My name is Carmela Cross. My parents, Elena and Jason Cross, are divorced. I live with my sister, Isabella -but everyone simply calls her Ella- but of course our mom always stops by to check in on us, since Ella is only twenty-one. But because our mom is a lawyer she is usually busy with work.

Ella and I live in the apartment above her book shop. Ella, my mom, and I live in Raven Crown, New York, or as I like to call it Vampire Cove. Everyone I know seems to be use to me using Vampire Cove; I’ve used it ever since I was five and there was a vampire convention nearby. But my dad lives in California with his girlfriend Kimberly and their daughter Jasmine.

I am now fifteen turning sixteen this fall. My birthday is on Halloween. I’m not the popular girl in school for many reasons. My birthday is one; people are kind of scared of me because of that. Another reason is because I’m the “gothic/ Emo” girl. I’m also not particularly the ‘pretty’ girl but I’m nice. I’m about 5'7"; I have long black hair that reaches my waist, emerald green eyes, and translucent pale skin. I don’t have many piercings; I only have four on my right ear and three on my left. But over all I like my life.



“Hey, why didn’t you answer your phone yesterday? I really needed help with my math.” My best friend, Rose Avery, said as we entered the cafeteria. We have known each other ever since kindergarten. She was the only one who would talk to me and was the only one who had the guts to ask me to play during recess. Like me, she isn’t the popular girl, but she isn’t the outcast either.

“Sorry, Ella had me work late at the shop. I had to put all the new books on the shelves. I barely had time to study for the history test.” I said as we reached an empty table.

“Oh that stinks. Ella has you working late again. I don’t get why you just don’t tell her ‘No’.”

“If I ever want to get enough money to buy that car I’ve always wanted then I have to work hard. Her shop was the only place I didn’t have to interview for.” I said. I thought about that bloody red Convertible with the fake leather seats and the giant trunk.

“I heard your birthday is coming up. What are you going to do for it? Have a party at the graveyard?” asked Ashley. Ashley Maxwell is the richest and the most popular girl in the entire school. She is head cheerleader and she is my worst enemy. She was the stereo typical prep. She had elbow length, straight blond hair, light hazel eyes, light skin. She was the same height as me but she always wore heels in order to be taller. “No matter what you do for it, it will never beat the yacht party I had this summer.”

“Ashley, I’m not planning on beating you. I don’t get why you’re so scared that I will.”

“I’m not scared. I-I-I was just stating the obvious.” I could tell that the stutter was from anger. She always did have quite the temper. She then stormed out of the cafeteria. She looked as if she was trying to stomp a bug. She stomped her feet dramatically and clenched her hands into fist as she banged open the cafeteria doors and entered the hall.

“Why is it that almost every head cheerleader is a drama queen?” Rose asked.

“How should I know? I guess it’s just what happens when you become the leader of the ‘popular’ kids.” I answered with a smile. I could tell Rose was trying to suppress a laugh. The rest of the day was like every other day; Ashley gave me dagger eyes during gym, my teacher made me come to the front of the class to answer a question that he knew I didn’t have the answer to, and lastly I got in trouble with the principal for running in the hall.

After school Rose came over to help me with my homework. “So did you talk to your dad yet?” Rose asked me once we were done with our homework. We were now sitting in the shop reading some magazines. “It is only about a weeks until your birthday. Don’t you want him here?”

“Yes I do. I just haven’t gotten the chance to talk to him.” I replied as we stood. “You know my dad and I don’t like talking, especially on the phone. There are always those annoying awkward silences.”

“Well you should. I mean, it has been four months since you saw him last, right?”

“Yea, but it has been only a month since I last talked to him.” I said as we left the shop to go to the local bakery. “Last time I talked to him, he and his girlfriend, Kim, just moved in together.”

“Do you like Kim?” she asked as we entered the bakery.

“Well yea, she is the coolest ‘soon-to-be step mom’.”

“Did you see Ashley today at the cafeteria?” asked one of the girls in front of us.

“No, what happened?” asked the other girl. She was a couple of inches taller than the other girl.

“I don’t know exactly, but all I know is that she was talking to that gothic chick. Next thing I know, she was storming out of the cafeteria.”

“Wow, I wonder what that Goth girl did.” she said as they left the bakery with their order.

“I wonder how long people are going to talk about this.” Rose said as we told the cashier what we wanted.

“I say about a week. I mean it is Ashley. You know she’ll make up lies just to keep herself in all the conversations and gossip.” I told her as we went to an empty table in the corner. We both got cupcakes, mine chocolate and Rose’s vanilla. We then talked a little more about things like school and work. Rose worked at her aunt’s pizza place part time as a waitress. After about an hour we left to go back to the book shop.



“Good night Carmela.” Rose said, as she laid her head on her pillow in her sleeping bag.

“Good night Rose.” I said. I turned off the table lamp that stood on my black and red desk, next to my black laptop.

That night I had an odd dream, not like any of my typical boring dreams. This dream nearly scared me for the first time. I stood there, in a foggy area. As I looked around I noticed I was in a graveyard. I was standing right below an old willow tree. It had no leaves, like the trees in winter. There was a sudden, quick movement behind a grave. As I looked towards the direction of the movement I noticed the gold necklace lying against the grave. As I reached for the necklace, it all started to fade away.



I awoke the next morning to my alarm clock, I saw the numbers seven-twenty A.M. in big, bright, vibrant red. “Oh my God, Rose wake up we over slept!” I told Rose as I ran to my closet. “Did you turn off the alarm?” I asked Rose as she lazily rolled out of her sleeping bag.

“What time is it?” she asked as she moved to reach for her book bag to get out her cloths. She left to go to the bathroom to change as I searched my cluttered closest for an outfit. I finally settled on my plain red long-sleeve shirt with a black short-sleeve shirt over it. The black shirt had three cuts across the stomach so parts of the red shirt showed. I then chose my favorite black pants with cuts on the side, from the knees down.

“What do you think of my new outfit?” Rose asked. She stepped out of the bathroom. She wore an aqua blue shirt with a purple heart on it. It had Old English writing on it, that I didn’t bother reading this early. She wore this with dark midnight blue pants. The outfit complimented her hazel hair and hazel eyes. She wore her hair in a ponytail, but her hair was usually wavy and reached her shoulders. She was maybe 5'7".

“I like it.” I answered as we walked down stairs to get our shoes. Luckily, we reached school just as the final bell rang. Even though we tried to hurry, we still arrived late to first period.

“You’re late Miss Cross and Miss Avery. Please take your seats.” said Mr. Cobrian, our first period science teacher. “Now everyone please open your text books to chapter three. Cells ...”

“Hey Rose, did you hear anything about Ella planning a surprise party for me?” I asked, as Mr. Cobrian continued his lecture on cells.

“I don't think so.” Rose answered in her most unconvincing voice. I just looked at her with a smile, pretending as if I believed her at all.

After Mr. C.’s boring lecture he told us, “Today your only homework is to have a great weekend.” During lunch Ashley was talking to a bunch of kids surrounding our usual table. From what I could tell she was giving a little show of yesterday.

“... Then she told me if I came by her again she was going to curse me. I mean, I was only trying to help her think of ways to celebrate her birthday.” she said through fake tears. “I don’t understand why she can’t just be nice. I’m sorry for seeming like a baby by crying b-b-but it just hurts my feeling.” she said while sniffing.

“Excuse me, but that is not how it happened. If I’m not mistaken, you were telling me that there was no way I could beat your yacht party. I simply told you how scared you seemed and then you stormed off.” I told her with a sly smile on my face. “But then again, I don’t have to tell you that. I’m sure you wouldn’t have forgotten the one thing I said that made you so furious that you would storm out of the cafeteria, now could you? Honestly, next time you use fake tear drops you might want to throw away the container.” I said as I picked up the container at her side. I still had my smile on my face as I left to eat in the hallway.

“Nice one Ash.” Rose said to Ashley as she followed me out. Even from across the cafeteria, I could feel Ashley’s anger rising to the temperature of three hundred degrees. I couldn’t help but laugh.”I can’t believe you did that to the popular, beautiful, perfect...”

I finished for her with a smile. After lunch, everything was normal. After school, we went to Ella’s shop.

When we reached my room, Rose threw me the phone. “Call your dad now!” she told me.

“Gosh you’re so commanding.” I said as I dialed my dad’s number. After the forth ring, Kim answered.

“Hello Carmela, what can I help you with?” she asked in her innocent voice.

“Um... is my dad there Kim?” I asked as I played with the thread hanging from my shirt.

“Yes, one second.” I waited as Kim went to go found my dad.

“Hello Carmela, what do you need?” he asked.

“I just wanted to ask if you are still coming to Vampire Cove for my birthday.” I asked.

“Of course,”

“Okay dad, I got to go now.”

“Okay bye sweetie.” After that he hung up.

“Are you happy now?” I asked. I threw the phone back to her. I sat down on the floor with my book. “So it’s the weekend now. What are we going to do?” I asked as I flipped through my book.

“First of all, you have the shortest conversations with your dad. Second of all, I don’t know.”

“We can see that new movie tomorrow. We can see the movie about the couples that got killed and are now zombies.”

“Oh, wait, no, I have to go to my grandparent’s house. Maybe another time” Rose said as she looked through her papers for a magazine.

“I guess. Man, can you believe my birthday is a week away.” I said in an exasperated voice.

“Oh yea, what are you going to do for it?” Rose asked with a smile, as if she was trying really hard to hide something.

“I don’t know, but I bet Ella is planning something.” I told her as I went to my computer. I sat there for a few minutes waiting for it to load-up. When it was finally done, I went to my e-mail. I had one new e-mail from my dad.

HEY SWEETIE I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOUR B-DAY! TALK TO YOU LATER, BYE ^_^

Hey dad, hope to see you there. Was all I typed back.

“Carmela, I need your help.” Ella said from the shop downstairs. “I just got some new books and I need you to help put them on the shelves.”

“I'm coming. Rose, are you going to help?” I asked as I stood up and made my way across the room to the door.

“Yea, I guess.” she said. We walked downstairs talking about what happened in the cafeteria today. When we got downstairs Ella shoved a box of books at us. She was wearing a dark purple shirt with an Ace card on it. She also wore a light purple plaid skirt over dark blue jeans. Her outfit matched well with her tan skin. Her dark brown hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. It was usually down and reached the middle of her back. She was only an inch taller than me-about 5'8"-in her shoes she was a couple of inches taller. I always thought it was funny how she takes more from our mom as I take more from our father.

Rose and I got started on the books when the bell over the door rang. I was holding a copy of my favorite book, Undecided. It was always my favorite book because it was written by a young author, about thirteen. It was her first book that was done and ready for publishing.

“You girls keep working while I take care of this costumer.” Ella told us as she gave me the box she was emptying. “Hello sir, is there something I can help you with?” I heard her ask someone from the cash register.

“Um, no I’m just looking.” I heard a warm, smooth voice say from the aisle across the room from the one Rose and I were at. Rose and I started to make our way to the second aisle when I saw him.

He had dirty blond hair, which was parted to the left in order to cover his eye. He has pale skin, paler than my almost translucent skin, and ice blue eyes. He was wearing a band t-shirt with slit black jeans. He had a silver lip ring on the left side of his bottom lip. We just stared at each other for a minute when Rose grabbed my arm and pulled me into the aisle.

“What was that about? You just stood there staring at him.” Rose said in a whisper. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop right out of her sockets.

“I don’t know, but for some reason I feel like I need to know him.” I told her as I stared behind me, trying to catch another glimpse of the guy. The rest of the day was really normal from there. That night Rose didn’t sleep over, since she had to wake up early to go to her grandparents’ house.


“Night Ella, see you in the morning.” I said as I went to my room. That night I dreamt about the graveyard again. It was once again dark and foggy. As I walked through the graveyard, I wondered about that guy from today. Why do I want to know him? Why was he staring at me? As I was thinking about this, I noticed a figure behind one of the gravestones. As I walked towards the gravestone, everything started to vanish.


I awoke to the sound of my phone vibrating on my wooden desk. It was a text from Ella. “I HAV 2 STEP OUT FOR A MINUTE CAN U WATCH THE STORE?” I quickly got out of bed, got dressed and then went downstairs. I knew it was going to be a slow day, so I didn’t bother brushing my hair. Instead, I pulled it into a messy ponytail.

As I was reading my favorite magazine, a gothic one that I subscribed to a few years ago, the bell over the door chimed. I averted my eyes from the magazine, hoping it was the guy from the other day. Sadly, it was only Ella. I let out a sigh of disappointment. “You act as if you were expecting someone else.” Ella said with a smile. She was carrying five reusable bags of groceries. “Can you give me a hand?” she asked as she handed me two of the bags. I helped Ella carry the bags upstairs to the kitchen. Then I got on the computer and IMed Rose.

How is your grandparent’s house? I asked.
I’m pretty bored. So what’s up with you?

Nothing much, just helping Ella in the shop.

Did you see that mystery guy from the other day?

Unfortunately, I didn't.

Got to go my grandma needs me. Bye.

Bye.

After a few minutes of searching on the internet, I decided to go downstairs and help out Ella. When I got downstairs, I heard the bell over the door chime. I stood by the stairs staring at the door, hoping it was him. Unfortunately, it was just our neighbor, Ms. Sharadae. “Ella, I’m going across the street to the bakery for a few minutes.” I told her as I made my way toward the door.

“Make sure you don’t stay out too long. I need you back by two P.M.” She told me as I left.


As I sat in the back of the bakery eating my red icing, chocolate cupcakes, I heard the door open in the front. I looked up from my book just in time to see the guy from the other day enter the bakery. As I stared at him, he lifted his head and met my gaze. We stared at each other for what seemed like an hour, but I think was really only a few minutes. When our gaze finally broke, I picked up my stuff and made my way for the door. As I left, I took a last look as I passed him. When I exited the bakery, I turned one last time to look and saw that he was gone. How did he leave so fast, he was just there a second ago? I thought on my way back to the shop.

“Back so soon?” Ella asked when I entered the shop.

“Yea, I wasn’t really hungry.” I lied. On my way up to my room, I couldn’t help but think about him. I mean he really was gorgeous.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. Ella took me out for pizza at a local pizza place. It was pretty quiet for most of the dinner. “So how was your day?” Ella asked as I took another bite from my slice of cheese pizza.

“You know same old same old.” I told her before I took a sip of my coke. “What about you?”

“It was pretty slow.” she told me as she took another slice. “So what do you want to do for your birthday?”

“I don’t know. But I’m betting either you or Rose are planning a surprise party anyway.” I told her with a smile. She looked at me with a weary smile. After another half hour, we left the restaurant. For some reason when we reached the door, I had a feeling I was going to see that guy from the other day. The second we exited the door he entered. When we passed each other it felt like a movie. You know the part when everything goes into slow-motion. It was so weird, as if he was the only one around me; as if reality just, disappeared. I think Ella was trying to tell me something that I just did not hear. I didn’t come back to reality until he finally entered the restaurant.

The rest of the night was weird. I kept playing the moment in my head over and over again. Why am I so obsessed with this one guy? What is so special about him? Every time I asked this question in my head I always ended up answering the same way. So far everything about him is special!

That night I had the same dream. I was in the graveyard wandering around. Again, I noticed a dark figure lingering behind a tree. As I walked towards it, I saw a pale hand reach out from behind the tree. I hesitated before I reached my hand out to grab the other. But again, as I came closer to it, everything began to fade away.



I awoke to my alarm clock. It was eight A.M. already so I took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs. Today I was supposed to meet Rose at the shop. I also had to help Ella tidy up the place. “Ella, are you down there?” I asked, as I sauntered down the stairs, but there was no answer. When I got to the shop, I noticed the sticky note on the cash register.

Sorry stepped out for a second have to get a new broom be back soon. – ELLA I crumbled the note up in my hand and threw it over my shoulder. I sat there for a few minutes before the door opened.

“Hey, how is your weekend so far?” asked Rose as she entered the shop.

“Boring,” I told her without even looking up from my magazine “What about you?”

So you didn’t see that guy from the other day?” she asked with a smile.

“No, I just thought I knew him but now I don’t think so. If I see him again, then that would be great, and if I don’t then fine.” I told her with an unconvincing voice. Why am I lying to my best friend about something as stupid as a boy? I asked myself as Rose flipped through a magazine.

“That’s too bad. He was really hot. I wonder why he was staring at you.” After an hour of talking we heard the door open, we both jumped out of our seats at the same time. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. We both turned and looked at the door

It’s him! I thought with an odd excitement. I couldn’t help but smile. Rose made her way around the counter. When she saw me looking at him, she started giggling. After a moment of me and him just simply staring at each other and Rose giggling, Ella entered the shop.

“Oh, what can I help you with?” Ella asked him as she went behind the counter.

“Um, no, I was just looking.” He answered in a detached voice as he left the shop. Rose started giggling again and I couldn’t help but be disappointed. The rest of the day Rose and I talked in the shop until she had to go home. That night, to my surprise I didn’t have one of my odd dreams. The next morning, I awoke and saw that my clock said that it was only seven o’clock in the morning. I took my time getting ready for school. I decided to wear my bloody red t-shirt with my black chained pants and combat boots. The outfit made my pale skin look even paler. The black pants matched my waist long black hair. Today, I decided to wear my emerald green earrings that matched my eyes. I met up with Rose outside the shop. We walked to school because Ella was too busy with the shop to drive us.

As we entered, Ashley came up to us. “How many Emo kids does it take to screw in a light bulb?” she asked her little clones, Alexis and Abbie. After a moment, she answered “None, they’d rather sit in the dark and cry.” she said, as her and her clones started to laugh.

“Hey Rose, how do you kill a dumb blond?” I asked Rose.

“How Carmella?” she asked me sarcastically.

“Stick a mirror to the bottom of the pool.” I answered. We started laughing even harder then Ashley and her clones. As we left, we looked back and saw her angry expression. We started laughing again. The rest of the school day was pretty boring. On our way home I noticed a boy with dirty blond hair and immediately thought of ‘him’ but sadly it was just some insignificant teenage boy who I hated for getting my hopes up. The rest of the way home I kept my eyes open for ‘him’, but sadly he was nowhere in sight.

I entered the shop, in time to see my sister on the phone talking to our dad.
“Hold on dad, Carmela just entered.” she said as I put my bag on the counter.

She passed me the phone, “Hi dad.” I said with a weary smile, not really wanting to talk to him right now. It wasn’t that I was mad at him or anything; it was just that I didn’t want to suffer the same boring silent moments.


“Hey honey. How is everything so far?” he asked from the other line.

“Everything is okay so far dad.” There was a bit of a pause there.

“That’s good. Kim, Jasmine, and I should be there soon.” he told me as I flipped through my new magazine.

“That’s good.” I said in a bored tone. I tried to sound enthusiastic. There was another pause.

“Ok, I just wanted to tell you I love you. I have to go now, sorry, see you soon.” he told me, and before I could say ‘bye’ he was already off the phone. I lingered in the shop for a while longer before walking up to my room. It was pretty dark in my room because of the clouds outside and because of my black curtains that covered my windows on sunny days. I went over to the couch underneath my window and grabbed my book from my shelf next to the couch. I sat there, reading for a few hours. When I got tired of reading I got up and went over to my computer desk. I decided to IM Rose.

Hey Rose, What’s up?
Not much. What about you?
Same, I'm just reading.
Oh fun “sarcastically”
Yea, I guess. Hold on, I got an e-mail.


I didn’t recognize the e-mail, curious, I opened it.

Hello Carmela, you probably don’t know who I am but, I know you have seen me before. But I would like to meet you sometime. How about Friday? Please reply back. Goodbye, hope to see you soon.


I sat there for a few moments rereading the message over and over again. For some reason I had a feeling it was him. I replied back: Friday is my b-day. But yea that’s fine; I’ll be at the shop for my party, hope to see you there. ^_^


I only hoped it was ‘him’ and not someone who was going to kill me, unless ‘he’ was going to kill me, but like I said I could only hope. I returned to my conversation with Rose, I almost forgot about her.

Back
So who was that?
IDK some junk mail
K well I got to go ttyl.
Yea, I got go too. I think my dad is coming tomorrow so I have to wake up pretty early.


After our conversation, I went to help Ella clean the guestroom for Dad, Kim, and Jasmine. After that I went to bed, that night I dreamt about some guy coming to kill me at my party. When I woke up I kept thinking how stupid I was for letting him come; whoever ‘him’ was.

“Carmela, Get dressed and ready. Dad’s going to be here in an hour” I heard Ella yell from her room. I got ready, wearing my European garnet lace down shirt with a short sleeve black t-shirt underneath. I had my regular black jeans on.

Then I went downstairs and helped Ella clean up the shop. We finished just in time to hear the bell over the door chime.

“Hey girls, I’m glad to see you.” We heard our father’s deep voice say from the doorway.

“Hey dad, we're glad to see you too.” We said at the same time.

“How have you girls been?”
“You know same old same old.” I told him with a bored smile.

“Hey Carmela, I'm happy to see you. Hi Ella!” came our half sister, Jasmine’s voice.

“Hey Jasmine, how are you?” I said as Kimberly walked in. She looked as great as always for forty-five years old. Her beautiful wavy, red, shoulder length hair framed her face perfectly. Her grey eyes also stood out but matched her white skin well. She was only 5'4", so she was pretty short.


The rest of the day we just talked ‘til about ten. After Jasmine went to bed I made my way to my room. “Going to bed already Carmela?” asked my dad as I left the kitchen.

“Yea I’m a little tired.” I told him as I opened my door. The next couple of days went by really fast. The whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about ‘him’. What if he is a killer and I just invited him to my party? No he could be a killer; if it is him I doubt he would kill me. But why do I doubt this? I don’t even know him. I kept thinking these thoughts. Even in my sleep. But it was finally my birthday and I would finally get to meet the mystery boy. I couldn’t wait! That day I decided to wear my medieval style shirt, the kind with the flowing, hanging sleeves. I wore this with black pants and a garnet chain skirt. I put my hair in a high ponytail, with two shorter strands hanging down, framing my face.

“Carmela, can you come down here.” I heard Ella yell from the shop downstairs.

“Yea I’ll be down there in a minute.” I took one last look at myself in the mirror. I slipped on my combat boots before walking downstairs. When I got there Ella was sitting at the counter.

“Hey sis, wow you’re so dressed up. Well... I was wondering if you could go with me to the park for a walk.” she told me.

I told her with a weary almost disappointed smile. On our way to the park we passed the bakery and got a cake.

“I was thinking you, dad, Rose, Kim, Jasmine, and I could have it later.” she said as we walked into the park. When we got to the middle I noticed all the decorations around the gazebo.

“SURPRISE!” I heard a chorus of voices say. Rose was the first to come up to me and give me a hug.

“Thanks you guys.” I said with a smile. During the party we all mostly talked and danced to some songs Rose brought. There were a few other kids from school there. I walked over to the oak tree a few feet away from the party. I stood there under the tree for awhile, until I noticed someone watching me from the shadows under a tree across from the one I was under. As the figure noticed me noticing it, it made its way towards me. As it emerged from the shadows and into the sunlight I noticed it was ‘him’.

He was wearing a short black t-shirt with a bloody red splatter design on it. He also wore black chain pants with at least four pockets on each leg. His dirty blond hair was ruffled in a, just-got-out-of-bed style. When he looked up to catch my gaze the sun caught his ice blue eyes in such a way, it was hard to describe. I couldn’t pull my gaze away from his. “Hello Carmela.” he said with a charming gaze that caught the sun just right. “Happy birthday Carmela”

“Um... Hello...” Was all I could say. His eyes were so hypnotizing; I could not focus on my thoughts.

“Are you okay? You seem kind of, flustered.”

“Um... yea ... sorry, I'm okay.” I said as I tried to pull myself together.

“Oh sorry pardon my manners, I’m Logan.” he told me as he took a bow. He was such a gentleman. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I tried to tell him ‘It’s nice to meet you to’ but the second I looked into his eyes I forgot everything I was about to say. When Rose saw me with Logan she decided to be funny and put on a slow song.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked, as he bowed again. I couldn’t help but smile. Next thing I knew he took my hand in his and pulled me close. His hands were ice cold, but I didn’t let that ruin the moment. He kept a few inches between us as he led me in a ballroom like dance. We both couldn’t help but smile as we danced in front of everyone. I could tell everyone’s eyes were on us but I only focused on Logan. At the end of the song he pulled me close and gave me a gentle kiss on my cheek before he disappeared. It only felt like a skim but it was still amazing. I could hear everyone gasping as I stood there, trying to comprehend everything that just happened.

“Who and what was that?” I heard my dad ask as I made my way to the party.

“Wasn’t that the guy from the shop?” I heard Ella and Rose ask at the same time.

“I think you two looked sweet together.” Jasmine said with a giant innocent smile.

“He’s just a friend of mine and we were dancing. Yes Rose and Ella he was the guy from the shop. And thank you Jasmine.” I told them all with a weary smile, not really wanting to answer their questions. Everyone could tell I didn’t want to answer questions so we got back to the party. We opened presents last; I got mostly new black and red outfits, many books from Rose and Ella, and a new CD from my dad. Lucky we didn’t have school so we spent the whole day partying.

“Are we still going trick-or-treating tonight?” Rose asked as we cleaned up.

“Yea, I’m going as a preppy girl.” I told her with a smile.

“Don’t forget to bring Jasmine.” my dad said as he overheard us. We both just sighed. The rest of the day we just talked and got ready for Halloween. At about six we got dressed in our costumes. Jasmine was dressed as some fairy princess. Rose was a witch, the kind with a pointy hat, broom stick, and a black dress. I dressed up as a preppy girl, just like I said I would, with a pink flower, knee high dress. I had my hair in two high ponytails. I wore Roses brightest pink lipstick and eye shadow.

“Wow Carmela you really look very preppy.” Rose said as we left the shop with Jasmine at seven.

“Thanks and you really look like a witch,” I told her as we turned the corner, where almost every kid in school’s house was. “And you look beautiful Jasmine.” I said as I bushed her wavy, red hair away from her face. She has very long hair that reaches the bottom of the back. I almost forgot how short she was, maybe 4 feet.

“Thank you Carmela.” she said as we made our way up the steps of the first house. After we got about half a bag full of candy Jasmine told us she was ready to go home.

“You want to leave already Jasmine?” I asked with a smile, ready to get rid of her. “Okay let’s drop you off.” I said as we made our way back to the shop. After dropping her off Rose and I made our way to the farther part of town. “This part of town always has the best candy!” Rose said with a smile.

“I know, but I heard a new family moved into this house.” I said as we walked up the steppes to the biggest house on the block. This was the last house on the block; it hasn’t had anyone in it for a year. Not since the old lady who lived there was said to be a witch who killed her entire family. But we could tell that someone moved in.

“Carmela I’m too scared to ring the doorbell, you ring it.” Rose told me as I reached the door.

“Fine,” I told her as I pressed the doorbell. We waited there for about two minutes before the door opened. Standing there, in front of me was a tall, maybe 6'3", young man. He looked about eighteen. He had platinum blond hair, aqua blue eyes and he was translucent pale. His hair was up to his shoulders and had sun orange highlights on the bangs, the kind that parted only to the left, over the eyes. He was wearing all black. He almost reminded me of Logan.

“Um... trick-or-treat.” I said with an innocent smile.

“Sure one second.” He said in a deep but soothing voice. A second later he came back with a bowl of candy. He handed me and Rose a hand full of candy.

“Thanks.” Rose and I said at the same time.

Who was he? And why did he remind me of Logan? He is so cute though. I thought to myself as Rose and I made our way to the next block. After about an hour of trick-or-treating my feet started to hurt. On the way home Rose and I talked about the new mystery guy.

“He was so cute.” Rose said as we entered the shop.

“I’m home.” I yelled through the hall as we entered my room. “You’re right Rose. He was so hot.”

“You know what, he reminded me of that boy you were talking to at the party. Um... what was his name, Luis?”

“His name is Logan, and yea.” I told her as I started up my computer. The second it was done loading I went straight to my e-mail. I had only one new e-mail from, Logan! I thought with an odd excitement. The e-mail read:

Hey Carmela, that was a fun party. And you were a great dancer. Hope to see you again soon! And Happy Halloween!

After reading this about one hundred times I still couldn’t stop smiling. Rose came up behind me to see what I was smiling at. When she read the e-mail she broke out laughing. “He sounds like he is in love with you.” she said through breaths.

“What in the world would make you think that? And even if he did, so what?” I asked her with a half-smile.

“I don’t know, it just sounded like he likes you and if he did then you’re one lucky girl.” she said as she waited for me to get off the computer. After about two hours of talking and gossiping Rose’s mom finally came and got her. After she left I soon fell asleep from exhaustion. That night I dreamt about the graveyard again. This time as I wandered through the graveyard there was more fog than before. And as I stepped forward to reach the figure behind the tree, the figure didn’t disappear, this time the figure reached out to me. When our hands touched I could only see his dirty blond hair.


I awoke to Jasmine yelling my name. “Carmela, wake up!”

“Uh... five more minutes.” I groaned as Ella opened my blinds. “I’ll get up when you close the blinds.” I said as I pulled the covers over my head.

“You’re so lazy.” Ella told me as she pulled my blanket off. “Now get up you lazy bum.”

“Fine I’ll be down in a minute or ten.” I said as I sauntered into the bathroom. After about five minutes I exited the bathroom in my favorite t-shirt, with my regular dark blue hip-hugger jeans. “Why did you wake me so early?” I asked Ella as I walked downstairs looking at my watch. It was only nine. I sauntered over to the cash-register where Ella was.

“It’s not that early.” she said when I laid my head down on the counter.

“Whatever, I’m going to the bakery in an hour. I’m meeting Rose there. Can I borrow ten dollars?”

“I guess, but what happened to your allowance?”

“Um... it’s at the mall.” I said with an innocent smile.

“Fine whatever, here.” She handed me a ten dollar bill from the cash-register and went back to reading her book. I walked upstairs to get my purse. After an hour of watching TV I left to go the shop and met up with Rose outside.

“Hey Carmela, what’s up?” Rose asked as we made our way across the street to the bakery.

“Not much. Ella woke me up at nine today.” I said with a frown. “What about you?”

“Same old,” Rose said as we entered the bakery to the smell of cake, bread, and sweets. As soon as we entered the shop I looked to our normal table in the corner, and sitting there was Logan. As Rose entered the line I asked her to save my spot.

“You going to go talk to that Logan guy?” she asked as I left the line.

“Yea,” I told her as I made my way to the table in the corner.

“Hey Logan,” I managed to say as I looked at the floor. As I moved my gaze up to meet his beautiful, seductive ice blue eyes everything I was planning to say was gone.

We stared at each other for about two minutes before he said, “Hey Carmela. What’s up?” He set his book down. I could tell he was almost done with it from where his book mark was.

“Um... uh...” Was all I could say. I stood there frozen in his gaze, like a statue in a park.

“Um... are you ok? Am I in your seat or something?”

“Um... no sorry, I just wanted to say hi.”

“Carmela I got your cupcake let’s get back to the shop and get that new book of yours.” Rose said as she came up to me holding a blue iced cupcake. The blue icing was almost as light blue as Logan’s eyes.

“Sorry Logan I should be going.” I told him as I took the cupcake from Rose’s hand.

“Okay, bye Carmela talk to you later.” he said as I left the bakery. The second Rose and I were outside I asked her why she came in between my conversation with Logan.

“Because you were standing there like a retard.” she answered with a smile.
When we entered the shop Ella threw me my new book that just came in. Luckily I caught it before it hit the ground. Rose and I walked upstairs to the kitchen to get some sodas before walking to my room. When we entered I threw my new book on the bed and jumped on the computer. When I went to my e-mail, to my surprise I had one me so fast? I just left him sitting at the table, in the corner, in the bakery, from Logan. How did he e-mail a few minutes age. I thought to myself as I opened the e-mail. It said:

Hey Carmela, We should really talk sometime. Just say when and where.

Again I read the e-mail over a hundred times. I finally decided to e-mail him back.

How about um, I don’t really now. I’ll tell you when I figure out. The rest of the day I spent talking to Rose about mindless stuff such as school. We also spent a lot of time reading. At about nine Rose had to leave to make it home for her annual ‘family-bonding-board-game-night’. I spent the rest of the time chatting with my dad, Kim, and Ella.

“Are you guys really going to leave tomorrow?” I asked my dad as he started packing up his clothes and stuff.

“Yes sweetie, I have an important client back in California that I have to see on Monday.” he said as he went across the hall to help Jasmine with her luggage. He is a real-estate agent, so when he said an important client it usually meant someone big, especially in California.

That night I had a different dream then all the other ones lately. This time I was in a crypt. As usual there was a deep dark fog covering the ground and everything around it. As I walked through the crypt I skimmed my hand along the wall as I walked around. The wall had a smooth feeling to it but at the same time it felt like someone had carved a specific design in it. When I reached the left wall, in the far corner to the right I noticed a stair case. I walked towards it but I couldn’t tell if it lead to a lower floor or a higher floor. I walked towards the staircase, when I reached it I noticed it lead to a higher level. As I walked up the stairs I noticed that it was leading to the floor ground. I walked up to the first floor and noticed a coffin lying in the middle of the room. It was a black coffin with a bloody red design on it. The design was a simple cross design. It was a strange design that I knew I’ve never seen it before, but it seemed so familiar. As I walked towards the coffin I heard a creek, as if someone had stepped on a loss floor board above me. I scanned the room for another staircase other than the one leading to the basement. I skimmed my fingers along the walls again. And ended up finding nothing and decided to go outside and wander around the graveyard. The second I stepped outside everything began to fade away once again.



I awoke to my e-mail alert ringing. I lazily lifted myself out of bed with a moan, heading over to my computer in the corner. I turned on the screen as I thought of who would be e-mailing me at eight in the morning. When I opened up the e-mail it was another one from Rose.

Hey Carmela sorry if I woke u. I just wanted to know if u r planning to go to the bakery? If not than can we hang out sometime today, because I have to get away from the family.
Because I was still so tired I only wrote back to her,

Yea, I guess we could hang out today.

After that I went back to sleep for about an hour before I was awoken by Ella to say goodbye to my dad, Kim, and Jasmine. After all of that I went back to my room to get. That morning I did nothing really but read and listen to music. Rose came over at about three to hang out. We had a pretty boring day, we watched TV, went on the computer to check out some bands. I went to bed at about ten thirty to get some rest for school. I didn’t have a strange dream that night but, I kind of expected that after my boring, short day.

The next morning I had to wake up at about seven. I lazily entered the bath room to get dressed. I wore a plain all black outfit. The long sleeve shirt that had the words ‘Bite Me’ in big red letters, my knee high boots that laced up with red laces, and my waist length hair in two high ponytails, which made me look like a gothic doll. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I noticed Rose standing near the cash-register waiting for me. She had her hazel hair down like usual, she wore a dark midnight blue, long sleeve shirt with the word ‘Dawn’ on it in big purple letters and her nice, faded, light blue jeans with a slit going down each side from the knee all the way down. On our way to school we talked about stuff like the shop and the homework we had for the weekend.

As we entered school we heard everyone gasp, laugh, and start to gossip about something. We came up behind a group of girls in order to find out what all this stupidity was about. “Oh my god did you hear about that girl, um, Carmela?” asked a red head who was in my Social Studies.

“No what did she do now. Does it involve Ashley?” asked a tall blond girl. She sounded somewhat interested but mostly bored.

“Yea I heard she went to the park on Halloween, found Ashley in the gazebo thing and broke her leg and stole all her candy.” said the first girl. After I heard that I went to find Ashley at her locker, but before I could talk to her another girl came up to me. She was a short black girl named Sasha from my art class. “Did you really go to Ashley’s house and throw her across the floor and broke her leg!?” she asked as I went around her not needing to explain myself. After that the first bell rang so I had to wait ‘til lunch to confront Ashley about this ‘story’.

At lunch I walked up to Ashley’s table, which was more crowded than usual. I pushed through the crowd just to find Ashley sitting in the middle. “Hey Ash, what’s up? Still telling people about what happened during the weekend?” I asked her with a sly smile. “Tell the story again in front of all these people.”

“Um... sure. Well I was just having a great Halloween at the park...” she said before she was interrupted by the girl who came up to me today, Sasha.


“I thought you said you were at home.”

“I was...” Ashley said with a panic.

“But you just said you were at the park.” said the red head from earlier today.

“Exactly she’s been lying to you guys all day. And trust me if I were to break her leg than it would be worse than this.” I said as I pushed back through the crowd with Rose following.

“Nice one.”Rose said as we went outside to the front with our lunch. We sat there laughing about what just happened with Ashley. The rest of the day people spent gossiping about Ashley and apologizing to me.

After school Rose and I went straight to the new ice cream and soda shop that opened next door to the bakery a couple of days ago. This was going to be our first time there. Because we came straight from school there wasn’t a long line but there were still people from school in front of us.

“Did you guys see that new family that moved in to that haunted house on the far end of town.” asked a boy. He had blue hair with purple highlights. His hair was spiked like a skater’s. He was talking to three boys and two girls.

“Yea, I only saw one of them though, some tall guy with blond hair and orange highlights. He was creepy.” said a short girl with short brown hair.

They continued talking about the mysterious guy when Rose asked, “Did you think that guy was creepy, because I did.”

“No of course not, but I did think there was a something strange about him.” I said as we ordered our ice cream. We moved over to the side so someone else could order.

“I felt a strange aura coming from him though.” Rose said with a shrug. I looked at her for a moment, wondering what she meant by that, but after a few moments I didn’t feel like bothering with it anymore. We finally got our ice cream; Rose’s was a mint chocolate chip, two scopes, with rainbow sprinkles on it. Mine was orange sherbet, two scopes, with chocolate chips on top.

“I wonder how Ashley really broke her leg, I bet it was something stupid that she didn’t want people to know or else she wouldn’t have started that rumor.” I said as I licked my ice cream.

“Yea if she even broke it, she could just be faking it for attention.” Rose said.

“True.”

“So when are you going to see Logan again?”

“I don’t know, but all I know is that I have to go to the graveyard soon to visit my Aunt Valerie’s grave.” I told her as we left with the rest of our ice cream.

“Well okay I should go to work now.” Rose said as we crossed the street to the shop.

“Okay I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said as I entered the shop. Ella was sitting at the counter as always, reading a magazine.

“Are you reading about the top ten lip gloss colors for fall?” I asked with a mocking smile.

“No just checking out my horoscope.” she said as I walked over to the science/fiction section. I flipped through all the books, looking for one that I haven’t already read. I finally chose the newest book The Dream Eaters Guide to Life. “Hey listen to your horoscope. It says you will find a new love in your life very soon. And then it says to remember that secrets aren’t always bad.” Ella said when I was at the bottom of the stairs.

“Weird.” I said as I went upstairs. I threw the book on my bed and went straight on the computer to check my e-mail as always. When my e-mail finally started up I was disappointed to see I had no new e-mails. The rest of the day I spent reading and listening to music.

“Dinner was really the only time you stepped out of your room, is something wrong Carmela?” Ella asked as she stepped into my room.

“I’m fine Ella I just wanted to finish this book today.” I told her as I put my book down on the desk next to my bedside.

“That’s a five hundred page book. It’s impossible to finish a book that big in one day.”

“Well I know I’m only on page two hundred and three.” I said with a sigh. I looked at the clock; it was only ten fifty-six. “Well Ella I better be going to bed now, I have school tomorrow.” I said in order to get rid of Ella. That night was the same as the one before it; I had no dream about the graveyard. I awoke to my alarm once again. I dressed in all black, once again. And I walked to school with Rose, once again. It was amazing that I’m so different but yet live such a boring life.

When we entered school the gossip was about Ashley’s lie yesterday. “I heard she slipped on some water in her bathroom and broke her leg against the tub.” said a tall boy with long, light brown, rock star hair. He was talking to a couple of his friends. As we walked through the hallway we heard more gossip similar to the story we heard earlier. Ashley was absent of course. The rest of the day was pretty much like all the rest, gossip, homework, and books.

After school Rose had to go straight to work so I was stuck walking home alone. I read while I was walking, because I left my new book at home I decide to reread one of my books. As I walked I heard a voice behind me.

“You shouldn’t really read while walking.” said the voice. It sounded like Logan’s voice. So of course I snapped my head up from my book. I turned around in a flash hoping to see Logan standing behind me, but sadly there was no one behind me or even on the same block. I most have been imagining things. I thought to myself as I turned the corner. I entered the shop after a few more minutes of walking. I went straight upstairs to do some homework. After about an hour of work I was finally done with my homework. I sat there thinking of something to do other than read and listen to music. I finally decided to play some guitar. I learned when I was twelve and always wanted to start a band with Rose.

I sat there playing some songs I learned about a year ago. After another hour or so I decided to go to sleep. I slept for almost the rest of the day. I awoke at about eleven to get something to eat. Luckily Ella left a note on the fridge telling me what she had for dinner. I decided to cook myself some microwave pizza. As I ate my pizza I thought about Logan. I don’t know why, but he seems to always be on my mind, ever since my party. When I finished my pizza I went straight to bed.

* * *

The next couple of days were the same as all the others, boring. School was just full of gossip and lectures. After school Rose and I went to the ice cream and soda shop. On the sixth my dad, Kimberly, and Jasmine came over for Kim’s birthday. But the difference between those two nights and all the others were that I had another graveyard dream.

In both the dreams I was stepping out of the crypt I was in the last time. As I stepped out the fog lightened so that I could barely see the ground. I stood there, in front of the crypt, wondering if I should wander around, and if I did would I see that figure again, and if I did see it would this dream just start to fade away as I reach towards the figure. It didn’t matter what conclusion I reached, my feet started to move by themselves. I walked towards the old tree where I first saw the figure. When I reached the tree I noticed a necklace on the ground. It was an elegant necklace, with an odd European design on it. The necklace had one garnet red stone in the middle with four aqua stones around it. I picked up the necklace, dangling it in front of my face. I kept the necklace in my hand while I walked back to the crypt.

When I entered the crypt I walked down the stairs leading to the basement. There was less of a fog then the first time I was down there. Because of this it was easier for me to see the design on the wall. As I walked around the room, I skimmed my finger tips over the design. The design was very simple; it was just a plain criss-cross design going along the middle of the wall. I noticed something in the middle of the room on the ground. I walked up to it and bent down in order to see the design. The design was somewhat hard to see because it was dark, but I was able to make it out. The design on the ground was the same exact design as the one on the necklace. As I stretched my hand out to touch the design it all vanished once again.

I awoke to the sound of my alarm once again. I went downstairs to check if Ella was home, but she wasn’t. I found a note from her on the counter, Carmela I had to step out for a sec. I'll be back by five tonight hopefully, hanging out with my friend Alex tonight. – Ella. I crumble up the note and threw it over my shoulder. I walked back upstairs and got dressed. I decided not to go to school that day but to instead go to the graveyard. I walked to the graveyard at about eight o’clock, after I called the school pretending to be Ella.

The second I entered the graveyard I went straight to the crypt in the middle of the graveyard. When I entered the crypt I froze in shock. Right there, in the middle of the room was the coffin from my dream. I walked up to the coffin to see if it was the same one. It was the exact same one; it had the cross design on it and everything. I walked to the back of the room, and skimmed my fingers along the wall again. I found the staircase exactly where it was in my dream. I walked down the steps leading into the basement. It all felt like the dream, except there was no fog. I went to the middle of the room and right there, on the ground was the design. I reached my hand towards it, hoping everything wasn’t going to fade away. I touched the design, it was cold and smooth. The design was painted on the ground.

I got back up, walked up the stairs and went outside. I walked to the tree outside, the tree from my dream. I walked around the tree and sat against it in the shade. After I got bored sitting there I got up and went to see my aunt’s grave. It was one of my favorite things to do. Especially when it was rainy and cloudy outside though unfortunately today was sunny. I walked back to the tree at about eleven o’clock and decided that it was the place I would sit and read whenever I came here. When I got there I noticed something shining on the ground when I looked down I noticed it was the necklace from my dream.

I could have sworn it wasn’t there before. I thought to myself as I dangled the necklace in my hand just like I had in my dream.

“You really shouldn’t take things that aren’t yours.” said a voice from behind me. I turned around and was surprised to see Logan. He was wearing all black. “What are you doing here anyways, aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Yes, but so are you. Aren’t you?” I asked him with a smirk. “And if you must know, I’m here to visit my aunt.”

“I don’t go to school.”

I asked. I was a little perplexed.

“Because.” he simply said with a grin.

“Nice explanation.” We stood there for a few moments before I asked “So what are you doing here?”

“I just like coming here.” he told me with a beautiful smile. His smile was so wide and perfect, I thought I was going to faint. It looked like the sun was shining directly on each tooth. Yea I know it sounds cheesy but it was how it looked.

“So, how have you been lately?” I asked lamely.

He smiled and replied “Fine, I guess and you?”

“Fine,” I said with a weary smile. Again we stood there staring and smiling. “So when did you move here?”

“We moved here about a month ago.”

“Really, do you live nearby?”

“Kind of, I live at that abandoned house at the end of the block.”

“Wait, You live there!?” I said as I remembered that guy with the platinum blond hair, from Halloween.

“Yes,” he said with a confused expression. “Why?”

“Oh nothing I just remembered this guy from Halloween who lived there.” I said with a look of embarrassment. Why was I so shocked, I mean he did remind me of Logan.

“Oh yes that was my older brother.” he said with a smile. We stood there, underneath the nice shade that the tree provided us, talking.

“So when do you think we can hang out again?” Logan asked as we walked to the gate at the entrance. It was already one o’clock. We talked for about two hours. I thought to myself.

“Um... I don’t know, I guess we can hang out like tomorrow at the ice cream and soda shop.” I said with a smile. I was so happy I was able to talk to Logan today instead of my usual mumble.

“Ok, see you soon Carmela.” he said as he turned the corner. As I walked home I remembered I didn’t tell him what time we should meet up there. I turned the corner hoping to catch Logan so I could tell him but he was already gone. I sauntered home thinking about everything that just happened. I thought about how everything from my dream was real, even though I never saw any of those things, like the necklace and the inside of the crypt before. I thought about the necklace for a moment. I reached into my pocket and felt something round. It was the necklace. I thought about how Logan told me I shouldn’t take things that aren’t mine. But if it was his wouldn’t he have asked for it back?

As I entered the shop I noticed that someone was already in there because the door was left unlocked. I entered consciously in case it wasn’t just Ella home early again. I heard a clutter of pans and plates coming from the kitchen upstairs. I walked up the stairs quietly, making sure I made no noise. What if whoever is in there is a killer. And has a gun? I thought of many questions similar to that one.

As I entered the doorway to the kitchen I saw my mother at the sink. Her back was facing me so she didn’t realize I had entered the kitchen. The clock on the stove read two-thirty. I’m still supposed to be in school. I thought to myself as I tipped-toed to my room, I slowly closed the door so it didn’t make a squeak. I spent at least an hour in my room, and then I walked back downstairs and pretended to enter the shop for the first time today.

“I’m home Ella.” I yelled as I walked upstairs.

“Hello Carmela. Your sister’s not home.” my mom said as I entered the kitchen for a snack.

“Hi mom, it’s good to see you again.” I said as I gave her a hug. I spent thirty minutes talking to my mom about a new client she got who is accused of murder and rape. When we were done talking Ella entered the kitchen.

“Hey Carmela, hi mom.” she said as she came over to give me a hug then went to give my mom one. I walked back to my room with a slice of pizza. I sat down on my bed for a while before going on the computer. The second it was done loading my IM page opened up.

Hey Carmela why weren’t u at school? Ashley was spreading a nasty story about u.

What is it this time?

She's saying that u gave her a black eye after she confronted u about that broken leg stuff. And everyone believed her since u weren’t her today.

Oh, I can’t believe her. Was she fake crying?

No not this time but why weren’t u there? What were u doing?

Because I wanted to give myself a longer weekend and I was at the graveyard.

Oh what were u doing at the graveyard?

I sat there thinking rather I should tell her about Logan or not. I decide I was not going to today. I was visiting my aunt’s grave.

Oh ok ttyl bye


I exited from my IM chat and logged off my computer. I sat there for a second, looking at the ceiling. Every time I thought about something like a book my mind wandered back to Logan.

Why do I like him so much? Why is he so mysterious? Why? I thought to myself over and over again. Why? Why? Why?


At dinner time I talked to my mom and Ella, right after dinner I went back on the computer to check my e-mail. I had another e-mail from Logan.

Hey Carmela, I forgot to ask you when we should hang out. How’s 2 o’clock? Hope to see you there.
I responded with my simple,

Yea sounds great. I sat there, staring at the blank computer after I shut it off. I eventually fell asleep without realizing it.



That night I didn’t dream the usual graveyard dream, but instead in this one I was at the ice cream and soda shop. As I entered the shop I felt a warm comforting feeling. I walked over to my usual table in the corner. When I reached the table I froze, sitting there was Logan. I stood there for a moment unable to move. I wondered why I couldn’t move. As I stood there staring at Logan he must have noticed me because he turned and started staring at me. I soon realized he wasn’t looking at me, but looking through me.

