Chapter 1

The moonlight illuminates a path in front of me in the never ending woods. I can feel the moonlight beaming down onto me, and I soak it in, embracing the feeling of it seeping into my skin. I take a look around me and see the trees in front of me also glowing with the moonlight. I take one cautious step onto the forest floor, taking in my surrounding.

I'm all alone in the forest; I take another look through the thick trees and notice a dark shadowy figure across from where I was standing. I squint to get a better look of the figure. As I focus more on the figure, I am able to tell that the figure is male from his broad shoulders and muscular build. I also notice that he has raven colored hair and his deep aqua eyes.

I realize the male figure is Daniel. "Daniel!" I shout to him but he doesn't respond, instead, he quickly runs off and I immediately take off after him. "Daniel!" I shout again, but I can see that he is long gone. That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop running, searching.

"Daniel!" I scream, "Where are you?" I can still feel the radiance of the moonlight, giving me more energy pushing me forward.

I try jumping over a ditch, but instead of making it to the other side; I fall in and hit the back of my head against a rock sticking out. I wince but when I touch the wound and look at my hand, I see that there is no blood that I expected to see.

There's a small box next to my feet, I bend over and pick it up. I take in the smooth finish of the wood and the engraving on the side. Slowly and cautiously, I lift the lid of the container. It reveals my blood stone necklace given to me by my mother when I was 12.

I furrow my brow in confusion. What would my necklace be doing in a ditch in the middle of the forest? Suddenly, hear the crunching sound of a tree branch snapping, and I dart my head up in the direction of the noise.

Standing on the edge of the ditch, looking down at me was Daniel with a devilish look upon his face.

I frown, and back away to the side of the ditch still having my necklace in hand. Why would Daniel be looking at me menacingly? "Daniel?" I ask cautiously, wondering whether or not I should be afraid or feel safe now that Daniel was here.

Daniel smiles darkly down to me, confusing me. "Help me out?" I ask warily as I outstretch my hand towards him.

He bends over and takes my hand, lifting me up from the ditch in one move. Once I'm out, I drop my box containing my necklace onto the ground and immediately wrap my arms around Daniel's waist. "Oh Daniel, I'm so glad you're here. Something weird is going on, I found my necklace in that ditch and I can't help but feel something is after me."

Daniel rubs circles on my back and shushes, "It's alright now," he whispers as he gently kisses my cheek and moves his lips slowly down to my jaw. "You're fine," he murmurs against my neck.

"What's happening to me?" I ask, as I feel something coursing through my veins. A burning sensation is in my legs and travels up my body, growing stronger. I wince, the burning starts to become unbearable and I scream.

Suddenly I feel something sharp pierce my neck, Daniel's fangs. I scream again in pain as I can feel him drinking my blood. I try pushing him away but it's not use. All I can do is try to fight him off with all my might. "Daniel! Stop! You're going to kill me!"

He doesn't do anything but continues draining my blood out of my body. Eventually I start hearing ringing in my ears and my vision slowly fades to black. Before I become overwhelmed with darkness, I whisper, "I love you, Daniel."

I wake up gasping and jolt up, making me sit up straight on the bed. I manage to prevent myself from screaming. All that comes out of my mouth is a whimper like sound, or at least I thought that's what came out of my mouth.

Daniel wakes up immediately and also jolts up, "What's wrong?" He asks me, his voice filled with concern for me. When I don't answer him and just stare at him, he asks, "Was it another nightmare?"

He looked aggravated, but I knew it wasn't toward me. It was over the fact that I was having these dreams frequently now and he just wanted them to stop all together so I could actually sleep normally. I wanted them to stop too, but, Daniel thinks that they might be telling me something.

I nod kind of scared to say anything at the moment. After minutes of silence and Daniel patiently waiting for me to say something, I finally say, "Yes, it was another dream. Except this one is different than the other ones."

He frowns, "Like how?"

