CHAPTER 1

My heart was beating a million miles a minute as I watched the scene being played out before me. The sight I was beholding was terrifyingly dark and wicked. My palms were sweating profusely and I trembled uncontrollably, biting on my lip to try to calm myself.

"Please," a young, average woman pleaded, stepping away from the menacing man in front of her.

"I'll make this quick," the man responded, his lips curling back into a smirk as he closed in on her.

A shudder ran through me as I caught sight of the two gleaming, pointed, unnatural canines that protruded from his mouth. My eyes stayed wide open, no matter how much I wanted to close them. Fear incessantly filled my veins as I continued to watch the atrocious spectacle in front of me. It was like one of the car crashes that were so horrendous you couldn't look away.

In the blink of the eye, the man was on the woman, and a snapping sound was heard soon after. A strangled scream escaped my throat as the body of the woman fell to the ground, lying lifeless. Suddenly there was a stinging slap on my back, and I jumped violently, twisting around to face the person who had inflicted the pain, ready to scream again.

"Emily!" my friend Leah scolded in a harsh whisper, her eyes narrowed in irritation. "Shh! There are people trying to watch a movie!"

Relief washed through me at the sight of my friend. "You're the one that dragged me here," I finally snapped back, my heart pounding a mile a minute. "You know I'm terrified of horror movies and vampires!"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Vampires aren't even real, Em."

"They're still scary," I muttered, leaning back in my cinema seat and glancing back up at the screen where the vampire was now devouring the woman's blood.

I cringed and looked away, shaking my hair over my pale face so I didn't have to see the scene. Leah sighed quietly and I heard her mutter under her breath, but couldn't quite make out exactly what she said. Now it was my turn to sigh. She was the one who dragged me here in the first place. She shouldn't be the one sighing!

"Are you okay?" a new voice asked quietly, making me jump again. I turned to see my other friend, Alli, giving me a concerned look. "You're really pale..."

"It's just the movie," I assured her quietly, now hearing the sounds of fighting from the screen. "You know how I am with horror movies..."

Alli smiled knowingly and then bent over, retrieving something from her bag. She placed a little, plastic package in my hand. I glanced down at it, then back at her with a frown. "Your mom told me to make sure you ate these," she admitted, putting her head close to mine so we wouldn't be shushed.

I groaned quietly. "But I hate dried apricots

and raisins!"

"Sorry," Alli responded, a small smile of amusement on her face. "But they were your mom's orders..."

"But they're gross!"

"Shh!" someone from behind me hushed, obviously annoyed.

My face heated up in embarrassment and I quickly shoved a dried apricot into my mouth to keep myself quiet. As soon as the flavor reached my tongue I wanted to spit it out. Dried fruit was disgusting! But I knew if I didn't eat my mom would find out somehow and scold me.... and then make me eat double the amount that she had originally ordered. I'd have to grin and bare it

.

.

By the time I finished the disgusting bag of fruit the movie credits were rolling. The lights came on and people around me stood up, heading towards the exit. I took my time getting up and stretching, glad the horror flick was finally finished. Leah sighed contently from behind me.

"That was an awesome movie," she commented, turning to watch the credits. "Definitely got my adrenaline pumping. Perfect for Halloween night."

"It was horrifying," I responded in a flat voice, now making my way out of the aisle. "I'd rather be trick-or-treating right now!" This seriously was a waste of my Halloween night. "Why do you drag me to horror movies when you know I don't like them?"

Leah scoffed. "I don't drag you to every single horror movie..."

I gave her a flat stare. She grinned back at me sheepishly.

"Okay, maybe I do drag you to most of them," she admitted.

"Mostly all the vampire ones," Alli interjected, throwing her empty bag of popcorn into the trashcan by the theatre exit. "She makes me go to every single horror movie, so you should feel lucky Emily."

"The vampire ones are the worst ones," I muttered, pushing the theater door open and squinting at sudden brightness from the hallway lights. "You guys both know they scare me."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and it's about time you got over that fear. You're seventeen, Em."

"You know what they say," I responded defensively, "you can't ever grow out childhood fears."

