Part 1: Allison Becker

The Lives of Allison, Vanessa, and Teagan: Teenage Vampires
Part 1: Allison Becker: A Vampire Love Story Gone Wrong
Chapter 1: The Boyfriend
I slammed the front door shut and ran up to my room. After slamming and locking my bedroom door, I curled up on my bed and began sobbing uncontrollably. "Allison? Open up the door." My mom's voice rang out on the other side of my door. "Just leave me alone!" I shouted at her. "Allison! I just want to talk to you!" she pleaded. "Now please open up the door." I walked over and opened it. "There's nothing to talk about! You can never replace dad!" I slammed the door in her face and began whimpering into my pillow. I heard her let out a depressed sigh. Then I listened to the thump of her footsteps as she padded back down the stairs. A year ago my dad died, and my mom and I have been constantly fighting ever since. It's still sort of a mystery as to how he died. All the doctors and police men said it was from an animal attack, but the monstrous bite mark on his arm looked like more than just an animal bite to me. And the weird thing is that his body was there on the day that they found it in the woods and the next it wasn't. They never found it after that. My mom has this new boyfriend now named Alexander. That was what we were fighting about. She just told me about him and I go really angry. Why shouldn't I be though? My mom has never even talked about wanting or having a boyfriend since dad died. Now, out of the blue, she has one that she simply adores. If she thinks Alexander can replace my dad, she's wrong. No one can ever replace my father. I reached over beside me and picked up my favorite stuffed animal, Ariel. My dad gave it to me when I was only seven, and I fell in love with it from the moment I saw it. He knew that puppies were my favorite animals, which is why he picked out Ariel, a chocolate brown Pug. Ariel was named after my favorite Disney princess. I hugged her to my chest and stroked its soft fur. "You still like dad better than Alexander right?" I asked Ariel. Talking to my stuffed animals became a habit for me ever since I was a kid. I actually hadn't met Alexander yet, so it wasn't really fair that I was

already saying I didn't like him. Either way I still didn't like the idea of my mom dating anyone. I decided that I'd better go apologize to my mom. I actually did feel pretty bad for her. She's seemed kind of lonely without dad around. I was used to seeing my mom act this way, but it still hurt to know how depressed she was. As I trotted down the stairs to the kitchen I overheard my mom on the phone. "Alexander she was so upset! She wouldn't even talk to me afterwards." my mom was crying into the phone. "That's a great idea... You're right! She probably would feel better once she's met you. ........ How about this Friday night... Alright! See you then." She hung up the phone with a satisfied grin on her face. "Hey mom. I'm really sorry about what happened earlier." I told her as I walked into the kitchen, pretending that I hadn’t just heard her on the phone. "No, no. That's fine. I understand how you feel. So anyways, I just got off the phone with Alexander and he thinks that it would be a good idea for you to meet him. I agreed, so I invited him over for dinner Friday night! How does that sound?" she asked me enthusiastically. I bit down on my bottom lip. I really didn't like the idea at all. I had no interest in meeting my mom's new boyfriend. "Uh, sure. That sounds great." I lied. "Perfect! And trust me, once you meet him, you'll realize how nice he is." "Ok. Great!" I tried to sound just as excited as she was because I didn't want to get her feeling upset all over again. She squealed in delight and wrapped her slender arms around me in a tight hug. Then she scurried up the stairs, probably to call Alexander back and tell him that their plan had worked. I tried to stay positive about meeting him, but I just couldn't. It was Wednesday today so I still had two more days before I actually would meet Alexander. I was still extremely worried. As I looked at the digital clock on the stainless steel stove, I saw that it was already 7:30. With me and my mom fighting, we forgot all about dinner! So I reached under the cabinet next to the refrigerator and pulled out a pot. I ran some water from the sink into the pot until it was about half way full. Then I placed it on top of the stove and began boiling it. Since I didn't feel like doing much tonight, I would just make some pasta. Once the water was boiling, I pulled out the box of Penne noodles and poured them all in. I put the stove on a low heat. As I was reaching for the jar of pasta sauce I felt my cell phone buzz in my left pocket. I pulled it out and opened it. There was a text from my best friend, Natalie on the screen. Hey! Do you want to sleep over this Friday night? We could rent some movies or something. I actually get a day off from practice! I groaned. Natalie was in competitive cheerleading and was always practicing. So we never really had any time for sleepovers. Now she finally

had some time for one and I couldn't go! And it was all because of Alexander. I clenched my teeth as I wrote back. Sorry I can't that night. My mom wants me to meet her new boyfriend, so she's inviting him over for dinner. L I hit the send button and flipped my phone shut. When I looked over the pasta seemed like it was done cooking, so I drained it and poured the noodles back into the pot. I opened the jar of sauce and mixed it in with the pasta. "Mom! Dinner's ready!" I called up the stairs. Then I scooped out two bowls and set them on the table, along with two forks. "This looks delicious, dear." my mom commented on my cooking. "Thanks." Neither of us spoke as we ate our dinner. After we were both finished we took our bowls to the sink and rinsed them out. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'll go to sleep early tonight." I told her. "Alright, see you in the morning." I yawned as I entered my room, quickly changing into flannel pajama pants and a pink camisole. Then I rolled into bed, under my soft duvet comforter, and drifted to sleep. Beep. Beep. Beep. I turned off my alarm clock and sat up in my bed the next morning. I stretched my arms out over my head and climbed out of bed. It was Thursday today and I had school. I got ready for school, going through my usual morning routine. I took a shower, got dressed, brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, ate breakfast and made sure my homework was done and in my backpack. I slid my arms through the sleeves of my jacket and tied the laces of my Etnies. I shivered in the cool November air, as I waited at my bus stop. I let out a sigh of relief when I finally saw my bus turn the corner and pull up to the curb. I stepped into the bus and made my way over to an empty seat and sat down, dropping my backpack down next to me. When my bus arrived at school I pushed open the big doors and strolled over to my locker. As I turned the dial of the lock Natalie walked up to me. "Hey! What's up?" she asked casually. "Not much. How about you?" "Oh nothing really, besides that David Walsh just asked me out!" she squealed in delight. "Oh my gosh! That's great!" Natalie had been crushing on David for almost two whole years. She would always talk about how amazing it would be for him to ask her out. I told her over and over again that she should jus ask him out herself, but she just kept denying it and saying "No, I'm way too nervous!" I was glad she finally got what she wished for. "Tomorrow night is our first date!" she cried. That reminded me that today was Thursday which meant tomorrow was Friday. And that meant that I would be meeting Alexander tomorrow.

"Well, I'm really happy for you! I hope you guys have fun." I replied. "Thanks. Well, I'll see you later. I've got to get to science." I slammed my locker door shut after I had all of the materials I needed for algebra, my first period class, and headed off down the hallway. When I entered the classroom, Mr. Miller was writing up the agenda for today. When he was finished I took a look and saw that we had a test today that I completely forgot to study for. I groaned, because I knew I would get at least a C-. "Alright class. Please take out a pencil and I will begin passing out your tests." Mr. Miller announced. "Remember: no talking, keep your eyes on your own paper, and when you're done find something quiet to do. You may begin."

Chapter 2: Gone
I squinted at the first problem, already having trouble. Algebra was one of my worst subjects, so when it came to tests I had to have studied a whole lot to get even close to an A. I tapped my pencil on my desk in frustration. This test was so hard, I couldn't even figure out the first problem! I watched the ticking clock as the hands circled around. I decided that if I didn't know the answer I should probably just move on to the next problem. After answering all the problems to the best of my ability, I turned in my test and sat down at my desk. The bell rang soon after I was at my desk. So I gathered my things and left the classroom. The rest of the day was pretty normal. Except for when I got home. As I entered through the front door it was completely silent. Usually I would hear my mom typing away on her laptop. She got home half and hour before me and always checked her e-mail right away. It felt weird not hearing the familiar clicking of her fingers tapping on the keyboard. "Mom!" I called out. Still silence. I walked around the house, checking every single room. I couldn't find her. I looked in the backyard and even the garage, but still no sign of her. I bit down on my lip nervously. This had never happened before. I reached for the phone in the kitchen and quickly dialed her cell phone number. It rang four times then went to voice mail. "Mom, please call me back as soon as you get this message. Bye." I hung up the phone and took three deep breaths. If I wanted to find out where she was I had to stay calm. Just then I realized that her cell phone was sitting on the kitchen counter; it was on vibrate so when I called I didn't even hear it ring. I picked it up and listened to the message I had left. Now I was really worried. My mom always brought her cell phone with her everywhere. Then I heard a door slam shut. I ran over to the living room where the front door was, expecting to see my mom standing there. Instead I saw an unfamiliar man standing there. I crept back into the kitchen carefully so he

wouldn't hear me, grabbed my mom's cell phone and ran upstairs. I went straight into my room and locked the door. I also shoved a chair up against it and went inside of my walk-in closet; I locked that door too. I immediately dialed 911. "Hello, San Diego police department, how may I help you?" a deep, scratchy voice answered. "Hi, my name is Allison Becker and some man just walked into my house. Also my mom didn't come home from work today like normal and doesn't have her cell phone with her. So now I don't know what to do!" "Just stay calm. We'll send somebody over right away. Where is this man right now?" "When I last looked he was in our living room, but he could be anywhere now." "Well where are you?" "Right now I'm inside my closet. My bedroom and closet door are both locked and I shoved a chair up against my bedroom door." "Ok. Just stay where you are and try to be calm. Also try not to make any noise so that he doesn't suspect anything. There's someone on his way over there to help you right now." "Alright, thank you." And I hung up the phone. I tried to stay perfectly silent, but it was hard to when I was so panicky. I counted to ten in my head and took a deep breath. Then I tried to relax all of my muscles and think positive about the situation. On the good side there would be a police man over any minute to come and help me. On the bad side my mom was missing and now there was some strange man in my house! I closed my eyes as I waited in the back corner of my closet. And before I knew it I had drifted off to sleep. "Allison? Allison Becker?" That same deep, scratchy voice from the police department woke me up. "What? What happened? Is my mom ok? Who was that man in my house?" I spoke in an urgent tone. "Well, the man got away, but he did leave a note. We might be able to catch him though. So don't get all worried." "Well what about my mom?" He let out a big sigh. "We haven't exactly found her yet; but don't worry we have a search party looking for her right now. Everything is going to be fine." he tried to reassure me. "Infact here's that note. You can read it." He pulled out a zip-lock baggie with a piece of paper on it and handed it to me. The note read: Hello Allison. You might not know who I am, but I know exactly who you are. If you want your mom to live then you better do exactly what I tell you to do. P.S. I'm closer than you think.

My heart skipped a beat and my mouth felt dry. I read over the note again and again. I couldn't believe what it said. I handed him the plastic bag and stood up to get out of the closet. Officer Deblin helped me up and began walking towards the kitchen. "Follow me." he said. And I walked right behind him. When we arrived in the kitchen he motioned for me to sit down at our kitchen table. Then he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen that had the words San Diego Police Department scrawled on the side of it. "Will you please give me a description of what the man looked like?" he asked. "Um, I didn't get to see his face because he was facing the other way, but he had black hair that was slicked back, he was about 5'8 and he was wearing all black." I tried my best to describe the man. He wrote some stuff down and then stood up. "Alright. Thank you for your time. I'd appreciate it if you just stayed here for a while so we can search for any evidence as to who this guy is." he said. "Ok. Is it ok if I listen to my iPod while I wait?" I asked. "Sure. Why don't you go get it really quick?" I ran up the stairs to my room and grabbed my purple iPod nano off of my nightstand. Then I went back into the kitchen and sat down. I plugged the earbuds into my ears and began flipping through songs. Taylor Swift's "Love Story", Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", Katy Perry’s "Thinking Of You”. I finally stopped on David Archuleta's "Crush". I began singing along in my head. I hung up the phone tonight, something happened for the first time. Deep inside was a rush, what a rush. "Um, excuse me, Allison." officer Deblin interrupted me. I pressed pause and pulled the ear buds out of my ears. "Yes?" I responded. "I just wanted to let you know that we ran a test to find fingerprints on that note and we didn't find any." He frowned as he said that. "So you have absolutely no idea who this guy is?" I asked, already knowing what the answer would be. "I'm sorry, but no, we don't. Don't worry though. We will find him. And we'll also find your mom. Just be patient." he reassured me. "How am I supposed to be patient when my mom is missing and there is some crazy stalker guy after me?!?" I was shouting now. "I know that it's tough, but you just have to stay calm." he told me. I took three deep breaths to try calming myself down. "Ok, well thanks for telling me. I appreciate it." I said and then, without even waiting for his response, I plugged in my ear buds and pressed play. Do you ever think when you're all alone, all that we could be, where this thing could go…

Chapter 3: Meeting Alexander
Thump. "Ouch!" I said, as I fell to the floor. I had slept on the couch in the living room that night, because they were searching my room for clues. And I had just woken my self up by rolling off the side of the couch. My head was throbbing and my back ached. So I walked into the kitchen to get some Advil. I pulled out the small container from the cabinet where we put all of our medicine and popped it open. Then I took two small orange pills and put the container back. As I gulped down the pills with some water I heard voices coming from the other room. It was officer Deblin and that other officer. He said his name was officer Camden. "Well when do you think I should tell her?" asked officer Deblin. "I don't know. Probably soon." answered officer Camden. "Ok. I guess I'll just tell her when she wakes up." He sighed heavily. "This won't be easy." "I know. I'd hate to be in her position." Who could they have been talking about? Were they talking about me? "Allison! You’re awake!" officer Deblin interrupted my thoughts when they both walked into the kitchen. "Yeah. I'm awake." I replied. "Well there's something I think you should know. First of all you won't be going to school today, I already called your school for you. And secondly, you just recieved another note. We found it on your front doorstep around 6:00 a.m." He handed me a different note in a zip-lock bag. I read it carefully. Hello Allison. Do you remember in our last note, when I said you better do everything I say? Well here's your first task. Come to the park down the street from your house at midnight. There will be something waiting for you there. My heart thumped heavily in my chest and I felt like I couldn't breath. After choking on two sharp breaths, I put the note down on the counter. "Should I go or not?" I asked them. "Well I don't think you should. This could be dangerous." said officer Camden. "I agree." added officer Deblin. "Well I know it might be dangerous, but my mom's life is at stake here. You guys still havn't found her! So until you do, I'm going to do whatever I can to find her myself." I announced, with a confident look on my face. "Not if what you’re doing put's your life at stake too. I will not allow you to go that park tonight." officer Deblin ordered. "You're not my mother, so I don't have to listen to you. There is nothing you

can do or say to stop me. I'm going to that park tonight. And that's final." I declared. Then I marched over to the couch and plopped down. I grabbed the remote and turned on the tv. I turned on a random show and started watching it. I tried to pay attention to what the host was saying, but I just couldn't. My thoughts were somewhere else. I just couldn't stop thinking about that note. Who was this guy? And what did he want with me? What did he do with my mom? Is he going to be at the park tonight when I go there? "Oh my gosh!" I shouted. I had just remembered that tonight was Friday. And Friday was the day Alexander was supposed to come over for dinner. "What's wrong?" asked officer Deblin, as he rushed in with officer Camden right at his side. "It's just that my mom's boyfriend is supposed to be coming over for dinner tonight." I informed them. "Do you know his number?" "No." "Ok. Then when he gets here, we'll tell him what happened and send him home." They both walked out and I turned back to the tv to watch the show. I wonder if Alexander would want to try to help look for my mom. Probably not. He probably wouldn't even care she was missing. Whatever. Ding dong. Alexander had arrived. Officer Deblin walked over to the front door and opened it up. There stood Alexander. He actually held a small resemblance to my dad. Except my dad didn't have jet black hair, golden eyes, pale, white skin, and an eerie look on his face. Alexander did. "Hello. My name is officer Mike Deblin. Are you Alexander?" "Yes I am. Is Leslie Becker here?" he asked. I flinched at the sound of my mom's name. "No, sir, she is not. There has actually been an incident and now she is missing. We are trying our best to locate her, but for now I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Mister?" replied officer Deblin. "Mr. DeVincie. Now you said she was missing?" I squinted and tilted my head. Something about this guy seemed farmiliar. "Yes she is. I'm sorry, I know you two were close." officer Deblin said sympathetically. "Well do you know how this happened?" "I'm not fully aware of the situation, but it is not in my priorities to give you any information." "I see. Well I'll be leaving now." He turned to walk to his black Jaguar, but before he did he looked at me. And he smiled. But it was not a friendly smile, it was an almost evil smile. My heart fluttered and my pulse raced. Officer Deblin shut the door behind him and turned to me. "So this is the first time you've ever seen Alexander, right?" he asked. And then a picture flashed through my mind. It was him. Jet black hair, 5'8, wearing all black.

"No." I replied. "I've seen him before." I could barely speak. "Where? Where have you seen him before?" "In my house. It's him." "It's who?" "The person who broke into my house, who captured my mom, who is stalking me. It's him!" "Camden!" officer Deblin called into the kitchen. The thin, lanky cop rushed in. "What do you need?" "I need to you to get some information on a mister Alexander DeVincie." "Sure thing." he hurried out of the room to complete the task. "Now you're positive this is the guy?" officer Deblin asked me. "Absolutely. It's definitely him." "Alright. Just watch some more tv or something. We're checking for any information we may need on Alexander, so we'll inform you about him once we've finished." "Ok. Thanks." I smiled at him. "No problem." he responded. Then he walked out of the living room. And I smiled to myself. We had figured out who this stalker was and we were going to catch him. My mom would be safe and Alexander would be arrested. Everything was finally getting better. Yet, I still felt like we were missing something. I just couldn't figure out what. I looked at my watch. It was 11:50 p.m. and officer Deblin, along with officer Camden, were upstairs checking for more information on Alexander. I was so tempted to go to the park, but my stomach tightened at the thought. I remembered that smile Alexander gave me. It was the most frightening thing I'd ever seen in my entire life. I decided to make a list of the pros and cons of going to the park. So I grabbed a pencil and a sheet of notebook paper from my mom's at-home-office and began writing. Pros Cons 1. Maybe finding out where 1. Maybe getting into my mom is. danger. 2. Maybe getting more info 2. Maybe it was a trick and on Alexander. nothing is even there. 3. Maybe stopping Alexander from doing whatever he was planning on doing.

I looked over my list. I had more pros than cons. I sighed heavily and stood up. Then I quickly and quietly slipped on my jacket, grabbed a flashlight, and headed out into the cool November night. I walked nervously down the moonlit sidewalk. With every step I took, I got even more frantic. As I finally reached the park I stopped and stared at it. I

didn't see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. So I hesitantly sat down on one of the wooden benches.

Chapter 4: A New Friend
I waited for about three minutes, and then I heard something move in the bushes behind me. I looked all around me, but still saw nothing. And then I stood up, ready to walk back home, when someone grabbed my arm. "Ahh!" I let out a short, high-pitched shriek. "Shh!" A pale hand, that was almost glowing in the moonlight, covered my mouth. I squirmed and struggled to break free of the persons tight grasp, but couldn't manage to. Then, without even thinking it through, I bit down as hard as I could on the persons hand. The hand uncovered my mouth, but was still holding my shoulders tightly. "Who are you?!?" I shouted. And then I craned my head around to see who it was. Alexander. "Hello Allison Becker. Nice to formally meet you." His tone was casual as if we were just having a nice chat. "What do you want from me?" I asked. "Oh, Allison, so funny." He chuckled and shook his head. I scowled in return and asked again. "I said what do you want from me!" "Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough." He smiled at me the same way as before. "What did you do with my mother?" I asked. "Like I said, don't worry. Your mother is perfectly safe." "Well let her go!" "I'm afraid I can't do that." "Why?!?" I shouted in frustration. "Because I haven't gotten everything I want yet." "And what is it you want?" He smiled at me again, "You." "M-m-me?" I asked nervously. "But why?" "Oh, Allison. I've been watching you and your mom for a very long time. I have big plans for you two. Now if you would just----" "Stop right where you are! Let go of the girl and put your hands where I can see them!" officer Deblin shouted. Alexander immediately dropped my shoulders and I ran over to officer Deblin. "Oh my gosh! That guy is a crazy stalker! H-h-he…" I choked on my last words as tears began streaming down my cheeks. "Don't worry. Everything is ok." officer Deblin said in a soothing voice. I watched in fear as officer Camden handcuffed Alexander. Even though Alexander was most likely about to get whisked off to jail, he still was calm as ever. And he still had that same haunting smile on his face, his eyes

locked on me. I quickly looked away and began taking deep breaths to stop myself from sobbing anymore. My gaze followed Alexander as officer Camden led him to his police car. And right before officer Camden shut the car door, Alexander stuck his foot out to stop him. "Sir, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle." officer Camden informed him, sounding annoyed. "I just have one last thing to say. Allison," he said, loud enough so that I could hear him, "I would just like you to know that you havn't seen the last of me. I will come back for you. And I will-----" "Just get inside the car!" Officer Camden shoved his foot in and slammed the door. Then he walked around to the drivers seat and hopped in. He started up the car and drove off down the street. "Are you ok? Did he harm you in any way?" asked officer Deblin. "Yeah, I'm fine." I sniffled and looked down at the ground. "I'm really sorry about coming here tonight. I should have listened to you. I just want to find my mom! I'm so worried about her." "It's ok. Just get in the car and you can tell me what happened when we get back to your house." He gestured for me to get inside of his police car. So I climbed into the passengers seat and stared out the window for the oneand-a-half-minute car ride home. When we arrived back at my house, me and officer Deblin both sat across from eachother at my kitchen table. "So tell me exactly what happened." Officer Deblin pulled out his notepad and pen again to take more notes. "Well I got to the park and nobody was there, so I sat down on a bench. After a couple of minutes I stood up to walk back home and then someone grabbed me. They covered my mouth with their hand, so I bit it. Then they uncovered my mouth and I turned my head to see who it was. I saw that it was Alexander." "Ok. Go on." His hand moved rapidly across his notepad. "So then I asked him what he wanted with me. He told me that I'd find out soon, so I asked him where my mom was. He said she was safe, so I told him to let her go. He said that he couldn't do that and so I asked him why. And he said because he hasn't gotten what he wanted yet. I asked him what he wanted and he said me. Then you guys showed up." "I see." He put the cap back on his pen and put away both that and the notepad. "Um, did you find out any information on him? Because you said that you would tell me if you did." I reminded him. "I was just getting to that actually. Well, we found out that he has had two wifes. Both of them died due to unknown causes. He dropped out of high school in the middle of senior year, he doesn't have a criminal record, atleast not yet. Although, he has been suspected for both deaths of his wives, but not proven guilty." "And that's it?" I pressed on.

"Well there is one more thing." He sighed heavily. "Before your father died, he worked in the same engineering company as him." My heart stopped, my eyes bulged, and my adrenaline raced at full speed. "He worked with my father?" I asked in shock. Officer Deblin looked at me sympathetically and I knew the answer was yes. I woke up the next morning to the sound of officer Deblin's voice. I looked over from where I was laying on the couch. Officer Deblin was at the front door talking to Natalie. I got up and walked over to them. "Hey, Natalie. What are you doing here?" I asked. "I just wanted to ask why you weren't at school on Friday. I was going to ask you yesterday, but I had a cheerleading competition and didn't have enough time to stop by." she replied. "Oh. Well it's kind of a long story. Actually it turns out that my mom is missing and there's this crazy stalker guy named Alexander who's after me." I explained. The shocked look on her face told me that this was not the story she was expecting. "Oh my gosh! That's crazy! Wow! I feel so bad for you!" she exclaimed. "Well I should probably go home then, so you can finish the whole police search thing. Good luck with finding your mom." she smiled and walked to her Volvo. Then she pulled out of my driveway and drove down the street. "That was just my friend, Natalie." I informed officer Deblin. "I kind of figured that out." he replied. "Well I'm gonna get back to work." he told me. Then he walked away and I was once again alone. I sighed and sat on the couch. Just as I picked up the remote, the door bell rang. "Do you want me to see who it is?" I called out. "Go ahead. I'll be right over." officer Deblin called back. So I walked over and opened the front door. There stood a guy, about my age, with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. "Hi. I'm Daniel Deblin, officer Deblin's son." he explained. "You must be Allison. Pleased to meet you." He stuck out his hand and I shook it. "My dad told me all about your whole stalker, missing mom story." he told me. "Oh. Yeah it's pretty bad." I replied. He smiled at me and asked, "Can I come in?" "Oh sure!" I moved away from the door to let him in. Then officer Deblin walked in. "Oh, hi Daniel." he greeted his son. "Allison this is my son Daniel." "Yeah. He already introduced himself." I said. "Ok. Well he's going to be staying here for the day if that's ok with you." he offered. "Yeah that's fine with me." I answered. "Alright, well I'm gonna get back to work. Daniel why don't you keept Allison company?" he suggested. "I'd be glad to." Daniel turned to face me. "So what have you been doing these last couple of days. It must be pretty boring to just sit in your house all

day, waiting to see if they found your mom." "Yeah it is. I've just been watching tv and listening to my iPod and stuff." "Oh. So what kind of music do you like?" "Well my favorite singer is David Archuleta." I told him. "But I also like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Tokyo Hotel---" "I love Tokyo Hotel!" he interrupted me. "What's your favorite song by them?" he asked. "Ready, Set, Go." we both said at the same time. "Well I guess that's one thing we have in common." he pointed out. "Yeah I guess so." I replied. "So do you wanna watch tv or something?" he asked. I grinned, "Sure." And at that moment, officer Deblin walked back in. "I just got news that Alexander has broken out of jail!" he cried. My eyes widened in fear. Daniel gasped. I couldn't believe it. How could he have broken out of jail. Wasn't it supposed have, like, one hundred security guards?!? "How?" Daniel asked, interrupting my thoughts. "I'm not sure. They haven't figured it out yet. All I know is that this guy must be pretty good at being a criminal, because nobody has escaped from that jail in over fifty years." officer Deblin informed us. This new fact just made me worry even more. Later that night, me and Daniel sat side by side on the couch, watching a rerun of MTV Cribs. It was the episode with Aly and AJ, which I had already seen three times. "Bye MTV!" the Michalka sister's voices cued that the show was now over. I grabbed the remote and pressed the power button. "Wow. It's even better the fourth time." I said sarcastically. Daniel laughed at my joke. It was weird how me and Daniel had just met this morning. It seemed like we'd been friends for at least a month. "It's ten o' clock." Daniel stated as he looked down at his watch. I was pretty tired, today had been a long day. "I need some sleep." I told him. He yawned and stretched out his arms. "Yeah me too." he agreed. "So are you gonna go back home now then?" I asked awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess I'll get going." he said. "Ok. So will you be visiting again soon?" I asked. It was much more fun watching reruns with a friend. "Yeah. I'll be back again tomorrow." he informed me. "How are you two doing?" asked officer Deblin, as he entered the living room. "Fine." I told him. Daniel was silent, so I looked over at him. He was just staring out the window with his eyes squinted. It looked like he was looking for something. Officer Deblin must have noticed too because he asked his son, "What are you staring at?" "Oh my gosh! I think he's out there!" Daniel exclaimed. "He's staring at

me!" He quickly got off the couch and stepped away from the window. "Are you talking about Alexander?" I asked. He nodded. I got up and stood next to Daniel as officer Deblin searched out the window. Officer Deblin's eyes went wide with shock. "It is him! He's just standing there. Staring. Camden!" he called. Officer Camden rushed in. "Stay with Daniel and Allison. I have a criminal to catch." He raced out the door and we all watched out the window as he approached Alexander. It looked like officer Deblin was yelling at him, but Alexander just stood there with a blank expression. Then he turned to face the window and locked his eyes on me. And that same eerie smile from the night before spread across his face. With in a second Alexander dashed down the sidewalk. He went so fast, I couldn't even see him as he sprinted away. Then it all clicked together. Pale skin. Haunting smile. Gold eyes. Impossibly fast. Alexander was a vampire.

