and I wasn’t going to volunteer. After all, she was the only friend I had and I didn’t want to remind her I was a nobody with no friends.

The doorbell rang just then and I jumped up to answer it. Almost as if she’d been summoned by my thoughts, Charlotte stood on my doorstep looking distinctly unruffled and gorgeous as always despite the horrible weather.

“Hi, Alessa. Are you busy?”

I waved her in, speechless. I watched her eyes travel over the furniture and around the room, staring at the almost blinding shade of yellow my mother had chosen for the living room.

“I like the paint job.” She said smiling crookedly.

“Thanks. What’s up?”

“Not much.” She looked down at the chair, and gestured vaguely, “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead.”

She floated to a seated position, looking like a super model fresh off a shoot. I became acutely aware of my sweaty shorts and windblown hair, shifting my feet then settling back onto the couch.

The silence was beginning to get awkward when she spoke again, “So, what are you up to tomorrow? Not much, I hope, because there’s supposed to be a great party over on the other side of town and everyone’s going.”

“You want me to come?” I blurted, then slower, “I mean will I be…welcome there?” I remembered the stares of the kids at school and my stomach started to churn.

“Sure. You can come with my friend, Lacey, and I. You must be bored out of your mind here in Almont and I thought I’d come rescue you.”

I snorted, “You have no idea. I think that might just save my sanity.”

Charlotte grinned, revealing straight, white teeth, “I’ll meet you here then. I have the perfect thing for you to wear!”

I was going to argue with her that nothing she could wear could possible fit me, but I decided against it. I’d let her keep her delusions and maybe I could dream. There was no way I was as skinny as her.

Charlotte stood and dismissed herself, practically dancing out the door, leaving me alone and hopeless. I had just realized what I had gotten myself into. I was going to spending hours in close quarters with the perfect high schoolers who were not only a million times more beautiful than me, but also exponentially more graceful. I wasn’t a total klutz, but I blanched at the thought of dancing anywhere near them. I couldn’t just tell Charlotte I didn’t want to go, though. I didn’t want her thinking I was anymore of a loser than she probably already did. The only ray of light I could spot in the impending darkness of my life was the possibility of my mother not allowing me to go. Unfortunately when she got home later she dashed that hope to pieces by giving me permission.

I went to bed early, looking forward to the loss of consciousness and worry, but I drifted into a fitful sleep, punctuated by nightmares that I forgot instantly. When I woke, disoriented and unrested, I glanced out the window to find the sky still completely dark, sprinkled with stars. I groaned and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep, but a sharp snap broke through my sluggish thoughts, startling me into an abrupt and unwelcome lucidity. My mind was racing, trying to process what my ears were sending it, and I slowly relaxed when I realized the sound had come from outside.

Grumbling, I slid out of bed, my nightshirt fluttering around my knees. That’s the last time I leave my window open, I thought, shuffling over to close it. I looked out at the numberless stars, so much brighter and clearer than I’d ever seen, then glanced down at the forest, black in the starlight. A dark figure, almost imperceptible in its speed, vanished into the trees; making my heart stutter in shock. It had been standing there near the gate, just standing, so still that my eyes had passed over it as just another shadow, until it had suddenly disappeared into the woods, moving so fast it blurred, like a sparkler waved in the air. I blinked, trying to absorb the obvious familiarity of the shape, but I was unable to connect a human with that blinding agility.

Almost unaware of doing so, I had pulled on some jeans, my curiosity raging out of control. How could someone move so fast? More than anything I wanted to know who it had been standing outside my bedroom window in the dead of night, but not for the logical reason. I wasn’t bothered at the moment by the realization that someone had been watching me, close enough to see me look out my window. Instead I was wondering because I wanted to know if that speed had been a trick of the light, an illusion of my sleep-slowed mind, a figment of my imagination, if any of it had actually been real.

I tucked my baggy shirt into my jeans and pulled on my sneakers, trying to be quiet. When I had finished I slipped stealthily down the stairs and into the kitchen, not turning on any lights. I had to move slowly to navigate the still unfamiliar house in the dark, but something urged me on, faster. I felt like my opportunity was slipping away, the chance to find out what was really going on in this town, because somehow I had come to the conclusion that something wasn’t right in Almont. It must have been a subconscious decision because I was just becoming aware that I had made it almost as soon as coming here.

I opened the sliding glass door and stepped out into the night. Crickets sang and the wind rustled the leaves, but the air still seemed still and thick. The lack of light and sound beneath the trees was somehow forbidding and inviting at the same time, warning me back, but also calling me onward, unable to resist. It reminded me of picking a scab; you knew it would hurt, that it would bleed, but you couldn’t stop. I reached the path and started walking, hoping the figure would stay to the trail. It couldn’t go on forever; they had to turn around eventually. I wasn’t quite thinking about what I was doing; running off into the forest in the middle of the night, because I was still struggling to believe that I wasn’t dreaming.
My pace started to pick up, until I was jogging, then sprinting through the woods, slowing down only to stop myself from careening off into the trees when I had to make a turn. My whole being was into the run, focused on catching the figure, so I didn't hear the light footsteps crunching almost inaudibly through the woods parallel to my own until they were right next to me, bursting into my small field of view. I skidded to a halt, suddenly white with fear. This was not what I had been looking for.

A dark shape crouched in front of me, not five feet away, barring my path. I could see its unfamiliar human face, beautiful and deadly, its human hands, shaking slightly, and its human body, tensed to spring. But its yellow, glowing eyes weren’t human. They were unmistakably the eyes of a hungry and triumphant predator.

And I was the prey.

Frozen into immobility, I tried to force my feet to move, to put distance between me and those cold, merciless eyes, but I couldn’t seem to do it. I couldn’t work up enough breath to scream. Deer in the headlights, came into my mind, and I laughed humorlessly in my head, knowing that I was about to die.

Another figure, smaller than the first, suddenly collided with my hunter, knocking it to the ground. The eye contact was broken and I took a quick step backward, dragging in a much needed pull of oxygen, all the while wincing at the earsplitting growls escaping those human throats. The smaller of the fighters looked oddly familiar, and I realized with a start that it was the boy who had caught me; saved me from my humiliating fall. I hoped he was saving me again, not fighting for a piece of meat that happened to still be living.

He seemed to be outmatched, being smaller and less insane, and although there wasn’t anything I could do to help, I couldn’t bring myself to just leave. What if he was trying to help me? I picked up a rock from the side of the path, then tried vainly to get a clear shot of the first, but they were rolling over and over, pulling at each other’s clothes, each snapping at their opponents face. The gleam of moonlight filtering through the trees caught their exposed teeth, lighting their too long incisors for a split second before their fight took their faces out of view again. The rock fell out of my limp hand and clanked against another. This could not be happening.

The larger made another leap for me, but was intercepted, sending them both flying into the dirt, snarling and scuffling.

The dark haired boy, his amber eyes seeming more yellow than before, glanced up at me for a moment when he had the other pinned, and barked in a strained voice, “Run!” His fangs were visible again.

I was off before the echo had faded out of my ears.

I loved it! there were a few typos, but it flowed nicely. Are going to post more? I'm dying to know what happens next.

