CHAPTER 1

The weather was hot. Too hot in fact. Claire sat in Common Grounds, sipping on a cold ice water, her physics book lying on the table, opened to the page she was studying.

Most people would be out at the local swimming pool, but here she was, studying for a test she had next week. One thing about Claire: She liked to do well at school.

Being sixteen and in college put a lot of stress on Claire. Although the work was easy for her, making friends was hard. She had had a person to hang out with, but Kiera had transferred to a different college in the first week Claire had been at school, leaving Claire to befriend herself again.

Claire didn't mind much anyway, it gave her more time to focus on her studies. Kiera had been awesome, a school junkie like her, but there hadn't been much love lost when the other girl had left.

Sighing and finishing off her water, Claire went to order another one. She left her backpack at the table, her eyes glued to it. No one would take it, there wasn't enough people, but she had grown up with being conscious and possessive of her belongings.

The goth girl took her order, and the water came in seconds. "Thank you," Claire muttered, walking back to her seat. Someone got in her way and she crashed into them. Her water spilt and the girl turned on her.

"You alright there klutz?" the mystery girl spat, her tone poisonous.

"I'm sorry, you came out of nowhere." Claire kept her cool, but the girl's eyes burned a hole into her face. "It's water, I'm sure it'll dry."

The girl raised her eyebrows and shoved Claire. "The fact that you wet me, there's gonna be a problem. Since you wet me when I have a date, then you better start running." The girl pushed Claire again, and this time Claire stumbled into the chairs behind her, the glass slipping and shattering on the tiles.

Claire straightened, the girl from behind the counter running over. "Monica, leave her alone," the goth demanded. "Just leave."

Monica flicked her blonde hair behind her shoulders and marched off, but not before she landed a punch to Claire's face. The blonde's fist buried itself straight into Claire's nose, a crunching noise singing out.

The girl next to Claire was about to pounce onto Monica, but arms wrapped her from behind. "Eve," a man's deep voice warned. "Don't get into this."

"Don't get into it? Oliver, you saw what that bitch just did. How could you ask me to sit out?"

Oliver sighed letting Eve go. "Please, you know what'll happen. You could get fired."

"You'd sack me?" The girl sounded honestly surprised. Monica had rambled away, her back straight and shining blonde hair over her shoulders.

Eve and Oliver -her boss- were still talking, until Claire interrupted to say, "Thank you. I would be a lot worse if it hadn't been for you." Even to her own ears, Claire's voice came out strange. Her nose was out of place, blood dripping into her hand. "Anyone have any idea where the hospital is?" she asked, tilting her head down.

Walking away, Eve returned with a skull purse in her hand. "I'll take you," she said, grabbing Claire's elbow and towing her out. Unlocking a Cadillac, Claire noticed that Eve expected her to jump in.

Claire reluctantly did, noticing she had left her belongings in the coffee shop. "Shit," she quietly murmured, but Eve had heard her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"

"I left my stuff in Common Grounds," Claire replied, cursing inwardly at her stupidity.

Eve got out and returned with Claire's book and bag. "Here ya go." Claire thanked her and held a tissue to her nose. It hurt, but Claire was too focused on not getting blood in the car.

Stopping in front of the hospital, Eve jumped out and helped Claire, walking with her to the entrance. "You don't have to come," Claire reassured the older girl.

"I want to," she said. "And after this, you're coming back to mine."

Claire stared, her voice caught in her throat. "Why?" she asked. Not long after, she realised how rude she had sounded. "Oh, my God, that was so rude, I'm sorry. I meant why do you want me to go to your house?"

"To make sure you're safe from Monica."

Claire didn't understand why she had to be protected from a girl she would most likely never see again. "I accidentally wet her with water, she got her revenge. Why would she come after me again?"

"Okay, you are definitely new to town. Monica is the Mayor's daughter, she gets what she wants. Even if you just glance at her when she is in a bad mood, then that's it for you. But like she said, you spilt water on her when she was going to her date. She overreacts. Like, a lot."

They reached the doors of the hospital before Claire could say anything else. The receptionist booked her in, and Claire was on her way to get her nose popped back into place in no time.

Eve pulled up in front of a huge house. The sun was going down, and the sunset made the house glow dimly in the light. Lights were on in the house, and Eve cut the engine. "Okay, we have to make a run for it. Get to the front porch, and if you reach it before me, just bang on the door."

Claire didn't ask questions, just jumped out and made a run for it. Eve was ahead of her, reaching the door and unlocking it in the fastest time Claire had ever seen. She dove inside, Claire not far from her.

Slamming the door, Eve leaned against it, a laugh exploding from her lips. Claire opened her mouth to say something but Eve called out before she could. "Yo, homies, anyone here?" There was no answer, so Eve screamed out again. "Shane, I can smell your chilli man, answer me!"

Grumbling, Eve threw her keys on the nearby table and stormed down the big hall. Claire started off to follow, but before she could, a guy appeared in front of her. He was walking, his head turned to where Eve had gone, and before she knew it, the big guy had crashed into Claire.

