Chapter 1

Jerome walked into the house to hear laughing and hugging. He didn't know if he should do this. He could hear their heartbeats. He was already getting hungry.

As he walked into the room, he felt that it was different. Some of the people around him didn't come back from break the same.

"Jerome!" Mara exclaimed. She hopped up and hugged him. He hugged her back, but he had to focus his head as he began to smell the blood. The rest smiled at him. Well, most of them did. Alfie just looked at him. He had to admit, there was something about them that bugged him as well.

"So tomorrow is Nina and Joy's half birthday" Amber said smiling. It seemed strained however. And she kept looking at Patricia, who seemed out of it. "Also New Year's Eve was Alfie's half birthday, and since their real birthdays are during the summer and we're not here, we're going to have a massive party tomorrow. Celebrating all three of them"

"Even though they're all already sixteen?" Eddie said.

"No, let them do what they want" Mick said. "That's three cakes!"

"Actually, they will be three half cakes. Vanilla for Nina, red velvet for Joy, and chocolate for Alfie" Amber said.

"I'll have a slice of all of them" Eddie said and hi-fived Mick. Amber turned to Alfie, who was looking at me.

"Doesn't that sound good, Beau?" Amber asked him. He snapped out of it and smiled at her.

"Uh, yeah" he said.

"Someone's out of it" Mara said.

"It's just really hot in here" Alfie said taking his jacket off.

"Are you kidding?" Fabian said. "It's freezing"

"Well, it's not hot, but it's certainly not freezing" Joy said.

"Yeah, it's just warm" Nina said.

"Hey, Alfie isn't the only one who's out of it" Eddie said. He snapped in Patricia's face, who turned to him with a scowl.

"What?" She asked.

"You zoned out" Eddie said.

"I'm tired" Patricia said and turned to the fireplace again.

Jerome noticed Alfie look at him again. It was really pissing him off. He gave him a look that told Alfie to stop, but he just narrowed his eyes. Jerome smirked and raised an eyebrow. 'What was his problem?' Alfie nearly mirrored him, but with a hidden scowl.

Jerome looked around noticed everyone was quiet and staring at Alfie, Patricia and himself.

"What?" Jerome asked.

"You, Patricia, and Alfie are all being extremely quiet" Mara said.

"And...?" Alfie asked. Patricia even looked like she was listening.

"The last time you were this quiet, you guys played a big prank on all of us" Fabian said

Jerome smirked at the memory. Lots of ketchup. Alfie and Patricia couldn't help but smirk as well.

"You don't have to worry" Patricia spoke up. "We aren't planning anything"

"Yet" Jerome added.

"Please don't Jerome" Mara begged him. A door closed, and Jerome winced from the sound. It was as if someone shot a bullet right by his ear.

"Oh hello! You guys are all early!" Trudy smiled coming in. Everyone smiled and hugged her.

"Take these all to your room please" Trudy said almost tripping over Amber's luggage. So they took their stuff up the stairs. The rest of the day was uneventful. Everyone unpacked and put away their stuff. They set their room up the way they wanted. They all soon went to sleep. Well, all except Jerome. When he was sure Alfie was asleep, he went out the window and ran out to town. It takes ten minutes to arrive at town by car. Jerome got there in three seconds, maybe faster. He walked to a line where a club entrance was and walked to the front.

"Excuse me, can I see some ID" the guy said. Jerome looked him dead in the eye. The bodyguard suddenly moved out of the way, and Jerome walked right in. He walked to the bar and got a beer, scoped out the area. There were plenty of options. A girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes came up to him.

It didn't take long before they were out of the club and making out in the alley. Jerome's conscience and love for Mara would have stopped him from doing that, but his conscience doesn't even exist anymore, ever since that night. The night he turned.

He became hungry for more than just blood. He began to get aggressive, and pressed her against the wall. She could hear his soft growls as her shirt came off, as well as his. He breathed softly in her air, whispering charismatic words. She became enchanted. He looked her dead in the eye and smirked.

"Don't run away" he whispered. "Don't scream. Don't be afraid"

The girl simply nodded as his soft kisses turned more intimate. His eyes turned blood red, and his canine teeth sharpened to a point, as they broke through the skin. She stayed put, though she wanted to run. And he drank greedily. Every last drop, until her heart stopped. As her cold corpse fell on the floor, Jerome abandoned the body. He quickly wiped his mouth before climbing into the window of his room.

"Where have you been?" Alfie's voice cut through the silence like a knife. He was shirtless and only had boxers on. He had a layer of sweat on his forehead.

"Out" Jerome answered.

"Wanna tell me where?" Alfie said.

"When did you become my wife?" Jerome asked

"Since when is it a crime to care?" Alfie said

"It's just none of your business" Jerome said.

"You stink" Alfie said

"I'm sorry?" Jerome asked getting out of his clothes.