#Queen of the Pirates#

Chapter 5

I had run out of ways to keep myself busy and I was starting to think again. I hadn’t slept the rest of the night so I was dead tired, but I forced myself to get up and vacuum the floor again. Anything to distract myself. But I couldn’t concentrate on my task; my mind kept wondering to what I had seen. Had I seen it? I had half convinced myself that the whole ordeal had been some sick, twisted nightmare. But the other half was sure it had been real. I had spent all morning trying not to think about it, but always in the end I would try to explain it to myself. The problem with trying to make sense of it was that I had trouble coming up with any other explanation than that I was insane.

My mom had gone somewhere for the day and I didn’t know when Charlotte would show up, so there wasn’t anyone to tell what had happened. I wasn’t sure if I would tell them anyway, for fear of ending up in an asylum. The one thing I was sure of was that I had gone into the woods. Whether I had been sleepwalking or not was the difficult part to decide. There had been leaves in my hair and dirt on my shoes when I had finally escaped the mindless state I had been in when I had first gotten back. I had been staring thoughtlessly into space, trying to forget, when my mother had come in and asked about the debris in my hair. I had told her I had left my window open and that it must have blown in, but something about my face or voice must have been off because she looked worried. She had left though, telling me she would be gone today, and wishing me luck for the party.

The party. I instantly felt sick to my stomach. How could I stand to be alone with all those people when there was the possibility that they were all like that yellow-eyed monster? I could barely keep myself from screaming hysterically right now.

Maybe I was overreacting, maybe it was something really simple. The trouble was I couldn’t force myself to believe that lie. All I could do at the moment was try to calm down, breathe slowly in and out to keep myself from hyperventilating. When the crushing fear finally subsided my cursed curiosity started to act up again. Why couldn’t I just leave matters alone?
But now I was thinking again; about what the things in the woods had been, human but…not. Definitely not. But what could they be if not human? I remembered the speed, the eyes, the fangs. Then I forced myself to stop remembering. I wouldn’t let myself even think that word. My luck could not possibly be that bad.

The doorbell rang, knocking my heart into my throat, and I jumped up, already certain of who it was. I was half way to the door before a nasty, unwanted thought occurred to me, bringing me up short. Charlotte must be one of them. She had to be; the beauty, the grace, it all just fit. But did I believe that? Could I really believe perfect Charlotte, my only and maybe best friend, was some sort of monster? I refused to accept it, pushed all the suspicious thoughts and fearful ponderings away. I couldn’t betray her like that, by thinking such horrible things about her when she had only been kind.

The bell rang again, and I closed the distance to the door, plastering a hopefully convincing smile onto my face. When I opened it, sure enough there was Charlotte, who swept in carrying a small box and a black leather bag.

“Hi, Alessa! Hope your excited, ‘cause I am!”

She sounds excited, why am I not excited, should I be excited? — I cut off my mental rambling when I realized I was beginning to completely flip out.

“I came early so we’d have plenty of time to get ready. This is going to be so much fun!” She unzipped the bag, revealing the largest concentration of make-up I think I’ve ever seen in one place. I realized she was planning on playing make-over-dress-up-Alessa, and I’m pretty sure I went completely white. That was nothing compared to the dress.

When she opened the box, I almost had a heart attack. Inside was a bright crimson mini-dress; strappy and lacey. And my concern was for Charlotte. I was afraid she would look a little too…forward…in a dress like that. Then I had to go and open my mouth.

“You’re going to wear that?!” I could hear the disbelief in my voice. It almost looked like lingerie.

“No, you are. Duh.”

It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, but when they finally managed to penetrate my thick skull, I could feel myself beginning to fall apart. “No-no, Charlotte, you don’t understand,” I choked, “I can’t wear that dress. I can’t wear any dress. I don’t think I’ve worn a dress since the fifth grade.” The events of the night seemed almost unimportant while looking at that red, skimpy dress. This danger was very, very real.

“Of course, you can wear it; you’re going to look great, I promise.” She seemed to realize that she was going to have to fight to make me wear the dress, because she pulled it out of the box and grabbed my arm, dragging me toward the stairs, “Come on I’ll prove it to you.”

The only thing that finally made me decide to put it on was my fear of Charlotte. And not the fear of her possibly being higher up on the food chain than me, but the sudden irrational dread of disappointing her; of making her not want to be my friend. I still hadn’t had the courage to look in the mirror, though. I didn’t want to subject my self-esteem to that kind of torture.

Finally Charlotte lost her patience, threatening to call one of her friends over to take pictures so I would have to look at myself forever. The mere thought of someone else seeing me like this made me give in. I was trying not to remember I was going to a party, where everyone would see me. I turned slowly around until finally I was staring at myself in disbelief. My first thought was, ‘Wow, this dress is even more revealing than it looked in the box.’ My next was, ‘Amazing, I have legs.’

After the preparations sped up. Charlotte was ready in almost no time at all, wearing a dark green tank top and a black leather skirt, but she seemed to spend forever taming my hair and applying my make-up. She refused to let me see myself before she was finished. When she spun me around, I stared at the person in the mirror for a moment before taking another breath. Charlotte had traced my eyes with dark, black liner, winging the tips to make my eyes look like a cat’s. My lips were a bright, almost ridiculous fire engine red. Other than that there didn’t seem to be any make-up on my face although I thought my skin looked more glowing and fresh. For once in my life I didn’t feel like a complete hag. I would go so far as saying I felt pretty.

“You’re sexy, I know.” Charlotte said when she got tired of watching my complete absorption with my reflection. I touched my now silky, gently waving hair in awe. I didn’t know black hair could be so glossy. “Ok, come on. We have to go.”

“Wait-what?” I squeaked. I wasn’t ready for this. I contemplated faking an illness, but I knew it would be too obvious.

“Yeah, its already dark outside and we have to walk across town.”

“But – but I don’t have any shoes!” I was triumphant. I couldn’t go if I didn’t have any shoes that matched.

But Charlotte wasn’t going to have any of that. “They’re downstairs in the box. I was feeling merciful so I brought you ballet flats.”

“This is mercy?” I still couldn’t get my voice to lower to its normal pitch.

She grinned wickedly, “I could have brought stilettos.”

I swallowed, then allowed myself to be pulled out of the house. As soon as the chilly mountain air hit my bare legs I knew it was going to be a long night.

“It’s freezing!” One last try. Maybe Charlotte would give up and I could go home.

“Too bad. You’ll get used to it.”

I sighed and she gave me a lopsided smile. At least the shoes she had given me were comfortable. That made me wonder how she had known what size shoes I wore and I decided that my curiosity wouldn’t stand for me not asking.

“Hey, Charlotte, how’d you know what size shoes I needed?” I was half expecting something supernatural; magical mind reading abilities or something like that, but I definitely wasn’t anticipating what came out of her mouth.

“Oh, I just asked your mom.”

“What?” That was surprising.

“She was over at my house talking to my mom, so I just asked her since she was there.” Charlotte shrugged.

My mom was friends with Charlotte’s mother? Since when? I realized I hadn’t even told my mom that Charlotte and I were friends. So I guess there was really no reason for my mother to have told me, since she didn’t know it would even matter to me. I was beginning to become depressed thinking about how much my relationship with my mother had dissolved in just one week; how far we had been pulled apart.

We were across town already and I was starting to get confused as Charlotte passed each house, beginning to wonder which of these increasingly large homes the party was at. When we passed the last house and began heading toward the woods I stopped dead, watching Charlotte continue for a few moments before she noticed I wasn’t beside her.

“Where are we going?” I tried to make myself sound unconcerned, nonchalant, but I was afraid. I didn’t want to go back into the forest.