I sigh, "Well, instead of a wolf that is always in the dream, it was you," I pause and look over at Daniel, he tells me to go on, unfazed, "And I was running after you, I was shouting your name when I fell into this ditch. And in the ditch, was my bloodstone necklace I have at home. Then, you came back for me and lifted me out of the ditch but when you did, you didn't seem normal… like you wanted to kill me or something," I pause again for a second, "I felt this intense burning sensation all over my body and that was when you bit my neck and started to drink my blood."

I look over Daniel's face to see any type of reaction from the news that I just told him. But when I look at him, all I see is a blank expression, "Maybe the dream is trying to tell you something?" He suggests.

"I don't know. The dream seemed so real, like it was an exact look into the future," I sigh, "The way the darkness overcame me, it felt like I was dying all over again. It just felt all too real for me." I close my eyes and place my hand over them.

It's been 2 months since I died, every since then, I have been having dreams nonstop. It's partially why I have been spending the night with Daniel more often. Somehow, just being with him made the dreams stop for a short period of time.

Daniel wraps his strong arms around me, making me feel safe and secure. He kisses the top of my head and whispers, "It's going to alright, you'll see." He pulls away so he could look me in the eyes to tell me, "I will never hurt you, I promise you that."

Before I could respond, he presses his lips to mine lightly. Just as quickly as it begun, the kiss ends because I end up pulling away, which was so unlike me. Usually, Daniel is the one who ends up pulling away. I guess I just wanted to finally ask him something that I've been longing to for awhile now, "When are you going to take me to see my dad?"

Ever since Daniel told me that my dad was actually alive after all these years of thinking he died in that car accident years ago, I haven't stopped wondering what it would be like to see him again. Would he be excited to see me? Would he be the same person I knew back then? And could he explain all the dreams that have been plaguing me? A part of me feels like that he is the reason behind my dreams, as if he's trying to tell me something. I was hoping that I could also get the long awaited answers I've been waiting for.

Daniel shakes his head, "Not right now. It's too dangerous for you." He looks into my eyes and says, "I don't trust the guy."

I glare at him. How did he even know my father? And since when did he know him well enough to judge him. "What was the point of telling me about him when you won't even take me to see him?" I pull away from Daniel and start to get up from the bed, in search of my clothes.

Before I could even get off the bed, Daniel grabs me and gently throws me on the bed. Before I could try to get up again, he is on top of me and our faces are only a few inches away from each other. He smiles and whispers, "No more secrets right?" He starts to tenderly kiss my lips. I eventually give in and kiss him back, are lips moving in synch.

I whisper against his lips, "I hate it when you do that."

He smiles, "Do what?" He asks even though he knows the answer to that.

"When you make it so hard for me to be angry with you," I smile and glare at him while I put my fingers through his hair, it's so soft and I can faintly spell his Axe shampoo. It smells like mint, and I'm in love with it.

His smile widens, "It's a gift I guess," Daniel inches his lips closer to mine, "Isn't that why you love me so much?"

"Now you're getting too cocky," I simply say with a smile across my face. I place the hand that was weaving through his hair, on his cheek. "There are so many reasons to why I love you, it would take all day to tell you them."

"We've got all day," he whispers, "…And all night." Daniel winks, making me laugh. The thought of sleeping together was tempting, but, all I wanted to do right now was kiss him.

I waited for him to make the first move but he doesn't. He's waiting for me to make it first. Eventually, I give in to temptation and crush my lips to his. Not so long after, things start to get so heated between us that my head isn't thinking straight. So, I don't hear the ring of my cell phone at first until the phone rings again.

"Voicemail," Daniel moans. But I ignore him, and try to get Daniel off of me, and he just rolls off of me and lays on his back staring at me. I reach for the phone lying on the bedside table next to the lamp and answer it.

"Hello?" I question with a hint of aggravation in my voice for whoever is on the other end of the phone ruined the moment between Daniel and I.