I turned around to see who or what he was staring at. Behind me- entering the shop- was ME. I stared at my dream self as she walked to Logan. I wanted to move out of the way but couldn’t, instead she walked right through me. I watched as she talked to Logan about daily stuff such as music, news, etc. I finally managed to move away from the scene and walked over to the window.

Outside it was bright; there were only five people outside talking to one another. It was the guy from Halloween, two twin girls with strawberry blond hair that reached their knees and powder blue eyes. One of the twins had indigo highlights and the other had amber highlights. They were both maybe 5'7" The three of them were talking to another girl; I could not tell who she was until she turned her head. It was Rose! I noticed that they were not talking to the other guy who was standing next to them. He had short, wavy, jet black hair with blue highlights in the front, and warm topaz eyes. He stood there watching as the other four talked to each other. He looked as if he was trying to listen to what they were saying. I strained my ears, trying to hear what they were saying. As I placed my ear on the window’s glass I could hear soft murmurs from the group. I placed both my hands on the glass, next thing I knew the glass was behind me and I was outside the shop.

The group seemed to have not noticed me watching them. There were only a few words I could make out from the quiet conversation. ‘...she isn’t right for him.’ said the guy from Halloween.

‘I agree.’ Rose said in a hushed voice, as if she was betraying someone by saying it. As the conversation went on everything began to disappear.


I awoke at nine o’clock to the smell of eggs and vegetarian bacon. I sauntered down the hall to the kitchen, still in my pajamas and with my hair in a messy bed-head style. As I walked into the kitchen I saw my mom sitting in her favorite chair in the kitchen, the one in the middle of the table, and Ella, who was standing at the stove cooking, talking to one another. My mom was the first to notice me standing in the doorway after a moment.

“Hey, sweetie how was your sleep?” she asked me with a sweet smile. I could tell she was trying her hardest to act like a good mother.

“Good morning, mom. I slept well last night. How about you? I hope the guest room wasn’t too dusty for you; we haven’t used it in a while. Dad, Kim, and Jasmine stayed in the other guest room.” I told her as I took my seat on the right side of our family-size table. We talked to each other for a while.

During the whole time I couldn’t stop staring at the clock eagerly, waiting for two o’clock to finally come. When breakfast was finally over it was only ten-fifteen. I still had about four more hours to go. I sat in my room reading my book The Dream Eaters Guide to Life. After about a hundred pages only forty minutes passed. I decided to listen to some of my favorite bands. After an hour of music I decided to play my own music on my guitar. Lastly I went on the computer for the last hour.


It was finally two o’clock and I was dressed in my favorite black long sleeve shirt with a short sleeve, rose red shirt with the word ‘love’ in Japanese writing on the middle of the shirt, I also wore my favorite black slit jeans with my spiked belt. I wore my hair in two low ponytails that hung over my shoulders.

I walked out into the hall and put on my combat boots, then walked downstairs to the shop. “Hey Ella, Can I borrow some money? I’m going to the ice cream and soda shop.” I told her as I walked up to the cash registers, where she sat reading her favorite book.

“Sure. My wallet’s in the left pocket in my coat. Don’t take anything more than the twenty.” she said as I reached into her pocket. I took the twenty and ran out of the shop and across the street to the ice cream and soda shop. I stood outside of the shop, trying to catch my breath and composed myself. I entered the shop and I checked the clock on the left wall. It read two-ten. I walked over to my usual table in the corner. I sat there for about three minutes, reading my book, Undecided, again. But soon Logan came over to me.

“Hey Carmela.” he said in his smooth voice. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” he said with a smile that made my whole body spark.

“Hey, and no you didn’t keep me waiting.” I said with a goofy smile.

“I see you’re reading. That’s a great book.” he said as he looked at the book, which at the moment was lying open on the table.

“Yea, I’ve already read it though. I don’t have any new books to read.”

“That’s shocking; I mean your sister does own a book shop. Shouldn’t you have new books like every week?”

“You would think. But people just haven’t been writing any new books lately.”

“That sucks. So, what’s new?” he asked as he sat down next to me.

“Not much, the same old, my mom decided to visit me and my sister.” I said with a weary smile as I thought about how mom was in our house uninvited, but I was okay with it I guess. “What about you?”

“Not much, my brother is thinking of making me go to school soon.” he said He also had a weary smile. We sat there talking for about forty minutes before I noticed Rose standing outside the window staring at me.

“Will you excuse me for a second?” I asked as I got up and walked towards the door where Rose waited for me outside with her mouth hanging open. “Why do you look so shocked?” I asked her as I stepped outside.

“You’re sitting there talking... flirting with Logan!” she said with bulgy eyes.

I asked as I folded my arms over my chest.

“So? So when were you the flirting-type?”

“I’m not flirting.” I said with a frustrated look. I didn’t really want to talk to Rose about this right now.

“Um... Yea you are. Anyways I came to tell you that Ella needs to see you, something about school.” she said as she tried to think back to whatever it was that Ella told her.

“Fine, tell her I’ll be back in like twenty minutes.”

“Whatever. Talk to you Monday. You are going to school on Monday, right?”

“Yea I’ll be there.” I said with a smile as I entered the shop again. I walked over to Logan, and we continued our conversation.


When I entered the book shop it was only three-fifteen. Ella was waiting for me in the kitchen. She held a sheet of paper in her left hand. As I walked to the seat across from her I felt a nervous shiver go down my spine as she sat there reading the note. “I just got this note from your school; it says you’re failing science. Well, what do you have to say about this?” she asked as she held up the paper.

“First of all why isn’t mom talking to me about this?”

“She left. She had to go see her client.”

“Okay second of all, I’m only failing it because it’s boring. But don’t worry I’ll bring my grade back up.”

“Fine, you better.” she said with a tired look in her eyes. I could tell she was tired of my failing. I’ve been failing science for two years now. I sauntered out of the kitchen and walked slowly to my room. As I entered my room my e-mail alert started beeping. I went over to my computer to see who it was. It was only some junk mail sadly. After I deleted it I went straight to my bed. I reached over to my desk and got my book. I read for only about an hour before I feel asleep.

When I awoke it was seven. I walked to the kitchen where I found a plate of angel hair on the table. It was warm so I knew it wasn’t out that long. After I finished eating it I went back to my room and got dressed for bed. I wore my midnight blue shorts with my violet sleeveless shirt. Before I got to bed I washed off all my make-up, brushed my hair and teeth, and washed my face. That night my dream was similar to the one I had the night before.

I was in the hallway of school this time; the halls were empty except for Rose, the twins, and Logan’s brother. Again they were huddled together, talking about something or someone.

‘I don’t understand what she was thinking about...’ one of the twins said. The one with the Amber highlights.

‘...what was he thinking when he decided to talk to her.’ said the other twin with the indigo highlights. I was kind of bored of listening to them. I didn’t know who they were talking about but as I walked through the hall, past the science room and the math room, I couldn’t stop thinking about what and whoever they were talking about. At first I wondered why Rose would be talking to them, but then I started wondering how she met them. I kept walking down the stairs to the basement. In real life I’ve never been in the basement. As I entered the basement I couldn’t see anything, the only lights down there were flickering. I moved to the far left corner. When I reached the dark corner the lights in the basement went out. The second they came back on Logan was standing in front of me. He had a sweet, warm smile on in his face. As I stared at him I began to wake up.



I awoke to my alarm clock once again. I got dressed in a brighter outfit, after that dream about Logan’s smile. I wore my only aqua blue shirt; it had a dark purple smiley face on it. I wore it with my sky blue jeans, and my hair in two low braids. As I walked into the hall I put on my regular white sneakers. Luckily Ella was out and I wouldn’t have to explain my wardrobe. I walked to school alone that day to surprise Rose. As I entered school all I could hear were gasps.

“What the hell!” I heard Rose yell from a few feet away. I tried to hold back a smile. “Is this like a mentally challenged thing or are you going through some kind of faze?”

“No I’m just in a good mood today. Why do I look bad?” I asked Rose as we walked to our lockers.

“Well kind of, it’s just not really you.” she said with an apologizing look on her face.

“It’s okay I have a change of close in my locker.” I said as I reached into my locker and pulled out my black shirt. I also grabbed my midnight blue faded jeans. I walked into the bathroom and heard gasps from the girls fixing their hair in the mirror. I walked into one of the stalls, and five minutes later I came out in my black usual outfit. I walked over to the mirror and started untying my hair from the braid. I felt so stupid now that I thought about what I just entered school in. I was just lucky Logan didn’t see me in it.

As the first bell rang Rose and I entered the science room. “Hello class, today we will be studying actions and reactions...” he was interrupted by someone coming into the class room. Rose and I didn’t look up from our books, as we heard Mr. Cobrian say “Ah, yes class these are our two new students, Lilian and Amber Abend. Um... let’s see, you two can sit in the two empty desks behind Carmela and Rose. Will you two please raise your hands?” Rose and I did so without even looking up from our books. I finally looked up from my book as the two girls past us. I froze in shock as I saw who they were. They were the twins from my dream. As Mr. Cobrian read the first paragraph in the text book I turned around in my seat in order to face the two girls.

“Hi I’m Carmela Cross.” I said as I reached my hand out to the two girls.

“Hi I’m Lilian.” said the one with the indigo highlights. She sat right behind me.

“I’m Amber.” said the one with the amber highlights. She sat right behind Rose.

“This is my friend Rose Avery.” I said as I pointed to Rose, who was at the moment copying my homework as Mr. Cobrian came around to collect it. I turned around to give Mr. C. my homework. “Where are you guys from?” I asked as I turned back around to face the twins.

“Germany.” they said at the same time. I was surprised to hear that because they didn’t have an accent.

“That’s cool.” I said as I turned around to listen to the lecture. After class I went to my locker to get my gym cloths. On my way to gym I ran into the twins. Their hair really did reach their knees; it was so cool I never saw anyone with hair that long. They had three earrings on each ear and they were about 5'6". They were both wearing black pants- Amber’s were more faded- and a red t-shirt with long black sleeve shirts underneath.

“Hey,” I said as I past them in the hallway.

“Hey Carmela.” they both said at the same time. They followed me to the gym room and went to talk to one of the teachers. After I changed to my gym uniform I sat in the bleachers reading. I noticed that everyone was talking about some new guy in the grade higher than us.

What a coincidence that the day two new girls come to school a new guy also comes. Then again they could be related. I thought to myself as I turned my attention back to my book.

“Hey Carmela,” I heard Rose say from in front of me. “I see you’re reading again.”

“Yea, it’s a good book. So what’s up? I see we are doing basket ball in gym again. Are you going to play?” I asked as I put my book down, underneath one of the bleacher seats.

“I think so. Are you?”

“No, I’m not really in the mood to play anything today.” I said as the gym teacher, Mr. James, came over to the bleachers to explain the rules again. I sat there not really paying attention to him. Instead I was thinking about Logan.

I wonder if he is going to start school anytime soon. It would be cool to hang out with another guy like me during school. I thought of this as Lilian and Amber made their way to where I was sitting. I looked around me and found that I was alone on the bleachers except for a group of girl huddled in a corner gossiping. Everyone else was on the court practicing passing.

“Hey Carmela, why aren’t you playing?” asked Lilian as she and her sister took a seat next to me.

“I don’t know I guess I just feel like being lazy today.” I said with a smile as I thought about how I sat here thinking about Logan while the rest of the class left the bleachers and got on the court. “I’m not much of a sports kind of girl. But why aren’t you two playing?”

“We are not playing because my wrist hurts.” Amber said with a weary smile, almost as if she was hoping it was a good excuse.

“What about you Lilian? Do you guys do everything together?” I asked Lilian with an innocent smile, not wanting to seem pushy.

“Kind of, we have never really been apart.” Lilian said with a smile on her face as she looked at Amber. “I’m older by ten minutes. So I always feel like I have to be with her to protect her.” she explained.

“Oh, that’s nice that you two are close. I only have one sister and a half-sister. My sister is older than me by five years and my half-sister is younger than me by eight years.” I told them with a smile.

“That’s cool. I’ve always wanted a younger sister.” they both said at the same time.

“Sadly we have two older brothers.” Lilian said.

“Wow that stinks. I’m happy I don’t have older brothers. The only thing cool about my sister is that she owns the book store, ‘Ella’s Book Shop’.” I told them.

“That’s really cool.” Amber said as I looked at the clock. We already had only thirteen minutes left of class. We sat there talking about random stuff for the rest of the gym period.

After school Rose and I walked to the bakery. As we entered the shop, we noticed it was almost completely empty. After Rose and I got our cupcakes we took our usual seats in the back corner. Our cupcakes were the same; we had chocolate cupcakes with normal white and green icing. We sat there for half an hour talking about Lilian and Amber.

“I think they are really cool.” I said as I took a bite of my cupcake.

“Yea they seem nice. But they’re also really quite.” Rose managed to say with her mouth full.

“I wonder what the new guy in the upper level looks like.”

“Imagine if it was Logan.” As I started to think about that idea my thoughts were interrupted by Rose’s laughter as she noticed me thinking about him. After another hour of talking we started heading over to the book shop. When we entered I noticed Ella wasn’t home and the front door was open. I decided to ignore it since Ella tends to forget things. Rose and I walked upstairs and into my room. As I entered the room I noticed that my internet was opened. I ran up to my computer to check what it was opened on. When I reached my computer I noticed it was opened to my e-mail.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked me as she came up behind me.

“Um... nothing. It’s ok.” I told her as my eyes scanned the page. It said I had one new e-mail from Logan,

Hello Carmela, how was school? Do you know if we can hang out any time soon?

Again I stared at the e-mail before I replied.

Hey, um. . . I guess it was ok. Nothing really new happened except that some new girls came to school named Lilian and Amber. Um. . . I don’t know exactly when we can hang out but I know we can.

I heard Rose’s laughter coming from behind me. I turned to fine Rose on my bed flipping through my cell phone.

“You don’t have Logan’s phone number?” Rose asked as she threw my phone on my bean-bag chair in the corner.

“No I don’t.” I said as I got up and moved across the room to the bean-bag chair, where my phone was laying, and sat down. “Why, were you going to call him?”

“Well yea, I wanted to tell him you were day dreaming about you and him together.” she said as she laughed. I reached for the red silk pillow lying next to me and threw it at her right in the face. I couldn’t help but laugh at her expression, her face was red from both the laughter she was doing earlier and from the shock. She reached behind her for my moon shaped pillow, and threw it towards me. Luckily Ella opened the door that stood in between Rose and I, the pillow hit her on the side of her face as she peeked in to see what we wanted for dinner. Rose and I broke out in laughter, but we could tell that Ella was not happy about this accident.

After dinner Rose and I spent about two hours talking, until we decided to go to bed, it was only ten but we were already tired. That night, I couldn’t help but think about this morning. Who came into the house? Is Ella really so forgetful that she would forget to lock the door? Who would come into a house or apartment and not take anything, but instead check my e-mail? These thoughts kept me up half the night. I awoke with a shock, as if an ice cold finger had touched my cheek. I turned my attention to the clock lying on my desk at the side of my bed. It had the numbers seven- zero- zero on it in that bright red light that I hated to see every morning. I woke up Rose for another day of the dreadful school.



I heard two voices say at the same time. I turned around and saw Lilian and Amber coming towards Rose’s and my locker.

“Hey you two, you look nice today.” I said as I closed my locker. They were both wearing the same outfit but in different colors. Lilian was wearing a violet sleeveless tank-top with light faded blue low-cut jeans. Amber was wearing the exact same thing but with an orange top and light blue non-faded low-cut jeans. No one found there outfit odd since it was a warm afternoon. Both of them had their hair in a high ponytail. When they reached us I noticed that Lilian was limping. “Lilian what happened?”

“Oh nothing really.” she said with a smile as she noticed that I was staring at her leg.

“We were just out with our brothers.” said Amber as she and her sister reached us.

“Oh. Are you okay?” Rose asked as she closed her locker and turned to us.

“Yea I’ll be okay. It’s just a miner cut.” All four of use walked to our first period science class together, talking about what we did yesterday after school.


During gym, as we were all in the locker room changing into our gym uniform, I noticed that Lilian’s right leg had a bandage wrapped around it from the ankle all the way up to the knee which was about a foot long. Neither of them seemed to have noticed me staring at Lilian’s leg. As we exited the locker room I took my usual seat on the bleachers. Lilian and Amber followed me to my seat. They sat right beside me.

“How do you always get the teachers to let you sit on the bleachers?” Lilian asked me as she turned her attention from the volleyball game that was going on on the court to me.

“I just sit on the bleachers when I feel like it and they don’t say anything. I’ve been doing it since last year.” I told her with a shrug.

“Oh that’s cool. Do you ever play?” Amber asked.

“Occasionally, but very rarely”

“Cool.” they both said at the same time.

“Um... Lilian you said you only had a minor cut, but your bandage covers more than a foot of you leg.”

“Oh, yea it’s a minor cut but we only had these long bandages.” Lilian explained to me as I skimmed my gaze over her leg.

“Okay. I was just making sure you were okay.”

“Yea I’m okay. That’s the price you pay when you have two older brothers.”

“Hahaha, I bet.”

After school I walked straight home to make sure no one came into the shop without Ella being there. As I entered the shop I noticed that once again Ella was not there, but instead she was hanging out with her friend Alex. Luckily the door was locked. I sauntered to my room and found a site starting up on my computer. I ran up to it to see what site it was. Again it was opened to my e-mail. I had another message from Logan that said, Hey Carmela, what’s up? I was wondering if we could hang out tomorrow at four, at the bakery.
I simply wrote back, Yea sounds good. I can’t wait.

I walked over to the kitchen in order to find something good to eat. I decided on some vegetarian chili with cheddar cheese sprinkled over it. I sat there, in the kitchen, staring at the ground and thinking about the never ending questions that wandered through my mind every day. Who is coming into the house and going on my e-mail? Why is it that Ella is never at home lately? Why is it that every time I think about Logan I can’t help but smile? These questions ran through my mind every once in a while. As I sat there, in the lightly dimmed room, I had a feeling of confusion. In my entire life I have never been this confused, I always knew what was happening. Ever since Logan walked into my life everything had changed. My sister was starting to hang out with her best friend more and leaving me alone in the house, she isn’t taking care of her shop, I’m starting to fall behind in what’s happening lately, and I actually have feelings for someone who I barely know.

I couldn’t help but sit still and just let my mind wander. I hadn’t yet noticed that I had been sitting there for at least an hour and a half without moving. I finally moved, getting up from my seat and heading back to my room. I sat down on my bed and faced the window. I noticed something that I hadn’t earlier, the window in my room was opened for the first time this month. I know Ella wouldn’t open it and I hadn’t, so who had? At this point I was on the verge of breaking down. I didn’t know what to do anymore, I wasn’t even sure if it was just Ella starting to forget stuff. I was just hoping that I was right. I would ask Ella, but she was never home when I was or she would come home while I was asleep. I eventually fell asleep while I stared out the open window.


I awoke at ten P.M. to the sound of the door chimes ringing as the door opened in the shop. I came down the stairs in time to see Ella kissing Alex. I froze half-way down the stairs. Half of me wanted to cough and interrupt the kiss, but the other half of me wanted to leave them alone, and then there was a small part of me that wanted to gage. As I debated on what to do they had already broken apart. After Alex left Ella turned around and almost screamed when she noticed me on the stairs.

“How long have you been standing there?” Ella asked as she caught her breath.

And yes I did see you and Alex making-out.” I said with a half-smile.

“Oh, so you saw that.”

“Yea I did, that’s why I said I did.”

“No need to be mean about it.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go get dressed and go to bed.”

“Already?”

“Yea,” I said as I headed up the steps.

“Okay good night Carmela.”

“Good night.”

That night I didn’t have a dream about anything like I usually do. I had a peaceful dreamless sleep. I awoke early the next morning, at about six-ten. I was still tired but I couldn’t go back to sleep. I went over to my closet to choose an outfit. I decided to wear my dark, almost black faded jeans with my dark, bloody red short-sleeve shirt with a long-sleeve black shirt underneath it. I sat there awake for about another thirty minutes before I went to my bathroom to brush my hair and teeth. At about seven-thirty I was done with everything and was waiting for Rose to get to the shop.

She finally showed up at seven-fifty. As we entered school we noticed that everyone was crowding around the window that looked into the office.

“...so that’s the junior you were telling me about? Wow he is hot.” said a tall Asian, red head. Her hair was a boy cut type of hair. She was talking to a short Hispanic girl with long brown hair that reached a little below her shoulders.

“Yea, that’s him. I heard he comes from some place far from here.”

“I wonder who every girl in school is getting worked up about.” Rose said as we tried to see past all the girls in school. They were all trying to see the new junior, just like we were.

“I wonder what his name is, or what he looks like.” I said as I strained to see past them. I turned around to see if Rose was behind me. She was at my side, but besides that I noticed that there were two girls who were not trying to see into the window. Those girls just so happened to be Lilian and Amber. I moved away from the crowd and went over to the twins.

“Hey you guys, you look bored." I said as I reached them. They were both standing against the lockers facing each other but saying nothing.

“Oh, hey Carmela.” they both said at the exact time. “Do you know what the commotion is about? It seems to be causing every girl in school to go crazy?”

“Yea some guy is in the office. He is supposedly the hottest guy in school. Why aren’t you two going crazy?” I said as I gestured towards the office.

“We don’t really do that kind of thing. Plus what if he is some ugly, gay guy.” all three of us laughed at the last reason. We stood there until the teachers made us all leave. As we walked to our first class, after going to our lockers, we noticed that Mr. Cobrian wasn’t in the room yet. We took our normal seats and started talking to each other.

“Did you see him, Karen? I only got a glimpse but from what I saw he is so hot!” I could hear the girl sitting near Rose, Lilian, Amber, and I say to her friend. She had medium length dark brown, almost black, hair. She looked Native-American.

“Yea I saw him, Cheyenne, and he was defiantly hot!” the girl next to the Native-American girl said as she emphasized the word hot. She also had medium length dark brown, almost black, hair. “Do you know what his name is?”

“Yea, I think it’s like Luck or Lance, something with an ‘L’ that’s all I know.” At that I froze. My eyes were wide; I knew I looked like a deer caught in head lights. Could they possibly mean Logan? Impossible, or is it? I thought to myself as Lilian was telling some story about Germany.

“Hey Lilian, hey Amber.” I said as I finally came back to reality.

“Yes?” they both asked as they snapped their heads towards me.

“What’s your last name?”

“It's Abend. Why?” Lilian said.

“Do you have an older brother named Logan?”

“Yea, He goes to this school.” Amber said, at that Rose and I looked at each other in shock. There was no way this could be happening. I mean I was happy it was but it was just crazy.

That entire day I couldn’t stop thinking about Logan. Even during gym I was thinking about him. We were playing soccer and of course I was goalie and got hit in the face with the ball. After gym the rest of the day was a blur. When the final bell rang I was so excited to finally get home. As I walked through the hall to my locker I wasn’t paying attention to anything, and next thing I knew I was on the floor and my books were all over the place.

“Watch it next time.” I said as I rubbed my head.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry Carmela.” said a warm, smooth voice. The second I heard his voice I snapped my head up to see Logan kneeling in front of me and holding my books.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he stood up and held his hand out for me. He was wearing a red shirt with the German word for ‘life’ on it. He had the normal black, ripped jeans on as well.

“Um... yea I’m okay. Sorry for being so rude.” I said as I took his hand. He pulled me up effortlessly.

“Sorry for bumping into you like that. I wasn’t really paying attention.” he said with a smile on his face as he handed me my books, we were still holding hands. I could feel almost everyone's eyes on us.

“Um... well it’s okay. I um... need to go.”

“Well, do you want to walk with me? I believe we did have plans to hang out at the bakery today anyways.” he said with a smile as he walked with me towards my locker. I put my combination in, still aware of the eyes that were still on us.

“Sure I would love to walk with you.” I said with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Okay. Are you ready?”

“Yea I’m ready.” I said as I slung my back pack over my left shoulder. We walked side by side on the way out. There was about an inch between us.

“So when did you join the school?” I asked Logan as we crossed the street about a block from the bakery. That was the first thing either of us said the whole walk from school. We occasionally glanced over at each other and smiled.

“I joined the same time Lilian and Amber joined.” he said with a smile as he looked down at me.

“Oh. I should have known that.” I said with a shy smile. I could feel my cheeks turn a little red. I felt so stupid at that moment.

“What’s wrong? You look like you have something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking about a book.”

“What book?”

“Undecided. I was just thinking about the main vampire, and the main girl. You know, how they fell in love with each other after only knowing each other for a few days.”

“Why did that cross your mind?” he asked with a smile.

“Oh, no reason.” I knew I couldn’t tell him the real reason. I was thinking about how I seemed to like him for no reason whatsoever. I couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. He looked at me with curious eyes. I looked up at him and had a goofy smile on my face. We finally reached the bakery and we took our usual seats at the corner table. Even in the bakery people were staring at us.

“So you didn’t know I was at school with you, did you?” Logan asked with a smile on his face.

“No I didn’t. I didn’t realize until today when some girls were talking about you.” I said with the same goofy smile, the one that I had while we walked.

“Oh, really? I thought Lilian or Amber would have told you.”

“How would they know that I knew you?”

“I’ve told them and Kristian about you.”

“You told them about me!” I said a little too loud.

“Yes, is that bad?”

“No, I’m sorry I was just shocked.” I said as I sat back in my seat. That was the first time I noticed that I was half out of my seat. “Um... do you want something sweet to eat?”

“Sure.” we both got up and ordered a couple of cupcakes. My cupcake was chocolate with red icing on it. It also had light blue sprinkles on it. Logan’s was a vanilla cupcake with blue icing and green sprinkles.

“So why did you ask me to hang out with you? I mean why did you want to know me in the first place?’ I asked Logan as we went back to our table with the cupcakes.

“Um, well I don’t know. You just seemed like an interesting person the first time I saw you. I wanted to hang out with you today because I thought it would be nice. So can I ask you a question?” Logan asked with a smile. He looked like he was happy to tell me the reason.

“Yes.”

“Why did you agree to meet me at your birthday party? I mean you didn’t know me, or know what kind of guy I was.”

“Well, I don’t know. I just felt that, well, never mind.” I turned my face so I was staring at the door. I hoped he couldn’t see my cheeks turning red.

“So you’re not going to tell me? Is it really that embarrassing?” he asked. I could tell the smile in his voice. I turned around to look at him, and to my surprise his face was only a couple of inches away from me. I was mostly surprised that I didn’t back away, but instead I sat there, looking into his ice blue eyes.

We sat like that, staring into each others’ eyes, for what seemed like hours. I was finally brought back to reality by the vibrations of Logan’s phone in his pocket. Logan slowly sat back in his seat. He pulled out his cell phone so fast that I didn’t even see it until he was already holding it open. He took a look at the caller ID and let out a sigh. He put the phone to his ear and I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end.

“Yea I know. I’ll be there soon. No...” he was interrupted by whoever was on the other end. “I don’t want to leave right now. Yea I’m with her right now. Fine, bye.” he said before he shut the phone. He put his face in his hands for a moment.

“Are you okay?’ I asked. My voice sounded weird to me. It sounded like barely a whisper. I wasn’t sure if it was from our intense moment only a few seconds ago.

“Yea, my brother is just being annoying.” he said as he lifted his head up to look at me. He gave me a weary smile.

“Do you have to go home?” I asked with a disappointed smile.

“Yea, I’m sorry. I wish we could hang out for at least a few more minutes.” he told me with the same disappointed smile that I had.

“Well, I could walk with you.”

“Yea, that would be nice.” he said with a warming smile. After we finished our cupcakes we started walking to his house. The walk probably would have taken ten minutes but it took us about twenty minutes. When we finally reached Logan’s porch we both stared into each others’ eyes, as we had at the bakery. We were leaning in close to each other so close that are faces were only a few inches apart. It was a lot like what you would see a couple do before they kiss in a movie. As we were leaning in closer I could feel my stomach tighten. When we where only a few centimeters apart I could feel an electric shock run up my spine. We were so close to a kiss when we were interrupted by the door opening.

Lilian, Amber, and Kristian were all crowding the doorway. Lilian and Amber had a smile on their faces. They both looked like they were trying not to laugh. Kristian looked bored but I could tell that behind his bored look he was mad about something. The second we heard the door open Logan and I stepped away from each other. We left about a foot between us.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Carmela.” Logan said with a smile as he walked through the filled doorway.

“Yea, see you later.” I said with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw his gleaming smile. I’ve only seen it a few times but it still was amazing. Especially thinking about how close we were to a kiss, I immediately knew my checks were once again turning red.

“We’ll see you tomorrow too Carmela.” said Lilian and Amber. After they closed the door I turned around to leave. I practically skipped down the steps. I still felt that same electric shock going down my spine. As I walked home I felt as though I was floating on a cloud. I know it sounds cliché but it was really how it felt. I didn’t even realize I was home until I noticed Rose sitting on the porch waving at me as I approached her.

“Hey Carmela, where did you go after school?” she asked me as I unlocked the door.

“Oh, sorry I decided to walk to the bakery with Logan.” I said with a shy smile on my face.

“No way! Details!”

“Um... well, we just talked and then I walked with him to his house and we almost kissed, I think.” The second I said that I could hear her gasp, I knew she was really shocked.

“No way! Well why didn’t you?”

“We were interrupted by his siblings.”

“Oh, that sucks. Well, at least you were close.” she said as we walked into my room. I immediately went straight to my laptop that was on my desk. I unplugged it from the socket behind the desk and brought it over to my bed. I unplugged my cell phone charger and plugged my laptop in. I laid down on my bed, Rose sitting cross legged at the side of my bed. We talked as I waited for the screen to load. When it was finally done I went straight to my e-mail. Rose got on her knees in order to see what I was looking at. I had three new messages. The first one was from my mom and it was just about some new client she had. The second was just some spam. And finally the last one was the one I was looking forward to. It was a new message from Logan. I realized I was holding my breath as I opened it. Rose was staring at me as I waited for the message to load. When it finally opened I stared at the words.

Hey. Sorry about being interrupted by my siblings. Lilian and Amber wanted me to apologize for them. I hope we can walk together tomorrow.

I stared at the e-mail for a while. I could only imagine Logan smiling as he typed this. Rose broke out in laughter as she read the e-mail. I gave her a weary smile. I turned the computer at an angel, in which Rose could not see what I was typing.

Yea, that was very . . . interesting. I hope we can do it again tomorrow.

I hoped he knew I meant the hanging out part, and a little of the almost kissing part. I pressed send after rereading the message. I sat there waiting for the screen to finish loading. When it was finally done I shut down the computer and laid it on the wooden chest at the end of my bed. I laid there for a while, trying to get my crazy emotions in order. Rose and I sat on my bed talking about what Logan and I were doing after school. We started to work on some of our math homework when the door opened downstairs in the shop. I went downstairs to check who it was. I froze on the bottom step when I saw who was standing there.

Logan was standing in front of the cash-register staring out the window. Rose was running down the stairs to ask me a question. She wasn’t paying any attention as to where she was going, and she almost ran into me. “Um... hey Logan.” I said with a smile as I walked over to the cash-register. He turned around with a smile on his face as he looked at me.

“Hey Carmela, what’s up?” he asked as I came behind the register.

“Not much. I was just doing some math homework.” Rose came up behind me with a smile. I could tell she was trying to suppress a giggle. “Oh, yes, Rose this is Logan. Logan this is Rose.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Logan.” Rose said with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Logan said with a smile that showed nothing but kindness. We all stood there with that kind of weird awkward silence. I turned to give Rose one of those give-us-some-alone-time look. Luckily she received the message.

“Um, well, I’m going to go get some homework done. It was nice meeting you Logan.” Rose said as she left the room. Logan and I stared at each other. As I looked into his eyes I forgot everything I was thinking of. I was so lost in his eyes that I didn’t realize it when Ella walked into the shop. She just stared at Logan and me.

“Um... hello Carmela.” Ella said as she cleared her throat. I finally blinked; only at that moment did I notice that Logan and I were leaning towards each other. Once again we both leaned away from each other. I gave Ella an annoyed look. I was so tired of getting interrupted by someone.

“Oh. Um, Logan this is my older sister Ella. Ella this is my, um, friend Logan.” I said with a shy smile. I could see Logan smile become a little disappointed but still happy at the same time, as I said the word ‘friend’. I was looking at the ground at the moment, waiting for Ella to leave the room. She got the message after a few seconds of the once again awkward silence. After she left I waited a few more seconds before I looked back up at Logan. I stared into his eyes once again and instead of them being light blue they were a harder onyx color. I looked at him, confused by the dark eyes. He looked like he was distressed about something.

“I’m sorry Carmela. I have to go now. It was nice seeing you again.”

“Wait. Why did you come here?”

“I don’t know.” Logan said with a smile as he left the shop. I couldn’t help but smile when I heard him say that. I didn’t move for a few minutes as I thought about what just happened. Rose finally came downstairs as she heard the bells chime over the door as Logan left.

“So, what was that all about?” Rose asked as she came in front of me. She leaned against the counter, laying her elbows on the counter and her chin on her hands.

“I don’t know. We just stood here staring at each other.” I said with a sigh.

“What happened then?”

“I don’t know exactly. Ella came in and when she left Logan looked like he was mad about something.”

“Well that’s weird.” she said as I stared blankly at the counter.

“Yea,” I said with a frown. Rose and I walked up stairs to my room and sat on the bed for almost an hour before Rose had to go. After Rose left I sat on my bed for a few hours. I sat there reading and playing my guitar. After a few minutes I took out my computer. As I turned it on Ella walked into my room.

“Hey Carmela dinner’s ready.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a second.” I said when my screen was finished loading. I had one new e-mail. I hurried to the kitchen so I could get my dinner and get back to my computer. Ella was sitting in one of the chairs, stirring a bowl of tomato soup.

“I made you some tomato soup and a grilled cheese.” Ella said as I entered.

“Thanks.” I said as I put the bowl on a plate. I walked out of the kitchen slowly, making sure not to spill any of the soup on the floor. As I entered my room I shut the door behind me with my foot. I laid the plate on my desk. As I opened the e-mail I wondered if it would be Logan’s explanation as to what happened today.

Hey Carmela, sorry about what happened earlier today. I was just a little mad that we keep getting interrupted by our siblings. I hope we can talk tomorrow.

I stared at the letters on the screen, still confused as to why Logan was mad. But I was really too tired to care.

Hey Logan, it’s okay. I hope to see you tomorrow too. I typed back as I took a sip of my soup. I opened up another tab on the screen. I opened it up to a random search engine and typed a random band into the search bar. I clicked on the first song I saw. As the song began playing my IM alert popped up. I opened up my IM page.

Hey I was wondering if you would like to hang out with me, Lilian, and Amber after school.

Yea, I would love to hang out with you guys. Where do you guys want to go?

Um, I don’t know let me ask them. I waited for a second until he got back. They said the graveyard. How’s that?

Yea, that sounds good. Are we going to walk there after school?

Yea, I’ll tell them. Oh speaking of the devils. . . LOL they want to talk to you.

Okay

Hi Carmela, it’s Lilian and Amber. Sorry about interrupting you and Logan. :)

It’s okay. So how are you two? We didn’t get to talk much at your house.

We’re good. Hopefully you can come over to our house sometime.

Yea, that would be really cool.

Oh we have to go now. Bye- Logan, Amber, and Lilian

Bye☻ I closed up my IM page and went back to my music player. I let the music play as I took out my book, I was only on page twenty-seven, but it was my fourth time reading it now. I still had a smile on my face as I had a mental recap of everything that happened with Logan. I think I fell asleep somewhere between ten-thirty and eleven o’clock. I slept peacefully and dreamlessly that night.

I awoke to my alarm clock once again. I felt too tired to actually get up and go to school. The only thing that got me up was the thought of seeing Logan. I wore my almost bright colors, remembering Rose’s expression when I wore my brightest outfit. I wore my dark blue jeans and blue t-shirt over a long sleeve black shirt. I put my hair in a high ponytail, with my bangs hanging out. When I was done with everything I put on my eyeliner and my bloody red lipstick. While I waited for Rose to get to my house I leaned against the counter down in the shop. I was in the middle of my book, when I looked out the window to see if Rose was almost here. To my surprise I saw Rose turning the corner, but she wasn’t alone. I put down my book and went over to reach for my key that was hanging on a hook near the door, in order to open it so Rose could come in. As soon as I opened it Rose was already stepping in.

“Hey Carmela, look who I ran into on my way here.” she said with a smile as she gestured towards Lilian, Amber, and lastly the most beautiful Logan. He gave me a quick smile when I turned to look at him entering through the doorway.

“Hey Carmela.” Lilian and Amber said as I put my book in my bag and slung it over my left arm.

“Hey you guys. I’m surprised to see you all here.” I said with a smile as we left the shop.

“Yea we were just walking to school when we noticed Rose, and well, we decided to walk together.” Lilian said with a smile as we started walking. The rest of the walk to school was very quiet, except for the occasional small talk. I wasn’t really paying attention to what everyone else was saying since Logan’s arm kept brushing up against mine. I would occasionally look up at Logan, just to see him looking at me with a smile on his face that seemed to gleam in the sunlight.

When we finally entered school Logan and I were behind Lilian, Amber, and Rose. So I could tell that people were staring at us again. It felt a little weird entering school with the hottest guy ever. He walked me to my locker and walked with me to my first period class. I was upset when we had to part for first period.

The rest of school dragged on. I was scared that school was never going to end. But when the final bell rang I practically dashed out the room. I was running so fast that I didn’t notice Logan walking towards me. I tried to slow down when I noticed him but of course once again we banged into each other.

“I should really stop running” I said with a goofy smile as I reached for his outstretched hand. I was sitting on the ground once again. Logan and I walked to my locker, where we met up with Lilian and Amber. Rose knew I wasn’t walking with her today so I didn’t have to worry about her ambushing me again. The walk to the graveyard was the same as the walk to school; it was quiet except for the casual small talk about school. Logan’s arm kept bumping into mine again. When we finally reached the graveyard I noticed that Lilian had a blanket and Amber was carrying a basket. I couldn’t help but wonder what we were doing. As we entered the graveyard we walked all the way to the middle. There Lilian laid the blanket under the tree, the same tree that Logan and I stood under the last time we were here. We all took a seat on the blanket; we sat in a circle, with Logan on my right side and Lilian on my left. Amber opened up the basket and pulled out some sandwiches and some sodas. We all took a sandwich and a coke. My sandwich was peanut butter and jelly of course.

“So do you guys usually have picnics in the graveyard?” I asked after I took a sip of my coke.

“Not always, but on a good day we might.” Logan said with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw his smile. It was so perfect and amazing.

“Usually Kristian’s with us but he didn’t want to come today.” Lilian said, pulling me back to the original conversation.

“Oh. I wish Ella would let me have picnics here.” I said with a sigh. We talked for a whole hour, until Lilian and Amber had to go get the napkins that conveniently flew away, leaving Logan and I alone. At first we just sat there smiling at each other. I didn’t know what to say at the moment.

“What are you thinking right now?” Logan asked, breaking the silence.

“I was thinking about what to say.” I said with a smile. We sat there again smiling at each other. At that moment I realized we were leaning towards each other. I wanted so badly to just close the space between us.

“What are you thinking of?” I asked him without flinching.

“I was thinking about doing something, but I don’t know how it will go over.” he said as he leaned in towards me, I could smell his sweet breath blowing against my face. He leaned in even closer, to the point when there was only a centimeter between us. Before I knew it I felt cold but soft lips against mine. It was a sweet kiss that made my heart jump a few beats. I tried to remember what I was forgetting to do. When we finally broke apart I remembered what I had forgotten.

I had forgotten to breathe. I took a deep breath, trying to pull myself together. He had a smile on his face. I couldn’t help but smile. Now he was holding me in his arms. Even though I was hyperventilating I managed to keep smiling. My head was spinning and I was scared that I might pass out.

“Wow.” Was all I could say.

“That went better than I thought it would.” he said with a smile. We sat there smiling at each other again. I was so happy that I finally got the chance to feel his beautiful lips against mine. We were interrupted again, but by my phone this time. I reluctantly pulled away from Logan, but only a few inches. He was still holding me in his arms. I reached into my pocket a pulled out my phone. It was my mom, probably calling me to see what I was up to.

“Hello mom.” I said with a grin as Logan played with my hair.

“Hey sweetie, what are you up to? You sound happy.” she said on the other line.

“Oh, it’s nothing just hanging out with some friends.” I said. I could feel Logan chuckle when I said the word ‘friend’.

“Oh, well that’s nice. I’m happy you’re making more friends.”

“Yea, I am. There really cool. So can I call you back later?” I asked her as I saw Lilian and Amber coming over. Lilian was on her phone too.

“Yea, of course tell your sister I say hi.”

“Okay mom. Bye.”

“Bye.” I closed my phone and put it in my pocket as the others came over.

“Hey Logan, we have to go now.” Amber said with a frown as Lilian closed her phone.

“Why?’ Logan asked as we stood up. He was still holding my hand.

“Kristian,” Was all that Lilian said. Logan kept smiling at me as we packed up everything.

When we got to their house Lilian and Amber walked in first. Logan lingered behind still holding my hand. He turned to face me, with a smile still on his face. He leaned into kiss me again when the door opened. Kristian was standing there, and he looked pissed. I couldn’t help but worry that it was because of me. Logan turned around and gave Kristian a look that would scare anyone. Kristian got the message and went inside. Logan turned to face me.

“I’m sorry, but I got to go.” he said with a disappointed look on his face. He lightly kissed my cheek. Once again my heart jumped a beat. I slowly turned around to leave once he was already inside. On my way home I turned on my MP3 and listened to the blaring music. Once I entered the shop I walked upstairs, Ella was in the kitchen on the phone.

“Yea, she just walked in. Okay I’ll tell her you say hi.” she said as she hung up the phone. I walked over to the seat across from her and laid my book bag at my side. “That was mom she just wanted to check on us.”

“I know she called me earlier.” I said as I laid my head down on the table.

“Oh, where were you?” she asked. That caught my attention; I could have sworn I told her where I was.

“I was out with my friends.”

“Really cause Rose is here. She’s in your room.”

“Yea, I know I was out with some other friends. Lilian, Amber, and um, Logan.” I said with a shy smile as I thought about the kiss. She could see I was hiding something but didn’t really care. I got up and walked to my room. Rose was sitting at my desk reading one of my books.

“Hey Rose. What are you doing here?” I asked as I set my book down in the corner.

“I was waiting for you to get home. So how was your little date with Logan?” she asked as she put her book down. She had a grin on her face.

“It wasn’t a date since Lilian and Amber were there.” I said with a half-smile.

“What happened?”

“Nothing we had a picnic in the graveyard.”

“That’s it? Did you kiss?”

“Um... well” I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I decided that the truth would be easier. “Yea, we did.”

“No way, you are so lucky!”

“Yea, but don’t tell Ella.” I said with a bit of a frown.

“Okay, don’t worry I won’t.” The rest of the night we talked about boring things like school, boys, and music. We went to bed at about eleven. The whole night the only thing I dreamed of was the kiss with Logan.

I awoke to Rose calling my name.”Carmela, get up!”

“What do you want?” I asked I opened my eyes and saw Rose sitting on my couch and facing the TV.

“Look at this.” Rose said, gesturing towards the screen. I stood up and walked up to her. On the screen was our school, in big print was written Break In. I turned up the volume so I could hear what they were saying.

“... It is said that it is unknown as to who had broken into the school. Excuse me sir. you were here last night, during the break in, did you see anything?” asked the news reporter.

“I didn’t notice anyone in the school other than me. I finally noticed when I was watching the video. I saw a guy lingering over the file cabinet at midnight.” one of the security guards said. He looked as though he was about to rip someone’s throat out.

“Do you have any idea of whose file he might have taken?”

“He actually took the whole sophomore class.”

“Well you heard it here. Raven Crown high has been broken into by a single soul who took all the sophomores’ files.” I shut off the TV after that last statement. I went into the bathroom to get dressed. I wore the simple red t-shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. I was excited about school, mostly about seeing Logan. When I was done getting dressed Rose and I walked downstairs to wait for the others. We all agreed on walking to school together. Logan already told me on an e-mail that he was getting a car soon.

As we waited down stairs reading our books, I couldn’t help but think about what was on the news. The second Lilian, Amber, and Logan walked in the first thing that came out of Lilian’s mouth was, “Did you guys see the news?”

“Good morning to you too,” I said with a smile when I saw Logan walk in. He smiled back at me with that beautiful smile I couldn’t resist. We started walking out of the shop when Lilian and Amber started talking about the break in again. Rose decided to jump in with her own thoughts. Logan and I just kept quiet. As his arm brushed against mine he kept his hand right beside mine. After a few seconds he grabbed my hand in his. I looked up at him with a huge grin on my face. We enter school like that, hand in hand. I could hear the gasps coming from all the girls around me. I felt like I was blushing. I wondered how long Logan and I being together would shock everyone. When we got to my locker I was so jittery with butterflies in my stomach that I had to do my locker combination about eight times, and I still didn’t get it! Finally Logan decided to try it.

“What’s your combination?” he asked with a smile.

“Six, twenty-two, eleven.” I said looking down. In only a few seconds he had it opened. I stuffed my bag in my locker and got my books. We started walking to my first period class when Ashley came over to us. I hadn’t had to bother with her for a long time, ‘til now.

“I’ll see you later Logan.” I said with a smile as I looked up at him. He smiled at me for a few seconds, then left. “What do you want Ashley?”

“Oh, I just wanted to know if that was your boyfriend?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes he is.”

“Oh, how much did you pay him?” she asked with a stupid grin. I tried to ignore her, but it was so tough with her cackling clones with her.

“You know Ashley; I’m surprised that you have to go to stupid come backs just because you’re jealous of me. Gosh Ashley please stop; now it’s just pathetic.” I said as I entered the science room. My classes flew by and I could barely remember anything I did. All I remembered was that during English we had to write and read our own poems. When I went to read my poem, I saw Logan standing outside, in the hall. I tried to ignore him and read my poem anyways:

I love the way you look at me,
your eyes so bright and blue.
I love the way you kiss me,
your lips so soft and smooth.

I love the way you make me so happy,
and the ways you show you care.
I love the way you say, "I Love you,"
And the way you're always there.

I love the way you touch me,
always sending chills down my spine.
I love that you are with me,
and glad that you are mine.


When I was done I looked back into the hall and saw Logan smiling at me. I could tell I was blushing, so I quickly ran back to my desk before anyone noticed. When it was time for lunch I met up with Lilian, Amber, and Rose at my locker. We started walking to the lunch room when I remembered that I forgot my money in my locker.

“I’ll catch up with you guys down there.” I said as I turned around to go to my locker.

“Okay I'll see you later.” Rose said. I started walking towards my locker. When I reached it I noticed Logan standing against it.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked as I walked up to him. He was just leaning casually against my locker, looking hot.

“Nothing, I’m just waiting for you. I heard that you forgot your money and I wanted to see you.”

“Did you really want to just see me?”

“No, but I thought that sounded sweeter.” he said with a huge smile. “But seriously I was actually on my way to lunch when I saw you coming. I was already here.”

“Oh you have lunch at this time. I thought you have it next period.”

“Yea I did but I had my schedule rearranged so I could have lunch now. I originally did it to keep an eye on Lilian and Amber.”

“Oh, well aren’t you a nice brother.” I said as I opened my locker and took out my wallet. We walked into the cafeteria together, hand in hand once again. We walked over to the others, who were sitting in the last table at the back corner. As we walked towards them, they all snapped their heads up in surprise.

“Hey you guys. Look who I ran into at my locker.” I said as I gestured towards Logan.

“Hey Logan, what are you doing here? Couldn’t get enough of Carmela?” said Lilian with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile when she said that.

“Hahaha so funny, I changed my schedule so I could have lunch now, in order to keep an eye on you two.” he said as he pointed at his twin sisters. We all laughed together. I turned around, to see that almost every girl in the room was staring at our table. I felt self-conscious about everything I did at that moment. When Logan turned around to see what I was looking at, every head snapped back to whatever they were originally doing. Logan had a smile on his face, like he was trying to suppress a chuckle.

“So this is your permanent lunch period now?” Rose asked Logan with a smile.

“Yea, now it is. It was just a coincidence that Carmela has lunch at this time.” he said as we got up and got into the food line. We didn’t grab a whole lot but we did get a lot compared to what everyone else got. We walked back to our table, Logan right at my side. I was blushing at the moment, with Logan sitting next to me and all the eyes that were staring at me, it would be impossible not to blush.

The rest of the day was boring but after school I met up with Logan and the others and we all walked to my house. “Well, are we still hanging out tomorrow?” I asked as we entered the shop.

“Yea, we’re going to the bakery.” Lilian said.

“Okay, oh Logan, Carmela told me she needs your phone number.” Rose said with a grin. As Logan pulled out his cell phone I yanked Rose’s hair.

“Okay here.” I handed him my phone. After he was done they left. Rose and I walked into my room.

“Why did you do that?” I asked Rose as soon as we were in my room.