"You smell of a combination of blood and cheap perfume and it's disgusting" Alfie said. Jerome wasn't sure how he could smell it, when Jerome could only just smell a hint of it himself, and that was with his heightened senses. "Are you murdering prostitutes now? Should I get Mara and tell her?"

Jerome felt a pang of fear and walked to Alfie.

"Go to bed, and forget about tonight" Jerome said.

"Or what?" Alfie asked. Jerome was shocked to say the least, Alfie should have done what he was told. "Could you get out of my face before I puke all over you?" Alfie asked giving him a little shove. Jerome got angry and shoved him onto the wall. He hit it with a bang, and it was loud and strong enough to knock him out, but Alfie leaped over the bed and tackled him.

"What is going on here?" Victor yelled. Most of the house was in the doorway. Only Mick, Patricia, and Joy weren't. That was probably because they were all heavy sleepers

"Jerome snuck out after hours" Alfie said

"Who knew you were such a snitch?" Jerome asked

"Who knew you were such a jack ass? Oh wait!" Alfie pointed to everyone in the hall and himself.

"Enough!" Victor yelled. "It's five in the morning, get some sleep. And both of you are on punishment tomorrow, especially you Clark"

Everyone went to their rooms except for Mara and Amber.

"Can I speak with you?" Mara asked Jerome. He nodded and went into the hall with her as Amber went into the room.

"Why were you even up?" Amber asked.

"I had to pee" Alfie said. Amber giggled.

"Are you ok?" Amber asked. Alfie shrugged. Amber took a shaky deep breath as she looked at Alfie's half naked body. "Your sweaty"

"It's hot" Alfie said. Amber looked back up.

"Definitely" she said and he chuckled. "I can tell you're going through some changes"

"Since when did you get so insightful?" Alfie joked.

"Since when did you know big words?" Amber joked back. "I've been more connected lately, and it's put everything in focus"

"Ok, cool" Alfie said not really knowing what that means.

"I'm going through changes as well" Amber nodded. "It's hard, I know. But it won't do any good to sit around and mope about it. That's part of why I'm throwing this party"

"So you can have some fun?" Alfie asked.

"Yeah" Amber said.

"It's all about Amber isn't it?" Alfie laughed as he tickled Amber.

"Stop" she managed to say in her fit of laughter. "Alfie, no"

"Ok, ok" Alfie said.

"It's late- er early- and I need my beauty sleep" Amber said. "Try not to kill Jerome in his sleep"

"Sure" Alfie said. Amber left the room to see Mara and Jerome talking.

"I'm just asking you where you had to go in the middle of the night! If it's 'no where important' you can just tell me!" Mara said.

"I couldn't sleep so I took a walk!" Jerome yelled.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Mara asked

"Why are you asking me so many damn questions?" Jerome exclaimed. Mare put a finger to her lips and pointed upstairs.

"Because I care about you" Mara whispered. "You have people here who care about you. That includes Alfie. Don't push them away"

Mara stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, and Jerome remembered why he loved her. He smiled and went into his room. He saw Alfie get into his bed.

"Uh, sorry" Jerome said to him. Alfie looked at him.

"Whatever" Alfie said

"That's it?" Jerome asked

"I'll accept it when it's sincere" Alfie said

"It was! Mara just put things in perspective, and though I don't say it much, you're an important person in my life" Jerome said. Alfie thought and nodded.

"You are to me as well" Alfie said. Jerome nodded and smiled. He still felt tension, and a barrier. And it was pretty awkward. He could see why Alfie thought the apology wasn't sincere, because the energy in the room wasn't.

"Night" Jerome said.

"Night" Alfie replied. Jerome didn't know why as soon as he stepped into the house, had an urge to hurt Alfie, he just knew he did.

Amber got up extra early and got Nina, Alfie and Joy up as well. She wanted to decorate the room before everyone else was up, even though the people decorating at the moment are the ones being thrown the party. She chose Alfie and Nina because they're closest to her, and Joy because she was great at planning parties.

"Ok, so I was thinking we decorate only half of the room" Amber said up and ready to go. Her housemates just yawned and absentmindedly nodded their heads.

"Why did we have to get up so early?" Alfie yawned

"I'm not even up this early on a school day" Joy complained.

"Yeah, and no one gets up before nine at the earliest on a Saturday" Nina said.

"It's not that early" Amber said. "What time is it? 7:30?

"6:57" Alfie, Nina and Joy corrected.

"I just wanted to be sure no one saw it yet, ok? Someone get the latter please?"

Alfie went in the closet and pulled out the latter.

"Wait, it's 6:57?" Amber asked

"It's 58 now" Joy said.

"Yay! Two minutes until your half birthday, Neens!"