Chapter 5: Bitten
I felt my knees begin to shake as I collapsed on to the couch. I couldn't believe it. I was being stalked by a vampire. What if he bit me? What if he turned me into a vampire too? What if he was going to turn my mom into a vampire? What if he already did? "Are you ok?" Daniel asked me, as he reached out his hand to help me up. "I'm fine." I replied. I looked out the window as officer Deblin stood on the sidewalk with his mouth hanging open and his eyebrows raised in shock. Officer Camden had the same expression on his face. "Wow. Did you see how fast he ran? That's like, not even possible!" Daniel complimented and shook his head in disbelief. Officer Deblin walked back in through the front door. "Whoa. That guy is..." He trailed off at the end, not even knowing how to describe the vampire. "So what are you gonna do now?" I asked. "I'm not sure. All I know is that he must have ran track in high school because that was incredible!" replied officer Deblin. I didn't want to tell him what my theory about Alexander was, because he would most likely think I was crazy. "Well can we please stop freaking out about how fast he is and think of something to do to stop him?" I asked, frustrated. "Like what? I've been a cop for eleven years, but never in my life have I ever seen someone like him. I'm not even sure if I can stop him!" That really made me mad. "My mom is missing and you're just giving up?!?" I shouted. "Well what do you suggest I do?" he asked. Then I came to the only conclusion that could possibly work. "You don't have to do anything. It's me he wants. I just have to give him what he wants and then he'll let my mom go." I stated.

"Allison, don't give yourself up to him." Daniel pleaded. "Let her do what she wants Daniel. If this is your final decision then go for it." replied officer Deblin. "Dad, how could you say that?" Daniel asked. "Well it's her choice. I shouldn't have to tell her what to do. She won't listen to me anyways. Just like the park situation." officer Deblin defended himself. "Why are you acting like you don't care what happens to me?" I asked, confused. “You’re a cop; isn’t it your job to protect me?” He glared at me, but didn't answer. Then he pulled out his cell phone and quickly sent a text to somebody. "If you want to save your mom then go ahead." he told me icily. And before I knew it, Alexander was knocking on the window, staring at me. "Oh my gosh! You're on his side!" I shouted. Officer Deblin smiled an evil smile. "You finally figured it out. I guess you aren't as stupid as I thought." Then he opened the window and Alexander hopped inside. "Nice to see you again Allison." he greeted me. Daniel and officer Camden stood in complete shock as this all happened. Then as I opened my mouth to speak Alexander swung me onto his back and began sprinting out through the window. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a forest, in an open meadow. "What are we doing here?" I asked. "You're becoming one of us." Alexander told me. "Us?" Then as if on cue, my mom walked out from behind the trees. Her eyes were gold, her skin was pale, and she even had that same eerie smile as Alexander. She was a vampire. "Mom!" I called out to her. "Hello Allison. I'm so happy to see you again." She didn't even sound excited or run over to hug me or anything! "Mom, what happened?" I asked her. "That's not important right now." she told me. "But I want to know how all of this happened! I've been so worried about you!" I exclaimed. "There's no need to worry about me. I'm fine." she remarked. "Fine." I gave up in trying to convince her to tell me. "Well could you at least tell me what exactly is going on here? What's up with you and officer Deblin?" I asked Alexander. "Well we met each other in high school. And we've been friends ever since. I told him about my plan to capture you and your mother and he agreed to help me. Although, he still doesn't know that I'm a vampire. But I'm pretty sure you've figured that out by now, right?" he replied. "Yeah." That was all I could say since I was still in a state of shock. I couldn't believe that I'd ever trusted officer Deblin. How did he even become a police officer? He's the one who should be arrested. "He also helped me break out of jail. And he only told you not to go to the park that one night because he knew that if he told you to go it would sound

suspicious. I mean what police officer tells you to go to a park at midnight because some strange 'stalker' told you to?" He put air quotes around the word stalker. "So what are you going to do to me now? Turn me into a vampire?" I asked in horror. "Correct." That eerie smile spread across his face and I shuttered. "But I'm Team Jacob." I responded. He rolled his eyes and replied, "That's not going to help you. I don't care if you're Team Jacob or Team Edward. I'm still going to turn you into one of us. It's either that or die." "What if I was Team Switzerland?" Now I was trying to stall time so that I could think of a plan to get out of this. "Team what?" he asked, confused. "That's when you like both Edward and Jacob." I informed him. "I don't care what team you are!" he shouted. I trembled in fear and muttered, "Well ok then." Then Alexander stepped forward and bared his teeth. I flinched in response and caught a glimpse of my mom's arm. On it was a bight mark. The same bight mark that was on my dad's arm after he died. I froze in place. "You killed my father." Alexander took a step back and crossed his arms. "Correct." he spat. Then he sneered and continued, "But your father deserved to die." "No he didn't!" I cried out. Great, now I was crying. "Yes. He did. He figured out that I was a vampire and I knew that he wouldn't be able to keep the secret. There for I had no choice, but to kill him. If he hadn't found out he wouldn't have died. So it was his own fault." He tried to make up this ridiculous excuse but I didn't buy it. "No one deserves to die except for you." I told him icily. Then I sneered at him and turned to my mom. "Did you know about this?" I asked her. "Yes, he told me. And I'm ok with it." she replied casually. "Mom! What is wrong with you?!? What has he done to you?!?" "He's shown me that I need to stop moping over your father and move on. And that's exactly what I'm doing. Now I would be very pleased with you if you'd just cooperate with us. We are going to have a perfect family! I've already started to plan our wedding!" she squealed. My mouth dropped open. "Wedding?!? You're marrying Alexander?!?" I cried out. How could she possibly marry the man who killed my dad? "Yep!" When she saw the upset expression on my face, she frowned and turned to Alexander. He smiled at her reassuringly and looked over at me. "Allison, don't make this hard for me. I will turn you into a vampire. I will marry your mother. And you will not argue about it." he declared. "Who made you president?" I asked sarcastically. "It's a free country, I don't have to do what you say." I felt confident as I spoke these words, but my confidence began to subside as Alexander bared his teeth. Then before I knew it, Alexander pounced up and bit down right above my elbow. The pain was so horrible that I passed out and everything went black.

Chapter 6: The Sister
I woke up with tears streaming down my cheeks and a bandage around my arm where Alexander bit into. How long had I been unconscious? "You're awake. You've been out for about four hours." Alexander informed me. I looked around to find that I was in what looked like a small bedroom. The bed I was laying on was soft and comfortable, with white sheets and a beige comforter. There was a desk, a dresser, a clock, and a small bedside table in the room too, but besides that it was pretty empty. "This is our guestroom." Alexander explained. "You better get used to sleeping here, because it's your new room." "But it's tiny. No fair." I replied with a glare. I began to sit up, but my arm went into a spasm of pain. "Ouch!" "It will be gone soon." he told me. "Now stop complaining about room size and be lucky I don't make you sleep in the attic." I glared at him. "Where is my mom?" I asked. "She's taking a nap. She hasn't had much rest lately." "Oh." I sighed and decided to go back to sleep. At least I wouldn't be able to feel the burning sensation my arm was going through. So I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. While I slept, I dreamed of myself as a vampire. I dreamed that I was running around my neighborhood ripping trees right out of the ground and throwing them at passing cars. Then I would go over to the car and suck the blood of any person that was inside. Then Alexander walked up to me. He saw the dead bodies laying in the car and the blood on my hands. "Nice catch." he complimented. I smiled my thanks and before I knew it, I was on Alexander's back, running through a forest. I woke up in the middle of the dream screaming. That was more like a nightmare than a dream. "You ok?" Alexander asked as he walked into my room. "Why should you care?" I muttered under my breath. He rolled his eyes and walked out. This was going to be a long night. The next morning I woke up to find that my arm was still in pain. It wasn't as bad as the night before, but it still really hurt. Alexander must have been lying when he told me it would go away soon. He's done a lot of lying lately. I got out of bed and walked into the hallway. Rooms lined the hall and most of the doors were closed. I wasn't sure what to do next so I randomly started knocking on doors, hoping to find my mom's room. The first door I knocked on, nobody answered so I walked in. It was just a bathroom. The second, nobody answered so I walked in. Just a laundry room. Third door. "Yes?" a voice called out from the other side. The voice wasn't familiar. "Um...who's in there?" I asked. A tall, blonde woman around the age of twenty opened the door. "Hello, I'm

Gabriella. You must be Allison." she sounded bored out of her mind. "Uh, yeah. So who are you exactly?" I was still confused as to why she was here. "I'm Alexander's sister." she explained. "Oh. Do any of your other relatives live here?" "No, just me, Alexander, your mother, and now you." "Ok. Well sorry for bothering you. Bye." I waved awkwardly and walked to the next door. Alexander opened it. "How nice of you to finally wake up." he greeted me. "Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?" "You never asked." he replied with a smirk. "Whatever. Which room is my mom's?" "Why do you want to know?" he asked. "I need to talk to her. Is that ok with you?" I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. "Fine. Two doors down." He slammed the door in my face and I stalked off down the hall. I knocked on my mom's door and she opened it. "What's up?" she asked. "Mom, can we talk?" "Of course!" she smiled and motioned for me to come in and sit on her bed. "I don't want you to marry Alexander. And I don't want to be a vampire!" I told her. A look of disappointment spread across her face. "Well that's just too bad. You've already been bit, so you're going to be a vampire, like it or not. And why on earth wouldn't you want me to marry Alexander? He's the perfect guy." "No he's not! Besides, how could you marry someone who killed your own husband?" "Forget about that. That was the past, it's time to look on to the future. And in the future you will be a vampire and Alexander will be your stepfather." "No. I won't let you do it. I may be on my way to becoming a vampire, but there is no way I'm going to let you marry that psycho path. Once I become a vampire I'll have enough strength to kill him. And that's exactly what I'm going to do." My mom had a look of disappointed shock on her face as I walked out of her room, but I didn't care. She can be as surprised as she wants, I'll still kill him. Although, when I thought this idea through, it sounded less and less appealing. I didn't want to be a killer. That would just mean that I was stooping down to Alexander's level. I sighed as I walked back into my mom's room. "Mom, I won't kill Alexander. But I won't let you marry him either!" I told her. "Sweetie, I know it doesn't sound like a good idea now, but you'll grow into it. You'll realize just how much you like Alexander, eventually." she encouraged me.

"Like that'll ever happen." I remarked with an eye-roll. "And by the way, today is Sunday which means I have school tomorrow." I reminded her. "Well, I'll call you in sick then, because you're not going to school tomorrow. In fact, you won't be able to go back to school until me and Alexander can trust you to keep our secret. If you let anyone else know that we're vampires, we'll all be in big trouble! Plus you won't be able to tame your thirst since you'll be a newborn vampire." "Well I'm gonna have to go back to school eventually. Or else they'll send somebody over to our house, asking why I've been out so long." I defended myself. She sighed and crossed her arms. After thinking it through she replied, "Fine. I guess you'll have to go to school soon. But when you go, you'll be a vampire, so you have to control your thirst." she explained. "No problem." I replied. Then I walked out of her room and strolled back down the hallway to my own room. "Ugh." I complained, looking around my tiny room. I seriously hated my new life. I didn't know what to do next, so I sat down on my bed and began peeling the bandage off of my arm. I wanted to see what the bite mark looked like. After finally removing the bandage, I looked at my arm. The bite mark was red and horrifying. I quickly wrapped the bandage back around my arm. Ding Dong I heard the doorbell ring out from the living room. I opened my door and saw Alexander walking over to the living room to answer it. "Hello, Mike." he greeted officer Deblin. I scowled when I saw him. "Hi, Alexander. So is Allison here?" he asked. "Yep. I think she's in her new room right now." "Well I'm glad your plan worked out well." he congratulated him. "I couldn't have done it without you." "Glad I could help." he smiled. "Well, I think I'll be going now. I just wanted to check up on you and see if your plan worked out well." "Alright, thanks for stopping by." Officer Deblin walked over to his police car, hopped in, and drove away. I closed my door and sat back down on my bed. I hated officer Deblin. Later that night, Alexander knocked on my door. "It's time for dinner." he declared. "Ok." I followed him into the kitchen. It was amazing. All stainless steel appliances, a huge wooden table, an enormous, elegant chandelier, and all marble counters. I sat down at one of the wooden chairs and Alexander gave me my plate. We were having grilled chicken with pasta salad that night. I took a bite of pasta salad. It was the best I'd ever had. The chicken was great too. It was grilled to perfection. "This is really good. Who made it?" I asked. "That would be me." answered Gabriella. "Wow! You're an amazing cook." I complimented. "Thanks." she replied. The rest of the time was pretty quiet. After dinner I went straight to bed. Today had been a long day.

Chapter 7: Thirsty
The next day I sat in the gigantic living room, watching TV. on the enormous flat screen television hanging on the wall. It was eight o'clock in the morning and I had just woken up. Alexander, Gabriella, and my mom were out hunting. They were "vegetarians", except for Alexander. In vampire terms that meant they only sucked animal's blood and not human's. I was now officially a vampire and I decided that I would be a vegetarian too. I couldn't even imagine sucking an animal's blood, but a human's would be even worse. Although, since I was now a vampire, I was getting thirsty. "We're home." Alexander greeted me as they all walked in the front door. "Hi. I think I'm getting thirsty." I told them. "Well I'll take you hunting for the very first time." Alexander offered. "Can't my mom take me?" I asked. There was no way I was going to go hunting for the very first time with him. "Why don't we both go with you?" he suggested. "Fine." I muttered. "Have fun." Gabriella told us. Then she walked off down the hallway leaving us alone. "Let's go." Alexander said. Then we all walked outside. "Just follow us." "Wait, are we running?" I asked. "Well we aren't walking." he replied. Then he took off. "Come on honey." My mom ran after him and I followed. It felt so weird to be running at such an amazing speed. When we finally stopped in the middle of the forest that was right outside my new house, Alexander explained what to do for me. "You just go right up to an animal, grab them, bite them, and suck out the blood. It's very simple. I'll even get you the animal." He sprinted off into the forest and came back holding a deer by the neck. "Go for it." I looked at him like he was crazy, which he actually kind of was, and took a step back. "No way. I can't do this. I thought I could, but I can't." I quickly backed down from this horrible task. "Well then I guess you're just going to be thirsty for the rest of your life. Whatever. It's your loss." He shrugged and let the deer go. It scurried off into the forest, it's eyes wide with fear. I sighed and bit my lip. "How did you get yourself to do it for the first time?" I asked my mom. "I just didn't think about what I was doing. I just did it." she tried to explain. "Well, I can't just do it. I'm sorry, but I can't." I told them. "Well then let's just go back home. Maybe you'll change your mind tomorrow." my mom said. "Maybe." I replied, but I wasn't convinced. When we got home, Gabriella was on the phone in the kitchen.

"I'm just gonna watch TV." I lied to my mom and Alexander. "Ok." my mom replied. Alexander nodded and they both walked off down the hall. I turned on the TV and pressed mute. Then I listened closely to Gabriella's conversation. "Ha! Oh my gosh, Daniel. ..... Ok. See you tonight. Bye!" she set the phone down and walked up the stairs. Was it just a coincidence that she was talking to someone named Daniel on the phone and officer Deblin's son's name was Daniel. I turned the volume back to it's normal level on the tv and tried not to think of the possibilities of Gabriella's phone call. Later that night, as I lie awake in my bed, I saw Gabriella run swiftly and quietly down the hall. I peeked my head out of my doorway to find her opening the front door. "Hey." someone whispered to her. "Hi, Daniel." When she walked out behind him, I caught a glimpse of his face. It was Daniel Deblin. Then Gabriella shut the door before I could see anything else. So she was talking to Daniel Deblin on the phone earlier. I was right. Why hadn't Daniel told me that he knew Gabriella before? I sighed and climbed back in bed. Then I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but my new discovery kept me up all night. Then next morning, the sound of Gabriella's footsteps woke me up. I looked at the clock hanging on my wall; it was five o'clock in the morning. She had been out all night with Daniel. I decided that I needed to know what was going on. So I got out of bed and worked up enough nerve to walk over to Gabriella's room. I knocked on her door and she opened it. "Why are you up so early?" she asked. "I saw you sneak out with Daniel Deblin yesterday night." I told her. "He's one of my friends you know." "I don't know what you're talking about." She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Don't lie to me. I saw you walk out of the house!" Now I was just getting annoyed. "Listen, just stop snooping around and stay out of my business. Got it?" she demanded. "Why can't you just tell me what you two were doing?" "Because it's none of your business." "Fine." I walked back to my room in frustration. What was she keeping from me? I decided I would tell my mom that I saw her sneak out. So I walked over to her door and knocked on it. "What's up?" she asked with a yawn. "Can we talk?" I asked. "Sure. Come on in." She shut the door behind me and sat down on her bed. I did the same. "So what's up?" "Well, yesterday I saw Gabriella sneak out of the house. With officer Deblin's son, Daniel!" I informed her.

"Are you sure it was his son and not somebody else?" "Positive." "Well did you ask her about it?" "Yeah and she got mad at me and told me to stay out of her business." I told my mom of my earlier encounter with her. "Well maybe you should. I mean, it is her business." I sighed, "I guess you're right." But I wasn't going to give up. I was going to find out what those two were up to. Later that day I was sitting on the couch, bored out of my mind. There was nothing to do in this house. So I walked over to Alexander's room and knocked on his door. "What?" he asked me. "Can I please go back to my old house and get some of my stuff? I am seriously bored!" I complained. "Fine. But make it quick." He slammed the door in my face and I walked back into the living room. Then I walked out of the house and sprinted through the forest. For a moment I thought about running off and escaping from Alexander, but I couldn't leave my mom there. Once I reached my old house I walked inside. The front door was unlocked so it wasn't very challenging to get in. Everything looked the same from the time I last saw it. I walked up to my room and grabbed my backpack. Then I began stuffing it with clothes. Once that was full I grabbed my iPod and put it in the smaller front pocket of my backpack. Then I found my one and only suitcase, stuffed in the back of my closet and opened it up. I filled it with a couple of books, some DVDs, and lastly my laptop. Everything fit perfectly. I made sure to grab my cell phone and put it in my pocket and I also made sure I had my laptop and phone charger. Then I walked back downstairs. I walked outside and slung my backpack around my shoulders. I got a good grip on my suitcase and then I was off. When I reached my new house I walked in through the front door and headed straight for my room. Then I began to unpack. I folded all of my clothes into neat piles and filled my dresser with them. Then I set my laptop on my desk along with my freshly stacked books. I put my iPod inside the small drawer of my bedside table. I then put my DVDs in the one empty drawers of my dresser. Once I was done I looked around the room. It still seemed empty. I decided to make another quick stop back at my old house. I would just grab some more clothes, some posters, and a couple of pictures. So I grabbed my backpack and suitcase and headed back out through the front door. When I arrived at my old house once again, I walked back in and headed up to my room. I took down all of the posters I had hanging on my wall and put all of the tacks I used into a zip-lock baggie. Then I stored them into my suitcase. Next I grabbed the pictures I had lined up on my shelf above my bed and laid them on top of my posters. Then I grabbed some more of my clothes and stuffed them into my backpack. I also grabbed my shampoo,

conditioner, and body wash from my bathroom. Then I grabbed my make-up bag off of my bathroom counter. I put all of these items in my suitcase. After fitting whatever extra clothes I could into my suitcase, I headed back to my new house. When I got there, I went up to my room and unpacked the rest of my clothes. I just set my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash on top of my dresser. I would just take them with me when I took a shower. Then I began hanging up my posters. I had four David Archuleta posters, two Taylor Swift, two Lady GaGa, one Tokyo Hotel, and one Twilight movie poster. Next I started to place my pictures around my room. I put the picture of me and Natalie at one of her cheerleading competitions on my bedside table. I put the picture of me and my mom at her 30th birthday party on my dresser. And I put the picture of me and my dad when I was three next to it. Once I was finished I looked around my room. I felt more at home already.

Chapter 8: Daniel's Secret
The next day my mom informed me that I wouldn't be attending school again. So when Gabriella left the house without telling anyone where she was going and Alexander and my mom went to a bridal store because my mom wanted to look at wedding dresses, I decided to do some snooping. I walked into Gabriella's room and looked around. It was twice the size of my room and was also a lot nicer. Her walls were painted a light violet and she had shiny wooden floors. She had a huge white vanity along with a matching white dresser, bedside table, and another small dresser. She also had a king size bed with a floral, white and violet comforter and matching pillows. Hanging above her bed was an elegant crystal chandelier. She had pictures hanging up of herself, Alexander, herself with Alexander, and someone I didn't recognize. He had jet black hair that covered most of his eyes and pale white skin. From what I could see of his eyes, it looked as if they were gold. And he had a small resemblance to Alexander. I could tell he was a vampire. I decided that I'd better get to work. So I began digging through the drawers of her larger dresser. All I found were tons of beautiful, designer clothes. In her smaller dresser there were just more clothes. So I walked over to her bedside table and opened the drawer. There were a couple of random items inside. Lip gloss, a digital camera, a cell phone charger, and a pack of Orbit gum. Then I saw the corner of an envelope sticking out from underneath all of these things. I pulled it out and opened it. Inside were five pictures. One was of her and Daniel with Daniel's arm slung around her shoulder. Another was of Daniel leaning against a tree in a forest that looked a lot like the one just outside our house. The third was of

her and Daniel standing next to each other, laughing. The next one was of her and Daniel sitting next to each other smiling and Gabriella's head was rested on his shoulder. And the last picture was of Daniel kissing her on the cheek. After looking through all of the pictures I realized that her and Daniel were most likely boyfriend and girlfriend. But why would they try to keep that from me? I decided to look through the things on her desk and then leave her room before she came back. So I put the pictures and envelope back and walked over to her vanity. There were tons of different kinds of make-up and perfume on top of the vanity. So I opened one of the three drawers and looked inside. The first one contained a couple of magazines. The second one had some more make-up inside. And the third one had a small book. I took the book out and opened it up. It was Gabriella's diary. I skimmed through the first couple of pages. It was just a bunch of stuff describing how she became a vampire. And when I got towards the middle of the book, I stopped and read through the whole page. It was from yesterday.

December 9, 2008 Dear diary, Today I just found out that Daniel is not what I thought he was. It turns out, he's not just a normal human. He's a werewolf! I was so shocked when he told me this. I am a vampire so I'm not sure how this is going to work. Vampires and werewolves are supposed to be enemies. But I'll make sure everything turns out ok. I wouldn't want to break up with him over something he can't even help. I'm sure if he got to choose, he wouldn't choose to be a werewolf. I hope. I just don't know how I'm going to tell my brother, Leslie, and Allison.
After reading that entry my heart stopped. I could not believe that Daniel was a werewolf! He didn't seem like one the last time I saw him. Oh my gosh, I was friends with a werewolf and didn't even know it up until now. The thought was crazy! But it was even crazier that Gabriella, a vampire, was dating him! That's probably why she didn't want anyone to find out about him. I heard the front door slam and quickly put the diary back and raced out of her room. I peeked over the banister to find my mom and Alexander walking over to sit down on the couch. "Hey guys!" I greeted them, as I walked into the living room. "So mom, did you find the perfect dress?"

"Yep! It is absolutely beautiful! It's strapless and has one of those big, poofy bottoms. I love it!" she squealed. "Great. So did you buy it yet?" I asked. "Yeah, it's still in the car. Do you want to come and see it?" "Sure." I agreed. She whisked me away into the garage and opened up the trunk. Then she pulled out a beautiful wedding dress. "Wow mom. It's amazing!" "Thanks!" I could tell she was getting excited about the wedding. "When is the wedding going to be anyways?" I asked. "In one month and eight days. I'm counting down the days!" She clapped her hands together and smiled. She was definitely excited. "Wow. That's pretty soon." "Yeah, I know! I can't wait!" After our wedding conversation, we both walked back inside to find Gabriella just walking in the door. "Everyone, I have a surprise for you all. I know that you will all be very shocked about this, but I decided that I should tell you anyways. I have a boyfriend. He's standing outside the door right now. He wants to meet you guys." "Well bring him in." Alexander spoke up for the first time since he got back from the bridal store. "Come on in Daniel." she called towards the door. And then Daniel Deblin walked in. Even though I already knew it would be him, it was still shocking to actually see him standing there. "Everyone, this is Daniel Deblin!" "You're Mike's son, aren't you?" Alexander asked, standing up to shake his hand. "Yep. And you're his old high school friend. Alexander DeVincie, right?" he asked. Oh my gosh, he knew the whole time that officer Deblin was friends with Alexander. I couldn't believe it. I thought he was my friend. "Correct. Well, it's nice to formally meet you." Alexander replied. "You too." They shook hands and Gabriella smiled at how well they were getting along. "So you're Gabriella's brother?" "Yes I am." "That's what I thought." Daniel looked over at me and bit his lip. "Hi, Allison, I’m really sorry about this. I know you must be really surprised.” He looked hopeful, as if I would actually forgive him. “Oh yeah, I meant to give this to you before, but I never got the chance. So, uh, here you go.” He gave me a handwritten note, and I read it.

Dear Allison, I know this might be a little bit hard for you to understand, but I need to let you know the truth. I’m a werewolf. And I’m going out with a vampire, Gabriella DeVincie. She’s actually Alexander’s sister. I’m really, really sorry that I didn’t tell you this before, but I

just didn’t know how to say it. Although, I promise that I wasn’t in on my dad’s plan to capture you, so please don’t blame me for that. I just thought that you should know the truth about me. And if you don’t want to be friends with me because of that, I guess I understand. I just really think you should give me at least one more chance because I really am a good person. I never meant to lie to you either. So please think this over and let me know whether or not you forgive me. Sincerely, Daniel Deblin
I wasn’t sure whether I was mad at him or relieved that he actually meant to tell me. But it was kind of lame for him to tell me in a note. Why couldn’t he have just said it to my face? My mom started up a new conversation with Daniel, and Alexander and Gabriella joined in. I stood there on the outside looking in, the letter still in my hands. Then Daniel turned to face me. “So what do you think?” "I cannot believe you! You're a liar just like your dad!" I burst out. But I couldn't help it. Standing there, watching him talk with Alexander just built up more anger inside of me. "I'm sorry, ok? And by the way I didn't know about my dad and Alexander until yesterday. That's when my dad told me; and I figured out that Alexander was a vampire after he ran off with you on his back that one night." he explained. "I know, I know. It’s just a lot for me to take in right now.” “I completely understand.” Daniel replied. “Thanks, and sorry for getting so mad at you like that. But why didn't you tell me before that you were going out with a vampire? Or that you're a werewolf?" Alexander clenched his jaw, "What?" he asked in fury. “How did you know that?” Gabriella asked me. "It said so in the note Daniel just gave me.” I told her, keeping my mouth shut about the snooping part. "Well why did you just tell everyone that?!? I told you to mind your own business, but you just couldn't, could you?!?" Gabriella shouted at me. "Well sorry for being curious." I said sarcastically. "You aren't forgiven." she replied, just as sarcastic as I was. "Did you move in to my house just to ruin my life? Or did you plan on trying to ruin your mom's new relationship too?" I glared at her in response and stormed up to my room. I couldn't believe her! Well it was obvious that she was now out to get me. But two could play at that game. I sat down on my bed and sighed.

"I hate you!" I heard Gabriella scream as the sound of her stomping passed by my door. "Well it isn't my fault that you decided to date that mutt!" Alexander shouted back in an angry rampage. I snickered under my breath. Although, I kind of felt bad for Daniel. It wasn't his fault that he was a werewolf. I walked downstairs quietly after hearing the two angry vampires slam their doors shut. When I got to the living room I saw my mom was standing there looking at Daniel awkwardly. "I'll take it from here mom." I told her as I walked up to them. "Thanks." She smiled at me and walked up the stairs. "I'm sorry for giving away your secret. I didn't think Alexander would explode like that." I apologized to him. "It's ok. I've been dating Gabriella secretly for a month and a half. I think we'll be fine." he reassured me. "Well that's good. Although, if I were you I would just break up with her. Did you see how angry she got? What a drama queen." I complained. "Now that I think about it, she is kind of dramatic." he agreed. "Well I'm gonna go now." He walked out the door and I smiled to myself. Gabriella would soon regret going off on me like that.