She went down with an oof, and he peered down at her, grabbing her hand and hauling her to her feet. He looked at her, but then Eve's shoes came clacking down the hall.

The boy pulled her into the nearest room, one arm wrapped around her chest, holding her to him, and his other hand covering her mouth. Claire struggled, but the brown haired guy was too strong.

"Shane!" Eve screamed again. "Really?" Eve exhaled. "Now you've abducted the new girl?"

The man laughed, the vibrations rumbling Claire's back. "You the new girl?" he whispered into her ear. Claire nodded and her legs started trembling. "I'm Shane," he whispered to her again. "Pleased to meet ya."

Shane let her go and pushed her behind him, pressing his ear to the door, obviously listening. He leaned in further, wincing when the door creaked under his weight. Out of nowhere, the slab was banged open, Shane tumbling out and Eve standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

The black haired girl was gazing down at Shane who was on the floor. She laughed and gave him a helping hand up. She spotted Claire and pulled her out. "Really? Planning on scaring her already?"

Shane shrugged and said, "She would've told you where I was if I didn't."

"She probably thought you were a fucking serial killer, Shane."

Shane laughed, the lines at his eyes wrinkling up. "Where'd you find her anyway?"

"Common Grounds." Shane gave her a stern look, and she sighed, saying, "Its alright, she isn't one. She bleeds."

"And so do they," he spat, grabbing Claire by the arm. "It was nice to meet you, but now you have to go."

Before Shane could pull Claire to the door, Eve jumped out in front of him. "C'mon, dude, it's night. She could get killed."

"I highly doubt they'd kill their own," Shane said, ducking past Eve. "You gotta stop bringing in strays, Eve."

The phone sounded and Eve huffed, running to catch the phone before it stopped ringing. Claire couldn't hear what she was saying, and she tried to strain her hearing, but she was jolted back into reality by Shane's squeezing grip.

Shane opened the door, pushing Claire over the threshold. "Run. Run as far and as fast as you can."

Claire was confused, but before she could ask anything, the door was banged shut in her face. "That's about right," she spoke to herself. "Only I would get taken by a complete and utter stranger, only to be kicked out to walk home alone by her hottie of a boyfriend."

She was so busy ranting to herself that Claire didn't know someone was following her until she got knocked into a nearby wall. Groaning, Claire climbed up, getting to her feet and spinning around.

"Who's there?" she screamed out. No one appeared, but then she got knocked down again. "What do you want?"

Claire got up again, almost instantly being thrown into the wall again. This time she hit her head, blood flowing strongly from the wound. Pressing her hand to her head, Claire bit back a gasp as a man appeared in front of her.

"W-what do you want?" Claire stuttered. The man loomed over her, making Claire cower away as he glared at her.

"Blood," he growled. Claire scurried away, her hand out to protect her. The figure leant down, picking Claire up by her throat.

Claire squirmed, desperate to get free. The person was strong, stronger than Shane, and as the man put his mouth over Claire's pulse, a horn beeped. Claire stared, car headlights meeting her eyes. Wincing away, she saw the black Cadillac that blended into the night.

A car door was thrown open and someone came hurtling out. A muscular body barrelled into the figure holding Claire, and the dark figure lost his balance, Claire's small frame sliding free.

A smaller figure jumped out of the car, stopping to help Claire up. "Are you okay? Hurt?" Eve whispered to Claire. Claire shook her head, brown hair whipping her in the face. Grabbing her elbow, Eve towed Claire back to the car.

Shane met them halfway, outrunning them. He reached the car and jammed the keys in, shifting the car into drive. The man from earlier stopped her and Eve. Claire didn't see his face properly -it was hooded and in the dark- but his posture changed and when he talked, he sounded like he was smiling.

"Oh, Eve, long time no see. What have you up to dear?"

Eve dug her fingers into Claire's arm, forcing a gasp of pain to escape Claire's lips. "Go away, Brandon. Going after younger girls, are we? I always you were a perverted pedophile. No one believed me though," she added after as though an afterthought had hit.

"I don't choose how tasty they look," he purred. "I can almost taste her."

Claire was disgusted. This man was talking about her like she was some sort of food he wanted to devour. Eve made a sound of disgust, and Claire could feel the other girl pushing her behind and away.

"There's rules," Eve breathed, stepping back, forcing Claire to follow with her action. "You know what'll happen." Brandon shrugged, pouncing at them.

The engine of the car roared, lights pouring onto the man in front of them. Claire didn't get to look at him as Eve pushed her into the car. Brandon was looking away, temporarily blinded by the rush of light.

Once inside, Shane took off before Eve could get the door closed, but she didn't mind. They were almost back at the house when Claire started to worry. "What the Hell was that? He was talking about…eating me. I think."

Eve sighed, Shane doing the same. He punched the steering wheel, making it beep. "There's something you need to know," Eve finally said. "This town isn't like any other."

"I realised that. It's old, dusty, and full of lunatics."

Eve smiled and let out a chuckle. "That's true, especially if when referring to lunatics you mean Shane, but that isn't what I'm talking about." The older boy in the front let the insult slip, and Eve carried on. "This town," she enunciated, "is run by vampires."