"Woo" Nina with no care at all. It was her half birthday, she could already drive a car. She really wasn't concerned about it, and it seemed like Alfie and Joy felt the same way.

"Now lets hang some streamers" Amber smiled. Alfie placed the latter by the wall and Joy plopped on the couch with her eyes closed.

"Joy stop sleeping" Amber instructed.

"I'm not sleeping I'm meditating" Joy said. "Ummmmmm why the hell are we up so early?"

Alfie laughed and did what she did. "Ummmmmm why are we decorating for our own party?"

Nina giggled and Amber rolled her eyes. Amber went back to hanging streamers when suddenly Nina fell to the floor.

She could hear the bells chime to tell them it was seven o'clock. Her skin felt like it was on fire and she bellowed a blood curdling scream. Her bones felt like they were each breaking, one at a time. Amber, Alfie and Joy looked at each other and at Nina, not knowing what to do. It didn't take long for everyone to come see what the problem was. Jerome, Eddie, and Fabian came first. Eddie and Fabian because of their protective instincts, and Jerome because of his heightened hearing.

"What's wrong" Eddie asked

"Why is she like this?" Fabian asked. She stopped screaming and began to cry.

"M-my skin burns" she stuttered. "And I can't move, it hurts"

Alfie's eyes widened, and he went into action. He carried her bridal style to her room with everyone following closely behind, wondering what he was doing.

"Amber, change her into something cool, a tank top, shorts, as little as possible without her being exposed" Alfie said. He leapt around the room getting fans and turning on the air conditioner. He was so strict and serious, that Amber didn't dare disobey his orders. "Fabian, you have asma right?"

"Uh, yeah" Fabian said. Alfie rushed out of the room and grabbed a pack of water bottles, ice packs, a large fan and a spray bottle. He rushed in the bathroom and got Fabian's inhaler, ear drops, eye drops, and nasal spray. When he got back in her and Amber's room, everyone was crowded around bed. They were all surprised by how much Alfie could carry. He gave Fabian a water bottle and Amber the spray.

"Help her drink the water, and spray her skin" Alfie said. They did as they were told and she relaxed a little. After about seven water bottles of water, she could move her arms. Everyone except for Fabian, Amber, and Alfie left the room.

"How are you feeling?" Fabian asked.

"What?" Nina asked. She then scrunched her eyebrows.

"How are you feeling?" Fabian said louder.

"What?" Nina repeated louder. "I can't hear you! I can't hear myself! Why can't I hear myself?"

"I-I don't know" Fabian said. Alfie got the ear drops ready as Nina began to panic. Amber and Fabian shared her look. Suddenly she grunted and groaned as she covered her ears.

"What is that?" Nina yelled.

"What's what?" Amber asked. Alfie leaped up and turned her head to the side and put the ear drops in her ears.

"Wait so you can hear now?" Fabian asked

"Yeah I guess so" Nina said. "The sound is still there, it's just softer"

"It'll be there for a few minutes" Alfie said sitting down.

"What does it sound like?" Amber asked

"Like a little high pitch whistle sound. It's irritating" Nina said.

"Do you hear it?" Fabian asked Alfie. He shook his head.

"But I know what it sounds like" Alfie replied. "Like an old tv when you first turn it on"

"Yeah, but more high pitched" Nina said. Amber put down the spray bottle, and put on a jacket.

"Can we turn the air off now?" Amber asked

"No!" Nina says. "I'm still really hot"

"Has the burning gone down at all?" Alfie asked

"Yeah, I'm just hot. But I am in so much pain inside. I can't explain it, it kind of feels like it did when I broke my leg" Nina said

"It'll go away soon" Alfie said

"How is it that you know so much?" Fabian asked

"I went through the same thing New Years Eve" Alfie said.

"Isn't that six months after your birthday exactly?" Fabian asked

"Yeah it's his half birthday" Amber said. Fabian was about to say something when Nina began to hyperventilate. Alfie grabbed the inhaler and gave it to Fabian.

"Give that to her" he instructed.

"But I put my mouth on here" Fabian said.

"It's not like you don't swap spit all the time anyway" Alfie said. Amber giggled at this. Fabian put the inhaler into her mouth and pressed the button. Her breathing calmed down soon after.

"That was really weird, I never felt something like that before" Nina said.

"It sucks" Fabian said.

"How much longer will this go on?" Amber asked

"About ten minutes" Alfie said

"That's ten minutes too long" Amber muttered.

"Tell me about it" Nina said.

"Uh, get ready to freak out" Alfie said. "Again"

"Why" Fabian asked

"Alfie, the color's gone" she said with fear. "Everything is gray"

"Uh..." Alfie said knowing she was getting ready to experience something worse.

"Alfie everything is fading, I can't see, everything is white!" Nina yelled as her eyes darted around the room. Fabian noticed they turned a pale, almost white color. "Everything's turned black! I've gone blind"

She then screamed and her eyes began to water. She put her hands to her eyes. Alfie opened her eyes wide and put eye drops in them.