"Emily, watch out—"

Before Alli could finish her warning, I collided with something hard and nearly knocked it over. My hands grasped the cardboard before the cutout could fall over, and I set it back up straight. Sighing, I glanced at the cutout and nearly jumped a mile in shock. It was a cut out of the vampire from the movie we had just seen. I let out a ragged breath, putting my hand to my heart.

Leah and Alli started cracking up behind me, and I turned to glare at the pair. "It's not funny!"

"Sorry," Leah apologized, quieting her laughter. "But it actually is funny. It's such an ludicrous fear..."

"No it's not," I snapped.

"Vampires don't exist."

"So? It's still a scary thought!"

"You do understand I'm only trying to help you with your fear by taking you to movies like this, right?" Leah continued, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. "You must be the only person to have a serious fear of vampires."

"I think vampires could be scary," Alli pitched in, defending me. "I mean, in all the movies we watch the vampires kill everyone."

"That's because that's the best kind!" Leah argued. "Who'd want to see a movie about vampires falling in love with each other? We have movies that don't involve vampires for that."

"But watching movies where everyone dies isn't really helping Emily's fear."

"As I said before, it's an irrational fear. Vampires. Don't. Exist."

"Hey, you can't even say that. You're afraid of aliens!"

"That's a legit fear," Leah huffed, crossing her arms. "Aliens are actually real. And when they come to abduct the non-believers, guess who's going to go first?"

"Vampires are as real as aliens," Alli muttered, rolling her eyes. "You don't see Emily forcing you to see Alien movies."

"Like I said, aliens and vampires are two different—"

.

.

"Just drop it," I snapped, tiring of their bickering. "I know it's a stupid fear, but it's not so easy to not be afraid of something you've been terrified of since you were three!"

"Sorry," Leah apologized, a frown appearing on her face.

"It's fine," I told her. "I want to get over my fear as much as you want me to."

"I don't think watching vampire movies is going to help," Alli interjected, pushing open the cinema doors and stepping out into the mall. "Isn't that what gave you the fear anyway?"

"Yeah," I grumbled, "ever since Jake forced me to watch them when I was little. I swear I watched one every day, sometimes twice a day, and then afterwards he'd pretend to be a vampire coming to kill me. I'd be worried if I didn't a fear of vampires. I was like, five. The perfect age to gain childhood fears.

Jake, my older brother, had an obsession with vampire movies. Not vampires themselves, just vampire movies. He had wanted to share that obsession with me when I was younger, but ended up just making me terrified of the non-existent creature. And everyday he mocked me for it. A wry smile of annoyance slipped onto my face.

"One day I'll get him back," I promised myself. "When he's least expecting it, I'll get him. Somehow."

"Good luck," Alli said with a laugh. "Your brother isn't scared of anything."

As much as I hated to admit it, Alli was right. There seriously was nothing that could scare my brother. Alli and I would know. We've tried every possible fear; spiders, heights, the dark, small dogs, bugs... you name it. Nothing. Not even the slightest reaction. It was incredibly annoying.

I attempted to push open the door to the outside, but ended up smacking my face against the glass when it didn't budge. Alli and Leah burst out laughing behind me as I pulled away from the door, flushed. On the door, in large, red letters was the word "pull".

"We've been going to this theater for how long and you still try to push that door?" Alli asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're so blonde," Leah said with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Uh, maybe because I am blonde."

"Dirty blonde," Alli corrected, opening the door and gesturing for me to exit.

Cold air bit at my exposed skin as we left the movie theater. Shivering, I pulled my jacket tighter around myself, moving my hair so it was covering the skin by the base of my throat that wasn't covered.

"It's cold," Leah complained, retracting her hands into her sleeves. "I feel bad for all the trick-or-treaters."

"Well they're walking around, and in costume, so they're probably warm," Alli pointed out, taking a deep breath of air. "I personally think it's nice out right now."

Both Leah and I gave her a crazy look, which she returned with a grin. Shaking my head, I rubbed my hands together briskly to give them some warmth. We crossed the parking lot to where Leah and I had parked out cars. As soon as mine was in sight it took all I had not to run to it, jump in, and turn the heat on full blast.

"You sure you don't want to come to the sleepover?" Leah asked. "You'll be missing out."