"Um, Lauren?" I hear Rachel say, "What's got your panties up in a bunch?"

I smirk, "Nothing, now what can I help you with?" I ask, trying to rush the conversation so I can put my attention fully on Daniel. It doesn't help that Daniel has his hands all over me and rubbing me. I switch the phone over to my left ear to smack Daniel's hand with my right hand, "Stop it," I whisper with venom slightly in my voice so he gets the memo. He gets it, but he decides to ignore me.

"I'm going over to your house, are you home?" Rachel asks

"Nope, why?" I question as I hit Daniel again.

"I wanted to see you," Rachel says with a hint of sadness in her voice, "We need to catch up on our girl nights, so, I'm going to pick you up and then we're going over to your house for some girl time. Now, where are you?"

"Tell her that you're with your mom," Daniel whispers. I forgot that he had incredible sense of hearing, something that makes him more of a pain in the ass.

I cover the mouthpiece of the phone with my hand and whisper, "I'm not going to lie to my best friend." I declare, "And will you stop that?" I say as I push his hands off of me and this time he doesn't continue doing it. I uncover the phone and say to Rachel, "I'm actually with Daniel right now..." I say lingering.

She groans, "You guys are fucking again aren't you? And while I'm on the phone to?"

I giggle, "First of all, don't call it that, I prefer the term 'making love'. And second of all, we're not making love at the moment." I look over at Daniel and he's smiling while he wiggles his eyebrows and mouths, 'Key term: at the moment,' which makes me giggle even more.

"Yeah, at the moment," Rachel states, "Anyway, do you need picked up or is lover boy going to take you home?" I'm still staring at Daniel and he smirks when Rachel calls him 'lover boy'.

"I actually drove here so I'll see you in 20 minutes, tops. Is that enough time for you?"

"Yes my love," Rachel says sarcastically, "Now, hurry up please so I can get details. You know how much I love those."

I smile, "Alright and I already know this. I'll see you in 20, bye."

"Bye baby!" Rachel exclaims and we both hang up.

I put the phone back on the bedside table and turn over so I'm facing Daniel. We stare into each other's eyes for a minute when Daniel puts his arm around my bare waist to pull me closer to him, "Are you really going?"

I nod, "I do feel bad that I haven't been spending that much time with her lately. She is my best friend after all."

He smirks, "I thought I was your best friend too," he says jokingly.

I laugh, "That's true, but you know that's a whole different story. I don't think I would have sex Rachel if that was the case."

Daniel laughs, "You never know…"

I playfully smack him in the face but instead of pulling my hand back, I leave it there. Daniel places his hand on top of mine and removes it from his face, and holds my hand. "You know that I love you, right?"

"Of course I do. Do you know that I love you?"

"I sure hope so," he says smiling. He pecks the back of my hand, "I have something to give you." And with that, he gets up off the bed and finds his pants to put them back on, then, heads over to his huge wooden dresser.

I lift myself off and start getting dressed before he can show me what he got me. "You didn't have to buy me something." I say as I pull my final article of clothing on over my head.

"I didn't buy it, don't worry." He opens the top drawer and pulls out a small wooden box, sort of like the one in my dream but the wood with this one has more of a red color to it. Daniel walks over to me and sits down on the edge of the bed, taking my cue; I sit next to him on the bed. "I thought that I would give you something to wear so that in a way, I'll always be with you. I know that sounds kind of stupid but I just want you to remember me."

"Daniel," I whisper, "I would never forget you, you know that."

"I know," he smiles weakly, "Do you want to open it?" He holds out the box in front of him for me to take.

I smile back, "Sure." I take the box out of his hand and place it in both of my hands. Until finally, I take my right hand to lift open the lid. I quietly gasp at what I see within the box.

It was absolutely beautiful. Within the box, was a antique looking long chain and hanging from the chain was a beautiful crowned framed pendant accented with diamonds with a lovely black cameo woman. "It's beautiful Daniel, thank you so much."