“Our raves are too crazy for indoors. We have them outside in the woods instead. It’s way better being out under the stars and in the fresh air, anyway.”

“You mean we’re not going to be inside”

“Are you still worried about being cold? I promise you’ll get used to it.” Charlotte didn’t seem to notice the way my breathing started to speed up or that I took a cautious step back.

“Charlotte?” A voice called out of the dark, quickly followed by a tall girl with white blonde hair. She saw me and we both froze, until Charlotte took my arm and pulled me forward, quite against my will.

“This is Alessa. Alessa, this is Lacey, the friend I told you about.”

“Hello.” The girl’s voice was no where near as lovely as Charlotte’s, although the fact that it was filled with distrust and not a little disdain may have been influencing my judgement.

“Hi.” I said. My own voice sounded weak and wobbly.

Lacey turned away from me and back to Charlotte in a slow movement that suggested she just barely trusted me enough to expose her back to me. Although, I thought beginning to tremble, it may just be because she knows I’m not a threat. I would never have a chance if Lacey were a monster.

“It’s already started, what took you so long?” she asked Charlotte.

“We had a little too much fun getting ready.” The other girl replied brightly, seemingly oblivious of Lacey’s rude behavior.

Lacey took in my dress and face with a long look of disgust before turning to lead us to the party. It was a measure of how scared I was of her that I wasn’t offended. We were deep into the woods before I could hear the music, a heavy metal song more hard core than I was even used to. It was almost pitch black where we were, but I could see a few lights, bonfires I assumed by the flickering and unevenness. People came into view as we entered a large clearing, a huge crowd surging and bending with the music; the beautiful faces lit eerily with the orange, dancing light.

My mouth dropped open at the sheer flawlessness of the scene before me. It was like a dream, more perfect than any rock concert I had ever been to, the motions of the teenagers so fluid and diverse yet all seeming to blend together into one giant dance. It was completely and wonderfully surreal, horrifying and frightening in its utterly undeniable passion. I was struggling with myself; torn between awe and fear; unsure of the reality of what I was seeing. After all, I wasn’t even sure these were people.

“Are you up for dancing?” Charlotte asked from behind me, making me jump.

I almost gagged on the panic crushing my throat, “N-no.” I didn’t want to ruin the party with my average-ness. And there was that other reason.

“Okay, well Lacey and I are going to. You can walk around, listen to the music. Talk to people.” She emphasized the last part, looking me in the eye. Charlotte had known me long enough to know I was too shy to openly start a conversation with out being directly ordered to.

Even as I nodded I knew I would disobey her. There was no way I could talk to anyone here besides Charlotte; it was killing me just to be here. Instantly I regretted my thoughts. How true might that simple statement be, how close was I to death? The yellow eyes, bright and luminescent in the blackness of the night, crept into my mind’s eye, my memories trying to surface after a whole day of burying them beneath others.

I began to move around the edge of the clearing, keeping to the shadows beneath the trees and hoping that no one would notice me. Maybe moving would drive the past out of my head, help me forget. I followed the tree line, my eyes glued to the boiling mass in the clearing’s center, unable to look away until I came to a break in the trees and was forced to watch where I was going. Reluctantly, I pried my eyes from the dancers and turned into the darkness, looking down the path. I knew this wasn’t where we had come in, I hadn’t gone even half way around the clearing and I could see that the path was short, that the sky opened up only a few hundred yards down the pin-straight trail; so I set off to see where it went.

By the time I had come near the end of the path, I was almost relaxed. The music was no longer as loud and headache inducing, muffled by the thick foliage and I was alone, away by myself kicking a pebble down a lonely forest trail. The night was so much prettier when I was no longer surrounded by those I feared.

The woods dropped away and I looked out over a long moonlit valley lake, its waters as smooth and silver as a mirror, hidden between the mountains. I smiled, suddenly peaceful. Every time I got used to this place, whenever I got bored, it always threw something new and breathtaking at me, whether good or bad, to keep me unbalanced. I walked carefully down to the waterline, stepping lightly with my thin shoes, and sat down on a huge flat-topped rock. The coldness seeped through my dress and into my skin, but I stretched out onto its surface anyway, laying down to bask in the starlight and stare up into the endless sky. The view was amazing. If I turned my head either way I was greeted with picturesque landscapes, a postcard from any angle. I couldn’t believe I had ever believed a hot crowded beach could be better than this.

My surveying was suddenly interrupted by the sound of people coming down the path. I recognized Charlotte’s voice almost instantly, speaking with a male in quick whispers. I was about to stand up when I heard my name in their quiet conversation and froze.

“Alessa has just as much right to attend a party as anyone, Seth, and just because she’s different shouldn’t stop us from accepting her. She’s just going to end up getting herself into trouble out of sheer boredom if she doesn’t do something.” Charlotte was saying in a hushed voice. I could feel myself go red as I thought about her words, ‘because she’s different.’

“I still can’t believe you brought her here, it’s too dangerous. What if one of the nightlings shows up tonight, how are we supposed to explain that?

The boy’s voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I waited for them to come out of the shadow of the trees.

“The chances of one coming are slim to none. They never hunt near town anyway.”

“Well, your wrong about that. I almost had to kill one just last night because it almost had her. You have no idea how close it came.” The boy’s face came into view and I had to choke back the scream in my throat. It was him; the boy who had saved me from the monster. His features were sharp and his pale skin bright even in the faint light. Charlotte’s own expression was one of worry and slight anger, while his was all focused fury.

“What?! Did she see?” This was the most anxious I had ever heard the always confident Charlotte sound.

“Of course. She saw both of us, and she saw us fight.”

“No wonder she’s scared out of her mind! I knew she was afraid of something, but I thought it was just Derek again. How could you let that happen, Seth? Your in enough trouble as it is!”

“It’s not like I meant for it to happen! She saw me through her window and I ran. I didn’t know she was going to follow me!”

So the boy, Seth, had been the one outside my house in the middle of the night. Well, at least one mystery was solved. Only a million more to go, another popping up every second.

“She must be frightened. The nightlings are a bit…intimidating.” Charlotte’s voice was beginning to fade as they moved off down the lake shore.

“And she’s completely terrified of me.”

“Why would she be afraid of you? Your really not that scary.”

“You didn’t see her eyes before she ran away. She made me feel like a total monster.” His words were bitter and sad, but he seemed to be draining, losing his fire.

I could barely hear Charlotte’s response, “Don’t worry she’ll forget about it soon enough.”

They turned around a bend and out of sight, leaving everything the same, almost as if they’d never been.

Almost.

I loved it! You have to post the next chapter soon! Preferrably before I go insane.

Kthanx!

<3

OMG Cassie you know how much I love your work. I don't even need to comment about it. Keep writing or else... >_> And explain things a little better for your readers on this site. Answer some of the questions that confused me at first. For example; How can they walk around during the day? What is a Nightling? Blah Blah you know... Are you going to answer these questions in later chapters? Cause I'm pretty sure if you didn't explain most of it to me. I be like WTF!

Yes the later chapters are going to answer any and all questions anyone may have about nightlings and my vampires. If anyone has any specific questions just pm me or comment or something and I'll be sure to either answer it then or write it into this. So if there's anything that keeps you from understanding ANY OF IT (which would be kind of depressing) then just ask and I'll tell.
L&L

This story is sooo good. If you don't continue writing I will.... i don't know what I'll do. WRITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay.