“I just wanted him to know that you wanted his number. And why are you freaking out you guys are pretty much dating.” she pointed out with a smile. I just stared at her, I wasn’t mad and I wasn’t happy, but I just didn’t care. I turned on my laptop and waited for the screen to load. I waited there, listening to Rose go on and on about how cute Logan and I look together. I tried my hardest to tune her out; eventually she was just a low murmur in the background. When it was finally done I went straight to my e-mail. Of course I had a message from Logan, but I also had two other e-mails, both from e-mail addresses that I didn’t know. But I decided to open them anyways. Logan’s said,

Hey Carmela I loved walking home with you. And Rose seemed enthusiastic about something. See you tomorrow.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the last part. Rose was trying to look over my shoulder in order to see what I was smiling about. I wrote back,

Yea she usually is enthusiastic about something, she’s a strange person. But I love her. And I like walking home with you too, I like how quiet you are, you and your sisters are really different. See you tomorrow.

I checked the other two after that. The first one said,

Hey Carmela its Lilian I just wanted to say hey. I can’t wait to hang out with you tomorrow. Oh and what is Rose’s e-mail address?

Hey Lilian. I can’t wait until tomorrow either. I typed Rose’s e-mail and clicked on the last e-mail.

The second one said,

Hey this is Amber. I know Lilian already asked for Rose’s e-mail so I’ll just get it from her. See you tomorrow.

Hey Amber, wow all three of you (Logan, Lilian, and you) all e-mailed me today. I’ll see you tomorrow.

I shut off my computer after I was done e-mailing everyone. I was surprised that all three of them e-mailed me so fast. After an hour Rose went home. I went back to my room after she left. I sat on my bed, staring at my phone, wondering if I should call him. I decided it was too early so I laid my phone on my desk and picked up my book. I knew it was going to be a boring night so I didn't expect it when I got a call.

“Hello?” I asked in a bored voice. I was so tired at the moment; I had no idea why though.

“Hello Carmela.” I heard Logan’s voice say on the other line. I practically jumped out of bed. My heart jumped a few beats before it started again in hyper drive. My head was spinning at the moment.

“Um, hey Logan. What’s up?” I asked with a smile.

“Not much I was just wondering if you want to go to the graveyard.”

“Is it going to be just you and me?” I asked wondering if his sisters were going to come with.

“Yea, it will be just the two of us.” I thought my heart was going to stop at that moment. I didn't realize it for a few seconds but I was holding my breath.

“Um, yea sounds good.” I said with the hugest grin on my face.

“Okay, I’ll meet you over there.”

“Yea, okay. Bye,”

“Bye.” I waited for the other line to go dead before I hung up. I ran out of my bed and went straight to my closet. I chose my fishnet stockings and my big black skirt that reached a little below my knees. It was somewhat puffy but not too puffy. I wore it with a black short sleeve shirt with a red corset over it. I let my hair hang down, over my shoulders. I put on my eyeliner and my bitten plum lip stick on. I ran down stairs as fast as I could. I slipped on my combat boots as I ran towards the cash register.

“I’m going over to the graveyard.” I told Ella when I past the counter.

“With whom?” she asked as I opened the door.

“I was just out with my friend.”

“Rose?”

“No I was with Lilian and Amber.” I said with a hesitation. I looked at her to see if she was falling for it.

“Okay, but don’t stay out to long.” she said as I left. I practically ran all the way to the graveyard. When I got there I went straight to Logan and my tree. I saw him standing there, facing away from me. His hair looked blonder and a lot longer than usual. He was wearing all black, with chains hanging around his pants.

“Hey Logan, I'm happy to see you.” I said with a smile as I reached him. My smile faded away when he turned around. I was surprised it took me that long to notice. His hair was too long, too blonde, and he was too tall.

It wasn't Logan staring at me with his ice blue eyes. Instead it was some guy with platinum blond hair and sun orange bangs going to the left. He had midnight blue eyes that looked pissed off. I realized that I was staring at Logan’s older brother, Kristian. I froze in fear, looking into his eyes.

“Listen Carmela, you can’t hang out with my family any more. There are secrets about us that you don’t and can’t know. So if you know what’s good for you, you will stay away from my family.” he said in a hard, acid, rough voice. I felt my heart stop. I was scared to death at that moment; I couldn't believe that this scary guy could possibly be related to Logan. I only stood there staring at this menacing man standing in front of me. He turned around to leave, within seconds he was gone. I stood there for another five minutes before the color came back to my face. I began breathing again. I slowly walked home and told Ella that they called and said they wouldn't be able to make it. I went straight to my room after that and laid on my bed. I eventually feel asleep. I slept a sleepless and a dreamless night.

I awoke the next day to a bleak morning. I sat there thinking about what to do. Today I was supposed to hang out with Logan, Lilian, and Amber. But thinking back to yesterday’s conversation with Kristian, I wasn't sure what to do anymore. I was scared to cross Kristian but I was dying to see Logan. I finally decided to stay home. I didn't want to take the chance with Kristian.

In order to pass time that day, I decided to do the laundry. There were a lot of clothes piling up in the hamper. I walked into the room next to the bathroom, across from the kitchen. That room was where we had the washer and drier. I put in the first load and added the bleach. I leaned against the washer as I waited. I could hear my phone ringing in my room. I sauntered out of the laundry room and into my room. I picked up my phone that was sitting on my computer desk. I checked the caller ID, it said it was Rose. Before I opened the phone I let out a sigh, I was almost disappointed that it wasn't Logan.

“Hello?” I asked with a frown on my face. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to Rose at the moment.

“Hello Carmela. Sorry I couldn't make it to the graveyard yesterday. Are you okay?” I heard Logan’s voice ask from the other end.

“Um, listen I got to go. Sorry, talk to you later.” I said with a depressed frown. I didn’t want to say bye, but I had to.

“Oh, okay. I’ll talk to you later, I guess.” he said. This time I didn’t wait for him to hang up first. After I hung up I sat there for a while. I was as confused as to what to do, but I knew I would have to face him Monday. After a few minutes I heard the beep of the washing machine, telling me that it was done with the first load. I walked over to the machines and took out the first load and threw it into the drier. Then I tossed the second load into the washer. It was only eleven o’clock but I was already hungry. I went across the hall to the kitchen for something to eat. I took out a pizza slice from the refrigerator.

The rest of the day was bleak. I finished the laundry, cleaned the kitchen, folded the clothes and actually put them away instead of laying them in the corner like I usually did. When Ella got home we ate dinner and I went straight to bed at about nine. I couldn’t sleep for the first few hours so I got up and took some flu medicine. I’ve never done that, but that night I just wanted to go to sleep.


It was finally Monday and I was not looking forward to school. All weekend I didn’t check my e-mail or answer a lot of calls from Rose and definitely none from Logan. I got up and put on the simple black jeans and red long sleeve shirt with the words, ‘Tears are just words your heart can’t say’, written in the center. I walked outside and started walking towards the school. I knew they wouldn’t show up at the shop for another half hour.

When I reached school I went straight to my locker. I was pretty early to school so I sat on one of the benches on the campus ground, near the lot. As I sat there, reading my book, I didn’t notice Logan walk up and sit next to me. He sat there, so quiet that when I put my book down and turned around I almost jumped a foot in the air. He was only a few inches away from me. I was so mad that I didn’t notice him, now I had to deal with this.

“What did I do?” he asked with a confused look on his face. His face looked soft but I could tell that there was a hint of hardness.

“You mean you don’t know about your brother?” I asked with a hint of acid in my voice. I couldn’t believe Logan was playing the clueless type.

“No. What did he do?” he asked, and I could tell he was really confused. His face looked too innocent for it to be an act.

“He told me to stay away from you and your sisters because you guys have secrets I can’t know about.” I said. There was still a hint of acid as I thought back to my conversation with Kristian.

“What! Don’t listen to him. He’s just being paranoid.”

“So there are no secrets about you guys that I can’t know.”

“Well there is one but you have to understand that everyone has a secret that people can’t know.” There was a hint of humor in his voice but there was also seriousness. I just stared at him.

“Fine, so does this mean I can go back to hanging out with the Abend family, or at least you, Lilian, and Amber?”

“Yea, of course.” he said with a smile. He leaned in, closing up the gap between us. As I felt his cold, sweet lips touch mine I could hear people gasp around us. I could feel Logan stiffen a bit. He slowly pulled away from me. I let out a sigh as he pulled away. He got up and reached out his hand for mine. I took it and left with him to my first period class. I was depressed that we had to part, but I was looking forward to lunch, when we could finally see each other again.

The day dragged on. I had to explain to Lilian and Amber why I was so absent lately, during second period. I sat there during each class, English and Biology, not really paying attention. After those dreadful classes it was finally lunch. I was so happy that I could finally get the chance to talk to Logan. I walked to the lunch room with Lilian, Amber, and Rose. As we entered the cafeteria we spotted Logan sitting at the table we sat in yesterday. But he wasn’t alone; leaning towards him from across the table was Ashley. I could feel my face turning red with the rage. Ashley looked like she was about to fall over and land on top of him. She was wearing a tight shirt that practically hugged her breasts. She also wore short shorts that looked too tight to be comfortable. I couldn’t believe her outfit; it was a bit too cold for something like that. I walked over to her, trying my hardest to restrain from yanking her backwards by the hair.

I was able to just simply sit next to Logan without any incidences. I stared at Ashley with a glare on my face. She simply gave me a sly smile. “Can we finish our conversation another time?” Ashley asked Logan as she turned back to face him.

“Sure Ashley, anytime” He said as she left. I simply turned to look at him. He was smiling at me. “What?”

“Nothing, I just can’t believe you were talking to Ashley.” I said as Lilian, Amber, and Rose walked over.

“Well she just came over to talk to me about some homework she didn’t understand in your math.” I couldn’t help but just stare at him. I was too tired to get worked up about Ashley.

After we got our food we all went back to our table, where I noticed my book was missing. It had my ID in it as a book mark. I felt as though I was going to freak out. Maybe I left it in my locker. I tried to reassure myself. I was trying to forget about it but it was hard to. So many things have been happening, the break in at my house, the break in at the school, and now if my book really was missing than it would all just be too crazy. I sat next to Lilian and across from Logan. During lunch I stole small glimpses of Logan, who was doing the same thing. He had a small smile on his face each time we looked at each other.

I was disappointed when the bell rang for sixth period. As Logan walked me to History class I couldn't help but think about what Kristian told me. I didn't want to think about it when I was with Logan but my mind kept wondering back to it.

After school we all walked to the bakery together. After that Rose and the twins walked to her house and Logan and I walked back to my house. We sat in the shop for a while talking about some things, like school, life, and books. As we sat there, flipping through some books. I was flipping through a monster book and stopped on the page that described vampires. As I read the passage I kept taking glances at Logan. I thought about his pale and cold skin, beauty, and the speed. I didn’t know what I was thinking but the thought of Logan being a vampire crossed my mind. I quickly banished that thought. After a while Logan had to leave.

“I’ll talk to you later. ‘Kay?” he asked with a smile.

“As long as it’s you this time and not your brother.”I said with a weary smile.

“I promise it will be me.” he said, also with a weary smile. He leaned in to kiss me softly on the cheek as Ella walked into the shop. As Logan left Ella walked over to me with a smile.

“Hey, I see you and Logan are becoming great friends.” she said as she leaned against the counter beside me. I let out a sigh; I didn’t really want to talk to Ella about this. I went to my room a few seconds later. I turned on my computer when I entered my room. I had three new e-mails; the first one was from Rose. It was simply asking what Logan and I did on our walk to my house. I simply told her what we did. The next e-mail was form Lilian, it said,

Hey Carmela, this is Lilian and Amber. We just wanted to say hey again. We want to know what you and Logan did for two hours. He won’t tell us. (Laughing quietly and trying to keep Logan from erasing the question)

That was the first time since I realized that Logan and I hung out here for two hours. I replied,

Hey. Well we didn’t do much, just hung out and read a little, I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell you guys. I’ll talk to you guys later, bye.

I finally opened up Logan’s e-mail.

Hey Carmela, I was wondering if we can hang out at the graveyard. I know we just hung out but still.

Yea, as long as you will be there. I typed with a frown as my mind regretfully wandered back to Kristian. After a few seconds my e-mail alert beeped on my computer, interrupting my music.

Yes, I promise you it will be me there, waiting for you.

After reading that, I practically ran off my bed and into the bathroom. I had my clothes that I was going to wear last time, laying on the counter. As I put on my outfit my mind was spinning with all the thoughts of what could happen. When I was finally done getting ready I pretty much ran out of the shop. I left Ella a note that I wrote when I was upstairs. It simply explained where I was going, I wasn’t going to tell her in person, after what she said about Logan and I being great friends. I ran all the way to the graveyard.

When I entered I walked to the same tree as always. I spotted him, standing there with his dirty blond hair gleaming in the sun light. I didn’t realize until then that the sun was shining brighter than usual. He was wearing all black even though it was pretty hot outside. As I walked up to him all my fears of Logan actually being Kristian disappeared. When I was only a few inches away from him he turned around to stare at me with those beautiful ice blue eyes that leave me breathless. He gave me a smile as I finally reached him. I left a few inches between us.

“Hey Carmela, how are you?” he asked with a smile as he stepped forward, closing the space between us. I could feel my face getting hotter as I started blushing.

“Hey Logan, I’m okay. Did I keep you waiting long?” I asked. I could feel his cool breath on my face.

“No I’ve only been here for a few minutes.” he said with a smile. His breath smelled amazing as he spoke. We sat down under the tree. We sat there for a while talking.

“What are you thinking about?” Logan asked after a few seconds of silence.

“I was just thinking about something I was reading about earlier.”

“Oh, what was it about?” he asked. He stared at me with a curious smile on his face.

“Um, it was about vampires.” I said as I looked at the ground.

“Oh, why were you thinking about that?” he asked. There was a weird edge in his voice. I stared at his face for a moment, while I debated on whether I should tell him the truth or not. As I looked into his eyes I couldn’t help but tell the truth.

“Um... Well because to tell you the truth, you kind of remind me of a vampire.” I said. Making sure he could hear the humor in my voice. He seemed to have stiffened for a moment.

“Oh, how do I remind you of one?” I couldn’t tell why he was pressing the point, but I felt it was just plain curiosity. But I couldn’t ignore the stiffness in his voice.

“Well because of your hypnotizing beauty, your pale skin, your speed and especially your dark eyes. But of course there are the things that don’t match.”

“Like what?”

“Well for example the sun doesn’t seem to bother you.” I told him as I gestured up at the sky. I gave him a small smile. I wasn’t sure if he was angry, but for some reason his face had an edgy look on it and his eyes changed to onyx.

“What would you say if I told you, you were right?” he asked while he looked at the ground. He was playing with some pieces of grass. The question had caught me off guard.

“I would say that it’s awesome. I mean I’ve always wanted to meet a vampire.” I said as I stared at him. There was no way he could be serious. This was real life, not a book. Vampires shouldn’t be real, right? Either way I know he’s the same person I’m dating and like. He slowly raised his head. He had a smile on his face, almost as if I had reassured him about something. We stared at each other in silence.

Slowly and carefully, Logan moved his hand toward me. He brushed some of my hair off my shoulder. He left his hand on my shoulder as he closed the gap between us. I felt his cool lips on mine. As his lips moved with mine I could tell that I had a hint of a smile pulling on the edge of my lips. My breath was caught in my throat. I started to feel a little dizzy but I tried to ignore it as our mouths moved together. Finally Logan pulled away from me. My breath came in a rush. I sat there letting the dizziness fade away. Again we stared at each other. I stared into his beautiful eyes. They were so light, like as if they were made of polished diamonds. It was amazing how his eyes changed so fast.

“So does this mean that I was right?” I asked as soon as I caught my breath and felt my heart beat go back to normal. I stared at his face, seeing if his expression changed.

“Yes, you were right. This was the secret you weren’t supposed to know. But now that you do I think it will be a lot easier.” he said with a smile as he skimmed the back of his hand against my cheek. I could tell he still was thinking about it.

“So can I ask you a few questions?” I asked as I held his hand to my face. I didn’t want him to ever leave me.

“It depends on what you want to know?”

“I want to know about some of the things that vampires do or can’t do.”

“I’ll answer all your questions tomorrow after school.” he said as he held his hand out for me. He was already standing up.

“Do you have to go already?” I asked with a disappointed look.

“We’ve been here for about three hours. It’s already eight.” he said as he gestured toward the sky. I looked up at the sky. I didn’t notice before but it was already dark.

“Oh, wow I didn’t even notice” I said as I took his hand. We walked to the shop hand in hand; when we entered Ella was waiting for me behind the counter. Logan left after giving me a quick smile.

“Hey Ella,” I said with a weak smile.

“Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?” she asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

“I left you a note.”

“Yea but a note is nothing. And why didn’t you mention Logan in this note?”

“Because I didn’t think it was that important.” I said with a sigh. “I’m tired can we talk about this tomorrow?” I asked her as I started for the stairs.

“Whatever, just don’t to do that again.” I walked into the kitchen and found some pizza on the counter. I heated two slices and sat there eating the pizza while I thought of all that happened today.

When I was done eating it was only nine. I went to my bed room and went to the bathroom to change. I laid on my bed and fell asleep within seconds. That night I had a dream about Logan.

I was in my room. It was so dark, I couldn’t see anything. As I walked to my window-which was the only thing that let in light I spotted a dark figure. The figure moved swiftly from side to side as it made its way to me. I saw the figure smile. It was a menacing smile. I saw the teeth gleaming in the dim moon light. As the smile widened into a threatening one I could see the fangs. As the figure reached me I tried to turn and ran. But I noticed that he wasn’t going to harm me.



I woke in a shock when I heard my alarm. I got up and got dressed for school, like any normal day. When I was done getting dressed I went straight down stairs and waited for a few minutes for the rest to come.


When we entered school Logan and I were still holding hands and talking to each other. I still wasn’t used to all the eyes staring at me when I was with Logan. Everyone should have been used to it by now but I guess I couldn’t blame them. Who would have thought that the hot, new kid would be with the Goth/Emo girl? When I got to first period I had to leave Logan. I was so depressed about it. That was until he kissed me on the lips in front of everyone. Once Logan left I walked into the science room. I had a huge smile on my face as I walked to my desk.

“What was that about?” Rose asked when I took my seat.

“Nothing,” I said with a smile still on my face.

“So does this mean you guys are definitely dating?” Lilian asked with a smile on her face. She turned and gave Amber an odd look, as if they were having a silent conversation between each other. I wondered if they were wondering if I knew. I was going to have to talk about it later.

After class I dragged myself to the next three periods, and then it was finally lunch. Once we entered I asked Rose if she could go to my locker and get my money. “I’m sorry I guess I forgot it.”

“Yea sure is it in your bag?’ she asked as she got up from her seat.

“Yea it’s in the second pocket.” I told her. When she left I turned to face the Abend trio. Logan sat right across from me of course, with Lilian on his right and Amber on his left. I stared at them; I still couldn’t believe that these beautiful people sitting across from me were vampires. I was surprised at how easy it was to call them vampires.

“So Logan do they know that I know?” I asked him, not really paying attention to his sisters, even though they were staring at me with wide eyes as I said this.

“Well now they do.” he said with a sigh. I gave him a sorry look. “It’s not that I didn’t want them to know I just didn’t want Kristian to know.” he said with a smile.

“So now you know. Well that means it will be easier to be ourselves in front of you.” Lilian and Amber both said with a relieved smile. I was happy they weren’t mad, but I could tell there was something behind their smiles.

“I was wondering if we could go to the graveyard today, so I can ask you guys some questions, only if that’s okay with you.” I asked. I didn’t want to seem pushy but I was really curious.

“Sure, we can tell you just about anything you want to know about us.” Logan said with a smile. I could tell he was happy that I wasn’t screaming about this. I had a smile on my face. I wasn’t sure if any of this sunk in or not but I was pretty sure that once it did I still wouldn’t run away. I couldn’t help but think of all the things that could happen now that I knew. A few minutes later Rose showed up with my wallet in her hand.

“Hey. Why is everyone smiling? What did I miss?” she asked as she handed me my wallet.

“Nothing.” we all said at the same time. I didn’t like leaving Rose out of this but I had to. We all sat there at our usual table, just talking about random things. I tried my hardest to keep Rose distracted so she wouldn’t ask about what Logan, Lilian, Amber, and I were talking about while she was gone. It seemed to have worked.

After school we all walked to Rose’s house to drop her off. Once she was gone we walked to the graveyard. When we entered we walked to our usual spot.

“So Carmela, now you can ask us any questions.” Lilian said as we sat down under the tree. The grass wasn’t very damp, but it had a hint of dew still on it. I took a moment to think about my first question. I didn’t want my first question to seem pushy or anything so I started with a normal question.

“So do you guys sleep in coffins?” I asked with a grin. It didn’t take long for them to answer.

“Well some of us do. Kristian is the only one in our family that sleeps in a coffin all the time. Our parents sleep in coffins once in a while, and I sleep in a bed that’s shaped like a coffin.” Logan answered with a smile. I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

“And Lilian and I sleep in normal beds.” Amber said with a smile.

“Okay, so when do you guys sleep?” I asked. “I mean you guys go to school so apparently you guys don’t sleep during the day.”

“Oh we sleep for only a few hours. Like how humans need about six to eight hours of sleep. Well we only need about two hours.” Logan answered me. I thought it was a little odd. None of the books I’ve ever read said anything like this.

“Oh, so do you guys um, drink human blood?” I asked. I was a little scared of what the answer was going to be.

“No we drink animal blood.” Amber said.

“Oh, well that makes me feel better.” I said with a smile.

“DO you any other questions?’ Logan asked with a grin.

“Actually yes, are you guys ‘allergic’ to garlic?”

“No.” they said in the exact same time.

“Can you see your reflection?”

“Yes.” they said together again.

“Do crosses bother you?”

“No.”

“What about the sun?”

“Not really. It kind of bothers our eyes.” Logan said.

“Can you cross running water?”

“Yes.”

“Can you hypnotize people?” I asked with a huge smile. I couldn't help but think about all the times that Logan has ‘hypnotized’ me with his eyes.

“Not that we know of.” Logan said with a smile. He looked at me through his long, beautiful lashes. His eyes were so light and the sun only made them brighter. I stared at him. I wasn’t sure what expression was on my face at the moment.

“So apparently you can.” I said with a smile. I sighed as I finally pulled my gaze away from his. “What about stakes?”

“Oh. They don’t do much. Of course they hurt but they don’t kill.” Lilian answered me.

“So what does kill you guys?” I asked with a little bit of fear. I didn’t really want to know what killed my new boyfriend and his family.

“Well fire and being torn to pieces. Oh and something else. But you don’t have to worry about that, there shouldn’t be any here.” Amber answered me. Logan was looking at the ground as his sister told me this. I wondered what was going through his mind at the moment. After a few minutes of the three of us staring at each other-thoughts running through each of our minds-I checked my watch. It was already five o’clock. We had sat there for two hour straight, without moving. I still didn’t want to move, but I knew my muscles were going to be too stiff if I didn’t move soon. I flexed my fingers, each one was stiff. Logan noticed me flexing my muscles and got up first. Before I could look up from the strand of grass I had in my fingers, all three of them were standing. Logan reached out to help me up. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up effortlessly. He kept my hand in his.

“So, I have only one more question.” I said as I stretched all my muscles.

“Okay. What’s your question?” Logan asked me. He had a weary smile on his face. I was glad it was the last question I could think of.

“What other skills do you guys have?” I asked. It was a simple question, but I wondered how many answers they would have.

“We are faster and stronger than humans. We can shape-shift into any animal, except for the wolf. We don’t know why though.”

“So there are no special gifts? Like reading auras and being able to control minds.” I asked.

“No. None of us have those kinds of skills.” Lilian answered me with a smile. We started walking out of the graveyard. Logan looked at his twin sisters with a look I could not read. It looked like the kind of look I gave Ella when I wanted privacy. Lilian and Amber seemed to have caught on. They said good bye to me before they turned to leave. Before I could even blink they were long gone. Logan and I stood in the entrance for a while, talking hand in hand. While we talked I couldn’t stop looking at his eyes, the way the sun hit them-making them shine like two crystals-made me feel so inferior to him. His beauty compared to my dullness just did not balance. Once in a while I would have to pull myself away from his eyes in order to bring myself back to the conversation.

“So do you think you have to go home soon?” Logan asked me as I finally brought myself back. I didn’t exactly know how our conversation got to this. We started talking about school and now we were already a block away from the shop. I didn’t realize we had been walking the whole time.

“Yea, but you can come in if you want.” I said as we crossed the street.

“Sure. I don’t want to face Kristian just yet.” he answered with a smile. When we reached the door to the shop I opened my purse to pull out my key. Everything in my purse clattered to the ground. I guess having Logan staring at me with those beautiful eyes made my hands shaky. I reached down to pick up my keys, but Logan had them and was holding the door open already. I picked up the rest of my belongings from the ground and stuffed them into my purse.

“Thanks. So how did you do that so fast?” I asked as I entered the shop.

“Um, vampire” he said as I walked past him.

“Duh, I’m so slow sometimes.” I answered with a grin of embarrassment. He closed the door behind us. We walked to the counter, I sat on top of it, and Logan took the chair from behind the counter. We picked up a few books. Like usual we sat there and read for a while. After an hour and a half we put down the books.

“So is there anything else you want to know?” Logan asked. He was standing up in front of me. He leaned in towards me, his hand on either sides of me. I took a deep breath through my nose, he smelled nice. I don’t know why he smelled so nice but he did.

“None that I can think of right now,” I answered him with a smile.

“Do you know how nice you smell right now?” he asked me with a grin. His teeth glittered, as if an invisible light was shining on each tooth.

“No, how nice do I smell?”

“You smell too good.” he answered with half a grin.

“Well so do you.” I answered. We stared at each other. I didn’t realize we were leaning towards each other until we were only a few centimeters apart. Logan leaned in even closer, closing the space between us.

As his soft lips touched mine my mind started going insane. I didn’t know how this happened so fast. We haven’t even gone on a real date yet, and I didn’t even know much about him, but I felt so close to him. He left his lips on mine for longer than before. His lips began to move. I automatically moved my lips to move along with his. At that exact moment Ella walked through the door. I didn’t hear her enter for the first few seconds. I was too in twine with Logan. We sat there, our lips moving with one another’s. Ella finally cleared her throat, making us pull apart so fast that my head was spinning. She stared at us for a few seconds, her gaze lingering on Logan.

“Well I think I should go.” Logan said as he got up to leave. He quickly kissed my check, than left. He moved swiftly past Ella, who had her arms crossed over her chest. Her brows forward after Logan left. She simply glared at me.

“I’ll be in my room when you finally want to talk to me.” I told her as I walked up the stairs. As I entered my room I could hear Ella’s foot steppes coming up the steppes. She opened my door with the same glare she earlier. I was sitting on my bed with my legs folded.

“What was that!?” Ella asked me. Her voice was just a little too loud. Her expression was mad, but I couldn’t tell why.

“Why are you so mad? It’s not like we were in my room with the door closed.” I said with a frown. My brows were forwarding with annoyance.

“Well, how do you think I fell walking in and catching my sister kissing someone?” she asked, I could tell that she was calming down, but only a little. I knew it was going to be a while until she will finally be completely calm.

“Well now you know how I felt.” I said. I raised one of my eyebrows as I stared at him.

“What are you talking about?”

“The time I walked downstairs and caught you kissing Alex.” That caught her off guard. She was silent for a few seconds.

“Well that’s different. I’m older.”

“So, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a boyfriend.” Once again she was silent. She was finally calm, sooner than I expected. She leaned against the door frame and let out a sigh.

“We’ll talk about this later.” she answered me as she walked out of the room. I slowly got up and walked over to my desk. I turned on my computer, not sure if I should be expecting an e-mail from Logan. I knew he would already be home but I also knew he would have to talk to Kristian. I had no new e-mails waiting. I sat there for a while, listening to a German band, one with a name that I couldn’t pronounce. As I listened to the flow of the German words I couldn’t help but think about all that has happened.

I can’t believe all that has happened today. It feels like a dream. But why do I feel so close to Logan? I mean I don’t even really know him. I just finally found out that he and his family are vampires. What other secrets are they hiding from me? I thought to myself as I finally decided to give up on trying to focus on the music. I laid on my bed, letting the thoughts race through my mind. My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of my e-mail alert beeping. I picked up my laptop from the chest that was at the foot of my bed. It was an e-mail from Logan.

Hey Carmela, sorry if I got you in trouble with your older sister. But if it helps I got in trouble with Kristian. How much trouble are you in?

I’m not in a lot of trouble. She was just surprised by what she saw. How much trouble are you in? I asked. I hoped he wasn’t in a lot of trouble because of me. I waited for a few moments. My e-mail alert popped up.

I didn’t get in A LOT of trouble but Kristian is mad. He actually wants you to come over to our house soon, so you can meet my parents and so he can meet you properly.

That sounds good. I would love to meet your parents. When could that be?

Anytime, you just say when.

Fine what about on Thursday?

Sure sounds good. I got to go I’ll talk to you later. Bye

Bye

I shut down my computer and put it back on the desk. I stared into the light in the corner of my desk. I was so tired that I just laid on my bed, waiting to fall asleep. My mind was still racing as I fell into unconsciousness. What am I doing? First I fall in love with a complete stranger. Find out he goes to my school. Find out he’s a vampire. Having Ella walk in while we were kissing was not a good thing. And now I’m planning on meeting his family in only two days! As these thoughts ran through my mind I turned my head to see the time. It was only eight o’clock but I was already tired. I fell asleep at about nine.



I awoke at six-fifty. I didn’t really want to go to school but I knew I had to. I dragged myself out of my bed and to the closet. I chose my simple black jeans, purple long sleeve shirt, and black plain t-shirt over it. I walked into the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth. I walked down stairs once I was done and waited for the rest to get to the shop. I sat behind the counter and was reading when Logan, Lilian, and Amber walked in.

“Hey you guys. Where’s Rose?” I asked them as I put my book down. I slung my bag over my left shoulder.

“Hey Carmela, we don’t know where she is. She wasn’t outside her house like usual.” Logan answered me with a smile. At that exact moment my phone started to vibrate on the counter. It was a new text from Rose.

Hey sorry I can’t go to school today. I have to go to my grandma’s house. (My dad’s side) I read the text out loud and then I closed my phone and put it in my pocket. I was kind of glad that Rose wasn’t going to be with us because it would give me another chance to talk to the three of them without having to worry about what I say. I walked to school with the others, holding hands with Logan.

“Is this annoying?” I asked, looking up at Logan. He had a confused look on his face. “I mean having to walk so slowly.” I explained.

“No not really. It’s just different.” he answered me with a convincing smile. I couldn’t help but smile at him, but I doubted that he wasn’t at least a little annoyed.

When we entered the school I was happy that I didn’t hear the usual gasps. People were starting to get used to Logan and me actually being together. The whole day was like every other day. I survived my first four classes before lunch. When I entered I spotted Logan and Ashley talking again. This time I wasn’t going to let Ashley win this battle. I calmly walked up to the table. I walked to the side across from Ashley and sat on the right side of Logan. Ashley gave Logan a little smile; she leaned in closer to Logan. I could tell she was trying to make herself look seductive. I turned my face to Logan.

I could feel everyone’s eyes on us. I put my hand on Logan’s cheek and moved his head so he was facing me. I slowly leaned into him, letting my warm lips touch his cool lips. We kissed for only a few seconds before I pulled away. He had his arm around my waist. I turned and smiled a teasing smile at Ashley. She stood there across from me, frozen. She blinked, trying to pull herself together.

She glared at me with an infuriated look on her face. She opened her mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. I tried my hardest not to laugh at her expression. She left the cafeteria, stomping all the way to the door. When I turned to look at Logan he was already across from me, with Lilian on his right side and Amber on his left. They all had a huge grin on their faces, also trying to suppress a chuckle. Of course it didn’t work well; we all broke out in laughter all of a sudden. I stared at each of them; Logan had the biggest grin out of them all. The laughter finally stopped after a few minutes. We all went up to the cafeteria line to get our food.

After which Logan asked me, “Carmela, why are you so cool with dating a vampire?” That question made me stop. I had to think about my answer carefully.
“I don’t know. I guess my mind is just weirder than normal.” I answered with a smile. I sat there nibbling on my pizza. “How does it feel dating a human?” I asked him after I took a sip of my soda.

“It doesn’t feel like anything special really. I just have to pay more attention to what I do. But other than that it seems easier than I thought. I thought you would freak out and run away.” he told me as he looked down at his tray.

“We did too. But we’re happy to see that you’re different.” said Lilian and Amber. I stared at Logan for a long time. I slowly slid my hand towards him. I was cautious not to do something wrong, but before I could see it Logan had his hand in mine. His cool skin felt like marble against mine.

We sat there throughout the whole lunch period, staring at each other and occasionally making small talk. As I watched his sisters talking to each other the thought of last night returned to my mind. I started stressing out about going to Logan’s house tomorrow. “Can I ask you a question?” I asked Logan with a weary smile.

“That technically was a question.” he answered me with a huge grin. “But sure.”

“Okay. What if your parents don’t like me?” I asked. I was a little scared of what his answer would be. That question made him stop whatever he was going to say. He didn’t answer for the next few minutes.

“Don’t worry. They will love you.” he answered me as he lifted my hand to kiss it. I could feel my cheeks starting to turn red. I still had doubts about that. As we sat there in silence I let my mind wonder elsewhere. I was finally brought back to reality by the sound of Logan’s voice.

“What are you thinking?” he asked. He had is head tilted to the left.

“I was just thinking about everything that has happened and everything that will happen soon.” I answered. I let out a sigh when I got to the last part. It was silent again. As my mind wandered again, I merely stared into Logan’s eyes.

“So can I ask you a vampire question?” I asked him, when I pulled my gaze away from his.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well what does it feel like being around human blood when you guys only drink animal blood?”

“Oh. Well it feels somewhat normal. If we already feed than it’s not bad. But if we hadn’t feed yet than it feels like a burning in our throat.”

“Oh.” was all I could answer. My eyes were wide open. I wondered how it felt for him to be so close to me. I was about to ask him that, when the bell rang. We arose from our seats and walked out.


After school we all walked to my apartment. Lilian and Amber left together after only a few minutes. Again Logan and I were left alone. “What day is tomorrow?” I asked Logan. He put down his book and looked at the calendar behind me.

“The twentieth.” he said as he turned back to look at me.

“Already?” I said as I turned around to look at the calendar.

“Would you like to reschedule meeting my family for another day?” he asked me. I could see the hope in his eyes.

“No that’s okay. I really want to meet your family. Ella and I aren’t doing anything tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay.” There was disappointment that flickered across his face.

“Do you know what time I can come over?”

“Well, what about right after school?”

“Sure, sounds good.” I told him after I thought about what Ella and I might do tomorrow. All that came to mind was dinner. Other than that she will probably have Alex over. I was a little excited about meeting his parents but at the same time I was beyond nervous. Apparently Logan could read the nervousness on my face.

“It’s okay they will love you.” he told me as he moved from across from me to next to me. He had his arm around my waist. He put his hand on the other side of my face, like what I had done in the cafeteria. I looked into his eyes for a long moment. I felt relief wash over me as his lips touched mine. I let my mind drift while my lips moved with his. We only kissed for a few seconds before his phone began to vibrate. He slowly leaned back to get his phone out of his pocket.

“Hello Lilian. What do you want?” he asked with a sigh. He never took his eyes off me.

“No.” he paused for a second. Listening to whatever Lilian was saying on the other line. “Fine I’ll be there in a few.” he hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. “I’m sorry Carmela I have to go.”

“Okay. Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked him with a disappointed look.

“No. I’m sorry but my family and I are going to go hunting. We haven’t feed in a week so we are all, um . . . hungry.” he looked up at me to see my reaction. I wasn’t sure what expression I had but I knew it wasn’t fear or disgust. He kissed my forehead before he left the shop.






* * *


“So, what did I miss yesterday?” Rose asked as we entered school.

“Nothing, we had no homework actually.” I told her with a smile. When we got to our lockers she finally asked the question I was avoiding.

“So where are Lilian, Amber, and your boyfriend?” I didn’t know how to answer that. And I didn’t want to just tell her I didn’t know because she would know I was lying.

“They are at the airport picking up their parents. They just flew in from Germany for a monthly visit.” I told her as I reached into my locker to get my books.

The rest of the day actually flew by. I didn’t realize school was over until I was already half way home. I was going home to change and wait for Logan to pick me up. I changed from my normal jeans and t-shirt to my knee length red and black plaid skirt and my long sleeve black shirt and my red and black vest over it. I put my hair into two high ponytails. I had eyeliner on and bloody red eye shadow and lipstick. It wasn’t too much make-up but it was noticeable. I went down stairs, hoping Ella wouldn’t be there. But of course she was.

“Where are you going all dressed up like that?” she asked me with a smile as she watched me put on my combat boots.

“I’m going to Logan’s house.” I said. I looked up to see her expression but it seemed calm. “Don’t worry I’m going to meet his family.” I said as she let out a sigh of relief that I wasn’t going to be there alone with him.

“Wow already. Should I be hearing wedding bells?” she asked with a smile.

“Hahaha, you’re so funny. No his parents just want to meet me.” I told her. At that exact moment Logan came through the door.

“Hey Carmela, are you ready?” Logan asked me as he entered. He turned towards Ella, “Hello Isabella. It’s nice to see you again.” he said in a polite voice.

“Hello Logan.” Ella said with a smile.

“Yea, I’m ready.” I turned to my sister and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t stay out late.” Ella told me as I grabbed Logan’s hand.

“Okay I’ll be back by eleven the latest.” I yelled back at her as Logan and I left the shop. We walked hand in hand all the way to his house. It wasn’t as far as it was when I walked with Rose. Time flew by whenever I was with Logan.

“Are you nervous?” Logan asked me when we reached his house. It wasn’t as creepy as it was on Halloween. It looked like they cleaned it from all the broken windows and cobwebs. All the windows were clean but they were covered with black blindfolds. It looked nearly as nice and as neat as all the other houses on the block, except it still had an eerie appearance.

“I just don’t want to do something wrong.” I told him with a half-smile on my face. He put his hands on both sides of my face and stared directly into my eyes.

“Don’t worry. Like I’ve been saying, they will love you. I mean who wouldn’t, especially when you’re wearing such a beautiful outfit.” he told me as he looked me up and down. He had an enormous smile on his face. He lowered his face so he could give me a quick kiss.

As we entered his house, hand-in-hand, I noticed that the room was empty at first. We stood there in what looked like a living room for a few seconds, waiting for his family. But of course before I could blink, his family was standing across from us. Lilian and Amber were the closest to us, only a foot or so away. Then his parents were about two or three feet away, and lastly Kristian was the farthest. He was maybe six feet away from us. Lilian and Amber were smiling at me, which made me feel calmer. The two twins came up to us first, Lilian came to stand on my right side and Amber went to Logan’s left side.

“You look great.” Lilian whispered into my ear as her parents walked closer to us.

“Carmela, these are my parents, Bill and Eliza Abend. Mom, dad this is Carmela.” Logan said as he gestured towards his parents. They gave me a smile, which made me feel relieved.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Abend.” I said with a smile.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Carmela.” Logan’s mother said. Her voice was very high. Like a birds chirp. She had a hint of an accent. She was beautiful. She was maybe 5'9", she had wavy golden blond hair that reached her knees-like her daughters-her hair was put up into a nice and neat ponytail. She had light, almost white, sky blue eyes. She was wearing an all white dress-unlike the rest of her family who only wore black-that looked like it was meant to be worn only during summer. It was a short dress that reached her knees, it had a flower embroidered design. She wore heels with the dress. It was laced up with lavender strings.

“I see Logan has made a good choice with you, Carmela.” Logan’s father said as he took a bow. He also had a hint of an accent, but his was a bit heavier. He had straight black hair with blond highlights. His hair was longer than Logan’s, his reached his shoulders-like Kristian’s-and framed his face perfectly. His eyes were lapis lazuli. He was wearing a black suit and a white tie that matched his wife’s dress. He was tall, maybe 6'5".

“It’s great to finally meet Logan’s parents.” I said with a smile. At first the atmosphere felt calm, that was until I looked past Logan’s parents and saw Kristian in the far corner.

“Kristian, come here. Don’t be rude to our guest.” said Mr. Abend. As Kristian moved forward it looked as if he was gliding on ice. He stopped a few feet away from me. He stared at me, examining me. Kristian finally opened his mouth to say something.

“No,” was all he said. I stood there, wide eyed. I felt so hurt at that moment. I blinked several times, trying to hold back the tears that were building up. Kristian was already gone within seconds.


“Let me talk to him.” said Logan’s father. After he left, Logan let go of my hand and put his arm around my waist. As he guided me into another room he put his lips to my ear.

“It’s okay. Kristian is just being stupid. Everyone else loves you.” he whispered to me. He led me into a white room. It had a coffee table in the middle, a plasma screen TV, and a giant couch. Next to the couch were two Romanian chairs-that looked like thrones-on each side. Lastly there was a black satin love seat.

Logan pulled me over to the love seat and sat me down next to him, while his mom and sisters sat on the couch.

“I’m sorry about my son.” said Logan’s mom.

“It’s okay Mrs. Abend” I said with a half-smile.

“Please, call me Oliza.”

‘Mother, I’m going to show Carmela around.” Logan said as he stood up and took my hand.

“Okay. It was nice meeting you Carmela.” Oliza said with a warm smile.

“It was nice meeting you too.” I said as Logan guided me out of the room. “So what room are we going to first?” I asked Logan with a smile. As we started up the stairs I noticed for the first time what Logan was wearing. He was wearing a silk black shirt with the word ‘Love’ in German. He had tight black pants on and I silver lip and ear ring on.

“I don’t know, I guess the basement.” he said with a smile. As he spoke I noticed something silver on his tongue.

“Have you always had a tongue piercing?” I asked him. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it.

“Well I’ve always had one but I don’t usually wear it.”

“Oh.” I said as we entered his den. It was a small room. It was filled with a lot of boxes. “What are all the boxes about?” I asked Logan as we took a step into the room.

“Oh, they hold some of our old stuff.” he said as we walked up to one of the boxes that had the word ‘Logan’ written on it in sharpie.

“Is that all of your stuff?” I asked him as he opened it.

“Yea, it’s just some of my stuff from when I was younger.” he said as he pulled out a few stuff. He had some toys in there, some books, and a little guitar.

“Toys?” I asked as I pulled out a stuffed bat.

“Well yea. I was a kid.” We spent about ten minutes in his den before we started for another room. We went to his library, kitchen, and another room filled with computers and a TV. We got to a room that was filled with instruments. There were key boards, violins, drums, and guitars. The room was white with red, orange, black, blue, and purple paint splattered on the walls. I was surprised by all the instruments.

“How many of these do you play?” I asked him as we walked into the room.

“I play the guitar. Lilian and Amber play the piano, Kristian plays the drums, and my parents plays the violin.” he said with a smile. I picked up one of the acoustic guitars; it was a midnight blue. I strummed it before I put it back on the stand.

“Do you play?” Logan asked me as he watched me.

“Yea, but I’m still a beginner.” I said as I turned to look at him. He grabbed my hand and led me out of the room. He showed me their gigantic bathrooms.

“Now we are finally at the bed rooms.” Logan told me. “But first this is Bill’s studio.” he said as he pushed one of the doors opened. It was a painting studio. It had paintings and photos all around the room. “This is where Bill does all of his paintings.”

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked him as I turned away from a picture of a woman crying under a clock. The clock was at midnight, the moon was shining over her. There was a crow that was soaring over the clock.

“Yea, what is it?” he asked with a smile. He was staring at a painting of a graveyard. The graveyard was dark and depressing, like most of the paintings.

“Well, how did your dad become a vampire?’ I asked him. It was odd how easy it was for me to call them vampires.

“Oh. Well I don’t tell the story as well as Bill does. So let go get him.” he grabbed my hand and led me out of the room.

He walked me to the room across from it. “This is my parents’ room.”

“Oh.” I said as we entered a black, red, and orange room. It reminded me of the German flag. The bed in the middle of the room was huge. It had a fancy embroidered design on the sheets. The room had two dressers on each side and a vanity next to one of the dressers. I saw Oliza sitting at the edge of the bed, reading something.

“Mother, where’s dad?”

“He’s still talking to Kristian.”

“Oh, well then can you tell Carmela the story of how dad became a vampire?” Logan asked as he slid his arm around my waist.

“Oh.” was all Oliza said as she put her book down. “Well take a seat. It’s a pretty long story.” she said as she gestured towards a seat in the corner. Logan sat down on the seat and pulled me onto his lap. Oliza didn’t seem uncomfortable about telling us her husband’s story.

“Well it started in Germany. Bill was thirty-eight when it happened. He had hazel brown eyes and blond hair that he died black with the blond highlights that you saw. He had tanned skin. It was the year fifteen twenty-nine. He was a painter at the moment, like he is now. He wasn’t happy with the life he had at the moment. His father died from illness and his mother was dying from cancer. He was alone, no family left, no close friends, and no love. He felt alone and he felt like giving up.

“As Bill walked through one of the allies behind an old vintage store he noticed a woman kneeling on the ground. It seemed as though she was weeping. There was a man on the ground in front of her. He was dead, smothered in blood. Bill felt like turning around and running for it, but as the thought ran through his mind the female on the ground turned her head to face him. Her eyes were crimson red. Her hair; black and reached the tips of her fingers. Her skin was so translucent that it shined in the moon light that hung over the alley.

“She was in front of him within a few seconds. Her eyes seemed as though they were reading his soul. She leaned in close to him, her breath against his face. She slowly smiled a devilish smile. ‘Who are you?’ she asked him. It took him a few moments to process what she had asked. ‘My name is Bill Abend.’ he answered her, dazed by her startling eyes. He was against one of the building’s wall. Next thing he knew her lips were against his. She made him feel like he wasn’t alone anymore.

“The next day he awoke in a bed in a strange room. There was a piercing pain in his body. It wasn’t just in one area but all over his entire body. He was in so much pain that he simply wanted to go back to sleep. He closed his eyes, trying to remember what had happened the night before. He remembered only small parts of what had happened. All he remembered the female, Courtney, kissing him. She had brought her lips down to his neck. Then there was an excruciating pain burning through his body. It had felt like someone had set him on fire and as if he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to scream so badly but he couldn’t feel his body and he couldn’t even open his mouth. He was too tired and in too much pain to stay conscious.

“The next time Bill awoke he wasn’t sure what time it was. He wasn’t even sure what day it was. All he remembered was awakening to Courtney’s fierce red eyes. She was staring at him, with a look that he didn’t recognize. She didn’t look mad, sad, or happy. ‘Are you thirsty?’ she asked him with a smile. He didn’t realize it until she mentioned it, but there was a burning in his throat. Again he felt as though no air was entering his lungs. He wasn’t sure what had happened to him that night but he found himself in an alley leaning over a dead body, smothered in crimson blood. At that moment he was scared of what he had become.

“The next morning he walked out into the sun light, hoping he would burn into ashes. When he found out it didn’t work he tried eating garlic, he stood in a church in front of a cross. He tried just about everything, but was still alive.” She paused for a moment. I could tell this part was hard for her. “Bill thought he was going to be miserable for eternity. It had already been one hundred, eighty-eight years since he had smiled. He had Courtney, but was still miserable. But what pushed him was when he saw her with another man. She was sucking on his neck; he could tell she was turning him. He left to go hunting alone.

“As Bill entered the alley that he had met Courtney in, he noticed me standing against one of the buildings. I looked dead already. He thought I was lovely, with my golden blond hair flowing down to my knees. As he walked up to me I snapped my head up to look at him. I stared at him with my big beautiful green eyes. ‘My name is Bill Abend.’ he said with a soothing voice. He tried to make sure I knew he wasn’t trying to harm me. ‘My name is Oliza.’ I answered him. I had a grin on my face. At that moment he knew I was the one for him. We ended up having an affair. Next thing we knew I was pregnant. After I gave birth to Kristian, Bill was surprised that I was still alive. After he found out what he was he looked up everything about our kind. It said that any human that gives birth to a vampire should not be able to survive.

“I was about thirty-three when I gave birth to Kristian. Two years later I gave birth to Logan. Then a year after that I gave birth to Lilian and Amber. After the girls were out he knew I wouldn’t be able to survive. Ever since I found out I was pregnant the first time I began to die. My heart began to fail, but somehow I got through the four of them. Bill knew that all he could do was turn me. It wasn’t a very hard process but it was hard to complete. In order to turn me he had to bite me. The second my blood met his tongue he was sure he wouldn’t be able to control himself and that he would suck all my blood dry.

“After three days of me being unconscious Bill feared he had killed me. Once I awoke he immediately took me hunting with him and the kids. We were already ‘vegetarians’ then. Afterwards I asked him if I was a vampire. ‘Yes. I am truly sorry I have turned you into this dreadful creature, but I could not let you die.’ he answered, with a frown of pain. He brought me to the only place he had. He didn’t want to bring me back to Courtney but he had nowhere to go. When Courtney saw us together, saw how he held me close to him she knew he had turned me and that we were in love. She didn’t know about the kids because he had them wait in the forest and told them to hunt. Her expression was full of anger though. She sprang towards me, but Bill was only a second faster. He had her on the ground. She was snapping at him and pushing and scratching. He put his hand on her throat and ripped her head off. He hadn’t realized what he had done until he turned around and found me staring at him in fear. But after that we lived happily together.