"No, I won't be, since you'll be watching vampire movies all night long," I returned, pursing my lips. "Anyway, I have to work in the morning."

"You're no fun," Leah pouted.

"You'd know how important going to work is if you actually had a job," Alli interjected, sticking up for me once again.

Leah rolled her eyes. "I'm trying, I'm trying!"

"Sure you are," I said with a laugh, another shiver wracking my body. "So, as much as I'd love to stand here and freeze to death with you guys, I'm going to head out."

.

.

"I'd like to as well," Alli responded, shooting at look at Leah. "You ready?"

"Yeah," she responded with a sigh. "I don't want to stand out in the cold any longer either. I might get frost bite."

"Then, I'll see you two tomorrow. Have fun at your sleepover."

"Have fun at your job," Alli responded with a wave.

"Bye Leah," I responded, going to my car, and pulling open the door. "I'll call you two later."

"Sound good," Alli responded. "Drive safely."

"You too," I responded with a small grin. "Don't hit any little children roaming around."

Leah snorted, rolling her eyes at me. "Like I would do that..."

Laughing, I climbed into my car, nearly jumping back out from the feel of the icy air inside it. I could literally see my breath! The cold from the seats were already seeping through my jeans. Jamming the key into the engine and starting the car, I swiftly turned the heat on as high as it could go. For a second it blew cold air out, but it slowly grew warmer.

With one last wave to my friends, I proceeded to pull out of the parking lot and onto the road. Luckily I only lived about twenty minutes away from the movie theater, and with the back streets I took, I could easily go past the speed limit and reach my destination faster. Which is exactly what I planned to do. Turning left, I entered a dimly lit street, pressing harder on the gas pedal. I switched the stereo on and it started playing my favorite CD. In a matter of seconds I was singing along and drumming my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. As I was passing the deserted school that was on the way to my house, my attention was drawn to it. It looked like something taken straight out of a horror story.

Without warning, something stepped out in front of my car, getting caught in the headlights. With a loud curse, I slammed on my breaks, being thrown forward in my seat. My engine cut out, and I had to squint to see what was in front of my car. It was a group of teenagers in vampire costumes. They flipped me off as they crossed the road, and I was tempted to throw a few choice words at them, but ended up just blaring my horn.

"I should have just hit them," I muttered to myself, taking my key out of the ignition.

I put it back in and turned. My car didn't start. I tried again, and still nothing. A groan escaped my lips as I tried again and again. I thumped my hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

"Come on! Start!" I cried, turning the key again. "It's cold! We're like three blocks from home!"

Ten minutes later, I finally realized my car wasn't going to start. With a heavy sigh, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. A dry laugh escaped my mouth when I realized it was dead. Tossing the useless item onto the passenger's seat, I opened my car door and climbed out, feeling the chilly air against my skin once more.

"Stupid piece of junk," I muttered, storming angrily to my hood. "Now is not the time!"

With a scowl, I opened my hood and stared down at my engine. After a few minutes of doing so, I realized I had no idea what I was looking for. I wasn't a car person. Shutting the hood again, I decided my best option was to find someone who had a phone I could use. On the other side of the abandoned school, there was a variety store that probably had one. With my destination determined, I set off in pursuit of it.

Unfortunately in order to get there, I had to pass the school. Just the sight of it gave me goosebumps. Wild ivy grew over all sides, reaching to the top of the building. The windows were broken and haphazardly covered by boards, which barely even covered half of the holes themselves. To be completely honest, I wouldn't have been surprised if it was haunted. As much as I wanted to ignore the nerve-wracking building, I found my attention attracted to it as I walked by. I didn't even notice the lack of trick-or-treaters.

.

.

Two figures caught my attention against one of the walls. They were extremely close to each other and it took me a minute to realize they were embracing. A small smile graced my lips. It was times like these that I wished I had a boyfriend to do something like that with. After a minute more of gawking at them, I realized how awkward I was being, and quickly began to walk away.

Not even five seconds later, an ear-piercing scream tore through the frigid air. My blood turned cold as I froze up, my eyes wide in surprise. It sounded like it'd came from right behind me. Slowly, I turned to see a young girl with pale blonde hair running towards me, a look of horror on her face.