It's been a while, but here's the next chapter anyway.

Chapter 6

Nothing had changed. And yet everything was different. My world was caving in; one giant avalanche of ice and fear that I couldn’t escape or slow down. Charlotte’s words reverberated over and over inside my head, ‘Don’t worry she’ll forget soon enough.’ I had never known anyone to be so completely wrong in my life. How could I forget when every face I saw, save the one I now rarely did see, reminded me of just how deep in I already was? No one wanted me to forget more than I did, but I knew without a doubt that it was impossible.

It seemed like I had been lying here on this rock lost in a sea of my own troubled thoughts for more time than a single night could possible contain. I knew now, without a doubt, that everything I had seen was real. The fight, the eyes, the monster; all of it had happened and I could no longer convince myself otherwise.

I looked up at the stars trying futily to comfort myself with their whiteness and beauty, thinking of how impossible this was. A week ago I was normal, a week ago everything seemed fine, but now I wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen to me. A week ago I barely let myself feel enough to notice that my life was wonderful. I thought about how, ever since I had arrived in Almont, I had felt more, experienced more emotions that I had even before my father had died. This town was changing me; I could feel it. And I wasn’t sure it was for the better.

I forced myself to sit up, suddenly dizzy as the blood rushed out of my head, then slid off the rock onto unsteady feet. The night was quiet and seemingly serene, but I knew better. The short distance to the path and woods felt like miles. I was eager to get back into the cover of the forest, to have the trees close around me and fill up the empty space at my back so that I could stop glancing over my shoulder to check behind me. Unfortunately the lack of space didn’t help. Instead I felt suddenly claustrophobic on the thin trail, the darkness pressing on me and still the awful breeze on my back, fluttering my dress and constantly reminding me of my horrible vulnerability. One of them could be right behind me at any moment and I wouldn’t know until those lethal fangs were sinking into my throat.

I shivered and sped up, as unwilling to stay on this path as I was to face the crowd in the clearing again, but unable to stop. Odd how I was so impatient to be home, but when I had first moved here I couldn’t stand staying in the unfamiliar house. So much had changed.

The bonfires came into view, the music growing in an eardrum-splitting crescendo until finally I broke out of the woods and into the main party, almost colliding with the wall of dancers. After that I made sure to keep out of reach of the swirling maelstrom of bodies, careful to keep my eyes to the ground so I wouldn’t get sucked in.

The party seemed wilder now, the music faster and the dancing less harmonic, but more dangerous; the liquid movements stronger and more deadly, looking increasingly like the swift sureness of predators. I hurried faster, knowing every moment I spent here was another chance for someone to see me.

What had Seth said about ‘nightlings’? How could they be any different than the others? I knew I could safely assume that the thing that had attacked me last night had been one of these nightlings, and that none were here now, or according to Seth, I probably wouldn’t still be breathing.

The conversation I had overheard had been very informative, no matter how much I wished now that I hadn’t heard it, and my curiosity was alive again. So was my temper. Who was this guy who found it necessary to tell Charlotte off for bringing me to a party, who followed me around and ended up in my backyard at midnight? Why did he even care what happened to me? No one else seemed to.

I entered the narrow path leading back toward town, back to freedom and safety. Once out of the clearing the threat didn’t seem as imminent or dangerous, no longer in sight of the others. The currents of the air made me restless though, reminding me that I was still very exposed. The music drifted away gently, gone before my ears had registered that it could no longer be detected, and the loud silence grew. It was the kind of silence, the utter lack of sound where you knew there should be some, that made shivers run up and down your spine. The type of nonexistent noise that filled your ears with its humming, that made you hear every crack of your footsteps with perfect clarity, each a loud gunshot in your head.

If it wasn’t for that silence I wouldn’t have heard the quiet peal of laughter from within the trees. Off to my right, the forest seemed almost imperceptibly lighter than the rest, like there might be a small space empty of trees where someone had lit a fire. I knew I should keep going, that I was just pushing myself deeper and deeper into the quicksand that would eventually destroy me, but I just couldn’t help myself. Maybe I’m just a little too much like Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew or some other detective with little sense of self-preservation, because, at that moment, I wanted to know what was going on here even more that I wanted to get away. Maybe the danger didn’t seem real to me yet, more like a phantom that couldn’t hurt me. Or maybe it was just my teenage sense of untouchability, the groundless belief that I was somehow exempt from death.

Whatever it was, I decided at that point, on that dark trail in the woods, that I was tired of being scared. I was going to figure out what Almont’s secret was even if it killed me. I was such an idiot.

Just as I made my life-changing commitment, I spotted a path splitting off the one I was on and leading into the woods. It was angled so that if I had been going the other direction, as I had been coming in, I wouldn’t have seen it unless I looked behind me. Immediately I turned onto it, without hesitation, and hoped I wasn’t walking into something I would regret. I wasn’t afraid, though, not even a little. I was only resigned.

The trail was uneven and littered with dead wood. Roots grew across it, tripping me constantly and sending me to my hands and knees more than once. I could barely see my hands in front of my face, but I could see the light further in and it guided me, like a bug to a lamp. As I crept closer, I slowed down, certain that I didn’t want to meet a stranger out here by myself. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but something pulled me forward toward the sound of perfect voices, into a tiny, unnatural clearing, pushed me to my knees behind a tree stump near the path.

Two figures sat near the center of the clearing, two eerily similar, but completely different faces looked at each other, talking quietly, unaware of my presence. One was a girl with caramel colored hair hanging to her waist in soft ringlets; one of the most beautiful people I’d seen in Almont. She was talking to a young, obviously admiring brunette boy across from her, occasionally glancing down to what she held in her hands. The fire in the stone ring flickered its light across the grass, bathing them in its glow.

The girl’s hand shifted and I squinted harder trying to decipher the small object she was petting and fiddling with. The boy’s eyes suddenly lifted and threaded the trees, seeming to notice a disturbance in the forest. I pressed my hands deeper into the grass, wincing as dirt ground into the scrapes in my hands, and tried to slow my breathing, quiet my thundering heartbeat so I wouldn’t be discovered. Even as my eyes focused again on the girl, she raised her hands to her face and seemed to smell the object. I could see the fur and legs in the firelight, but couldn’t quite connect the form to anything until she took it away from her mouth.

It was a rabbit and its blood covered the girl’s face, running gruesomely across one cheek in a crimson smear. Blood still fell from her lips, trailing down her perfect chin and dripping to the ground. My eyes flicked to the boy, but he seemed unaffected, continuing to speak as if the girl weren’t doing anything unusual.

She said a few words to him then took another sip of the rabbit’s blood, like drinking a soda. My mouth hung open as I stared in stunned horror at each drop of blood that plummeted from the end of her chin, unable to quite understand. Then the truth roared through my head, shattering every wall I had ever built with its strength, destroying my attempt to close myself out from its pain.

I was colliding with a living myth, a ghost story, encountering monsters people dressed up a on Halloween. I allowed myself to finally think the word I had guessed at the night before, let it permeate my thoughts, riddling anything reasonable with its stabbing, unbelievable, undeniable truth: vampire. They were all vampires. Even if they weren’t storybook vampires, allergic to crosses and sleeping in coffins, this girl, this vampire, was definitely drinking blood, and as she bent her head over her meal once again I began to shudder uncontrollably.