Chapter 9: Natalie Knows
That night I sat at the long dining room table and waited as Gabriella began to scoop the fettucini alfredo onto my plate. After spooning out my food, she glared at me and moved on to my mom. I helped myself to some Ceasar salad and took a piece of garlic bread too. Fettucini alfredo was my favorite and I couldn't wait to dig in. And just as I lifted my fork for my first bite, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and read the text on the screen. Why haven't you been at skool the last 2 days? Is ur mom still missing? I hope they find her soon! It was from Natalie. I sighed and began texting back. It's a long story, but they did find her. Just meet me at the park tonite at 11:30. I'll tell you all about wut happened. And I would tell her exactly what happened. I wasn't about to lie to my best friend. I pressed send and waited for a response. Ok. See u then! She wrote back. I slid my phone back into my pocket and started eating. Once I was finished, I set my plate in the kitchen sink and ran up to

my room. Then I began thinking about what I would say to Natalie tonight. I grabbed a piece of notebook paper from my science notebook, which was still in my backpack, and took out a pencil. Then I began writing out what I would say. Natalie, there's something that you need to know. The truth is, my mom got captured by a vampire named Alexander. He turned her into a vampire and then he captured me and turned me into a vampire. Now, he and my mom are going to get married. Plus, his sister is dating one of my friends, Daniel, who I just found out is a werewolf. She didn't want anyone to know that, but I accidently gave it away. So now she's out to get me. As I read over what I just wrote, I realized that I sounded completely out of my mind. She would probably think I'd lost it. So I crinkled up the piece of paper and tossed it in to my waste basket. Then I took out another piece and tried again. Natalie you need to know the truth. And the truth is that my mom's so called boyfriend was the stalker that was after me. He's the one who captured my mom. And now he has us both living in his house with him and his sister, Gabriella. He's convinced my mom that we would make the perfect family and now their getting married. And there's also one more thing. Alexander is a vampire. And he's turned me and my mom into one too. I read this over a couple times and thought it sounded pretty good. It sounded less crazy than the last one. And if she didn't believe me then I guess I would just have to show her that I'm a vampire. I just hoped she wouldn't freak out and tell anyone. I would have to swear her to secrecy. Although, I don't think she would tell anybody. Natalie's too good of a friend to do something like that. And I wouldn't tell her about Daniel just yet. First I would let the whole vampire thing soak in. So I rehearsed what I would say until I memorized it. And by the time I did, it was nine thirty. So for the next two hours I took a short nap and set an alarm on my phone. Then I put it under my pillow so that I would be able to hear it, but no one else could. And then I fell asleep. When my alarm went off, I woke up and turned it off. Then I grabbed my cell phone and headed out the door. When I arrived at the park, Natalie was waiting for me restlessly. She was pacing around until she finally saw me walk up. "Hey! Wow, I haven't seen you in a long time!" she cried. "So what's going on? Did you say they found your mom?" She was full of questions. "Yeah, they found her. And there's actually more to the story than just that." "Like what?" she asked curiously. "Like that her so called boyfriend, Alexander, was the person who was

stalking me. He's also the person who captured my mom. And now he's got her convinced to marry him. The wedding's coming up pretty soon. It's in about a month actually." I explained. "Oh my gosh! That is unbelievable!" she exclaimed. "Well that's not even the crazy part. The truth is Alexander isn't exactly human. He's a vampire. And he turned me and my mom into a vampire too." She had a mixed expression of confusion and suprise on her face. "You've got to be kidding me." she finally said. "It's the honest truth." "Did Alexander hurt you? Did he, like, slam your head on something? Because you seem delirious." "If you don't believe me then I'll prove it to you." And within seconds I had dashed around the whole park. When I arrived back in front of her she looked as if she might pass out. "Oh my gosh!" she sputtered. "This isn't happening! It can't be. This is impossible!" she searched for more words, but couldn't find any. Now she was gasping for breath. And before I knew it she fainted. "What's happening? Where am I?" Natalie shouted when she finally woke up. She looked around in terror. "Don't worry, you're fine. Everything is ok." I told her in a soothing voice. Once she fainted, I slung her across my back and ran her back to the forest. Then I took her into the open meadow that Alexander took me when I found out my mom had been turned into a vampire. Now she was laying down on the grass, with her head propped up against a small log. "Where am I?" she repeated frantically. "You're in the forest. Just calm down. You're perfectly safe." She looked me in the eye, "You!" she scrambled to get up. "What did you do to me?!?" "Me? I didn't do anything! You fainted." I explained. I rushed over to her to try and help her calm down. "Get away from me!" She pushed me away with all of her strength. Then, on instinct, I bared my teeth in self-defense. She looked at me, astonished and frightened. "Sorry, I couldn't help it!" I tried to tell her. "Just leave me alone!" She turned to run away, but someone, or something, stopped her. She ran straight into a massive, russet colored wolf. "Ah!" she screamed in terror. Then she shielded her face with her arms and began whimpering for breath. "Daniel?" I asked the animal. He quickly transformed back into his human form. "Hi. Sorry to scare you." he apologized to Natalie. Then he looked at me nervously. He probably just realized that he had given away his secret to Natalie. "It's fine. I already told her about Alexander and everything. I was going to tell her about you later, but I guess she just found out." I reassured

him. "Oh, ok. My name's Daniel by the way." he introduced himself. He stuck his hand out for her to shake, but she just eyed it and backed away. "That's Natalie. She's my best friend." I told him. "Used to be your best friend." she corrected me. "Natalie," I sighed. "I'm out of here!" She darted out of sight and I frowned in disappointment. "Sorry." Daniel said. "No, it's not your fault. She's just in a state of shock. But she'll come around later." I replied. "Alright. Well I was just running with my pack. They're probably wondering why I shifted to my human form. I'm gonna shift back now and catch up with them. Bye." He waved and transformed into a werewolf right before my eyes. Then he was off. I decided to try and text Natalie. Sorry. I know ur really shocked, but don't get mad at me! It's not my fault. I hit send and waited for her to reply. When she finally did I flipped open my phone and read her text. Ur not 4given.

Chapter 10: Secret's Out
After going home that night, I sat awake in my bed all night. By the time I finally did fall asleep, it was four in the morning. "Wake up!" my mom chirped. When I didn't listen, she nudged me awake. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head. "I'm up, I'm up." I complained. "Well you better get ready. You have school today." She walked out of my room, shutting my door behind me. "Ugh," I groaned. I had barely gotten any sleep the previous night. I looked at my clock; six fifteen in the morning. Great, now I'd have to deal with Natalie today. I scanned my dresser for clothes and finally picked out an aqua t-shirt from Aeropostale and a pair of American Eagle jeans. Then I quickly brushed through my hair and tied it up in a loose pony-tail. I brushed my teeth, leaving me with a minty after-taste. Then I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of Cinamon Toast Crunch. I grabbed a spoon and began eating. "Are you ready to finally go back to school?" my mom asked me as she strolled over to the kitchen table.

"I guess. What made you decide to send me back anyways?" "Well, first Alexander and I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't loose control of your thirst, but you've been eating like a normal human, so we decided it would be fine to send you to school." "Well how else would I eat?" I asked. "Haven't you realized that the rest of us don't exactly eat normal food?" I thought back to last night at dinner. Now that I thought about it, I didn't see any of them touch their food. "We only make dinner every night for you. Vampires don't need to eat. They just need to drink blood. And I know it sounds gross, but once you try it, you'll love it." she tried to convince me. "I don't think so. Human food is fine with me." I replied. Then I got up and put my empty bowl in the sink. "So where and when does my bus come?" I asked. "I'll actually be driving you from now on. There isn't a bus stop close to our house. And you know that school starts at seven thirty, so we'll leave around seven fifteen." "Ok." I looked at the digital clock on the microwave. It was now seven o'clock. I listened to my iPod for ten minutes and then slid my black Uggs on. I put my arms through the sleeves of my jacket and zipped it up. Then I waited for my mom in the garage. Once she was ready, she walked into the garage and we both climbed into her brand new silver Volvo, a pre-wedding gift from Alexander. She started up the car and pulled out of the garage. Then she backed out of our long driveway and onto the small street leading up to our house. Once we were on my school's street, my stomach tightened. It would be weird going back to school and not being able to sit with Natalie at lunch or talk to her. "We're here!" my mom squealed. "Have a good day at school, honey!" I opened my door and climbed out of the car. Then I made my way through the crowd of high school students, to the front door. I walked in and headed for my locker. To my surprise Tinsley Fields, a preppy cheerleader, was waiting for me at my locker. "Uh, hi Tinsley." I greeted her. "So is it true that you think you're a vampire?" she asked sounding amused. My mouth dropped open. How could Natalie have done that to me? I wondered just how many people she had told this to. "Did Natalie tell you that?" I asked, just wanting to make sure. Although I already knew what the answer would be. "Yeah. So is it true?" she pressed on. "No. It's not." I glared at her and made my way around her. Then I opened my locker and began gathering my materials for first period. "Are you sure? Because Natalie said---" "Yes I'm sure!" I shouted at her. "Well no need to yell." She snickered at me, flipped her golden blonde hair, and strode off. "Hey Bella! Where's Edward?!?" some random kid called, and then

cracked up laughing at his own joke as he walked past me. Now I was angry. I slammed my locker shut and stampeded over to Natalie's locker. She was in the middle of a conversation with David Walsh. "Natalie!" I interrupted her. "Did you hear something?" she asked David. He looked over at me and bit his lip. "So I'm guessing you two are fighting." "Natalie, how many people know about that rumor you're spreading around? You know, the one about how I think I'm a vampire!" I cried, ignoring David's comment. "Well you're the one who told me that you think you're a vampire yesterday at the park. And then you had some guy dress up as a werewolf to scare me!" she replied. "I did not tell Daniel to dress up as anything! And to think I actually trusted you." I stormed off, away from my former best friend. I went to my locker, put all of my books back inside, and slid on my coat. I was not going to get made fun of all day because Natalie decided to spread around some rumor. So I walked out of the school and ran at full speed all the way home. When I got inside, Gabriella was sitting on the couch writing something down in a notebook. I peered over her shoulder, it was a grocery list. "Shouldn't you be at school?" she asked, although it didn't sound like she really cared. "I got sent home sick." I lied. "That's funny, because the last time I checked, vampires don't get sick." She smirked at me and then turned back to her list. "Fine. If you're so interested, I ditched school, ok?" I gave up in lying. "Why? Did your thirst get the best of you?" "No. My so called best friend is telling everyone that I think I'm a vampire. And now everyone at school thinks I'm crazy! I thought I could trust her with a secret!" "You told her we were vampires?!?" she shrieked. "Oops." I bit my tongue. "Please don't tell Alexander." I begged. "Why should I do anything you say? You told him about Daniel!" "I know and I'm sorry. I didn't know he would freak out like that. I'm new at being a vampire, what do you expect?" I defended myself. "You know what's funny? I really don't care!" She gave me an icy stare and then strolled into the kitchen. I followed her in to find her picking up the phone. "What are you doing?!?" I asked frantically. "Calling Alexander. He's at the engineering company where he works right now." "He still works there?" How he could he still work at the place where my dad used to work after killing him? Gabriella didn't answer me. Instead she punched in some numbers on the phone. "No!" I cried out. I dived for the phone, but she dodged away. Then after waiting for a

couple of seconds she spoke. "Hi, Alexander. Do you want to know what Leslie's daughter did?" she asked in a cheerful voice. "She told one of her little friends---" Right before she told him, I knocked the phone out of her hands. Then I grabbed it and hung up. "Ha!" I laughed in her face. "That's fine. It will be much better to see his face when I tell him anyways." She strolled upstairs in glee. "Ugh." I groaned to myself. Who was I kidding? Of course Alexander would find out when he got home. Well I'd better get prepare for some major yelling. At five o'clock Alexander walked in the front door. "I'm home." he called out. Gabriella came running down the stairs, "Alexander! I'm so glad you're home because I really need to talk to you." "I'm back from my first day at my new job!" my mom squealed as she walked in the door. "Where do you work now anyways, mom?" I asked in curiosity. "I work as a tour guide at that new historic museum." "Oh. Cool." I hated history so I wasn't too excited. "So as I was saying," Gabriella said louder than she needed to. "Do you want to know what Allison did?" "First I want to know why you hung up on me earlier." Alexander replied. "I didn't. She did!" She jabbed her finger at me. "Why would you do that?" my mom asked me. I looked around the room nervously, "It was an accident. I slipped and accidently knocked the phone out of her hands. Then when I went to pick it up I accidently pressed the wrong button and hung up on him. Sorry." I lied through my teeth. Gabriella shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyways, that's not what I was going to tell you. I was going to tell you how Allison told one of her friends our secret." "What?!?" Alexander exploded. "Allison how could you?" my mom asked me sounding dissapointed. "I don't know what she's talking about. And besides, she told Daniel our secret first!" I tried to put the blame on Gabriella. "I've already taken care of the Daniel situation. We are now focusing on you. Did you or did you not tell one of your friends that we're vampires? And I want the honest truth." Alexander told me sternly. "Yes." I mumbled. "I'm sorry, but I thought I could trust her. But I was wrong. And now everyone at school thinks that I think I'm a vampire. Natalie told all of them, mom." I knew she would feel sympathetic for me. She knew how close me and Natalie were. "Well you should have asked someone else before going and telling Natalie our secret. This is serious Allison!" She didn't sound sympathetic. Gabriella was clearly enjoying all of this. She stood off to the side with

a proud grin spread across her pale face. Alexander on the other hand was pacing back and forth mumbling to himself about how unbelievably untrustworthy I was. "Well I'm sorry! I just thought that I could trust her!" I told everyone. "Well I thought I could trust you!" Alexander shouted at me. "Well atleast I'm not a murderer, you phsyco path!" I shouted back. "Allison! That's enough!" my mom cried. "Oh please! You're the one who's gonna marry some crazy guy who killed your own husband! Wait I forgot, you don't even care that your husband's dead! You found someone way better! Even though he's a phsyco! But you don't care about that either, do you?!?" "Ouch." Gabriella muttered under her breath. My mom gave me a look of lament. Then she turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs. "Now look what you did." Alexander glared at me as he went after her. I turned to look at Gabriella, "This is all your fault! Thanks alot!" "You're welcome!" she replied cheerfully. Then she skipped upstairs with a smile on her face. That was when I decided that I'd had it. I was through being walked all over by Gabriella. I stormed out the front door, not even knowing where I was going to go. Then I just ran aimlessly through the forest, letting out all of my built up energy. I sat down, leaning against a tree in the open meadow and closed my eyes. "Hey." Daniel came up behind me in his human form. "Oh, hi Daniel." I replied. "What's wrong? You sound depressed." "Well I kind of am. Your girlfriend just completely turned my own mother against me! And Alexander hates me too. Not that I care." "How did she do that?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Well you know how I told my best friend about how I'm a vampire right?" He nodded. "Ok, well Gabriella found out and she told Alexander. When she told him my mom was there too, so they both know now. Alexander yelled at me and my mom just got really dissapointed. So then before I knew it me and my mom were fighting. And I may have went a little too far." "Oh my gosh! I can't believe she would do that!" He shook his head in dissaproval. "I think I am going to break up with her." My eyes lit up when he said that. "Oh, really?" I tried my best to sound surprised. "Yeah, she's just too much for me to handle." "Oh. Well, maybe that is a good idea then." He nodded his head, "Yeah, I think it is. Well, I'm gonna go meet up with my pack now." "Speaking of your pack," I said before he left. "I want to meet them sometime." "Oh, ok. How about tomorrow? We can meet here around midnight." he

offered. "Sounds good." I agreed. "Ok, bye." He walked off into the forest and I smiled to myself. I would show Gabriella not to mess with me. And I knew just the way to do it. After finally coming back home that night, I lay in my bed trying to fall asleep. But I couldn't. I had way too much on my mind. The fight I'd had with my mom, the whole Gabriella situation, the thing with Natalie, my mom and Alexander getting married soon. It was just too much to handle! So I took three deep breaths, silently counted to ten in my head, and closed my eyes. After laying there with my eyes shut for about fifteen minutes, I finally fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 11: Dead
"Hey." Daniel came up behind me in his human form. "Oh, hi Daniel." I replied. "What's wrong? You sound depressed." "Well I kind of am. Your girlfriend just completely turned my own mother against me! And Alexander hates me too. Not that I care." "How did she do that?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Well you know how I told my best friend about how I'm a vampire right?" He nodded. "Ok, well Gabriella found out and she told Alexander. When she told him my mom was there too, so they both know now. Alexander yelled at me and my mom just got really dissapointed. So then before I knew it me and my mom were fighting. And I may have went a little too far." "Oh my gosh! I can't believe she would do that!" He shook his head in dissaproval. "I think I am going to break up with her." My eyes lit up when he said that. "Oh, really?" I tried my best to sound surprised. "Yeah, she's just too much for me to handle." "Oh. Well, maybe that is a good idea then." He nodded his head, "Yeah, I think it is. Well, I'm gonna go meet up with my pack now." "Speaking of your pack," I said before he left. "I want to meet them sometime." "Oh, ok. How about tomorrow? We can meet here around midnight." he offered. "Sounds good." I agreed. "Ok, bye." He walked off into the forest and I smiled to myself. I would show Gabriella not to mess with me. And I knew just the way to do it. After finally coming back home that night, I lay in my bed trying to fall asleep. But I couldn't. I had way too much on my mind. The fight I'd had with my mom, the whole Gabriella situation, the thing with Natalie, my mom and

Alexander getting married soon. It was just too much to handle! So I took three deep breaths, silently counted to ten in my head, and closed my eyes. After laying there with my eyes shut for about fifteen minutes, I finally fell into a deep sleep. "Wake up." my mom stated blandly, as she walked past my open door. "Good morning, mom!" I chirped. She ignored me and kept walking. She was still mad at me. How long would she hold this grudge against me? I went through my usual morning routine and headed downstairs for breakfast. When I sat down with my toasted bagel at the kitchen table, Alexander walked in. "Hello, Allison. Did you have fun breaking your mother's heart last night?" he commented. I gave him the iciest glare I could manage and took a bight out of my bagel. "Alright then, I guess you aren't exactly in the mood for talking." He grabbed his cars keys off the counter and walked over to the front door. I stared him down the whole time. "Well, I'm off to work." He left the house without even noticing my eyes locked on him. "Whatever." I muttered to myself. And then my mom walked down, followed by Gabriella. "Hi mom. I'll be ready to leave in about ten minutes." I told her. "Fine." she replied sternly. Then she sat on the couch and turned on the news. Gabriella sat next to her. "Now for today's latest story. Just this morning around five o'clock a.m., a girl was found dead in a forest. The Naperville Police Department were contacted immediately by the person who found the body, Josh Griffen. And the head police officer, officer Mike Deblin, found that the body seemed to have been bit by an animal. There is no proof, besides the bite mark on the body's upper arm." the news reporter said on the tv screen. My heart stopped, I dropped my bagel, my hands began to shake. In the upper right corner of the tv screen was a picture of the body. It was Natalie. "Well when we got the call from Josh Griffen, I volunteered to go check it out right away." They were now showing an interview with officer Deblin. "And when I got there and saw the body I was astonished. The bite mark just looked so vicious, almost as if it were caused by something even more powerful than an animal. Although, I knew the most logical explanation was that an animal had done it." I gritted my teeth and looked at my mom's face. Her face was completely blank. Gabriella's mouth was open forming a small O and hands were trembling, as they sat at her sides. "Well there you have it folks. This must have been one vicous animal." the news reporter finished up the story. My mom turned off the tv and stood up. "It's seven fifteen." she stated and then walked into the garage. We

both got in the car and she started it up. The ride to school was completely silent. I arrived at school and headed for my locker like always. It was alot quieter today then it was yesterday. And nobody laughed or cracked a vampire joke as I walked by. Everyone seemed to be mourning over Natalie's death. I sat in my seat during algebra and stared at the board until the bell that began first period rang. "Alright class, I'm sure that most of you have heard about the tragedy that has unfortunately come upon all of us here at San Diego High School. One of our fellow class mates, Natalie Clements, has passed away." Mr. Miller stated. The classroom was dead silent. The only sound was the buzz of the air conditioning vent. "In honor of Natalie Clements," Mr. Miller continued, "our school will be having our own special memorial for her. The school board has decided to build a tree outside of our school in Natalie's honor. All students will be asked to help plant this tree, next Saturday. We will also have a power point on Monday honoring Natalie. And today during every lunch hour you will all be asked if you want to say anything in her honor for the power point. It will be presented during first hour Monday, since today is Friday." I bit down on the inside of my cheek. What would I say when the they asked me if I had anything to say in Natalie's honor at lunch time. There would probably just be teachers or staff going around to ask students if they had anything to say. And most teachers had seen us talking in the halls or eating lunch together, so they probably knew we were friends. Fifth hour lunch would be a nightmare. When fifth hour finally did roll around, I sat down at my usual table where I would sit with Natalie, Jacob, a girl named Haylie White, and her boyfriend, Cody Williams. Haylie and Cody were already seated when I arrived, but neither of them spoke a word. The bell to start fifth period rang and Jacob still wasn't there. "So, Jacob's not here today?" I asked quietly. Haylie shook her head. "Oh." I reached into my brown paper bag and pulled out my penut butter and jelly sand which I had packed this morning. Then I began eating. My eyes kept darting around the cafeteria; I was now on look out for any teachers or staff who might ask me about the power point. "Hi, I know you were all friends of Natalie's so this must be a very difficult time for you." Mrs. Elden, my English teacher, came up to our table. "Anyways, I was just wondering if any of you would like to say anything in honor of Natalie for the power point tomorrow. I'm sure she would have appreciated it." "I have something to say." Haylie spoke for the first time since I arrived. "Wonderful! Would either of you like to say anything?" she asked Cody

and I. I looked at him and he shook his head. "How about you? I know you were her best friend." She turned and looked directly at me. "Um, sure." I replied hesitantly. "Alright, you two can just go down to the multipurpose room. When you get there just get in line. Once it's your turn, Mr. Miller will just ask you to sit down and say anything you want. He'll be recording you with a video camera so that we can put it on the power point for tomorrow." she explained. We bothed nodded, showing her that we understood these directions, and started walking down to the multipurpose room. Once we arrived we got in the back of the short line. There were only three people ahead of me, one of them being Haylie. I racked my brain for something to say, but I couldn't think of anything. So I decided that when it was my turn, I would just sit down and say whatever came to my mind. Haylie sat down. I was next. I didn't pay much attention to what she said, I was too busy fretting over what would happen when she finished. "Next person in line, please." Mr. Miller called. I stepped over to the chair that was set up in front of the video camera and took a seat. "Whenever you're ready." Mr. Miller told me. "Ok. Well, Natalie was my best friend in the whole world." I began. "She was always there for me and I could trust her no matter what. We did everything together. And now that she's gone I just wish that I could tell her I'm sorry. Because right before she passed away, we were in a fight. And it was my fault. So I'm just really sorry about that and wish I could take it back." I got up and walked back to the cafeteria while struggling to hold back tears. I guess once I said it out loud it really hit me. My best friend just died. From a vampire biting her. I sat down at my table and finished my lunch. And as I went to throw my paper bag away, I realized something. Alexander killed my father when he found out that he knew his secret. Alexander found out that Natalie knew and the next day she was dead. I began choking for breath. Alexander had gone too far. He'd murdered two of the people I loved. And now it was his turn to suffer.

Chapter 12: The Pack
After school was over, I stormed home in an angry rage. I burst through the front door to find Gabriella sitting on the couch watching some talk show. "When does your brother get home from work?" I demanded. "Five o'clock, why?" she replied. "I was just wondering." I jogged upstairs to my room and sat down on my bed. Then I took my algebra homework out of my backpack and began working on it. Once I finished, I glanced at my clock. It was four thirty. I took out my

history text book and read pages 234 through 240 just like I was supposed to. By the time I finished it was four fifty-seven. I raced downstairs and waited for the three minutes leading up to Alexander's arrival. "I'm home." he declared, walking through the front door. My mom followed behind him. "Hi Alexander. Hi mom." I greeted them solemnly. Both of them ignored me. "So Alexander, did you hear about that girl who died this morning? They think an animal bit her. Officer Deblin is on the case though, so I'm sure he'll get everything figured out." "No. I didn't hear about it." he replied. "Oh really? Because it was actually this girl who goes to my school. Her name was Natalie Clements. She was my best friend." I said these words without any emotion at all. Although on the inside I was sobbing to death. "Well I haven't heard about it." "Are you sure? Because I'm almost positive that you know exactly what happened." I pressed on. "What makes you say that?" he asked. If he was nervous, he wasn't showing it. He sounded completely calm. "Well when you killed my dad it was because he knew your secret. So I just thought that when you killed Natalie it might have been for the same reason." I suggested coldly. Gabriella's mouth dropped open and my mom gasped. "Allison that's enough! Go to your room!" my mom ordered. "No." I replied sternly. "So Alexander, who's next? Is it Daniel? Officer Deblin? Me?" I asked. "What are you talking about?" he replied. "Your next victim. Who's it gonna be?" "Allison!" my mom shouted at me. "Stop that right now! Alexander did not kill your friend! Now stop accusing him!" she demanded. "Really mom? Do you truely believe that he didn't kill her? Or are you just saying that to protect your perfect little husband? Well wake up mom! He isn't perfect! He's a killer!" "He may have killed your father, but he did not kill Natalie!" Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes and they began to trickle down her pale cheeks. "How would you know mom? It's like you're blind when it come to Alexander's imperfections!" "I know because I'm the one who killed her!" she shouted. I couldn't speak after she said that. I began gasping for breath and my heart raced at a high velocity. And that everything went black. I woke up laying in my bed. The clock on my wall told me that it was eleven forty-five. I had to get out of this house. I couldn't live in a house full of killers. Then I remembered that I was supposed to meet Daniel at midnight. So I grabbed my backpack and stuffed it with clothes. Then I slid my suitcase out from under my bed. I put two pictures in it. The one of me

and Natalie and the one of me and my dad. Then with whatever room was left, I crammed in more clothes. I headed out the door and straight to the forest. When I arrived at the meadow I stood there for about a minute or two before Daniel and his pack arrived. "Hi." I welcomed them. "Hey, I heard about your friend! I'm so sorry! I bet it was Alexander!" he exclaimed. "That's what I thought too. But I was wrong." Daniel looked at my backpack and suitcase. "You going on a trip?" he asked. "No. I'm running away. I can't live there." "What about your mom?" he asked. Meanwhile, his pack was waiting patiently for us to finish our conversation. "She's not my mom anymore. Alexander transformed her into a whole different person. A killer." "A killer? Who did she kill?" he asked sounding astonished. "My best friend." That was all I had to say for him to know what I was talking about. His face shifted from surprised, to sympathetic, to a mix of both. "Wow." he said. "I couldn't believe it either." I told him. "Well where are you gonna go?" "I'm not sure. But I can't live in that house full of murderers." "Well you're definitely welcome to stay with us." he offered. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay with you and your dad." "Actually ever since I found out what he was up to, I've been living with Josh and his family." He nodded his head towards one of his pack members. "Actually while we were out running, Josh found Natalie's body." "Wait a second, Josh Griffen?" I asked just to make sure. "That's me." Daniel's pack member answered. "Oh, well thanks. But I wouldn't want to intrude on you guys." I rejected his offer. "Trust me, it's fine. We'd be happy to have you stay with us." Josh reassured me with lots of hospitality. "Are you sure?" I asked him. "Positive. So what do you say?" "I guess so. If you're ok with it." I agreed. "Cool. By the way this is the rest of our pack. This is Cameron, Brandon, and Kyle." "Hi," I greeted all of them. "Ok. So why don't we all head back to Josh's house then?" Daniel suggested. "Sounds good to me." Cameron replied. So we all went over to Josh's house. I was happy that I'd found a place to stay, but I was still extremely upset. I don't think I would ever recover from this.