“After a few more years of being ‘vegetarian’ our eyes turned blue. The end,” Oliza said with a smile. She still seemed lost in memory. I couldn’t help but smile at the part when Bill met her. I wonder what it would have been like if Logan found me dying on the ground. Logan slowly got up, bringing me up with him.

“Thank you for telling dad’s story. I’m going to go finish showing Carmela around.” he said with a smile as he led me out. I could tell that Logan thought his mother needed sometime alone.

Logan led me past some more doors, telling me whose room it was as we passed. “Now finally we have reached my room.” he said with a gleaming smile that made my heart jump, than freeze, than speed up with a hammering in my pulse. He opened his door and walked me in. His room was the liveliest room in the house. It had red and black walls that were covered with posters and paintings. There was a black coffin shaped bed in the far left corner. The back wall had a window that reached from the ceiling all the way down to the floor. It was between the desk and the bed. There was an ancient desk on the other side of the room; it was covered with books and papers. Some of the books were still in the bag. But what surprised me was that I knew all the books and that the bag said ‘Ella’s book shop’ in elegant purple letters. Along the left wall were stacks of a mixture of music things; CDs, music sheets, guitar picks, and music books. On the other wall there were a few shelves. Some had photos on it. One had a camera on it. But the one that caught my eye was one that had a picture of me next to a sheet of music. I stared at his room, amazed at how astonishing it looked.

“Wow I love your room. But when did you get a picture of me?” I asked, pointing towards the shelf with the picture on it.

“Oh I got that on my second day of school. I was taking a lot of pictures for my dad to see the school. I just ended up taking a picture of you.” he said with a smile.

“Oh. Well that makes you sound kind of like a stalker.” I said with a grin. I was still holding his hand as he moved me towards the shelves.

“Is that bad?”

"As long as I don’t have to get a restraining order then it's fine.” I answered him with a chuckle. He picked up the photo and stared at it. It was a picture of me smiling. I was walking out of the gym with Lilian, Amber, and Rose. I looked really happy.

“I would love to have a new picture though.” he said with a smile. He put the picture back down.

“What’s the sheet of music?” I asked, him picking up the sheet.

“Oh that’s a song that Lilian and Amber helped me write for you. Do you want to hear it?” he asked as we sat down on his bed. I thought about how much this was like a movie, I thought it was weird but I loved it anyways.

“Sure.” I said as he grabbed his acoustic from the corner. He started strumming some notes. It soon became a song. It was a soft song that grew louder. Soon Logan began to sing some words. I closed my eyes, letting the music take over. I let the music drown all my other thoughts. I was so absorbed by the sound of the music that I didn’t realize when the song was over. I opened my eyes and saw Logan’s ice blue eyes looking into mine. His guitar was already back on its stand and he was kneeling in front of me.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked as he wiped a tear from my cheek.

“Yea, it was just beautiful. I don’t even think beautiful is a strong enough word.” I told him with a smile. I slowly raised my hand to touch his cheek. He held my hand to his cheek with a smile. He put his hand under my chin and kissed my lips softly. My heart started bounding again. He pulled his lips away from mine after a few moments.

“Are you hungry?” Logan asked me as my stomach growled. I was so embarrassed at that moment. We stood up and walked back down stairs to the kitchen. The kitchen was next to their living room, it was white and brown, and was very serene. It was one of the calmest rooms in the house. Logan sat me down in a red stool. “What would you like to eat?” he asked me with a smile as he leaned towards me from the other side of the table.

“Um, I don’t know. Surprise me.” I answered with a smile. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of food they had since they don’t have to eat actual food. He ended up heating me up a slice of pizza.

“So what do you think of the house? Do you like it?” Logan asked as he passed me my pizza.

“Of course. you’re lucky to have this amazing place as your home.” I said with a smile as I took a bite of my pizza. The pizza burnt the top of my mouth. I tried not to look like it bothered me but I think Logan could see through it. He tilted his head on his hand and gave me a smile.

“So what was your favorite room?” he asked as he suppressed a chuckle as I burnt my mouth again. I decided I wasn’t going to take another bite of the pizza.

“Um, I would say the music room and of course your room.” I said, smiling and looking down. I knew I was blushing but I couldn’t help it. Logan put his hand under my chin and lifted it up so I was looking into his eyes.

“Did you know that I love when you blush?” he asked with a warm smile that made my heart speed. I knew he could hear my heart over reacting from his smile. I smiled back at him, still blushing. He slowly lowered his lips to mine.

My lips moved to match his. His lips felt soft against mine, but hard at the same time. They felt calm against mine. We kissed for a few moments before we were interrupted by Lilian and Amber.

“Hey Logan, sorry for disrupting your moment, but mom asked us to tell you that she wants to talk to you real quick.” they both said with a smile. They were eyeing me with suspicious eyes. Once Logan was gone his twin sisters turned to look at me with a devilish smile on each of their faces. I was scared of what was going to happen. They both walked up to me and looped our arms together.

They dragged me out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They threw me into their room. It was dark in there. Their windows were covered and the lights were turned off. The next thing I knew the two of them were yanking me out of my clothes and into something else. After I was in the clothes they started yanking my hair. When they were finally done they turned on the light. I was in front of a mirror. I was wearing a black dress. It was very elegant but at the same time it was my style. It was a lot like a Japanese Lolita. My hair was put in a high ponytail with my bangs hanging down in braids that framed my face. I turned to look at Lilian and Amber.

“What’s this about?” I asked. They were both smiling at me.

“Our mom got that for the one of us who got a boyfriend first. She said it would look flattering on us. She thought it would be nice if you wore it.” they told me while they were looking for some jewelry.

“Wow. Tell her I said thanks.” I said with a smile. They finally pulled out onyx earrings.

“It’s nothing. Our mom would love to have a new model for her outfits. We think she’s tired of us, plus she would love to use a human.” When they were done putting on my jewelry they dragged me out of the room. “Logan should be waiting for you outside.” they said as we reached the door. They were gone within moments.

I slowly opened the front door and found Logan standing there. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie. He was holding a rose in his hand. “My dear.” he said as he handed me the rose. “Would you like to accompany me for dinner?” His hair was ruffled and his eyes were beyond warm. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would jump right out of my chest. His teeth were glimmering in the moon light. I hadn’t realized it was already night. He was breath taking in the moon light.

“I would love to.” I answered breathlessly. I tried to get my heart to go back to normal.

“You look gorgeous.”

“Thanks. So do you.” I said as he put his arm around my waist. He walked me over to a glossy, black Lamborghini. As he opened the door for me I could tell my mouth was wide open. “Wow, is this your car!?”

“Well kind of. I have to share it with Kristian until he gets a new one.” he said as he walked me over to the passenger door. Once I was sitting on the satin seat he was already in the driver’s seat. He started up the car, which purred in a quiet, calm noise.

“How do you have your license already? You’re only sixteen.”

“Well I’ve been around for a long time so we stayed in Maine for two years before so I got my license. But because we don’t really get pulled over by the cops much, I never have to show them it.”

“Oh. So where are we going?” I asked with a smile as I fiddled with one of the strings on my dress.

“It’s a surprise.” he answered with a smile. When I looked up to look at him he was looking at me. He leaned close to me and whispered into my ear. “You really do look beautiful, my beloved.” I could feel my pulse racing in my wrist and ear as his beautiful scent blew into my face. He was so lovely in the faint moon light that came over the trees. I finally realized that his eyes weren’t on the road. Oddly I wasn’t scared, I trusted Logan.

We finally pulled up to a fancy looking restaurant. As we entered I could tell it was a fancy place. There were crystal chandeliers hanging over every other table. The tables had satin table cloth over them. I thought we would have to wait for a long time but Logan paid the hostess a little extra. As she brought us to our table Logan denied it.

“Can we get something a little more private?” he asked with a beautiful smile that would make anyone’s heart jump. The hostess looked dazed for a moment before she guided us to a table behind some doors. Those rooms were usually used for parties. As we took our seat the hostess lingered around for a few seconds before leaving.

“So, what do you think of this place?” Logan asked me as I played with my napkin.

“I like it. But it looks like this place is going to cost a lot.” I said as I set the napkin down.

“Don’t worry.” Logan said as he leaned over the table towards me. He was about to kiss me when he suddenly snapped back into his seat. I stared at him, confused for a moment. But after a second the waitress walked in. She was a tall, skinny red-head. She looked about 5'8" and had heels on and a skimpy orange skirt.

“Hi, my name is Halley and I’ll be your waitress. Would you guys like to start with appetizers?” she asked, her voice was dull. When she looked away from her notepad she froze in her spot. She was staring at Logan.

“Yes. Can you get us some bread and two cokes?” he asked with a half-smile. He was only half looking at the waitress. He was mostly watching me. I couldn’t help but smile. The waitress quickly wrote down our order and ran out. I was half hoping that she would bang into the wall or the door.

“So, can I ask you something?” I asked as I picked up my fork. I was simply fiddling around with it.

“Sure. What do you want to know?” he asked with a weary smile.

“How did you become a, um, well, what you are?” I asked, not really wanting to say vampire in case anyone might have been passing by outside the door.

“Oh. That’s simple. Lilian, Amber, Kristian and I were all born as vampires.” he said with a simple smile. I stared at him for a moment, trying to process everything.

“Oh. That’s cool. So, um, how does it feel being a vampire?”

“Oh. Well, it feels kind of normal. I was born this way so it’s the same as how you feel about being a human. The only difference is that I have to try to act like a human.” he answered with a half-smile. We stared at each other for a few seconds before the door opened. Halley walked in with a basket of bread and two cokes on a tray.

“Here are your cokes and bread. I’ll be back soon to take your orders.” she said. I could tell she was still dazed. I had to admit that even when Logan isn’t smiling he’s still dazzling. I smiled at him as Halley set down the bread and drinks. Logan didn’t take his eyes off of me either. After she was gone I picked up a piece of bread.

“Can I ask you another question?” I asked as I took a bite of my bread.

“Of course,”

“Okay. Well, why aren’t you as over protected about your secret as your brother? Not that I don’t like it.”

“I don’t know. I guess I just really trust you.” he answered with a frown. “Now can I ask you questions?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. Well, what are your parents like?” he asked with a smile.

“Oh. They are so great. They divorced when I was seven. Now my dad is dating this girl named Kimberly Michiko. They have an eight year old daughter named Jasmine and they live in California. My mom is a lawyer so I don’t see her much. She left Ella in charge of me but she checks in every once in a while. My dad comes over during holidays and birthdays. I don’t hate Kimberly; she’s like a step mom but not a real mom. My dad’s a real-estate agent so he doesn’t have a lot of work all the time.” I quickly closed my mouth when I realized I was babbling. “Sorry. I know my life is so messed up and boring.”

“No. I like hearing about your life. It’s very interesting.” he said with a huge smile. I was sipping on my soda and picking at my bread. At that moment Halley walked in to take our order. I wasn’t really paying attention so I just ordered a Cesar salad. Logan ordered the same.

“So can a vampire be a vegetarian?” I asked after Halley left.

“I don’t know. We really just drink the blood. We don’t eat the meat so I guess if you don’t consider blood drinking the same as meat eating.” he answered as I took another sip of my coke. “But besides that. It’s my turn to ask the questions.” he said with another breath taking smile.

“Okay. But can I ask you only one more question? Then you can ask me whatever you want to know.” I asked with a smile.

“Fine, what is it you want to know?” he asked with a sigh.

“Do you age?”

“Oh. Well yea.”

“Do you die of old age?”

“No we can chose when we want to stop aging. But only if you were born as a vampire, in some places we are called Laminas, I know it sounds weird but it’s just how it is. Now it’s my turn. What did you want to be when you were little?”

“I wanted to be a guitar player in a band. But then again I also wanted to be a vampire-cat-actress thing Don’t ask about that one, it was something me and Rose made up. But when I was about eleven I wanted to be a writer.” I answered with a huge grin.

“Wow. You were a weird child.”

“Thank you.”

“What does it feel like to feel, having your heart beating, and blood pulsing through your veins?” he asked, staring at his hands.

“I don’t know how to explain it. Well, it feels pretty normal I guess. When you’re scarred, mad, or when you’re tired your heart beats fast. It’s the same for when you’re embarrassed or in love.” I said. I could feel my face turning red as I blushed. I didn’t really know how to answer his question but I tried my best.

“What’s your favorite band?” he asked suddenly. I was surprised at how the conversation had changed.

“I don’t know. I have way too many. Why?” I asked.

“No. It’s still my turn.” he said with a huge grin. “What’s your favorite book?”

“Again, I have too many to name. But I think it would have to be the book Undecided.”

“Okay, so what’s your favorite television show?” he asked. All these questions seemed weird to me.

“Um, well I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I guess it would be any show that plays music videos.”

“Oh. Well, what’s your favorite song?”

“It would have to be the song that you wrote for me.” I said, blushing. At that exact moment our waitress walked in with our order. She quickly put them down and left. This time she almost hit the wall. I tried my hardest not to smile.

“Really? You actually liked that song?” Logan asked.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. It was just weird.”

“No it was amazing.” I said as I took a bite of my salad. We sat there for a few moments, staring at each other.

“Are you going to be at school tomorrow?” I asked Logan after a few minutes.

“Why?”

“Because today Mrs. Grea, my history teacher, told us that everyone in the school are going to the woods for a photo. I don’t know why we are all going together but we are.” I said with a shrug.

“Oh. Sounds fun.” he said. It was silent for another few moments. “Are you okay?” he asked after a few moments. I was happy he finally broke the silence.

“I’m okay. I was just thinking about everything that has happened today. I was also thinking about how this must all be a dream. There is no way someone as perfect as you could be with a freak like me.” I said with a frown, as I looked down at my food.

“Please don’t say that. I think... No you are more than perfect. You are beyond more than I deserve. Please don’t ever tell me that you don’t deserve me. Besides, I love you so it doesn’t really matter if you think you don’t deserve me because I disagree no matter what.” he said with another breath taking smile. I began to feel dazed again.


When we were finally done with dinner Logan drove me to my house. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Logan said as he walked me to the door.

“Okay.” I said as we reached the door step.

“Good night my love.” he said as he lowered his head to kiss me. The kiss was gentle and warm. It was longer than our kiss before. He slowly parted his lips, parting mine with his. I tasted his cool breath in my mouth. It tasted so sweet and amazing.

When the kiss was over Logan was already gone within seconds. I opened the door to the shop and entered.

Ella was waiting for me in the kitchen when I got up stairs. “Hey sweetie how was your date?” she asked as I sat down in the chair across from her.

“It was awesome. His family was so nice. He even took me out for dinner.” I said with a smile.

“I can see they even got you a new outfit.” I forgot that I was still wearing Lilian and Amber’s dress.

“Oh yea, they just let me borrow it.” I said with a shrug. “But anyways, I’m going to bed. It was a long day.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“Good night.” I said as I exited the room. I went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. The shower really helped calm my nerves. After all my muscles were lose I finally got out of the shower. I couldn’t find my jogging pants so I was stuck with my black silk night gown. I wasn’t tired so I sat in my bed with the covers over my head. I spent an hour or more going over everything that had happened that day.

After a few moments I heard the ruffling of papers. I sprang up from my bed and saw a dark shadow in the corner.

“W-who’s there?” I asked. I was so scared that I couldn’t even turn on the light.

“I’m sorry I woke you Carmela.” said a voice. I could recognize that voice anywhere. All the fear that I had seemed to simply vanish the second I heard his voice.

“Oh. Logan. What are you doing here?” I asked with a sigh of relief.

“I just wanted to see you.” he answered as he came forward in only a few glides.

“So how did you get to my room? Did you climb through my window?” I asked with a huge smile.

“No. I walked through the door. You and your sister don’t seem to know how to lock it.” he said with a chuckle.

“Oh. Have you been the one who has been coming into my house?”

“No. I’ve only snuck into your house this once. Why?” He looked totally confused.

“Oh, never mind.” I said as I sat completely up. Logan began to walk towards me. I wanted so badly to walk over and kiss him, but I didn’t want to get up and make any noise.

When he reached me he sat on the edge of my bed. He slid his arms around me and whispered in my ear. “Did I wake you my sweet?”

“No. I was already awake. I was thinking about everything that has been happening.” I said with a smile. Logan began fiddling with a strand of my hair. I looked up at him. He was staring at me with warm eyes. Even though his eyes were ice blue, they were warm. I felt like I was melting in his arms.

“You think a lot. The gears in your mind always seem to be turning.” Logan said with a grin. I don’t know exactly when but at one point in my silent night with Logan, I had fallen asleep in his arms. When I awoke I was under my blanket, in my bed alone. I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom.

When I was done with everything, and was waiting for the others I decided to skim through some magazines. I had a gothic magazine in my hand when Logan entered. Right behind him was Lilian, then Amber, and finally Rose. We walked to school in almost complete silence. Rose and the twins were the only ones talking. Logan and I were standing side by side. He had his arm around my waist and had me close to him.


During lunch we all sat in our normal seat. Logan was there first of course, and of course Ashley was there too. Once again she was trying to flirt with him. I didn’t know why she didn’t just give up, she knew he was mine. But then again, could anyone believe he was mine when I couldn’t even believe it.

“Ashley. What the hell are you doing here?” I asked as I took my normal seat next to my boyfriend.

“What, I’m not allowed to talk to Logan. It’s not like he’s your property.” she said with a sly smile as she leaned closer to Logan. I could smell the cheep perfume that she probably splashed on herself before she got here. She was wearing another tight outfit.

“No. You can’t talk to my boyfriend. Why don’t you find yourself your own boyfriend? Wouldn’t that be nice?” I said with the same sly smile.

“Why don’t you go find a real boyfriend and stop torturing this poor guy?”

“Why don’t you go get a life?” I said with a frown. I was starting to get aggravated by Ashley. She always seemed to like picking on me. I could tell that she was beginning to get just as annoyed. I was almost at the point of ripping her hair out. She gave me one evil glare before she left, but I knew it wasn’t over. I let out a sigh of irritation before turning to look at Logan. He had a goofy smile.

“What?” I asked with a smile as Lilian, Amber, and Rose came over. They had the usual three trays filled with food. We usually shared all the food, but we all paid for it.

“Nothing, you’re just cute when you’re jealous.” he said with a huge grin. I could feel I was blushing.

“What, you never get jealous?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been in love.” he said with a grin.

“Really?”

“Yea, no girl has ever caught my interest.” he said as I grabbed an apple from the tray in front of Lilian. I stared at Logan as I took a bite of my apple.

“So Rose, do you want to sleep over today?” I asked with a smile as I turned to face my best friend, who was seated between the twins.

“Sure. Right after school?” she asked as she took a bite of a slice of cheese pizza.

“Yea.” I told her as I thought about it. I was trying to make sure I had no plans with the Abend trio.


After lunch we went straight to history. We all knew we didn’t have class so we didn’t go with any supplies. When we entered class Mrs. Grea told us we were going to the woods near the school for our picture. When we entered the woods I immediately looked around for Logan. I found him leaning against an oak tree. He looked even more dazzling against the green, woodsy background. He seemed like a god, sent down to take care of the Earth. Even in all black he stuck out of the crowd of colors. His sisters were wearing all black as well. But even they had colors. Lilian had blue and purple on her shirt and Amber had orange and red on her shirt. I also had black on but I even had a red top on.

I walked towards my god of a boyfriend. He had a smug grin on his face.

“What is with the grin? It looks like you’re having a conversation with yourself.” I said.

“I’m not talking to myself but I am talking to someone.” he said with another grin as he saw my confusion.

“Who are you talking to?”

“My sisters.”

“How?”

“Our mind.” he answered. “We can talk to each other through our mind.” he clarified. “I guess it’s like telepathy.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” I said with a grin. I turned to look at the twins behind me. They both also had a grin. I couldn’t help but wonder how many more skills they had. As these thoughts ran through my head Logan slid his arm around my waist. I felt calm whenever I was in his arms. I put my arm around his waist. His skin was always cold against mine, but it always felt nice and soothing.

“Okay everyone. Get together so we can take this picture.” said Mrs. Grea as she gestured for everyone to get on the platform that they placed in the center of the forest. Of course Logan stood next to me on my left side. Lilian was on my right, then Amber, and lastly Rose. We were in the second row so we weren’t blocked by anyone too tall.

They took two pictures before they told us to get in line by grade. Lilian, Amber, Rose, and I were still in the second row, and Logan was in the third. He was right behind Lilian. I had to fight the urge to look behind to the third row when the picture was taken. We took two more photos before we went back to the school.

After school we walked to my house together. After saying good bye to the Abend trio, Rose and I walked to my room. I sat down on my bed and Rose sat on my bean-bag chair.

“So what did you do yesterday?” she asked with a grin as I laid across my bed with my feet on my pillows and my head at the foot of my bed.

“Oh. I went to Logan’s house to meet his parents.” I said with a shrug. She seemed to take it over dramatically. I could hear her gasp as I said this.

“No way! You seriously went to his house! You met his parents! You have to be kidding.” she practically yelled. She was being so over dramatic. It made me almost embarrassed.

“Nope I’m telling you the truth.” I said nonchalant.

“Details please.” she begged. Her eyes were bugging out. They looked as if they were about to pop out of their socket.

“There’s not much to say. We got to his house; I met his parents, Bill and Oliza. I saw all the rooms in his house. Yes Rose, including his room. His house is beautiful. Then he took me out for dinner.”

“What did you wear?”

“Lilian and Amber let me borrow one of their dresses. It was a black Japanese Lolita.” I told her. She seemed to approve of my details, and I was happy that she wasn’t pushing it. We spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the night talking. Rose fell asleep at about ten. I couldn’t remember the last time I had girl time with Rose. I knew it wasn’t long ago, but it seemed like it was. I ended up falling asleep at about eleven. I had an odd, but warming dream that night.

I found myself outside of Logan’s house. He stood in his doorway, holding the door open. He had his hand out stretched towards me. I reached my hand towards his. As he led me into his house it was very bright, as if the sun was gleaming directly through each window. Logan’s family was there, everyone except Kristian. That reminded me of what Kristian had said when he saw me. But I wasn’t sad, with Logan’s family smiling at me, welcoming me, I don’t think anyone could be sad. His parents came towards me with open arms. After his parents hugged me they disappeared. After them his sisters came to hug me, and like their parents they disappeared. Logan brought me up to his room. It wasn’t as I remembered it. It was darker than the rest of the house. As if his windows were blacked out with paint. All the CDs were gone and his shelves were empty. I turned around to look at Logan. He was staring at me with black, onyx eyes. He slowly smiled a devilish smile. As he stepped closer, only leaving a few inches between us, I could see his fangs. He opened his mouth and jumped towards me, rolling me on the floor so he was lying on top of me. I felt fear shiver down my spine. “Logan what are you-” I was cut off by his lips. It felt sweet and normal, that was until he took his lips off of mine and moved them down to my neck. He moved his lips from my jaw line down to my collar bone. As he moved his lips up and down my neck over and over again I could feel his teeth.


I awoke in a shock. I was sitting up in my bed. I turned and checked the clock; it was one A.M. in the morning. I laid in my bed for almost an hour until I got up and went to my computer. I tried to be as quiet as I could be in order to not wake Rose. I checked my e-mail the second my computer was loaded. I already had an e-mail from Logan.

Hey Carmela, how are you? I know its midnight but I wanted to talk to you. I would have come to your house but Rose is there. My parents said they adored you and want you to come back. They also said that they want to meet your sister and your parents, and so would I. Oh, and can I come over today?

Sure of course you can come over. I would love to go back to your house soon. As for you meeting my parents, I don’t know. Tell your parents that I liked them too. They were sweet. And I understand that you couldn’t come over. I turned away from my computer and turned on my lamp. I opened up my book and stared at it. I wasn’t even tired for some reason. I thought I would be falling asleep if I read something. I had already read ten pages when my e-mail alert began to beep. It was from the one and only Logan.

Hey, you’re up early. Did you have a bad dream?

Yea, I couldn’t really sleep. What about you? I didn’t wake you, did I?

No, I was already awake. I’m sorry you couldn’t sleep. You should get rest.

No, it’s okay. I’m not tired anyways. Plus I want to talk to you.

You know we can talk when it’s a little later if you want.

No it’s okay. I have nothing better to do. I was just reading some books. Plus Rose is still fast asleep, so I have no one else to talk to.

Oh. Well I’m happy you want to talk to me.

So what were you doing?

I was talking to Lilian and Amber. I was also painting with my father.

Oh. What did you paint?

Just a picture of the sun set.

Oh. I want to see it.

You could come over if you want.

Yea maybe. You could come over than we could walk to your house.

Sounds good.

Ok. So I’ll see you later, bye.

Ok. Bye. After he wrote that I shut off my internet. I slowly moved back to my bed and slid under the covers. I eventually feel back into unconsciousness after a few moments. I didn’t have any dreams that time so it was a peaceful nap. I awoke at about eight A.M. Rose was already awake and was on my computer.

“What are you doing?” I asked her as I got out of bed.

“Nothing, just checking out my e-mail.” she replied. She stayed at my house until about ten before her mom came to pick her up. I went back to my room to get dressed. Logan was supposed to come over at eleven. I chose my fishnet with my black mini skirt. It had red string around the waist that I sewed on to it. I also wore my black and red shirt. It had long sleeves that looked like the kind in the Medieval times. I let my hair hang down over my shoulders. I walked back down stairs to the shop at about ten-fifty. I didn’t have to wait long for Logan. He seemed to always come on time.

As Logan entered the shop he had a smile on his face. “What are you so happy about?” I asked as Logan walked up to me, I was leaning against the counter like always. It was a nice day and I was delighted to see Logan. His hair was so beautiful in the sun light. And his eyes made my knees quiver beneath me. I couldn’t help but feel as if I were about to faint from the simple sight of him.

“No reason. I guess I’m just always happy when you’re around.” he said with another grin. At that exact moment Ella walked down the stairs and into the shop with a smile. She was texting someone, probably Alex.

“Oh. Hi Logan, are you and Carmela going somewhere?” she asked, not really paying attention. Her eyes seemed to be glued to her phone. “Well I’m going out Carmela. So I’ll see you when I do.” she said as she closed her phone and walked out. “If you’re leaving don’t forget to lock the door.” she yelled over her shoulder as she left. Once she turned the corner I turned around to look at Logan.

“So what are we going to do today?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. We could go to my house in an hour. Then we can do whatever you want.” he answered with a smile.

“So, what do you want to do right now?”

“Well, I never got a tour of your house.”

“Yea but you’ve already seen my house.”

“No. I’ve actually only seen your room. But even then it was dark and you didn’t give me the tour.”

“Fine, then let’s go.” I said as I stretched out my hand for his. His hand was cool and tough in mine, it felt nice. “Well as you know this is the shop.” I said with a smile as I gestured towards the shelves of books. We walked up the stairs and I brought him to the kitchen first. “Of course my house is smaller than yours, but if you insist on a tour. This is the kitchen. It’s small but we make due.” I said with a small smile. I then took him across the hall, “This is the guest room.” I took him to the room next to it. “And this is another guest room.”

I showed him Ella’s room next, then the storage room, then the bathroom, and my room. “Lastly we reach my room. But of course you’ve already seen it.” I said with a grin. “But I’ll show you it anyways.” I said as I opened the door. I let him enter first. “This is my bed; this is my dresser, book shelf, guitar, and desk.” I said as I pointed to each of the objects.

“What’s in this?” he asked as he pointed towards my chest that laid at the foot of my bed.

“Oh. Nothing, it just has some old pictures.” I said as I opened the chest. I pulled out one of my old photo albums. I wasn’t sure which one it was but I hoped it wasn’t an embarrassing one. But of course it was. It was one of the albums filled with my childhood pictures, from when I was five to when I was seven.

“You know, you were so adorable when you were little. And now you’re beautiful.”

“I bet you were way more adorable when you were little.” I said as we flipped through a few more pictures. When we were done looking at the photos Logan stood up and walked over to my guitar. He picked it up in one hand and walked back to me.

“Play me something.” he demanded as he handed me the guitar.

“I don’t really know anything.” I answered with a frown as I took the guitar.

“Do you want me to teach you something?” he asked with a grin as he sat down closer to me.

“Sure.”

“What would you like to learn?”

“Guess.” I said with a grin. He got off the bed and sat down in front of me. He put his hand on my hand and began to place my fingers in the position of a note.

He spent about forty minutes teaching me the song. It never took me that long to learn a song, but I couldn’t really focus with Logan so near me. His breath on my lips and his eyes staring into mine made my mind go blank.

“Now you try.” he said as he moved away from me. We were a few inches apart now. I tried to remember everything he had taught me. I began to strum. Magically all the notes came together and became my song. The song Logan wrote for me. Logan had his eyes closed as he listened. After a few notes he began to sing a few of the lyrics.

After I was done Logan opened his eyes slowly and grabbed my hand. He carefully laid the guitar against the bed. He slowly moved towards me and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. He grabbed me in his arms, bridal style, and ran out of my house. He was so quick that I couldn’t see anything around us. It was all a blur. Within minutes we were already at his house. It usually would take almost ten to twenty minutes.

As we entered his house Lilian and Amber were waiting for us at the bottom of the steps. I was so happy to be back in the house. I was also happy to see that his sisters were glad to see me. But in the corner of my eye I saw Kristian in the corner.

At the same time I saw him he was gone. I could already feel my happiness beginning to fade. Logan seemed to realize my expression because he tightened his arms around me. I hadn’t realized he had put me down.

“Hey Carmela.” Logan’s sisters said with a smile as they came up to us.

“Hey Lilian. Hey Amber. How are you?” I asked with a smile.

“We’re good. Our mom actually was looking forward to seeing you again. She said she has a few new outfits that she wants to try on you.” they said with a grin. Their smiles looked a little scary. “So, come on.” they said as they grabbed my arms. Logan slid his arm away from me. As the twins brought me up the stairs I tried my hardest to turn around to look at my boyfriend. He was sitting at the bottom step.

As we entered the bathroom I noticed Oliza standing in the corner. She was leaning over an outfit. “Hi Carmela. Do you mind if I use you as my model?” she asked with a grin as she turned to look at me with big eyes.

“No. I would be glade if you used me as a model.” I said with a nervous smile.

“Okay then. Lilian, Amber come here and help me.” she said as she walked closer to me. She started yanking off my clothes and stared dressing me in something else. I couldn’t tell what she was putting me in, but all I could tell was that she was putting something really colorful on me. As she did this I felt Lilian yanking my hair and Amber putting make-up on my face.

When they were finally done they pushed me in front of a mirror. I was wearing a light, powder blue shirt. It was an elegant shirt with flared sleeves. I was also wearing an emerald green skirt that matched my eyes. I had light make-up that wasn’t really noticeable, but the eyeliner was pretty heavy. My hair was put in a tight braid.

“Are you ready to model for Logan?” Amber asked me with a grin. I could tell my eyes were popping out of my sockets.

“What!?” I asked. My voice was a little louder than intended.

“What? You don’t want to model for your own boyfriend?”

“Well its fine I guess.” I answered with a nervous smile. Lilian left to get Logan while Amber and Oliza left to go get the other outfits.

“Okay Carmela, Logan is outside in the room. Don’t forget to look beautiful.” Lilian said with a grin. I took a deep breath as I opened the door to the room slowly. I peeked out through the door crack. Logan was sitting on the bed with a wide grin.

I took another deep breath and then I exited. I did a little cat walk up to Logan and turned around in a spin. “Wow. You look beautiful Carmela. Those colors really suit you.” he said with a grin. He reached out his hand so he could take mine. I reached for him but Amber yanked my other hand and dragged me into the bathroom again. This time it didn’t hurt as much as they yanked at me.

The next outfit was a simple black 50's swing dress. It had red pock-a-dots on it. My hair was in a high, loss bon and I had really bright red lipstick on. I walked out again and did the same thing as before. But this time when I spun my dress flared out. I looked at Logan; he was sitting at the edge of the bed with wide eyes and a shocked look.

“Is it that bad?” I asked with a frown.

“No! No, it’s the total opposite. You look gorgeous. You actually look better than gorgeous.” he said with a grin.

“Aw, thanks.” I said with a grin. I took a step closer to him but Lilian and Amber yanked at my arm again.

There were only two more outfits to try on. The next one was a little more elegant than the others. It was a raven purple dress that laced up from the waist up. It had a black corset sewed on it. It was sleeveless but they put a black shawl over it. My hair was put in loss curls that framed my face. This outfit took the longest to put together. They changed my lipstick to a dark purple but they kept the eyeliner heavy.

The last one was a sun orange shirt. It was a sleeveless tank-top with a topaz yellow mini-skirt. It didn’t even reach my knees. It made me feel a little self-conscious. My hair was let down and was straight. I had light and barely any make-up on. When Logan saw my outfit his whole face lit up. “You look beautiful. No, you look beyond beautiful.” he said with a grin as he pulled me into his lap in one quick move. I wanted so badly to stay in his arms, and luckily this was the last outfit I had to try on.

“Do you really like it?” I asked as I pulled on the skirt.

“Of course. It makes you look sexy.” he said with a devilish grin. He took me in his arms again and took me to his room. He put me down on the floor. “Will you start wearing outfits like this soon?” he asked. We moved to his bed and I sat on the edge of it. He took a seat in his chair that was next to the bed.

“At school? No. When I’m with you? Maybe.” I said with a small grin. I didn’t feel as awkward in the outfit as I did before. I think it was because Logan said he liked it.

“It would be nice if you did. But then again, you look perfect in anything.” he said as he leaned towards me. His lips touched mine with a sweet taste to it. When he pulled back he got up and took my hand. As he led me out of his room he put a blind fold over my eyes. We were still hand in hand as he lead me out of the house. I could feel the cool breeze of the outside air. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but I knew it was going to be far, because he grabbed me in his arms and began to run again.

The only sound I could hear was the wind blowing past us and Logan’s footsteps on the ground. After a few moments he put me down on my feet. He put his arm around my waist and led me a little further. When we stopped walking he slid the blind fold off my eyes. He took both of my hands in his and leaned down towards me. He put his lips to my ear.

“Open your eyes.” he whispered in a velvet voice. I did as he said. In front of me was a gazebo. Inside of it was a table with black candles on it. There were two plates set on the table with the napkins folded on it. There was a plate that had a cover over it in the middle of the table.

As we entered the gazebo Logan pulled out one of the chairs for me. I took the seat and stared as my boyfriend sat across from me. He slid a red rose out of nowhere and gave it to me. I could feel the tears building up. This was all just too beautiful. Logan took off the lid that laid over the plate in the middle. It was a plate of spaghetti. I smiled at how simple the dinner was.

“What do you think?” he asked with a grin as he looked around us.

“It’s beautiful.” I said with the same grin that he had. I wanted to just stay there forever.

“Thank you. I am so happy you like it.” he said with a grin. There was a moment of silence that I waited to break, and was happy when Logan finally broke it.
“The fire burns, the sun shines,
the stars glow,
and my heart beats for you like a drum.
I wished for you, I’ve wanted you,
and now I get you.
I love you so much that I don’t know what to do.
I want to wake up to see your artistic smile every day.
When I’m not with you,
when we are away,
I feel as if my heart is broken and I feel as though the sun is not shining.”
He recited this in a distant voice.

I wanted to ask him something that I still didn’t know about him and his family. But Logan seemed to have noticed what I was thinking because he opened his mouth to ask me a question.

“Why don’t you want me to meet your parents?” he asked while he looked down at me.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had a boyfriend before so I don’t know what to tell them.” I said as I blushed. I didn’t really know what to tell him either.

“Well I’ve never had a girlfriend. But I made it.” he said with a smile as I took a fork full of spaghetti. “So can I ask you a question?”

“What do you want to know this time?” I asked as I took a sip of the soda that laid next to my plate.

“What is your favorite play?” he asked randomly.

“Um, I don’t have one. I don’t watch a lot of plays.” I said after thinking about it.

“What about your favorite movie that’s not about vampires?”

“I don’t really have one.” I said with a grin.

“How can you not have a favorite movie?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t spend time watching TV or movies. I prefer books.” I answered, a little embarrassed.

“Well that’s true. But anyways, what’s your favorite season?”

“Fall”

“Why?”

“Because that’s the season when I met you and it’s Halloween.” I answered with a grin.

“Okay, then what’s your favorite animal?” he asked. He seemed pretty distanced at the moment.

“I love any feline but mostly the lion.” I said with a grin. I never knew why I loved those animals but I did. I was going to say bats but I didn’t want to seem like I was just saying anything that sounded like it would relate to vampires. While Logan looked at his plate, still distant in thought, I looked around us. It was a full moon and the sky was covered by stars. It was the kind of night sky that you wish you could always look up and see the kind that made you feel as if you were the last person on Earth.

I hadn’t realized that it was already late. I casually checked my watch. It was already eight fifty-nine.

“It’s late. We should get you home.” Logan said with a grin.

“Do I get to keep this outfit?” I asked as we got up. I was pulling on my skirt again.

“Yea, I think you can. My mom is going to make some new clothes anyways.” he said with a grin. I had forgotten that his mom was a fashion designer. Logan grabbed me in his arms again and started racing down the sidewalk. I was happy to be with Logan. He carried me bridal style back into his house.

When Logan set me down on my feet I could feel his body stiffen beside mine. I looked up at him again and it looked like he was having another conversation in his head.

“Kristian wants to talk to you.” he said bleakly. He didn’t seem happy about it and I couldn’t blame him. The last thing that his brother had said to me was ‘No’. I could tell my expression was a look of fear. “I’ll be back in a second.” he said with a frown. I didn’t want to leave Logan at that moment.

“Fine.” I said with a frown. Logan was gone only a millisecond later. I didn’t know where to go but when I turned to look at the living room I saw Kristian sitting on the couch. I slowly walked towards the room. I could feel all my fears coming back from this morning when I saw Kristian in the corner.

“Hello Carmela.” he said with a straight face. He didn’t look mad or happy but he seemed a little bored.

“Hi Kristian.” I said. I could hear my voice shake a little.

“I wanted to talk to you about some things.” he said in a monotone. He gestured to the seat across from him with a long white finger. I quickly took a seat and stared at him. “First of all Oliza said I have to apologize for what I had said to you last time.” he said, looking right into my eyes. “Second I would like to tell you why I said what I said. You see I don’t think you are worthy of knowing our secret.” he said plainly. I could feel the hurt expression that had been on my face at that moment. “I’m sorry but it’s truly how I felt. But I’m not as sure about that anymore. The way that my family looks at you makes me think twice about you. They all seem to trust you. But I don’t know if I can trust you just yet. So don’t think I’ll start talking to you everyday like my sisters, but I won’t be giving you evil looks anymore.” he said with a half-smile. He still didn’t look anything more than bored.

“Well, um, thank you for telling me this.” I told him with the same half-smile. I felt kind of awkward sitting there looking at Kristian. I didn’t know what else to say to him.

“Logan wants me to leave so he can take you home.” he said with the same monotone. He didn’t change his expression even the slightest. “Good bye Carmela.” he said as he got up from his chair. He was gone before I could say anything. Logan took his place at the same moment that he had left.

“Hey Carmela. Are you ready to go?” he asked with a grin.

“Yea, I’m good.” I said as he walked me to the front door. He picked me up bridal style again and raced to my house. I was sad that the day was ending but I knew he was going to be in my room tonight. But still I didn’t want him to ever put me down.

When we reached my house I was sad when Logan put me on my feet. I checked my watch again before I opened the door. It was already nine-thirty. When I opened the door I opened it into a world of surprise. The one person I was hoping who wouldn’t be there was. My mom was standing at the bottom of the steps talking to Ella. I let out a small sigh of annoyance. I knew something bad was going to be waiting for me.

“Oh. Hey Carmela.” my mom said with a grin. She looked at Logan with suspicious eyes. “Who is this?” she asked with a grin.

“This is Logan Abend.” I said with a weary smile. I took a deep breath before telling her the next part. “My boyfriend.” I said with a shy smile. I looked up at Logan’s smiling face. He looked happy that I had said it.

“Oh.” she said shocked. She took another glimpse at my boyfriend. “It’s nice to meet you Logan.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too Ms. Cross.” He said with a genuine smile.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” she asked.

“You didn’t have dinner?” I asked. They seemed to ignore me for a moment.

“I actually can’t. I have to go home.” he said with a sigh. He gave me one last hug before he kissed me. It was a quick kiss but it was still nice. He quietly whispered in my ear. “See you later.” After he left I slowly turned back to face my mom and sister.

“Wow. He was hot.” my mom said as I walked up to them. “When did you start dating him?”

“Um, like maybe a few weeks ago.” I said with a half grin. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to my mom about this. I was hoping it would be a while before I had to mention the whole boyfriend thing.

“Oh. You never told me. Is he a new student at your school?”

“Yea, he and his twin sisters just moved here from Germany.”

“His parents didn’t come to America with them?”

“No, they are staying with their older brother, Kristian.”

“How old are they?”

“Kristian is eighteen, Logan is sixteen turning seventeen in April, and Lilian and Amber just turned fifteen turning sixteen in June. But they skipped a grade.” I told her. I hadn’t really realized there ages before now.

“Wow. You know a lot about their family.” she said as we entered the kitchen.

“More than you know about.” I mumbled under my breath.

“What did you say?” she asked as I moved towards the door.

“Nothing. I’m going to bed. I already ate with Logan, and I’m tired.” I said as I left to go to my room.

“Night sweetie.” my mom said as I left.

“Night Carmela.” Ella said right after I left. As I got into bed, all dressed, I opened my book. I stayed up till about eleven-thirty before Logan came over. We spent about an hour talking before I feel asleep in his arms. I didn’t have any dreams.

Sunday was like any other day. I spent most of the day with Logan and his sisters at the graveyard. Then I got home at about five and spent the rest of the day with Rose.


When we entered school the next day Logan and I were greeted by Ashley and her clones. “Hey Carmela, we wanted to know, why you were kissing John?” they asked. Logan looked at me for a moment. I stared at them with an angry glare. Ashley knew I hated John since first grade. John was always trying to start a fight with me. He was one of the first people to start making fun of me. But everyone knew he had a huge crush on me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked with a frown. I hated it when Ashley made up lies about me.

“We all saw it. You kissed him yesterday at about five-fifteen.”

“I was with Rose.”

“No. You were at the store. We saw you there while we were getting nail polish.”

“Oh, that’s because I was getting some milk for Ella.” I said with a frown. I didn’t want to be talking about this stupid lie. I grabbed Logan’s hand and started walking past Ashley. They didn’t follow us luckily, but I knew this wasn’t going to be the last time they mentioned this.


At lunch my guess was proven right. Once again everyone was gathered around Ashley’s table. I reluctantly walked towards the crowd of students. Everyone turned to look at me. Some of them had frowns, probably because they think I was cheating on Logan, some of the guys were smiling and high-fiving John.

“Carmela. Why would you do such a thing.” asked one of the girls I didn’t recognize. She was standing next to one girl that wasn’t looking at me with an evil look. I recognized her as Cheyenne. She was once again whispering to the little Hispanic girl, Karen, and another girl, Anita. They were standing next to another girl who also wasn’t giving me an evil look. She was also little but she was an Asian girl. I remember her as Ella’s boyfriend, Alex’s, little sister. She had brown hair that reached a little below her shoulders. I think her name was Talia; she was in my history class.

“You know what, I didn’t do anything. Ashley is just spreading more rumors about me. Honestly I’m surprised all of you actually believe her.” I said with a frown.

“Oh Carmela. Why can’t you just tell everyone the truth?” Ashley said as she shook her head. She was interrupted by the Asian girl, Talia.

“Why can’t you leave her alone Ashley?” she asked with a frown as she came over to me. I was happy to see that someone was on my side other than Logan, Lilian, Amber, and Rose.

“Yea, you know she didn’t do anything.” Karen said as she and Cheyenne came towards us. People were starting to come towards me to defend me. We ended up with half and half. I was surprised at how many people were defending me.

“You know what, you all are losers!” Ashley yelled at my half. She was turning red with anger as she noticed how many people were going against her. I fought back a grin.

“Sorry Ash, but I guess you’re just losing your touch.” I said with a victorious grin. I stood there, waiting for Ashley to respond. But she just stood there angrily. I waited for another moment. She pushed through the crowd of students and left the cafeteria. Logan, his twin sisters, Rose and I walked to our usual lunch table and got a tray full of food.

“Why does Ashley always try to get you in trouble?” Logan asked as I took a bite of my strawberry.

“She has always been jealous of me. I’ve always been smarter than her.” I said with a weary smile. After lunch I went to history class. There I saw Talia waving towards Rose, Lilian, Amber, and I. I slowly walked over to the back of the classroom.

“Hey Carmela, sorry about what happened at lunch.” she said with a smile.

“It’s okay. But thanks for standing up for me.” I said with the same smile. I thought it was kind of weird since we were never really friends. I’ve only talked to Talia once before when her and her brother came over to see Ella.

“So how long have you and Ashley been fighting?” she asked out of nowhere.

“Ever since we met; so about preschool.” I said with a frown, thinking back to the first time I met Ashley. I didn’t understand why Talia was trying to be so nice to me. But I was okay with it. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would go behind my back and talk about me.

“Quiet down class.” Mr. Losie, our substitute, said as he entered the classroom.


After school I walked home with Rose and the Abend trio. I wanted to just hang out with the Abends but I had to spend some time with Rose. I was beginning to neglect her. I was scared that this was going to happen since I got a boyfriend. I loved hanging out with Rose sometimes but not lately. I was kind of upset with myself for forgetting about her. Every time we did hang out I was always thinking about Logan.

“So Carmela, do you want to hang out today.” Logan asked me as I opened the door to the shop.

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” I asked with a grin. I looked at Rose but she seemed to have her mind elsewhere.

“How about that pizza place a few blocks away?” he asked with a grin. It looked like he was hiding something. I hesitated for a moment as I thought about what he could be hiding.

“Sure.” I answered with a huge grin. I didn’t really care what he could have been hiding. The only thing that mattered was that it was going to be the two of us.


At about six Logan came to pick me up for dinner. Once again Lilian and Amber gave me a dress to wear. It was a sleeveless red dress that reached my knees. I had my hair in two long braids with a couple of strands hanging down. Ella had already gone to hang out with our mom.

“Hey Logan.” I said as he opened the passenger door for me.

“Hey Carmela, you look amazing.” he asked with a grin. He still looked like he was keeping something from me. I was a little nervous when we reached the pizza place. When we entered I was mad to see what he was keeping from me. Sitting near the front left corner, near the entrance, were Ella and my mom. I looked up at Logan angrily. I knew exactly why he wanted to come. He must have heard them talking about coming here and he thought it would be a great time to finally meet my mom.

Logan simply looked down at me with a smile. “What?” he asked as he held back a chuckle.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t plan this.” I said still looking at him suspiciously.

“Plan what?” At that moment Ella noticed us.

“Oh, hey Carmela. Hey Logan.” she said as she gestured for us to come towards her. Logan dragged me by the waist towards them. I was still giving him an evil glare.

“Wow, we didn’t expect to see you here.” my mom said.

“We’re just as surprised.” Logan lied.

“Would you like to eat with us?” my mom asked with a grin. “We haven’t ordered yet.”

“Sure. We would love to.” Logan said as he pulled up two chairs. We sat across Ella and my mom. “It’s very nice to see you again Ms. Cross.”

“Oh please, call me Elena.” she said with a grin. I sat there quietly, trying to calm myself down.

“So Logan, when did you know you liked my daughter?”

“Mom!” I yelled. I was surprised that my mom would ask that.

“It’s okay. Um, I started liking her the first time I saw her. I saw her back in October, ever since then I guess I’ve liked her.” he said with a shy grin. I could feel that I was blushing.

“That’s so sweet.” Ella said, a little to animate. She and my mom had huge smiles on their faces. At that I knew my face was bloody red.

“So Logan, Carmela told us that you came here from Germany with your sisters and your brother. Why didn’t your parents come?” my mom asked.

“Because my dad had a new shop in Germany that he had to take care of, he’s a painter, and my mom has to take care of her fashion studio, she’s a fashion designer. They thought it would be good for my brother, Kristian, to learn responsibility.” he said smoothly. I wondered if most of what he said was true. He seemed to be able to lie perfectly

“That’s the reason why I left Ella in charge of Carmela. Responsibility.” my mom said with a sigh. “So you’re about the same age as Carmela?”

“Kind of, I’m actually six months older than her. But my sisters and I skipped a grade.” he explained. I could see my mom was happy that I had a smart guy.

“I see you have a good head on your shoulders. I’m happy my daughter got you.” she said with a wink.

“Thank you Elena.” he said with a breathtaking smile.


After dinner Logan left in his car to go home. I let my mom drive me home with her and Ella. The whole ride home my mom couldn’t stop talking about Logan. But when I got into my room Logan was already waiting for me.

“Hey I like your mom.” he said when I got into bed. I was wearing my silk night gown again. He was sitting in my desk chair at the foot my bed.

“Really? I thought she asked too many questions. Why did you do that to me by the way?” I asked as I folded my arms over my chest.