"It stops the burning, your eyesight will return soon" Alfie said. "Then your body will go totally numb, then you're done"

"What is this, is it a disease?" Nina asked

"I don't know what it is, I just know this is what my dad did for me when it happened" Alfie said

"Look!" Amber said pointing at Nina's eyes. The color was returning in her eyes, though they weren't her normal color.

"Her eyes are hazel instead of dark brown" Fabian said

"Who cares, I can see" Nina smiled.

"Are you all better?" Fabian smiled.

"Well, I would be" Nina said.

"Can't move?" Alfie asked

"No" Nina responded.

"Ok, she needs to rest" Alfie said. "Do not wake her up, she needs to sleep on her own"

"Ok, feel better, Neens!" Amber said smiling as she left. Fabian smiled and left, not knowing how to say what he was thinking. He can't think of a world without Nina, and she really scared him today.

"How long does she need to sleep?" Fabian asked once outside of the room.

"Eh, a week" Alfie shrugged.

"A WEEK?!" Fabian and Amber exclaimed

"Kidding!" Alfie grinned. "A day at the most"

"How do you know when she's supposed wake up?" Amber asked

"She wakes up on her own" Alfie said.

"How long did you sleep?" Fabian asked

"Half hour" Alfie said. "I'm going back to sleep if you need me"

"Ok" Fabian said headed for the shower as Amber went to decorate.

"Oh, and this is very important, do not wake her up. At all" Alfie said seriously. The two nodded and left. Alfie came out of his room about two hours and forty-five minutes later feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. At the same time, Nina came down.

"Hey!" Alfie smiled.

"Hey, I feel a lot better" Nina said.

"What's going on?" Joy said rubbing her eyes.

"You were sleep too?" Nina asked

"Yeah, can't you tell?" Joy asked looking down at her pajamas. "Guess we're all tired because Amber got us up at dawn"

"Yeah, and I'm sure the room's not done" Nina said.

"Unless she did it herself" Joy said

"Amber doesn't do things by herself, she gets people to do it for her" Alfie said

"Correction, she gets us to do it for her, and since we weren't there, it's not done" Nina said. They opened the door to see the room beautifully decorated. Everyone jumped up and said 'surprise' and the music came on. There was a long table of eggs and bacon and sausage and pancakes and anything else that's in the breakfast food category. The three were truly surprised, and not ready. They didn't even showered yet.

"Wow" Joy said.

"I'll have you know I did most the work" Amber said.

"You 'supervised' Amber" Eddie said.

"That is most of the work!" Amber defended.

"At least it's more than you did" Fabian said to Eddie. He turned to Nina and smiled.

"You're ok now?" He asked her.

"Yeah" Nina smiled.

"You gave us a huge scare" Mick said.

"Yeah, it's a good thing Alfie was there when he was right?" Trudy said bringing in the pancakes.

"Oh yeah, thanks Alfie!"

"No probs Bob" Alfie said. Everyone looked at him oddly. Nina said giving him a small hug as she made her way to the waffles. Fabian's smile went down.

"This brunch buffet is awesome" Joy said.

"Breakfast for the champions" Alfie said smiling.

"Ok, at six we'll all have dinner, then we'll invite some people from the other houses" Amber said. "And that's when the party really starts"

"Cool, then I can change" Nina said looking at what she was wearing. She then began to fan herself. Mara went to Jerome and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, I was being nosey. When you want to tell me something, tell me. I can wait." Mara said. Jerome smiled, he had an amazing girlfriend.

"Thanks" he said.

"Movie marathon tonight?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure" he said. She beamed at this. Eddie noticed for the tenth time today that Patricia was quiet in a corner to herself. He decided to say something this time.

"Hey you ok?" he asked sitting by her

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked him.

"Because you were quiet all day, and I call you Yacker for a reason" he said

"I'm fine, ok?" she said and stormed up the stairs to her room, and Eddie follows her.

"Look, I care about you" Eddie said "You're not acting like you usually do. I'm just saying I'm here for you"

"I don't want you to be! Be down stairs for me" Patricia yelled. "I'm trying to figure stuff out alone"

"Why can't I help you?" Eddie asked

"Because I don't want your help!" Patricia yelled. Her pupils were dilated and wind began to blow inside of the room, though all of the windows were closed. The lights began to flicker and the door opened and closed over and over again. Her hair covered her neck, but Eddie could still see a hint of some kind of mark on It. Soon everything calmed down and Patricia's eyes went back to normal..

"Wha- what was- what's going-" Eddie stuttered. Patricia began to panic. Her breathing became heavy and she ran out of the room leaving Eddie confused.

Why are Jerome and Alfie fighting?

What happened to Nina?