"It was my mother's actually. It's the only thing I have left of her, and I want you to have it."

I open my mouth to protest, before I could, he shushes me and takes the necklace from the box, "Turn around." I do what he says as he places the necklace in front of me, I can feel the cold of the metal against my collarbone. I sweep my hair to the side and lift it so it's out of the way. Daniel puts the chain around the back of my neck and I hear the snapping of it being clasped.

I let down my hair and smile towards Daniel. When he smiles back, I say, "You should take it back." I start to place my hands on the nape of my neck to remove it but Daniel takes my hands into his.

"No," he says firmly, "It's special to me and you deserve to have it. I know that you won't let anything happen to it, just promise me that you won't ever take it off."

I look down to our intertwined hands. "I promise," I whisper to him as I lean towards him and softly kiss his lips. The kiss wasn't long when I pulled away to say, "Thank you."

Daniel smiles, "No problem." I stand up straight and walk over towards the bedside table, "What are you doing?" I hear Daniel ask but I don't answer him. I snatch my cell phone from the table and put it in my front skinny jean pocket. I also grab my ring I always take off when I go to sleep.

I return to my spot on the bed beside Daniel, take his hand and place my ring in the center of his palm. He just takes a glance of it and immediately puts his attention back on me. Before he could ask, I answer, "It's the ring my dad gave me before he died. Or disappeared I should say, it's been important to me since then and I want you to have it." He glances at it again, and I smile, "It's not as nice as your mother's necklace but I just wanted to show you how much you mean to me."

Daniel just looks at me for a minute until he finally leans in to kiss me. At first, the kiss was gentle and sweet then it kept heightening with each minute. Daniel lays me down on the bed as I wrap my legs around his waist. I run out of breath and pull away, when I do, Daniel starts to suck the skin on my neck. I moan out in pleasure which causes him to do it more then he moves his lips to my collarbone and eventually on the other side of my neck.

I pull his face back to mine and we start making out again for what seemed like a short period of time. It wasn't until I heard the shrill of my phone's ringtone coming from my front pocket. Daniel and I groan at the same time as he pulls himself off of me.

Pulling out my phone, I see that I have a new text message from Rachel saying: Where R U?

I smile to myself and straighten up and walk towards the bedroom door, knowing that Daniel will follow me. Before I can even open the door myself, the door opens and all I see is a blur run in front of me towards the direction of the front door.

I smile and roll my eyes when I see Daniel leaning against the door, blocking my path. "I didn't know that this was a race." I sarcastically inform him.

"Well, it was and you lost." He takes hold of my hands, "And my reward is having you stay here with me for the rest of the day."

I roll my eyes again, "You'll have to take that up with Rachel, lover boy. I warn you though; it may be tough to win that one especially if it's Rachel we're talking about."

He laughs, "True, I guess Rachel wins this round." He wraps his arms around my waist, "But this is the only time she gets to win and tell her I said that."

I laugh, "I'll pass down the message." I tilt my chin upwards and press my lips to his. He reluctantly kisses back but before the kiss became intense, I pull away and whisper, "I love you."

Daniel smiles down at me and kisses the top of my head, "I love you too." He opens the door wide for me as I pull on my military jacket and head out of the door. I decide to be cute and blow him a kiss. Daniel grasps it and places it against his heart, making me laugh.

I unlock my car and get into the driver's seat, starting the car. Before I drive off, I pull down the visor and check myself in the mirror. I then take notice of the hickeys splashed all over my neck. I frown as I reach my arm in the backseat to grab a scarf. I wrap it perfectly so no one would notice them, especially my mother. She wasn't fond of hickeys, saying they looked trashy and that she would shoot me if she ever found some on me.

Putting the car in reverse, I back out of Daniel's driveway. I wave goodbye to him as I peel onto the road on my way to my house to face the wrath of Rachel for me being late for our girl date.