"Night mom," I called, as I headed into my room.

"Goodnight Tahli, I'll see you Sunday evening alright? Be good," she said.

"Sure mom."

My parents were both going away for the weekend, and I was staying home alone. Though David, my boyfriend, was going to come and keep me company later.

My name was Tahli, I was 17, and I lived in Phoenix, Arizona. I had long, wavy, brown hair, and bright green eyes. I was plain, loved reading, and pretty boring. But people still included me in the 'poplars' group. Even though I despised it. I wanted to be normal, not have people staring at me everywhere I go, and acting like slaves around me. I dealt with it though.

I pulled the covers back, and huddled underneath, curling my knees to my chest. It was cold. I shivered lightly, and pressed my eyes closed.

I stayed like that for a while, until I realized I had closed my window earlier.

I frowned, and sat up, my eyes locked on the window. It was open.

Mum probably opened it, I told myself. I threw the covers off, and walked over to the window. I pulled it shut, and turned to go back to bed.

Suddenly, I felt my foot hit something, and stumbled. I tripped over my feet and fell over.

I sighed. Clumsy me.

I looked around the room, and slowly stood up. I took shaky steps towards my bed, when suddenly, someone knocked on my window.

I nearly jumped out my skin. As it was, I did let out a little yelp.

I pulled the window open, and stuck my head hesitantly outside it.

"Tahli!" I heard David whisper. I let out a breath, and then giggled quietly.

"What, David?!"

"Tahl, help me in," he grinned. I rolled my eyes, and grabbed his hand, hauling him through the window. Once he was in, he smiled and wrapped his arms around me.

"You ok? You look a little shaken?"

"Sure, I'm fine," I smiled. "You scared me."

"Sorry," he breathed, and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You should go back to bed."

I nodded, and hopped under the covers, still cold; even though the window was not open.

David slipped under the covers, and pulled me to him. I squeezed into his side, and closed my eyes. David was warm, and his woodsy smell lulled me to sleep.

In the morning, I woke up, and went downstairs to make breakfast.

"Want Milo Dave?" I called up the stairs.

"Sure," he replied, sounding sleepy. I quickly poured us both some milk, and grabbed the box of Milo cereal. I made my way up the stairs, and into the bedroom.

"Here," I said, giving David his bowl.

"Thanks Tahl," he smiled sweetly.

I grinned adoringly back at him. Unlike all the other guys in Phoenix, he was sweet, responsible, and totally mature. My parents loved him to death. As did I. David had light brown hair, which was medium length. He was extremely good-looking, and all the girls at Phoenix High drooled over him. David was really tan too; he spent a lot of time at the beach. He was extremely muscley, and really strong. His best feature though, was his incredible, bright-blue eyes. Once you looked into them, it was hard to look away.

We ate our cereal, and once we had finished, I went to grab his, to go put it away, but he raise it out of my reach.

"No you don't!" he teased, and stood up, grabbing my plate too.

"What are you doing?" I smiled.

"I'm washing this time," he flashed me his famous smile, and took off down the stairs.

"David!" I yelled, and ran after him.

He was already turning the tap on, and had started washing them. He saw me standing there, and grinned innocently.

I sighed in defeat, and went to wrap my arms around him.

"Thanks."

"Anytime. You know that," he grinned, and I knew he wasn't only talking about the dishes. Once we had finished, he asked; "Do you wanna go out?"

"Sure, where?"

"Well, there's this place up on the mountains…and there's an abandoned house there. You wanna go?" he smiled innocently, but I narrowed my eyes.

"Haunted house?"

"No, no, just nobody lived there is all."

I frowned. "Fine."

We got dressed, packed some food, and set off. The drive took about 20 minutes, and when we stopped, David announced we would have to walk for about another 5 minutes.

"Walk?! David I don't have walking shoes on!" I fretted. Knowing me, I would probably fall over a log or something, and break my neck.

"Calm down Tahl, I'll carry you," he reassured me.

I sighed, and nodded. I stepped over to him, and quickly hopped on his back. He started walking, normally, as if he wasn't carrying an extra 100+ pounds. I knew he was strong, and he always told me I was really light, but it still surprised me.

"You ok?" I asked him, leaning my head lightly on his.

"Sure, why?" he replied.

"Aren't I heavy?"

He snorted.

"Yeah. About as heavy as a feather."

I smiled, and lightly smacked his head.

"Are we there yet?" I asked.

"Yep. Nearly there."

I was silent for another few minutes, until we reached a clearing, and he set me down gently. Just ahead of us, was a small, wooden cottage, which looked like it was about to fall down. He took my hand, and started leading us towards it. When we reached it, he pushed the door open, and stepped inside. I hesitated.

"Is is safe David?" I trembled.

"Come on sweetheart, I promise its fine, I'll take care of you. Its' just an old house," he smiled softly, and pulled my inside. I was surprised to find that it was quite pretty inside. There was furniture, even though it had a fine layer of dust on it. What caught my eye though was a pretty, light blue, lamp. I stepped towards it, and reached out a finger to stroke the shade.

Suddenly, the door banged open, and heavy footsteps boomed through the house, echoing into the rooms.

I froze, and my eyes darted to David. He pulled my hand, and pushed my under a large table, then turned to leave.

"Don't go," I whimpered.

He squeezed my hand. "I'll be right back; I'm going to hide behind the curtain."

Then he was gone.

The footsteps entered the room, the suddenly halted.

"What is that?" a bell-like voice said.

"Smells like lunch," a male voice snickered.

I slapped my hand on my mouth, to stop from whimpering out loud.

Suddenly, I heard a smash, then a hiss.

"What are you doing here boy?!" the female voice growled.

"I wa-," he started, but another smash drowned him out, and he was silent.

"Do you know what we do to trespassers?" the male voice snarled evilly.

I was shaking all over.

Quietly, I peeked my head out of the blanket that was covering the table, and saw a beautiful red-head female, and a handsome blonde-haired male, pinning David up against the wall by his throat. I stifled a gasp.

The red-haired female's head spun around, and her eyes locked onto me.

"There's another," she hissed.

The blonde male turned to look at me, and a slow smile spread across his face. He released David, and walked towards me. I scuffled back, and tried to get away, but he grabbed me, and pulled me towards him.

"Don't run away," he said in a sickly sweet voice. He lifted a hand, and stroked the side of my face softly. I shivered; his fingers were ice cold.

"D-don't touch me," I growled, and pulled away. His eyes blazed with anger, and suddenly, I was thrown across the room, and my head hit the wall with a sickening smack.

All I saw was him bending over me, and pressing his lips to my throat, and then everything went black.