How could this happen? A creature of legend had just revealed itself to me, I had just discovered that I was living in an entire town full of vampires. How could I possibly be so unlucky that fate has run out of normal things to throw at me? Bring on the unicorns, send me some fairies, but why did you have to drop me into the hands of vampires? I asked the air, knowing no one would answer. How could vampires even exist, especially this many? How had they managed to keep their true identities completely hidden from everyone for so long?

I almost wasn’t surprised, was almost a little smug. I had discovered their secret, had know all along that something was wrong. I hadn’t been fooled by their act like my mother. Maybe I was better at one thing than my mom; I wasn’t so quick to drop all my suspicions and think the best of people. In most cases my unaccepting attitude would be bad, but in a freakish scenario like this one my skepticism was a talent.

Watching the girl still, I congratulated myself on a job well done; having discovered the Almont Secret. It all added up; the nightly noises, the rabbits neck wound, the inhuman grace and speed. And the odd feeling I always had when they looked at me; like I was being sized up for a potential meal. I was starting to wonder what had taken me so long to realize the truth it seemed so obvious.

“And what might we have here?” The voice behind me was low, quiet, and familiar; the voice of the last person I wanted to meet in the middle of the woods, surrounded by vampires, caught doing something I probably shouldn’t be. I was too shocked to scream or even turn around.

Cold hands wrapped around my wrists, before I could jerk them away, locking onto me and holding me still. I twisted my body trying to break free and caught a glimpse of the blonde hair and cold grey eyes filled with some sort of sadistic pleasure. Derek’s hands only closed tighter, lifting me up by me arms, sending pain shooting through my shoulders. I still couldn’t connect to the impulses telling me to scream.

“Veronica, Aric, come look at what I found.” He was still talking in a near whisper, but I saw that the other two were already up and moving toward me, their graceful, cat-like strides bringing them closer. The blood still trailed down the girl, Veronica’s, face, twisting my heart with fear at the sight.

The trapped scream finally escaped, but almost immediately Derek’s hand clapped onto my face, silencing my cry and smashing my lips against my teeth. The bitter, metallic taste of my own blood filled my mouth. Aric, only ten feet away, hissed through his teeth and dropped into a crouch, his brown hair flipping into his face. I felt the hands on my wrist and mouth tense, muscles bunching under the cold flesh.

My wild heartbeat escalated as I realized that my stupid blood had just set off every predatory radar within smelling distance. I yanked forward again, flailing with my free arm, but the attempt was useless; Derek’s arms bringing me back effortlessly, close enough to feel his breath against the back of my neck.

“You look absolutely…delicious.” The whisper was right by my ear, unexpected and much too close. I jerked my head to the side trying to at least give him a headache, but met only thin air. He was too fast for me. Derek’s dark chuckle raised the hair on my arms and froze my blood in my veins. I was just now realizing the very likely possibility that I might not make it to the morning.

Veronica and Aric were only a few feet away now, pacing restlessly back and forth across my field of vision. I was too frightened to move my head to follow their progress, afraid that by doing so I would give Derek a better shot at my throat, so I stood completely still, listening to the quiet, mundane forest noises. My eyes flicked over Veronica’s light brown hair and perfect, round, almost child-like, blood-covered face, mostly unaffected by her beauty, watching her smooth gate. Aric was more wary, cautiously glancing between Veronica and Derek every few seconds, less sure of himself.

I started to tremble, dreading the unexplained pause of action almost more than I feared them deciding to do something. Whatever happens, I thought, I know it won’t be good for me. Derek hadn’t budged an inch since I had tried to head-butt him and I could almost feel him deliberating, trying to decide if killing me was worth the time, effort, and consequences. I hoped my instincts were wrong because if they weren’t I knew I didn’t have much chance of survival, seeing as Derek always seemed to do whatever he could to make my life harder. His next step, apparently, was to end it.

Suddenly the other two froze, surprised looks slipping onto their faces as their knees bent, readying them to spring. I felt a slight pull on my arms as Derek turned to the side quickly, then sucked in a breath when his hand dropped from my face. His other stayed firmly locked around both of my wrists.

“Derek, what do you think you’re doing?” The voice was familiar and furious, snapping through the darkness. An odd feeling of relief swept through me although I didn’t know why a near stranger showing up would make me feel any better. Seth had managed to find me once again when I most needed help.

“I could ask the same of you. What are you doing sneaking around? Although I guess that’s what you’re best at.”

Derek’s words were mocking and even though I didn’t understand their hidden meaning I could tell they were aimed to make Seth angry. His response was quick and sharp.

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh, I see!” Derek sounded delighted, “This is the secret mission Demetrius gave you. I knew it couldn’t be anything important, but still, her?”

“Shut up, Derek, and let her go.”

“And if I don’t?” His whisper was low and soft, deadly quiet.

I felt the tip of his nose, brush slowly up my neck and shivered, my back going stiff and straight. A low growl drifted to my ears from behind me, a guttural snarl that I had trouble believing came from Seth.

Derek snickered unaffected, but pushed me to the ground anyway, leaving me stunned at my sudden freedom, staring at the dropped and forgotten rabbit carcass. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur pass me, too fast to identify until I looked up at the now empty clearing. Veronica and Aric had left, and I was assuming that Derek had too, emptying the area and leaving me alone and frazzled. As my heart slowed, I began to register the bruises on my knees where I had fallen, and my brain automatically began to lock up, closing away my increasingly shattered mind.

My head was blank and I couldn’t seem to form a complete thought without pain biting into my nerves. Nothing made any sense and my breathing started to speed up again as I realized just how insane I must be, creeping slowly toward hyperventilation. My heart rate went through the roof when a dark figure blocked out the moonlight in front of me, reaching out to toward my face. I flinched away, unsure of its intent and unable to stop my reflex. The hand pulled back quickly, but the figure didn’t leave.

“Are you okay?” It was quiet and familiar.

“Seth?”

I heard an intake of breath, barely audible, then realized belatedly that I wasn’t supposed to know who he was.

“How do you know my name?”

My mind raced, finally given something to distract itself, trying to find an excuse for my knowledge. Instead I asked another more pressing question. “What the hell just happened?”

I don't know if anyone is reading this but I'm going to keep posting the chapters anyway. This chapter is less exciting, so sorry about that, but here it is.

Chapter 7

My mind was spinning, trying desperately to decide if what I had just seen and decided was processable. Seth walked next to me, silent and beautiful, still ignoring my question, but I was too afraid of him to press the subject. I didn’t really want to get my throat ripped out if I got on his nerves. Not that I was sure he could do that.

My head was splitting in two, tearing itself to pieces as I tried to choose between safe ignorance and deadly dangerous truth. Usually I wasn’t one to deny the obvious facts, but this was a little big for even me to swallow.

Seth wasn’t any help, striding along beside me, sulking. His sharp features were perfect as always, his amber eyes glancing up at me every once in a while to catch me staring at him. I ripped my eyes away, flushing, and wrapped myself in my arms, the cold finally starting to sink into my skin now that my veins were no longer rushing with adrenaline. The hated wind sneaked through the thin crimson fabric of my dress that gave little more protection than if I had been naked, chilling my whole body.

I looked back up at Seth, trying to sneak a glance, but found him staring at me. His mouth opened like he was going to say something, but then it closed and he turned his head forward, into the darkness. The moon was high in the sky by now, and although the leaves and branches blocked it from view, the moonlight still trickled through, illuminating the thin path vaguely.

