Chapter 1 - Too Much to Handle.

Katherine felt the bitter coldness of the sharp air hit her finger tips as she stepped out her front door. She let out a frustrated sigh as she started towards her car. She was going to hate today. She had just broken up with her boyfriend the previous night, which she'd been dating for 2 years.

But it wasn't a true break up. It was a mistake she made. He did nothing wrong. Nothing. But that didn't stop her from freaking out about the information he shared with her. He was a vampire. As cheesy as it sounded, it was true.

Mayson had just told his girlfriend to meet him in the nearby woods of their houses.

"Why?" Katherine asked over the phone.

"Just… Please. Come," Mayson pleaded.

"Okay…? I'll be there in five."

Mayson waited in silence by a lone tree in the cold, pitch black woods. He heard a rustling of some bushes nearby.

"Katherine?" he questioned.

"Mayson? Over here. God, I hate these woods," Katherine said as she approached Mayson.

He stood at attention to her.

"Hey," Mayson took her chilling hand, "Uh… I gotta tell you something."

"Ha, what is it?" Katherine wasn't taking this too literally.

"Okay, look. I've been meaning to tell you this for a really long time, Katherine. It just never came up. But, promise me you won't get mad."

"Mayson… You're starting to freak me out a little," Katherine said, shakily.

"I'm a… Vampire," Mayson was staring Katherine dead in the eye when she broke out in laughter in a few seconds. He was confused.

"Why are you laughing?" Katherine slowed her laughter and stared at Mayson.

"Wait, you can't be serious," she questioned him with a look, "This is a joke right? Vampires aren't real. They're just some dumb myth."

"Really?" Mayson stared straight at Katherine, "If they weren't real then how can I do this," Quickly, Mayson dashed off to the other end of the woods and back, then he swooped up Katherine in his arms and climbed to the top of a tree with her in less than 5 seconds, then back down. He smiled and waited for her reaction.

"Oh my God. Mayson," Katherine's eyes were now filled with horror and she could not get out a single word.

"What's wrong?" Mayson did not expect this reaction as Katherine began panicking.

"Hey- Hey! Calm down! Chill!" Mayson tried to calm her as mush as possible, but it was no use.

"Get away from me! Stop! Let me go!" he grabbed her firmly by the wrists and pleaded for her to stop freaking out. "No! Let go! Stop!"

Mayson's grip loosened and Katherine took off running in the opposite direction towards her house, breathing heavily.

Katherine's focus returned back to the road when she heard her phone vibrate in the cup holder. She knew better than to check it while she was driving; she knew the consequences. Her sister was just in a car accident late last night, around 3 or 4 A.M., due to texting while driving. She was in the local hospital under intense care today and Katherine would be going to see her during lunch break.

Katherine pulled up to her school and parked in student parking; her normal parking spot. She turned her car off, took the keys out of the ignition and slid them into her purse. She reached over and grabbed her phone from the cup holder and checked the text. It was a message from Jean, her best friend.

It read:

"hey, heard what happened. u ok? :("

She responded back:

"yeah, I'm going to see her at lunch. wanna come with?"

A few seconds later her phone went off again. The message read:

"of course. i'm always here for you :)"

Katherine slid her phone into her pocket and headed towards the school. She reached for the door handle and pulled. It was locked. She pulled a few more times.

"What the hell?" Katherine was frustrated, this door was never locked. She sighed and walked around to the front of the school to the main entrance. She shuffled passed the crowd of noisy students, who, unlike her, were eager to get to class.

Katherine walked quickly to her class, trying to avoid any contact with Mayson. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she arrived to room 301; science. She took her seat in class and listened to the agonizing lesson.

After 4 hours of learning, the lunch bell rang. Katherine left her theatre arts class and headed across the school to the English room to meet with Jean. Walking passed the crowded cafeteria; Katherine caught a glimpse of Mayson talking to another girl. She stopped in her tracks and back up towards the café entrance. She peeked her head around the corner trying to ease drop into the conversation.

After countless attempts of trying to solve mouthed words, Katherine gave up. She continued walking to the English room, where she eventually met up with Jean.

"Hey, how're you holding up?" Jean cared for her friend at this time, as she knew what she was going through.

"Uh, I'm fine. Right now I am. I mean, I'm a little nervous," Katherine and Jean began walking, "they're going to give me a diagnostic on Kelsie, so."

"I understand, I went through the same feeling when I was waiting on my mom to get diagnosed," Jean's words faded as memories of her deceased mother came back.

"Hey… hey, it's okay. You don't have to go if it's going to be too painful," Katherine's words were filled with sorrow.

Jean sighed, "No, it's okay," she sniffled, "I'll go."

The door of the hospital room opened carefully and quietly. Katherine and Jean made sure not to disturb Kelsie too much; she still needed rest. They breathlessly walked towards a pair of visitor chairs and took their seats.

"She looks so tired. Poor soul," Jean acknowledged.

"Yeah, I just can't beli-" Katherine was interrupted by a knock at the door and a sudden entrance by Dr. Malcon.

"Uhm, Katherine?" Malcon looked between the two teenage girls sitting in the chairs.

"Oh, that's me," Katherine stated.

"Can I see you for a moment?" Malcon pointed out towards the hallway behind him.

"Sure," Katherine stood up with her bag in her hand and walked towards the door.

Dr. Malcon shut the door quietly behind him, only for Katherine to spot a female sheriff waiting outside, "This is Officer Dunlap." Dunlap gave a smile and a slight wave.

"Hi," Katherine smiled.

"Uhm, listen. Kelsie suffered major brain damage on impact when her car flipped earlier today. It's nothing to permanently hurt her, but…" Malcon paused.

"What is it?" Katherine began to worry.

"Your sister… Kelsie… She's in a coma."

Katherine couldn't believe those words. She was lost. She looked around then directed her attention back to Malcon. His lips were moving but Katherine heard little. Her sister was in a coma. How could this happen?

"Also, Katherine?" Officer Dunlap began.

"Y- Yes?"

"The report of your sister's accident was filed as a texting-while-driving involvement. We don't think that's the case." Dunlap seemed uneasy.

"W- What do you mean?" Katherine was entirely too confused right now.

"We found a body a few yards away from your sister's wreckage. A man's body. We weren't too sure what had happened, but we figured it out. We have reason to believe that your sister hit this man, and that's what caused her car to flip. Or, something along the lines of this."

"I don't understand. What's the problem?"

"About 10 minutes had passed after we arrived at the scene and we were about to cover the man's body with a tarp… And he was gone."

"What do you mean?" Nothing made sense to Katherine right now.

"He was gone. He wasn't there anymore. It's like he had just gotten up and left... Um, we did manage to capture one photo of the man before he was gone, though. Here it is." Officer Dunlap handed a very blurry photo of the victim to Katherine.

It was hard to make out, but Katherine eventually realized who it was. But, it couldn't be. There was no way. But it was, and she couldn't believe it. It was Mayson.