“I just wanted to meet your mom. I knew you wouldn’t want to go if you knew your mom was there.” he answered with a grin. I looked at him for a moment before I gave up. I knew I couldn’t stay mad at him.

I ended up falling asleep at about midnight. That night I had a weird dream. I was in the school hallway with Logan. He was across from me, at the end of the hall. I was happy to see him standing at the end of the hall underneath one of the windows. It was dark in the hall except for the moonlight that was coming from the window. Logan was snow white and his hair seemed to be glowing in the faint light. I started walking towards him. I stopped halfway there when I noticed he had a frown. He looked at me as if he was angry with me. When I looked at him again I realized he was looking past me. I slowly turned around to look at what he was staring at. I froze in shock when I saw the dark figure behind me. I couldn’t see his face but I could see his eyes. They were a crimson red. I could feel my heart pounding and my blood racing.

‘Hello my dear.’ he said in a deep menacing voice.


I awoke in a shock. I was sitting up in bed, my heart still pounding. I slowly laid back down and turned towards the clock on my desk. It was only two in the morning. I turned to my right and saw Logan sitting in my bean-bag chair.

“What happened?” he asked with a frown. He was standing in front of me within seconds.

“Nothing.” I answered with a weak half-smile. I didn’t want to worry him with my dream. He looked at me for a moment, suspicious, before he grabbed me in his arms.

“Would you like me to hum you to sleep?” he asked with a heart stopping grin.

“Sure.” I said with the same weak smile. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to sleep, but I knew I had to try. I closed my eyes as he began to hum, and within seconds I was unconscious again.

I awoke again to my alarm clock. It was already seven-thirty. I had thirty minutes to get dressed and get all my stuff for school before Rose, Lilian, and Amber were supposed to be here. When I awoke Logan was still in the chair I left him in, but when I was done getting ready for school he was gone.

I only had to wait for a few minutes before the rest of them showed up. I was a little too tired to be happy to see everyone. My mind kept going back to the dream I had. I tried to hide the fear from my face though. I hadn’t realized it when I got to my locker until the first bell rang. I was rushing down the school hall when I saw him.

He was a somewhat tall boy, about three to four inches taller than me. He was only a foot away from me. He had short, wavy, jet black hair with strands of blue highlights in the front and bright topaz eyes. He had a half-smile that made him seem innocent. In the dim hallway lights it looked as if his skin was glowing. He was wearing black dress pants with a plain white shirt. I was nervous to see him just standing there. I was locked in place by his eyes. I tried to pull away but was unsuccessful. The only thing that pulled me away was the second warning bell. I snapped back to reality like a rubber band. I raced passed him, keeping my head down and staring at the ground.

“Good bye Carmela.” the stranger said in a somewhat deep voice. I froze in place once again. The voice sounded like the voice from my dream. I snapped my head back to look at him but he was already gone. I stood there in shock for a few minutes before I ran for the bathroom. I didn’t want to go to class ‘til I was able to think again. I sat in the bathroom until I heard the bell ring for second period.

“Hey Carmela, where were you?” Rose asked as I entered algebra. Ms. Hart wasn’t in class yet when I entered.

“I was in the office. The principal wanted to talk to me about something.” I said calmly. I hoped she would buy it. She seemed to.

“Why?” Lilian pushed. She and Amber didn’t seem to believe me.

“It was just about more vegetarian friendly food for lunch.” They seemed to buy that though. During the rest of the class I couldn’t help but think about that guy. He reminded me of the guy in my nightmare. I was a little scared by that, but mostly by the fact that he knew my name. The way he stared at me looked as if he was trying to tell me that he was not going to hurt me, to not be afraid, but it sent waves of fear down my spine. He looked mysterious to me. The way his skin glowed, the color of his eyes, it made me think of a vampire. But there was no way he could be a vampire. His eyes were yellow and all of the Abends’ eyes were blue. Could vampires have different color eyes?

I hadn’t realized that these thoughts were running through my mind during the whole class until I heard the bell. The rest of the day dragged on. It was hard for me to pay attention to anything. When school finally let out I went straight to my locker and walked straight home. I didn’t even wait for Logan after school. But of course he beat me home.

He was waiting for me in my room. “What was that about?” he asked as I put my bag in the corner. “Why were you in such a hurry?”

“I don’t know. Guess I just wanted to get home early.” I answered with an unconvincing smile. He didn’t seem to believe me.

“What really happened?” he asked me. He looked right into my eyes as he asked this. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him or not. “Lilian and Amber told me about how you were absent for first period. What happened?” he asked, he seemed really worried.

“Nothing, I just saw someone.” I said simply, while looking down.

“Who?”

“I just saw a guy in the hallway.”

“What did he look like?”

“Well, he was tall, maybe 6 feet. He had short, wavy, jet black hair with blue highlights in the front. His eyes were topaz and he was pale.” I said with a shrug.

“Wow. That’s very detailed.”

“Yea, I just seemed to notice that kind of stuff.”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know. But he knew my name.” I said. Finally I looked up to see his surprised expression.

“What do you mean, he knew your name?” he asked with a frown.

“He said ‘Good bye Carmela.’ That’s all I meant.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yea, just a little freaked.” I said with a half-smile as I climbed into his arms. He wrapped his arms tight around me. I felt calmer and safer in seconds.

“Are you still scared?” he whispered in my ear.

“No. I feel better now.” I felt like mentioning about how that guy’s voice was like the voice in my nightmare. But decided it was better if I didn’t “Are you okay?”

“Yea, I feel okay. Why?”

“I don’t know. You seem flustered.”

“Well, yea I was flustered.” he said as I laid my head on his chest. I was tired for some reason. I shut my eyes and took a short nap against his chest.

I awoke to the sound of Ella yelling my name from the shop. “Carmela! Are you home?” she asked as she started climbing up the stairs. I sprang out of Logan’s arm and ran to the door. I yanked it open and walked over to the stair case.

“Yea, sorry Ella, I was napping. What time is it?” I asked with a yawn.

“It’s almost seven.”I looked at my watch, shocked to see she was telling the truth.

“I have to go. I think Rose is online right now. I told her I would e-mail her.” I told Ella as I began to make my way back to my room. When I entered my room I saw Logan still sitting on my bed.

“Hey, why didn’t you wake me up? I was asleep for about three hours.” I asked him as I made my way back into his arms.

“You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to ruin it.” he answered with a grin. I sat down in his lap and slung my arms around his neck.

“What happens if Ella walked up here looking for me and saw me with you?”

“I would hear if she was coming anywhere close to your room.” he answered calmly into my hair. We sat there in silence for a moment, listening to our breathing and my heart beating. Logan slowly moved his hand so that it was under my chin and lowered his lips to mine. I felt better again at once. His lips were cold on mine. It felt like having ice in my palm. I tried my hardest not to shiver.

“So what do you want to do?” I whispered to him when he pulled his lips away from mine. “I know it’s late but we can do stuff still.”

“I’ll be back in a second.” was all he answered me as he vanished. A second later Ella was calling me again.

“Yes Ella?” I asked when I got to the shop. I saw Logan standing at the entrance with a huge grin.

“Hey Carmela.” he said in a velvet soft voice. He had a breath taking grin.

“Hey Logan. You’re here pretty late.” I commented with a grin.

“Yea. But I thought we could just hang-out. If that’s okay with your sister.” he said, turning to look at Ella with an irresistible look in his eyes.

“Well, I guess it is okay.” she said as she made her way up the stairs. While Logan and I went to my room to talk. We walked up the stairs quietly so Ella wouldn’t hear us entering my room. We sat there talking for a while when the worst thing possible happened.

As Logan kissed me again-this time longer than before-my dad entered my room. “Hey sweetie.” he said before he looked at me with Logan. We automatically pulled apart.

“Dad!” I said with shock.

“Who is this!?” he asked with the same shock.

“Um, dad this is Logan. He’s my boyfriend.” I said. I took Logan’s hand as I stood up.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Cross.” he said with an innocent smile. My dad simply gave him an evil glare. “Well, I guess I should be going.” he said with a frown. He slowly walked out of my room. Going around my anger filled father.

“What was that!?” he yelled at me.

“Well. We were just...”

“Ella!” he cut me off sharply.

“Dad? Hey. What’s up?” she asked surprised to see him.

“Did you know your sister was up here with some guy?”

“No. I thought she was in the shop with him.” she answered as she turned to look at me. She also had an angry face.

“Yea, well I walked in on them kissing.” he said.

“Dad listen, it wasn’t like we were going to do anything.” I told him with a frown.

“Yea, well I was his age once and I know what he’s after.”

“I doubt you were ever his age.’ I said under my breath. “But Logan’s different.”

“No. He is just like every other guy. When did you start dating him?”

“Um, like a few weeks ago.” I answered while looking at the ground.

“So you’ve only known this guy for a few weeks. How much do you actually know about him?”

“More than you think.” I murmured under my breath.

“Excuse me?”

“I know a lot dad.”

“Like what.”

“Like his name. Where he’s from? Who his parents are? I also know everything about his family.” I answered with a sly tone. I was getting annoyed by my dad.

“Watch it! I don’t care if you think this guy is nice and sweet and would never hurt you. I don’t want you seeing him ever again!” he said in a final tone. At that I knew he wasn’t going to argue with me about this. I stared at him, no I glared at him. I quickly grabbed my bag from the corner of my room and slung it over my right shoulder. I pushed past my dad and Ella and ran down the stairs. But I wasn’t fast enough. My dad grabbed my wrist and yanked me back.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked me angrily.

“I don’t know and I don’t care! I will go anywhere, as long as it’s far away from here!” I yelled back at him. I yanked my wrist out of his grip and yanked the door open. I started down the street towards Rose’s house but I froze half-way there.

Where was I going to go, Rose’s? That would be the first place they would go. I thought to myself as I stood there in the dark. I checked my watch. It was already about nine. I knew Mr. Avery wouldn’t be happy to see me at this time. But there was only one other place I could go, and I knew it wouldn’t matter what time I showed up there.


“Hi Mr. Abend. Sorry for bothering you at this time.” I said when Logan’s dad opened the door.

“Hello Carmela. It is okay, is there something wrong?” he asked, concerned.

“Um, not really.”

“Please come in.” he said as he moved to the side for me to enter. Lilian and Amber fluttered down the stairs when I entered. Logan was right behind them, then Oliza, and lastly Kristian.

“Carmela what are you doing here?” Logan, Lilian, and Amber all asked at once.

“Um, well I just wanted to get out of my house.” I answered.

“Let’s sit down.” Oliza offered when she reached me. I could tell she wanted to hear what happened. “Please tell me everything that happened sweet heart.” I sat in the love seat with Logan.

“Nothing much, my dad walked into my room and saw me kissing Logan. Then he told me I’m not allowed to see Logan anymore, so I left.” I said simply.

“Oh dear, that’s terrible.” Oliza said.

“I’m so sorry.” Logan said. He had a guilty look on his face.

“Do you mind if I spend the night here?”

“Of course not, you can stay here as long as you want.” Bill said with a smile.

“Thank you.” I said with a weary grin. I could tell that Logan was having a silent conversation with his parents. I was too tired to care what they were thinking.

“Come on Carmela. Let’s go get you a nightgown.” Lilian said as she and Amber got up from the couch and came towards me. They grabbed my hands and yanked me off the seat. They brought me to the same room where we did the fashion show and started dressing me up again.

They pushed me in front of the mirror. I was wearing a short satin, red and black nightgown. It was a little shorter than I would like it though. But before I could say anything about it the twins were gone. I walked out of the room and stood in the hall, a little insecure. I walked to Logan’s room and quickly knocked on his door. The door opened only a crack and I was suddenly yanked into the room.

“Listen Carmela, I’m sorry to have scared you earlier but I need to talk to you.” I recognized the voice automatically. It was the guy from school.

“P-p-please don’t hurt me.” I said. My voice was beginning to crack. I could feel tears building up.

“Hush.” he whispered in my ear. “I would never hurt you. I just need to talk to you.” he said soothingly. I could feel my whole body shaking. The tears began to spill over. “We shall talk soon my love.” he said. At that second he was gone and I was left standing in my boyfriend’s room, crying.

“What’s wrong Carmela?” Logan asked when he saw me. My back was to him. I couldn’t answer him through the tears. My knees felt weak beneath me. I collapsed to the ground, kneeling there and sobbing. I had never felt that scared in my entire life. “Carmela!” he said. He was already kneeling next to me at that same moment.

“L-L-Logan.” I stammered through my sobs. I was still shaking beyond belief. Today was just not my day. I opened my eyes to look at Logan but I was facing the window. The window was frosted with the chill that crawled up the glass. Outside of the window I was topaz eyes, his eyes.

I heard a scream out of nowhere. It took me a few seconds to realize I was the one screaming. Logan was cradling me close to him. I was shaking even harder than before. I couldn’t get myself to stop shaking, or stop screaming, or even stop crying. I was too scared to even process what was happening. All at once there were six people talking to me at once. A chorus of voices said my name at the same time. I couldn’t distinguish any of the voices. The only voice I could hear clearly was the soothing voice that was whispering in my ear.

“Carmela. It’s okay. What happened? Please, Carmela.” he kept repeating into my ear. After a few moments I finally stopped screaming, but I was still crying and shaking.

“H-h-he.” I stuttered before a new set of tears flowed through my eyes.

“Who, your dad? Is something wrong with him?” Oliza asked at the same time Logan did. I finally opened my eyes to look at the family surrounding me. It was all blurry from the tears.

“No. H-h-he was . . . was here.” I said with another sob.

“Who!?” Logan asked me frantically. I looked into his eyes, hoping he would see who I meant. “The guy who was in the school today?” he asked uncertainly. I simply nodded my head. “What! No, when!?”

“A few moments ago.” I said. I was happy I was able to get anything out.

“Did he hurt you!?” they all asked at once. I was surprised to see Kristian’s worried face. I wanted so badly to just take all their worry away.

“No, he said he just wanted to talk to me.” I answered. The sobs finally ended and I wasn’t shaking anymore.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked. He was still holding me and staring into my eyes.

“Yea, I think so. It was just shock.” I said with a sigh. I was tired and I just wanted to go to sleep. “I’m tired. Can I just go to sleep?” Logan helped me up and grabbed my hand. He guided me into the room across from his own. It was dark in the room, the walls were red and black, very simple, and there was a queen size bed in the middle. There was a dresser and a closet in the left corner.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Logan asked as I sat at the edge of the bed.

“If you don’t mind I would love for you to stay.” I said a little embarrassed. Logan was at my side at once. He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. I wanted to just stay in his arms, never to let go.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yea I was just shocked. But I’m still upset about my dad.” I said, trying to change the subject.

“I’m still sorry about that. My mom and dad scolded me about that.” he said simply.

“It’s okay. No matter what he says I’m not going to stop seeing you.” I said with a grin. I pulled myself closer to my boyfriend. We talked for a few more moments before I fell asleep in his arms again.

That night I dreamt that I was in the school once again. It seemed to continue from where I left off. I turned to see that mystery guy behind me. His eyes were the same shade of yellow as it was today. ‘Hello my dear.’ he said in a deep, soft, soothing voice. A shiver ran down my spine. I turned back to look at Logan. He was still looking past me, at the stranger. He slowly lowered to a crouch like stance. He had a menacing look on his face. I slowly began to back away when I remembered about the guy behind me. I spun around again. The stranger was in the same animal like crouch. I was stuck in between two dangerous men that were about to pounce at each other. There were hissing sounds coming from both of them. I was still staring at the one with the topaz eyes. His lips pulled back over his teeth and I noticed his fangs in the faint moonlight. The next thing I knew the vampire pounced towards me.


I awoke in a fright. I was sitting up, sweat on my forehead. Logan had his arms around me at the same second that I had awaken. “Carmela! Calm down please.” he said frantically again. I hadn’t realized it ‘til than that I was screaming again. I quickly quieted myself down. The rest of the Abends were in my room at the same time. “What happened?” Logan asked me with a frown and worried look in his eyes.

“Nothing, it was just a nightmare. I’m sorry for bothering you all.” I said with an apologetic smile.

“Don’t worry about it sweetie.” Oliza said with a smile. “We were already awake.”

“What time is it?” I asked.

“About one A.M.” Bill answered me.

“I’m sorry again.” I said again. They reassured me again before leaving.

“What did you dream about?” Logan asked.

“It was me in the hallway at school. You were there, and so was that mystery guy from today. You both fell into a crouching pose and when that guy pounced I awoke. He was a vampire like you.” I said with a shiver as I thought back to my dream.

“You look tired. You should go back to sleep.”

“I don’t know if I will be able to.”

“Would you like me to sing you to sleep?”

“I don’t think even your humming could drive these dreams away.”

“What about if I actually sang you to sleep?” he asked with a breathtaking smile. I was surprised that I hadn’t had a heart attack yet. I smiled back at him, forgetting all my problems for that short moment. He began singing a song that I was not familiar with. I was too tired to actually listen to the beautiful words that came out of his mouth. I soon fell into slumber once more.

I awoke to the sound of metal hitting metal and glass shattering on the wooden floor below my room. I opened my eyes and searched the darkened room. I reached my hand out; Logan wasn’t in the room with me.

I slowly and quietly walked down the silent steps. I found everyone in the living room. Logan and Kristian were on the floor, Logan on top of Kristian. Both their lips were pulled back over their teeth. I was confused as to what was happening. Kristian was snapping at Logan and was shaking his head side to side. I was scared at the scene. Logan looked like a vampire, kneeling over his brother, fangs bared, eyes dark, midnight blue from what I could tell. He was holding his brother’s neck.

I sucked in a gasp of air. At that same moment Lilian and Amber were at my side. “What’s going on with Logan and Kristian?” I asked them.

“Kristian saw your sister outside going to the graveyard. She had a small cut on her arm and when Kristian saw the blood he was going to jump towards her. Logan luckily yanked him back.” Lilian said with a frown.

“Ella!?” I asked shocked.

“Yea.” they both said. I checked the clock on the wall. It was already nine.

“Oh no, I forgot about school. Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

“We didn’t know you wanted us to. I mean we don’t have school tomorrow anyways.” Amber said with a grin. We turned our attention back to the fight in the middle of the living room. Logan seemed to have calmed his brother down.

“Sorry.” Kristian said. He looked like he was disappointed.

“It’s okay.” Logan said. He was already helping his brother up. “Oh. Good morning Carmela.” Logan said. He was at my side in a second. I was happy the fight on the floor was over.

“Logan. I’m going to stop by the shop.” I told him after he kissed me softly on the cheek.

“Okay. Are you going to face your dad?” he asked with a half frown.

“Yea.” I said with the same frown.

“Okay then. Let’s go get you dressed.” Oliza said with a grin. I couldn’t help but grin at her childish expression. The three girls yanked me up the stairs into the room that they always use for my little fashion shows.



Logan walked with me all the way back to the shop. “I don’t think you should come in.” I told Logan with a frown. He quickly kissed me on the lips before he left. I walked into the shop carefully, as if someone was going to jump me the second I entered the shop. I walked up to the kitchen to get food when I noticed my dad sitting at the table.

“Where were you?” he asked lightly.

“I was at my friends’ house.” I answered. There was a hint of acid in my voice.

“Who’s? We went to Rose’s house. From what you say, she’s your only friend.” he said with the same acid tone. “Did you go to that guy’s house!?”

“Maybe I did.”

“I told you that you are not allowed to see him!”

“I don’t care what you say. Mom approves of him and so does Ella. Plus I love him!” I yelled back at him.

“You’re only sixteen. You know anything about love!”

“I see. Then why are you here in New York?”

“That is none of your business!”

“Kim kicked you out! Didn’t she!?”

“Maybe, but that isn’t for you to know about!”

“What more do you know about love than I do!?”

“Watch it! You don’t know what you’re talking about.” he said with a frown. He was already beginning to calm down.

“I’m sorry dad. But if you are going to forbid me from seeing my boyfriend than I’m not going to listen to you.”

“Then I want to meet this punk.”

“Fine.” I said with a sigh. I was glad that the fight was over. I quickly left the room to go to my room. I sat at the edge of my bed and stared out the window. After a few moments my phone began to ring on my computer desk.

“Hello.” I said with a smile as I recognized Logan’s number.

“Hey, are you in a lot of trouble?”

“No, but my dad wants to meet you.” I said with a frown.

“Is that bad?” he asked, seeming to notice the frown in my voice.

“Well not really. I bet you could charm anyone.”

“So what time do you want me over?”

“All the time?”

“Hahaha very funny. But really.”

“Um, maybe about eleven.”

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” I waited for him to hang up. When he did I closed my phone and laid on my back against my blanket on the bed. I was still tired and I just wanted to be in Logan’s arms again. I slowly closed my eyes; I was a little scared to, scared that I might see those dreaded topaz eyes.



I awoke to my dad yelling my name, “Carmela. Your ‘boyfriend’ is here.” He bellowed from the shop. I yanked myself out of my bed and ran down the stairs. When I reached the bottom step I saw Logan and my father standing across from each other, awkwardly.

“Hey Logan.” I said with a grin. “Dad, you said you wanted to talk to Logan.”

“Oh, yea. So Logan, what do you and your parents think about Raven Crown, or as Carmela likes, Vampire Cove? Ella told me you moved here from Germany.” he said with a half grin. It looked as if he was struggling to put that grin on his face.

“I like it. The school is nice and the people are amazing.” he answered with a grin as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I looked up at him with a huge smile.

“That’s sweet. So what do your parents think?”

“They like it here, but they leave from between here and Germany. My mom has a fashion company and my dad has a painting studio over there.”

“Oh, that’s nice. So why are you dating my daughter?” he asked suddenly I looked at him, shock written on my face.

“I wanted to date her because of her beauty, her smarts, her uniqueness, and her personality. When I met her I knew she was perfect. I knew she was the one for me.” he said sweetly as he lowered his lips to the top of my head. My dad simply looked at him. He seemed to be relaxing a little each second. I began to relax as well.

“I will admit you seem like a sweet and honest young man. I approve.” my dad said to me with a half genuine smile. I gave my dad the same smile in return.

“Dad, can I go to the bakery?” I asked him once it was a silent moment.

“Sure, here.” he said as he handed me twenty dollars. I took the money in one hand and grabbed Logan’s hand in the other.

“Thanks dad.” I yelled back over my shoulder as I left. Logan and I walked hand in hand across the street.

“I like your dad.” Logan said with a huge grin as we got into line. No one was there because of school. We ordered a piece of cake.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. He simply cares about you. I like that.” he answered as we took our cake to our normal table in the back. We had a chocolate cake with strawberry filling. It was small but we shared.

“I’m just happy that he didn’t ask you any embarrassing or rude questions.” I said with a simple smile. I took the first bite. While Logan was talking I looked out the window. I almost screamed when I saw the guy outside. His eyes were golden rust and he had a frown on his face. Logan seemed to read the fright on my face; he turned sharply and saw the guy staring back at him. I wasn’t sure what had happened in that quick second but the next thing I knew I was alone. I didn’t see the guy outside of the window but I saw Logan come back into the shop.

“Let’s go.” he said in a monotone. He had his lips at my ear and was whispering the words lightly. He quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

“Logan what’s going on?” I asked him once we were out of the bakery.

“Nothing, I just think we should go to my house. I don’t want to stay here and wait to see that guy again.” he said simply. He put me in his arms again and began running.

When we entered Logan’s house I saw his sisters fluttering down the stairs. “What happened?” Lilian asked as she walked up to us.

“I don’t know.” I told them with a frown.

“Nothing, I just think it would be better if we just hung out here.” Logan said with an angry look. I was confused as to why he was like that. I looked over at Amber; she was leaning against the stair railing, staring at Logan with a frown. I couldn’t tell whether or not they were talking to each other.

“I’m going upstairs.” I said with a frown as I moved away from Logan’s grip. I walked to the room I was in last time. I was still confused as to what was happening. A thought struck me. I quickly got up from the bed and went to Kristian’s room. It felt weird standing there. I raised my fist to knock on the door, but he opened it before I even lowered my hand.

“What do you need?” he asked with a half-smile. I could tell that he had ‘talked’ to Logan already.

“Um, can I ask you a question?” I asked. I was looking down at the floor.

“Sure.”

“Can you guys um, ‘talk’ to other vampires through their mind like you can with each other?”

“It depends. They can only talk when the vampires are close or already know each other. Or when both open their mind for the other to look through their thoughts.” he said simply. He smiled at me with a bored look in his eyes. I could tell he was still trying to be nice to me.

“Okay. Thank you.” I told him as I turned to leave. So Logan must have ‘talked’ to that guy. But what did they talk about? What could possibly make him so worried or upset that he would bring me here in such a hurry? I thought as I made my way down the stairs to the living room. I saw Logan sitting in the love seat talking to his sisters. The twins were sitting on the couch. I couldn’t understand what any of them were saying. They were talking too fast for any human to comprehend.

“Hi Carmela.” Amber said in a brighter voice. Logan’s head snapped up to look at me when I entered the room.

“Do you mind if Logan and I talk to each other in private.” I asked the twins as I made my way to Logan. When I looked up to see if his sisters had heard me they were already gone.

“So what do you need to talk about?” he asked with a half-smile.

“I wanted to know. Did you ‘talk’ to that guy at the bakery?”

“Yes. His name is Derek by the way.” he answered. He seemed at ease for some reason.

“What happened?” I laid my hands on his lap gently.

“Nothing.” he said sharply. I stared into his eyes. “Fine. The truth is that I saw what he really wanted. He wanted to take you away from me. He won’t stop for anything. But I’m not sure what he wants you for, he might want you only for your blood.” he had an angered look in his eyes.

“Well I’m surprised. You should know by now that nothing can take me away from you.” I told him with a grin. I was happy when I saw him smile back at me. He slowly lowered his lips to mine. The kiss was soft and sweet. “So can we forget about this Derek guy?” I asked once he pulled away from the kiss.

“Sure. But you can’t blame me for wanting to keep you to myself.”

“No, I can’t.” I told him as I laid my lips on his again. I didn’t think anything could ruin that moment until Logan pulled away suddenly. “What’s wrong?”

“Shhh...” he hushed me. He tilted his head to the left, listening to something. I notice a flash of irritation cross his face. “Kristian caught the scent of human blood. I’ll be back in a second.” he said as he went towards the back door. I wondered why Kristian couldn’t be near human blood but yet Logan could.

“What happened?” I asked my boyfriend when he came back into the room.

“Nothing, I just had to calm him down.”

“So why doesn't human blood seem to affect you?”

“I don’t know. It’s because I haven’t been around as many humans as Kristian has. When he was little he tasted human blood. I’ve never tasted it so I think that might be why.” he said simply. It seemed as if nothing really seemed to affect his emotions sometimes.

“Well that would make sense. But I have another question.”

“What is it?”

“Why is it that your eyes are blue and Derek’s eyes are topaz? Do vampires have different color eyes?”

“Well Bill thinks that it’s because we don’t feed on human blood. He said that when he drank human blood his eyes were golden rust. But now that he is a vegetarian they are blue.”
“So what do you want to do now?”

“I don’t know. We could go back to the shop if you want.”

“Sure.” I was happy Logan seemed to forget about what had happened earlier with Derek.


“I’m home dad.” I yelled as Logan set me to my feet.

“Dad’s not here. He’s at the store.” Ella answered me from the back of the shop.

“Cool. So I’ll just be in my room with Logan.”

“Leave the door open.” she told me as I went up the stairs with Logan.

“Okay,” I yelled back as I entered the room. I laid on my bed and Logan sat across from me in the desk chair. I stared at Logan for a moment. “Why is it that I can’t stay away from you? But yet I’ve noticed that other people are scared of you and your family.”

“Because you’re crazy.” he replied with a smug smile.

“You’re going to give me a heart attack one day with your smile.”

“Is that a bad thing? I would hate to kill you.”

“It’s a good thing. Plus I doubt I would die. I think I would be able to keep my heart from stopping completely.”

“So what have you been up to?” Logan asked me with a simple smile.

“I’ve been writing some new stuff. Nothing much.” We continued talking about just some random stuff. I was happy when my dad didn’t give Logan an evil glare when he got back.

Logan and I ended up talking until ten P.M. We would have kept talking if he didn’t have to go. But of course I knew he was going to be back.

“Carmela, are you going to eat?” my dad asked me after Logan left.

“No I’m tired. I think I’ll just go to bed.” Logan ended up showing up at about eleven.

“Happy Thanksgiving.” I told my mom as she entered the shop. We were planning on going out for dinner; my mom, dad, Ella, and I. Afterwards I was planning on going over to Logan’s. I wasn’t sure how vampires celebrated Thanksgiving. I wasn’t even sure if they celebrated it since they were from Germany.

“Happy Thanksgiving ladies.” she said as we made our way to the kitchen to see dad. “Happy Thanksgiving Jason.” she said simply to our father. I couldn’t help but wonder where the coldness came from.

“Same to you Elena.” he said back with the same coldness. I knew Thanksgiving wasn’t any of our favorite holidays, but I still thought it was enough of a holiday for my parents to get along during. Out of nowhere my mind wandered back to vampires on Thanksgiving.

What do they do? Do they all sit down at a table and eat together? What am I going to do with Logan? I wonder if they even do anything. It’s not a holiday in Germany so we probably won’t do anything special... My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing in my pocket.

“Hello?” I asked as I flipped my phone open.

“Hey! Happy Thanksgiving!” Rose practically screamed into my ear. I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

“Yea, happy Thanksgiving to you too. So what are you doing?”

“I’m heading over to my grandparents’ house. What about you?”

“I’m going out to dinner with my family and then I’m going to hang with Logan.”

“That’s cool. But it sounds kind of boring though.”

“Yea, I guess, but I live.”

“Well I have to go right now. I’ll call you later.” she said. But before I could say bye she already hung up. I closed my phone and turned back to my family. My parents were giving each other dirty looks for no reason whatsoever. Ella was pouring herself a cup of coffee. It was only noon but I was already tired. I felt like going back to bed.

When I entered my room I noticed my window was opened again. I didn’t remember opening it. I froze in the middle of my room. I slowly turned to face my bed. There, lying sweetly in the center was Derek. His eyes were closed as he rose to a sitting position. I was holding my breath for a moment.

When I finally let out my breath his eyes snapped open. They were in-between the normal topaz and the golden-rust. His hair was messed up and he was wearing an all black outfit. It looked a little like a suit but without the jacket. I almost screamed but he had his hand over my mouth at the same second that the thought came to mind.

“Please Carmela. I only want to talk” he whispered into my ear.

“Please, leave me. Please don’t hurt me.” I asked. My voice was shaking.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going to hurt you. I could and would never hurt you. Please, I just want you to listen to me.” he said soothingly. I took a deep breath and let him go on. “You belong with me. You don’t know who you really are. You don’t belong here. You have to come with me so I can show you who you really are and so you can see that you belong with me.” he said in a flurry of words.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” As I said this I had my phone out already. I opened it to my text messages and quickly dialed in the word ‘HELP’ and pressed send to Logan. Derek didn’t seem to notice because he was too busy staring at my eyes. “Why me?” I asked. I tried to hide the fear but I knew it showed on my face.

“Because...” he was interrupted by Logan entering the room. His face was scary in the faint light that escaped through the shades that covered my windows. I was happy that my parents and Ella were out getting food for dinner. But that meant that I was alone with two vampires who were about to attack. Like in my dream Logan lowered to a crouch at the same time that Derek did. There was the sound of a hiss that came out of Logan. Again I was in-between the two.

Once again Derek was the first to bounce. I fell to the ground. I heard a bang and looked up. Derek had smashed Logan against the door. Both of them were growling at each other in such a way that it made them both look like actual vampires. I wanted to scream but it wouldn’t come out.

“Logan!” I managed to whisper. It scared me; watching the two vampires. Logan managed to push Derek off of him and onto the ground. He was holding his throat; it looked similar to the time he was holding his brother down. I could tell that in Logan’s eyes he truly wanted to ripe Derek’s throat out. Derek’s arms were flopping everywhere. It looked as if he was being electrocuted. I couldn’t bear to watch the scene anymore, but at the same time I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Derek’s nails were longer than Logan’s, when he reached out his arm he managed to cut my leg. I was still on the ground at the moment. I let out a scream of pain. They both froze and looked at me. Logan immediately got off of Derek and came to my side. At the same second Derek had left.

“Carmela, are you okay?” he asked quickly.

“Yea, it’s just a little cut. I’ll clean it.” I said as I noticed his eyes turn darker than normal. “Thank you Logan.” I said with a grin.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yea, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Bye dear. Tell me if you see him again.” he warned me.

“Bye.” I said as he vanished. I was sure he heard me though. I slowly got up and went to the bathroom. I took out the alcohol and the bandages. When I looked back down at it I noticed that the cut was a few inches longer than a foot. I let out a gasp. I yanked out the bandage I use last time I had a cut this long, when I fell off my bike and cut my arm. I winced a little as I poured the alcohol on my cut.

When I was done cleaning up my leg and the blood from the floor I moved to the room. They had hit a few of my stuff off my shelf and I still had to clean the blood from that floor. When I was done I laid on my bed with a frown. I just really wanted the day to end. I was tired again and I wanted to just forget about this whole thing. I slowly closed my eyes and let the dreams flow into my mind as I fell into the blackness. Lucky for me I didn’t have any dreams, or nightmares.

I awoke to the sound of the door slamming down stairs at the shop. I reluctantly got out of my bed and walked downstairs to see what the noise was coming from. “Sorry Carmela. The door must have slammed behind us.” Ella said as I came towards them to help with the bags. My leg still hurt a little.


After dinner I headed over to Logan’s house. When Logan opened the door I could hear someone playing the piano. When I entered I saw both Lilian and Amber playing on two key boards in the living room. Bill and Kristian were setting the dining room table and I could smell food cooking in the kitchen. I smiled when Lilian and Amber noticed Logan and I enter the house. “Hey Carmela.” both of them said at the same time.

“Hi. What’s up?” I asked.

“Not much, we’re just getting ready for dinner. Is there anything you would like?”

“Um... Is there going to be pasta?”

“Yes.”

“I’m okay with that.” I said with a grin as Logan and I made our way to the love seat. When Kristian and Bill were done getting everything ready they came to join us in the living room. “I’m going to go see Oliza.” I said lightly to Logan as I got up and made my way to the kitchen.

“Hi Carmela.” Oliza said the second I entered the kitchen.

“Hello Oliza. I was coming to see if there was anything you needed.” I said with a grin.

“Well you could help stir the pasta if you want.” she said with a grin.

“So this is your families first Thanksgiving?”

“Yea, but we know what to do. I’m actually making the turkey right now. But I know you’re a vegetarian so I’m making pasta and meatless stuffing.” she answered with a huge grin as she checked the turkey. I was happy to see her grin.

When she pulled out the turkey I could tell it wasn’t fully cooked. There was still a lot of blood on the plate.

“Okay every one dinner is served.” Oliza said when we were done placing all the food on the table. We all took a seat at the table. Bill was at the head with Oliza on his right and Kristian on his left. Next to Oliza were Lilian and Amber and next to Kristian were Logan and of course then me.



“Thank you Oliza. The dinner was great.” I said after dinner. I was getting ready to leave and go back home.

“Thank you Carmela. Have a nice evening.” she said as I left. Logan came around with the car.

“Bye.” I yelled back as I entered the car. “That was nice. I really like hanging out with your family.” I told Logan.

“I’m happy you had fun.” he said with a grin as he laid his lips on mine. It was a pretty long kiss. When he pulled away I noticed we were already at my house.

“You drove while we were kissing!?” I asked, shocked.

“Yea.”

“What if we crashed?”

“Well we didn’t, and I know what I’m doing.”

“You’re lucky I trust you.” I said with a smile as I exited the car. “Will I see you tonight?”

“Of course, especially after what happened today. I’m not going to let you out of my sight.” he said with a frown. I could tell he wasn’t going to forget about Derek that easily. Logan came over to my side. I stretched up on my tip-toes to kiss him. The kiss was stiff. I pulled away first and looked at my boyfriend.

“I’ll see you later.” I said with a sigh. I quickly turned around to open the shop door. “I’m home.” I yelled into the empty house. I climbed up the stairs sadly. I was a little frustrated by Logan.

“Hey honey.” I heard my dad call from the kitchen. I knew my mom was gone already; she had a client in New York city. “How was your date?”

“It was nice.” I answered him with a grin. “I’m tired. I’ll just go to bed, okay?”

“Okay. Sweet dreams.” he called to me as I left to my room. I quickly got into the shower to relax my nerves. Afterward I dressed in my pajamas, but I only had my old jogging pants and bat t-shirt. When Logan showed up I could tell he was still a little over protective. Logan was sitting in my bean bag chair this time.

“It’s been a long day.” he said as I laid down on my bed. “You should sleep.”

“But I’m not tired. Plus I rather stay up with you.” I told him as I got out of my bed and slipped into his arms. I sat on his lap and smiled up at him. He gave me a half-smile.


I let out a sigh, “Why can’t you just forget about what happened? It’s annoying when all that’s on my boyfriend’s mind is another man.” I was starting to push myself up when Logan’s arms tightened around me.

“I’m sorry. But I only care for your safety.” he said with a frown.

“I know but still. I just don’t want you to only focus on this. You know I trust you, as long as I’m with you then I’m safe. You don’t have to worry.”

“Fine, I promise I won’t dwell on this. I will try my hardest to make you happy, my love.” he said as I kissed him. It was sweet. As he opened his mouth and let his sweet breathe into my opened mouth. It tasted nice. I slowly slid my tongue into his mouth. The kiss lasted a while, until I sadly had to pull away for air.

“Sorry. I forgot you need to breathe.” he said with a grin. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that breath taking grin. I could tell that he was becoming himself again.

“It’s okay.” I said, still breathless. I stared into his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. His eyes were the beautiful ice blue shade that I loved. In the faint lamp light it looked as if his eyes were stars. I skimmed my fingers over his flawless face. First I moved them over his cheeks, then the dark spots right below his eyes, and lastly his attractive, perfect, beautiful lips. I was disappointed when I felt my tiredness starting to affect me.

I let out a yawn and my eyes began to droop. “Come on. Let’s get you into bed.” he said as he picked me up and laid me softly on the bed. I quickly pulled him next to me and curled up against to him. His skin was so cold that it sent a small shiver down my back. He seemed to notice because he laid one of my thin blankets over me. Just like every night he began to hum me to sleep.

That night I had another dream like the one I’ve been having for the past maybe two days. Only this one was at the graveyard. I was still standing between Logan and Derek. As Derek sprang, he landed right on top of me, his eyes were golden rust and his lips were pulled over his fangs. I turned my head to the side and saw Logan jump at Derek, knocking him to the ground next to me. I slowly rose to my feet and started running. I ran towards the little crypt that I went to in my first ever dream with Logan. ‘Carmela!’ I heard Logan’s voice ringing in my ear as I reached the entrance. ‘Carmela! Are you okay?’ he asked frantically. I opened my mouth to assure him that I wasn’t in any sort of pain but no sound came out. Logan began to come closer to me. He pulled his lips over his teeth. I saw his fangs, shining in the moonlight. As he came closer he began to open his mouth. He slowly tilted his head to the side and laid his lips on my neck. I froze in place as I felt his teeth skimming over the flesh. After a moment he froze at the middle of my neck and bit down. A shock of pain blasted through my body.



I awoke with a shock. I was sitting up in bed once again. “What happened Carmela!?” Logan asked frantically.

“Nothing it was just a nightmare. I’m sorry for worrying you.” I said with a sigh as I took a deep breath. I turned to check the clock, it was only two A.M. I was still tired but I knew I couldn’t go back to sleep. I turned to look at Logan. He was staring at me with a worried expression. “I’m okay.” I told him again. I moved in closer to him. He held me tight against his chest. I let out a sigh of relief to feel his cool skin against my clammy forehead. I tried to close my eyes but each time all I saw was Logan, his eyes midnight blue, his skin glowing in the faint light, and his lips pulled over his beautiful, gleaming fangs.



I snapped my eyes open in fear and look at my angel. I was surprised that was all a dream. It seemed so real, mostly the last part. Logan was holding a book in his hand and was focusing on that only. I strained my eyes in the dark to see what book he was reading. He was holding my favorite book, Undecided. He slowly turned to me and stared at me in question. “What’s wrong? You keep waking up. Are you having more nightmares of Derek?”

“No. I just keep waking up. What time is it?” I asked as I yawned. I was technically telling him the truth. The nightmares weren’t about Derek.

“It’s three.”

“Wow. I’m wide awake, I don’t think I will be able to go back to sleep.” I said with an unconvincing smile. It didn’t help much when I yawned.

“You could have fooled me.” he said with an annoyed grin. “What’s really wrong? Please tell me, love. I hate that you won’t let me help you.”

“It’s nothing Logan. I swear. There is nothing you have to worry about.”

“So if you’re not going to go back to sleep than what do you want to do?”

“Did you sleep already?”

“No, why?”

“You should get at least two hours of sleep.”

“That’s all I need.” he commented with a sly, teasing grin.

“Then sleep. I’ll just, sit here and think.”

“Are you sure?” he asked as he made his way to the bed.

“Yea, I’m sure.” I told him with a grin as he closed his eyes. I began to skim my finger tips over his flawless skin again. It was as cold and smooth as stone. I hadn’t realized it ‘til now that his shirt was unbuttoned. I moved my hand down from his lips down his throat, to his chest. I started tracing his perfect chest, his small six packs. As I traced designs on his skin I felt a shiver go down my spine. My head snapped up and my eyes pulled away from his chest to his face. He was awake and was staring at me. I followed up his shoulder to his arm that was leading behind me. So it was his hand that had skimmed down my spine.

“How was your sleep?” I asked him as I moved my hand up from his chest to his cheek. He slowly put his hand over mine and held it there.

“It was nice. I dreamt about the most beautiful, smartest, nicest, and the best girl in the world. But it’s better to wake up to see that same girl.” He said with a grin. We stayed like that for a moment, his hand holding my hand on his cheek. I raised my other hand and slowly brushed it through his beautiful, dirty blond hair. He did the same. He stopped at the back of my neck. He slowly and carefully pulled me into a kiss.

It started out slow and careful. Like all the other kisses, his lips were soft and sweet. My lips moved in sync with his. As his lips parted, so did mine, ready to let his sweet breath into my mouth. As my lips parted I felt his tongue enter my mouth. It was a little different, especially with his tongue ring pressing against my tongue. I kept my eyes closed and I twined my fingers in his hair, deepening the kiss. After a moment I remembered I had to breathe, luckily Logan pulled away at the same moment that the thought came to my mind.

“Wow.” I breathed. “That was a nice kiss.”

“Yea. It was.” he said as I leaned against his chest. I took in a deep breath. I was happy to smell his sweet scent. My eyes began to close once again. This time I did not see the vision of my boyfriend as a real scary vampire.



I awoke to the sound of my alarm. I didn’t want to go to school; I wanted to stay in bed with my boyfriend. When I finally opened my eyes I realized I was hot. I looked to my side and I noticed Logan wasn’t there. Instead there was a note on the pillow next to mine. It simply said, ‘Sorry I had to go without saying goodbye but my parents wanted me home at 6. I’m also sorry that I won’t be in school today. Kristian, the twins, and I are going hunting, and my parents are heading back to Germany. I hope I’ll see you later, sometime around tomorrow hopefully. I love you.
-Logan.’

I carefully folded the neatly written letter and laid it on my desk. Well that is half good and half bad. I thought to myself as I went to my closet. I’ll be able to finally talk to Rose. When I came down stairs I saw Rose waiting for me at the shop.

“Hey Carmela. What’s up?” she asked as we began to walk outside.

“Nothing much. The Abend Trio isn’t coming to school. They’re spending the day with their parents.” I said with a sigh. It was weird lying to my best friend. We had never kept secrets from each other. Even at the age of five. But this was a big secret. Could I trust Rose-my best friend who would never lie to me-with this secret?

I took a deep breath, “Listen Rose, there is something I need to tell you.” I said as I stared at my hands.

“What is...” she began to ask. She was interrupted by her phone ringing in her pocket. “Hello?” she asked into the receiver. “Yea, she’s with me... no way?” she waited a moment. “Okay. I’ll see. Bye.” she said as she closed the phone.

“You know how you’re close to my grandma.” she said with a shy smile.

“Yea.” I said as I thought back to how Grandma Avery and I had been close ever since my grandma died seven years ago. I saw her as my own grandma and she saw me as one of her own as well.

“Well, she wants you to come over soon with Logan.”

“Why?” I asked. I was a little confused. How many adults wanted to meet my boyfriend?

“She sees you as her own. So of course she wants to meet him.” she answered with an apologetic smile.

“I guess I can see if he can go. When does she want us to come over?”

“Sunday.”

“Okay.” I said with a bored tone. I was sad when we entered school. I wasn’t in the mood to face about eight hours of lectures and eight hours of Ashley. Speaking of the devil, Ashley- with her clones- walked up to me. As if the second I mentioned her in my thoughts she was called over by a loud voice. “Carmela, did your boyfriend finally come to his senses and leave you?” she asked with a sly smile. I wanted to just go home and sleep.

“No Ashley. He’s spending the day with his family before his parents leave for Germany. Why don’t you just go find yourself a boyfriend? That way you can leave me alone.” I told her with a frown.

“Aw, are you missing your boy-toy? Are you going to cry?”

“I’m not really in the mood for this.” I said as I pushed passed her and went to my locker.


At lunch I decided I was going to eat outside. The whole day was boring and tiring. I stared at the ground as I took a sip of my coke. I wished Logan and his sisters were there. It was terrible without them. It wasn’t that I hated being with Rose, it was just that it wasn’t the same. Ever since I started dating Logan, about the same time she started hanging out with her dad and her grandma more, she seemed like she’s been hiding something from me. I mean I knew I was doing the exact same thing but there was no way her secret could have been anything compared to mine.

I hadn’t realized it ‘til then, but I found myself walking to the shop. I slowed down my pace to think. I was sure my dad and Ella were out. They should have been out eating lunch still, and then they were going to the store.


As I entered my room I reached my arm out to turn on the light. It was pitch black in my room, with the door closed and my window curtains closed. I froze in shock when I felt a cold hand grip my wrist. “Don’t scream.” said a voice from in front of me. I couldn’t see anything in the still darkness. “I came to talk. I need to bring you somewhere private where we can finally talk.”

“Please don’t hurt me.” I knew who it was just from the voice, but yet somehow I was still taken by surprise when I saw those topaz eyes. I tried to reach my hand into my back pocket to grab my phone but his other hand was holding that wrist at the same moment.

“I need you to come with me. I swear I just want to talk to you.” he said assuring me. I still felt frightened but I tried my hardest to hide it.

“What if I don’t go with you?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound strong. But of course I could hear my voice cracking and wavering. I stared into his deep topaz eyes.

“I don’t want to force you, but I will if I have to. I will do anything to get you to listen.” he told me as he slid his hand that held my left wrist around my waist. He had let go of it but he still had my right hand. He slung me over his shoulders and ran through the shop. He moved faster than Logan. I knew Logan didn’t go that fast because he had me in his arms but Derek went almost twenty times as fast as Logan did. I had to close my eyes so the wind wouldn’t start to burn them.

I hadn’t realized he came to a stop until he was already setting me on my feet. I took a few steps away from him and turned to see where we were. We were under the tree in the middle of the graveyard, the tree that Logan and I had first talked under. My thoughts wandered off back to the first time Logan and I were under that tree. I let the nice, calm thoughts of my boyfriend wash away the fear. I had wanted to run away before, run to my room and lock the doors, but now with those thoughts in my head I wanted to still run, but into my boyfriend’s waiting arms.

“Please listen to me Carmela. You are not who you think you are. You are much more important than what you are now. You were born to save us, the vampires.” he said in a weird off tone. It sounded like he was reading off a script; as if he had memorized everything that he had just said.

“What-what do you mean?” I asked with a stutter, I felt a shiver crawl up my spine, as if something bad was about to happen.

“I mean you don’t know what you are capable of. You have a special soul.” he said. He was beginning to walk closer to me. I tried to move back but I couldn’t get my feet to work. “You aren’t meant to be with these stupid humans. Not in this stupid town. And not with that stupid Logan.” he said. I could hear his voice becoming angrier as he said Logan’s name. “You’re meant to be with me.” he was only a few inches away from me when he said this. I let out a little yelp for help. It was the only sound I was able to get out before I felt Derek’s cold lips against mine.

They had a different kind of softness to them then Logan’s. His were more fierce and determined. I tried to push him off. I tried to back away. But as I backed away I ended up hitting my back against the tree. Derek slid his hands up to both the sides of my face. They were gentle and cold. His lips moved with a weird urgency. I hoped it would end soon. And it did. But not the way I wanted it to.

I found myself on the ground rolling over onto my back. I looked up at the spot where I had been. I saw Logan in a catlike position. He was facing Derek, fangs out and eyes midnight blue. I stayed where I was. As Logan pounced towards Derek, knocking him to the ground, I tried to scramble to my feet. At the same second Lilian and Amber appeared at my side.

