Chapter One

I walk down the street, tuning the volume on my ipod all the way up so I can block out the sound of the city that surrounds me. My father had gotten drunk...again. When he gets drunk, he gets angry. My mother got caught in the crossfire between my dad and I and he beat her to death. Now it's me and him and my brother. I'm out most of the time, like I am now, trying to forget about the past.

I bend my head a little bit against the wind. My brown hair brushes against my face when the wind blows. I brush it out of my face and continue walking towards home, since it's getting dark. I turn around a corner and cross the street. Just a few more blocks now. I walk even slower, hoping that my father is asleep. He doesn't like it when I stay out late and it's already ten o'clock.

I slowly open the door, looking into the house. It was dark, but I could see him sleeping on the couch. I treaded silently across the floorboards, trying to get to the stairs so I could run to my room, but I step a little to hard on one of the floorboards and it creaks. "Shit!" I mutter when he starts to move a bit. Then I hear him snore softly. I let out a sigh of relief and run back to my room.

I get under the covers and pretend to be asleep. I hear my door open and see Nate standing in the doorway. "Tessie?" He says. I roll over and look at him. "Hey Nate." I say. He comes over and sits next to me on the bed. "Are you okay? I heard the door open and close, I thought it might be Dad but then I heard you open your door, so, I came to check on you." He says, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine it's just I lost track of time so I hurried home." I say.

He fully engulfed me in a hug. I let myself feel sad for just a moment, then it was gone. Nate pulls back and looks me in the eye. "Are you sure that your okay?" He asks. I think about it for a moment. How could I be okay when my father had abused my brother and myself since we were old enough to walk properly? How could I be okay when this man I call my father beat my mother to death? The answer is, No, I was not okay. I was depressed, but strong. I did not want to end my life because then my brother would be stuck here with this sick bastard. But, instead of saying what I was thinking, I answered, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want to go somewhere? Like, anywhere else but here?" asked Nate. "Sure." I said, standing up and grabbing my iPod and ear buds off of the nightstand, exactly where I had left them, put on my shoes and walked over to the window, and looked back at Nate. "Are you coming, or not?" I asked, raising my eyebrow just a bit. He gets up and comes to the window. We both pull it open and throw a make shift ladder I had made when I was six, over the sill and climb down. I jump down off of the ladder and Nate soon follows. He walks over and grabs my hand. This has always comforted me when I was scared. "Come on." He said. We walked off into the dark, not looking back at the house where our nightmares laid.

...

Nate and I sat at the table and talked. We had found a nice little diner that let you stay as long as you ordered something every hour and half. I had ordered a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. Nate had ordered a coffee. I always hated coffee. It had a sour taste and I couldn't understand why Nate liked it so much. I prefer hot chocolate myself. I like the sweet taste and the way it warmed you up. It even warmed your soul a bit, anyways that's what it felt like to me.

The waitress came with our orders and handed them to us each respectively. I sipped my hot chocolate slowly, indulging in each sip. Nate took a sip of his coffee, set it down on the table, and said, "How is it?"

"What?" I said, accidentally not paying attention. "The hot chocolate, how is it?" he asks again. "Oh, it's good." I answer. We keep up conversation for a while. I wasn't really paying attention, though. I was replaying some lyrics in my head. The song that I was recalling, Photograph by Ed Sheeran, reminded me of a photo I have of Mom, Nate, and I. I always kept the photo in the pocket of my jacket. I never went anywhere without it. I started tearing up a bit, thinking about mom. She was only thirty-two, to young to die. She always held me , holding my hand when I got scared. She loved Nate and I so much and now, she is gone forever.

"Tessie? Hello?" Nate said, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you okay? Your crying." He says, getting up from his chair and coming over and crouching down beside me. I suck in a sharp breath. "I was just thinking about Mom and how she would always bring us here when Dad was asleep or when he was out of the house." I said, finally breaking down, and letting myself sob. Nate pulls me into a hug and we sit there, and while I cried, Nate rocked me back and forth, rubbing calming circles on my back.

"Shhh. It's okay Tessie, it's okay." He whispered in my ear. I eventually calm myself and say, "I'm sorry Nate. I ruined your shirt." I say pointing to his shirt that has my tear stains all over it. "It's okay Tessie. Come on, lets get home before Dad wakes up and realizes that we are gone." He says. We both get up. He goes over and pays the bill, while I make sure that I have everything with me. When Nate is finished we walk out together and head home.

...

"Are you sure your okay?" Nate asks for the millionth time since we left the restaurant. We were taking the back-roads to get to the house, since the sun is about to start to rise and we need to get home a lot quicker. "Yes, Nate, I am fine." I say. He could get a little over protective when it came to stuff like this. "Okay. You know I love you, right?" He asks. "Yes Nate. I love you too." I answer. He puts his hand around my shoulders protectively.

We were almost home when I felt a growing sense of dread "Nate, do feel like somebody's following us?" I whisper in his ear. He nods his head. We keep walking, but at a faster pace, towards home. We were at the place where the pathway to house began when somebody hit Nate in the back of the head, causing him to go unconscious.

I let out a scream and start to run when a strong pair of hands holds me around the waist, holding me still. I fought against the person who was holding me, but their grip was too strong. I cried out once more, and the captor covered my mouth with his hand. I started crying, my tears ruing down my face. A dark shadow came over and leaned over Nate. My scream was muffled my the hand of this criminal. I was forced to watch when the shadow opened his mouth, showing a pair of needle sharp canines. He bent over Nate and bit into his neck, drawing blood from my unconscious brother. I bit the hand of my captor and he drew back his hand with a cry of surprise. I took this advantage to scream, "NATE!"

The person who held me slammed his hand back over my mouth. I cried even harder when the shadow bit into his own wrist and put it to Nate's mouth, making him swallow the blood. The shadow twisted Nate's neck, making it snap. I went limp, the only thing holding me up was my captors arms. I let out a muffled sob. The shadow comes over to me, and brings back his fist. My captor turned me around, still holding me tightly. The only thing I saw was a pair of bright, silver eyes. God, let this be quick I prayed in my head, before my vision went black.