Chapter 13: Death Note
Josh's house was amazing. It was a huge Victorian with a wrap-around porch and a long, twisting driveway. And that was just the outside. Once you walked inside it was even better. He had an extravagant living room that was all black and white. The walls were painted white with five different pictures that were in all black and white hung about them in black picture frames. And there was also a plasma screen tv hanging on the wall. There were wood floors that were the lightest I had ever seen. And in the middle of the room was a circular, black rug. There were also two white, leather couches with black throw pillows. There was a wooden coffee table with a glass top that was painted jet black. And in the middle of it all, hung a massive, crystal chandelier. "Your house is amazing!" I commented. "Thanks." Josh replied. "Well, I'll give you the grand tour." "Ok." I accepted his offer. He lead me into the next room and the rest of his pack just sat down and watched tv. Accept for Daniel, who came with us. "This is the kitchen." Josh said. It had all stainless steel appliances and an island in the middle. The counters were all granite and there was a circular window right above the sink. The cabinets and floors were both made of a dark mahogany wood. Then we walked into the dining room which was just as amazing as the rest of the house. He lead me up his spiraling stair case and showed me all of the bedrooms. "And this is where you get to stay." He opened the door to one of his guest bedrooms and all three of us walked inside. "Whoah!" I exclaimed. "This is way better than the room Alexander forced me to stay in!" The room had the same light wooden floors as the living room and had light pink walls. There was a queen sized bed that had a deep red comforter and light pink sheets that matched the walls. The comforter also had black and light pink rings on it that went perfectly with the sheets. The vanity was black. Along with the desk and dresser. Plus it had a walk-in closet! There was even a plasma screen tv hanging on the wall next to the vanity. "Thank you so much!" "No problem. I'm glad you like it!" he replied. "I love it!" I smiled and set my backpack and suitcase down on the bed. "So does anyone else live here besides you and Daniel?" "Yeah, my parents live here too, but my dad has a business trip this weekend and my mom is visiting my aunt. She'll be back tomorrow though. And trust me, they won't mind that you're staying here." Josh explained. "Ok. Well I'm kind of tired. I think I might just go to sleep now and unpack in the morning." "Ok. I'll tell the rest of the guys to go home then." Daniel and Josh left the room and I moved my backpack and suitcase to the floor. Then I laid

down in my new bed to test it out. Way more comfortable than that what Alexander had me sleeping on. In fact, this whole house was better than Alexander's. The only thing that was missing now was my mom. But she was gone for good. Alexander had taken her away from me. Although I still didn't know exactly how he did that in the first place. But it didn't matter how he did it now. She was gone for good and there was nothing I could do or say to change that. I'd tried talking her out of it. I'd tried telling her how crazy it was to marry some phsyco killer. But she just didn't listen. In fact, she became a killer just like Alexander. It was hard to imagine that my mom was the one who had caused the death of my best friend. I sat on my bed and thought about the situation I was in with my mom. I had so many questions still. Why did my mom kill Natalie? Why did my mom want to marry Alexander? Why couldn't Gabriella just say that we're even and get on with her life? Why was Alexander doing all of this? But all of those questions would have to wait. Right now I was tired. So I switched off the light and climbed into my new bed. I fell asleep right away. While I was asleep, a knock on the window near my bed woke me up. I sat up in bed and yawned. Then I looked over towards the window. Nothing was there. I looked around the room and spotted a folded up piece of paper on my bedside table. I picked it up and unfolded it. "Kyle is next." I read quietly. What could that mean? Underneath the words was a faint sketch. It looked like fire. I then crinkled the note up and tossed it into my waste basket. Whatever. After the note was discarded, I fell back asleep. The next morning I awoke to the sound of voices coming from somewhere downstairs. I followed where the voices were coming from. They lead me into the living room. "I can't believe it." Daniel and the rest of the pack were standing there with mournful expressions. And then I realized that someone was missing. Kyle. "What happened? What can't you believe?" I questioned frantically. "Kyle is dead." Cameron stated. "What?!? How did this happen?" I cried. "His house got set on fire. His mother and sister made it out ok. And his dad just had a couple of bad burns. But he didn't make it out." Brandon explained. "Well what started the fire?" "The police think it was arson." Daniel replied. And then I thought back to the note on my bedside table from yesterday night. "Kyle is next." the note had said. And now Kyle was dead. The note also had a faint sketch of fire on it. And Kyle died from a fire. "Guys, you might think this is weird, but yesterday night I heard someone knock on my window. I woke up and nobody was there. But then I saw a note on my bedside table. I picked it up and read it. On the bottom was a drawing of fire. And above it were the words Kyle is next. And now Kyle

is dead. From a fire." I told them. "Are you serious?" Daniel's expression went from mournful to fearful. I nodded. We all looked at eachother with frightened and shocked expressions on our faces. "Whoever sent me that note is the one who comitted the arson." I informed them. "Well what should we do?" asked Josh. "We have to figure out who sent me that note." I informed them. "Well how are we going to do that?" Cameron asked sounding discouraged already. "I'm not sure." I admitted. "Any suggestions?" "Well I could ask one of my dad's friends at the police station to test it for fingerprints." Daniel suggested. "That's a great idea!" I complimented. "Thanks. I can go deliver it to him right now if you want." "Ok. So I guess that's the plan. But what do we do after we have the fingerprints?" I asked. "Well my dad has a whole book of people with criminal records in San Diego that have been arrested. Maybe the person is one of those people." Daniel suggested with a shrug. "Well let's hope so." I replied. "Do you still have the note? We'll need it to find the fingerprints." I nodded. "Just let me go get it." Then I raced up the stairs and retrieved the crinkled note from my waste basket. Then I brought it back downstairs. "Here it is." I handed it to Daniel and he spread it out so that it was flat. "Alright well I guess I'll be going now." Then he raced out the door with the note in his hand. He was back within fifteen minutes. "I snuck this back with me too." He held out a book of criminal records for us to see. "Awesome. So when will we get the results back from the note?" I asked. "He said he'd call back in about an hour. So should we start looking through the book and write down anyone who we suspect?" "Sure." I replied. And we all sat down on the two leather couches. Daniel opened the book and we all leaned over to peer inside. After flipping through all of the criminals who's last names began with the letter A, we moved on to the B section. We still hadn't found anyone who had any record of arson or murder. "What if the guy isn't in this book?" asked Brandon. "Then I guess we'll have to figure something else out." I responded. We kept flipping through until we reached the C's. "Hey it says that someone named Thomas Carlson has commited three arsons, which all together killed a total of four people." I pointed out. "Should we right him down?" asked Josh. "Probably." Daniel answered. So we wrote him down as the first person on our list of suspects. Then we flipped over to the D's.

"Hey, there's Alexander!" I cried. "It says that he was arrested for two crimes. Stalking and breaking and entering." I read aloud. "Should we right him down?" asked Brandon. "Well I think we should. This guy is crazy. He's pretty much capable of any crime you could ever imagine." I informed them. So we wrote him down. And just as we reached the E section, the phone rang. Josh picked it up. "Hello." he answered. "Ok." He walked over to his fax machine and pulled out a piece of paper. "Alright, thank you." He hung up the phone and walked back over to us. "Here's the pictures of the fingerprints. I guess we just compare it to what they have in that book." So we compared it to Thomas Carlson's fingerprints and it didn't match up. I held my breath as we compared it to Alexander's. "Perfect match." I stated.

Chapter 14: The Chase
We all looked at eachother in despair. Alexander had now killed two people. Four if he actually killed his former wives. Who's knows, he may have killed even more than that. "So what should we do?" Cameron finally asked after a moment of silence. "I don't know." Daniel replied. "You know what, I'm sick of this! I'm sick of Alexander causing so many problems!" I declared. "He is getting way out of hand." Daniel agreed. "Again, what should we do?" Cameron repeated. "There's only one thing to do." I announced. "We have to get rid of Alexander. For good." The whole room went silent, as everyone stared at me in shock. "Are you sure?" Daniel asked hesitantly. "I've never been more sure in my life." "So just to make this clear, you're saying that we have to kill Alexander?" Brandon clarified. I nodded with confidince. "Yep. It's time for him to get a taste of his own medicine." I remembered when I'd thought of killing Alexander before, but then backed down. This time I would commit to it. And would rid Alexander out of my life. "Do you have a plan yet?" Brandon asked me. "Not yet. But don't worry, I'll think of something." I reassured him. After that discussion Cameron and Brandon went their seperate ways. Me, Daniel, and Josh all decided to go have some lunch, so we all went out for pizza. By the time we arrived back at Josh's house, his mother had come back from her relative's house. "Oh, hi mom!" Josh greeted her.

"Hello! I see you have a guest." She smiled in my direction. "Yeah, this is Allison. Allison this is my mom." Josh introduced us. "Nice to meet you." I shook hands with her politely. "She's going to be staying with us for a while if that's ok." Josh informed her. "Why, of course that's ok!" his mom said. "Well, I'll leave you guys alone now. I'm just going to run out to the grocery store really quick." "Ok, bye mom." Josh said as she walked out the door. "Your mom's really nice." I commented. "Thanks." After that we all just watched a little bit of tv and then hung out in our own rooms until his mom returned. When she did, she began cooking dinner immediately. Once we finished eating, I unpacked all of the stuff I hadn't already unpacked while Josh's mom was at the grocery store. Then I went to sleep. I felt a cold chill brush over me and woke up. It was one o' clock in the morning. I looked over at my window. It was open. I got up and shut it. How had that opened? I'd had it closed and locked before I went to bed that night. When I laid back down in my bed I felt something crinkle underneath me. I got up and to my surprise, another note was placed on my bed. I picked it up and read it in fear. This one said Cameron is next and had a sketch of crashing waves at the bottom. I quickly rushed over to Daniel's room and burst through the door. "Wake up, wake up!" I demanded. "What?" he asked with a yawn. "I got another note! Look!" I handed him the note and he read it with bulging eyes. "Oh my gosh!" Then he got out of bed and ran into Josh's room. I followed after him. "Josh, wake up! She got another note!" Josh woke up immediately and grabbed the note from Daniel's hands. "What are we gonna do?!? We have to save him before it's too late!" he cried. "Well do you guys know of a place near here with crashing waves?" I asked. "How about Sail Bay Beach?" suggested Daniel. "Yeah!" Josh agreed enthusiastically. So we all snuck out of the house and headed straight for Sail Bay Beach. Once we arrived, we all hid behind a concession stand and waited for something to happen. And then we saw something move from behind a palm tree. Before we knew it, Alexander walked out carrying an unconcious Cameron. "What do we do?" Daniel whispered. "I have an idea." I told them. "But it's kind of risky." "Whatever we can do to rescue Cameron." Josh said. So I explained my plan to them and we all got ready. We waited until Alexander was walking up onto the dock to put our plan into action. "Go!" I whispered. And Daniel sprinted about twenty feet to the right.

"Hey parasite!" Daniel yelled. Alexander turned to look at him with a discombobulated expression. Then he put Cameron down and began to run over to Daniel. "Go!" I told Josh. He raced over to Daniel and Alexander. "Hey leech!" he shouted. Alexander ran in circles, chasing the two of them around. And as he was doing this, I ran swiftly up to the dock, scooped Cameron up and slung him across my back. Then I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled as loud as I could. This was the signal that Cameron was safe. I began sprinting away towards Josh's house. I looked back and Daniel and Josh were doing the same. Alexander on the other hand was trudging back to the dock only to find that his prisoner was no longer there. "I'll get you! You mutts!" Alexander shouted at us. Then he charged for us at full speed. "He's on our tails! Go faster!" I warned them. I decided to try and confuse Alexander so I shouted out instructions. "Daniel, you take the route that we took to get here! Josh, you take the long way! I'll go around the beack again and then come back!" "Ok!" Daniel shouted. So the two boys went off towards Josh's house, while I made my way back around the beach. When I looked back, Alexander was chasing me. Ugh! So I ran as fast as I possibly could. My legs started to ache, but I just ran even faster. I wouldn't let Alexander win this time. Once I'd made it around the beach I headed for Josh's house, taking the long way. When I'd made it half way to his house I looked behind me. The coast was clear. I sighed a breath of relief and slowed down my pace a little. After I finally reached my destination, I walked through the front door to find Daniel and Josh waiting nervously. "You did it!" Daniel exclaimed. "We did it!" I corrected him. I set Cameron down on the couch and plopped down on the other one. "But we still have to watch our backs. Now he's probably really angry at us!" "Yeah, but atleast we saved Cameron." Josh said. "Well if we want him to stay safe, we're going to have to do what I said before and get rid of Alexander." I explained to them. "I guess you're right." Daniel agreed. "Well, why don't we just let Cameron sleep here tonight. I'm sure he'll be fine on the couch." "Ok." Josh replied. And we all went back up to our rooms. I fell asleep and when I woke up Sunday morning, I walked into the living room. Cameron was gone.

Chapter 15: The Truth
"Oh well this is just wonderful!" I exclaimed sarcastically. I groaned and walked up to Daniel's room. I knocked on his door and no one answered, so I

walked in. Daniel wasn't there. "Daniel?" I called. No answer. Next I went to see if Josh was in his room. He wasn't. That was weird. Well maybe Daniel and Josh just went to go drop Cameron back off at his house. That was probably what happened. I told myself this a million times, but I was unconvinced. An uneasy feeling errupted inside of my stomache. I decided to wait for a while. Maybe they would come back soon. But after waiting for two hours, I was beginning to get discouraged. I didn't know what to do next, so I ran through the forest in hopes of finding them. After scanning the entire forest three times, I knew that they weren't there. So I sat down against a tree in the meadow and took time to think. If I were Daniel and Josh where would I go? "Allison, what a surprise seeing you here! I thought you'd ran far, far away from us." Alexander said as he walked up to me. "What do you want?" I demanded. "I want you to go tell your mom just how sorry you are. And that you're really looking forward to the wedding. And why'll you're at it, offer to be her maid of honor. I know it will make her happy. Don't you see, Allison? That's all I'm trying to do here. I want to make her happy. And right now she's depressed." "Why should I listen to you?" "Because your friends lives are at stake. You might have saved Cameron last night, but you're too late now. I already took care of him. Although, Daniel, Josh, and Brandon are still alive. And if you want to keep it that way, you'll do exactly as I say." he ordered. "How do I know you're not bluffing?" He shrugged, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." "Fine." I finally gave in. "But I want to make sure that Daniel, Josh, and Brandon are safe first. I want to see that you let them free." "No. It's either you do what I say and trust me about the mutts, or I kill them. Your choice." "But I can't trust you! How am I supposed to trust a murderer?" "Like I said, it's your choice. But their fate is in your hands." I pondered for a moment and then finally gave up, "Fine." "You made a good desicion. Now come with me." He lead me back to his house and we both walked inside. "You're mom's in the kitchen." I walked into the kitchen nervously and sat down at the table across from my mom. "Hi mom!" I greeted her. She looked at me and her face went from surprise, to anger. "What are you doing here? I thought you ran away." she said icily. "Well I came back because I really missed you. And I'm really sorry about what I said before. I don't know what got into me. But I'm really excited about the wedding! And it would mean alot to me if I could be your maid of honor." The words barely even made it out of my mouth. I saw Alexander watching on us out of the corner of my eye. He smiled at my performance. My mom's face lit up at once. "Really?!?"

"Yeah! It's gonna be so much fun! So can I be the maid of honor?" "Of course!" My mom got up and walked around the table to hug me. "Meadow at midnight." she whispered urgently in my ear. I looked up at her in confusion. She just plastered on a smile and subtley nodded. Then she walked away. "Bravo." Alexander complimented me. "You really put a smile on her face." "Yep. It's great to know how happy she is." I said. Then I walked up the stairs and back to what was once again my room. I sighed as I sat down on the old, uncomfortable bed. Once again, Alexander had won. I couldn't wait until he was finally out of my life for good. Although, I still had to think of a plan for that. So I decided that it would be best for me to start now. I grabbed my notebook and pencil and began listing out a suitable plan. First I would find a way to get my mom on my side. Secondly, I would find out where Alexander had Daniel, Josh, and Brandon hidden away at. Third, I would find a way to free them. Fourth, I would wait until Alexander was asleep. Fifth, I would sneak up on him and get either Daniel or Josh to kill him(I can't live knowing that I'd killed someone). I would let them decide how they wanted to kill him. I read over my plan. It wasn't very well thought out. First of all, I had no idea where Daniel, Josh, and Brandon were. And second of all, I'd tried to get my mom on my side tons of times and nothing worked. And even if I did find Daniel, Josh, and Brandon, how was I supposed to free them without Alexander finding out? I was completely hopeless. It was now midnight. I had been counting down the hours until this moment. I was just so anxious to find out why my mom wanted to meet me in the meadow. So I quietly climbed out of my bed and snuck over to the forest. Then I made my way throught all the trees and finally reached the open meadow. My mom was standing there waiting. "Hey mom. Why did you want to meet me here?" I asked. "Because I need to tell you the truth." she said with a raspy voice. I knew that when she spoke in this voice it meant she was on the verge of tears. "What do you mean?" "I don't really want to marry Alexander. I never did. But if I didn't act like I was thrilled to, he would have killed you. He threatened that if I didn't act like I wanted a perfect vampire family just like him, he would kill you." And then the tears finally came. They began streaming down her face like pouring rain. "So you don't want to marry him?" I asked, barely able to speak. She sniffled and shook her head.

"Trust me, I hate him just as much as you do. I might even hate him more." "Wait a second, why didn't you ever tell me this before?" I wondered aloud. "Because he has video cameras set up all around the house, so that he can see if I ever told you. I'm so sorry that I couldn't have told you earlier." she apologized. "Mom, it's not your fault! Don't be so hard on yourself." I reassured her. "Hello Allison. Leslie, what are you doing here?" Alexander asked us in a haunting voice, as he walked up from out of no where. "Alexander! I was just, um....." my mom scrambled for an excuse. "She was just showing me around the forest, so that if I ever decided to run out here I wouldn't get lost." I quickly lied. "Oh, I see. Well, I guess that's a good idea. Too bad I don't believe a word of it." He glared at me. "Well why not? Don't you trust me?" I asked him, looking completely innocent. "Why would I trust someone who is planning on killing me?" "W-w-what are you talking about?" I asked in fear. "Well your mom wasn't lying when she told you that I had video cameras set up around the house. I put one hidden on your desk so that I could see anything you wrote. So I saw your little plan." After that I was speechless. I frowned in defeat. "You know what, Alexander? I told her! Ok?" my mom admitted. "So if you want to kill anybody else, kill me! Just like you killed your other two wives! Just like you killed my husband and those two werewolves! Just like you killed Natalie Clements." "Mom, I thought you did that!" I exclaimed. "No, I took the blame for him. It was all part of the deal. Alexander's been spinning a web of lies. It's all been lies." "You know, there's still one lie that you're forgetting." Alexander muttered. "What?" my mom asked. "Like how my name is't really Alexander DeVincie. How it's really Joseph Becker." I gasped for breath and almost blacked out. But I gained control of myself just in time. Joseph Becker was my dad's name.

Chapter 16: The Escape
"What?" my mom asked in shock. "Leslie, I'm your husband. I never died. I just became a vampire. A monster. I couldn't bare to let you know what really happened to me, so I made up the story about me being dead. I was actually unconscious when they found my body the day everyone thought I was dead. But when I woke

up and realized what I had become, I ran away. And I hid. I let everyone think I was dead." he bit his lip and managed to hold back tears. "Gabriella was visiting her brother, the real Alexander DeVincie, at the engineering company. I still worked there and me and Alexander looked a lot alike. He wasn't a vampire yet either. So she came up to me, thinking I was Alexander, and told me that she was now a vampire and then she bit me. After that happened, she carried me to her house. I escaped, but was too weak to make it further than the forest, so I just passed out there. That's when the police found me." "Oh my gosh!" I cried. "But then why did you kill Natalie, Kyle, and Cameron?" "Well the real Alexander is the one who really killed all of them, not me. He's the murderer. So, he actually still exists. Gabriella told him what happened and so they didn't know what to do with me after that. They weren't sure if I was going to tell people their secret or what. So after Gabriella turned Alexander into a vampire, they questioned me. About my family, my background, everything. Alexander said that he recalled seeing you," he pointed at my mom, "come into the engineering company a couple times. He said that he'd always wanted a perfect family. So he decided to make a deal with me. He wouldn't harm me or either of you two if we could share families." "Huh?" I asked, confused. "He meant that half the time it was him and half the time it was me. I thought that this would keep you two safe and I would get to see you both again. So I agreed. I didn't know what else to do! I was so scared for you both!" A couple of tears trickled down his face. This was the first time I'd ever seen my dad cry. "But, Joseph, you don't look like yourself that much. I mean, now that I think about it, you kind of do. But your hair isn't light brown like it used to be, and you don't have the same green eyes." my mom said. "Me and Alexander both dyed our hair black and since we're vampires we have gold eyes. Also, now that we're vampires, our skin is paler and we have sharper features. We did this so that no one would recognize me and realize that I wasn't really dead." "Why didn't you tell us before, dad?" I asked, with tears blurring my vision. "Because I never had time. Alexander really did put video cameras around the house. But he's out of town this weekend to visit his brother. So is Gabriella, that's why she hasn't been around lately. So now was my time to tell you." "So that's who that guy in Gabriella's pictures that she has hanging on her walls is." I thought out loud. My dad nodded in response. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it!" My mom ran over to him and wrapped him up in a hug. "But wait," she backed away, "how do we know you're not making all of this up?" "Ok, ask me anything. Something only the real Joseph Becker would

know." he suggested. "What was the date of our wedding?" my mom asked. "June 15, 1993. The reception was on Sail Bay Beach. And at the party afterwards my uncle tripped and fell into the fountain. He was mad about his tuxedo being ruined, but he eventually laughed it off." he replied. "It really is you!" my mom ran back over to him and enveloped him inside of her arms. "Well let's escape!" I suggested. "It's the perfect time!" "That's what I was going to suggest, but we have to do it quick!" he said. "Ok." I smiled and followed my dad's instructions. "I say we go back to our old house and pack whatever clothes, food, and any other supplies we might need. Then we can take the car and go!" my dad instructed. "Sounds good. Let's do it!" my mom agreed. So we ran back to our old house and my mom grabbed all of her luggage from business trips that she's had to go on. We each got one suitcase. I ran up to my room and jammed clothes haphazardly into the suitcase until it was overflowing. Then I ran downstairs where my mom was filling plastic Jewel bags with food. My dad ran downstairs next. "Honey, where are the keys?" he asked. "On the counter." My mom pointed to them and my dad snatched them and stuffed them in his pocket. "Any other extra supplies that we need?" I asked. "Yeah. We should bring a first aid kit, blankets and jackets in case it gets cold, any money you can find, and make sure you all have your cell phones." my dad announced. Mine was safe in my pocket. "I'll get the first aid kit!" I offered. "Ok. I'll go get some blankets." I ran upstairs to get the first aid kit, and when I was up there, I grabbed Ariel. Then my dad rushed upstairs and came back with three blankets. One for each of us. "Should we start loading the car?" I suggested. "Good idea." my dad replied. So we both walked outside and began filling the trunk of our car with all of our things. Then my mom came out with six bags of food hanging along her arms. "If anyone has any money, go get it now!" my dad told us. I ran straight up to my room and grabbed my wallet. I had one hundred and twenty-four dollars. Once we all had everything we needed, my dad started up the car and we were off. "So where exactly are we going?" I asked him. "I was thinking that we should move across the country. Maybe even to another country. I was going to make sure it was ok with you guys first though." "I've always wanted to go to Paris." my mom said dreamily. "Well that's one option. But would you be willing to move there?" he

asked us. "I'd be fine with it." I replied. Right now, I was just thrilled that I was free of Alexander. And even better, I had my dad here with me. "Leslie, why don't you get some rest. Because I was thinking that maybe I could drive for twelve hours and then we could switch off. So that we wouldn't have to make as many stops." he offered. "Good idea! And I am tired." My mom dozed off within twenty minutes. "What about Daniel, Josh, and Brandon?" I asked. "Honey, I think you're going to have to forget about them. I know that they were your friends and I know it's hard, but I don't know what else to do. I have no idea where Alexander hid them. If I did, I would have told you and we could have rescued them. But I don't." he explained sympathetically. "I'm sorry." "It's ok, dad. It isn't your fault. I'm just glad that I have you." I smiled at him and he smiled back. I was beginning to feel like I had a real family again.

Chapter 17: The Motel
After dad's twelve hours of driving was up. He pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall and switched seats with mom. Then we were off. We had just reached Salt Lake City, Utah. I looked out my window and gazed at the mountains. "All right, let's get going." my mom announced. My dad fell asleep quickly after he was seated in the passenger's seat. After driving for about an hour I fell asleep too. When I woke up, we were in Danbury, Nebraska. My dad was awake now too. "We can switch whenever you're ready." my mom told him. He nodded and stretched out his arms. "Why don't we stop at a restaurant really quick or something. That way we can sit down and eat a meal. Plus if anyone needs to use the bathroom they can do that. I know we already have food in the car, but this way we can stretch out our legs." "Ok. That sounds good." my dad agreed. So we pulled into the parking lot of s small diner and got out of the car. Then we walked inside and sat down. The place was pretty much deserted. "Hello, my name is Denise. I'll be your waitress this evening. Would you guys like to start off with some drinks?" a perky waitress asked us. "I'll have a Diet Coke." my mom replied. "Me too." I said. "I'll just have a regular Coke." said my dad. "Ok, I'll be right back with your beverages." Denise smiled and walked into the diner's kitchen. "So, you guys really want to move to Paris?" my dad asked us. "Well I'm up for it, how about you Allison?" my replied. "Sure. That would be cool." I said. "The only problem is, I'm not sure if we have enough money for air

plane tickets or to actually buy a house there. We still need to figure out all of our financial problems first." my mom reminded us. "I have two hundred dollars with me. How about you, Allison?" "One hundred and twenty-four dollars." I told her. "Well, not to worry. Alexander and Gabriella are very wealthy. I slipped a couple of hundred dollar bills into my pocket before we left." My dad pulled out a dozen hundred dollar bills from his pocket. "And plus I had two hundred and six dollars. So if we add all of our money together, we have a total of one thousand, five hundred and thirty dollars." "That still won't buy us air plane tickets and a house in Paris. Besides we don't even have passports!" my mom cried. "I think we've gotten way ahead of ourselves." "Well, do you have your credit card with you?" my dad asked her, pulling his own out of his pocket. My mom took hers out of her purse, "I guess you're right. But maybe we should rent a house somewhere in Florida for a year and get jobs there. Then, if we still want to, we can move to Paris." she suggested. "That sounds reasonable." I commented. "I guess you're right. We were jumping to conclusions. Ok, so Florida it is!" my dad agreed. "Alright, two Diet Cokes and one regular Coke." Denise set our drinks down in front of us. "Are you folks ready to order or would you like some more time?" "I'll just have a veggie omelet with a side of toast." my mom ordered. "I'll have a plain cheese omelet with pancakes." I told Denise. "Ok," she jotted our orders down, "how about you?" she asked my dad. "I'll have an omelet with American cheese, bacon, green pepper, and tomato with pancakes on the side." he told her. "Ok, I'll be back with your food!" Then she walked back into the kitchen. "So when are Alexander and Gabriella supposed to get back?" I asked. "Tomorrow." my dad replied. "They're going to freak out when they see that we're gone." "Well that's what they deserve." my mom stated. I nodded in agreement. "So when we get to Florida, we can stay in a hotel for a while until we find a house to rent. But I think we should find jobs right away." my mom suggested. "What about school?" I asked. "Well I guess you'll just have to go to whatever high school is in the district that we move to. I'll call and tell you're high school that you'll no longer be attending." she replied. I nodded. "I can get an after school job to help with money." I offered. "Oh honey, I could never ask you to do that." my mom cried. "Well you don't have to ask, I'm volunteering." I replied. "I want to help."