The silence was starting to bother me, so I forced myself to work up enough courage to break it, “Where are we going?” A safe enough question.

“I’m taking you home.”

His voice was measured and flat. I could tell he didn’t want to talk to me, just as much as he hadn’t wanted me to come to the party. Why did he hate me so much? I wasn’t so much angry as I was curious. I wanted mostly to know what I had done to make him dislike me, since I didn’t remember ever talking to him except when he had caught me.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he was angry with me because helping me had made Derek hate him and he hadn’t wanted that. They hadn’t seemed to be on very good terms in the clearing, what with Derek’s needling and Seth’s sharp responses. Maybe it was time to find out what was going on.

“Why have you been following me?” Blunt and to the point. I was tired of being confused.

Seth looked surprised, his eyebrows arching upward under his hair. His feet kept moving, however, preventing me from staring him down. I had to watch for roots and potholes in the trail or they would send me down. I looked up again and he was still staring at me, his eyes intense and burning. His expression scared me a little, sending me shrinking back into myself and tripping up my feet. I stumbled, but his cold hand was already clamped onto my shoulder, stabilizing and pulling me back to a standing position.

“How do you do that?” I asked breathlessly, glancing up into his face again. His fingers opened, releasing me, but I didn’t move. I wanted an answer.

His perfect lips remained shut, and he stepped around me to begin leading me home again. My hand shot out and grabbed his elbow before I had time to think about it, bringing him to a stop, although he hadn’t pulled against me at all. He looked down at my hand, then up into my eyes slowly, his jaw clenched.

“What do you want me to tell you?”

Even though his words were low and threatening, I kept my fingers firmly clenched onto his icy skin.

“The truth. I want to know what’s going on,” then added under my breath, “I want to know I’m not crazy.”

My eyes met his again and I stared into his, watching them soften. I could tell he felt sorry for me, but at the moment I didn’t care enough to wonder why; I was too absorbed in his amber eyes.

“I can’t give you the truth.”

“Why not?” I was trying to be patient, but he was starting to get on my nerves. It couldn’t really be that hard to give me a straight answer. He noticed my clipped tone and his face hardened again, his eyes, so clear a moment before, becoming unreadable. He slipped his elbow out of my loosened grip and started walking away.

“I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”

“Well, I don’t either, but there’s a whole lot about you I don’t know. Why you’ve been stalking me for starters.”

“I haven’t been stalking you.”

“Oh, of course not,” I said sarcastically, “You just happened to be in my backyard in the middle of the night and it was sheer coincidence that you showed up at the perfect time to save me from that thing. Not to mention Derek and his jolly band of minions.”

He looked up and started to say something, but I cut him off.

“And don’t you think you could have been a little more subtle when you told Charlotte I shouldn’t have come to the party? You could have tried ‘maybe she’ll be bored’ or ‘don’t you think it’s a little cold?’ Not ‘oh, great, now I have to watch and make sure she doesn’t get her jugular torn out.’”

The corners of his mouth twitched and I exhaled angrily, “Are you laughing at me?”

“Now who’s stalking whom?” Seth said ignoring my question, “I’m pretty sure you weren’t a part of that conversation.”

“It’s not my fault you two walked in on me innocently minding my own business! Although I will admit I probably shouldn’t have left the main path on my way home. I could have avoided one uncomfortable situation and I might still be blissfully unaware of this psychotic town’s issues.”

I took a deep breath and then my legs collapsed. My eyes were wide open, but I still didn’t see the blindingly fast movement that brought Seth to his knees in front of me. I could feel the tears sliding down my cheeks, but I couldn’t seem to make them stop, no matter how much I tried. I really didn’t want Seth to see this sudden flash of weakness, but I didn’t have much choice, so I gave up trying to suck it up and forced myself to speak. Actually it was more like a wail.

“Why is this happening to me? I mean, seriously what are the chances?”

“What are you talking about?” He seeemed to be at a loss of what to do, but he was looking around nervously, obviously worried my screaming would bring something unpleasant down on us, so I toned down my voice.

“This place! In most towns you don’t get attacked by – by – “ I wasn’t about to say vampire to his face. I couldn’t make that kind of crazy accusation without more proof. How could I convince someone else when I couldn’t even completely convince myself? I was calming down know and starting to feel more like a baby, sitting on the dirty path, crying my eyes out in front of this gorgeous boy and although I still thought I was right about the townspeople I couldn’t completely accept it until I had more evidence.

I ran my arm across my face and sniffed before getting to my feet. “Sorry about that. I’m fine.”

“No problem.” He smiled and I found myself relaxing. His smile softened his whole face, making him seem slightly less frightening. I couldn’t quite forget the way he’d looked when he was fighting the nightling or his snarl at Derek, but it helped remind me that he had always protected me and never actually done anything to hurt me.

“So now that I’ve finished freaking out are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

He just laughed, a wonderful musical sound, and started walking again, leading me out of the woods.

“I kind of expected that.”

The town was dark and silent, the streets empty except for us. Between each glow of the streetlights I tensed, afraid of the shadows that grew and transformed as we moved, but every time we reached the next circle of illumination unharmed. Seth was a solid presence at my side, the only thing keeping me from bolting home; protective and strong enough to stop the nightlings. I hoped. We walked without talking, Seth tirelessly and me beginning to stumble with exhaustion. Charlotte had been right about the cold; I barely felt it now, but that may have been because I was so numb from everything else that had happened. I didn’t even notice we were on my front porch until Seth stopped and grabbed my shoulder to keep me from running into the door.

It was locked and I didn’t have a key, so I had to use the doorbell. So much for slipping in without my mom seeing my dress. Then I realized that I had left with Charlotte and come back with someone completely different. Hopefully my mom wouldn’t throw too big a fit about me walking home in the middle of the night with someone of the opposite sex.

The door opened, light spilling out across the front yard, and I watched my mother’s face develop surprise as she took in Seth and I. I wasn’t sure if she was more shocked that I had come home with a guy or by my outrageously revealing dress. Serves her right, I thought rebelliously, she shouldn’t have let me go to some wild teenage party. She was lucky she didn’t know just how wild it had been or she might have had a serious aneurysm on the spot.

“You’re home earlier than I thought you would be.” She said when the silence stretched too far.

“Bye, Alessa.” Seth said quietly, then strode off into the darkness. I shivered when he said my name.

“Hi, mom.” I walked into the house and stumbled my way over to the staircase. My mother was still staring at me.

“Where did you get that dress?” Her tone was slightly disapproving, but it didn’t sound like I was about to be scolded so I started trudging up the steps.

“Charlotte lent it to me. I’m dead tired. See you tomorrow.”

She glared after me, and I hoped she couldn’t see up my dress. That would give her another tally on her side if she decided to punish me later, although at the moment I couldn’t make myself care much.

As soon as I got to my room, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. I threw myself onto my bed without undressing anyway (like I said, lingerie) and tried to keep my eyes closed, but every time my eyelids shut out the light I saw the yellow eyes of the nightling and felt Derek’s breath on my neck.

I sat up quickly, having to restrain the scream building in my throat. I hadn’t slept much the night before and I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight so I was sure I would end up just passing out with sleep deprivation eventually.

Then I had an idea. Maybe I could actually get something done tonight instead of spending it restless and worrying. I would much rather be doing something about my situation no matter how stupid it was, than sitting, stewing in my fears. Instead I could find someone who could tell me what was going on. I was going to find whoever was running this freak-show.