“Let’s go Carmela.” Lilian said frantically. Amber left us and went to fight beside her brother. “Carmela!” Lilian yelled at me. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the fight that was taking place only a few feet away from me. Impatiently, Lilian grabbed me and slung me onto her back.

When we entered their house Lilian set me down on the couch next to Kristian and Oliza. Bill was in the love seat with his daughter. “What’s going on?” I asked anyone. They were all staring at nothing but I could tell they were talking to each other. I didn’t bother to ask again. I sat there for a few minutes before Logan and Amber walked in. Logan was supporting Amber. I let my gaze fall to her leg, it was bleeding and there was a cut that reached from her thigh to her ankle. She didn’t look like she was in a lot of pain but it still looked bad. It reminded me of the scratch that I still had, but her cut was deeper. I got up and moved to their side. “Are you okay?” I asked her.

“Yea.” she said with a confident smile. She seemed like she didn’t really notice it. “It will be gone soon. Logan, you should go talk to Carmela. I have a feeling she has a few questions for you.”

“Okay.” Logan said simply as he let go of Amber and grabbed my hand. He led me to his room and shut the door.

“Logan what’s going on?” I asked him. He was facing away from me and the lights were dimmed. “Logan?”

“Did he hurt you?” he asked me. I could hear the anger in his voice. I stared at his back. I couldn’t form the word no; his tone froze me in fear. “Did he hurt you!?” he asked me. He seemed more frantic than before. He turned to face me and I saw his eyes were still midnight blue. He grabbed my arm as he asked me this.

“No.” I managed to say in a soft voice. I stared into his eyes for a long moment as they changed back to the soft and calming ice blue. “How did you know?”

“I heard his thoughts as I went to go hunting. I went to make sure you made it to school safely and when I passed your house I heard him planning to wait for you so he could talk to you. I went to go get you but then I saw you walking home. I was about to go get you when I got distracted by Lilian and Amber telling me that Kristian got hurt trying to take down a family of bears. I spent a few moments talking to Lilian about it. That’s when I noticed him leaving your house with you on his back. He was fast, I’m sorry I didn’t make it to you fast enough.” he said with a broken but angered voice.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t hurt and you made it there in time.” I assured him.

“It’s not okay. You could have been hurt while you were still in your room. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yea, he didn’t hurt me.”

“What did he say?”

“He um... he told me that I’m not who I think I am and that I don’t belong here. Also, that I don’t belong with you.” I told him while looking at the ground. I still didn’t understand what he meant about any of that. “Do you know what he meant?”

“No.” he said quietly as he thought about it. He pulled me into a tight hug. I was happy to finally be in his arms. As we held each other the thought of what Rose and I were talking about that morning came to my mind.

“That reminds me, Rose’s grandma wants us to come over on Sunday.” I said as I pulled a little away so I could see his face.

“How did any of this remind you of that?” he asked with a grin. I was happy that he was in the mood for jokes.

“I don’t know. But can you?” I asked with the same grin.

“I don’t know. Maybe, but that means I have to go hunting tomorrow.” he said with a frown. I could tell that he didn’t want to leave me as much as I didn’t want him to. “Why?”

“Ever since my grandma died I’ve been close to Grandma Avery. Of course like any other adult in my life she wants to meet you.”

“Well I’m flattered. But I’m surprised you’re willing to share me with anyone else”

“It’s not by chose.” I said as I stretched up on my toes to kiss him. The kiss was sweet and soft. It was nothing like Derek’s but it still made me pull away quickly. I hated myself for doing so but it sent fear up and down my spine. “I’m sorry.” I said automatically.

“What happened?” he asked me. I could hear the worry in his voice.

“Nothing.” I told him quickly. The last thing I wanted was for him to worry about me.

“Carmela. Please.” he said with his warm blue eyes. I stared into them.

“Fine, but it’s nothing really. It’s just that,” I said with a sigh, “Derek kissed me. The kiss just sent a shiver down my spine.” I said softly, still looking at his face. I saw the little hint of rage flicker across his perfect face.

“Are you okay?” he asked me. I could see he had an emotionless mask on.

“Yea, I’m okay. I’m just happy I’m finally in your arms again. Just forget I said anything.” I said with another sigh. I looked at the clock that hung over Logan’s bed. It was only two-fifteen but I was already tired. I let a yawn slip through my lips. I didn’t want Logan to know I was tired because I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him.

“You’ve had a long day, and you didn’t sleep much yesterday. You need to get some sleep.” he said with a half-smile. I could tell that he didn’t want me to and that he wanted to just hang out with me.

“I don’t want to sleep.” I said. It sounded like I was a little spoiled girl but I really didn’t want to.

“Yea, but you look dead.” he said with a frown. He began to trace the bags under my eyes.

“Fine, but I’m only sleeping for a few hours. Wake me up at four.”

“Okay.” he said as he began to open the door so he could lead me to the guest room that I stayed in last time. But instead I laid down on his bed. He turned around and looked at me. He still had a grin on his face. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until Logan took out his acoustic guitar and began playing my song. As he sang the second verse to the song-that I still didn’t know-I was already asleep.


I dreamt about being in Logan’s arms. We were on a deserted island and we were just holding each other, as I pulled away to lay my lips on his I froze in shock when I saw those topaz eyes. But it was as if I was watching my body from a far. I saw myself still leaning into the kiss with Derek. But something else that I noticed was that it wasn’t me. One second it was and the next it was some girl who looked similar to me but different in a way. She was still 5'7" with long black hair, and my same face. But her skin was much paler and she had something that made her seem different. As she pulled away I noticed she had fangs and topaz eyes. I took in a deep breath. It was like a vampire version of me. Her head snapped up and she looked at me with the same shock. She slowly raised her hands to grab mine. It was a trap. Derek was behind me and placed his lips on my throat and bit down. I expected to awake at that moment but I didn’t. Instead I stayed asleep for all the pain of the venom burning through my veins and the agony.



When I awoke I was sitting up in the bed and I was screaming. Again, like the first time I saw Derek in the guest room, I couldn’t stop screaming. Logan was already at my side on the bed. “Carmela?” he asked frantically into my ear. I tried to stop screaming but all I could remember was the pain of the venom entering my veins. The rest of the family was there at the same moment. After a few seconds the pain left and I was able to breathe again. I took a deep breath.

“What happened?” the twins asked me.

“I don’t know.” I told them, with an off tone. I didn’t want to tell all of them about the dream. I didn’t want to worry them all. “Can I talk to Logan?” I asked with a frustrated frown. After everyone left the room I turned to look at my worried boyfriend.

“Carmela, are you okay? Was it another Derek dream?” he asked with a deep frown.

“Yea it was another Derek dream. But I’m okay now. I don’t even know why I was screaming.” I said, trying to make my voice sound calm and assuring. I leaned my clammy forehead against his cold chest. “What time is it?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s exactly four.” he said. He was still frowning but I could tell he was a little calmer now that I changed the subject. “Do you have to go home?”

“Yea, but you can come over. I know you probably will anyway.” I said with a half-smile. I slowly got up to my feet and started down the stairs with Logan right behind me.



That night I was sad when I had to say goodbye to Logan. I knew he wasn’t going to be there in the morning.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to leave you alone.” he said with a half-smile. “I’m going to have Lilian and Amber stay here to watch you.”

“Okay.” I said with a sigh. I wished he wasn’t so protective but after what happened earlier that morning I couldn’t blame him. “I love you.” I said as he lowered his lips to mine. When he pulled away I felt the sudden tiredness wash over me.


When I awoke I turned to my left and saw Logan had already left. In his place laid a red crystal rose. It peacefully laid on his pillow. I carefully picked it up and stared at it in the sunlight that came through my opened window.

Wow. It looks like a million diamonds in the...WAIT! I thought to myself. I never have my window opened and Logan always comes in and out through the door. I looked around my room frantically. I was in fear that my eyes might meet those dreaded topaz eyes that haunted me in my nightmares. When I saw the dark figure in the far corner I opened my mouth and took in a deep breath, ready to let out a scream. But before I could even let out the air a cold hand covered my mouth.

“Please don’t scream.” said a familiar voice. I turned to look at Lilian. She had a frustrated look. “I didn’t mean to scare you but Logan sent me over once he left, at about four A.M.” she said with an apologetic smile. I looked at her for a moment before it sunk in. I relaxed and she slid her hand off my mouth.

“It’s okay. I’m just still a little jumpy from yesterday.” I said with a shrug. I slowly got up and made my way to the closet to grab some clothes. As I slid into the bathroom the only thing I was thinking about was how scared I got when I thought of Derek.

My mind was racing with thoughts when it was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Are you okay?” I heard Lilian ask from the other side of the door. “You’ve been in there for almost twenty minutes.” I looked at myself and realized that I was already dressed. I slowly stepped out of the bathroom and made my way back to the bed. I sat at the edge next to Lilian. She sat there and looked me up and down.

“What?” I asked her as I saw her frown at my appearance.

“Nothing, it’s just that... well, is that what you’re going to wear?” she asked in a somehow polite way. I looked at her in disbelief. How could she be criticizing my outfit on a Saturday? I didn’t have anything to do and nowhere to go. “Come over.” She said, but before I could say anything she was gone. I stared at the open window she left through.

“Ella I’m going over to the Abends’.” I said as I entered the brightly lit kitchen. “Logan’s out today on a hiking trip with his dad and his brother so Lilian and Amber want to have a girls day.”

“Okay. But don’t you think it’s a little early? It’s only ten.” she said as I grabbed an apple.

“Nah, they asked me to come over as soon as I was dressed.”

“Okay, but don’t be out past five.” she said as I left the room. When I knocked on the Abends’ door Oliza was the one to answer. She looked amazing in the faint light that escaped through the widows in the living room. She was wearing her hair in a high ponytail and a white dress that looked like it would only be worn to an award show. She looked even taller in her three inch heels.

“Lilian and Amber told me we get to have a girl’s day. I’m so happy, you make the best model.” she said with a devilish smile. I was a little frightened by that but I knew it was just that she was excited.

“Yea, there’s nothing better than modeling.” I said with a little bit of sarcasm in my voice. Oliza walked with me as I made my way up the stairs and into the same room we used last time I did modeling.

“Hey Carmela.” I heard Lilian and Amber yell from the bathroom. “Hurry up. We want to get started.”

The first outfit they put me in was a short cocktail red dress. It felt almost comfortable. They had these open toed, three inch heels on me and my hair in two high ponytails. The next outfit was more casual. It was a strapless, yellow shirt with a pair of midnight blue cropped jeans. They also put me in comfortable converse. My hair was down and I wore barely any make-up. That was probably my favorite outfit. The others were a little too fashionable for me. The only thing that made me happy was when they told me I could keep the outfits. We ended up putting me in about eleven different outfits. The one bad thing was that most of the outfits were short and it was winter. So I didn’t exactly know when I would get the chance to wear them, but lately it has been pretty warm. It was already one o’clock when we were done.

“Thank you for letting me use you as my model.” Oliza said as Lilian, Amber, and I left to go to the bakery. I was still in the casual looking outfit.

“No problem.” I told her with a huge smile. I was happy she was happy. On our way to the bakery I had a weird feeling that something was going to happen, but not anytime soon.

* * *


“So how was your day?” Logan asked me as he sat down at the edge of my bed. It was already four in the morning, but I woke up when his cold lips touched my forehead. “Did you have fun with my sisters?”

“Yea. I modeled for your mom and them. It was a very tiring day. Your sisters took me out shopping.” I said as I remembered our long afternoon at the mall. Lilian and Amber ended up buying me a whole new wardrobe, and the outfits were very appropriate for the weather and season.

“I’m sorry I was gone so long.” he said with a sigh as he kissed my forehead again.

“It’s okay. You need to hunt. I don’t want you coming back here still thirsty.” I said with a half grin.

“I know. But I promise next time I’ll try to get back sooner.”

“It’s not that bad with you gone. It gives me a chance to have girl time with your sisters.”

“So, I know this is a moment killer, but did Derek come today? Did anything bad happen?” he asked with a frown as his eyebrows met in the middle. I put my hand on his cheek.

“Nothing happened today. It was peaceful and somewhat quiet.” I told him as I slid into his arms, like every other night. As he lowered his lips to mine I got the same feeling that I got earlier. But the second Logan’s cold, gentle lips touched mine I calmed down. I felt my fingers tangle into his hair and his do the same. He began to lean towards me until I was lying on my back. But at the same second Logan yanked away from me. When I opened my eyes, only a second later, I saw Logan on the other side of the room.

“I’m sorry.” I said automatically. I reached for the light switch on my lap. As the light illuminated my room I saw Logan standing in the far corner. His eyes were dark blue but not exactly midnight blue yet.

“I’m sorry Carmela. I can’t take any chances with you. I don’t want to kill you.” he said in a pained voice. We stood still for a moment.

“I’m truly sorry.” I said again as I noticed his eyes begin to change back to ice blue. He sat lightly at the edge of my bed again. “So what do you want to do?” I asked as I sat up and wrapped my arms around him.

“I actually have some questions.”

I let out a sigh, “What about?”

“Just some questions about you and your family.”

“Okay, what do you want to know?” I asked him, a little happier that the questions weren’t about Derek or anything.

“Well, why did your parents’ divorce?” he asked, looking right into my eyes, making sure he didn’t hurt me.

“Well, it’s not a great or exciting story. It’s quite simple. When I was about seven or eight they divorced. My dad actually started dating this girl named Kimberly when I was about five. When my mom found out, maybe three years later, she got so pissed that she considered a divorced but my dad promised he wouldn’t do it again, and for some reason she believed him. But of course he can’t keep any promises. That same year my parents found out that Kim was pregnant. So of course my mom divorced his sorry butt.” I said while I looked at Logan’s hands. They rested on the palms of mine.

“Wow. That’s crazy. Do you like Kim?”

“Yea, but I only like her a little. She tries a little too much to fit the ‘cool-step-mom’ image. But I’m just happy she makes my dad happy.”

“So why did your mom let you and your sister live alone? I know the whole responsible thing, but why did you agree?”

“Well, my mom didn’t want us relying on her because she would be gone a lot with the law stuff. Plus I wanted to be away from my mom, living with her there were so many rules. With Ella, it’s all just mellow and easy to handle.” I said with a half-grin.

“Do you ever wonder what would happen if your parents stayed together?”

“Well yea. All the time, but everything would be different. I wouldn’t be who I am today and I would have never met you.”

“Really? You think we would have never met?”

“Well yea. Before my parents were planning on moving when I turn ten but after the divorce my mom didn’t want to go anywhere.”

“Yea, but I think that if we were meant to be together than we would have found each other. I’ve been waiting for someone like you for over one hundred years. No girl has ever meant as much to me as you do. You’re the only girl that is like a magnet to me. I didn’t think anyone would be so irresistible like you are.” he said as he brought his lips to mine. It was the perfect moment. His fingers were entwined with mine and I tried my hardest to not get out of control again. The kiss lasted a long time, but of course I was forced to pull away to breathe.

We kept talking for about an hour before I fell asleep. I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. Luckily Logan had it at my ear mid-ring. “Hello?” I asked into the receiver.

“Hello, Carmela?” I heard Rose ask from the other end.

“Oh, hey Rose, what’s up?” I asked as Logan played with my hair. I looked up at his smiling face.

“I just wanted to tell you that my grandma wants you and Logan to come at about twelve.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. I have to go, I’ll see you later. Bye.”

“Bye.” I said with a frown as I closed my phone.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked when I looked up at him.


“Nothing, it’s just that lately Rose and I have become a little distant. I know it’s mostly my fault.” I said as he began to play with my fingers. “But still.”

“It is okay.” he said with warm eyes. “That’s just what happens sometimes, especially when close friends keep secrets from each other.”

“I know but it’s not like she’s keeping any secrets.” For some reason that made Logan go silent. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I was just thinking about stuff.” he said with a sigh. I looked at him, I knew he was hiding something but I knew he probably wasn’t going to tell me. “But anyways, we should be going now. Amber and Lilian said they want to pick out your outfit.”

“Okay, let me go tell Ella.”

“She left and I already wrote a letter.” he said with a devilish grin as he slung me onto his back.

“You think of everything.”


The first thing that happened when we entered Logan’s house was a blur. One second I was walking up the stairs with Logan and the next second I was being thrown into the room where I spent most of my time when I was there, modeling for Oliza.

“What is Rose’s grandma like?” Amber asked as Oliza entered.

“She is very classy but she loves to have fun.” I said. I waited a moment while they talked to each other mentally.

“Okay, we can try. Get Logan so he can tell us if he likes it.” Oliza said as Lilian rummaged through the walk-in closet.

They ended up putting me in a suit like outfit. It was a black button-down top with a matching ankle-high skirt.

“I think it looks like she’s going to an interview.” Logan said as I did a little twirl. “Try something a little more laid back.”

“Fine, I think I have the perfect outfit.” Lilian said as she dragged me back into the bathroom. The next outfit was a simple knee-high, light, sky blue skirt with an emerald green, long-sleeve shirt.

“Better, it’s calmer. I like it.” Logan said when I walked up to him, but before I could reach him I was yanked back.

“We have to still do your hair and make-up.” Amber told me.

“You look beautiful.” Logan mentioned as the two of us entered his car. My hair was put in two high ponytails, and I had light make-up. The eye shadow was a light shade of green and I had very light lip-gloss on. I looked at my boyfriend, already in the car, he looked even better than ever. He was wearing a button-down white top with black jeans. His hair was messy and he had his piercings on.

“So do you.” I said as he started the car. It was amazing how the sun light hit the perfect areas on his flawless face. I had to fight the urge to touch his cheek. Again I hadn’t realized how fast Logan was driving until we were already at Rose’s house. It was a simple house. White, three floors, it looked like one of the homes in a magazine.

As we walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell I could feel Logan stiffen. Rose’s mom opened the door. She was a tall and slender woman. Her hair was hazel and faded at the top. But unlike her hair her eyes and skin were always vibrant, tanned skin that looked like she spent most of her time in the sun and hazel eyes that looked magical. She had a huge grin on her face when she saw us. She was tall, maybe 6 feet, so I had to literally look up at her.

“Hello Carmela.” she said as she stepped aside.

“Hi Mrs. Avery.” I said as we walked into the house. “This is my boyfriend Logan Abend.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Avery.” Logan said with a breath-taking smile.

“Please, call me Maria.” she said a little dazed. “I’ll go get Rose.” she told us as we entered the living room.

“Hey Carmela, this must be your boyfriend.” said Rose’s dad. He was a tall man, as tall as his wife, around 6'4". He had combed back hazel hair and warm hazel eyes. He wasn’t the fittest person but he was okay.

“Yea, this is Logan.”

“It’s nice to meet you. But you better know that the Avery family sees Carmela as one of the family, so if you hurt her we will find you.”

“Please don’t worry Mr. Avery. I would never hurt her.” Logan said with another irresistible smile.

“Hey.” Rose yelled from the stair. “Please don’t scare them dad.”

“Hey Rose.” I said as she grabbed my hand.

“My grandma is upstairs. Come on.”

“It was nice seeing you again.” I told Mr. Avery as I grabbed Logan’s hand. When we entered Grandma Avery’s room I saw her sitting, back to us, facing the window. Her hair fell over her shoulders. She was seventy-two and her hair was a vibrant shade of white that seemed to shine in the sun. I always remembered loving to brush her wavy locks when I was eleven. When I was little I remembered how I had to tip-toe just to hug her, but now she was so much shorter, only 4'11".

As she turned to face us the sun hit her warm brown eyes. Unlike the other Avery’s eyes hers were dark brown but they changed to hazel sometimes. As she rose from her chair she had her light brown eyes on me first. They moved off of me and flickered to Logan, then back to me. They were filled with distress.

“Rose can you go get some drinks?” Grandma Avery asked as she turned to look at her granddaughter. I took that time to look at my boyfriend. His perfect blue eyes were now midnight blue, almost black. He looked as if he was trying to hold back a snarl.

“Please, sit down.” Grandma Avery said as she gestured towards the sofa under the window. She sat across from us in one of the single seats. “So this must be Logan.”

“Yes.” I said simply. I was still confused about the look between the two of them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Avery.” he said as he reached his hand out. It still seemed like he was forcing himself to be polite.

“Call me Angela.” she said, ignoring his out stretched hand. “Carmela, can I talk to you in private real quick?”

“Sure.” I answered as I arose from my seat and followed her into their mini library. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you to continue seeing Logan.”

“What? Why? You haven’t even gotten to know him.” I practically yelled. I didn’t mean to but it got me off guard.

“I don’t need or want to know about him. I refuse to talk to a vampire.” That made me freeze and take a step back. “I will not let you get hurt by him, and I will not let you go near him again.”

“How?” This was all I could ask before Logan glided into the room.

“I’m sorry but we have to go.” he said with a frown as he took my hand. I saw Rose as we left the room. She was also frowning.

“Carmela. Don’t go with him.” she said as she grabbed my arm. I gave her a confused look. I felt Logan’s hand tighten around mine. I heard a little growl escape his lips. Rose’s hand automatically let go.

“What’s going on?” I asked when we entered his car. “Why does it seem like everyone knows something that I don’t?”

“Don’t worry. Just don’t hang around the Avery’s.” he said, not looking at me.

“What? You didn’t have a problem with them until you saw Angela.”

“Listen they are keeping a secret. But it’s not my place to tell you.”

“Fine I’ll just ask Rose.”

“I’m sorry Carmela.” he said as he finally turned to look at me. His eyes were light again, but they weren’t my favorite shade of ice blue. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know you’re probably just looking out for me. But there is no problem with Rose or Angela.”

“I don’t know why, but I’m going to trust your judgment.”

“Thanks.” I said as I folded my arms across my chest. We were already at his house again. As I turned to open my door I hadn’t noticed Logan get out of the car already. He came to open my door for me.

“So what do you want to do now that we are staying at my house?”

“I don’t know. I’m okay with doing whatever you want to do.”

“Fine then we’ll hang-out in my room.” he said as he took my hand in his. When we entered his room I went to sit on his bed like always. We talked for almost two hours.

“So what is your mom doing here? I thought she was in Germany with your dad.” I asked as I played with his camera.

“She’s here to check on one of her shops in New York city.”

“Oh. I want to see her shop soon.”

“I’ll take you some time. But there is really no point. All the clothes that she and my sisters put you in are the clothes at her shop.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“When do you not?”

“If I take a picture of you will you show up in it?”

“Yes. I already told you that you can see my reflection.” he told me as he grabbed the camera from my lap. He pulled me close to him and had one arm around my neck and the other hand held the camera.

“Smile.” he said with a grin before he clicked the button.

“Let me see.” I said as I grabbed the camera. I was disappointed to see it. Of course Logan looked like an angel caught on camera, but I looked so inferior to him. Like a normal girl taking a picture with a statue of a Roman god.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a frown as he leaned in to look at the picture.

“Nothing, it’s just weird seeing someone as plain as me next to someone like you.”

“I don’t know why you’re so pessimistic. You’re beautiful and you’re beyond perfect.” he said as he kissed the back side of my hand.

“Well of course you would say that, you’re my boyfriend.” I said like a five year old.

“Whatever you believe; but just remember I’m the truthful one.” he responded. He gave me my favorite breath-taking smile right before he placed his lips on mine. I closed my eyes and let myself melt into him. Then I heard the click, I pulled back and looked at Logan.

“What was that?” I asked with a suspicious look.

“Nothing, just the camera.” he answered with a grin. I had forgotten that he was holding the camera. I snatched it from his hand and clicked the review button. It wasn’t as bad. We both looked evenly human; he was just a way better looking one.

“It’s better. But you’re still more beautiful.”

“There is just no pleasing you.” he said as he kissed me again.

“As long as I have you I’m pleased.” I said with a huge grin as I took his hand in mine.


When I got home it was already about five. I found that I was all alone. I walked into my room and was surprised to see that I was wrong. I wasn’t alone. There, lying on my bed was Derek. He was facing the wall, away from me. I slowly walked over to my computer desk, where my phone laid. His head snapped up and he turned and stared at me. I tried to scream but was only able to let out a weak squeak. I tried to grab my phone, but was to slow. Derek had both my arms pinned to my sides.

“Please don’t do anything. I didn’t get to talk to you yet.” he said as I tried to yank my wrist from his grip. “Damn, I’m never going to get a chance.” he said out of nowhere. At that same moment there was a sudden shock of blue lightening, but indoors. I turned my head towards the door-where the lightening came from-and saw Rose standing there pointing at Derek. I hadn’t realized it until then that the pressure on my wrist was gone. Derek had vanished.

“Rose?” I asked, still staring at my friend.

“There’s something I have to tell you.” she said in a low tone and a frown. There was a long pause before she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you yet.” she said in a frustrated voice. She slowly raised her hand and pointed at me. She mouthed a few words.

Everything began to sway and soon went black.


When I awoke it was dark outside and I was shivering. “Carmela? Are you awake?” I heard a soothing voice ask. I knew that voice anywhere, it would be impossible for me to mistake for another.

“Logan?” I asked as I turned. I could feel his arms around me.

“What happened?” Logan asked frantically. He looked deeply into my eyes.

“I. . . I don’t know. When did you get here?”

“About eight o’clock.”

“What? What time is it?” I practically screamed as I sat up.

“It’s almost nine-thirty.”

“What?” My eyes were wide now.

“Yes, Ella told me you were asleep, and to tell you that she was staying at Alex’s for the night.”

“Oh, I didn’t know I fell asleep. Sorry.” I said with a half-smile. So what was the dream? When did I fall asleep? I asked myself.

“Are you sure you’re okay.”Logan asked, snapping me back to reality.

“Yea, so what have you been up to?”

“Well, before I got here I went for a little, uh, snack. Then when I got here I sat on your bed and watched you sleep. You seemed so peaceful at first so I let you sleep. But then you began to sweat and looked as if you were having a nightmare so I held you.” he said with the same half-smile. I could tell he had something on his mind too.

“Oh, okay. So, what do you want to do?” I asked as I sat up.

“I don’t know. Lilian and Amber actually want you to sleep over.”

“Okay, but I should ask Ella first.”

“Actually she also wants you to. She asked me if you could when I entered the shop.”


“Oh. Then let me just grab a few stuff.” I told him as I pushed myself off the bed. I felt my legs shake beneath me. I knew Logan was going to over react about the little stumble. But before he could I tightened my joints and grabbed my mini-bag. “Can you pass me that book?” I asked, trying to distract him.


That night I was lying on the bed, in the guest room I stayed in last time. I was wearing a silk red and black nightgown. I laid on my left side, facing the opened window. Even though it was already three in the morning I wasn’t even tired. It could have been because of all the sugar, or because Logan was with me, shirtless. I slowly turned to face my boyfriend. I closed my eyes and laid my head against his chest. I could feel his arm tighten around me. He began humming quietly, so quiet that it seemed to only fade into the darkness. I soon fell into a peaceful slumber.

I had probably the most calming and beautiful dream I had ever had in the past two months. I was standing on a beach, the sun was setting, and the waves were gently smacking against the rocks. I felt cool hand grab my waist. I looked up and saw Logan smiling down at me. I pulled his arms tighter around me and place my lips on his. I could feel his mouth open with mine and as his cool, sweet, satisfying breath filled my mouth I felt my fingers tangle into his hair. I was sure that he was about to pull away, like he did before. But it surprised me when he pulled me closer. His fingers knotted into my hair, next thing I knew I was laying on the sand with Logan hovering over me. He came down to kiss me again, but then the perfect scene vanished.

I awoke with tears. “What’s wrong?” Logan asked frantically. “Was it another bad dream?”

“No it was a great dream. I’m just sad it wasn’t real.” I said as I wiped the tears from my face.

“What?”

“Yea, you and I were on a beach and it was so beautiful.” I said as I turned to look out the window. It was already sunny outside.

“Well, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, then we should get ready for school.” Logan said as he started to get up.

“No. Isn’t it okay to skip a day?” I asked innocently.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t want to go to school today.” I said as I laid my head back down on the pillow.

“Fine, then if you want to stay home, what do you want to do?” he asked into my ear. He said it in such a seductive way that it was amazing that I wasn’t spontaneously combusting.

“I don’t know. I guess just hang out with you.” I mumbled into the pillow. I was still thinking about the dream. I picked my head up and saw Logan’s attractive ice blue eyes.

“Then go get dressed.” he said with a smile that I knew no one could resist. It was so beautiful I bet it could make any straight guy gay.

“Okay.” I said as I practically jumped out of the bed. “Should I go get Lilian and Amber?” I asked as I opened the door, but of course the twins were waiting for me.

“So what are you two doing today?” Lilian asked with as grin. She stared at Logan for a moment before she turned back to me. “Oh, okay. This is going to be easy.” They both grabbed my arms and yanked me into the dress-up room.

They put me in a crimson red sleeveless top with an ice blue mini-skirt. My hair was separated; the top most part of my hair was tied up. My make-up was somewhat light, red eye shadow and ice blue eye liner that looked beautiful with the eye shadow. And lastly they put me in simple black heels on. “Wow.” Logan breathed with a smile.

“Thanks.” I said as I looked at his plan black jeans and blue t-shirt. Logan grabbed me by my waist and pulled me close to him. “So what are we doing?”

“It’s a secret.” he said with another irresistible smile. “Let’s go.”


We ended up in the graveyard under our tree. We were lying on the ground, holding each other. “You know I love you, right?” I asked as I snuggled closer to him and laid my head against his chest.

“Of course, and you know I love you even more right?” he asked as he pressed his lips against mine.

“I’m still not sure.” I said with a grin. Again he placed his cool lips on mine, but let them linger for a little longer. My lips parted letting his cool sweet breath in. As his tongue entered my mouth my hands automatically knotted into his hair. I soon found myself lying on top of him. It reminded me of the dream earlier. But of course Logan had to be the responsible one.

“Carmela. I don’t want to get carried away. You don’t understand how hard it is to resist you. But it’s not just your looks, but also your blood. Please, just try to help me a little.” he said as he pulled my head away from his. I let out a sigh and took my hands out of his hair. I laid my head on his shoulder and took in his warm scent.

“I’m sorry, but why can’t you just turn me into a vampire. It would make everything easier.” I finally said after a moment.

“Carmela, don’t even ask that. I love you but I don’t want to damn your soul. I can’t do that to you.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even asked. Just forget it.”

“Don’t be sorry. I know what you were thinking when you asked it but I just don’t want to take the chance, I might mess up if I even try.” he said with a sigh. We sat there for hours, till about five. “You know we’ve been here for almost ten hours.”

“Wow. Really?” I asked with a surprised frown as I looked at his face. That was surprising, we were there that long.

“Yea, but this isn’t all we’re doing. Come on.” he said with a grin as he picked me up in his arms. He began to race down the street. Because it was fall it was already dark outside, but I could see everything from the street lights. I found it weird that for fall it was pretty warm but I knew it would be getting cold soon.

When he set me down we were outside the entrance to the carnival. “Why are we at a carnival?” I asked with a half-smile.

“I thought it would be fun to spend a night doing normal couple stuff.”

“Well then what are we still doing standing here?” I asked as Logan grabbed my hand. When we entered Logan brought me straight to the fun house.

“Have you been to a carnival before?” I asked as I looked up at the smiling clown.

“Well yea. I’ve been to a lot in only the past twenty years.” I couldn’t help but laugh. It was funny how he just comments about his age so easily. “Have you?”

“Nope, I’ve never been to one before.”

“Oh, well then I’m happy your first time at a carnival is with me.” The fun house was cool. There so many mirrors, trapped doors, and dead ends. We next went to the games. Logan ended up beating just about every game there was. I won a stuffed bat, a stuffed tiger, a red ‘I Heart Life’ bracelet, and a shirt. After that we went into a photo both and took a whole bunch of pictures. They weren’t bad, we looked nice together. We got them in a roll of five for each of us.

Lastly we went on the fairest wheel. “So how do you like the carnival?” he asked as I took a piece of our cotton candy.

“I love it. It’s amazing.” I said with a huge smile. Logan had his arm around me and I was cuddling against him.

“I’m happy you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Thank you for bringing me here.” Just like in the movies the wheel stopped when we were at the top. “Did you plan this?” I asked sarcastically.

“No. This is just a coincidence.”


“Sure.”


When I got home Ella was waiting for me. “Where have you been?” she asked once I entered the shop.

“After school Logan took me to the carnival.” I said with a half-grin. I was hoping Ella believed my lie.

“Okay, but tell me next time.”

“Okay.” I said as I left for my room. It was about eleven already and I wasn’t tired. I went to my e-mail as soon as I entered my room. I only had one from Rose and it simply asked where I was during school. I told her the truth and turned off the computer, too lazy to wait for her to reply.

The next day was boring. It was normal and I ended up just hanging out with the Abend trio and Rose at home. But Rose still seemed a little tensed around the three vamps. But of course the next day couldn’t be normal.

“What?” I asked as Logan told Rose and me that he and his siblings were going to Germany to watch their mom’s fashion show. We were sitting in the cafeteria. “You’re leaving? How long will you be gone?”

“For about a week.” he said with a frown. He had his arm around me and he pulled me closer. “We’re leaving tonight.”

“But then I’m going to be so bored.”

“Hey.” Rose said with a frown. “You do remember me, right?”

“Of course, I could never forget about my best friend.” I told her with a smile.



“I’m going to miss you.” I said as Logan placed his lips on mine-we were in my room and sitting on my bed-and I automatically put my arms around his neck and pulled myself close to him. But of course he pulled away and looked at me seriously.

“Carmela.” he said with a frown.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay. But I have to go.” he said as he kissed my forehead. I had a huge frown on my face.

“Do you really have to go?”

“Yes. But I’m going to miss you every second that I’m there.”

“Fine.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” I said, as I pouted. He gave me one more kiss before he left. I sat there on my bed with a frown. I closed my eyes and leaned back. It was only seven but I had nothing to do. I couldn’t believe the Abends’ were going to be gone for a week. I soon felt drowsiness wash over me. I found myself dreaming again.



I was standing behind a giant rock, staring at a desolate beach. It seemed to be just before dawn and the sky was turning pink and orange from the setting sun. I was about to move from behind the rock when Derek appeared out of nowhere. His back was facing me, so I took the opportunity to get away. I moved one step across the cool sand when I found myself falling suddenly. I landed on a pile of shattered glass. There was a stinging pain all over my body. Where’s the beach? I asked myself as I looked around. I was lying on the floor of a warehouse.

‘Are you okay my princess?’ Derek asked, starring down at me. There was a faint moonlight escaping from the window above him. I got up so that I was kneeling. He brought himself down to his knees so that we were staring into each other’s eyes. In one fast, smooth movement he had my left hand in his. I just noticed that my wrist was cut from the glass. He also seemed to have noticed because he slowly brought my wrist up to his lips. He licked the blood off and then opened his mouth. I saw the glisten of his fangs in the light. I wanted to close my eyes and bare myself for the pain but I couldn’t look away. His teeth went down in my skin and there was a burning pain that ran through my entire body.


I awoke with a shock. I almost screamed but I kept myself from doing so. I turned to look at the clock, it was two-thirty in the morning but I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again. So instead I opened my laptop. Ever since my last nightmare I started recording all my dreams. I quickly typed it in before I shut it down. I then opened my book that was lying on my desk. I stared blankly at the pages before I closed it.

I didn’t know when but I must have fallen asleep. When I awoke the second time it was to the sound of my alarm clock. It was already seven and I was going to be late to school. When I got downstairs Ella was already gone.


All of school was a drag. I felt like the day was never going to end. “What’s the matter?” Rose asked on our way home. We hadn’t talked the whole day until now.

“Nothing, I just didn’t get a lot of sleep yesterday. What about you? You’ve been acting a little weird too.” I told her as I looked up at her. I had been staring at the ground the whole walk from school.

“Nothing, my grandma has just been making me work harder lately. Listen Carmela, there’s a few things I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I didn’t really want to tell you but I think I have to.” she took a deep breath before she looked directly into my eyes. “Carmela, I’m not exactly full human.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown as we reached the shop.

“Well I am but I’m um... a witch.” she choked out.

“Well Rose I know you can be mean and annoying sometimes but I wouldn’t call you a witch.”

“No Carmela. I mean I have actual powers, I do spells and potions. I practice magick. My grandma is one too.” she said, looking down now.

“Well, prove it.”

“Fine.” she said as she grabbed a hand full of snow-It had snowed the night Logan left, but only a few inches.-and closed her hand and said a few words I couldn’t hear, when she opened her hand she was holding fire. I could tell that my eyes must have been huge.

“What else can you do?”

“Well I can do spells like the lightening and sleep ones that you saw before. But other than spells and potions I can control and read minds.”

“Wait, so that wasn’t a dream.”

“No. I’m sorry for not telling you.”

“It’s okay.”

“Yea, but there’s something else I have to tell you, something that my grandma already knows.”

“What is it?”

“Well it’s not really my place to say but the truth is that the guy that was at your house and the Abend family are um... vampires.” she said still looking down.

“I know.” I said simply.

“What?” She looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Yea, I’ve know for a long time. About a week after I started dating him.”

“You knew. And you don’t care?”

“No. He’s not bad, he only drinks animal blood and he loves me so I know he would never hurt me.”

“Carmela. I don’t think it’s safe for you to be around him.”

“I don’t care. I love him and if you don’t think I should be with him than I’m not going to listen to you.” I told her as we stood on my steps. She was staring directly into my eyes.

“Fine, I’ve known you for a long time so I’m going to trust your judgment. But if he hurts you in any way tell me and I will hurt him.”

“So can we talk about something else?”

“Sure, like what?”

“Well how many people know?”

“Only my family members on my dad’s side know.”

“So your mom doesn’t know?”

“Nope, we think it is better that she doesn’t. But all the females and some males on my dad’s side are witches.”

“Well that’s cool.” I said as we entered the shop.

“So you’re cool with hanging out with a bunch of paranormal creatures?”

“Of course, Logan’s my boyfriend and you and his sisters are my best friends. But can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why does your grandma hate Logan?”

“Vampires and witches don’t get along. Witches are actually like vampire hunters.”

“So why don’t you hate them?”

“You’re my best friend. So if you like them, then I like them too. I was just having problems the past few days because my grandma has been telling me some bad stuff about them.” We ended up spending the rest of the day talking to each other about pretty normal stuff. Who has the cutes boyfriend? What teacher is the meanest? What magickal spell is the hardest? But she had to go at about eight so I didn’t get to ask her everything about her witch life.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rose said with a grin as she left. “I’m really happy I don’t have to keep lying to you anymore.

“Me too, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” I said with the same grin as she hugged me. After she left I went straight to my room. Ella was staying at Alex’s that night and Logan wasn’t going to be coming into my room that night so I didn’t have anything to do or anyone to talk to. I closed my eyes and feel into my usual peaceful slumber, but brought myself into that same nightmare I had to face the night before. It began from where I had left off.



As the burning pain entered my veins I saw Derek cut his own wrist. He brought it up to my lips; I knew I had the choice between drinking his blood or dying. I looked up once again and saw Logan staring down at me now. His gentle eyes were urging me on to drink, and so I did. At first the taste was terrible but when the warm liquid touched my tongue the second time it was irresistible. I looked up one last time, expecting to see my boyfriend but was shocked to see Derek again. I tried to pull my lips away from his wrist but the taste was too good. When I finally pulled away I found myself watching Derek from above. I saw myself still with him, or at least my body. It was like an out-of-body moment.

‘I love you my princess.’ Derek said to the girl next to him. I wanted to scream ‘I hate you!’ to him.

‘As do I my love.’ the girl said as she placed her lip on his.


When woke up I felt cool arms around me and so I laid back down and closed my eyes. Wait, Logan’s in Germany. I thought to myself as my eyes flew open. I quickly turned on my lamp and spun around in my bed. There, lying next to me was Derek. I opened my mouth to scream but he put his hand over it before I had the chance.

“Please Carmela. Your sister is at her boyfriend’s house, your witch friend is at her house, and your boyfriend is in Germany. There is no one to interrupt us.” he whispered into my ear, I tried to pull away but he just pulled me closer.

“Why are you doing this to me? What is so special about me?” I asked, trying to sound tough.

“You still aren’t listening are you? You are meant to be with me. You are my prinzessin, my princess. You are not supposed to be here, you are supposed to be with me only. I’ve come here to get you back.” he said with a half-smile. I tried to pull away again, but again I failed. He grabbed my hand and got out of the bed.

“Listen, there is a story I have to tell you, and you have to listen to what I’m actually saying. I need you to understand.” he said, looking straight into my eyes. For some reason I didn’t want to pull away anymore. I saw something in his topaz eyes. It was like a desire, a needing. I stood there quietly, waiting for him to continue with the story. “There is a prophecy, about a girl who shall come and save my kingdom. The girl shall take the place of our lost princess and shall turn into the most powerful queen ever, with her memories of her past life.”

“And you think I’m this girl?” I asked with a half confused look. I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Yes. You are my princess, you look exactly like her and I can just tell. She was my princess, I know who she is and you are her.”

“What do you mean your kingdom?”

“Yes. I live in a dark land in Germany. It’s a lost kingdom to the rest of the world. There is a barrier around it that keeps mortals out. Only vampires, witches, and a few werewolves can enter the kingdom.”

“So you’re a prince?”

“Yes.” I just kept staring at him in an almost confused look. I was starting to believe everything, but it was just unrealistic. But then again I’m dating a vampire, my two friends are vampires, my best friend is a witch, and now I’m being stalked by a vampire prince, I don’t think anything can be a fantasy anymore. “I have to go. But I’ll be back soon. Maybe not tomorrow but soon.” he said as he kissed my cheek and then vanished.

I stood motionless in the middle of my room. Of course I couldn’t be a normal girl with normal friends, a normal boyfriend, and a normal stalker. I had to be the kind who hangs around a bunch of fictional creatures. But then again it is more entertaining. I thought to myself as I turned to get back in bed. I looked at the clock and noticed that it was already four in the morning. I laid back down and closed my eyes. Hoping I would be able to get at least a few hours of sleep.



The next day was better. After school Rose and I went to her house. I spent most of the time talking to Grandma Avery. “Ella is spending the night at Alex’s house again. So can I sleep over? ” I asked as I thought about the night before. I knew if I was with witches then Derek wouldn’t come again.

That night I slept without even dreaming. But the next day wasn’t as great. After first period I got into another fight with Ashley in the hall. “So I see your boyfriend finally came to his senses and went back to Germany.” she said as her stupid clones laughed.

“No, he left to go to his mother’s fashion show. What about your mystery ‘boyfriend’ who’s in collage? Did he go back to his imaginary hometown? Or are you finally just tired of having to lie.” I said with the same menacing grin she had. She gave me those evil eyes that I knew meant I won.

“Now you listen. I control this school, I can make your life a living hell.” she said with a frown.

“Please, I’m already living it. So go get in line with all the other people who are trying to cause me misery.” I told her as I pushed past her. I knew she was just standing there open mouthed. The rest of the day was the same as usual. As it used to be before I started dating Logan. Ashley spent the whole day giving me evil glares, Rose and I talked during all of our class, I got in trouble for not having my algebra homework, and then I went home to hang out with Rose.

“It’s weird how easy it is to talk to you now. It’s just like before, before all this paranormal stuff.” Rose said as we sat down on my bed.

“I know. When did we get so distant?” I asked as I thought back to the time I started to get involved with Logan.

“Um... around week after you got involved with Logan. The same time I found out I was a witch.”

“And about the time I found out they were vampires.” I said with a smile. It was so coincidental. The rest of the day was kind of like that. It was a pretty normal day.

That was until Rose left. About a half-hour after she left Derek appeared. “Hello. I know you stayed at you witch friend’s house the other night. I was going to talk to you.” he said with a frown as he put his hands on my waist. I was disgusted and tried to pull away. “I want you to know I’m not going to hurt you. I could never hurt my princess.”

“Please Derek, if you don’t want to hurt me than leave me alone.” I said with a frown. I could tell I must have looked desperate.

“Carmela, I’m not going to leave you. I love you more than anything in the world. Especially more than Logan loves you.” he said with a frown. He pulled me closer to him so that I was practically leaning against his chest. I looked up at his warm topaz eyes. I could feel myself beginning to melt in his arms.

Stop! What are you doing? He’s a deadly vampire that could kill you! Think of Logan! I thought to myself as I snapped myself back to reality. “Derek I love Logan. I will never love you.” I tried to pull away again but I could feel Derek’s hands tighten around me. It began to cause me a little pain. I looked down at his hands and saw that he saw squeezing my waist.

“Derek, you’re hurting me.” I said with a wince. He stared at his hands. He quickly took his hands off and backed up a few steps. He turned around and vanished in the blink of an eye. Again I stood there staring out my window. I looked down and saw that my waist was purple where his hands were. I pushed on the spots with the tips of my fingers and watched as they faded and then came back. Again I stood there staring out the window. I closed my eyes and lay down in my bed. I soon feel asleep but I didn’t dream again, which was good.

When I awoke it was only six. “Carmela, are you home?” I heard Ella ask from downstairs. I dragged myself out of bed and went to the shop.

“Yea.” I said when I saw her. She was sitting at the cash register taking off her coat.

“Have you been sleeping this whole time?”

“Yes. It’s been a very hectic day.”

“Oh. Sorry I haven’t been home lately but Alex’s parents have been out and he has work at night and his sixteen year old sister has been staying with her boy-friend so I’ve been babysitting his two little sisters. Has it been busy here in the shop?” she asked with a frown as she put her head down on her folded arms. “But how have you been? What have I missed?”

“Well first off no it’s been boring here, and Logan and his family are in Germany and other than that everything is almost the same as usual.” I said with a smile, thinking about everything that has happened in the past three days.

“Wow. I didn’t know he left. Why don’t you tell me things?”

“Well he’s only going to be gone for four more days.” I told her as I began to walk back up stairs.

“You're not hungry?”

“No. I’m just going to go back to bed.” When I entered my bed room I was happy that I didn’t find Derek there. I went back into my bed and feel asleep. The second time I woke up it was six in the morning.

I walked downstairs and was surprised. Standing outside of the shop door was Logan. “What are you doing here?” I asked Logan as I opened the door.

“Well my sisters and I came back early. The fashion show was great and my mom was actually planning on going to Paris today and Kristian is going to come back tomorrow. He’s going to stay with my dad, there planning on going hunting today.” Logan said as he stepped into the shop.

“It’s great to see you. I’ve missed you.” I told Logan. He put his arms around my waist, gave me a hug and gave me a quick kiss. I tried not to but I ended up wincing. Logan backed up and looked serious.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked as he put his hands back on my waist, which caused me to wince again. “What happened?” he asked as he gently lifted my shirt a little.

“Nothing.” I said as he looked at the purple marks, they were just beginning to hurt.


“How did you get these?” he asked as he lightly skimmed his fingers over them. It felt as if someone was moving a feather over them. “Carmela?”

“It was Derek.” I said with a frown. I didn’t want to upset him.

“What? He was here. When? What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?” he asked with a deep frown.

“No he didn’t hurt me. He was here four days ago and also yesterday. He just talked to me.”

“Apparently he did hurt you.” he said as he pointed to the bruises.

“They don’t hurt that much. Please Logan, just forget about it. I promise I’ll tell you next time he comes.” I said as I grabbed his hand.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” I said with a half-grin as I crossed my heart. “So how was Germany?”

“It was fun. My mom’s fashion show was perfect.” he said with the same half-grin. I could tell he wasn’t going to get over this. “So what have I missed?”

“Well not much. Ashley’s being a jerk still, Ella is still dating Alex, and I found out about Rose being a witch.” I said plainly.

“You found out?”

“Yes. I think it’s cool. Now everyone I hang out with is a paranormal/ fictional creature.” I said with a grin.

“So you’re totally cool with dating a vampire, having two friends that are vampires, and having a best friend who is a witch?”

“Yea, it keeps everything interesting.” I said as we left the shop. I left Ella a note that said ‘Logan got back early. Going out with him. Be back later.’ “So are we just going to hang out at your place?”

“Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“No I’m good. I like just chilling.”

“So do I.” he said as he slung me over his shoulder. When we got to his house I was welcomed by the twins.

“Hey Carmela, you look the same.” Lilian said with a smile.

“It’s only been four days. Human’s don’t change much in that short period of time.” I told her with a smile.

“Yea, but still...” Amber said with a smile. It was nice to see smiles after the awful morning. “So you know about Rose.” she said looking at Logan and then me.

“Logan you told them?”

“Sorry. I didn’t know it was a secret.” Logan said with a smile as he pulled me closer, making sure he did it gently.

“It’s not. I just didn’t know you were going to tell them.” I said as we went upstairs.


“I love you Logan.” I told him as we pulled our lips away from each other. We were sitting in my room on my bed. We just got back from his house about two hours ago, it was already midnight. Logan had of course snuck in and Ella was asleep already. It was amazing how easy it was for us to be so close to each other.

“I love you too. Now and forever.” he said with a smile as he kissed me again. His lips were cool against mine. As his lips separated mine did the same, as always. My arms again locked around his neck. I pulled him close so that I was practically lying on top of him. Even though I hoped he wouldn’t pull away I was wrong. “Carmela. You’re making this very difficult.” Logan said as he sat up, pushing me up with him. “I could easily hurt you, like what Derek did to you.” he pointed to my bruises.