Horror spread onto my face when I realized her torso was covered in blood.

"Help me!" she shrieked, only feet away from me now.

Panic surged through me as I looked around wildly. What was happening? Why was she running towards me? What could I do? Why was she coved in blood? A shudder ran through me when I realized a murderer, or the like, probably attacked her. But the most important question was: Where was the culprit who did this to her?

My hands shook violently as my thoughts raced. Should I run? I couldn't just leave her here! But there was a chance I could be killed if I stayed. My heart pounded frantically as the girl came closer. I couldn't even begin to form a coherent word in my mind. My body was screaming at me to run, but I could only stand there in terror, gaping at the bloodied girl now only feet away from me.

"Please!" she begged, reaching out a hand and grabbing the front of my jacket.

Oh god, I thought, looking down to see her blood soaked hand grasping my jacket. I fought the urge to be sick. Blood was not my thing. Focusing my attention back to her face, I realized the blood was coming from her neck.

"That guy!" she cried, her eyes wide with panic. "H-he—"

Suddenly a hand appeared on the arm of the girl who was holding up to me. A startled gasp escaped my lips from the sudden appearance of the new hand. The girl screamed and I glanced up to see a figure of a man glare at the blonde girl. He tugged her hand away from me, and she let go of my jacket. I stumbled back a few steps, too shocked to say anything.

"No!" the girl shrieked, trying to pull away from the man. "Let me go, you sicko! Monster!"

The mystery man brought a hand to the blonde girl's face and for a terrorizing second I thought he was going to slap her. When his hand stopped inches from her face, I relaxed slightly. The girl's screaming stopped promptly, and an eerily calm expression came onto it. Her eyes slid out of focus, and her arms fell limp at her sides. I watched in confusion as the scene played out before me.

Why wasn't she panicking anymore? What happened? Who was this guy? Why was I still standing here? The last thought almost made me laugh.

"Joel," a quiet, suave, and calm voice spoke suddenly in a commanding tone.

A rustle of air from my left made me jump, and seconds later a second man appeared next to the first. My eyes shot wide in surprise, and I took a step back from the shock. Where had he come from? Why hadn't I heard him approach?

"Yes?" the second man, who I assumed to be Joel, responded, standing next to the first man.

They both had their backs to me, so I couldn't get a good look of their faces. Not that I wanted to. I wanted to run far away, and fast. But there were two things keeping me pinned to where I was. The first being that my legs wouldn't obey me, and the second being I wanted to make sure that girl was okay. Her sudden calmness worried me.

"Clean her up and leave her by the school's entrance," the first man ordered, handing the unfocused girl to Joel.

"I've already wiped her memories."

Whoa, what? Wiped her memories? What was this guy playing at? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. Was this some weird occult?

"And the girl behind us?"

My eyes widened slightly when I realized Joel was talking about me. I cautiously prepared myself to run. It was just my luck to run into two weirdoes on Halloween night.

"I'll handle her, you go get that one cleaned up," the first man ordered.

"Gotcha."

With that Joel disappeared from my vision in the blink of the eye. Another startled gasp left my lips and my eyes nearly bulged out of my eye sockets. That was impossible! No one could move that fast!

The other man now turned to face me. The first things I noticed were his piercing, sapphire eyes. For a moment I was lost in their sea of blue, unable to pull myself away. The next thing I noticed was his perfect jaw structure— chiseled with low cheekbones. Then reality came back and I noticed the crimson dripping down his chin, staining his white shirt. My blood rand cold as I realized this was the murderer who attacked the blonde girl.

"Now don't run," the young man advised, his eyes hardening.

Like hell I wouldn't run. Now with control back in my legs, I twisted on my heel and began to flat out sprint. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, spurring me to run faster. I needed to get away from this psycho! I needed to draw attention! A sharp scream escaped my lips as I continued to run around the abandoned school building. Where were all the trick-or-treaters when you needed them?

Suddenly something hard smashed into my stomach, winding me, and making my feet fly out from under me. Before I could hit the ground I felt an arm wrap around my waist. Air whooshed past my ears and a cry of pain escaped my lips as my back was suddenly pressed up against the cool brick of the school building.