I already had a name thanks to Derek, who’d let it slip that someone had given Seth a secret mission, someone named Demetrius. To me even the name sounded old and sinister, the kind of name given in the dark ages to an evil tyrant. Perfect for the leader of a group of vampires. I had a slight doubt while I was pulling on some real clothes that maybe what I was doing wasn’t the best idea; that I might not want to run into the one person powerful enough to order the others around in the middle of the night by myself, but that thought didn’t last long before I stomped it out. I had already made up my mind to do whatever possible to find out what was going on and now was as good a time as any.

I pulled my window open as far as it would go then stretched my legs out into the air, before slowly extending them down to touch the roof of the bay window beneath my room. My worn sneakers made contact just before I had to start using my arms to lower myself and I made sure to be quiet and not scrape against the shingles too much.

I took a deep breath when I had settled onto the slanted ledge, then flung myself off the side, dropping the eight or so feet and rolling when I hit the ground to minimize the thud of my feet. I smiled, exhilarated, realizing that this was more exciting than anything that had happened in the last week because I was choosing to go look for answers. I felt like I was in control for the first time since coming to Almont. I also knew that I had never snuck out when I lived in L.A., and already I was leaving the house without permission. I was more driven and less obedient. Almont was changing me alright.

Light filtered through the thin shades and dimly lit the small backyard, the flickers of the television momentarily intensifying and weakening the light not unlike the bonfires at the party. I sprinted across the grass to the gate, bouncing on my toes and trying to touch the leafy ground as little as possible. I winced when the hinges creaked loudly as I pulled the gate open, then slipped through into the near blackness.

Instead of heading for the trees like I normally did, I followed the fence-line; first my own, then my neighbors, down the line of houses until finally I reached an open unenclosed yard that I could sneak through. I was about to put a foot onto the foreign grass when a hand shot out of the darkness behind me and clamped onto my upper arm, dragging me back toward the trees and the shadows. I fought back, almost dislocating my shoulder the first time I tried yanking my arm away, then trying desperately to drive my elbow into the gut of my captor. I didn’t make a sound except for a startled intake of breath. No matter what I did I kept being pulled closer to the woods and I was about to let loose the loudest scream I could manage, when a familiar voice whispered loudly.

“Stop!”

Almost instantly I did, although I didn’t know why I trusted him so much. Seth’s voice had deflated my gathered scream, but I wasn’t about the let him get away with grabbing me like that.

“Let go of me!” The hands didn’t budge. “I said – “

“What are you doing?” His voice was angry and irritated, like he was being forced to punish a bad puppy. His tone didn’t help my mood.

“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.” I said slowly, through my teeth. I wasn’t going to tell him anything until he released me.

Slowly, like he was afraid I would run, his hand loosened and fell away from my arm. I shook his other hand off of my shoulder and turned around to glare up into his perfect face, barely visible in the scant light.

“What are you doing?” He repeated.

“What are you doing snatching me like that?” I was still breathing hard, and shaking slightly.

He stared at me waiting for an answer.

“Why does it matter to you?” Stare. “Since you won’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to find someone who will.”

“And who do you think is going to do that?” His tone was incredulous and slightly curious.

“Demetrius.”

I hadn’t expected such a strong response out of Seth. His face went even whiter; paler than I thought was possible for anyone who was still alive, and his eyes went wide. Immediately he was tense, his fists bunching, and his breath caught repeatedly as he tried to strangle out a response.

“I – you – “

“So if you’re finished attacking me I’m going to go find him now.” I started to turn, but his hand was on my arm again, pulling me back.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” He sounded like he was going to say something else, but he choked off and remained silent.

“Obviously. That’s why I’m doing it. I have to find out what’s going on somehow.” His obvious fear was starting to scare me, making me doubt myself again. I could hear the indecision in my words, but I hoped he couldn’t.

Seth shook his head a few times, staring down at the ground, torn. No one said anything for a few seconds while he tried to decide whether or not to tell me anything.

“You’re not going to give up are you?” He finally asked.

“Not a chance.”

“Fine. If you come with me and don’t do anything else stupid, I’ll tell you as much as I can.”

“Fine.”

These two new chapters are great. You better keep writing.

Alright here's the next chapter if anyone's reading this far. This is one of my favorites for some reason so I hope whomever is reading this likes it.

Chapter 8

He led me back to my section of fence and we sat down, leaning against the rough wood planks. Seth sat next to me, close enough that I could hear his whispers.

“First, I haven’t been stalking you, I’ve been protecting you.” I expected him to continue his explanation, but he paused. I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought.

“From?”

“From? Didn’t you notice that everyone here is out to get you?” His eyebrows were up and he was frowning.

“Yeah, I did kind of get that feeling, and I was wondering…why might that be? Everyone seems to be hell bent on making sure that I get knocked down and never get up. Except, of course, you. Another mystery.”

His full lips pressed together, closing him up, but I wasn’t going to have any of that.

“If that’s all you’re going to tell me then I don’t know why you bothered in the first place.” No matter how gorgeous he was, or how dangerous, nothing was going to keep me from the truth, especially him. I knew his weakness and I was going to exploit that to my full ability because the only thing so far that he had seemed to care about was me; although why was one of the questions I was dying to have answered.

I stood quickly, but he pulled me back down, my knees buckling easily and my back bouncing against the fence again.

“I’m trying to tell you, but it’s…hard…to figure out what I can.” His voice was strained and faintly tinged with pain, sweeping the anger out of me as he struggled to speak.

“You can tell me everything.” I pushed gently, losing my protective sarcasm, “I don’t have anyone to tell.”

His face raised, barely a foot from my own, and my breath caught as his eyes, so hurt filled and guilty, met mine. I didn’t understand their expression, but after a few moments of eye contact, I forgot anyway. His beauty drove all thoughts out of my head, leaving only the image of his jaw-line and the contour of his lips.

I vaguely recognized what I was feeling, but I had no idea why I would ever think about Seth like that. There wasn’t even proof that he was human, let alone the fact that he had been “protecting” me and now refused to explain why. I didn’t know why the look on his face and the depth of his eyes made my heart skip pleasantly, leaving me breathless.

“I don’t want to scare you.”

“Too late.” Both of our voices were soft and our eyes never strayed from each other, “I’ve already seen too much.”

“So you know?” He contradicted himself, “No, if you knew you wouldn’t be here with me right now.”

I shook my head, unsure myself which question I was answering, but didn’t argue. Too much had rushed into my head when Seth’s tone changed; confusing feelings and even worse thoughts, and I could barely keep from screaming. Too many suspicions that seemed impossible.

Suddenly Seth’s head snapped toward the trees, so fast I was sure he must have broken his neck. His eyes were instantly narrow and his head tilted back slightly as if he were smelling something, but he didn’t stand or move away from me. I could feel my eyes widen and my back stiffen as my slower reflexes registered danger, but I also stayed still, afraid of his reaction if I moved. For a few more seconds everything was silent, then too quick for me to see, Seth was on his feet beside me holding a single white hand out to help me up.

“You need to get inside.” His tone was clipped again, but I saw worry in his eyes and tense shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Then it dawned on me, “It’s nightlings isn’t it?”

Seth glanced at me sharply, then nodded.

I pulled myself up with his hand, then stepped back into my yard through the still open gate. The lights in my house were no longer on and I hoped fervently that my mother hadn’t checked to see if I was still in my room. I moved up to the bay window then realized that there was no way for me to get back up. I couldn’t feel properly disappointed or even afraid with Seth’s protective presence near, but my brain still screamed for me to get away, although my heart disagreed.

