Chapter 0002

"See, she puts animals above me." Lance pouts. "What am I going to do when I'm gone and she's left alone to her own devices? She might start a halfway house for every animal within a fifty-mile radius."

I bristle, but force a smile. "If I was that bad, I'd have kept the whole litter of kittens for myself, wouldn't I have?"

"And you're saying you didn't?" Amelia asks, her eyes wide.

So I have three dogs, two cats, a tank of fish, and a parakeet at home...so what? Isn't like I have a zoo going on or anything.

"No, I left them all at the shelter." Not that I didn't think about bringing one or two back home with me. They need round the clock care, and I'm at school most of the day. My aunt tolerates my pets. She'd probably freak if I brought any more strays home. Guess it is my way of enlarging my family since Mom and Dad are dead. I shudder, remembering the camping trip when I was seven. How I woke up to screams and blood everywhere.

It wasn't until I was older that I understood that they'd been mauled by a bear. No one could explain why it attacked them, but left me alone.

I move to the ladder when a stabbing pain shoots up my legs. This was it, time to get rid of these heels. "Hey, mind giving me a sec? I've gotta go switch out these for sneakers."

"I'll go with you," Lance says.

"No, it's just to my locker, I'll be fine." I smile.

"We'll keep working till you get back." Amelia tosses her dark, curly hair over her shoulder.

"Thanks." I stroll down three hallways until I come to the row of lockers. Spinning the lock, I remove my torturous shoes, then shove them in my locker. I slip on my sneakers and sigh in blissful relief. Now I can finish the decorations without pain.

A low moan vibrates down the hallway. I freeze. My hand on the lockers, my heart thudding hard against my breastbone. What the hell was that? Lance trying to scare me?

"Cut it out, you guys," my voice cracks. Maybe it was the pipes. I never noticed the whine before during the day because the noise of students would have covered it up.

The scent of decay wafts through the corridors and I gag. Has a toilet overflowed?

Not waiting around, I race back to the cafeteria, my tennis shoes squeak across the linoleum. The feeling of something chasing me makes my breath hitch in my throat. I run faster, but it feels like Lance and Amelia are a million miles away. Growls sound closer. I can't look behind me. I'm terrified of what I may find.

Sweat drips down my back as I round the corner. I push against the cafeteria doors and they slam against the concrete wall.

"Brene?" Amelia's face scrunches up in concern as I jog toward her. "What is it?"

This time, I look behind me. The cafeteria door clanks shut, but the glass windows show no one there.

I shake my head. "Sorry, just spooked myself, I guess."

A gust of wind pulses through the cafeteria and all the hairs on my arms stand up.

"What the fuck is that?" Lance asks.

"A vampire?" Amelia bites her lip.

I shake my head, my insides cramping. "It's not even sunset yet."

"You two stay here, I'll check it out." Lance dashes to the cafeteria exit before I can protest.

All I can do to calm my pounding heart is to sit on the last rung of the ladder, my hands shaking. Vampires and other supernatural beings came out over a year ago. They mostly keep to themselves. Even have their own schools scattered across the country. But, knowing that monsters, ghouls, and other things that could kill us as easily as snapping a stick isn't something we humans get over quickly. Hell, my aunt even has dried garlic gloves tacked over the doors to our house.

Amelia clears her throat. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sure it's nothing." I lean forward and wrap my arms around myself. I try to push aside the fear that's clawing at my heart. Ever since the death of my parents four years ago and the paranormal creatures entered the spotlight, I've wondered if it were one of them that ripped my family apart.