"Yes Cam, I told you I will meet you downstairs in 15 minutes. Unless you want to come up for dinner," With the phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear, Emi stirred the pot of macaroni and cheese on the stove. Checking the time on the clock, she realized there was only half an hour before her friend Char performed at the small cafe around the block from her apartment. She turned the heat up on the stove anxiously.

"Well, when you get here come up for dinner then. Okay, I will see you in a few." Emi hung up the phone and threw it onto the couch. She went into her room to change quickly from her grungy Elmo T-shirt and ketchup stained jeans into leggings with ballerina flats, a ruffled tunic and long cardigan. Her shiny black ringlets were hanging loose around her shoulders, and her brown almond-shaped eyes stood out again her coppery skin. Quickly she touched up her eyeliner, grabbed her purse, and went to finish making her dinner before Cam got there.

Cam let himself in through the front door. "Smells good in here, Em. What's on the menu?"

"Le macaroni au fromage." Emi looked over at Cam with a smile on her face. He stared back, his nose crumpled up in confusion.

"Macaroni and cheese, doofus. Quickly, sit down; we only have 15 minutes until Char goes onstage."

Cam grinned and sat down as Emi brought their bowls of macaroni to the table. Cam and Emi had been best friends since the second grade, and were closer than any sibling set. Emi had met Char in her ninth grade math class, and before they knew it, they were the three musketeers. They were inseparable, and they did everything together. In fact, they were known as the Cam-Emi-Char unit at their high school.

After cleaning up their mess, and Cam and Emi took off down the stairs of her apartment. They arrived at The Beanery just in time to see the guy with greasy hair and bad acne announce to the crowd,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, next up is Charlize and the Fallen Angels!"

Cam and Emi were easily the loudest ones. Char proudly stepped out onto the stage, holding her microphone, with her band behind her. Her big blue eyes were full of excitement and her pale blonde waves were pulled back into a fierce ponytail. Add in the red lipstick she was wearing and she was an all-American girl. She glanced back at the band did a quick nod.

"One, two, three, four!"

"You did fantastic Char!"

"Good job, Char!"

Char smiled and thanked the fans that had congratulated her, and then turned back to her tea.

"So you guys think I did okay?"

Cam looked at her incredulously. "Okay? You did fantastic! You were easily the best band up there!"

"No kidding Char, everyone loved you!" Emi added. She pulled out her cell and checked the time.

"Oh crap. Five missed calls from mom."

Cam and Char winced. Emi bit her lip and went outside. Now that she thought about it, she forgot to scribble a note to her mom reminding her that she was going to Char's show. Knowing that she was probably about to get her head bitten off by her over-protective mother, She took in a deep breath and dialled her home number.

"Hi mom, what's up?"

"What is up? WHAT IS UP? Where are you young lady? I come home to find the house empty! What did I tell you about-?"

"Mom," Emi interrupted. "Mom, I told you two days ago that Char had her show tonight. I am only at the Beanery. I'm not far. So can we take this down a notch?"

"What if you had been an hour away with some guy with blue hair and multiple piercings? I would never have known!"

"Okay mom, I'm sorry. I'll remember to leave a note reminding you next time." On normal circumstances, Emi may have argued back, but she didn't feel like arguing today. She was tired of her mother's constant nagging and found that the easiest way to make it stop was by agreeing with her.

"Okay, thank you. Don't be too late dear. I'll leave the door unlocked, although Dad should still be up. 10:30 at the latest, okay?"

"Okay mom, I'll see you later."

"Okay bye sweetie, love you."

Emi hung up the phone and walked back into The Beanery, shaking her head. Cam and Char were staring in her direction.

"So," Cam piped up, flicking his light brown hair out of his green eyes. "What's the damage?"

Emi shrugged. "There has been worse. I have to leave in half an hour though."

And together they went and sat on the comfortable couches in the back of The Beanery, discussing the pile of homework they had to finish before the finals, their plans for the weekend, and Christmas. Before Emi knew it, 10:30 rolled around, and she had to leave. Promising them both a phone call later, she gave them both hugs and headed for the door.

"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you home? It really is no trouble."Cam asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Thanks, but really I'm fine. I only live around the block. I will probably see you guys tomorrow."

Emi smiled at them both and walked out. Mom is going to kill me when I get home, I'm five minutes late, Emi thought to herself, and then snorted, realizing how ridiculous that is. Teenagers disobey their parents all the time and mine are worried about me being five minutes late. Nevertheless, Emi still hurried home anyways, mentally making a list of things that she had to do the next day. Okay, so I have school, piano lessons at 4, take Tibbi for a walk, eat dinner, do homework, read...

Emi spun around so fast that she got a head rush. She realized that she was not the only one in the alleyway. Heart pounding, she looked around. She knew that she heard footsteps behind her. Giving up her attempt at finding whoever it was, she turned around to continue home when she bumped right into a hard, sweater-clad chest, sending her back a few feet. She glanced up to see a young man in about his late twenties grinning evilly down on her.

"Well, well. What do we have here? Didn't your parents ever tell you not to travel alone at night time?"

Two more guys appeared from behind the first one, and Emi could hear the stirring of footsteps from behind her. Her breathing became shallower, and her heartbeat sped up to the speed of a hummingbird's wings.

"Please, I don't have any money. Just let me go home." She pleaded, her voice going hoarse.

The guy with the sweater chuckled. "We don't want your money, cutie." He snapped his fingers and two hands from behind Emi grabbed her arms. She whimpered in fright.

"How old are you, sweetie?"

Emi tried to speak but nothing came out. The sweater guy nodded and one guy who was holding her arm twisted it up painfully. She squeaked as her entire arm flared up in pain.

"I asked how old are you?"

"S-s-sixteen. I'm sixteen."

The sweater guy's grin grew broader. "And what is your name?"

"Emi."

"Short for Emily?"

Emi shook her head. "It's short for Emiliana."

"Pretty name." He reached out and stroked a piece of her hair.

She shuddered. "What do you want from me? Please, just let me go. I'll do anything. "

"I don't think so, Honey. I'm on a strict business deal here. Nothing personal, I assure you." He touched the side of her face. Emi tried to bite him, and he escaped her teeth by half an inch.

He roared with laughter. "Wow, isn't she feisty! I told you boys, she was the one! She's biting even before she's has been turned!"

Emi's blood turned ice cold. "What exactly do you mean, turned?"

The sweater guy's smile faltered a little. "Oh, you will learn all about that soon enough."

Emi's eyes began to fill with tears. I'm going to die, she thought to herself. I am never gonna make it home. I love you mommy and daddy. I'm sorry I ever got mad at you.

"Sorry, kiddo. Remember, nothing personal."

The three guys standing in front of her began to close in on her, and Emi cried openly, trying anything to get them to stop.

"Please, please! Don't kill me, I'm begging you! Please- AHHHHHHHH!"

Emi screamed, tripping over her own feet as she tried to back up. Where the men had just been standing, there stood five huge wolves with huge teeth and foaming mouths, snarling at each other. Two of the wolves pounced onto her, holding her arms down as she thrashed around, screaming. She felt the wolf crawl slowly over her body until he reached her neck, snarled, and lunged for her jugular, at which point she screamed particularly loud. Still screaming and thrashing as the wolf ripped out her throat, she realized that the sides of her vision had begun to become fuzzy, and pretty soon, everything went dark.