"Well we aren't going to force you, but if it's what you really want then we won't stop you either." my dad told me. "Ok, your food is ready." Denise walked over with two trays of plates in her hands. She gave us all our food and walked off. I took a bite of my omelet and swallowed. "Mmm." I complimented, licking my lips. After we were all finished, we payed and headed back out to our car. Then we got in and my dad started the car, but when we tried to back out it wouldn't work. "Well that's odd." he stated. He tried three more times, but the car wouldn't budge. So he got out of the car and walked around it, checking to see what the problem was. He opened up his door and leaned his head inside. "Someone slashed all four of our tires." "What?!?" my mom cried in anger. "Who would do that?" We all got out of the car and looked at the tires. They were completely flat. "So, what should we do?" I asked. "I haven't seen a gas station for atleast an hour. So I'm not really sure." my dad admitted. "Well the sun's setting so it will be dark soon. We can't just stand out here all night." my mom complained. "I saw a motel about a mile down the road. Maybe we should stay there for the night and figure things out in the morning." my dad suggested. "I guess that's our only option." my mom groaned. So all three of us trudged over to the motel and walked inside. My dad walked up to the front desk. "Do you have a room for three available tonight?" he asked the man at the front desk. "Why yes indeed. Room two." The man handed him a key and added, "But I wouldn't stay there if I were you. The last people to stay in that room reported that they saw someone outside of their window. They said that he just stood there and watched them. Then they checked out. The next day, news reports said that the two of them had gotten into a car crash and died." My dad sighed. I could tell he was annoyed. "I think we'll take our chances." "If you insist." The man shrugged. When we opened the door to room two and stepped inside, my mouth dropped open in disgust. The beds had filthy, crinkly bedding, the wallpaper was dried up and peeling, the wooden floors were practically rotted, and the entire room was covered in a film of dust. I looked to my right and saw a foggy window. That must be the window the man at the front desk was talking about. "Do we seriously have to stay here?" my mom asked sounding just as disgusted as I felt. "Really, dad. This is gross!" I complained. "Well we have no other choice. It's only for one night anyways." he replied. "Ugh." I groaned. This was even worse than having some guy watch you from out the window.

"Well I need a hot showe to calm my nerves." my mom declared. She walked into the bathroom and I heard the sound of water running. "Ahh!" she shrieked, scrambling out of the bathroom. "What's wrong?" my dad asked in concern. "When I turned on the shower, this black gloppy stuff came out!" She clung to my dad's side, not wanting to have to face the black gloppy stuff again. "I'll go check it out." he volunteered. I followed him in and my mom stood outside the bathroom, peeking her head in. He turned on the water and sure enough black gloppy stuff came out. "Alright, well I guess the shower is going to have to wait until tomorrow." "Honey, maybe the man at the front desk was right. Maybe we shouldn't stay in this room." my mom suggested. "There's nothing wrong with the room. It's just a little dusty." my dad said. "A little? Joseph, you can't even see out the window!" she exagerated. "Well then I guess you can go find somewhere else to sleep, since this room isn't up to your standards." he told her. "Fine. But only for tonight." she finally gave in. I layed down in one of the twin beds. I slept on top of the comforter instead of covering myself up with it though. If the comforter was that filthy, I didn't even want to see what was under it. I tossed and turned in the uncomfortable bed, not able to fall asleep. And when I looked up, there was a man about ten feet away from our room, staring in our window. And that wasn't even the worst part. The man was Alexander and Gabriella's brother. "Mom, dad!" I cried. "Wake up!" "What?" my mom asked crankily. "Look out the window!" I instructed. "Oh my gosh!" my mom cried out. And then the man looking in our window was joined by his two siblings. "What do we do?!?" I asked in fear. Alexander smiled to himself and shook his head. "Let's just go tell the man at the front desk and see what he has to say." my mom suggested. "Well he don't have any other choice." my dad replied. So we all rushed out of room two and ran to the front desk. "There are three people outside of our window who I think might be dangerous. This is your motel so you need to go take car of it." "I warned you. But there's nothing I can do about it now. You didn't listen to what I had to say and now you will pay. Goodnight." The man walked into a room marked 'Employees Only'. "Why didn't you just listen to that guy in the first place?" my mom blamed my dad. "Well you didn't seem to believe him much either!" my dad replied. "Guys, there's no use fighting about it now! What's done is done. Right

now we need to figure how we're going to stay alive!" I shouted over them. "You're right. I'm sorry." my mom apologized. "Well it's three on three. So who says that they aren't going to die?" my dad mentioned in confidence. "Do really think we stand a chance against them?" my mom asked critically. "Alexander is a phsyco muderer." "Now, that's no way to talk about your future husband." Alexander's eerie voice rang out, as the three siblings walked in through the front door of the motel. "By the way, this is my brother, Vlademier." "Well it's nice to finally meet the other half of the family." Vlademier said. "You know, you really should have listened to that guy who works here. He was right, now you will pay." All three of them bared their teeth and hissed. "Wait!" my dad shouted. "Please, just take Leslie and Allison so that you can have your happy vampire family. I'll move to Florida and then once I can afford it, I'll move to Paris. I'll never tell anyone of your secret, I promise! Just let me live!" I gasped in complete shock, "Dad! How could you say that?" "Be quiet, Allison." he ordered fiercely. "I am so dissapointed in you, Joseph." my mom said in a raspy voice. And before I knew it, the tears had come. "Well, Joseph, I see you've finally come to your senses." Alexander complimented. "Too bad I can't believe you." And without any warning, Alexander pounced. He leaped upon my dad and bit down into the back of his neck. Then he ripped this skin off, revealing a sharp, white bone. He then managed to crack the bone in half, breaking my dad's spine. "No! Stop it!" I screeched, completely petrified. I tried to run over to them, but Gabriella held me back. "It's for the best." Alexander said. "Come on, let's go." he oredered. Then him, Gabriella, and Vlademier led me and my mom outside, leaving my dad helpless inside of the motel. And before Alexander walked any futher away from the motel, he swiped a match from his pocket and lit it. Then he set the motel on fire, leaving my dad to burn just like Kyle. I had just witnessed my father's real death. And it was even more horrifying then what I had believed before.

Chapter 18: Car Crash
"Why are you even in Nebraska?" I asked Alexander, as I sat sandwiched in between my mom and Gabriella. We were currently driving back to Vlademier's house. "Because I live here and my two siblings were coming to visit me. I was showing them how I catch my prey. First I wait for someone to stop at the diner or anywhere else near that motel. Then once they're inside, I slash all of their tires, forcing them to stay in the motel. It's kind of like a game to me.

Anyways, I invited Alexander and Gabriella to join me in my hunting tonight and then we saw you and your family." Vlademier explained. "Well I see where Alexander gets his craziness from." I remarked. Vlademier just glared at me from the rear view mirror. "So what are you gonna do with us now?" "Take you back to my brother's house, where you'll be staying until we leave. Then taking you back with us and trying the family thing over again. I am just so kind." Alexander replied. "Kind?!? You're kidnapping us because you were jealous of my dad's happy family and wanted one of your own!" I exclaimed. "Yes, but your dad wanted it that way. Remember before he died he was willing to give you away to me so that he could save his own life? Well now I'm giving him what he wanted." I didn't know what to say in remark to that. So I just stared out the window. Then all of the sudden, my mom's eyes widened. "Watch out!" she shrieked. There was a deer standing in front of our car. Vlademier, the person who was driving, sighed in annoyance and swerved out of the way. But the icy road didn't let him stop. The car slid out of control, until it was finally stopped by a large tree. There was a branch sticking out from the tree that went straight through the front window of the car. The glass shattered everywhere. And one piece went straight through Gabriella's forearm. "Ahh!" Gabriella cried out in pain. I looked over at her, not sure what to do. Alexander was currently unconcious, since the tree branch whacked him in the head with as much force as it could manage. Vlademier quickly leaned back and pulled the piece of glass out. "Everyone just calm down!" he shouted. The car went completely silent. With only the faint sounds of Gabriella's sobs in the background. "I would suggest that we just sprint home, but it's morning time and people are driving to work so they're sure to see us. So it looks like we're going to be stuck here until we figure out a way to get out of this mess." "Great, so once again we're stuck. Except this time, there's no old, grimey motel to stay in because your phsyco brother burnt it down!" I cried. "You know, the cops are going to see that it's burnt down and figure out it was arson." "Well it's not like they're going to be able to find out who did it." Vlademier replied. "Yeah that might be true, but it also means that you've lost all of your prey." I pointed out. "See? Alexander does get in the way of everything." "You know what, you're right! I am sick of him! Now how am I supposed to find good prey without anyone finding out? That was my only method of hunting!" "Well maybe we should get rid of him." I suggested. "I know what you're trying to do! Well I won't let you kill my brother!" Gabriella shouted in defense. "Well what about when he freaked out and got mad at you when he

found out you were dating a werewolf?" I asked. "You were dating a werewolf?" Vlademier asked in concern. "You know they really aren't that bad. I probably would have been fine with it." He wasn't as bad as I thought. "Well that was your fault!" Gabriella answered my question. "Yeah, but it wasn't my fault that he locked him away somewhere and was planning on killing him. In fact, by apologizing to my mom, I saved his life." I told her. Her mouth dropped open. "He was going to kill him?!?" she asked in shock. "Yeah. Didn't you know about it?" "No! Ugh, that jerk! We should get rid of him!" she declared. My mom was silent the whole time. "What do you think, mom?" I asked her. "I don't care. All I know now is that we would have no place to stay and no form of shelter without him alive. So the choice is up to you, but I just wanted to point that out. He actually does provide alot for us." she replied. "What?!? Mom, you just watched him kill your husband! He's completely taking advantage of both of us! The only thing he provides for us is misery!" "Joseph didn't care. Even if he was alive, I wouldn't ever see him again. We would still be in the same exact situation. He never cared about us. He just cared about his own happiness. I bet the only reason he helped us escape is so that he could use our help in freeing himself." Her face was full of angry rage. "It's not like he wanted to help us, even though we helped him escape. I'm happy he's dead." Once she said those last four words I went speechless. My throat was too dry to speak. Not only did she not care, but she was happy about his death. After finally clearing out my throat enough to choke out words, I turned to her. "Mom, how could you say that? He did care. He just didn't know what to do. Who knows? Maybe he was planning on coming back for us and rescuing us." I insisted. "Allison, would you kindly shut up? You're giving me a migrane." My mom had never spoken to me like that before. What was her problem. "What's the matter with you mom?" I asked her in disbelief. "Right now it's you! You just never know when to stop talking! You're just like your father; you don't care." She closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "Mom, I do care!" "Then how come the only reason you apologized to me is because you wanted to save your little mutt friend's life? How come all you can think about is your dad? Well news flash, he's dead! He never really cared about us anyways! So wake up, Allison! You're stuck in your own little world, thinking everything is going to turn out perfect. Well it's not! So stop being such a stuck-up brat and deal with it!" Then she turned away from me and pressed her hand against her forehead. I bit down on my tongue so hard it began to

bleed. It was all I could do to keep from crying. "Whoah! Did I miss something?" Alexander asked from out of nowhere. "I woke up and heard you tell your mom that you cared and then all of the sudden, bam! Wow, Leslie, you really know how to yell!" I rolled my eyes at him. "Just shut up before you get me even more angry than I already am!" He chuckled haughtily, "Why, what will you do about it?" "I will kill you. I will rip you apart, bone by bone. I will set your remains on fire and laugh as they burn to ashes. That's what I'm goint to do if you don't shut up. So be smart and stop talking." The whole car went silent with shock. Even Alexander needed a moment to respond. "Oh really? And you think that you're actually strong enough?" he asked with an evil grin. "I know I'm strong enough." I told him with confidence. "Then do it." he whispered. Everyone looked at me, even my mom. "Get out of the car." I ordered. He raised his eyebrows and got out. I guess he was surprised at how couragous I was. I got out of the car next and stood about five feet away from him. My mom, Gabriella, and Vlademier were all pressing their faces against the windows of the car to get a good look at the fight they were about to witness. "Are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn't want to hurt you without your permission." he said with a smug smile. "Positive." I replied icily. I looked at my mom's face pressed against the window. She wasn't even trying to stop me. My heart pounded in my chest and my adrenaline raced. I was so full of anger and rage, that I wanted to scream. "I'm ready when you are." Alexander hissed. And without any warning, I pounced in his direction. I used my nails to claw deep into his neck, knocking him over as I did it. "Ready." I said smugly. He scowled and tried to kick me off of him, but I just thought about my father's frightened expression as Alexander cracked his spine. The fury built up inside of me gave me enough strength to fight him off. I bit down on his neck and teared off a layer of skin, exposing a patch of raw flesh. Then he finally kicked me off and stood up. He pounced towards me, but I rolled away just in time. Then I picked him up and threw him through the back window of Vlademier's car. Now there was even more shattered glass around the vehicle than before. Vlademier was the first one out of the car, followed by Gabriella; but my mom was buried underneath Alexander, with a pool of deep red blood around her. "Mom!" I shouted in fear. I ran over and opened up the car door. Then as I leaned in to pull her out from underneath Alexander, he grabbed my wrist. "Ahh!" I screeched in pain. He twisted my wrist until there was a sharp cracking sound. "I guess you're right, I am a phsyco, but atleast I know how to kill." he spat.

"Oh, I'll show you phsyco!" I used my wrist that wasn't injured to grasp his neck. Then I squeezed it with all of my strength until he was choking for breaths. Then I yanked him out of the car by his neck and threw him on the ground. I sat on his back so that he couldn't move and bit into his neck. I ripped off another patch of skin. And another one, until a thin, white bone was revealed. Then I crushed it with my fist. I got up and looked down at the dead vampire in front of me. Alexander was gone. And he would never come back. I had completely rid him of my life for good. He had gotten what he deserved. I warned him, but he just didn't listen. He just kept talking.

Chapter 19: Meet The Parents
"He's dead." Vlademier stated. Gabriella nodded, "Yep." All three of us just stood there in a state of shock for a moment before I remembered that my mom was still injured. I rushed over to try and help her. "Mom, you ok?" I asked, trying to shake her awake. She was completely unconcious. "Wow, you lost alot of blood!" I cried, looking at the syrupy red stain underneath her. "Can you guys come help me?" I called out to Gabriella and Vlademier. They both walked over. "Anybody know how to fix her?" Gabriella shook her head and Vlademier bit his lip. "I might be able to help." he offered. "First we're going to need to find out where all of that blood is coming from." "Well it's puddling out from underneath her, so shouldn't we flip her over and look?" I pointed out. Vlademier nodded and we gently turned my mom over so that she was lying face down. "I think I see it." Vlademier said. He gently pulled out a piece of glass that was dug really deep in my mom's lower neck. "Well, there's the source of all the blood." "So what do we do now?" I asked. "We need to stop the cut from letting out anymore blood." I looked at her neck. There was a horrid gash on the lower half of it where the glass had been. "Gabbie, go grab a hand full of snow." Gabriella nodded. That was the first time I'd ever heard anyone call her Gabbie. "Here you go." She handed her brother the snow and he packed it into the gash on my mom's neck. "Now go rip off a piece of Alexander's shirt so we can hold the snow in." he ordered. Gabriella went over to her dead brother and tore off a piece of cloth from his shirt. Then she gave it to Vlademier, who layed it across my mom's cut and patted it down. "That should hold it together for now. She should be waking up in about half an hour." "Thanks." I told him. "No problem." I was surprised at how kind Vlademier was compared to

Alexander. Yeah he hunted people, but besides that he was really nice. "So what should we do now?" asked Gabriella. "Well I have my cell phone. We could call somebody for help." I suggested. "Like who?" Gabriella proved my plan to be pointless. "What if we call mom and dad?" asked Vlademier. "You've got to be kidding me. We haven't spoken to them in, like, eleven months." "Why not? Do you guys not like eachother or something?" I asked them curiously. "Well they're the vampire versions of vegetarians. Which means they don't hunt humans, only animals. And they don't really like it that we hunt humans. But human blood is so much better than animal blood." Gabriella explained. "Well I think you should call them. It would be like a small family reunion." I insisted. "Here you go." I handed Vlademier my cell phone. He dialed in a number and then pressed the phone to his ear. "Hi mom, it's Vlademier. ...... Well me and Gabriella need you to come pick us up. We're by the motel by my house. And there's also two others that are coming with us. They're vampires too. .......... Alexander is sort of, kind of dead. ............ Well he's been killing lots of humans lately and he's been taking advantage of the two other vampires that I just told you about. In fact he just killed one of their family members. So Allison, the teenager who's father he killed, killed him back. .......... Ok. Bye." he hung up the phone and handed it back to me. "So what did they say? Are they mad at me for killing Alexander?" I asked. "Well they're kind of sad that he's dead, but they said that they would do the same thing if the were in your situation." "Ok. Good. So are they coming to pick us up?" "Yeah. They'll be here in about half an hour, right when your mom should be waking up." "Perfect timing." I said. Thirty minutes went by and my mom was beginning to wake up. "Mom?" I asked. "Allison? Is that you?" she replied sounding delerious. "Yeah, it's me." "What happened? My head is throbbing." "Well I killed Alexander. And when I through him at the car, he broke the window and some glass got stuck in your neck. Don't worry though, Vlademier took care of it." "But you'll still need to see a professional doctor when my parents come to pick us up." Vlademier told her. "Alexander's dead?" she asked in disbelief. "Yeah, mom. I killed him. I won." I told her.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it! I didn't think you would make it!" She wrapped me up into a tight hug. "I thought you were mad at me." I reminded her. "I was just overreacting. You know how I can be somtimes. But I'm over it now." She smiled at me joyfully. "Gabbie? Vlad?" a voice that I didn't recognize asked. "Mom!" Vlademier rejoiced. He ran over and enveloped her in a hug. "Gabbie!" a slender man called out as he walked up next to the DeVincie's mother. "Dad!" Gabriella cried. They embraced in a hug too. "Switch!" Mrs. DeVincie said. Gabriella hugged her mom and Vlademier hugged his dad. "Mom, dad, this is Allison. Allison these are my parents." Vlademier introduced us. "Hi." I waved to them. "And that's her mom, Leslie." Vlademier pointed to my mom, who was laying down in the back seat with her hand across her forehead. "She's not feeling too well right now." he informed them. "Oh my." Mrs. DeVincie whispered. She walked over to Alexander's body and knelt down beside it. Mr. DeVincie followed her lead and knelt next to her. "Oh, Alex." Tears filled the corners of her eyes and I began to feel extremely awkward. I bit my lip and looked at Vlademier. He shrugged. I guess he didn't expect them to react so mournfully because of what they said on the phone. Either did I. "I'm really sorry about Alexander." I called out to them. Mr. DeVincie walked back over, but his wife stayed. "It's alright. We understand he was a bit of a hand full. I just wish he hadn't done what he did. He could have been a much better person. I would just like to know what caused him to act the way he did." "Yeah, well maybe it was because he felt lonely. He said that he wanted to have a family like my dad so he tried to steal me and my mom away from him. But now neither of them got what they wanted." I stated. I looked over at his wife who was now sobbing uncontrolablly. "Don't mind her. She'll stop eventually." he reassured me when he noticed that I was staring at her. "How could you have done this? Why couldn't you have given him another chance? He didn't deserve this!" Mrs. DeVincie cried as she walked over to me. "I'm sorry, but he killed my dad, my best friend, and two people that were beginning to become friends with me. It had to stop!" "Well you could have tried talking to him about it." "I did! Tons of times! But he just kept on killing more and more people! I wasn't going to let him kill anyone esle!" "So just decided to stoop down to his level? Oh, I get it now. It's ok for you to kill someone, but when he does it, it's just horrible." "I never said that! I just didn't want to end up dying because your son

was a phsyco path!" I finally burst. But this woman just didn't get it. "Well I guess that one saying was right." "What saying?" I asked. "It takes one to know one." she replied icily. "Are you calling me a phsyco path?" "Yes." she stated with a smirk. "And not only are you phsyco, but you're also pathetic." "Alexander's the one who got beat up by a girl." I remarked. Giving her a smirk in return. "You know what? You and your mom can stay here and freeze to death for all I care." she spat. "Come on Vlad let's go. Gabbie, we're leaving!" she called. "I'm really sorry." Vlademier apologized as he walked past me and to his parents' car. I scowled in fury. There was no way I was going to let some bratty vampire mom walk all over me. So as she was walking over to tell her husband and Gabriella that it was time to go, I rushed over to my mom. "Get in the car, mom!" I cried. And I lead her over to Mrs. DeVincie's car. Then I climbed in the driver's seat. "What are you doing?" Vlademier asked from the back seat. "Escaping." I started the car up roared the engine so that Mrs. DeVincie could hear. "Next time don't leave your keys in the car." She had look of shocked anger on her face and opened her mouth to yell something, but I didn't hear what she said. I was already speeding off down the road. "So where are we going now?" Vlademier asked me. "I don't know. We probably shouldn't go back to your house. Your parents will find us there." I replied. "Well I know my mom overreacted, but come on, you killed her son! What did you expect? Can you please just drop me off at my house?" I could tell that Vlademier was beginning to grow angry. "Fine. Just tell me where to go." "Well keep going straight until you reach the second stop sign. Then take a left. Go straight for about two miles. After that you will see this old barn. Take a right when you get there. Then keep going straight until you reach my house. It's the the first blue one you see on the right." he instructed. "Ok. Well first I'm going to go get all of our supplies from our car." I informed him. So I drove into the parking lot of the diner and quickly unloaded our car. Once I was done I headed off down the road, following Vlademier's directions. "Is this it?" I asked once we arrived at a blue ranch house. "Yep. Well, see you." He climbed out of the car and walked inside of his house. "Ok mom, it's time to get you to a hospital." I grabbed the map of Nebraska along with a directory that named a bunch of common places and where they were located. My mom had picked it up at the first gas station we

stopped at. I quickly scanned through the directory until I found a hospital. Then I drove off.

Chapter 20: You're Next
Once we arrived at the hospital I helped my mom out of the car and walked her over to the front doors. We walked up to the front desk and I told the receptionist what was going on. "Hi. We got into a car accident and my mom got a piece of glass stuck in her neck. I pulled it out and packed the cut with snow. Then I covered it with a piece of cloth to hold it in. But I know she'll probably need stitches. She lost alot of blood." I explained to the lady, who's name tag said Violet. "Ok. Why don't you two have a seat in the waiting area and I'll call you in when a doctor is ready for you. May I have your name?" Violet asked. "My name is Allison Becker and my mom's name is Leslie Becker." "Ok. Go sit down and I'll have a doctor ready to see you very soon." Me and my mom sat down next to eachother in the waiting area. After about five minutes Violet walked up to us. "The doctor is ready to see you. Right this way, please." She lead us down a hallway and into an emergency room. "Hello, I'm doctor Briggs. I understand that you two got into a car accident." he said. "Yeah. And a piece of glass got stuck in my mom's neck." I replied. "May I see the cut?" he asked my mom. She turned around and pointed to the gash. "It's right there." "Oh. Well that's deeper than I expected. You're going to need stitches. I'll need to take some blood tests to see how much blood you've lost. Allison, would you mind waiting out there in the waiting room? This may take up to two hours at the most. So if you want to, you can come back and pick her up or something." "Ok." I walked out of the room and back to the waiting area. I plopped down in one of the chairs and turned my attention the the tv they had set up. It was set on the Channel 9 News. "Today's top story is of a burnt down motel in Nebraska. The police suspect it to be arson. Although they don't know for sure." said the news reporter. "Well I was just waiting tables at the diner like always when I saw black smoke out the window. I saw that the motel was on fire so I called the fire department." It showed a clip of Denise, out former waitress, describing her situation. "Not only did the motel burn down, but it also killed two people inside. One of them was described as the manager of the motel. The other went unidentified. Could this possibly be related to the fire that killed an innocent

teenager back in California? The police aren't sure. Although they have set their minds to finding out exactly what's going on with these reacurring fires." It went to the weather man and I bit down on my lip. I wondered if the police men were still over by the motel. Well there was only one way to find out. I stood up and left the hospital. Then I drove back to the motel, which was now just a charcoled mess. Sure enough there were cop cars surrounding the area. I got out of the car and walked up to one of the officers. "Hello, I'm Allison Becker. I was just wondering about that person you found in the fire. The one that was unidentified." "Allison Becker?" he asked sounding stunned. "Um, yeah. Have we met before or something?" I asked, discombobulated. "No, but I'd like to ask you some questions. Did you know that you've been reported as the murderer of a mister Alexander DeVincie?" "What?!?" I asked in shocked fear. "His parents and his sister reported it to one of us. They're actually talking with another officer right now." My face reddened with fury. They reported me for killing Alexander, but they never reported Alexander for his various murders? How pathetic. "I also understand that Alexander DeVincie was the man who broke into your house and was your alleged stalker." he stated. "Yes he was." I replied. "So do you admit to being the cause of his death?" "No. Although, I know for a fact that he was the one who commited not only this arson, but also the one back in San Diego. And that unidentified person was my father." I told him. "Do you have any evidence of this?" "No, but I was a witness. He also was the murderer of Natalie Clements, that girl who died last week. She was my best friend." "Well I have no way in believing you. I'm sorry, but I need more proof than that you claim to be a witness. Besides, even if it were him, there isn't much I can do about it now. He's already dead." "I know, but I just wanted to let you know that. And by the way, he died from a car crash. In fact, the evidence you need is right down the road. You can even ask his sister about it. She was there too." "Alright. Well thank you for your time." He began to walk away, but I stopped him. "Wait!" I called. He stopped and turned around. "I just wanted to know if I could see my dad's body." I could barely even say the words. But I wanted to see how much damage Alexander had done. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Yes. I'm sure." "Ok. Follow me." He lead me to an ambulance and opened the back doors of it. Inside was a stretcher with a blanket in the shape of a human body on top of it. I knew what was under that blanket, but I couldn't dare to

think about it. I took a deep breath and walked over to it anyways. Then I lifted up the blanket. I gasped in horror and covered my dad's face with the blanket. I couldn't bare to see anymore. His whole face was charcoled and crusted and most of his hair had burnt off. There was raw flesh exposed in many places and his whole face was frozen in a petrified grimace. I stepped out of the ambulance and let the tears flow freely from my eyes. Then I walked through the crowd of police officers until I spotted the DeVincie family. Vlademier was there too. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and walked right up to them. "You reported me to the cops?" I asked them incredulously. "Well you did commit murder." Gabriella snapped. She glared at me with hate in her pale, blue eyes. "So did Alexander. Numerous times!" I cried. "Just shut up and leave our family alone!" she remarked. "Excuse me?" I spat. "I told you to shut up. That's when you stop talking." she explained to me as if I were a preschooler. "If I were you, I would be the one to shut up. Unless you want to end up like your brother." I threatened. She looked at me with a stunned expression and backed away. "Your whole family is made up of crazy, bratty, selfcentered jerks. And I'm sick and tired of dealing with it. So back off and stay away from me and my mom." I demanded. Then I stormed off, leaving the DeVincie family with their mouths wide open and their eyes bulging in shock. I climbed inside my new car, which I decided I was going to keep, and drove back to the hospital. Then I sat in the waiting room for fourty-five minutes, until a nurse finally walked up to me. "You're Allison DeVincie right?" she asked. "Yeah. Is my mom done with her stitches yet?" I replied. "That's what I came to talk to you about. She is done, but since the stitches were done on such a delicate part of her body that we need her to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Just until she recovers completely. Like doctor Briggs said, she lost alot of blood." "Oh. So exactly how many days would you consider to be a couple?" I asked. "Three. Then on the third day she can go home." "Ok. So should I just leave and come pick her up on the third day?" "That sounds good. But we'll need a way to contact you." "Well I can give you my cell phone number." I offered. "That would be excellent. Here, you can write it down on this." She handed me a small notebook from her pocket and opened it up to a fresh page. I wrote down the my number and handed her back the notebook. "Thank you. Well feel free to come and visit her anytime." "Can I go talk to her now?" "Sure. Right this way." She lead me back down the hall and into my

mom's hospital room. "Hi, mom. How are you feeling?" I asked gently. She looked as if she were half asleep. "I'm good." she replied drowsily. "Ok. Well I'm going to leave now, but I'll come and check up on you everyday." I told her. "Ok. Sounds good." "Bye, mom." I walked out of the hospital and sat in the front seat of my car. Where was I supposed to go now? I flipped through the State of Nebraska Directory until I found the section that showed a bunch of local hotels. I found a Holiday Inn not too far from the hospital and located it on the map. When I arrived, I hopped out of my car and walked into the hotel. Then I made my way to the front desk to check in. "Hi, my name is Allison Becker. I would like to check in to a room please." I told the lady at the front desk, whoose name tag read Courtney. "Alright, Allison. I'll need you to fill out a form and then I can give you your room key." She handed me a piece of paper and a pen. I quickly filled it out and handed it back to her. "Thank you. Here's your key. Your room number is 208." "Thanks." I grabbed the suitcase I had taken with me from the car and carried it over to the elevator. Then I went up to the second floor and found my room. I walked into my room and sat down on the bed. I was extremely tired. So I quickly fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up the next morning I yawned and stretched my arms over my head. Then I strolled into the bathroom to take a shower. When I walked in the first thing I noticed was the mirror. The words "YOU'RE NEXT" were scrawled out in a red substance that looked an awful lot like blood. "Oh my gosh!" I panicked. Had Alexander come back from the dead? But then I realized that wasn't possible. It must have been the rest of his family. But how did they know where I was staying at? I quickly grabbed a towel and scrubbed the writing off of the mirror. I would just forget about it. Then I stepped into the shower and turned on the water. Only it wasn't water. It was that same red substance used to write on the mirror. "Ahh!" I screamed. I scrambled out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body. Then I turned the water off and quickly got dressed. I sat down on my bed and tried to think. What was happening? Then the lights began to flicker. Soon my room went dark. I got up and jiggled the door handle, but it wouldn't budge. I was stuck inside of my room! I took deep breaths and tried not to hyperventilate. Then I ran over to my window and tried to open it up. It was about as useful as my door handle. I calmed myself down and tried to convince myself that this was just some practical joke someone was playing on me. So I sat on my bed and waited for someone to pop out and say "Ha ha! I got you! You should have seen the look on your face!"