“Logan, I’m sorry but it’s hard to resist you. You’re my everything,” I told him with a smile. I sat up completely and Logan picked me up onto his lap. “Why do you have to be so perfect?”

“Why do you have to be so irresistible?” he asked with a grin as he placed his lips on my neck. I leaned against his chest. I slowly closed my eyes and let myself melt in his arms.



That night the dream began perfectly but of course it became terrible. The beginning began from where I had ended in my last good dream, when I was on the beach with Logan. As Logan’s lips kissed my neck I couldn’t help but remember when Derek bit me. When Logan’s lips returned to mine, all my fear and thoughts vanished. My arms wrapped around his neck as his hands caressed my sides. As his tongue entered my mouth I let my fingers tangle into his hair. But there was something wrong about his hair. It was a little longer than normal. I opened my eyes and saw the black hair. I wanted to pull back put I only pulled him closer. When he put his lips on my neck I turned my head and saw Rose running towards us. She stopped about a foot away and pointed to Derek. She chanted a few words I couldn’t understand, and then a fire ball was flying towards us. It hit Derek right on the side, and he fell off me. I turned to look at his body on the ground. I let out a gasp when I saw Logan laying there.


“Logan!” I screamed out. My room was somewhat bright and I was sitting up in my bed. I was staring out my windows.

“I’m right here.” Logan said soothingly. He placed his hand on my back and pulled me into his arms. “What happened?”

“It was just another dream.” I said as I got closer to him. I told him the entire story.

“It’s okay now. It was all just a dream.” he said as he kissed me. It was still hard to just brush it off but I knew I had to try.

“Is Ella gone already?” I asked as I thought about why she hasn’t come to check on me yet.

“Yea she left about an hour ago.”

“Oh. So what do you want to do today?” I asked as I turned to face him. I slowly put my lips upon his and was happy that it lasted a long time. But sadly I was the one to pull away for air.

“You want to just hang out here?” he asked as I looked into his deep blue eyes.

“What?” I asked trying to focus.

“Do you want to hang out here today?” he asked again with his distracting smile.

“Sure” I said with a grin as I shook my head. I tried to focus on something other than Logan. I grabbed my computer and opened up to my e-mail. I had only one from Rose.

Hey Carmela I wanted to tell you that if you don’t mind, if you could come over tonight for a magick gathering with some of my family members. I need to bring someone for the circle and I was wondering if you would want to learn about magick.

I typed a simple message back for her. Yea sure I’ll be happy to come over. Sounds like a lot of fun. But why do you spell magic as magick? I waited for a while and she sent one back.

Because m-a-g-i-c is an illusion, but m-a-g-i-c-k is real. She simply typed. I was going to type something back, but then I heard my stomach growl.

“Looks like it’s time to get the human breakfast.” Logan said with a smile as he picked me up in his arms.







* * *


“Hey Carmela, it’s nice to see you. I’m happy you came.” Rose said as she opened the door for me. “So are you excited?” she asked with a grin as I stepped in.

“Yea, I really am looking forward to seeing an actual circle.” I told her as we entered her living room. It was already nine. The room was empty this time with only one table. It was filled with candles and four bowls filled with different things. One was filled with dirt and two incense sticks that criss-crossed over each other, making an ‘x’ in the middle. The other bowl had a white candle in it, another was filled with water, and the last was filled with leaves and dirt. There were maybe eleven other people there, ranging between the ages of thirty to about sixteen. None of the teens looked like anyone from our school.

“Well you won’t just be seeing it, you’ll be participating.”

“So where is your mom?”

“She’s with her sister, Ana. They’re shopping.”

“Oh cool.” I said as she led me to the middle of the floor.

“Everyone this is Carmela. She is new to this so we are going to do a simple energy collecting circle.” she said as everyone came to the middle. Her dad took a piece of chalk and drew a circle around us, leaving an opening. He had Rose help him bring the bowls into the circle. He put the bowl with the leaves and dirt at the north, the one with the incense sticks at the east, the white candle at the south, and the one with the water at the west.

Mr. Avery closed the circle and lit the candle. He sprinkled salt around, “With this salt I purify my circle.” he said. We all circled around the border of the circle and I stood between Rose and a guy who I didn’t know.

“Now we shall move windershins, counter-clockwise.” he said as we all grabbed hands. He began to chant as we moved, we all soon caught on after the third time, and of course it took me a little longer to get it word by word.
Our dear goddess we call upon you,
give us the power, we call upon our energy.
Let the energy grow within us, let nature
take over our souls, giving us the energy we need,
we call upon the fire, water, air, and earth
As we will it, so mote it be.

We said this chant about ten times before we abruptly stopped and threw our hand up. I opened my eyes in a flash and looked around me at everyone. There was a smile on Rose’s face and she gave my hand a light squeeze.


“Thank you for letting me come to the circle. It was very cool and I found it interesting.” I told Rose as I got out of her dad’s car. I took my keys out of my purse and walked up to my steps before my fingers froze from the cold.

“I’m happy you came. I wish you a safe night.” Rose said as she gave me one last smile before I opened my door and quickly ran into my room.

“I’m home.” I yelled on my way up the stairs. I knew Ella was probably already out or was on the phone with Alex. I laid down on my bed and slowly closed my eyes. I was just beginning to fall asleep when my phone began to ring.

“Hello?” I asked into the receiver.

“Hey.” I heard Logan say on the other end. I couldn’t help but shiver with delight at the sound of his voice. “How was your night?”

“It was good. I went to a circle with Rose. Witchcraft is really cool. I think it’s something that’s mysterious.” I told him as I pulled my pillow up to my head. I rested my head on it and closed my eyes as I listened to the quiet ticking of my clock.

“That’s good. I’m happy you had fun. So are you doing anything?”

“No, why?”

“Well I know it’s late but I was wondering if I could come over.”

“Yea, of course you can come over.”

“Okay I’ll be there in a few minutes.” he said. There was a click on the other end. I closed my cell phone and laid there silent for a few moments before I went to the bathroom to change. I decided to wear my silk red nightgown and put my hair in a braid. When I stepped out of the bathroom I saw Logan sitting on my bed.

“Hey beautiful.” he said as I crossed the room to sit next to him. I nuzzled my head in his chest. “You look amazing and perfect.” he kissed my neck softly.

“Thank you. So do you. I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as you.” I told him with a huge smile. He soon moved his lips from my neck up to my lips. As we kissed I could tell we were beginning to lower down on the bed. Soon we were laying, but I knew he was going to pull away from me soon. But I still put my hands around his neck to deepen the kiss. I could feel his cold hand move along from my knee up to my waist. I was surprised by this action but I didn’t try to ruin it. I began to put my hand in his hair. I could feel his fingers tighten right before he began to pull away.

“I’m sorry.” he said with a frown as he turned us so that we were lying on our sides facing each other. “I didn’t mean to get out of hand.”

“It’s okay.” I said as I put my hand on his cheek. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” I assured him. He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. He kissed the palm and slowly closed his eyes

“I love you more than anything and I don’t want to ever hurt you.” he said with a half-smile. I pulled myself closer to him and slowly closed my eyes. We laid there, listening to each other breathe. I didn’t want the moment to ever end but I knew that if I kept my eyes closed I would fall asleep. It was already eleven but I didn’t want to sleep. I opened my eyes and let out an accidental yawn.

“Are you tired?” Logan asked as he nuzzled his face into my hair.

“No.” I said with a smile. I looked up at him and met his beautiful eyes. They looked deeply into mine. I let myself get lost in his presence and felt myself simply melt in his arms.

“I think you should get some rest.” he said with a grin. I put my arms around his neck and pulled myself up so that my head was resting right below his neck. I laid on top of him and lightly kissed him.

I soon fell asleep and was cursed with having to face a nightmare. I was lying on my cool wooden floor, looking at the ceiling, which soon vanished in thin air and left me staring at the dark night sky. There was a waning moon staring back at me. I wanted to get up but couldn’t feel any of my body parts. ‘Carmela!’ I heard Logan scream from somewhere else. I tried to move my head but I couldn’t. ‘Carmela! Get up!’ Again I tried and this time I was successful. I sat up and looked down. I was sitting in the middle of a circle. I quickly stood up and turned around to face Logan. He was standing in the doorway and had his hand out for me. I took a step forward but was blocked by a circle of fire that surrounded me suddenly. I put my hand out and I heard Rose’s voice from my right.

Fire, fire, burning bright,
In the cauldron of the night,
Watch the fire burn on high,
hear the ancient battle cry.
Fire of my forefathers gone,
Cast a spell on night cold and long,
Magick, mystery, cast a spell,
From ancient wand, and lilting bell.
Come and see the fire bold,
As it keeps you from the cold,
Fear not the hounds of hell,
For they are here to guide you well.

I turned to look at her but was blinded by the dark black smoke and the red flames. My eyes began to water from the heat and I had to shut them close in order to keep from burning my eyes. I began to cough and chock as I fell to my knees. I began to crawl towards the fire. I couldn’t feel anything, as if my whole body was numb. I forced myself to stand up and walk through the fire. I lunged forward and felt cool arms around me. My eyes were still closed but I knew something was wrong. I strained my eyes opened and looked up at the person who held me. It took a while for my eyes to focus but I knew who it was the second I saw him. Derek’s dark hair gleamed in the fire light, his eyes were a rusted gold color, and his skin glowed in the red light. I tried to pull away but his fingers gripped my arms tight. I yanked myself away but I couldn’t no matter how much I tried. I spun my head around and saw Rose staring into my eyes. I wondered why she wouldn’t help out after a few moments she vanished. I turned back and saw Derek staring down at me.


I woke up with fear coursing through my body. I felt Logan’s arms wrap around me and I was happy to be able to lean against his cool chest. I knew it was him so I didn’t even bother looking up. “I should be going. I have to get ready for school.” he said as I looked over at the clock. It was only six-thirty.

“Okay. I’ll see you at school.” I said as I sat up so he could get up. After he left I decided to get ready. I was done by seven-thirty and was waiting for the rest.

The rest of the day was boring. Mr. Tom, my gym teacher made us run the mile, Mrs. Black, my biology teacher gave us a pop quiz, and my music teacher, Mrs. Manger, was in a bad mood so she made us listen to some bad classical music for the whole class. After school Logan and his sisters were going to go meet up with Kristian at the airport and Rose had a magick class with her grandma until five and it was four-forty, so Rose was coming over later. But until then I was left at home with Ella and Alex.

As I listened to my playlist on my computer there was a knock on my door. “Hey Carmela, sorry to bother you but Alex is going to be here soon and I was wondering if you would like to hang out with his little sister, Talia.” she said with a half-smile. I could tell she was practically begging me.

“Sure. But I’m not promising that she’ll be happy. And don’t forget to take care of your shop.” I said as the bell over the door downstairs chimed. Ella ran downstairs and I could her talking to Alex from downstairs.

“Yea, she’s right upstairs. The first door when you get up there.” Ella said, probably to Talia. After a few seconds I heard a knock on my door.

“Come in.” I said as I sat up and put my computer on the ground near my bed. Talia stepped in and looked around.

“Hi Carmela.” she said in her shy voice. She was wearing light blue jeans, mini skirt on top of the pants with a plain sleeveless top. I couldn’t help but wonder how cold she must be in that outfit.

“Hey Talia. You look good.” I said as she flipped her brown hair. It was a little below her shoulders but it looked like it already grew a few inches.

“Thank you.” she said hesitantly. “I like your room.” she looked around my room and then looked back at me. “Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for that time when I yelled at you with the rest of the school. I really think you’re cool for standing up to everyone.” she said. I knew she was talking about the time at the beginning of the year.

“Thank you. And I think you’re cool too.” I told her with a smile as she sat at the edge of my bed.

“So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. I think Rose should be coming over soon so we can all just hang out.” We ended up talk for the next twenty minutes before Rose finally got to the shop.

“Hey Rose.” Talia and I said at the same time as Rose entered my room.

“Hey Carmela, hey Talia.” she said with hesitation when she saw Talia standing with me. We talked about boys, school, and gossip the rest of the time. She ended up staying at my house for almost three hours.

“Well I guess I’ll see you guys in school.” Talia said as she left with her brother.

“Yea, bye.” I told them as I shut the door behind them.

“So Carmela, can we talk now?” Rose asked from the bottom of the steps.

“Sure. Now we can talk about real important things.”

“So today grandma taught me how to perform a protection spell. It was hard and involved me learning some of the ancient runes.” she explained to me what the runes were, which took a while. She ended up leaving around eleven.


That night I had a nightmare once again. I wondered when they would end. I couldn’t really remember it but I woke with a strike of terror. When I looked at the clock it was already seven and I had to get ready for school.

“So how was your day yesterday?” Logan asked as he walked with me to my locker. We were getting my money for lunch.

“It was boring. I ended up spending time with Talia, Alex’s sister and we just talked. She was really cool.” I told him as I opened my locker. I was so tired that I could barely even stay awake.

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Yea, but I had a nightmare.” I told him simply as I looked into his concerned eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked, still concerned. I wrapped my arms around his neck, got on my tip-toes and kissed him lightly.

“Don’t worry. I can’t even remember what it was about.” I kissed him again but this time I pulled him closer. I could feel his hand behind me, going through my locker. He pulled away and held my wallet out for me. He kept his arm around my waist as we walked to the cafeteria. Our little group found a new table that sat at the far corner to the right of everything. It was near a glass door-which we all knew was a one way window. No one could see in it but you could see out from inside- it was the door to a storage room that no one used anymore. I carried my tray back to my seat with Logan behind me carrying two other ones.

“Here you go.” he handed each of his sisters a tray.

“You are not eating?” Rose asked Logan as she looked at the empty space in front of him.

“I’m not that hungry today.”

“You have to eat. Here just have some of my food.” I pushed my tray closer to Logan.

“That’s why you’re the sweetest girlfriend. But you don’t have to share with me.”


“No it’s okay.”

* * *

The next day Logan and the twins didn’t walk with us to the lunch room. They said they had something special to do. But when Rose and I entered the cafeteria we didn’t see them anywhere, not even at our usual table. We sat down at the table and I heard someone whisper behind us, coming from the storage room door. I turned around and saw Logan peeking out.

“What are you doing in there?” I asked as I stood up, Rose following behind me. We brought our trays into the room with us. There we found Lilian and Amber sitting at a long rectangular table in the middle of the room. Everything was cleaned out and all that was left was a microwave and a juice bar. It was brightly lit and the walls were a beautiful pearl white and it looked amazing. I was surprised it wasn’t a teacher lounge or anything.

“I asked the principal if we could use it, and he said as long as we got a whole bunch of people to help move all the boxes into a different storage room. But of course we moved them ourselves this morning.” Logan said as we took a seat at the table.

“Wow I bet you could talk anyone into anything. But this is a really cool room, especially the fact that no one can see us.” I said with a smile as I moved closer to my boyfriend. I looked around the room again and was still amazed at how beautiful it was. I put my lips on his and was happy I didn’t have to worry about anyone outside of our little group seeing us or making fun of us. I was so tired and I wasn’t really in the mood to go through the rest of school.



* * *

January 9th

It’s been a whole month and so far it’s been the best month of my entire life. Logan, Lilian, Amber, Rose, and I have been spending our lunch time in our private room. Ashley hasn’t bothered me as much as she used to. I’ve somehow always seemed to come up with a smart remark. Talia has been really cool and still hangs out with me when ever Alex comes over. School hasn’t sucked completely. My winter break was fun and Logan, Lilian, Amber, Rose, Ella, and I all went to California to visit my dad. It was really fun and my dad seemed to really like the Abend siblings. New Year’s was also amazing. I finally got that New Year’s kiss. Rose and I are even closer and she sometimes uses spells to help me with a lot of stuff, and Logan has been amazing, along with Lilian and Amber, even Kristian, being awesome. But somehow, even better than that is that I haven’t been bothered by Derek in forever. I’ve never had been so happy.

I wrote in my journal. I had got the journal from Lilian and it was beautiful. It was black velvet with red lining on the sides. I’ve been writing in it ever since I got it about three weeks ago. It was very useful and I loved using it.

Like what I wrote in the journal, it’s been an amazing month and I couldn’t believe how fun it’s been, especially winter break.


“I like that Logan kid, and his sisters and brother. They seem nice. You also seem close to them and Rose.” my dad had said as we were walking on the beach. It was just the two of us while everyone stayed in the house playing hide-and-seek with Jasmine.

“I know. I really like them all. They all are amazing and I’m happy you like them, and Jasmine seems like she likes the twins.” I said with a grin. It was bright and warm. It was one of those days that you never get in New York.

“So um, I just want to tell you to be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know dad. But I don’t think I will. Logan and I really love each other.”

“I know. But I don’t want you to get too close to him. But also that I want you to be, um... safe. So if you ever decide to get ‘serious’ with him I want to...”

“Dad!” I interrupted him mid-sentence. “Mom gave me that talk about three years ago.” I told him with an expression of embarrassment.

“Okay. That’s good. I’m just making sure you know.” he said, looking down at the sand.


Now I’m back in Vampire Cove, New York and back in school. It was only four and Logan was out hunting with his sisters. Kristian was staying behind because he went hunting a few nights before. Rose was at her house practicing magick with her grandma. So I was left at home alone while Ella was at Alex’s house and now I was sitting on my bed. I heard a faint noise down stairs as I put my journal away. I waited to hear the chime over the door but there was no other sound. I ignored it and took out my book. Then I heard a faint knock on my bed room door. I jumped at the sound of it, no one was in the house and no one would come up into my room if it was a simple customer. Thinking of this made my mind go directly to the thought of it being Logan, he could move silently into the shop, but he’s out hunting, but then again it was his last day until he got back. I jumped up out of my seat and opened the door. I automatically froze in my spot.

“Did you miss me my love?” Derek asked me with a terribly handsome smile. I looked up at his topaz eyes and couldn’t help but feel a shiver of fear run up my spine.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to sound normal and casual, but I could hear the shakiness in my voice.

“I’m here to take you away from this dreaded town, and back to where you belong.” he said as he took a step closer. I took a step back at the same time. He kept moving closer until I was up against the wall. I could feel his breath on my face.

“I don’t want to go with you. Please I’m begging you to just leave me alone.” I said as my voice cracked. I tried to weasel my way away from him, but he cornered me into the right corner. He placed his arms on each side of me. I was trapped in the corner with no way out. I then tried to push him away but he only seemed to come closer.

“I love you. I’m never going to get over you, or leave you.” he said as his face came closer to mine. Soon I felt cool lips touch mine. My eyes were wide open and I began to try to push him away harder. I felt cold hands on my checks and I soon gave up on pushing him. I could feel his lips separating, forcing mine to do the same. As his cool breath entered my mouth I also heard the door to my room open again. I could see someone in the corner of my eye, but all of the sudden I felt Derek being yanked away from me. I looked up to see Logan holding Derek from the back of his shirt. I was still against the wall and I looked directly into Logan’s eyes and saw something that looked like pain.

“Logan.” I whispered. I tried to say it a little louder but it came out like a small whisper. I took a step forward but Logan was already yanking Derek out the window with him. I stood there, not knowing what to do. I laid on my bed and let myself slowly ease into slumber.

When I awoke it was eight and I knew Ella would still be gone. I looked around my room and saw Logan standing in the corner. “Logan.” I said, my voice almost cracking.

“Carmela. Are you hurt?” he asked in a deep voice. I could hear the edge in his voice. I began to move towards him. But then he took a step closer and I could see the anger in his eyes.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked again, this time with the anger showing in his voice. I laid back down and I knew fear must have showed in my face. “I’m sorry Carmela. I’m not trying to scare you but I’m just scared that he hurt you.” he said with a sigh as he pulled me into his arms.

“No he didn’t hurt me.” I told him as the memory of the kiss returned to my mind.

“I’m sorry that he did that to you. I wish I was here for you, or at least I wish I got here a little earlier.” he had his face buried in my hair.

“It’s okay. He didn’t hurt me. I’m just happy that you’re here now.” I told him with a sigh as I leaned against him. I knew that since something bad happened at the beginning of the year, then that meant terrible things were going to happen this year. I looked up into his amazing eyes and pulled myself up to place my lips perfectly on his. He soon pulled me closer so that I was lying on top of him. I let my fingers grab his hair and pulled myself even closer. I closed my eyes and let myself melt into him. I expected him to pull away but he didn’t. I could feel his cool hand rubbing my sides. I finally pulled away for air and I felt his lips go down to my neck. I pulled his lips back to mine and fell into the kiss, letting everything disappear around us.

That was when I heard my bed room door open. I looked up and saw Logan standing in the door way. I pulled back and looked at the boy I was laying on. I wanted to scream when I saw Derek laying there. I turned back to Logan and saw his pained eyes.

“Logan.” I said as I pushed away from Derek. Logan simply backed up and vanished. I turned and saw Derek looking smug on my bed. “What did you do!?” I asked him, my voice rising and cracking.

“I did a simple shape-shifting. Of course only a powerful vampire, like me, can change to look like another person.” he said with an impressed grin.

“How dare you. Leave me alone! Never come towards me again! If you really love me than leave!” I said. The words had a taste of acid-like hatred. I pulled away and opened my door. I knew it was dark, cold, and late outside but I had to find Logan. I yanked on my boots and jacket and ran out the shop. I ran straight to Logan’s house.

Please be home! Please listen to what I have to say! I thought to myself. I was banging on the door with the slightest of hope that they would open it. When the door creaked open I saw Kristian staring back at me.

“Logan’s not here.” he simply said in his usual deep voice I looked at him for a few minutes before I decided that he was telling the truth. I walked down the steps and walked aimlessly down the street. I was so confused that I closed my eyes for most of the walk.

I soon found myself at the graveyard. I walked through the gate, I had the feeling that Logan was there. Luckily I was right. He was standing under our tree. I slowly walked up to him. “Hey. Listen I really need to talk to you.” I told him with a frown as I reached him.

“What do you need to say? That you were surprised that I interrupted you and Derek.” he said with a deep frown. I looked deeply into his eyes and saw the pain and anger as he said this.

“No!” I almost screamed as pain crossed my face. “Derek shape-shifted into you and I thought I was making out with you. Then when you opened the door I was surprised to see you standing there and not kissing me. Then I looked back and saw Derek staring at me. I was so scared so I came to find you.” I was looking at Logan with truthful eyes. I prayed he believed me and that he would understand and he would forgive me. He looked at me for a long time before he pulled me close to him in a hug.

“I’m sorry I overreacted. I should have been mad at Derek, not you.” he laid a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“It’s okay. I know what it must have looked like to you.” I told him. I thought about the kiss again and was scared. But I was mostly scared because I liked the kiss. It was unlike all the kisses Logan and I shared. It was soft but had a deep passion to it. It had a longing. There was no holding back in it. I wanted to push the feeling back and keep it from ever surfacing again. I closed my eyes and tried to keep from letting Logan see that something was wrong.

“Carmela? Are you okay?” he asked, already noticing the pain in my face. I backed up from him and turned my body around so that I wasn’t facing him. I knew it was a waste of time for me to even try to lie to him. I could tell I was about to cry.

“Nothing.” I said in a weak voice. I took in a heavy breath, “I’m just a little shaken up by what happened today.” I told him. It was technically true so I knew my voice wouldn’t quiver.

“I know this must be hard for you. I’m so sorry I overreacted like that. You know, I think I should just leave. It might be better if I just leave you and keep away from you.” he said in a low voice, almost like a whisper.

“No! Don’t ever leave me. I don’t see how you think that would help. It would just leave me with Derek.” I told him as I spun around to look into his deep blue eyes. I put my arms around him and pulled him close to me. I held him for a long moment.


“Ella. Can I sleep over at Logan’s house?” I asked in an innocent voice as Logan walked with me from the graveyard to his house.

“Sure.” Ella said as I heard popcorn popping in the background.

“Thanks.” I said as I shut the phone. I put it away and grabbed Logan’s hand. When we entered his house I was welcomed by Lilian and Amber. “Did you tell them?” I asked Logan quietly.

“No.” He said it so softly I wasn’t sure if I heard it. I turned and looked at him and pulled closer for a moment before I pulled myself away so that I could walk upstairs with the twins. I grabbed Lilian by the hand and walked up with them.

“So how long do you think it will take for you to look different?” Amber asked out of nowhere.

“Um... I don’t know.” I said with a pause. I was shocked when Lilian and Amber didn’t take me to the normal dressing room that they always brought me to when I was around. Instead they took me to their room. It was nice and it had games spread out on the floor and beds. “What’s all this about?”

“Oh. Well we were wondering if you would like to play a few games with us. You know, kind of like a sleep over.” Lilian said as we entered the room. I sat down on the bed and began to look over all the games.

“Which one are we going to start with?” I asked. There were maybe fifteen different games in the room. We ended up starting with the board games and ending with truth-or-dare.

“Okay so truth or dare?” I asked Lilian with a smile.

“Dare.” she said with a grin. Amber and I thought for a second before Amber picked something.

“I dare you to kiss Jamez on Monday.” she said with a grin. I couldn’t help but show disgust. Jamez Willow was one of the nastiest guys in the entire school. He was one of those teens with the worst acne ever and he was a pervert. If a girl talked to him he would be hooked on her. He would practically stalk her, so I knew if Lillian did it then she was doomed.

“Fine, then I dare you to kiss Juan on Monday.” Juan was Jamez’s only friend and was just as bad. I couldn’t help but smile. “And for you Carmela, we both dare you to let us get you all dressed up for the dance.” They were both grinning as they said this.

“No. You guys know I hate dances.” I told them with a frown. It wasn’t that I hated dances, but that I’ve never been to a big dance before. Every time there was a high school dance I never went. But this would be my first, if I was still planning on going.

“Please. This will be your first dance you have to go. Plus you’ll be there with Logan so it’s not like you have to worry about asking anyone.” I pause and looked up at Lilian’s hopeful eyes. This was only the New Year’s dance but she was acting like it was prom. I always thought the New Year’s dance was useless. It was always done sometime in January and it was stupid. We started school on the fifth but they always had it late. I hate the useless dances at my school.

“Please.” Amber begged as I let out a sigh. I knew there was no winning against them. The dance was Monday night and if I say yes now there would be no backing out.

“Fine.” I said reluctantly. As I turned to look at Amber and Lilian I could see the devilish smile spread on both of their faces.

The next morning I spent the whole day with the Abends and then we met up with Rose and hung out with her for the rest of the day and night. I could tell that Rose and Kristian were a little awkward around each other.

* * *

On Monday I was depressed to be back at school. Today was the day of the dance. After school Lilian and Amber came straight to my house. They wanted to get ready at my house so Logan wouldn’t see my outfit until he came to get me.

“Okay let’s get started.” Lilian said as they hurried me into the bathroom. They took out a dress that laid on a hanger that they hung on my shower pole. It was a mini red, strapless dress that looked almost like it was bloody. It fit perfectly and Lilian was doing my make-up while Amber did my hair.

“Turn this way... Look up... Look down... Do this...” was all they said as they did my hair and make-up. “Done.” Amber shouted as she helped me out of my seat. I was stiff from sitting for almost an hour. It was already six and the dance had started almost thirty minutes ago.

“Don’t look in the mirror until I put your shoes on.” Lilian commanded as she opened a shoe box. “There. Now look.” I looked at the full size mirror and froze in shook. The girl looking back at me was a stranger. She had long flowing hair that seemed to glow blue in the light, her eyes were a beautiful shade of green that shined with a beauty that was irresistible. They made her skin look pale and glowing in a way that made her look like a vampire. The girl in the mirror was wearing a beautiful, slim scarlet dress with red heels that laced up her legs, all the way up to her knees. She had lipstick the shade of rose red and black eyeliner that covered around her eyes. I couldn’t help but put my hand on the mirror.

“Wow you look amazing.” Amber said as she got into her auburn dress that was also mini but had sleeves that covered her arm up to her elbow. Lilian had a matching indigo dress. They both had strapless shoes that matched their dresses.

“Thank you guys so much.” I said as I wrapped my arms around their necks. Just then the bell downstairs chimed.

“Carmela its Logan.” Ella yelled from the shop. I knew Lilian and Amber didn’t have a date but I couldn’t help wondering why. They were probably the most beautiful girls in our entire school.

“You guys go ahead. We’ll meet you there.” Lilian told me with a smile. I opened the bed room door and walked downstairs and saw Logan standing at the door way. When he looked up at me walking down the stair I could see his eyes widen.

“Hey.” I said a little embarrassed. I walked up to him and he put his arm around my waist.

“Wow. You look- wow” he said after a pause. I couldn’t help but smile at his bewildered expression.

“Thank you. You look amazing too.” I told him as he lightly kissed me. When we entered the gym of the school I could feel eyes turn towards me. I felt like a different person. I felt confident.

“Hi Carmela, would you like to dance?” Dan asked. He walked away from his date and came up to me. I looked up at Logan and saw a little giggle escape from him. I looked at him a little confused but then I turned back to the staring boy.

“Sure.” I said. I knew it was a fast song so I didn’t have to worry about anything. After I danced with Dan I was confronted by another boy. For the next five fast songs I was bombarded by boys asking to dance. But finally a slow song came around and I was looking at Logan. He was watching me from the bleachers and in a few seconds he was walking up to me.

“Can I have this dance?” Logan asked with a breath-taking smile.

“Of course, I thought you’d never ask.” I looked up into his artistic blue eyes as we danced. It was amazing; it felt as if we were the only people in the auditorium. I guess it felt like I was on cloud nine, or as if I were floating above the gym and into the night sky. I’m not really sure how to explain the feeling but I knew it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Now I finally knew what those stupid girls in movies are talking about when they dance with the Prince Charming.

When the song ended I looked up and saw the twins walking up to us. They had Juan and Jamez fallowing them. “They did the dare.” Logan whispered to me. I laughed a little but then I could see that they were annoyed by the boys.

“Hey Juan, Jamez, I heard that the teachers caught some boys fighting in the hall. I think the fights still going on.” I told them with a grin. They both looked at each other for a minute before they raced through the crowd.

“Thanks.” Lilian and Amber said at the same time. “So you’re the bell-of-the-ball.”

“Hahaha thanks. But it’s all thanks to you two.” I told them with a huge smile. I felt great and I knew nothing could ruin that night. But then again I had the habit of speaking to soon.

When I looked at the entrance I noticed Derek standing under the tree outside. “I’ll be back in a second. I think I just need some fresh air.” I told Logan.

“Well after all that dancing I would agree. Want me to come with you?” he asked with a grin.

“No you should stay here and dance with your sisters.” I told him as I made my way through the crowd. I walked up to the tree where Derek stood. His hair shined in the moon’s light. “Why can’t you leave me alone?” I asked him with a serious voice. I looked up and saw his topaz eyes looking down at me.

“If you don’t want me here than why are you out here?”

“I want to get rid of you before Logan, my boyfriend, sees you and gets mad.”

“Are you sure that’s why?”

“I’m positive.” I told him in an acid voice. I looked directly into his eyes and showed no fear or quivering.

“Fine, then I’ll leave. But I’ll be back.” he said over his shoulder as he left. I couldn’t help but wonder why he left so easily. I walked back to the dance and the second I saw Logan all my anger disappeared. I started walking towards him when I saw Ashley walk up to him. I stared at her for a second before I started towards them. That’s when I saw her kiss Logan. I froze and waited to see Logan push her back but he never did. It was almost a whole minute before Ashley pulled away with a smile. I looked at her and she gave me a victorious smile. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I tried to blink them back but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep them back for long. I looked at Logan and saw his blue eyes looking back at me with no emotion.

I turned around and ran out the door. I stopped right outside the gym and let the tears flow. I quickly unlaced the heels I wore and tied them together. I slung the over my shoulder and began running down the street. I didn’t care if I got sick or if I even got hit by a car. As I ran down the dark street the only light that shone over me was the moon.

Why? Why today? Why is everything falling apart? First Derek shows up, and now this. If I was going to die miserable I could only hope it would be now and that a car could run over me. I have never felt so hurt in my entire life and now I can’t even muster up enough confidence to even confront Logan. Why is it that ever since I turned sixteen everything has been turned upside down? I’m being stalked by a vampire and everyone I thought I knew is turning out to be some creature from a fantasy book. I thought to myself as I stopped in the middle of the street. I was too tired to continue running and I didn’t care about walking on the sidewalk. I stayed where I was and let my cheeks stream with tears.

I didn’t know how but I suddenly found myself in Rose’s arms. I knew she came down the street and found me. I wanted to ask her how she knew something was wrong, she wasn’t at the dance, but my throat had closed up and I couldn’t find my voice. Instead I just let her hold me and walk me to her house.

She called Ella and told her that I was going to sleep over at her house. She gave me an old t-shirt and some old shorts to wear. I didn’t know how but I managed to change my clothes in a flurry. That night Rose helped me fall asleep with a spelled tea and lay on the floor near my bed to make sure I slept peacefully.

The dream that night brought more tears. My mind kept replaying that awful moment over and over again. I couldn’t wake myself up. But when I finally managed to wake myself the last image that flashed in my head was the kiss I shared with Derek. Tears began to flood my eyes and I could hear a knock on the door down stairs.

“What do you want?” I could hear Rose ask. There was an acid-like tone in her voice. I let the tears stop in their tracks and slowly climbed out of bed. I opened the door a crack and listened to the hushed voices.

“I just want to know if she’s here.” I could make out Logan’s calm voice say. I began to climb quietly down the steps and saw Logan standing in the door way. His hair was shining in the dim sunlight and my heart skipped a note when I saw him.

“Go away. Do you not understand how badly you hurt her? Leave.”

“It’s okay Rose. I want to hear what he has to say.” I told her with a frown. I looked up at her for a moment before she moved back and walked over to the stairs. “What do you want?” I asked Logan with a steel voice.

“I want to know what Rose is talking about. Why did you leave the dance? Why were you crying?” Logan asked with a serious voice. I could see the worry in his eyes.

“How can you do that? How can you look directly in my eyes and lie to me? How can you act as if you have no idea about what happened last night?” I could feel the tears coming to my eyes again.

“What are you talking about!? I didn’t do anything.”

“You kissed Ashley.” I could tell that a tear had escaped and slid down my cheek.

“What are you talking about?” I looked right into his eyes and searched them for any indication of a lie. “After you left to get some air I went over to the snack bar-”

“Where you kissed Ashley.” I interrupted him.

“No. I got some punch and then the D.J. said it was the last song. I asked Lilian and Amber if they saw you come back but they said ‘no’. I spent the rest of the night looking for you. When the dance came to an end I was worried that something happened but Lilian said you were probably at home. I was going to check on you but then Kristian got the scent of blood so I had to stop him. I went to your house this morning but you weren’t there so I automatically came here.” he said with a frown.

I was confused as he said this. I could tell he was telling the truth, which threw me off. “So what are you trying to say? That it was all just in my head that I made it all up.” I said with a weak voice. I hated myself for showing my doubt.

“Carmela ...”

“No, I don’t want to hear your lies anymore.” I said as I closed the door in his face. I turned around and let the tears flow again. Rose put her hand under my elbow and pulled me over to the couch in the living room. After the tears decreased I looked up at the clock over the fireplace. It was already ten and I knew Rose’s parents were still asleep. No one usually woke up until about noon.

“Rose, can you go get some tea?” I heard Grandma Avery ask from the top of the stair case.

“Sure.” Rose said as she arose. After she left Angela took her seat and faced me.

“I’m so sorry for what happened. But I am happy that you finally see vampires’ true nature.” she said with a frown. I knew Rose hadn’t told her grandmother what happened at the dance yet. “I’m sorry that he kissed your enemy.” With that I could tell that my eyes widened.

“How did you know? Rose didn’t tell you.” I told her with a surprised look.

“Oh well... I mean I just... trust me you’ll thank me for what I did.” she told me with a frown and a serious voice.

“What did you do?” I asked. But before I knew it I was racing up the stairs and entered Angela’s room. I began searching her stuff until I turned towards the desk. Laying there was a Book of Shadows. Rose told me about these books. They were spell books from the ancient witches. The spell that was open was an illusion spell that did not rhyme. It read:
Illusions, Illusion come to me
Let her see the lie,
the pain that comes to her is true.
But the image is a lie but realistic.
Let the image be the most painful she could think of.

I froze in shook when I read this. I looked at the old candle that had been lit earlier. I began to shake as I saw this. I spun around and saw Angela looking at me. “It’s not what you think. I did it for you.” she told me with a serious tone.

“How!? Why the hell would you want to hurt me?” I asked her, my voice beginning to rise with each word. I looked directly into her eyes.

“Trust me. You don’t belong with a vampire. Why can’t you just be happy with a human or even a witch?”

“I love him. To you vampires are bad and to Logan witches are bad. But guess what, I don’t care about who’s bad and who’s not. I love Rose like a sister and I love Logan with all my heart.” I tried to make my voice lower but I was too furious.

“Carmela-”

“No! I don’t want to hear about your stupid excuses about you doing this for my own good. Just butt out of my love life. It’s none of your business. Promise me you’ll leave Logan and me alone.”

“I can’t promise you that. I will do everything in my power to keep you from Logan.”

“I thought you cared about me, if you do then let me be with who I want.”

“Fine.” she finally said with a sigh. I could tell she really hated this but my words were making a difference. “But I don’t approve of this. But I won’t interfere.”

“Thank you. Now I have to go and find Logan.” I told her as I pushed past her. I didn’t care that I was still in my pajamas. I grabbed my heels that Lilian and Amber gave me. I ran out the door just as Rose came out of the kitchen with the cups of tea. I gave her one last look before I left. I ran down the street and I went
automatically to Logan’s house and was lucky to find him there. He was on the steps and was looking the opposite way.

“Hey.” I told him as I came up to him.

“Hey.” he said in a low voice. He turned around and looked into my eyes.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I was wrong.” I told him in a rush. I looked down and tried to avoid his eyes.

“It’s okay. So what happened?” he asked me with a frown as he grabbed my hand in his.

“Well it turned out that Angela put an illusion spell that made me see you with Ashley. I’m so sorry that I overreacted.”

“It’s okay. I did the same thing.”

“Maybe we should just start talking to each other before we make assumptions.” I told him with a half-smile. I looked up into his eyes and sat down next to him. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. He placed his lips on mine and I felt calmer.

“I love you.” he whispered to me as we parted from the kiss. I laid my head on his shoulder and let out a sigh.

“I love you too.” I told him with a smile as I closed my eyes. That day and the day before were so hectic. I couldn’t keep myself awake.

“Are you okay?”

“Yea, I’m just tired.” I told him as I let out a yawn. I could feel Logan’s arms under me as he picked me up. I felt a wave of relief, calmness, and slumber wash over me.

When I woke up I found myself on Logan’s bed and Logan standing over his desk. He looked like he was looking through a book. I slowly got out of the bed and walked up to him. “Hey what are you looking at?”

“Oh. Nothing, it’s just an old book.” he told me as he turned to look at me.

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.” he stepped aside and I saw that it was a book about ancient vampires. I flipped through some of the pages and laughed a little at some of the things it said.

“Wow this is cool.”

“Yea, but it’s wrong for the most part.” I grabbed his hand and we ended up talking for the rest of the time.

“I’m sorry for what my grandma did.” Rose told me as I entered school. “I didn’t know she did that. I thought she understood that you and Logan are together.”

“It’s okay. I just hope she won’t bother us again.” I told her with a frown. “But tell her I’m sorry that I yelled at her.”

“I think she already understands.” After school Rose, the Abend trio, and I hung out at the bakery.


Thursday was just as boring and so was Friday. But when Saturday came everything changed. It was probably the worst day in my entire life.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked me as I sat on his porch with him. It was noon and I was heading over to the graveyard to visit my aunt. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, it’s okay. I want to visit her alone.” I told him with a smile. I got up and kissed Logan goodbye before I walked down the sidewalk and to the graveyard. When I entered the graveyard I went straight to my aunt’s grave and then I went to mine and Logan’s tree. I didn’t know how long I sat under it but it was calming. I sat there with my eyes closed and I took in the warm air. Even though it was the middle of January the air was warm and humid.

“Why hello.” I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and saw Derek standing only a few feet away from me. “Just the person I wanted to see.”

“What do you want?” I asked Derek as I stood up.

“I wanted to ask you to leave Logan. Leave this place.” he told me in a plain voice.

“I told you this before and the time before that. NO!” I told him with a frown as I walked past him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him.

“I wish I didn’t have to do this.” he whispered into my ear.

“What? Are you going to take me again?” I asked him with a sarcastic tone.

“No. I’m going to threaten.” he said in a low voice. I looked up at him and tried to pull away with all my strength. “If you don’t leave then I will hurt the Abends, Rose, even your sister.” My eyes widened as he said this. I stood opened mouth and tried to push him again.

“You’re... You’re lying.” I stammered as tears began to build up. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

“I am serious. I will do anything if it will make you leave. I want you to realize that Logan isn’t right for you.” his voice cut me like ice. “You have until next Friday afternoon. After that you can kiss everyone you love goodbye.” a second later he vanished. I closed my eyes and sank to my knees as the tears poured out.


* * *

When Thursday came around I still couldn’t get Derek’s threat out of my head. I managed to act normal all week, but I didn’t know what to do, tomorrow was the last day I had until he harmed everyone. I sat in my room and stared out the window. I can’t do it. I thought to myself. But of course he couldn’t be serious, right? I closed my eyes and let my breathing slow down.

The next day I acted a little weird. “Is everything okay?” Logan asked me in a serious tone. “You’ve been acting weird lately.”

“No, it’s nothing. I’m okay.” I told him, avoiding his gaze. It was already eleven at night and I was edgy about what might happen with Derek. “It’s just late. I think I should go to sleep.”

“Okay. If that’s what you want.” Logan’s voice sounded concerned but I could tell he was going to let it go. I turned away from him and closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready. Tomorrow I would be okay and just forget about the whole thing.

When I woke up it was four A.M. and Logan was sleeping beside me. I slowly and quietly got out of the bed and walked up to my desk. I grabbed my book and walked back to my bed. I laid back down next to Logan and opened it up. There was a letter lying in my book. It had my name written in elegant hand-writing. It read:

Carmela,


You did not do as I told you to. I am sorry to tell you but I will go through with my threat. Pay attention to my warning this time.











~Derek.
I read the letter over and over again. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I soon found myself fall back asleep. When I woke up again it was noon and I awoke to the sound of a scream. I was alone in my room now but I knew the scream sounded familiar. I ran over to my window and saw Lilian lying on the ground with her hand clutching her leg. I ran downstairs, out the door, and around the shop.

“Lilian what happened?” I asked her in a weak voice as I panted for air. I tried to catch my breath.

“It was that damn Derek. I was walking over here and I saw him standing under your window. I ran up to him and he turned in a swift move and attacked me.” she said in a pained voice. Her leg was gushing out with blood and I had to pull my eyes away. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. “But don’t worry. I’ll be okay. But what’s wrong with you?” she asked me.

“Nothing.” I told her. I was happy that my voice sounded normal. “I’m sorry Lilian but this is actually a bad time. If you want I’ll call Logan and ask him to get you.”

“No it’s okay. I can walk.” she moved her hand and I saw that it was only a scare left.

“Okay. Be safe.” I told her with a half-smile. I turned around and practically ran back into the shop. I went into my room and locked the door behind me. I closed my eyes and let the tears over flow. I was breaking down and I had no way to keep myself together. After about an hour of crying, my eyes seemed to have run out of tears.

I ran to my desk and grabbed a sheet of paper and my pen. I tried to focus through the tears and wrote:
Dear Logan,

I’m sorry. But I had to leave. Everything I said was a lie, I still love you with all my heart and I would never leave you unless it was important. No one can ever be as important as you. I hate Derek; I didn’t mean it when I told you everything I said. I am writing this in advance so I’m not sure exactly what I said but I know it will be something bad. Please try to explain this to everyone else. And please understand my reason. If you want to blame anyone blame Derek. I hope you can put the pieces together. I know we’ll see each other again, maybe in our next life. You may not know it’s me and I may not know it’s you but we’ll find each other again someday.
Love always and forever,
Carmela. xoxox


I folded the letter and let a single tear fall upon it. I placed it on my pillow. I knew Logan would find it eventually. I then took a deep breath and let my breathing become normal. I walked outside and called Logan.

“Can you meet me at the graveyard?” I asked him. I tried my hardest to make my voice sound steady.

“Of course, I’ll be there in a few.” he told me in a worried voice. I hung up the phone and began my walk to the graveyard. I took that time to pull myself together. Of course Logan and I met under our tree. The moment I saw him I could feel myself falling apart again.

“Hey Carmela, what’s wrong? You look as if you’ve been crying.” he wrapped his arms around me and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I knew I had to do this quick.

I pulled away from him and looked him directly in the eyes. They were so hard to look in; the noon sun seemed to shine directly on him. His hair was such a beautiful summer color, making it great to look at in winter. I knew this was going to be harder than anything that I had ever done but I knew it had to be done. I looked into his perfectly sculpted face. “Listen Logan, there’s something I have to tell you.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a brief second. “I’m leaving. I don’t want to be here anymore, I’m going to California to live with my dad.” I tried to make it simple.

“Okay. I’ll come with you. I don’t think it will be a problem with my family if we move again.” he said in a simple voice. I hated that he was making this difficult.

“No Logan. You don’t understand. I don’t want you with me. I’m leaving you behind. I’m leaving everyone behind.” I looked down at the ground as I said that. I couldn’t stand this.

“Carmela I don’t understand.”

“Logan. I don’t... I don’t love you anymore.” I couldn’t continue. I heard my voice crack and I could tell that tears were building up. I didn’t know what to do. “This is all just too hard for me and I’m tired of all this stupid paranormal things. My best friend is a witch and my boyfriend is a vampire. It’s all just too much.”

“Carmela I don’t believe you. What aren’t you telling me?”

“I’m tired of this. If it’s not a fight between you and Angela then it’s Derek. I’m not going to just be in-between vampires. I just want a normal life. But that means no you and no Rose, and I don’t care. I rather live without you.” I couldn’t keep the tears back anymore, I let them over flow and I turned away. I began to walk away but Logan’s hand clutched my arm. I turned around and made my voice sound like acid.

“Just leave me alone, Logan! I hate you!” I yelled at him. I let his hand let go of me. It went limp at his side and I turned away from him again. I tried my hardest to keep my face composed but I knew there had to be a hint of sorrow. I waited a moment as the silence between us grew. As I waited I could see the clouds moving quickly behind Logan. It seemed as if everything was moving faster than normal. The grass blew in the slight breeze.

“I don’t believe you. I know your lying.” he said in a quiet voice that was nothing more than a whisper. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I love Derek! I want to be with him, not you.” I yelled at him as the tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t stand to look at his pained face. I knew it must have reflected in my face. I ran from the graveyard and all the way to the shop. I let the cool wind scrap my cheeks as I ran. Ella was sitting at the cash register. When I entered she looked up at me startled.

“What happened?” she asked in a concerned voice.

“I broke up with Logan.” I told her with a frown as I ran up the stairs and into my room. I then called my dad and told him the same thing I just told Ella.

“So do you think I can move in with you?” I asked him in a pained voice.

“Of course you can move in. If that’s what you think you need right now.” he told me from the other line. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

“Okay. I’ll get on a plane tonight and see you in the morning.” I told him before I hung up. I laid down on my bed and let my tears roll down the side of my face and fall onto my pillows. I opened up my journal that I got from Lilian and opened up to a new entry.
January 24th

Today I think I did the worst thing anyone could ever think of! I have left Logan and am now planning on moving all the way to California with my dad. I have cried for the past half hour and I want to continue crying until my eyes bleed. I don’t deserve to live anymore. I am only going to cry from here on out. I hate Derek. With all the will in my body I hate him and wish him the worst. I want so badly to be in Logan’s arms and to tell him everything. I pray he will forgive me in time and if he doesn’t then I pray he will at least find my letter.


I closed my journal and placed it on my desk. I finally got out of bed and grabbed my laptop. I printed out my ticket and then grabbed my suitcase from under my bed. I was packing my clothes and belongings when Ella came in. “What are you doing?”

“I’m packing. I’m moving in with dad.” I told her as I put my books into a separate bag. I was too tired to talk to Ella and I didn’t think I could handle having to hurt her as well. But I knew that if I didn’t then Derek would certainly hurt her even worse. As the sun shone through my windows I stared at my sister who stood staring at me with a blank look.

“Why?”

“I want a change in my surrounding. It’s only until I can get over this whole Logan thing. I already talked to dad and he said it’s okay.”

“What time will you be leaving?” she had a pained look in her eyes. I couldn’t stand hurting another person.

“Tonight at eleven my plane will be taking off.” I wasn’t looking at her as I said this. I was stuffing all my other things away.


When I was done packing it had been almost nine hours since Logan and I had talked. It was about ten o’clock now and I was avoiding all of Rose’s calls. I asked Ella if she could tell Rose everything that happened. Ella was driving me to the air port and I couldn’t help but wonder why I was doing this. I couldn’t believe I fell right into Derek’s trap.

“Goodbye Ella. I promise I’ll call you.” I told her as I left the car. I grabbed all my bags and my guitar from the trunk. I had almost five different bags filled with my stuff.

