Chapter One

Monsters

So this was the house? It loomed high above the perfectly groomed gardens. Each flower a bright, beautiful colour. Every leave shinning green in the orange afternoon sun. The garden stretched far on either side of the iron gate, rows and rows of trees, until the fence went too far for the naked eye to see. The perfect word to describe the massive building sitting on such a large estate would be a mansion.

'Miss?'

I finally tore my eyes away from what was to be my new home, finding the taxi driver standing behind me. My suitcase was in his hand.

The man who I had shared the last two hour drive with nodded towards the mansion. 'Do you know who lives here?'

I shook my head. 'Not yet.'

'Want me to walk you up the drive way?' Realising how weird that would have sounded, he added, 'Uh, you have a lot of heavy luggage. You could use some help.'

'Sure.' His help would be nice, and I wasn't too sure myself if I wanted to be left alone here.

He handed me the duffle bag which I threw over my shoulder, before he grabbed my two suitcases, one in each hand. There was no way the wheels would work on the gravel driveway anyway.

Halfway up the drive, when the full effect of the mansion came into view, he let out a low whistle. 'How could anyone afford a place like this?'

'Whoever lives here is a friend of my father... Or so I heard.'

'Your father sent you to live with strangers?'

'You're a stranger,' I reminded him, smiling lightly so he knew I was only joking.

A small gust of wind blew past us, wrapping my blonde hair around my neck, blocking my eyes. When I managed to clear my vision, I was surprised to find the taxi driver had disappeared. I hadn't heard him move. My feet crunched on the gravel as I spun around, trying to spot him in the trees lining the drive way. As worry and confusion filled my mind, and not watching my feet, I ended up tripping over one of the suitcases left on the ground.

'Ow.' It was instinctive. The small cut to my knee didn't hurt, and it barely bleed.

'That looks uncomfortable,' a silky voice stated from behind me.

I whipped around, rolling from my stomach to my back, propping myself on my elbows so I could look up at who had spoken. All I could do was stare. He was beautiful. I was sure he was a few years younger than me. Light purple hair that matched his round, purple eyes. Though from the bags under his eyes, I doubt he has slept much in the last 48 hours. A teddy bear hung in his left hand, staring at me with beady black eyes.

He cocked his head to one side. 'Are you alright?'

How was I meant to react? This boy gave me the creeps. 'Uh, yeah. I was just looking for someone...'

'Your guy friend?'

'He isn't my...' My eyes narrowed a little. 'You saw me out here with him? Did you see where he went?'

As I stood up, I purposefully kept my eyes on him. I ended up standing a head taller than the boy, but he still creeped me out.

'Sure.' He brought the teddy bear to his chest, hugging the toy with one arm and pointing towards the front of the mansion with the other. 'He is in there.'

I dared a glance towards the open front doors of the building. Wasn't it closed before? Opening my mouth to say something, I looked back at the empty spot where the purple eyed boy had been. What the hell?

Slowly, I placed my duffle bag on the ground beside my suitcases. There was only one thing to do. I had to go inside. Something weird was going on, that was for sure. But how far was I willing to go for a guy I barely even knew? No, I thought to myself, I needed to do this. This mansion is the place I am meant to call home for the next few months. If I thought for an instant that I wouldn't be safe here, there is no way I am staying. I needed to find that taxi driver and get the hell out of here.

Squaring my shoulders, taking a deep breath, my foot hit the first marble step leading up to the front doors. With every step my nerves grew. Once I reached the open doorway my heart was thumping in my ears. I was scared because of the taxi drivers sudden disappearance. I was scared because of the little boy with the teddy bear. I was scared because I had no idea how many people were inside the building. I had no idea what was going on.

I placed one foot in front of the other, slowly edging my way inside. The sun had fallen lower in the sky, and no lights were on inside the mansion. The inside foyer was covered in shadows. As far as I could tell, no-one was inside the foyer. My nerves faded a little as I continued forward, realising there was no-one hiding in the shadows. There was a door to my left and to my right.

Against all my better instincts, I called out into the mansion. 'Hello?'

Right as the word left my mouth there was a loud bang, and the foyer was cast into darkness. I whipped around, frantically trying to see in the almost black room. My eyes adjusted a little, but I wish they hadn't. Six figures, all standing in a circle around me, motionless. Where could I run? They were blocking the exit and each of the doorways.

Frantically, I fished my phone out of my pocket and clicked on the flash light button, instantly lighting up the room. The first face I saw was that of the little purple haired boy. He had his head cocked to one side, the teddy tightly held against his chest.

The boy gave a creepy smile when he read the fear on my face. 'You... Just who the hell do you think you are?'

'Your manors are deplorable,' a snobby voice said from behind me.

Whirling around, my phone came to a stop on another purple haired guy. This one was taller, more manly, than the boy with the teddy. Black rimmed glasses sat in front of dark red eyes. And unlike the boy with the toy, this guy stood more than a head taller than me.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking down on me the whole time. 'If you're going to be our guest, than we will need to work on your politeness.' The guy straightened his already perfect dress coat. 'Now, dinner will be served shortly. Shall we move into the dinning room?'

My phone, and only source of light, was snatched from my hand. There was a crunching sound to my left, the light disappearing a moment later. Did they just break my phone? I was about to complain, say they had no right, when something else caught my attention. What was... A moment later I realised what it was.

Six pairs of glowing red eyes were locked onto me.