After twenty minutes of waiting, nobody popped out laughing at the joke they had just pulled off. I tried my door one more time. It still wouldn't open. Either would my window. I decided that I couldn't just sit around and wait for something worse to happen. I had to take action. So I used all of my strength and broke down the door. "I'm free!" I screamed in triumph. A little kid who was walking down the hall with his mom looked at me as if I were crazy. I ignored his expression and ran down the hall all the way to the lobby. "I need to check out of here now!" I shouted at Courtney, who was still standing behind the front desk. "Why would you want to do that? I thought you were staying for three days." she replied sounding confused. "I was, but then I woke up to find that someone had written on my bathroom mirror! They wrote: You're next. Not to mention that my door and window were both jammed shut!" I told her. "What?" she asked in surprise. "I think someone broke into my room. I don't know if it was just a practical joke or if they were serious. But it seemed pretty serious to me!" "I'll call up the police right now." She grabbed the phone off of the front desk and pressed it to her ear. Then she punched in 911. "Hello. My name is Courtney DeVincie, I work at the Holiday Inn right by that one hospital. Someone just broke in to a girl's hotel room and threatened her." She paused to let the police man speak and I stared at her in shock. She said her last name was DeVincie. "Ok. Thank you." She hung up the phone. "They'll be right over to check it out." "Did you say your last name was DeVincie?" I asked. "Yes. Why?" "Are you related to some people named Alexander, Vlademier, and Gabriella?" "How did you know that? They're my cousins. Although, I haven't seen them in two years." Gabriella and Alexander had become vampires a year ago, so Courtney must not have known that they were all vampires. "So how did you know that they were my cousins?" she repeated. "Well I know them. In fact, I think they're the ones who broke into my room." I informed her. "What? Why would they do that?" "They hate me. Enought to kill me. Just like Alexander killed my dad in that fire at the motel." "He started that fire?!?" she asked sounding stunned. "Yeah. He's also the one who killed that girl back in San Diego. The one named Natalie Clements who was found in the forest." "Wait a minute. How do I know you're not lying to me?" she asked sounding suspicious. "Trust me, I'm telling the truth. He even captured me and my mom. We just escaped about a week ago. But then, him and his siblings found us." "Well what happened after that?" "He killed my dad and tried to take us back with him. But then we got

into a car accident and he died. I stole somebody's car and drove my mom to the hospital because she was injured from the accident. Now I'm staying here until she's out of the hospital." I didn't want to give her all of the details. Like how I killed Alexander. Or how the car I stole belonged to Alexander's parents. "Oh my gosh. Alexander's dead." she stated. "You know what's weird? He always used to be so quiet when ever I saw him. So innocent. He would always keep to himself and not really associate with anyone. Although, he was very polite, but also very shy. I just can't believe he became a killer. Which is why I don't believe it." She crossed her arms and glared at me. "So you think I'm lying to you." I summed it up. "Well I sure don't think you're telling the truth." "Well, fine. You don't have to. I was just trying to let you know what the truth really is." "The truth? Oh, please. The truth is that you killed my cousin and now Gabbie and Vlad are out to kill you. Atleast that's what I think. I know Alexander might have been a little bit different from everyone else, but that gives you no right to kill him! I don't blame him for killing your dad either. Unless that's a lie too." she snapped. Now I was mad. If she wanted to know the real truth, then fine. I would give it to her. "You know what, you're right. I'm not telling you the exact truth. So here it is." I told her. "I did kill your brother. But guess what? He was a complete phsyco, so he deserved it! And that car I stole was his parents car! But his mom was a bratty jerk just like him, so she deserved it too!" She widened her eyes and took a step back. "I'm checking out now." I stomped out of the hotel without another word. Right when I climbed into my car, a police car pulled up. I watched as the car's door opened. And officer Deblin stepped out of the car.

Chapter 21: A Taste Of Blood
"Oh no." I mumbled to myself. I couldn't decide whether to confront him or to just drive away. Driving away was probably my best option. So I started up my car and tried to back out. The car went nowhere. "Ugh." I groaned. When I turned to face my window, officer Deblin was standing right there looking into my car. He pointed his finger to the ground, motioning me to open my window. I finally decided that there was nothing else I could do, so I opened the window half way. "Allison Becker. What a surprise." he stated. "What brings you here?" "I could ask you the same question." I remarked. "Well I'm here because my son has gone missing there's no reason to stay in San Diego. Plus Alexander never returned back from his little trip. So I heard that there was an arson committed out here in Nebraska and volunteered to come out and help. I never actually got a chance to do that

though, since I was called over hear for another crime." he explained. "Well I know why Alexander never came back." "Oh really? And why is that?" he asked sounding amused. "Because I killed him." "Ha!" he chuckled. "Wow that's funny! But do you really think I'm that stupid?" "Do you really want me to answer that question?" I snapped. A scowl fell over his face. "Listen, brat, you better keep your mouth shut. Because I'm sick and tired of your constant remarks! And if you think Alexander was mean, you just wait! Keep on talking and you'll see what mean really is!" he shouted. "I've killed a murderer and hijacked a vampire's car. So go ahead and mess with me. I dare you." I hissed. A stunned expression spread across his face. "You don't scare me, brat. You're just as pathetic as your father." "You really shouldn't have said that." And that's when I snapped. He had pushed me way too far. I threw open my door and hopped out of the car. Then I squeezed his neck until he was practically suffocating. He held his hands up in defeat. "You think I'm pathetic? You think you can just push me around and say whatever you want to me?" I shouted in his face. "Well you're wrong." And that's when I bit into his neck. Blood gushed everywhere and a strange thirst inside of me longed for the taste of the flowing red substance. Until I couldn't help myself. I was a vampire and vampires survived on blood. So I drank it. I quickly glanced at the tires of my car. Flat. It must have been the DeVincie's. So I drove away in officer Deblin's police car, leaving him dead in the parking lot of Holiday Inn. I couldn't believe what I had just done. As I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, a nagging thought crossed my mind. It had just occurred to me that I was now a killer. Of two people! I got out of the car and walked over to the front desk of the hospital. "Hi, I'm Allison Becker. I'm here to see my mom. Her name is Leslie Becker." I said to the receptionist. "Alright. You can go down to her room and see her." she told me. I walked down the hallway without even saying thank you to the receptionist. "Mom, we need to get you out of here. Now!" I told her. "Why?" she asked in confusion. "Because I just killed officer Deblin and we need to get out of this death trap of a state before I get caught!" I exclaimed. "You what?!?" she cried. "But why?" "Let's just say that he pushed me a little too far." I summed it up for her. "Well I can't leave now. It's only the first day I've stayed here." "Mom we have to go! Do you want me to be arrested?" She shook her head. "Well then let's go!"

"But how are we going to make it out of here without getting caught?" she asked. "It's simple. You just put your regular clothes back on so they don't know your a patient. And then we walk out. They'll never know!" "I am dying to get this paper dress off." She looked down at her light blue dress the doctors made her wear. It was made of some kind of scratchy paper material and all the patients at the hospital had to wear it. "Fine." she finally agreed. So she quickly changed her clothes in the bathroom and then we left. We walked out of the door without a single suspicious glance in our direction. "Told you it would be easy." I said. I walked over to the police car I stole and climbed in the drivers seat. "Um, where's the other car?" she asked. "The DeVincie's slashed the tires. So I stole officer Deblin's car." "Oh." She got into the passengers seat and we drove off. "So where are we headed?" "I was thinking we drive to Florida like we planned in the first place. Then we can start our life over there." I informed her. "Sounds good to me." She yawned and stretched her arms out in front of her. "I think I'm going to take a nap." Then she layed her head back and closed her eyes. I kept driving until we reached the border between Nebraska and Missouri. My mom was now awake. "Hey mom, would you mind switching off now? I'm kind of tired of driving." I told her. "Sure." So we got out of the car and switched seats. Then we kept driving. I looked behind me and saw a police car with it's lights flashing. It was following us. "Mom, pull over. There's a cop behind us." I told her. She pulled over the car with a groan and the police car behind us haulted at a stop too. "Hello, m'am. My name is officer Hamilton. I noticed that you are driving a Nebraska state police car. Would you mind telling me why?" he asked. "Well my husband is a police officer back in Nebraska. This is his car. My car was wrecked in a car accident. So me and my daughter are using his." she lied to him. "Oh really?" He didn't sound convinced. "And where is your husband now?" "He's currently taking the weekend off. All that police work is really tiring." "Well would you mind me asking what his name is?" "His name is Mike Deblin." My mouth dropped open. I guess it was a good idea to say that incase he decided to check the Nebraska Police Department's records, but I was still shocked when she said his name. "Alright. Well I'll let you go, but first I need to see some i.d.." "Here you go." She pulled out her drivers license and handed it to him.

"I kept my last name when we married incase you're wondering." I had no clue my mom was such a good liar. "Ok. You're free to go." He gave her one last suspicious glance and then handed her drivers license back to her. He went back to his police car and drove off. "Nice, mom!" I congragulated her. "I didn't know you were such a good liar!" "Well I'm just glad he believed me. Now let's get going. We should probably find a hotel to stay in for the night." "Just not antother Holiday Inn." I warned. "Why?" she asked. I'd forgotten to tell my mom about what happened. "Well that's where I stayed while you were in the hospital. And someone borke into my room and wrote you're next in what looked alot like blood on my mirror. Then they locked me in my room. I think it was the DeVincie's. And the lady who worked there, Courtney---" The sound of my cell phone buzzing cut me off. "Hello." I answered. "Oh, she isn't in her hospital room?" My mom looked over at me, her eyes wide. It was the nurse I had gave my cell phone number to. "Well, maybe she was feeling better so she left. But don't worry. It's probably best if you don't go looking for her. Who knows, maybe she'll turn up somewhere." I tried to convince the nurse not to go looking for her, but it didn't work. "Ok. Bye." I hung up. "They said that they would go looking for you anyways." I told my mom. "Well I don't think they're going to find me any time soon." she replied. "Yeah. Just don't worry about it. You'll be fine." I reassured her. She nodded. Then we kept on driving farther and farther into Missouri. Once we saw a hotel we pulled over into the parking lot and got out of the car. Then we walked inside to check in. After getting our room key, we went up to our room. But on the way there I noticed that one of the room's doors was opened slightly. As we walked past it, I peered in. Inside were Gabriella, Vlademier, Daniel, and Josh. Then Vlademier slammed the door shut without even noticing that I had seen them. But I had seen. Daniel and Josh were tied up with rope and had duct tape over their mouths. They looked more petrified than I had ever seen them look before. And Gabriella and Vlademier both had their teeth bared.

Chapter 22: Killer
"Mom, we need to get in that room now!" I shouted. "Why?" she asked. But I didn't have time to answer her. I was already busting down the door. "Stop!" I cried. Gabriella was two inches away from biting into Josh's neck. "You knew the whole time!" I accused them. "You knew exactly where

Alexander hid Daniel and Josh! And I know that it was you and your parents that invaded my hotel room back in Nebraska!" "Wow, Allison. It must have taken lots of thinking to figure that out." Gabriella replied sarcastically. She took a step away from Josh and glared right at me. "Did you figure out that we've been following you everywhere you go yet? Or was that too much work for your brain?" "Well if you've been following me then you must have seen me when I killed Mike Deblin." I glared back at her. Daniel's eyes widened in a mix of shock and sadness. For a second I felt bad, but then I remembered what officer Deblin had said to me: "You're just as pathetic as your father." "Yes, we did see you. Why, was that supposed to scare us?" Vlademier asked, rasing his eyebrows and crossing his arms. "Well are you scared?" I replied. "Oh, please. Are you seriously asking that question?" Gabriella asked with a sneer. "Well if you aren't scared then fight me." I challenged, staring directly into Gabriella's eyes. "One on one. Just you and me." "Are you out of your mind. I'm not going to fight you." she replied. "Well I don't see any reason not to fight, unless you're scared." "I am not scared of you! I just see no point in fighting with you, since I already know that I'm going to win." She smirked. "Well then why don't you prove it. Fight me. Right here. Right now." I locked my eyes on her and clenched my jaw. "Fine. I'll fight you." She bit her lip and looked around the room. "But do we really have to fight in this tiny hotel room?" "It might be small, but that doesn't mean we can't fight here." "Well, I'm not fighting in this room." She crossed her arms and glared at me. "Ok. Well then I guess this means you're giving up. I guess it means that you really are scared to fight me." "You know what, fine! I am scared to fight you! Ok?!?" she admitted in an angry rage. I smirked and smiled to myself. "You're scared to fight some teenager?" Vlademier asked, raising his eyebrows. "Why don't you fight her then?!?" Gabriella challenged him. "No way! That girl is a killing machine!" Vlademier cried. "Ha! You're scared too!" Gabriella said. The whole time they were arguing, I had been untying Daniel and Josh. Once they finally stopped yelling at eachother, the two werewolves were both untied. "Well then why don't you both fight me? I can take on two at a time." I interrupted them. They looked at eachother and then back at me. "Hey!" Gabriella cried. She had seen that Daniel and Josh were untied. "Run!" I shouted. Daniel and Josh sprinted out of the hotel room and down the hallway, while I blocked off Gabriella and Vlademier from chasing after them. "So are we gonna fight?" I knew I had made them angry, which

would probably make them want to fight me even more. "Bring it on." Vlademeir sneered. And I pounced. I landed on Gabriella, knocking her over. Vlademier was about to pull me off, but I kicked him right in the face, causing him to topple over backwards. Then I yanked at Gabriella's hair and clawed at her throat, leaving four red scratch marks running down her neck. "Ahh! That stings!" she cried in pain. Vlademier tried to yank me off of her once again, but I grabbed his legs out from under him and whipped him at the wall. The impact of his landing caused the wall to break, which caused Vlademier to get stuck inside of the wall. While he struggled to get out, I stood up and grabbed Gabriella by the neck. Then I swung her around and threw her straight into Vlademier. The wall leading to the room next door wasn't strong enough for the momentum of my throw. It broke through to the other room, where there were two young children sitting on one of the beds with their parents, watching the tv. "Sorry!" I yelled to them, as I scrambled through the huge hole in the wall. Then I picked up Gabriella by the neck in my right hand and Vlademier in my left. The family's faces lit up with shock, confusion, and fear. I walked out of their room and into the hallway. Then I set Vlademier down and punched him in the face with my free hand, which knocked him out. Perfect. Now it was time for Gabriella's life to come to an end. I bit into her neck so deep that I could feel her bone scraping against my teeth. Then I ripped off a huge patch of skin and flesh and spit it onto the ground. Gabriella was whimpering in pain and struggling to break free. But I just squeezed her neck tighter. In fact, I squeezed it so tight that it completely snapped the bone in her neck. Her head hung off of her broken neck to one side. I knew she was dead. Vlademier woke up quicker then I had expected, to find his sister dead in my hands. "You killed her!" he screamed. I looked to over to find that the family whoose room we invaded, was watching the whole thing. "Mommy!" the little girl screamed, barrying her head into her mother's hip. The other little girl just stood there, her face covered in a mask of stunned fear. Both of the parents looked as if they might pass out at any time. "Um, I can explain." I choked out. But it was useless. The father already had his cell phone out and was punching a number. He held the phone to his ear. "Hello! Me and my family have just witnessed a murder! .................... Honey, take a picture of the murderer with your phone for evidence!" The mother took a picture of me with her cell phone and I knew that this would not end up good. They had evidence that I was the one who did it. They even had a picture of me. I was sure to get caught. I didn't listen to the rest of the phone call, I was already sprinting down the hallway. I couldn't get arrested! I had no clue where my mom was and no

clue where to go. So I collapsed on the hotel's floor and started heaving for breaths. I was hyperventilating. I couldn't breath. I was going to die right here and now. And then everything went black. I woke up laying in a hospital bed. What had happened? "Allison? You're alive!" my mom cried out, enveloping me into a hug. "You started hyperventilaing in the hotel and you stopped breathing for a minute." "Am I arrested?" I asked, dreading what the answer would be. "No, not exactly. They had no proof that it was you. The family got a picture of your face, but not of you holding up Gabriella by the neck. Although, they do want to put you into a mental institution. The doctors think there might be something wrong with the way you think. They think you might have had a mental breakdown." "What?!? I'm not going into a mental institution! I'm not crazy! You know I'm not!" I cried. "Allison," she looked around the room and then whispered, "you've killed three people within a week. I know Alexander deserved it, but Mike and Gabriella barely did anything to you." "Are you saying that you think I'm crazy too?" "I'm not saying you're crazy. I'm saying that I think it might be best to put you into an institution until you regain control of yourself." "But I never lost control of myself!" I argued. "Honey, you've become a killer." She was using her raspy voice again. I bit my lip and waited for the tears. "My own daughter has killed three people before even turning eighteen." And the tears broke loose. "Mom, they deserved it." "Allison, stop saying that! Just stop!" I could tell she didn't buy my excuse. "You're turning into Alexander." she mumbled. "Mom, how could you say that?!?" I screamed. "I am nothing like that phsyco path!" "You're a killer. You kill people like it's a game. Like's it's some kind of everyday thing. You take people's lives without even thinking about what you're doing. Daniel won't even speak anymore. You killed his father." She wiped away some tears with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry mom. But officer Deblin really did deserve it! What made me snap was when he said those seven words to me. You're just as pathetic as your father." I repeated what he had told me right before I killed him. "Honey, I know that what he said hurt, but that gives you know right to kill him! And what about Gabriella? What did she do that was so horrible?" "Her and Vlademier agreed to fight me." I accused them. "But you're the one who suggested to fight." "They were going to kill Daniel and Josh!" I exclaimed. "Well you've taken Daniel's father away from him. And you know exactly what that feels like. Except Daniel doesn't have a mother to care for him like you do. His mom died when he was three in a plane crash. Now he

has no one. And that's almost as bad as dying." She stood up and walked out of the room. She had never been so dissapointed in me. And now I had no one. And that was even worse than dying.

Chapter 23: New Life
One month later: I couldn't cry anymore. All of the tears had been drained from my body. I had been sobbing a lot in the last month. It was the worst month of my entire life. I sat in my room at the Missouri Mental Institution, which I nicknamed the Misery Mental Institution, waiting for my mom to come and visit me. She's visited a total of two times in the last month. They only let her see me for an hour each day. The first time she visited she stayed the full hour. The second time she only stayed for thirty five minutes. Daniel was also in the institution because of his lack of talking. His room was across the hall from mine. The doctors still didn't know that I was the one who killed his dad. The only people in the institution that knew were me and Daniel. I definitely was not going to tell them and Daniel wouldn't talk. So my secret was safe. I hadn't seen any of the DeVincie's since the time I killed Gabriella. And I had to see a counselor every single day. I hated my new life. I was more lonely than I had ever been. My mom rented a house in Missouri that wasn't too far from the mental institution. She got a new job as a waitress/hostess at Olive Garden. But that was only her part time job. Her day job was a tour guide at Missouri's own history museum. It was just as boring as the one back in San Diego. "Allison. It's time for our meeting." my counselor, Mandy, told me as she opened my door. I nodded and followed her into her office. "So, Allison, is there anything particular you want to talk about?" She asked me that same question every single day. "No." I replied blankly. "Ok. So, have you gotten any visits from your mom lately?" There was no need for her to even ask that question. She had a file of everyone who's visited me, so why was she even asking? "No." I said. "Do you think you would be happier if she visited more often?" she asked. I shrugged. "Well do you miss seeing her everyday?" I shrugged again. Mandy sighed and stared at me for a moment. "Can I go back to my room now?" I asked her. I knew she was going to ask her second daily question, which I had avoided answering each day. "Can I ask you a few more questions first?" I nodded. "Ok. When you killed Gabriella, if you did kill her, was there a particular reason why?" And that was the question. She always added the "if you did kill her" even though I was fully aware that she knew I did.

"I don't know." I replied. This was the answer I gave every day. "Well what was going on in your mind?" "I don't know." "When do you think you will know?" I shrugged. "Allison, you've been telling me that you don't know for a month. It's getting kind of old. Just tell me why you killed her. I guarantee that it will make you feel a lot better to get it off your chest." "I. Don't. Know." I said the words one at a time. Mandy just never settled for a simple answer. "Well then I'll keep you in my office until you do know." "Fine." I sat back and relaxed in my chair. I stared at her for five minutes straight, barely blinking. "You can go back to your room now." The staring thing always worked. I got up from my chair and walked back down the hallway and into my room. Then I sat on my bed and watched the door for a whole hour. My mom never came. The next morning I woke up and sat on my bed, facing the door. I waited and waited and waited. Then the door opened. "Allison, you have a visitor." the nurse, Rebecca, who's job was to check in on all the patients said. I held my breath, hoping it was my mom. It wasn't. "Hi, Allison. I heard about you having to stay in this mental institution. The whole school knows about it. You were on the news, you know." It was David Walsh. "Me and my family are staying here in Missouri for a week at my grandparent's house, so I thought I'd come and visit you." "Oh." That was all I said. "So how have you been?" "Fine." "Do you like the institution?" he asked. "No." "Oh. Well sorry you don't like it here." he apologized. "Thanks." There was an awkward silence between us. "Ok. Well I'm gonna get going now. Nice seeing you." I waved as he left my room. He was my first visitor in two weeks. I laid down in my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I did this until Rebecca came back in to tell me that it was breakfast time. I walked down to the institution's cafeteria and sat down at a table by myself. Sometimes Daniel sat with me and sometimes he didn't even come down for breakfast. Today he sat with me. "Hi." I greeted him. He waved back. Rebecca brought us our breakfast, scrambled eggs with toast. Daniel began picking at his scrambled eggs. I took a bite of my toast and slid the plate away. I hadn't been eating much lately. "Allison, are you all done?" Rebecca asked. I nodded. "Are you sure you aren't still hungry?" I nodded again. "Ok. But I'm going to leave your plate there just incase you do get hungry."

I hated how everyone at this institution treated me like I was a little kid. I knew when I was and wasn't hungry. They didn't need to ask me twice. I also hated how they always asked you a million questions. In fact, I hated everything about this institution. I needed to find a way to get out. "Can I go have my meeting with Mandy now? I need to talk to her." I told Rebecca. "I'll go see if she's busy. I'll be right back." She walked off and came back in about five minutes. "She's ready for you." I walked up to Mandy's office and walked inside. I sat down in my ususal chair and waited for her to begin talking. "Why did you need to see me, Allison?" she asked. "I got a visitor today." "Who was your visitor?" As if she didn't know. "David Walsh." "Tell me about David. Was he one of your friends back in San Diego?" "Yes." "What did you guys talk about when he visited you?" "He just said hi." "That's it?" she pressed on. I nodded. "Ok. Did anyone else visit you?" "No." "Allison, I'm going to ask you one more question. I want you to please take your time and think about the answer. But first I would just like to ask you something that I never thought to ask you before. Did you really kill Gabriella?" "Yes." There was no use in lying to her. "Why? Did she do anything to you?" "Yes." "What did she do?" "She made me angry." "How?" "Her and her family all hated me. They wanted to kill me. She hated me." "So you killed her." she stated. I nodded. "Well thank you for finally answering that question. See? It wasn't that hard." "Are we done now?" "Well I don't know. Is there anything else you'd like to ask me or tell me about?" she asked. "I wanted to ask you something." "Well go ahead." "When can I go home?" I braced myself for her answer. "I'm not exactly sure. It depends on your actions and behaviors. We can only send you home once we think you're ready." she explained. I got up and left her office without saying anything else. I would show her that I was ready to go home. I would show everyone. I just had to act like I was ok. Like there was nothing wrong inside my head. But somewhere deep inside my mind I knew what was really wrong. I had the mind of a killer. Just

like Alexander.

Chapter 24: Free At Last
I sat in my bed and thought about ways to prove that there was nothing wrong with me. I decided that I should probably start talking more, like how I used to before I was a vampire. I just had to act like my old self again. "Allison, your mom is here to visit you." Rebecca told me as she opened my door. "Hi, Allison." My mom gave me a stiff hug and sat down next to me on my bed. "Sorry I haven't visited you in so long. I've been really…busy." She wasn't really sorry. She just didn't want to visit me. "It's ok." I replied solemnly. "So what's new?" "David Walsh visited me this morning." "Oh. What did you guys talk about?" "He just said hi." It was like talking to Mandy. "Oh." "Mom, I think I'm going home soon." I told her. "Did the doctors tell you that?" she asked. "Mandy said that they would send me home when they think I'm ready. And I am ready." "Well do the doctors think you're ready to come back home?" "I don't know." She sighed and stared at me for a minute. "Allison, do you know why you're here?" she asked. "Because I killed Gabriella and got caught." "No. Because you aren't thinking straight. There's something wrong with your mind. You're not yourself anymore." she explained. "Yes I am." I argued. "Allison, I'm really worried about you. And I don't think you're ready to go home yet. I think you need to stay here until they figure exactly what's wrong with your mind." "No. I don't want to stay here. I hate it here!" I cried. "I'm sorry, Allison, but it's what's best for you. Mandy told me that whenever she tries to talk to you, you don't cooperate. She said that you always say the same thing. I don't know." she repeated what I said to Mandy everyday. "That's not true. I didn't tell her that today." I defended myself. "I know. She thinks that you're starting to open up to her. That's good Allison. You need to talk to her if you want to go home. They need to figure out what's wrong with you." "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm fine." I told her. "Allison, stop saying that you're fine. You aren't fine! I wish you could see the difference in the way you're acting. You're starting to remind me of

Alexander." She looked at me with a pained expression in her eyes. "I'm. Fine." I hissed. "Do you really believe that, Allison? Or are you just telling yourself that?" my mom asked me. I didn't reply. "Do you really think that you're fine?" "Yes." I mumbled. "Well you're wrong. I'm trying to help you, Mandy's trying to help you, Rebecca's trying to help you. We're all trying to help you! But you just won't let us." She said the last sentence in a raspy tone. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help." I told her. "I'm fine." Those two words are what made her snap. "Stop saying that! You're in a mental hospital! You're not fine!" She paused to let my reply, but I just stared at her. "Allison, you are a killer! You kill people like it's a game! You're turning into Alexander!" "I think you should go now." I told her blankly. "Fine." she stalked out of my room, her eyes full of anger. Once she was gone, I laid down on my bed and cried. But not because of how angry she was. Because what she said was true. I was turning into Alexander. I didn't get out of bed the next morning when I woke up. There was no use. I decided that today when I go to meet with Mandy, I would tell her that I can't stay in this institution anymore. That I wouldn't stay. "Allison, would you like to meet with Mandy now or this afternoon?" asked Rebecca. "Now." I got up and walked to Mandy's office. "Hello, Allison. Is there anything particular you'd like to talk about today?" she greeted me. "Yes. I would like to talk about going home. I don't care what you or the doctors say, I'm going home. I don't want to stay here. I won't stay here." I told her. "Why do you want to go home so badly? Do you miss your mother? I know she visited you today. What happened when she visited?" "You wanna know what happened?!? She told me that I was crazy! She yelled at me about how I needed to stay here until I was myself again! She thinks that I'm some crazy killer! It's like I'm not even her daughter anymore." I said. "Wow. So there are some differences between you two." she stated. "You think?" I snapped. "Allison, please just calm down. I know it's hard for you, but it's hard for your mom too. And she's right. You aren't ready to go home yet." "Ugh!" I groaned. "Stop telling me that! I am ready to go home! I am, I am, I am!" I shouted in rage. "Just calm down and take a deep breath." Mandy told me in a soothing voice. "Shut up! I don't need to calm down! And I don't need you! I'm not staying in this stupid institution either! I'm leaving right now!" I stood up and

stormed out of Mandy's office. She followed me out. "Allison, stop!" She grabbed my arm. "Let go of me!" I shouted. I flung her away from me with one shake of my arm, sending her toppling over backwards. She looked up at me with wide, petrified eyes. "Don't you ever touch me again. Or you'll end up just like Gabriella." I threatened. I stomped off towards my room, leaving Mandy sprawled out on the floor in shock. I walked into my room and threw all of my stuff into my backpack. Then I slung it around my shoulders and walked back into the hallway. I walked past the front desk and over to the front doors. But right before I opened them up to leave, the receptionist stopped me. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked as she ran over to me. "Home." I pushed her away from me and walked out the door. I was finally free. Free of Mandy. Free of Rebecca. Free of the institution. When I was in the parking lot, I didn't even look for a car to steal. I just ran. I ran along the sidewalk at full speed, not caring who saw me. It's not like they would ever catch me. I came to a stop once I was about twenty feet away from the hospital. Then I looked back to see six security guards rushing out and looking around for me. One of them spotted me. "Hey!" he shouted. "Come back here!" I ignored his instructions and sprinted away. Then I heard the sirens of a police car from behind me. They were after me. I ran even faster, I would not go back to the institution. Then I finally reached a forest. I ran through the trees and hid behind a bush. I watched as the police cars zoomed past without seeing me. Once they were gone, I stood up and looked around. I heard a rustling sound coming from another bush and bared my teeth on instinct. Then a large wolf came out from behind the trees. It was Daniel. When he saw me, he transformed back into his human form. "Daniel what are you doing here? Did you follow me?" I asked. He nodded. "Why?" "I'm escaping too." That was the first time I'd ever heard him talk in a month. "But first I'm going to give you what you deserve." He smiled smugly. "Death." He transformed back into his wolf form and pounced at me. But I dodged away before he could touch me. "Let's do this, mutt." I hissed. I charged for him, but he turned away and I rammed into the side of him. He kicked me back and sent me flying into a tree. I grabbed onto the branch and pulled myself up. Then I jumped onto his back from on top of the branch. He began trying to shake me off, but I held onto his neck with all of my strength. Then I went in to bite him, but someone knocked me off of his back before I could even get a taste of his russet fur. It was Vlademier.