“I can’t get back to my window.”

Seth glanced up at the ledge then to me, as though gauging the distance, then swooped me up into his arms. The ground disappeared and suddenly we were on the roof by my window, having just leapt eight feet into the air and landed in complete silence. I couldn’t seem to force myself to move or even breathe. He had just jumped up to my window while carrying me as if it were no big deal, as effortlessly as climbing a flight of stairs.
He set me down and I wobbled, frighteningly close to the edge, until his hands pushed me toward my open window.

“Don’t come back outside at night and I mean it. No matter what stay inside whenever the sun is down.”

I climbed into my bedroom, speechless, with a hand up from Seth, then glanced back out toward the ominously shadowed woods. A flicker of yellow played along the tree line then disappeared before I was sure of it, sending violent shiver through my whole body. The delayed fear and my building exhaustion was weighing my eyelids down, fluttering then snapping them back open alternately as my two strongest feelings battled each other. I watched Seth slip back over the edge into the darkness, then collapsed onto my bed and gave myself over to sleep.


When I woke it was broad daylight and everything was completely silent. By the near lack of sunlight coming through my window I knew it was past noon , but even that small amount of light felt like broken glass stabbing into my eyes and digging into my brain. The excruciating headache combined with my stiff limbs, cramped from lying still for so long, made me groan pathetically.

Then I remembered.

I had half sat up, but I flopped back onto my bed, content to lay there until my life started to make sense. I couldn’t quite believe what I was thinking was true; that I had somehow managed to end up in a whole heap of trouble including people who very possibly could be vampires. I just couldn’t accept that.

So on to the second, slightly less horrifying and more believable problem of my stalker-turned-savior, Seth. Was he telling the truth or was I just terribly gullible? I couldn’t even safely answer that question, although I felt that he was trying to protect me. But from what? That brought me full circle back to the first unanswerable question and only made my head spin faster. Which didn’t help my headache at all.

I forced myself to roll out of bed, mumbling under my breath about the definition of insanity, then stumbled out my door, eyes half open, without bothering to change. I could almost sense the enormous tangle of hair sticking off the top of my head, but I didn’t have the energy to smash it down with my hand, let alone brush it.

The stairs almost killed me (literally, I almost fell), but I made it to the living room and dropped gratefully onto the couch. I dug around in the cushions until I found the remote, then switched on the TV hoping for a little entertainment or at least a distraction. The news flicked on and I was about to switch channels, when the news announcer’s too energetic voice cut me off, gluing all my attention to the woman’s overly made-up face.

“And today we received more information about the recent string of violent and mysterious murders north of Gunnison,” she said through the mild static of our horrible reception. I sat up straighter, my eyes wide open now. “The third victim has just been identified as Greg Meyers, a resident of Gunnison, who disappeared on Thursday while on a hunting trip. The body was found yesterday horribly mauled and drained of blood, just as the other two had been. Twenty-three year old Jake Teller and seventy-one year old Maybel Tuoski, were found earlier this week…”

She kept speaking as if her last words hadn’t made me feel like I had just been punched in the stomach; the police had no suspects as of yet, all the victims had been attacked in the forest, they weren’t even sure it was only a single killer. I felt the color run off of my face, as I took in what this meant.

In my head there was only one explanation for the murders, although there was the tiny possibility that it was just some lunatic serial killer slaughtering hunters and hikers. Then draining their bodies of blood and mutilating them to such an extent that they weren’t even recognizable… The evidence all leaned toward the very idea that I had sought to avoid; nightlings were just as real as I kept trying to convince myself that they weren’t.

And now they were attacking people. I was no longer the only one in danger.

I just didn’t understand why they were just now beginning to kill people. Charlotte and Seth had acted as if the nightlings had been around forever, but if so, why wouldn’t people have noticed unexplained disappearances and murders before? Unless this was unusual behavior for the nightlings and for some reason they had just gone on a random killing spree.

I stood up, frustrated, trying unsuccessfully to run my fingers through my matted hair. I wouldn’t ever know anything else about the nightlings; mainly what the hell they were, until either Seth or Charlotte decided to tell me. My former exhaustion was forgotten as I paced back and forth, kicking still unpacked boxes agitatedly when they got in my way, trying to decide what to do. I couldn’t continue being completely clueless, but at the same time I didn’t have anyway to figure out what was going on.

I huffed and stomped back upstairs to turn on my loudest, most thought-process-disturbing music, hoping vainly that it might help me forget. My bed was only a few steps away, but I elected to hurl myself onto it instead of walking, then curled up on top of my purple blanket and pressed a pillow over my face. I couldn’t block out my music, but maybe I could smother my thoughts.
Of course this wasn’t getting me anywhere; the promise I had made myself, to discover Almont’s Secret, was burning a hole in my chest, roaring at me to do something, anything, constructive. Constructive meaning figure out what the hell was going on. I noticed my sudden increase in mental profanities, but deemed it forgivable in my circumstances.

The only idea I had about this town was completely crazy. I had almost believed it when it was right in front of my eyes, dripping blood, had even felt triumphant at what I had believed was a victory, but now, feeling slightly more sane, my former idea seemed impossible, even ridiculous. I felt a little sheepish, having believed that something like vampires could even exist, but at the same time a part of me still…wondered.

I rolled spastically, trying to muffle my thoughts and wished I hadn’t lost my wonderful ability to shut myself off from anything that hurt. Those mental walls had had their uses. Right now the most dangerous thing to me was myself. At least I hoped so.

The only thing I knew for sure was that no one in Almont was completely normal, except maybe my mother. Although I didn’t really know anymore, she was never home. For the first time I wondered where she was and fully realized the last time we had really talked had been the day of my melt down in LA. But I was stubborn. I refused to admit, even to myself, that it was my fault. I mean how could it be, it’s not like I had a roaring social life that demanded all my attention. Actually, most of my time was spent being bored out of my mind or either too scared/shocked to feel much of anything else. No, I wasn’t the one forcing us to stay apart. It was her, her stupid job, and her even dumber friends whom I’d never met.

Something hit my window.

I sprang off of my bed, my heart thudding erratically somewhere near where I had left my pillow. Instinctively, I reached for the nearest weapon-like object without looking and came back with a…shoe. Wonderful. I advanced to my window, armed with a muddy, unlaced sneaker, and peeked outside; first glancing at the woods, then, closer to the house, at the yard. There was nothing there, but that didn’t mean anything. I remembered Seth’s stunning speed and swallowed convulsively

I crept out of my bedroom on my socked toes, then peered down the stairs before tiptoeing down them. The sliding back door was still closed, latched, and intact so I made my was toward it to get a better view of my backyard.
Nothing. My heart was still hammering (now back in my chest), but I unlocked the door anyway and poked my head outside; both eager and afraid to see what had made the noise; hoping that I wasn’t about to get beheaded.

There just beneath the window was a little brown bird, laying sprawled awkwardly in the grass. It must have flown into my window. I was both relieved and embarrassed at my cowardice. And there was the fact that I was still brandishing my shoe like a sword…

I sighed and stepped out of the doorway into the yard, already feeling sorry for the bird, which was obviously dead. I’d just go drop it in to the brush beneath the trees where it could rot in peace.

A low, menacing growl drifted out of the shadowy darkness behind me.