“Goodbye. Have a safe trip. I love you.” she told me with a half-smile as she gave me a tight hug. I could tell that she was beginning to cry. I watched her face carefully, hoping that she wouldn’t start crying in front of me. If she did I knew I was sure to start crying myself.

As I got on the plane I was on the window seat, my seat was behind a loud man who was talking to his friend next to him and in front of a loud snoring man. I stared out the window and saw all the clouds covering the sky. I couldn’t help but think; what if everything simply disappeared around me? What if everything just ended now? Would it actually be bad?
* * *



“It’s great to see you Carmela.” my dad said as he gave me a hug. He took my bags from me and put them into his trunk.

“I’m happy you’re moving in with us. But I’m sorry about what happened between you and Logan.” Kimberly said with a frown.

“Thank you for letting me stay with you guys.” I gave them both a hug as I got into the back seat. Jasmine was sitting there and she gave me a tight hug. I knew she probably didn’t understand why exactly I left but she was already eight so I knew that she must have gotten the main idea as to why.

When we got to the house I went directly to the guest room and threw my bag on the bed. I grabbed my journal out and sat down at the desk.
January 25th

Today I have arrived at my dad’s house and the plane ride sucked. I couldn’t get Logan out of my mind and now we are so far apart. I’ve ignored all my calls from Rose, Lilian, and Amber. I wonder what my new life will be like here. It is so much hotter than New York. The only thing that is good so far is that I’m in an actual home instead of a small apartment. It’s not a big house but it is nice. It has three floors - the plain basement. The kitchen, a bathroom, my dad’s and Kimberly’s room, and a computer room were on the second floor. Lastly another bathroom, my bedroom, Jasmine’s bedroom, a guest room, and a TV room on the third floor. There is an actual yard in the front and the beach in the back. It’s beautiful here but it will never be the same. As for my room, it is completely different then my old one. The windows are still across from the door but the queen size bed is right under it. The covers are red with black pillows; I actually like that the best. The floor is a smooth, cold wood (the smooth coldness reminds me of Logan). The desk is next to the door, the bathroom is on the left and the closet is on the opposite wall. It is a big walk in closet, apparently my dad said it was supposed to be another room but they took down the wall that belonged there. There is a giant, opening, glass door on the left side of the bed that goes from the ceiling down to the floor. I have the perfect view of the ocean. It’s amazing here... but I’ll always feel a pain of loneliness.


I closed my journal and laid it on the empty desk. I then began unpacking and placing everything on the desk and bed. I placed everything were they would have been at home. The pictures were on the shelves over my desk, the lamp, my papers, pens, pencils, and my notebooks laid neatly on the desk, my books on a separate shelf, and lastly my posters were taped all over the walls. I slowly opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the small balcony. It was beautiful outside. The sky was a bright blue even though it wasn’t even sunrise yet. The ocean waves smacked against each other in a calm flurry of blue and white. Even though today was the saddest and worst day of my life the ocean seemed to calm me.

I closed my eyes as I listened to the soft whispers of the water. I began to sway before I collapsed. My knees buckled and gave way from under me.

I could still hear the water in the background, along with the sound of Kim’s voice. I could make out the sound of her yelling for my dad and yelling my name. I soon fell into a slumber of darkness.

I saw Logan standing with me, his arm around my waist, and his lips on my neck. He lightly kissed up my neck up to my lips. His kiss was soft and sweet. Tears began to build up behind my closed lids. I clung to him with the feeling of neediness as his lips parted. I breathed in his sweet breath and let my fingers blindly unbutton his shirt. I pressed my chest against his cool skin. We ended up laying on cool wood floor with his shirt off and my hair a mess. I turned and looked at Logan. I was about to kiss him again but I was interrupted by the sound of my dad’s voice beaconing my name.



“Carmela can you hear me?” I heard his voice ask. I reluctantly opened my eyes and found myself sitting on a bed in a hospital.

“Dad, what happened?” I ask him as I looked around. The clock on the wall said it was ten, and the window showed a bright sunny morning. I looked up at my dad and was pleased to see a smile cross his face. Behind him Jasmine and Kimberly were sleeping on the guest chairs.

“You passed out. The doctors think it might be from stress, is there anything you need to talk about?”

“No.” I practically yelled. I couldn’t help my mind from wondering back to Logan, Lilian, Amber, Rose, and Derek. “I mean it’s just from everything that’s happened in the past two days.” I told him with frown as the tears building up. I tried to look away from him and stared out the window. The rays of sun that escaped from the window shades fell upon the white floor tiles. The smell of medicine filled my nose as I inhaled.

“It’s okay. Tomorrow you’ll be starting school at Red-Rose high school. It’s an all girl school, so you and I don’t have to worry about any stupid boys.” he said as he kissed my forehead. Just then a nurse came in to check on me. She was a slim woman, about twenty. She had hair that seemed to reach the small of her back. But she looked pale, with dark circles under her eyes. She looked almost as sick as everyone else.

About thirty minutes later they let me out and I went back home with my family. When we got home I went to my room and laid on the bed. I can’t believe this is happening to me. Why me? Why is Derek so interested in me? I asked myself as I stared at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and let my breathing ease down and tried to get myself calm again. I began to fall asleep when my phone rang.

“Hello?” I asked when I answered it. I didn’t even bother looking at who it was, but I wish I did.

“Oh Carmela, you finally answered.” I heard Rose say from the other line. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “What happened? Ella told me you left to go live with your dad, but why?”

“Logan and I broke up. I just think that space will give me some time to heal.” I said as my voice cracked. I wanted so badly to tell her everything about what happened. Even Derek’s threat, but I managed to stop myself. I didn’t want her to tell Logan. The last thing I wanted was for Logan to go off and try to find Derek, and probably get hurt when he did.

“Carmela, why didn’t you just tell me? I thought something happened.”

“I’m sorry. I knew I should have told you but it was just too hard for me to face anyone. I just had to leave.” I told her with a frown as tears began to build up. “I actually need to go now. I’ll talk to you some other time.”

“Okay.” There was a short pause, “Yea. Just e-mail me later.” she said. Then there was the sound of a click on the other side. I laid my phone down next to me on my bed. I turned so that my face was in the pillow and let the tears flow. I missed Rose so much. She was like my sister and the only person I could really talk to. I couldn’t believe all this was happening. When I was off the phone with her I reached for my journal. I wasn’t planning on writing anything, I simply read over the things I wrote before. It was so sweet and it was one of my favorite days. I laid there crying until I finally fell asleep.

* * *


The next day was better. My dad was right; going to school got my mind off Logan. The school was a big, red-brick building that was almost intimidating. I stared up at it and took a deep breath. The sun was shining but the school hid it, so the day seemed dark and depressing. I walked up the steps and entered the crowded school. It was a flurry of colors. I first entered the office. The secretary there seemed like one of the students. She was short with blonde hair and pink high-lights.

“Hi, I’m new here. I’m Carmela Cross.” I told her as she hung up the phone.

“Oh, so you’re the new girl. Well here’s your schedule.” she said in a high pitch voice that sounded like it belonged to a five year old. “Have a great day.” I exited the building and walked across the parking lot to the other building across from it. It was almost seventy degrees outside and it was amazing to not feel the freezing air. I wasn’t exactly focusing on where I was going until I got knocked over by some kid.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” said a girl as she helped me up onto my feet. She was a tall girl, the same height as me, 5'7"; she had shoulder length, straight red hair with orange highlights that were very subtle. She also had amazing sky blue eyes.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing.” I told her with a smile as I got up.

“You’re new here aren’t you.” the girl said with the same smile.

“Yea I moved here from New York.”

“That’s so cool. I’m Misty Kelsey.” she said with a smile. “My grandparents were Irish.” she told me, I guess she was explaining her last name. I recognized it as Irish Gaelic.

“I’m Carmela Cross.” I shook her hand with a half-smile. I was surprised I was already making a friend. I was wearing all black and not being called ‘Emo or Goth.’

“So what’s your schedule?” I handed her the paper. “Oh, this is perfect. We have almost every class together. We have second, third, fifth, seventh, and eighth together.” she said as she handed it back. “So what’s your locker number?”

“Um, three-fifty-one.”

“Oh, that’s about eight lockers away from mine.” Just then the bell rang and a crowd of students rushed past us. “Well I guess we better be going.” she said as she grabbed my hand. My first period was English class with Mr. Davini.

“Hi, you must be the new girl, Carmela.” he said with a grin as I came in.

“Yea.” I said in a quiet voice.

“Is there anything that you would like to tell everyone about yourself?” he asked in a calm voice. He looked as though he just got out of school.

“No thank you.” I wasn’t sure why I was being so shy.

“Okay. Then just take a seat next to Kathy.” he said as he pointed to a girl with short brown hair with blond high-lights that reached the bottom of her ears. It looked like the kind of hair boys usually had. Her skin was tanned, almost orange, and her eyes were grayish/green. She looked short, from what I could tell I guessed she was 5'4". I took the desk next to her as Mr. Davini told everyone to open there books. Apparently today was a simple reading day. I opened up my book quietly and tried to focus.

“Hi, I’m Kathy Blair.” said the girl sitting next to me. She had a beautiful grin on her face as she held her hand out.

“I’m Carmela Cross.” I shook her hand with the same smile. Her voice was pretty low and sounded almost too deep.

“So where are you from?”

“New York.”

“Wow that’s so far away. Why did you move here?” she asked with a smile as she moved closer. I had to look down for a moment; I couldn’t keep myself from frowning as I thought about my reason for leaving my home.

“My parents separated a while ago. I guess I just wanted a change in my environment, so I moved in with my dad, step-mother, and my half-sister.” I told her as I looked up.

“That’s cool. So have you made any friends?”

“Well this girl named Misty.”

“Oh, yea Misty rocks. She’s one of my best friends.” she said with a grin as she looked over at the teacher to see if he was looking at us. “Well now you have another friend.” she gave me a warm smile.

After class I went to Calculus then Science, PE, then finally lunch. During lunch I sat with Kathy and Misty.

“Hey.” Misty said as I entered the cafeteria. It was much bigger than the one at home and the table we sat at was right in the middle. I wasn’t used to sitting next to other people. “These are my friends, Daisy Lopez, Brianna Smith, and Kathy Blair.” she said as she pointed to each.

“I’ve already met Kathy.” I said with a grin as I sat across from them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” one of the girls said. She was apparently Daisy. She had long, chin-length, blackish brown hair that was in tight curls. Her skin was tan and she had a piercing on each ear. When she stood I could tell she was maybe only 5 feet tall.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” I told her as I shook her hand. I looked at the girl who sat next to her, Brianna. She had coffee color skin. Her hair was wavy, raven black, and from what I could see it reached her waist. Her eyes were a dark brown that was almost terrifying. She stood too, and shook my head. She was maybe 5'10". I was little surprised at how tall she was. She seemed like a quiet girl but I knew it was only because I was new.

After school I walked home with Misty, she only lived about six houses from mine. “Hey you should come over. Kathy, Daisy, and Brianna are going to come over to hang out. It will give you a chance to get to know everyone better.” she told me with a smile. I called my dad and told him that I was going to hang out with some friends.

“Hey Carmela, hey Misty.” I heard Kathy say from the doorway. She came through the door and came towards Misty and me in the living room. Following her was a tall, tan boy with brown hair. He had amazing green/blue eyes that seemed to shine in the light. His hair barely touched his shoulders and his skin seemed less tan then Kathy’s. He was wearing blue jeans with a red top. His outfit matched Kathy’s outfit.

“Hey Kathy.” Misty and I said at the same time.

“Misty, you remember Kyle. Carmela this is my boyfriend Kyle, Kyle this is my friend Carmela. She just moved here from New York.” she said as they sat on the chairs next to us.

“It’s nice to meet you.” he said as he gave me a smile. I gave him a light smile. A few minutes after that Daisy came in, followed by her boyfriend, Tyler. After her, Brianna arrived with her boyfriend, Albert. At first I was a little depressed that everyone was arriving with a boyfriend, but then I remembered that Misty was alone, but I guess I talked too soon. At that exact moment a boy with blonde hair walked into the house. His bangs covered his eyes but when he flipped his hair I could see that his eyes were an amazing grey. He was about 6 feet tall.

“Oh, hey what are you doing here? I thought you were in Arizona.” Misty said with a smile as she ran up to the boy. “Carmela this is my boyfriend, Johnny. Johnny this is the new girl Carmela.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” he said with a smile. “Where are you from?” he asked in a low voice.

“New York.” I said plainly. Now I really was alone. Everyone had their boyfriends with them. I had a ping of pain in my side as I thought about the boyfriend I left at home.

“Cool.” he said with a half-smile.

“So anyways, what are you doing here so early? I thought you weren’t coming back until next week.” Misty said as she grabbed his hand.

“I felt like coming back early.” he said as he kissed her. I closed my eyes for a moment. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I stared at everyone for a moment.

“So Carmela, did you have a boyfriend back in New York?” Daisy asked once I opened my eyes. I didn’t know what to say but I just took a deep breath. I tried my hardest not to cry when Logan’s face crossed my mind. I could tell that everyone was waiting for me to answer.

“Yea.” I said, happy to hear my voice stable. I was sure it was going to crack. “His name was Logan, a transfer student from Germany.”

“Was he hot?” Brianna asked with a huge grin.

“Yea, beyond hot.” I said with a half-grin. I could tell that tears were building up. I looked at my watched and noticed it was almost six o’clock. “Well, I actually have to go. It was nice meeting you all.” I said as I got up and grabbed my bag.

“Okay. I guess we’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Misty said as I left. When I got home Kim had just finished making dinner. We all sat down and ate together, which was a little different since Ella and I use to just eat whenever we wanted to. After dinner I went to my room and listened to the waves outside. I didn’t know what time it was but I knew it wasn’t late enough for me to be tired, but I couldn’t help feel weariness wash over me as I let the waves crash over all the other sounds of the normal world.



My dream was so different. I found myself on the beach right outside my house; there was a ring of candles in the middle of the sand. As I walked up to them they all caught on fire. I fell back in a sudden of shock and surprise, I looked at the ring of fire and I saw Logan standing in the middle. I guess I had forgotten how beautiful he was; because the second I looked up at his face I froze in shock. To see such a god-like man standing in front of me was surprising. I began to walk towards him when I heard someone call my name behind me.

‘Carmela.’ said a voice that I could recognize anywhere. I turned around and saw another ring of fire that held Derek in the middle. ‘Carmela, help me! I can’t get out of the fire. If I move I will catch on fire and die.’ he said in a pained voice.

‘No Carmela, help me. The same thing shall happen to me if I try to get out.’ Logan said in a voice that was irresistible. I was sure that I would go straight to Logan. There was no doubt in my mind about that, but for some reason I wouldn’t move. I turned to look at Logan and I knew I wanted to save him; but at the same time I was dying to also save Derek. The sun was beating down on my back and the waves crashed so loudly that I couldn’t focus.

‘Carmela!’ they both said at the same time. I was confused as to which one to save. I closed my eyes until I heard Rose’s voice behind me. I opened my eyes and turned around. No one was behind. I turned back to look at Logan and I saw that he was gone. I looked ahead of me and saw that I was staring at a mirror. I saw Derek and me standing side by side. His hand was around my waist. Behind us was a castle that seemed to be filled with darkness. I blinked and in that instant there was a new image. I saw Logan standing with me. Just like Derek, he had his arm around my waist. Behind us was the familiar graveyard in New York. The clouds seemed to cover the sky, leaving the image looking dark and depressing. I took a step towards the mirror but the floor crashed from beneath me.



I awoke in a shock. I could tell that my pillow must have been full of sweat. I felt like I was falling. I took a deep breath and looked around my dark room. My eyes froze on a dark figure that stood in my room. I could tell it was Derek from the deep topaz eyes. He began to walk towards me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him with a frown as I sat up in the bed. I tried to keep myself calm. “I thought you said that if I left New York you would leave me alone.”

“I never said that. I told you that if you left I would leave your loved ones alone.” he said with a smile as he sat at the end of my bed. “I could never leave you. You are my soul mate.” I cringed as he brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. “Trust me, you will soon understand.”

“Leave Derek, I’ve left everyone I love. All I ask is that you leave me alone for now on.” I begged him as tears began to fill my eyes.

“Carmela! Open your eyes! How can you not see that we belong together?”

“No! I will never be with you. Not now, not ever!”

“In time you shall see.” After that he vanished. I was so tired of him; I just wanted to kill him. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t over. What will it take for him to leave me alone? I laid back down on my bed and let the tiredness wash over me.


The next morning I awoke to the sound of my dad calling my name. “Carmela, wake up! You’re going to be late for your second day of school.”

I dragged myself out of bed and entered the bathroom. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I could feel my eyes filling with tears as I remembered everything. When I came downstairs I found everyone in the kitchen eating. “Here you go Carmela. I hope you’re hungry.” Kim said with a smile as she set a plate on the table. It was filled with eggs, toast, and what smells like vegetarian bacon. Next to it she placed a glass of orange juice. I took a seat and stared at the image in front of me. It looked like one of those moments in a black-and-white TV shows. Kimberly was in an apron cooking some more eggs. My dad was reading a newspaper sitting at the head of the table. Lastly Jasmine sat there eating her breakfast. But then there was me, the Goth girl who looked like she didn’t belong. That pained me the most. Knowing I did not belong here but knowing that if I go back where I belong, someone I love will get hurt.

I finished my food in a rush and then dashed out of the house before I broke out into tears. I walked slowly to school while I got a hold of myself. I didn’t know how I was going to handle staying here. When I reached the school I stared up at it for a moment. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed the school’s number.

“Hello, Red-Rose High school, how may we help you?” a woman asked after the third ring.

“Hello, I’m calling for Carmela Cross. She isn’t feeling well and will not be attending school today.” I said in a voice that sounded nothing like my own.

“Okay, we will tell her teachers.” the woman said before she hung up. I closed my phone and began walking the opposite direction. I wasn’t sure where I was going but I knew it would be somewhere peaceful.

I ended up walking along the shore of the beach. I got to a smooth bolder and kicked my shoes of. I took of my socks and placed my feet in the sand. I closed my eyes and listened to the waves whisper. The sun was shining brightly, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to get used to the brightness. The clouds moved slowly and the breeze that blew on my face was nice and calming. It made me feel as though I was going to open my eyes and find myself back in New York. There was no sound other than the waves and breeze. I felt calmer already, forgetting all my worries. It was like the meditation that people said would erase all worries. I knew though that when I get back home I would have to suffer even more impact as I remember everything. But I guess I would have to suffer it even sooner.

“Hello.” I heard a voice say from behind me. I could tell who it was quickly and didn’t even bother turning around.

“What do you want?” I asked him with a frown. I could taste the acid in my voice. It was mixed with annoyance, anger, and aggravation. This was the last person I would ever want to talk to.

“I wanted to see you.” he said in a matter-of-fact voice. I couldn’t believe a guy like him existed in this world. I got of the rock and stood a few feet away from him.

“Well I don’t want to see you.” My mind couldn’t help but drift to the thought of whom I really wanted to be with, and why I couldn’t be with him. “I never want to see your face. Why can’t you just leave me alone and let me live a normal life?”

“You don’t get it do you. You’re not normal, you never will. Listen, Carmela. I know you think you hate me. But you know very well that deep down you love me as much as you love that stupid boy back in New York.” he continued in a voice I could not stand. I hated him with all my power but I couldn’t help but think about what he was saying. He began to move towards me but I backed up until I was pushed up against the rock.

“You know I’m right.” he breathed, only a few inches away from me. I couldn’t help but melt as I smelled his cool scent. I closed my eyes as he placed his hand on my cheek. At that same moment an image of Logan popped up in my head. I opened my mouth to protest but was interrupted by his lips crushing into mine. My eyes widened and tears began to build up, but I knew I couldn’t let Derek see me cry. As his lips parted he opened my mouth along with his. I tried my hardest to push him away but couldn’t manage. His breath entered my mouth and a wave of memories flooded into my mind. I remembered my first kiss with Logan, the first time I saw Derek, and my first kiss with Derek. I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and let them flow over. I gave one last push and was grateful when he took a step back. He stared at me with a wolfish grin.

“I’ll see you again soon.” he said in a triumphant voice. After he disappeared I stood there for a few moments. My knees felt weak and my head was racing. My heart was beating loudly in my chest. The next thing I knew I was laying on the sand. I wasn’t unconscious like before but I couldn’t get up. I was staring up at the bright sky.

I wasn’t sure how long I laid there before leaving the beach. I walked along the sidewalk for a while before I reached a place that reminded me of home. I entered the graveyard and walked to the center. There wasn’t a tree for me to stand under so I sat against one of the tombstones. It was nice and quiet, and I was thankful for that. I let the cool wind blow against my cheeks. I took out my phone and without thinking dialed Logan’s number.

“Hello?” I heard Logan ask on the other line. I wanted to say something but couldn’t manage. I could feel my throat close up and tears stream down my cheeks. “Hello? Carmela?” I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

“Logan.” I said in a quiet and shaky voice. I wanted to run into his arms and hold him so badly.

“Carmela! I miss you so much. Please tell me you’re coming home.” he said in an excited voice. I was so hurt from the memories his voice brought back.

“I miss you too.” I said through tears. “But I can’t come back. I-”

“I know.” he interrupted. “I found your letter. It doesn’t matter. We can beat Derek. Rose, Lilian, Amber, Oliza, Bill, Kristian, and I can all beat one guy.”

“Logan you have to listen. If I go back then he could hurt someone here. We can’t keep everyone I love safe. I’m sorry.”

“Carmela-” he began. I could hear the pain clearly in his voice. He couldn’t even finish his sentence.

“I love you. I always will.” I said in a shaky voice. I couldn’t keep the tears from shedding. Before he said anything I hung up the phone.

* * *

“How was school?” Kim asked me as I entered the house. I ended up spending my afternoon at a local park. I was still amazed at how warm it was. The day seemed to drag on, just like in New York. But I knew I really had to stop wearing so much black here. That was going to be something difficult.

“It was okay. I hung out with Misty, Kathy, Daisy, and Brianna during lunch.” I said in a calm voice. “I have some homework so I’ll be in my room. Can you make sure no one bothers me?”

“Sure, don’t work too hard.” she said with as overly cheerful smile. I walked up to my room and shut the door. I laid on my bed and shut my eyes. Today had been a hectic day. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything, mine and Derek’s conversation, our kiss, and Logan’s sweet, soothing voice. I quickly pulled out my journal and opened it to the last page. When I got to the back of the journal I found the picture of me and Logan at the carnival that I taped to the back. I began to cry as I remembered that day.

I hadn’t realized the knocking on my door until I heard Jasmine calling my name. “Carmela, its dinner time.” she said in her innocent, child voice. I turned to look at my clock and was surprised to see that it was already six. I had got home at about three-thirty. “Carmela!?”

“I’ll be there in a second.” I yelled back. I got out of the bed and walked into the kitchen, where my family was waiting. It looked similar to this morning but this time Kim was sitting across from my dad. I sat down in front of a plate of spaghetti.

“So how was your second day sweetie?” my dad asked as I spun some of the noodles on my fork.

“It was okay. Very boring, I spent the day just passing through my classes.” I said as I stuffed the food in my mouth. I was so tired I didn’t even want to eat.

“Are you okay?” Kim asked. “Ever since you got here you’ve seemed like you’ve been in a hurry to do things. Is there anything you want to talk to us about?”

“Nope, nothing I can think of.” I said with a grin. There’s nothing wrong except for the fact that there is a vampire prince out to get me, trying to convince me that I love him. And the one guy I do love I had to leave in order to keep everyone safe. I added in my head. I looked straight into my dad and Kim’s eyes and I could see their doubt. I looked away quickly and stared down at my plate, as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. It was quiet for the rest of dinner.

“Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” I told Kim and dad as I put my plate in the sink. I could tell they still doubted that I was okay. I walked into my room and sat on my bed for about two hours before I finally moved. I walked downstairs to the living room to get my book, and past my dad’s room. I heard him and Kim talking, I wasn’t going to eavesdrop but then I heard my name mentioned. I stopped and leaned a little closer to the door, holding my breath as the clock in the kitchen ticked, the refrigerator rumbled, and the crickets outside chirped.

“I think she is having a problem. Why did she say she wanted to move here?” Kim asked my dad.

“She said she wanted to change her environment. She also just broke up with Logan, her first love, so I think she just wants to get away from him.” he said in a hushed voice. I couldn’t help but feel depressed when he mentioned Logan’s name. Like a wave crashing into the rocks during a storm.

“Do you think she needs to talk about it? She seems like she has a lot on her mind.”

“You’re worrying too much. She’ll talk to us if and when she wants to.”

“Do you want her to pass out again?” Kimberly asked in a stern voice. I closed my eyes as I thought about everything that happened that day. She did have a point. I knew if I kept everything bottled up then I would pass out again.

“You know that is the last thing I want but I know my daughter. She’s a lot like me; we don’t like to talk about stuff. You should try to get to know her better, and then maybe she will open up to you.”

“I don’t know. If she doesn’t change in a week then she will have to go see a therapist.” I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. I walked quietly away from the door and left in a hurry to get my book. I couldn’t believe she actually said that. Why would she want to send me to a shrink? That is a stupid idea. That wouldn’t help me open up one bit. That would probably make me even more distant. I thought to myself as I entered my room.


“Where were you yesterday?” Misty asked as we entered the school. “Brianna really wanted to get to know you.”

“Yea, I wasn’t feeling good. Kim didn’t want me to go to school.” I said with a half-smile. “But I guess it was the passing flu. I feel a lot better now.”

“Well that’s good. I would hate for you to feel sick during school your first week of school.”

“Yea.” I said with a weak smile. The sun was beginning to burn my back as we made our way to the building. I was wearing blue jeans and a red top so I wouldn’t burn that much. I closed my eyes and let the cool breeze blow my hair.

The rest of school was so boring. I couldn’t focus during any of my class. I made sure that I seemed normal for the sake of my friends. After school I went straight home, making an excuse as to why I couldn’t go to Misty’s house. I then told my dad I had a ton of homework again and that I would be locked up in my room all night. I could tell he was worried about me again, just like yesterday. I gave him a reassuring smile. It was half true, I did have some homework for my little ‘sick’ day but it was only a few pages.

I managed to finish them within minutes. Right when I finished the last paper there was a knock on my door. “Who is it?” I asked as I got up form my desk.

“It’s Jasmine.” said an innocent voice. I opened the door and saw my little half-sister standing in the doorway with a smile. “I wanted to know if you might want to go outside and maybe play hide-and-seek.” I looked at her giant green/grey eyes. I knew I had to act normal so Kim and my dad wouldn’t send me to a shrink.

“Sure. I would love to.” I told her with a plain smile. I grabbed my shoes and went out the front door to the front yard. “Now don’t forget that you can’t go any farther than the fence.”

“Don’t worry I know that.” She said with a sweet smile. “And don’t forget to close your eyes.” she gave a small giggle before I turned around and started counting to twenty. I finally opened my eyes and began looking around their front yard. There were a lot of things she could hide behind there, but I ended up finding her behind a flower pot.

After about twenty rounds Jasmine got tired and wanted to go inside to get some food. “Sweetie, you know you can’t eat right before dinner.” Kim said with a frown as she opened the oven.

“Yes mommy.” I was worried about how Jasmine got away with everything. She was going to be the worst teenager known to man.

“Sorry Kim, I told her she should go get something to eat. I didn’t know dinner was almost ready.”

“You know Carmela; you can call me mom, or stepmom, which ever makes you feel more comfortable.” She said with a grin as she placed the meatless lasagna on the table.

“Sure.” I said as I took my seat at the dinner table. I knew I would never feel comfortably calling the woman that mother lost her husband to, mom. The girl who stole my father away from his family, but I knew I could never tell Kim that. She was trying so hard to be a mother to both her real, blood daughter and her step-daughters. But nonetheless we both knew I was never going to call her mom.

“Look’s good.” My dad said as he took a seat. “So Carmela, how’s school so far?” he asked, try to make small talk. We both knew neither of us liked small talk. “Did anything exciting happen?”

“Nope, nothing I can think of. Just the same classes like in New York.” I said with a half-smile. I hated having to act normal around my family. It was like not even acting like myself. The one thing I would miss is how Ella never asked me any real questions.

“You seem to be locked up in your room all the time doing homework. Are they giving you too much work?” he asked in a half-caring voice. I could tell he was struggling to make small talk.

“No, they actually give less homework then in Vampire Cove.”

“Well that’s hard to believe. With how long you’ve been in your room.” Kim said with a smile. I forced a smile. I wish Kim could understand that I hate to talk about my feelings, or anything close to it.

“Yea I know. It’s hard to believe. But it’s true. New York involves a lot of work.” I could tell that a spasm of pain must have shown on my face as I mentioned my old home. I finished the last of my food and placed the plate in the sink. “I’m kind of tired. I think I’m going to go to bed a little early.”

“It’s only eight.” Jasmine said with a frown.

“I know, but I don’t feel good.” I said as I gave her a fake sick look.

“Okay. I hope you feel better soon. I would hate for you to be sick.” Kim said with a forced grin. I went to my bedroom and stared out my windows for a long period of time. I didn’t know what was wrong but something just felt out of place. I knew it wasn’t just the simple fact that I didn’t belong but something seriously felt wrong. I wasn’t sure what but it was overwhelming. I stared at the sky for a moment and thought about everything that had been happening in the past three months or so. It was so crazy; I was surprised I was still sane.

After a few more minutes I laid on my bed and closed my eyes. I meant to only rest my eyes for a moment but I didn’t wake up until about one in the morning. I blinked a few times and looked around. It was dark in my room; the only light was the faint moonlight that spilled in through my sliding door. I was still fully clothed and still tired. I quickly got out of bed and grabbed my pajamas. As soon as I was done changing I went back to my bed and laid there for a moment before getting up again. I meant to simply go to the kitchen and get something to eat but I ended up sitting in the living room reading under the moonlight that came in through the window. It was nice and peaceful; until I heard the loud knock. It didn’t sound like someone knocking on the window, but like a rock lightly hitting it. I sat still for a moment; scared of what it might be.

I slowly got up from my seat and walked to the kitchen. I grabbed one of the knives from the knife holder. I walked to the window and peered out. It was still too dark to actually see anything but I tried my hardest to at least see if there was a figure in the shadows. It’s only Derek; or the wind. I thought to myself as I turned away from the window. I went back to my room and soon fell asleep. When I woke up the second time I was waking up to an alarm.

* * *

“Carmela, your father and I have to tell you something. We have made an appointment for you to meet someone.” Kim said as I walked into the house from school. Today it had been a little colder than usual. It was about forty degrees outside. The wind was howling outside the window.

“Why? Nothing’s wrong with me.” I said in a half annoyed voice. I couldn’t believe Kim was already giving up on me. “Why are you doing this to me!?” I asked in a furious voice.

“We care about you. We only want to help.”

“No I refuse,”

“I’m sorry, it doesn’t matter what you say. Your dad and I have already decided.” I looked at my dad, hoping to find some escape from this dreadful nightmare. I looked intensely into his eyes, trying to find some answer but began to lose all hope. Where was the man who used to help me get out of trouble? Was he really acting like this just because he was with Kim now. She seemed to be the leader of the house. She was the biggest mistake my dad had ever made. I couldn’t believe he was letting her-no agreeing with her to send me to a freaking therapist.

When I found no escape I turned away and practically ran to my room. I allowed the door to slam behind me. I opened my window and let the chilled air enter my dark room. I looked at a tree that was bare and was only one of the many trees that were on the side of the beach.

The rest of the night I couldn’t stop the thoughts from swarming my mind. Would it have been better if I stayed in New York? Would it be okay for me to simply go back? I didn’t have to be with Logan or the Abends. I could create a new life that no one has to know about. As soon as the thought came to my mind I would shut it out, I knew it was wrong. I closed my eyes, thinking about my conversation with Logan a few days ago.

I soon feel asleep, but I was not sure as to when I feel asleep. I had a feeling it was pretty late because the entire house was silent and the only noise was that of the crickets and the waves smashing against the rocks. I found it very serene.



‘Hello my dear.’ I heard a muffled voice say. My eyes opened and I looked up but saw nothing but a beautiful night sky. I looked all around trying to find the voice. I sat up and found myself sitting on damp grass in a forest. It was not very chilly so I could tell I must still be in California. ‘Are you cold?’ The muffled voice came again.

‘Who’s there?’ I asked the quiet forest. The only noise was of the birds that flew over the peaceful treetop. ‘Hello?’ I waited for a response, but only heard my own echo. I slowly got up and realized a figure standing behind the tree in front of me. My bare feet squished in the semi-wet dirt. I squinted and tried to identify the figure. It was too dark to see the person. As I began to move forward I heard a low growl behind me. I slowly turned and saw a giant wild cat, a panther, behind me. I froze and held my breath. I took a step back but every time I took a step so did the cat. I looked into the animal’s eyes and saw the moon reflected in them. Within that same moment the panther leaped up and came right at me. I expected to wake up but the dream continued. At first I saw the panther. But then the next thing I knew, I was laying on my back against the wet grass. There was no longer a ferocious animal sitting on me, but instead there was Derek lying on top of me. My eyes opened wide and I stared at him in moral shock. I tried to pull away but could not manage to move at all. The moon shone over Derek’s perfectly sculpted face. I stared up at his topaz eyes and found that he was leaning down towards me. I didn’t flinch, instead I found myself melting into his gaze.

‘My love.’ he whispered as his lips touched mine. They began to lay small kisses on my warm lips and then went down to my jaw line and soon reached my neck. There he laid many kisses. As his mouth began to open and I barely felt the tips of his fangs graze my skin my eyes flew open.


I was sitting up in bed and found that my forehead was beaded with sweat. I looked up at my ceiling and then down to the foot of my bed. I froze in complete shock as I saw the dirt on my feet. So it wasn’t a dream. I thought to myself. It took a moment for the words to register. Oh my god! It wasn’t a dream! I began to get up and stared out the window. I tried to remember exactly what happened in the dream. The last part I remembered was the feeling of his teeth on my neck. I ran to the mirror and saw nothing. I let out a sigh of relief.

“But does that mean it was a dream or does it mean that he simply didn’t bite me?” I asked out loud.

“Your second hypothesis is right.” I heard Derek say from my window. I stared at him and waited for the words to make sense. “I didn’t bite you. Not yet anyways.” he explained to me when he saw my confused look.

“Why? You took everything from me already.” I said with an acid tone.

“It’s not time yet.”

“Why? Why is it that you can never just tell me your awful plan?”

“There would be no reason to tell you it. Plus where would the fun be in that?” I looked at him for one last moment before I turned and went back to my bed. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore my unwanted guest. I waited to hear him leave but knew it would be impossible in the first place. Instead I let myself fall into the peaceful slumber that covered me like a blanket.


“Carmela, wake up.” I heard Kim say from downstairs. I slowly dragged myself out of bed, feeling as if I had just ran two miles. As I stood I heard a light knock at my door. “Are you okay?” Kim asked as she peeked into my room.

“No, I don’t feel good.” I said in a tired voice. I guess it came out in a more pained voice, because her face showed concern.

“Okay, I guess you can stay home today, it is a Friday after all.” she gave me a small smile before she left. I sat back down on my bed and took a deep breath. This was all becoming too much for me. I slowly stood up again and walked to the window. I stared out it for a moment.

The next two days were boring and I ended up spending them in my room, playing guitar, reading, writing, and listening to my music.

February 1st,

Today was boring. I sat in my room all day, except when I had to eat. I miss Logan dearly, every night, ever since Friday. I haven’t been able to get him off my mind. It has been dreadful and I feel as though my head might explode. Derek hasn’t stopped bothering me and I just want to fall into Logan’s arms and cry. Today I heard Kim and dad talking about sending me to the therapist. I really hate it here. I wish I didn’t have to stay here but I know there is no way I can go back to Vampire Cove. I will write more when I get some new news.


I closed my journal and place it back on my desk. It was already nine and I had school tomorrow so I didn’t want to stay up too long. As I climbed into bed I heard a quiet knock at my window. I looked outside and saw two topaz eyes staring at me. I slowly opened the window, as if in a trance, not knowing why I was doing what I was. “What do you want?” I asked Derek in an acid tone.

“I want to take you with me.” he said in a nonchalant voice. I looked up into his eyes and saw nothingness. I tried to back away but he places his hand on my shoulder gently. I yanked my shoulder away but it only made him grip it harder. “I’m not taking no as an answer this time.”

“No.” I said slowly, trying to keep my voice from quivering. I knew it hadn’t worked. Even I could hear the fear in my voice.

“I’m sorry you had to say that.” he said in a cool voice. I closed my eyes and waited for whatever was coming. But nothing happened, I opened my eyes and he was gone. I stood there for another moment before lying back down on my bed and falling into deep slumber.



I found myself sitting on my bed, but it wasn’t me sitting on the bed, more like me just simply sitting there while listening to some music. It sounded like a calm, Celtic song. I couldn’t tell what song it was but I liked it. As I watched myself sitting there in a trance I saw Derek enter the room. He walked over to my body and began to kiss my lips. At that same moment I found myself in my own body again. I felt his sweet lips on mine and I began to slowly melt into him. Our lips worked together, almost as well as mine and Logan’s. I had my eyes closed as he kissed my neck. When I opened my eyes again I found Logan holding me. I fell into the kiss even more and held him tightly. I let that dream go on for a long time. What seemed like hours I’m not sure when I awoke but when I did it wasn’t in my own room. I wasn’t exactly scared of where I was.

It’s dark in here. Was all I could think of at the moment. The only light in the desolate room came from a single candle in the corner across from the wall I was chained to. There were no windows or doors from what I could tell. It was hard to focus on what was around me. It was a small room, but I couldn’t tell exactly how small. The room smelled of a mixture of ashes, smoke, dust, muss, and something I could not identify. Where am I?

After a moment or two, I heard a dark, smooth velvet-like voice from across the room. “I see you have awakened my princess.” said the velvet voice.
“Who’s there? Who are you?” I asked, frantically. I looked around for the other person in the dark empty room with me. My voice sounded hoarse. My throat was so dry I could barely speak. I tried my hardest to take at least one gasp of air, but it was difficult. As the moment grew longer, I felt a drowsiness wash over me, like a bed sheet keeping me warm during a cold night.

I waited a second for a response, but there was none. I counted off the seconds in my head as I let my breathing become heavier. I let the heavy smells enter my nose. It wasn’t very pleasant but it was tolerable. It would have been worse if the smell of smoke was stronger. I started to get annoyed by the quiet, so I finally asked “Are you going to answer me?” It was still somewhat quiet but even I could hear the annoyance in my voice. I let the acid seep through my voice.

There was another moment of silence. I tried to focus on the voice. I tried to remember how it sounded only a few moments before, but I couldn’t seem to be able to call it back. It was too muffled. I let the silence grow longer once more. I thought that whoever was in the room with me must have left. That was until I heard heavy breathing about a foot away. I held my breath for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but there was no movement. The candle’s flame didn’t dance; the stranger didn’t move-from what I was able to hear. My muscles seemed not to be working. My whole body went numb, and I knew it would be too hard for me to even think straight. I let my brain wrack around, as my heart beat loudly in my ears. The blood in my veins was coursing. It was still silent, and in seconds everything went black. I let my brain completely shut down. Oh my god that was Derek! This was the last thing I remembered was thinking.


After what felt like two days I was tired of the annoying quietness. The only time I heard the door open was when someone came in to feed me some nasty soup type thing. But today was different. I could hear what sounded like a door opening. There was a figure approaching me. The figure was too small to be Derek. I stared at it for a moment, and then I could feel the chains coming off my wrist. I was then escorted out of the room and was now standing in a brightly lit hall. I turned and saw a small, maybe 4'9", woman standing beside me. She looked somewhat warm and had beautiful brown hair and topaz eyes. Her face was round and she was standing there, staring at the end of the hall.

The hall was huge, the walls were all yellow and had blue veins drawn on them, going up the walls to the ceiling. It was seven feet high and the walls were covered with pictures. The pictures on the walls were of people that looked royal. This had to be Derek’s castle. The floor tiles were a sunshine yellow that felt soft underneath my bare feet. I stared at the big wall again and looked at the pictures one last time. “Come along Princess.” said the woman. She had a heavy German accent.

“Where are we going?” I asked her as she grabbed my hand. She didn’t answer me; she only proceeded to pull me to another room. It was a big room that was completely red. The walls were a rose red, the bed was a scarlet red, and the rug was a crimson red. The bed laid in the middle of the room, the vanity was on the far left corner, there was a closet to the right of the room, and a window that led to a balcony next to it. From what I could tell it was night. There was a net that was over the bed, making it almost invisible.

“This is your room Princess. I hope you have a pleasant night.” the woman said before leaving. I looked at the closed door and stood there in silence for a few seconds before going to the bed. I unzipped the net and laid down on the bed. It had almost twenty pillows on it. I pushed eighteen off and placed my head on one. I was too tired to care where I was.



“Wake up my Princess.” I heard a voice say. I awoke and looked around and saw that it was pitch black. It had to be around three A.M.

“Who’s there?” I asked, already knowing the answer. I looked up and saw Derek’s topaz eyes. “What do you want?” I asked in an acid tone. I wasn’t in the mood to bother with him. I looked away, towards the window.

“My dear, I came to explain to you everything. You see you are now in my castle, my kingdom. The woman who let you out of the cellar is my maid, Mella. I have given you this room so that you may live in peace with me.” he said with a small grin. It was hard to see him in the dark room but there was a faint moon light entering from the window.

“Where am I?” I asked in a quiet voice. I was too tired to try to keep the anger in my voice.

“You are in Demon Kill, Germany. It is a small, very small, kingdom on the outer part of Germany. No human knows about it because we have had a witch put a spell upon the border. If any human comes within two miles of the kingdom then they shall forget where they are going and will turn back around and go back to wherever they were coming from.”

“Then how did you get me here?”

“I brought you; so because you were with a vampire you were able to cross.”

“Why are you doing this to me? First you made me leave Logan, my friends, and my family. Then you keep stalking me. But know you kidnap me. Why me? What is so special about me?”

“Because you are my princess. Come.” he said as he stuck out his hand. I do not know why but for some reason I took it. He brought me out of my room and took me down the hall, down a few steps, through another hall and finally he opened a huge door and brought me into a bright room. It looked like a ballroom. The walls were golden and the ceiling had a picture of the underworld painted on it. The floor was tiled, black tiles, which were so smooth. There were two thrones at the front of the room, on top of a platform. There were pictures on the walls. From floor to ceiling it was almost eleven feet, the width was about twelve feet and from front to back it was twelve feet from what I could tell.

Derek brought me to one of the walls. There was a picture in the middle of the wall. It was a portrait of Derek and a girl. I looked at the picture closely and noticed that the girl looked very familiar. The girl was me!

“That’s Victoria Wolf. She was my princess in 1739. We were both eleven and were madly in love. During that time we lived in peace with the witches, we were also both humans, in this kingdom everyone is a vampire or witch, except the royal family. We usually don’t get turned until we become seventeen.

“Victoria was killed when we were only sixteen. It was by one of the servants; she had not feed that day. She was trying her hardest to ignore the hunger, but when my beloved crossed her path she went crazy and attacked her. During that time I was fighting with my servant, Lucas. I hadn’t found out about Victoria’s death until after. When I did find out I couldn’t take it so I killed myself. I took a knife and plunged it into my stomach. Before I died Lucas changed me.” he froze for a moment and stared at the picture. Then he looked at me. “But now you’re back. You are the reincarnation of my beloved.”

“That can’t be me. I’m not a princess, I have never been a princess, and I don’t want to be a princess.” I yelled. I let out a breath. I wanted to cry but I knew I couldn’t.

“Yes you are, and soon you will figure that out.” he said in a low tone. “But tonight you may sleep. He brought me back to my room and I soon found myself in a peaceful slumber. When I awoke the next day I got out of the bed and began to walk around the castle. I wasn’t sure as to where I was going but I knew I had to move. When I entered the kitchen I saw a phone on the wall. The castle wasn’t that old, it had technology from this century. I quickly looked around and saw that I was completely alone in the kitchen. I quickly dialed Logan’s number. After the second ring I heard Logan’s answering machine.

“Logan! I need your help. This is Carmela. I can’t tell you exactly where I am but I know it’s called Demon Kill, Germany. It’s on the outer part of Germany and I have been taken by Derek. I’m not sure what day it is but I know it has to be somewhere around the fifth. I don’t think I can talk to you ever again. It will be hard with all the servants here. I might be able to get on the phone again but I don’t know how long that will be. I love you and I always will.” I hung up the phone and at that exact moment one of the servants walked in.

“Hello Princess.” she said as she bowed. I looked at her for a moment before I left the room. I went back to my room and saw the woman from before, Mella.

“Princess.” she said as she bowed. “Please come with me to wash up.” she grabbed my hand and brought me to the bathroom across the hall. I looked around the beautiful green room as she filled the tub. “My name is Mella.” she said in a low voice, not looking at me.

“I know, Derek told me.” I was staring at the wall, as if I was waiting for it to do something amazing. “Why am I here? I don’t understand. I’m not the Princess you’re looking for.”

“I’ve been around for three hundred years. I’ve served this family since I was twenty. I know everyone in this castle. I couldn’t mistake anyone for Victoria. You are her.” she stopped for a moment and looked up at me. She still looked twenty. “Well anyways, strip down and get in the tub. You look filthy.” she said with a small grin. She gave me the soup, shampoo, and placed a robe on the hook of the door. Then she left, leaving me standing in front of the mirror. I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment.

When I was done in the tub I put the rob on and walked to my room. There I found Mella. “Here,” she said as she handed me a dress. It was one of the kinds of dresses you see in medieval movies. It was a red sleeveless dress that wasn’t that big. It was actually pretty comfortable. After I had the dress on Mella began to do my hair. She put it in curls that hung over my shoulders and two small braids that went around the top of my head. She didn’t put any make-up on me except rose red lipstick.

“Lastly, here.” she said as she handed me red heels. I slid them on and hated them. I hated heels the most out of everything. “Now please come with me.” She led me out of the room and brought me down two flights of stairs and through a hall. We entered a room that had two doors. “This is the dining room. Derek shall be down soon for breakfast.”

The room was brightly lit from the open windows on the left wall. There was a long table in the middle of the room. The walls were an onyx color, but in the sun light it looked more like a violet. She brought me to my seat and then left. I sat there and waited about thirty minutes before Derek came in. “Why hello.” he said as he sat next to me at the table. I quickly got up and walked to the other side of the table. It was almost eight feet away from him.

“I see you still haven’t warmed up to me yet.” he said in a cool voice.

“Of course not, you kind of stole me from my life. How can I ever warm up to you?”

“In due time.” he said in a quiet voice.

“NO! In no time, I hate you and I always will!” I yelled at him. After a few moments the servants came out with the food. There were eggs, toast, hash-browns, French toast, muffins, fruits, and pancakes. I couldn’t believe this was all for two people.

“I know you’re a vegetarian so I told them no meat. I hope you enjoy.”

“Thanks.” I managed to choke out. He didn’t deserve any thanks though. He stole me from everything I could ever possibly care about. I stared at him for another moment. His eyes were such a beautiful, warm topaz. I was surprised I was able to stay mad at him. I hoped my face didn’t show anything except the anger.



After breakfast I began walking around the castle again. I went downstairs and found a door that led outside. “Excuse me Princess.” I heard a voice behind me. I turned and saw Mella standing there. “Prince Derek demanded that you not be left alone outside. I apologize.” she said as she bowed. I looked at her and then decided that she was simply doing her job. I felt half bad for her. She was being controlled by a heartless vampire who deserved nothing.

“Okay. Then you can come with me.” I said in a polite and kind voice. I tried to sound nice; I didn’t want to be mean to anyone who was simply doing their job. As we went outside I saw a maze in the middle of a garden.

“That is the ‘Never Ending Maze’. Victoria created it when she was twelve. She had everyone work on it and then she had everyone try to find their way out. Of course she was the only one to succeed. Not even Derek could figure it out.” she said with a small smile. I looked at the entrance. I began to walk through the dark entrance and soon I found myself lost in the maze. “Princess Carmela!” I heard Mella yell. I was about to turn and find her when I had the urge to run. So I did; I ran through the twists and turns and found myself in the center. It was amazing. There was a gazebo in the middle with flowers on the wall of the maze and a few veins crawling up the side of the gazebo.

“Step in. It’s okay.”I heard a voice say. It was a quite almost scary voice, but I knew I could trust it. So I did as it said. I stepped into the gazebo. It was like stepping into a movie. In a sudden shock a whole bunch of visions came to me. I saw myself standing in the same place, only I looked about twelve. I sucked in a deep breath as the images bombarded my mind.

I had a pink summer dress on with my hair in tight curls. I also had red lipstick on and the sun was beaming over me. “That is you. That is me.” I heard the smooth voice say. I could tell it was a girl’s voice. She had a somewhat British accent but it was very faint. I froze and looked around. No one was with me.

“You are me!”The voice came again. I turned, planning to leave the gazebo. I didn’t know where I was going but I found myself going through the twist and turns of the maze again. I soon found the exit and took one step out. That was when I was blinded by the sudden white light.

The last thing I heard was, “Welcome.”