Chapter 25: Alone
"Vlademier? What happened to you?" I asked, confused. His skin wasn't pale, his eyes were green, and he looked nothing like a vampire. "My mom sucked the venom out of me and my dad. Then she killed herself. That's how depressed she was over Gabriella's death. And the fact that Alexander is dead too didn't help. So congratulations, you made my mom kill herself. So who's next? Me or my dad?" "Wait a minute, why did she turn you and your dad back into humans?" I asked. "Because ever since we all became vampires, our lives have just been getting worse and worse. She thought that maybe if she turned us back into to humans we could be happier. But the only thing that would make her happier is if Alexander and Gabriella magically came back to life. But we all know that's not going to happen." he explained. "So she killed herself?" "Yes. And now it's your turn to die! I might not be a vampire, but I still have enough strength to kill you. And Daniel will help me too. Right Daniel?" Daniel nodded. I took a step back in fear. "Wait!" I shouted. "I thought you and Daniel hated each other. So why are you teaming up?" "Because we may hate each other, but we hate you even more." Vlademier stated. His eyes were full of hate. I looked at Daniel, his face was completely emotionless. And that hurt even more. "Well I'm sorry, but what about Alexander? You never got mad at him for killing people! So why are you mad at me?" I asked. Daniel shifted into his human form. "Because you killed the people that were closest to us." Daniel said, his voice full of anger. "Well Alexander killed the people who were closest to me." I replied. "Yeah, but you killed him. It should have ended there, but you just didn't stop. You went ahead and killed my dad!" Daniel shouted. "And my sister!" Vlademier added. "You know, I've always wondered what it would be like to be an only child. But I never thought I would have to find out this way." He looked down and I heard a muffled whimper escape his throat. "Well I'm sorry you feel that way. But the first time I thought my dad died, it was bad enough. I never thought I would have to go through that torture twice! And the worst part was that I saw it all happen right before my eyes." I bit my lip to keep from crying. "Yeah, well when I lost my mom my whole life fell apart. And just when things were starting to get better, my dad gets killed. By someone who I thought was one of my friends." "I'm so sorry. I never thought about it that way before." I mumbled. "I was only a vampire for a short period of time before I killed your father. So I

wasn't able to control my actions. And my anger got the best of me because of what he said." "Well what did he say? It couldn't have been that bad." Daniel replied. "You're just as pathetic as your father." And that's when my tears broke loose. They trickled down my face, leaving a wet trail from where they had left my eyes. Daniel's expression softened in understanding. "And I know that you lost your mom, but mine hates me now. It's like I'm not even her daughter anymore." "Oh." he murmured. Vlademier stood and watched our conversation blankly. "You know, my mom once told me that having no one to care about you was almost as bad as dying. Now that I have no one, I'd rather be dead." I said. "I thought we were going to kill her, not have a Lifetime moment." Vlademier remarked with an eye-roll. "We shouldn't kill her. Like she said, she'd rather be dead than alone. So let's leave her." Daniel suggested. "I don't care! She killed half of my family! I'm going to give her a taste of her own medicine!" Vlademier shouted. And he flung himself at me. I didn't even move. I was frozen in place. Every word, every sentence, every moment in the last five minutes just cut me deeper and deeper. Until it felt as though my heart was ripped out of me. "Vlademier don't!" Daniel shouted. He ripped Vlademier away from me and flung him to the ground. Then he jumped up and shifted into a werewolf. He landed on top of Vlademier, his teeth bared. He bit into his stomach and I turned away before I saw any blood. It would be too tempting. "He's dead." Daniel stated after shifting back to his human form. "Yeah, you killed him." I replied. But when I turned to face him, he was gone. He had left. And I was alone. I looked at Vlademier's dead body. There was a deep red pool of blood around him. I took a step back, trying to control my thirst. "Don't drink it." I told myself. But I was a vampire. And vampires survived on blood. So I drank it. I was disgusted with myself. I had absolutely no self-control. Maybe I did belong in the mental institution after all. I thought about when Mandy asked me why I killed Gabriella. I had told her that it was because she hated me, but I knew the truth. I had no reason to kill her. My mom was right. Killing people was just like a game to me. And it had to stop. I would not turn into Alexander. I thought about why I kept on killing people and realized that it all started after I became a vampire. I had to change back. I had to become a human again. Someone had to suck the venom back out of me. But who? I thought about asking my mom, but she would probably refuse. She didn't care about me anymore. She didn't care if I was happy or not. She still thought I was crazy. She'd be happier if I were never born. Maybe I should just kill myself. It would make my mom happier. She wouldn't have to deal with having a phsyco path as a daughter. After all, it's

better to be dead than alone. I thought about what everyone's lives would be like if I were dead. I pictured my mom at the hospital, waiting for the results. And when the doctor told her that I wasn't going to make it, she sighed in relief. I knew what she was thinking. She was happier than I'd ever seen her. She had finally gotten rid of the daughter that she never wanted. I pictured Daniel's reaction when he found out I had finally died. The second he found out, his face lit up with happiness and relief. "I guess she finally got what she wanted." he said to himself. "What both of us wanted." Then my thoughts came to a stop. I couldn't keep thinking about the endless possibilities. About everyone's endless hapiness. It was just too much for me to handle. "Well, this will be the last time I get to kill anyone, so I'd better make the best of it." I said to myself. I looked around and found a small, sharp rock. I used my teeth to sharpen it even more. Until it was finally sharp enough to go straight through my heart. I held it up, about to stab it through my heart. "Allison, no!" Daniel cried. He sprinted out of the trees and knocked the rock out of my hand. "Daniel, what are you doing here? I thought you left me." I said. "I never left. I would never leave you. I was behind the trees the whole time. I was going to leave, but I just couldn't. I care too much about you. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I can't help it. I knew it from the moment I layed my eyes on you. And yeah, you killed my dad, but I'd rather loose him than loose you. Allison, I love you." "But I thought you were mad at me. I thought you hated me like everyone else." I replied. "If I hated you would I do this?" And he leaned in to kiss me. But right before our lips met, he collapsed to the ground. Blood trickled around him. "Vampires don't date werewolves." my mom said. She had the sharp rock in her hand. Only now, it was covered in blood. "Mom!" I shrieked. "What have you done?!?" "You don't deserve him. You don't deserve anyone. You were about to kill yourself, but he just had to stop you. So I killed him. Here," She handed me the rock. "Finish what you started." So I took the rock out of her hands, tears streaming down my face. "But mom, why?" "Because you were born. I could have been perfectly happy without you. I could have still been a happy mother. I could have still had a husband. You were the reason he died." "What are you talking about?" I asked. How could she have been a mother if I was never born? "When you were born, your dad took extra time off of work to help me care for you. His boss was very strict, so he fired him for taking too much time off. He found a job at the engineering company and that's where he met Alexander. If it weren't for you, Alexander never would have ruined our lives. So it's your fault. You're the one who killed your father."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I completely forgot about her saying she could have still been a happy mother. I was the cause of my dad's death. "I'm sorry, mom. I'm so sorry." I was an inch away from jabbing the rock into my heart, when I heard a loud howl erupt from behind me. I turned around and Daniel was in his wolf form. "Daniel, you're alive!" I shouted. "Allison, finish what you've started! Finish!" my mom yelped. And she grabbed the rock out of my hand. But she didn't stab me. "Fine. I'll let you live. But I'm not going to deal with you. I just can't. I'd rather be dead than be the mother of a disgrace." And she jabbed the rock straight through her heart.

Chapter 26: Just Friends
"Oh my gosh." I sobbed into my hands. Daniel, who was now in human form, wrapped his arms around me. "She's gone. I have no one." I cried. "No. You have me." "I'm so sorry, Daniel. Now I know exactly how you feel. Now I know what it's like to be alone." "Well now we can be alone together." he mumbled. I laughed. "That doesn't make any sense. By the way, how are you still alive anyways?" "Well your mom stabbed me in the shoulder so it didn't really affect me. Werewolves heal extremely quick." he told me. "Daniel," I pulled away from him, "I love you, but not in the way you love me." "What do you mean?" he whispered. "I love you like a brother. You're my best friend, but nothing more than that." I took a deep breath and waited for his answer. "Oh." he murmured. "Do you hate me?" "I could never hate you." He leaned over and hugged me. "So we're just friends?" he asked, making sure he understood what I'd said. "Just friends." But in my heart I knew that I wanted to be more than that. But if I told him that, I would feel way too guilty. Because I didn't deserve him. I didn't deserve anyone. "Come on, why don't we get out of here?" Daniel suggested. "Where are we gonna go?" "I don't know. But there's no use staying here all day." he replied. I sighed. "I know where I need to go." I told him. "Back to the institution." "What? Why?" he asked, confused. "Because I need help, Daniel! Can't you see? I'm a maniac! I've killed three people in one week! You saw me drinking Vlademier's blood. I can't control myself. I need help." "Wow. You know, the only reason I didn't talk that whole time was so

that I could stay in the institution. With you. I couldn't imagine leaving you there all by yourself." he told me. "Daniel, you didn't have to do that! You could have left that place a month ago!" I cried. "I could of, but I didn't want to. I wanted to stay with you." I couldn't take it anymore. The more he poured out to me, the guiltier I felt. Why was he being so nice to me? I didn't deserve it! I killed his dad for crying out loud! "Daniel just stop. Just shut up!" I yelled. "Allison, what's the matter?" "You should hate me right now! You should have let me kill myself!" "Allison, I could never hate you." he whispered. He just couldn't take a hint. So I had to show him the hard way. "I hate you Daniel. And I always have hated you. You lied to me about Gabriella and you left me earlier. You hurt me. And now I'm going to show you how it feels when someone leaves you. You lost your mom, you lost your dad, you lost Kyle, you lost Cameron. And now you've lost me." And I walked away, leaving him with a shocked and hurt expression on his face. But it was nothing compared to the tears of agony steaming down mine. I ran down the sidewalk until I reached a small, quaint town. I thought about going back to the institution, but just couldn't get myself to do it. I knew what it was like there. Boring, useless, and lonely. Besides, Mandy's stupid counseling meetings didn't help me. Rebecca babying me every second of the day didn't help me. The only person who could help me was myself. I needed to gain control of myself again. I needed to be human again. If I were a human, I wouldn't be able to kill people with ease or suck their blood. I would have to learn to give it up. And the only vampire I knew of, that was still alive, was Mr. DeVincie. Although, I had absolutely no clue where he was, so there was no way for me to turn back into a human. Because the only way was to have a vampire suck the venom back out of you. And then an idea stuck my mind. I could turn someone else into a vampire and then they could suck the venom out of me. The only problem was that I had no clue who I would turn into a vampire. I guess I could just pick any random person. It really wouldn't matter. And then a neon sign caught my eye. It was sitting in front of a Borders book store. It read:

Calling all Twilight fans! What: Stephanie Meyer book signing Where: Right here at Borders When: Tonight at 6:00 pm

Why: For all of you Twilight fans!
I smiled to myself. Every single Edward Cullen fan would freak out if they were able to become a vampire. And one of those fans would become one tonight. That night at six o'clock, I stood outside of Borders watching for Edward Cullen fans. Then I spotted a tall, blonde teenager wearing a Team Edward t-shirt. I approached her with a friendly smile spread across my face. "Hi, there. My name's Allison. I can see you’re on Team Edward." I said. "Yeah, I am. I'm Haylie by the way." she replied. "So, Haylie, are you excited about meeting Stephanie Meyer?" "Duh! She's like, my idol!" she squealed. "Yeah, she's a great writer. But I bet I know what would make you even more excited." "What?" she asked suspiciously. "Follow me." I lead her off to the side of the huge crowd waiting outside of the book store. "I'm a vampire." I whispered to her. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion and she stared at my face for a few moments. "Oh my gosh! Gold eyes, pale skin, sharp features. You are a vampire, aren't you?" She clapped her hands together in delight. "This is so cool! So what's it like being a vampire?" "Well would you like to find out?" I asked mysteriously. "Are you saying that you can turn me into a vampire too?" "That's exactly what I'm saying. On one condition. Once you're a vampire, you have to suck the venom out of me." "What? Why?" she asked. "Because I want to be a human again. Being a vampire is cool and all, but I've had some pretty bad expiriences. And I'm ready to change back." I told her. "Oh my gosh. Deal! Definitely!" she replied. "Ok. Come with me." I lead her all the way back to the forest where no one could see us. "Are you ready?" She nodded excitedly. "Hold out your arm." I instructed. She did as she was told and stuck out her arm. Then I bit into it. I got a tasted of her blood and was about to start drinking it. But then I gained control of myself. "Oh my gosh, ow!" She rubbed her bite mark and bit her lip. "That really hurt." "Don't worry, it will go away soon enough. Just relax and it will be fine." I told her. She nodded her head and took a deep breath. But the pain of the venom flowing through her body was just too much for her. So she passed out. "Ugh. What happened?" Haylie asked as she awoke.

"You're a vampire." I told her. "Oh my gosh! It worked? I'm a vampire?" she squealed. "Yep. But now you have to do your part of the deal." I stuck out my arm. "Just suck the venom right out." "Ok. I'll try." She bit into my arm and began to suck out the venom inside of me. "There, I'm done." My head began to spin and I collapsed the ground. I could feel my heart begin to start up again. I could feel the blood flowing through my veins again. It was working. I was turning back into a human.

Chapter 27: Total Stranger
"I'm human again!" I shouted in joy. Finally, I was back to my normal self again. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I had forgotten that I still had that thing. "Hello." I answered. "Hey, Allison. It's Daniel. I just really need to talk to you. What happened earlier? What did I do wrong?" "Uh, bye!" I hung up on him, but what else what I supposed to do? I couldn't tell him the truth. My phone buzzed again. "I'm gonna keep on calling until you tell me what I did wrong. I just want to fix this." Daniel said before I could even get a word in. “Why’d you leave me back there?” "Because vampires don't date werewolves." I lied. "But you aren't a vampire any more." he stated. "What?" I asked in confusion. Daniel stepped out from behind the trees and hung up his cell phone. "I never left the forest, you know. I just hid when I saw you guys coming. I saw the whole thing." "What's going on here?" Haylie asked. "Uh, Haylie, you can leave now." I told her. "Oh my gosh! Are you a werewolf?" she asked Daniel. "Um, yeah." he replied. "Well I'm on Team Edward, you mutt!" she shouted. "Well I'm on Team Jacob, you leech!" he remarked. "Then why were you going to date a vampire?" "She isn't a vampire." "Well she was." Haylie reminded him. "Not when I first met her." "Stop it you guys!" I shouted, interrupting their constant bickering. "And I thought I was the psycho one!" "Are you calling us psycho?!?" Haylie yelped. "Well you're right, you are the psycho one!" "Not anymore. Only when I was a vampire." I stated. And then Haylie leaned over and bit me. "So are you psycho yet?" she

asked with a raise of her eyebrows. My mouth dropped open in shock. The venom going through my body was still painful, but I was used to it so I didn't black out like the first time. I bit into Haylie's arm and sucked out all of the venom, causing her to turn back into a human. "Yeah, I'm psycho enough to kill you!" I threatened. Haylie's eye widened in horror and she ran off screaming into the woods. "So anyways," Daniel continued with our conversation, "what's the real reason you don't want to date me?" "Like I said, vampires don't date werewolves." I replied with a smirk. "Oh come on! That is so not fair! Can't you just date me already?" Daniel shouted in annoyance. I smiled, "Nope." Although, if I wasn't filled with guilt, I would have said yes in a heart beat. "Well then I guess I'll just kill myself. After all, it's better to be dead than alone." he remarked. "Oh come on! That isn't fair! Can't you just move on already?" I rearranged his previous words. "Nope." he replied with a grin. "Fine," I gave up, "the real reason I can't date you is because I would be too guilty. I don't deserve you." I confessed. "If you didn't deserve me, do you really think I'd still be trying to win you over?" "Daniel, I killed your dad. I can't live with that guilt." I told him. "Well I can't live with the guilt of loosing you." "You know, you're only making this worse for the both of us. Just give it up." "No. I could never give you up." he replied. And then he leaned in and kissed me. I stood frozen in shock. I wanted to push him away, but my arms hung numb at my sides. So I waited until he finally backed away. "Why did you do that?!? You know that I can't date you and you know how much that hurts me! You just made it ten times worse! And now I feel more alone than ever." I turned to walk away. "I'm sorry Allison." Daniel's voice stopped me in my tracks. "I never meant to hurt you. And now I feel even more alone then when I found out my father had died. And I'd much rather be dead than alone." I turned around, knowing exactly what his little speech was leading up to, but it was too late. Daniel had stabbed him self with a small, sharp rock, similar to the one my mom used to kill herself with. "Daniel," I rushed over and knelt down at his side. "What have I done? Three people have committed suicide because of me! Oh Daniel, I'm so sorry. I really do love you." And I planted a gentle kiss on his mouth before getting up and walking away. But before I could reach the outline of trees, a strong hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned around to see Daniel, well and alive. "Oh my gosh! Daniel, I thought you were dead!" I cried. "Werewolves heal extremely quickly. And plus, since I only stabbed myself in the shoulder, it didn't really effect me much." he replied.

I was at a loss of words. He had completely tricked me into thinking that he was dead so that he could see my reaction. I stood there stuttering foolishly. "But---, you---, and---" Then I hugged him. Because I knew that I loved him and I knew that he loved me. "And don't worry about feeling guilty. Because I would be even more upset if you left me." he mumbled in my ear. I hugged him even tighter, all of my guilt had subsided. I had truly made Daniel happy. "Um, Allison." he said. He backed away from me with fear in his eyes. "I don't think your mom is dead." He pointed behind me and I turned around. There stood my mom, well and alive. "Mom! I thought you killed yourself!" I cried. "That's what I thought too, but then I woke up and now I'm alive." she told me. "Oh my gosh." I murmured to myself. I had just remembered something. "Vampires can't kill vampires unless they burn their remainders. Only werewolves can kill vampires without burning them to ashes. So that must have made you come back to life." "Oh no." Daniel said. We both looked at each other, "Alexander!" we shouted in unison. "And Gabriella." my mom added with a smile on her face. "Perfect. Now I can still marry Alexander and have a happy life. Without a useless, annoying daughter." "You know what mom? I'm not the psycho. You are." I told her. "Excuse me?!? You do not talk to your mother that way!" she scolded me. "You're not my mother anymore. You're a total stranger." "Well if I'm not your mother, than I'll feel even less guilty when I kill you." She charged towards me with determination in her eyes. And right before she knocked me to the ground, Daniel pushed her away in his wolf form. She toppled over to the ground and he dived on top of her. Then he bit into her neck, killing her instantly. Because if a werewolf bit a vampire or if a vampire bit a werewolf, there was nothing stopping their death. "Daniel, you just killed my mom!" I cried. "Well you killed my dad." he reminded me. "So now we're even. Besides, I was only trying to protect you. She was about to kill you." "Well I don't need you to protect me. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. And now that I think about it, you faked your own death twice! You hurt me twice! And how do I know that you aren't going to do it again? Daniel, I can't do this. You might be able to go out with someone who killed one of your parents, but I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't go out with you. Ever." And just as I was beginning to walk away, Daniel stopped me. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. Then he imprinted on me. I backed away from him in anger and shock. I could not believe what he had just done. "I'm sorry Allison, but it was the only way! It was the only way to keep

you from leaving me!" he shouted. He began to step towards me, but I kept backing away. "Allison, I'm sorry." he repeated. "I cannot believe you just did that! You selfish, pathetic mutt!" I screamed in rage. "You just made me the most miserable person to ever step foot on earth!" "Well, I'm sorry, but what was I supposed to do?!? You killed my dad after my mom was already dead and I killed your mom after your dad was already dead. And plus, I did it only to protect you! So how can you be mad at me?" "You just don't get it, Daniel. I had to sit there and watch both of my parents die! You on the other hand, didn't!" I cried. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that Allison, but I had to live practically my whole life without a mom. You on the other hand, didn't." I frowned as I thought about this. I guess we both had been through a lot, but I still didn't forgive him. "Well I'm sorry, but that's not my fault. And I'd rather die than be with you anyways, so I guess you imprinted on me for nothing." I looked around for that same pointy rock Daniel had tricked me with. "Allison, just stop!" He grabbed both of my forearms and held me in place. "Let go of me!" I demanded. "Not until you listen to what I have to say! You think that the whole world revolves around you. Well it doesn't! You're too busy feeling sorry for yourself to care about anyone else's feelings! And plus, you're over-dramatic! You threaten to kill yourself every time you get a little angry. It's gotta stop!" I sniffled as I thought about what he had just said and I realized, he was right. "You're right. I'm a self-centered, over-dramatic psycho path." "Stop calling yourself crazy! You are not a psycho path. But if you keep on telling yourself that you are, then you might just become one." he replied. He let go of my arms. "I'm sorry. I'll stop." "Ok. Let's get out of here." He grabbed my hand and began walking out of the forest. "Hang on a second! I never said that I was still going to go out with you! You might have imprinted on me, but so what? That doesn't mean that I have to go out with you!" I replied. "But Allison, werewolves only imprint on their true soul mates. And you're mine! You can't just leave me." "Watch me." I snapped. And I walked away from my true soul mate.

Chapter 28: The Final War
"You know what, Allison? You're right, you are a psychotic drama queen!" Daniel shouted after me. "Just like your mother." That is what caused me to stop and turn around.

"What did you just say to me?" "I said that you're a psychotic drama queen, just like your mother." he repeated with a smirk. "First you tell me that you love me, next you hate me. Then you love me again, then you hate me again. And it just keeps going on and on. And I love you, but no girl is worth that much trouble." "Daniel, I do love you. But you keep making that harder and harder for me to do. It's so hard to be in love with someone as unpredictable as you. One minute I think you're dead, the next you're alive. And no guy is worth that much trouble." "Well then maybe this is the end. It's no use to keep on trying and trying when in the end, we only end up hating each other even more. Maybe we should just forget each other." Daniel suggested. "Maybe. But you imprinted on me, so what am I supposed to do now? Isn't it like, illegal for us not to be together now?" I asked. He laughed, "No. But when a werewolf imprints on someone, it means that they're supposed to be together for life. The person they imprint on usually loves them back. This is the first time I've ever heard of a werewolf imprinting on someone who doesn't love them back." "But I do." I told him. "Then why do you keep running away from me?" "Because I'm scared, Daniel! Everyone that I've loved is now dead! And I don't want that to happen to you! Us being together only puts you in more danger. Alexander and Gabriella are both alive now. And if they find out that I'm with you, they'll kill you for sure." I held back the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes. "Allison, don't ruin our relationship just because you're scared for me. I can protect myself. And together, we can kill Alexander; and Gabriella!" "You think so?" I asked. "I know so." He wrapped me up in a hug and I hugged him back. "Come on. Let's get out of here and find those two! Then let's get rid of them. For good." So we headed out of the forest and back to the quaint town where the Stephanie Meyer book signing had been held. Then we walked into a super market and went over to the check out line. "Excuse me sir, can you please tell us where the nearest airport is?" Daniel asked the man at the cash register. "Take Salem Road all the way until you see the fourth stop sign. Then take a right and go straight until you reach the city. You should be able to find it from there." he told us. "Ok, thanks." Daniel replied politely. We left the super market and followed his directions. We ran the whole way, not caring who saw us. They wouldn't be able to catch us anyways. Then we finally reached the city. "Ok, so where do we go from here?" I wondered aloud. "Well let's just roam around until we see it. The guy at the super market told us that we would be able to find it from here." Daniel replied. So we walked around for about half an hour, until we saw the airport.