Sapphire eyes pierced into mine once more as I gasped for breath. The young man scowled at me, his unruly, chestnut hair falling into his face. With a flick of his head, the hair was moved out of his eyes and I realized he was glaring at me. I stared at him speechlessly, too much in shock to be able to speak.

"Didn't I say not to run?"

"I-I-I..." I stuttered, staring at him in horror.

Tears sprung to my eyes now as I struggled to release myself from his grasp. My mind was racing again, plotting a way to get out of this mess. A murderer was holding me against a wall with strength I couldn't wish to out match. Why did my car have to break down? Why did that blonde girl have to come to me of all people? I just wanted to get use someone's phone and go home!

"Since you interrupted my meal earlier, you can be the substitute," the man with blue eyes commented, a smirk slipping onto his face.

Meal? Dread filled my veins. This guy was a cannibal! I was going to be eaten by some freak! "Who are you, Hannibal Lector?"

The guy snorted. "Not quite, but close."

Now I struggled twice as hard to make him release me, but this only amused him. He laughed once, a quick bark of laughter. "I hope you don't think you can escape me," he told me, bringing a freezing hand to my cheek. "It won't hurt... okay, that's a lie. But if you relax it won't hurt as much."

This wasn't happening. This was not happening! I shook my head, my mouth too dry to form a word. This guy wasn't even going to kill me before eating me? I almost laughed at how insane my thoughts sounded. This was crazy!

The young man smirked, his eyes amused. "You have many expressions."

My eyes snapped back to his, and then dropped to his blood stained chin and shirt. He was seriously going to kill me! The man laughed again, and what my eyes caught next made me scream in absolute terror.

Fangs. This guy had fangs . And they were definitely not the cheap plastic kind little kids bought to complete their Halloween costumes.

A cool hand roughly covered my mouth, but I continued to shriek in hysteria into it, my eyes wide with fright. Vampires didn't exist! There was no such thing! They only existed in those awful movies! My heart felt like it was going to burst. I could feel myself on the edge of hyperventilating.

"You're quite the vocalist, aren't you?" the man growled, bringing his head closer.

With unnecessary force, he knotted his hand in my hair, forcing my head to the side, revealing my neck. My female instincts swung in, and I violently struggled against the man again, pounding on his back with my hands in tight fists. He only chuckled in amusement; his face merely inches from my own.

"This should calm you down."

My heart stopped beating as I felt hot breath at my neck. It resumed with considerable pace as something sharp brushed against my soft skin. There was a small prick, and then a piercing pain. I screamed into the hand covering my mouth, not being able to comprehend what was happening. The pain stayed with me as I felt my blood being drained from my neck.

Horror filled every inch of me. A vampire was sucking my blood. A vampire! My worst nightmare. A mythical creature that should only exist in movies or novels. Something that shouldn't even exist was draining my life from me!

Eventually I stopped struggling, suddenly overcome with weariness. Time escaped me, and I had no idea how much had passed when the blue-eyed man finally pulled away. My vision was sliding in and out of focus, but I managed to catch the fresh blood on the mouth of the man. The sight made a wave of nausea sweep over me.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" he asked, grinning.

As soon as he stepped away from me, I collapsed to the ground, unable to support myself. I was caught between a state of denial and utter exhaustion. Vampires didn't exist! But how could I say that when one had just bitten me? My vision blurred as I fought to push myself back to my feet. I needed to get away. I took a few shaky steps, bringing out my arms for support. Damn it! It was so hard to keep my balance.

"Hey, you're being over dramatic," the blue-eyed man said, rolling his eyes at me. "I didn't drink that much blood."

My vision blurred once again as I continued my attempt to escape. The world was spinning as I fought to keep my balance. No! I had lost too much blood! But I had to get away. After two more shaky steps, my feet suddenly gave out from under me and I stumbled to the ground, smacking my head against the frozen pavement.

"What's wrong with you?" the vampire snapped, sounding irritated. "I didn't drink that much blood! Why are you acting like that?"

"I'm anemic," I murmured feebly before my world turned black.