We walked inside and went over to the front desk. "Two tickets for your next flight to San Diego, please?" Daniel asked. I looked over at him, "San Diego?" "Yeah, don't you think that Alexander would be smart enough to look for us in the place that's most obvious? Which is your own home." "I guess you're right." I replied. "Ok, so two tickets to San Diego?" the lady at the front desk asked, making sure that was our final decision. "Yep." Daniel replied. "Alright, the flight leaves in exactly one hour and ten minutes. Your total will be two hundred dollars." the lady replied. I grabbed two crisp hundred dollar bills that I'd kept from when my dad was still alive, out of my pocket and handed them to her. "Thanks, here are your tickets." We grabbed our plane tickets and sat down in two cushioned seats. We waited for fifty minutes and then went to find our plane. Once we did, we climbed aboard and sat down next to each other. "The plane will be taking off in ten minutes." the pilot's voice boomed. I buckled my seatbelt and leaned back, relaxing my head against the back of my seat. Then it was time for take off. I felt the plane shifting up into the sky. It was bumpy going up, but then we came to a smooth finish. "You may now remove your seatbelts." the pilot told all of the passengers. I unbuckled my seatbelt and Daniel did the same. "It looks exactly the same as how I left it." I stated as we walked into my old house. "Yeah." Daniel agreed. "So what do we do now? Just wait for Alexander?" I asked. "There's no need to wait, I'm right here." I hadn't heard Alexander's voice in over a month. Hearing it now just brought back all of the unpleasant memories he had left me with. "I thought I was the one who was waiting for you to come." "Well we knew that you came back to life, so we wanted to end this. Daniel thought that the last place you would ever look was my own house. And since you're some kind of evil, sadistic master mind, we knew that you would look here first." I explained. "Oh, very smart." he complimented. "So, are you two ready to fight?" "Definitely. But first, where is Gabriella?" I asked. "She's out looking for you. We decided that I would stay here and she would go search. That way, wherever you did choose to go, we would find you." "Oh, very smart." I replied with a smirk. "And by the way, I met your mom. Now I know where you get your psychotic craziness from." He glared at me, "Let's finish this." Then he pounced forward. Daniel shifted into his wolf form and knocked Alexander down in mid air. Alexander got right back up and dived on top of Daniel. I ran up behind them and grabbed Alexander by the neck. Then I swung him around twice and flung

him into the coffee table, which caused it to smash into pieces. "Daniel, there's a lighter in the kitchen!" I shouted. Daniel ran to the kitchen and I heard the sound of him opening and slamming drawers and cabinets in his search to find it. "Second drawer to the left!" And before I knew it, Alexander had pinned me to the ground. "I went easy on you last time, but this time you aren't as lucky." he hissed. He bared his teeth and leaned his head in to bite my neck, but before he could get close enough, I kicked him in the gut and elbowed his face away from mine. Then I stood up, pushing him off of me. "This ends now." I declared. I grabbed his neck and squeezed with all of the force I could manage. His hands were in a struggle to grasp my neck, but I kept slapping them away with my free hand. "I found it!" Daniel came rushing back in with a lighter in his hand. I slammed Alexander down face first and ripped off a patch of skin on the back of his neck. I tore through the raw flesh, straight down to the bone. Then I cracked his spine, just like he cracked my dad's. I took the lighter from Daniel and lit it up. "This is the end, Alexander. I win." I announced fiercely. "Get out of the house, Daniel." I instructed. Daniel followed my orders and ran out of the house. But he watched through the broken window that Alexander had came in through almost two months ago. "Allison, please!" Alexander pleaded. "It doesn't have to end this way! Once you do this, you'll be just as much of a psychopath as me!" "You killed my best friend, you killed my dad, you took over my family, and you ruined my life. Now I'm ruining yours." And I walked into the garage and came back with a bottle of gasoline in my hand. I poured some over Alexander's body as he continued to beg and plead for my forgiveness. "Goodbye, Alexander." I lit his body on fire and ran out of the house. Then I stood next to Daniel and watched as what used to be my house, burning in flames to the ground. With Alexander inside of it. Daniel looked over at me and said, "You did it. You won." And I knew that he was right. I had beaten Alexander at his own game. "So you think you can kill both of my brothers? Well you're wrong." Gabriella came up behind us with a furious sneer on her face. "Come and fight me Gabriella. You'll just end up like your brothers." I challenged. "I'm not going to fight you." An evil smile slowly spread across her face, as five police men walked out from their hiding places in the nearby forest. They had seen everything. "Allison Becker, you're under arrest for the murder of Alexander DeVincie." one of them declared. "And you," he pointed at Daniel, "aren't you Mike Deblin's son?" "Yes." Daniel replied. "Well you are also under arrest for taking part in the murder of Alexander DeVincie. Your father would have been so disappointed in you." The police officer shook his head in shame. And Daniel clenched his fists. I

could tell that this did not make him happy. His entire body vibrated. He was about to shift into his wolf form! I held onto one of his fists, "It's ok. Calm down." I whispered soothingly. "No." And he jumped up and shifted into a werewolf. I watched as the police officers' eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. Daniel growled at them fiercely. "Oh my gosh!" one of the officers cried. He ran away in fear, followed by three other officers. But the police officer who had caused Daniel to shape shift stayed where he was. "Oh my gosh, he's a werewolf!" Gabriella screamed, as if she didn't already know. "Give it up, Gabriella." I snapped. "At least he's not a vampire like you and me." I snickered. "I don't know what you're talking about! She's delusional!" she cried to the police officer. "You know, I thought that your father would be disappointed that you assisted someone in a murder, but he'd be even more ashamed if he knew that he was the father of a wild mutt." the police officer sneered. What was his problem? And that's when Daniel lost control. He pounced forward, but the police officer dodged away just in time. But he was still no match for a werewolf. Daniel bit into his neck and ripped his head right off of his shoulders. Then he shifted back, his body still trembling. "Are you ok?" I asked. "Yeah. That guy deserved that!" he cried. "I know. But he's dead now. Don't worry." I soothed him. "You guys are psychotic!" Gabriella shouted. "Both of you are killers!" "Well if that's what we are then give us one good reason not to kill you." I snapped at her. Her shoulders shook with fear. "Please don't! Please just spare me! I've already lost both of my brothers and my mom. Plus I have absolutely no clue where my dad is!" she begged. "Hmm, I don’t know." I replied. "After all, you were extremely rude to me, told Alexander when I gave away our secret, and tried to kill Josh, Daniel, and me. So why shouldn't I kill you?" "Because I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I never even wanted to be a vampire! But I had no choice. My dad turned into one, so he turned my mom into one. Then she turned me and Vlademier into vampires too! And she made me turn Alexander into a vampire! I never wanted this!" she cried. "Neither did I." I reminded her. "But I had no choice either. Alexander turned me into one and he turned my mom into one. And you turned my dad into one!" I accused her. "But it was an accident! I didn't mean to!" "Well it's too late for apologies now. I'll give you one more chance to live, but on one condition." "What is it? I'll do anything!" Her face was filled with hope.

"Take back what your brother did. Turn me back into a human." "Ok! Deal!" she squealed. Then I held out my arm and she gladly sucked all of the venom out. I felt the rush of my heart starting back up and the flow of my blood through my veins. "Now leave. And never come back." I ordered. Instead of running away like I expected her to do, she smiled evilly. "Wow, you are truly stupid. Now I can kill you easily." "Uh oh." I mumbled. I didn't think about that part. "Oh no you don't!" Daniel shifted into his wolf form and bit down into her neck with ease. She pressed her pale hand against her wound as she fell to her knees. Vampires died instantly when a werewolf bit them. The venom in a vampire just didn't mix with whatever was inside a werewolf. And then Gabriella's eyes shut and her head hit the ground. She was sprawled in front of my old house, dead. "We're done here." I declared. "Let's go." Me and Daniel stood up and walked off. Away from Gabriella. Away from Alexander. Away from all of the troubles they had caused for us. We were going to start a brand new life, together. Without any evil vampires to ruin it.

Chapter 29: Eric's Story
One month later: I sat on the couch next to Daniel with an emotionless expression plastered across my face, which was no longer extremely pale. In fact, it was finally tan again! But that was about the only good thing in my life. That and the fact that I was no longer a vampire. Although, my mortality is the cause of my tan. Everything else is completely horrible. Me and Daniel haven't exactly been fighting, but we haven't really been very friendly towards each other either. We both moved back in with Josh, who escaped the day I thought I had killed Gabriella. After that he went back to his house. Me and Daniel decided to see if he still lived there and he did. So now we're back at Josh's huge, amazing house. His mom asked us where we had been for so long. She almost called the police, but she figured that she would wait a little while longer since Josh was always "out and about", as she put it. So we just made up the excuse that we took a road trip out of boredom and me and Daniel stayed a few extra days. She believed every word. And I'm not exactly sure what happened between me and Daniel. We just gradually grew apart. We didn't hate each other or anything. In fact, we weren't even mad at each other. And I wasn't sure if we were still a couple. I don't even know if we ever officially were. The click of Daniel turning the TV off interrupted my pondering thoughts. "I'm gonna go to sleep now." Daniel declared.

"Ok." I replied. He stared at me for a moment. "What?" I asked. "Nothing. It's just," he sighed. "Never mind." "What is it? You can tell me." "What happened to us?" he asked me. "I mean, we never got into a fight or anything. So why are we all of the sudden just not together?" I bit my bottom lip, "I don't know. I guess we just sort of grew apart." "But why?" I shrugged, truly not having a clue. "Well if there's no reason, then let's get back together. Let's try to fix our relationship." "You can't fix what was never broken." I told him. "What do you mean it was never broken? It's like one day we're a couple and the next we're just like two strangers who live in the same house." "We never really were a couple if you think about it. Yeah, you gave me that whole lecture on how much you loved me and couldn't live without me. And yeah, I said that I loved you back. But in reality, I was just so broken down and desperate at the time, that I had no other option. Now I'm starting to piece my heart back together and I think that I can survive without you." His face filled with a deeply pained expression that cut deep into my almost cured heart. "So you don't really love me?" he whispered, barely able to speak at all. He closed his eyes as he waited for my response. "I love you as a friend. But you love me as more than that. And that keeps getting in the way of our friendship. So if we can't just be friends, then we can't be anything at all. And I don't care if you imprinted on me. That doesn't mean anything." I crossed my arms and looked down at the ground. I couldn't bear to see the expression Daniel's face held now. And then instead of hearing Daniel begging for me to take him back like I expected, I heard a whimper that was so faint, it was barely audible. I turned to find Daniel with his face buried in his hands, his entire body trembling. I knew that he was doing everything he possibly could to keep himself from shape shifting. I waited for him to work up enough breath to speak. "Well I'm sorry you feel that way. But I can't just be friends with you, Allison. I know that you are my true soul mate. I imprinted on you for crying out loud! And werewolves only imprint on their soul mates." he finally replied. "Wait a minute, aren't werewolves supposed to imprint on their true soul mate the second they see them. I thought it just came naturally, like you couldn't help yourself. So if I really am your soul mate then why did you wait so long to imprint on me?" I asked. "I don't know. I never thought about that before. I think that you're my soul mate. I mean, I really do love you. More than just a friend." "Well maybe you do love me, but there's somebody else out there who you might love even more. Somebody who you truly wouldn't be able to live without. But believe me Daniel, I'm not your true love. Or your soul mate. I'm only your friend." I explained to him. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I was just so upset about not having

someone to imprint on that I was trying too hard. I guess I just felt kind of lonely. Kyle had already imprinted on someone. And Cameron. Only that doesn't matter anymore since they're dead." His tone was cold and empty. As if even the mention of his former pack members brought grief upon him. "I'm sorry that you lost them. I know they were two of your closest friends. But I lost my closest friend too." I stood there awkwardly, not knowing if I should hug him or if that would just make things even more awkward. "Well what should we do now? You said that if we can't just be friends then we can't be anything at all, so wouldn't it be weird if we lived in the same house? Because like I said, I can’t just be friends with you. I know that you're probably right about the imprinting thing, but until I get proof I'm not going to loose you. Because what if I never do find my true soul mate? Then I'll have no one. So I need to know that I'll at least have you." "So now I'm your second choice in case you can't find someone better? Just somebody to fall back on if you need to?" I snapped. "Well I'm not going to be used like that! I'm leaving you!" "Oh really? And where are you gonna go? Without me you have no source of food, shelter, money, or anything for that matter. You'll just be living on the streets. You have no parents, no friends to go stay with, nothing. All you have left is me. Do you really want to give that up?" He stared at me, waiting for my response. His expression was smug and powerful, as if he had complete control over me. "I'd rather be poor, alone, hungry, and on the streets than spend another second with a jerk like you. You never really meant any of that stuff you said about how much you loved me! You were just saying that so I would fall in love with you. Well you know what, you're desperate, pathetic, and most of all stupid for doing that! You were just lonely so you thought that you would take advantage of me to make yourself feel better. Well it didn't work!" I hissed. "That's where you're wrong. It did work. Because you fell for it. Because even thought you didn't love me, you told me you did because you are just as desperate, pathetic, and stupid as me." "You're right." I admitted. Because he was. "But now that I see how pathetic I was, I'm going to change that. I'm going to leave you and find somewhere else to live. And if I don't, then I guess I will be living on the streets. But like I said, that's much better than living with you." And I turned on my heel and left. Leaving behind not only Daniel, but any source of food, money, or shelter I had. I walked out into the forest and sat down in the meadow where I used to always come. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do now. After all, I had just left my current home and was now out on my own. "Hey, what are you doing in the meadow?" I heard Josh say from behind me. I turned around to find him standing beside me. "I could ask you the same question." I replied. "I was just out here running. I do that a lot lately. It's just so strange

without the other half of our pack." "Oh. Well I just came out here since I just evicted myself from your house." I told him. "Why?" he asked in confusion. "Because I can't bare to spend another second with Daniel. He used me so that he wouldn't have to feel lonely. And yeah, I kind of did the same thing, but with good intentions. I thought he really loved me. And for a while I actually did love him. But it turns out, it was all just lies." "What do you mean? Daniel does love you. Trust me, when you're in a pack, you can read the other pack members minds if you're both in werewolf form. And you're all he ever thinks about." "Really?" I asked, not entirely believing it. "Really. And my guess is that he just doesn't know how to handle his emotions so he made you think that he never really loved you because he was angry." Josh pointed out. "Maybe. I did kind of set him off. I told him that we could either be just friends or we could be nothing at all. And he didn't really take it so well." "Well then that's why he told you that. Believe me, I know Daniel, and I know that he really does care about you. And after all that he's been through, he can't afford to lose you. Not after Kyle, Cameron, both of his parents and his brother dead." "He had a brother?" I asked. "Yeah. His name was Eric and he was five years older than Daniel. He died when Daniel was only seven. Eric was always getting into trouble, but over all he was a pretty good kid. Then one day, he just went a little bit too far with one of his practical jokes. Daniel and his family used to live in Denver, that's where they're from, and they had this neighbor who everyone hated. He was really mean to everyone and hated kids, so Eric thought he'd play a joke on him. He---" "Why are you telling her this?" Daniel's voice boomed from out of the trees, cutting into Josh's story. "Daniel! Sorry! I didn't think you would mind!" Josh apologized in self defense. Daniel looked at me and a single tear streamed down his cheek. "Eric ding dong ditched Mr. Felton, that was our neighbor's name. Only he wasn't fast enough and Mr. Felton caught him. I was standing on our driveway screaming at Eric to run, but Mr. Felton picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. I remember Eric kicking and screaming at Mr. Felton to put him down, but Mr. Felton didn't listen." Daniel stopped and took a deep breath. "And then what happened?" I asked softly. "Mr. Felton looked over at me. I remember him yelling 'You see what happens when you mess with me? Now your brother's gonna be taught a lesson he'll never forget!'" "Why didn't you tell your dad?" I asked. "He was in Nevada for work. And our baby-sitter was at the grocery store." he told me.

"Oh." I mumbled. "So then Mr. Felton walked into his garage and came out with a huge pair of gardening clippers." Daniel continued. "And then he chopped off Eric's head. I ran inside screaming after that. I called the police and then my dad. He flew back home right away and the police came. They arrested Mr. Felton and me and my dad moved to San Diego. We couldn't stand living in that same house. Every time I looked at Mr. Felton's lawn, I pictured Eric laying there, his head separated from the rest of his body." Daniel stopped there, his story was now finished. "I am so sorry." I mumbled. I didn't know what else to say. "No, I am. I shouldn't have told you that I was using you. Because I wasn't. I just didn't know how else to react when you said that you didn't love me back. You hurt me so I thought that I would just hurt you back. Only I felt absolutely horrible the second you left. Then I came looking for you here and overheard Josh telling you about Eric." "Oh." I replied. "Well, Daniel, I don't really know if we should be a couple or not. It's just that every time we are, I feel like something is wrong. Like there's some kind of gap in our relationship. Like there's something getting in the way of it." I tried to explain. "The only thing getting in the way is you." he replied. "You keep changing your mind about whether you love me or hate me. I wish you would just decide already! Because no matter how long it takes, I'll keep waiting for you, but if you say yes then I believe it. Then when you change your mind, it's like you were just trying to be nice to me or something. Like you only said yes out of pity and then thought that it wasn't worth it since you really can't stand me." "That's not true at all! Like I said, I love you as a friend, and I can't stand to see you hurt. I just can't go out with you. I just don't think we belong together." I told him. He bit the inside of his cheek and clenched his fists, breathing in and out, trying not to shape shift. "You know what, Allison? You are impossible! And I'm beginning to lose all of my interest in you. All you do is rip people's lives apart! You hurt them until there's nothing left but a hollow, empty shell! And then you either kill them, or sit back and watch as they kill themselves! Well I guess I'm your next victim, because I can't live the rest of my life feeling this empty. I never thought that I would kill myself over a girl, but everybody's wrong once in a while." And he ran off. I stood there in a pained shock. Everyone I'd ever loved died because of me. And at that moment I knew that my entire life had just fallen apart before my eyes.

Chapter 30: Devastated
“Wow.” Josh stated blankly. I began to weep softly into the palms of my hands. “Don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault. Daniel’s just being dramatic. I’m sure he won’t actually commit suicide.”

“You don’t know the half of it, Josh. You don’t know how much pain and anguish I’ve caused for him.” I managed to choke out in between sobs. “I’m sorry you’re so upset about this. Maybe he’s in his wolf form right now. So maybe I can shift into my wolf form and read what he’s thinking.” Josh suggested. And before I could tell him that would be a violation of his privacy, Josh transformed into a wolf. I surveyed as Josh stood there with his eyes wide and sympathetic. He bowed his head towards the ground and let out a brief, low howl that must have been a sigh. After about five minutes, he changed back into his human form. “That was deep.” Josh affirmed. “What was he thinking about?” asked, my fingers crossed in hopes that it wasn’t spiteful or poignant. “This is what I heard in his thoughts: ‘This is all my fault, I never should have fallen for someone so cunning and deceitful. She probably only said she loved me as friend so that I wouldn’t get my feelings crushed. Well, too late for that. I’m already a bottomless pit of despair.’” Josh bit his tongue, waiting for my response. “Oh my gosh. I’ve completely devastated him. Did he say anything about whether or not he’s actually gonna kill himself?” I finally replied in remorse. “Well this is what he thought: ‘Now I just don’t know if I should actually kill myself or not. I am completely inconsolable, but is that really worth taking my own life away? I guess I’ll just hold off on that part for three days, and then I’ll decide.’” “So I have three days to convince him that I love him more than just a friend.” I confirmed. “You do?” asked Josh. “No, but I’d rather let him believe that than lose him.” My heart now felt like it had been wrenched out of my body. All of my emotions had been slaughtered. I felt like I was lifeless, like I was visible on the outside, but on the inside were just the numb remainders of my misery and dejection. “Do you want me to shift back into a werewolf and let him read my thoughts? I could let him know that you’re sorry and want him back.” Josh offered. I nodded, knowing it was my only option. So Josh shifted into his wolf form and then, after about five minutes, shifted back. “What did he say?” I asked hopefully. “He’s going to give you one more chance. He’s headed back here right now.” Josh responded. I smiled softly to myself, but underneath my smile I was concealing my real emotions. Desperation, sorrow, and loneliness. “Start talking.” Daniel demanded as he walked up to me. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I love you as more than just a friend.” I uttered, hardly getting the words out. “Well then why did you keep rejecting me?” he pressed on, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Because I was afraid you might die just like everyone else I’ve ever loved.” That was partly true. I was afraid that by being anywhere near him would send him on his way to death. “But we already killed Alexander, Gabriella, and Vlademier! So who are you afraid of? The only psycho killer who’s still alive is you!” he roared. My entire body froze in a stunned trance of resentment. “Excuse me?” I snapped. “Face it, Allison, you’re just as psychotic as Alexander, Gabriella, and Vlademier all combined!” He smirked with a haughty chuckle. I clenched my fists down at my sides and fought the urge to slap him across the face. “Well just so you know, I don’t date self absorbed jerks like you. And I don’t befriend them either. So I guess that means we can’t be friends or anything more than that! Eric would be so ashamed to have such a brother. And as for your mom and dad, well they would just be mortified to know that they were the parents of a disgrace like you.” And with those last spiteful words, I sauntered out of the forest. I knew that last discourse between us had cut him deep. And I knew that I would never forgive myself for what I had done. I knew that he would now kill himself without a doubt, but he had gone too far. He had it coming for him. “Allison, wait!” Daniel called out behind me, his voice full of grieving remorse. I stopped walking but did not turn to face him. “I’m sorry for what I said.” “Is that all you have to say, because I’m getting sick of your pathetic attempts at apologizing to me.” I retorted. I began to continue walking when Daniel’s pleading voice stopped me. “Allison, would you please just listen to what I have to say? The only reason I keep going off on you is because there’s something you don’t know. Something that keeps wandering through my thoughts no matter how many times I try to forget about it. Something that is tearing me apart, eating me alive.” I could hear the almost inaudible sob that escaped his throat. “What are you talking about?” I whispered. “I’m talking about Katelyn.” I could hear his staggered breathing as he tried to control his emotions. “Your sister.” “What are you talking about? I’m an only child!” I told him. “So your parents never told you about her? Well it figures, considering what happened.” “What happened?” I asked. “She died when she was only six years old. You were born a year after she died. I was only one year old, but Eric was six. He was her best friend. And even though I was too young to remember her, Eric would always talk about her. He was so devastated when she passed away.” “No, that’s not true. You’re lying to me. That’s not true!” But then I remembered what my mom had said before she unsuccessfully killed herself. ‘I could have been a happy mother.’ And I knew he was telling the truth. “I’m sorry, Allison.” he sympathized.

“But I don’t understand. Why is that tearing us apart?” “Because the shadow killed her. It came for her and killed her. It also came for your parents. And now it’s coming for you.” he stated. “What are you talking about, Daniel?” “The shadow, it’s coming for you. I would have told you sooner, but I couldn’t stand to be the one to let you know that there was another person you’d lost. And you lost her before even meeting her.” “Well thanks, but the completely honest truth is that I really do only love you as a friend. But I can see that you aren’t going to settle for that. So I’d prefer if we never saw each other again. And the whole shadow thing sounds like a big lie to me. You obviously can’t control your emotions, and you obviously can’t stay mad at me.” I put air quotes around the word ‘mad’. “So I’ll save you all the trouble. I am officially breaking up with you. I never want to see your face again.” I turned on my heel and strode away from him. It pained me to tell him that, but I couldn’t keep going back and forth between loving him and hating him. And if he couldn’t deal with being just friends, then I wouldn’t deal with him at all. He caused this for himself. If he wasn’t such a problematic lunatic about things, maybe I could have loved him as more than a friend. But he didn’t even allow me the chance to. So he could whine and feel sorry for himself all he wanted, but nothing would change my mind. I had lost so many people already. My mom, my dad, my sister I never even knew existed, my best friend. Loosing Daniel would mean nothing to me. Not after all I’ve been through.

Chapter 31: The Truth Can Kill
I walked out of the forest and then came to a halt when I heard someone coming up behind me. “Daniel just leave me alone---“ “It’s not Daniel, it’s Josh.” Josh corrected me mid sentence. “Oh,” I turned to face him and he had a nervous look on his face. “So, why’d you follow me?” “Well, I kind of feel bad for you. You’ve lost so much and now Daniel’s practically stalking you. I just thought you needed a friend.” My heart immediately opened up to him, “Wow, Josh, that’s really thoughtful of you. Thanks so much; I do kind of need a friend I guess.” “Well you’re looking at one.” He grinned and I wrapped him up into a hug. “You really are a true friend, and thanks for coming back for me.” I murmured.

“Any time.” he murmured back. I untwined my arms from around his broad shoulders and bit my lip. “So, what now?” I asked. “You’re always welcome to stay in my house. I can kick Daniel out if you want too. After all, he still has his own house that he can live in.” he offered. “Thanks, but no thanks. I know I broke Daniel’s heart several times, but I’m not mean enough to evict him from his home.” “Are you sure?” “Positive.” “Well where are you going to live then?” “I’m not sure.” I admitted. “Allison, I’m giving you a house to live in, food to eat, everything! And you’re turning it down just because of some guy who played with your emotions way too many times, only to hide the fact that he has major emotional problems. That doesn’t seem very fair.” He crossed his arms in protest. “Wow, I’m surprised you would say such a thing about your pack member!” I replied jokingly. “But really, I can’t accept that offer.” “Yes you can. And I’m not going to let you turn it down because of me.” Daniel walked out from the forest, his eyes red and bleary from crying. “No, Daniel, I can’t.” I objected. “Allison, just go live with Josh! Go have a happy life! A life without me there to ruin it! Just start over, like I never existed! You don’t have to act like you really care about me, ok?!? Just go!” Daniel exploded and fumed with what looked like depression, loneliness, and bitterness all mixed together. “Daniel, I was never acting. I really do care about you! You’re the one who needs to go have a happy life and start over like I never existed! Because right now you seem pretty miserable, and I know it’s my entire fault!” I yelled. “But I can’t, Allison, I just can’t. You don’t understand. You’ve never understood me at all. The only way I can act as if you didn’t exist is if you truly didn’t exist!” He looked up at me, his eyes wild. “If you didn’t exist, if you weren’t alive, if you were dead…” Josh had an apprehensive expression on his face, and mine was matching. “Daniel, just calm down. Just take a deep breath or something.” I told him gently. “Dead, Allison, you need to be dead for me to move on! If you really care you will let me kill you! I need to kill you, Allison; you need to die! I can’t let the shadow come for you! I need to kill you myself!” He shifted into his wolf form and I shrieked for dear life. Josh immediately shifted and jumped up into the air. He pushed Daniel back and sent him flying into the trees. This just made Daniel even angrier. “Josh, don’t do this! You could get hurt!” He looked over at me, his expression fierce and confident, but I could see the uneasiness in his eyes. “Josh watch out!” I screamed as Daniel pounced at him. Josh dodged Daniel,

but not in time; Daniel had managed to claw into Josh’s tail. Daniel’s claws dug into the ground, grasping Josh’s tail. Josh howled in pain and agony and I knew that I had to take action. I couldn’t just stand there and watch one of my true friends get slaughtered. I knew what I needed to do. It would make me miserable, it would show that Daniel had won, but I had to do it. “Daniel, I love you! As more than just a friend! And I really do mean it this time! I love you, I love you, I love you! And I want to get married! I want to marry you and have a happy family!” I shouted. Daniel released Josh’s tail and shifted back into a human, but his face was not relieved and joyful, he was outraged. “Daniel, I love you!” he mimicked using a shrill voice. “How long is it going to last this time? First you love me then you hate me. Well I’m done. I don’t care what you say; I’m through trying to please you. Because no matter what I do or how hard I try, I’m never good enough! And I’m done trying to live up to your standards!” “Well don’t take it out on Josh; kill me instead. This is all my fault anyways, so just kill me.” I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the pain. “No, Allison, you know what, I’m not going to kill you.” A slow smile spread across his face. “You’re going to kill me.” “What?” I asked, baffled. “You said you never wanted to see my face again. You think you can actually live without me. So kill me. My life’s over anyways. It’s been destroyed by a psychotic vampire.” He deadpanned me when he stated that last sentence, and I knew he meant me. “No. I won’t do it. My murderous days are over. If you really want to die so badly then kill yourself. You keep threatening that if I don’t go out with you, you’ll kill yourself, so do it. Because now, I don’t even love you as a friend. You mean nothing to me Daniel. So kill yourself, do everyone a favor.” I sneered in his direction, a whole new wave of irritation and menacing anger washing over me. I’d never seen Daniel look so hurt in his life. Good. He deserved it. “Fine. If that’s really what you want then I’ll do it. I’ll kill myself.” Daniel began walking steadily towards Josh’s house. Josh and I followed him there, Josh looking stunned and horrified the whole time. Once we reached Josh’s house, Daniel walked straight into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher’s knife. Then he walked back outside to Josh’s front yard. “I don’t want my blood to leave a stain in your house.” Daniel explained. Then he held the knife only inches away from his heart. “Before I do this, I would like to say something.” “Here we go again.” I muttered to myself. “I would just like to say that even though you hate me, I still love you, Allison. I always have, I always will. But I guess that my love just isn’t enough for you. I know that I’ve played with your feelings quite a bit, and I’m sorry for that. I just didn’t know what else to do. My love got the best of me. And now I’m getting what I deserve. But my whole family is dead anyways, so

what should I care. My parents, my brother, my three cousins: all dead.” “What three cousins?” I asked. He grinned evilly, “Alexander, Gabriella, and Vlademier DeVincie.” Then he jabbed the knife straight through his chest. He collapsed to the ground and so did I; my shaky knees could no longer hold me up. Daniel was related to the DeVincie’s. Daniel had been in on this the whole time. He probably planned this whole thing out. He was never secretly dating Gabriella; that was just part of the plan! Alexander was never really going to kill him! Daniel was probably never even friends with his pack members! He was probably playing with my feelings just to make me go psycho again! A new amount of anger and betrayal washed over me, and I yanked the blade out of Daniel’s body. Then I stabbed him. Over and over and over again, tears running down my cheeks and leaving a wet puddle of sorrow on Daniel’s t-shirt. “Goodbye, Josh.” I mumbled and then I thrust the knife straight threw my heart.