Chapter 1: The Dark Angels

I listened to the pounding of my shoes on the pavement, trying to match each breath with each step. I better stop before I hyperventilate. I remarked quietly to myself. The sound of musical humming suddenly made me aware that I wasn't alone. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, only to realize it wasn't one or two people, but sixteen.

They seemed to be stalking me rather than taking the same shortcut home. I stopped abruptly and spun to face them, trying desperately to remember self-defense. It was then that I noticed. There were eight girls and eight guys standing before me, all with the same chalky pale complexion but all noticeably different.

All the girls had the same excited gleam in their eyes. They all resembled swimsuit models. The guys were all the same, yet different. They each had the same metallic tint to their eyes, yet their features all clearly different. Some had a more gangly build, but some leaner and more graceful in absolute stillness. They all looked like male models, posing for the crowd. One of the more gangly guys laughed a menacing, booming laugh.

"She's clueless!" But she smells simply mouthwatering." He had a spine-chillingly silky voice. He then did the strangest thing I'd ever seen. He inclined his head towards me and opened his mouth and seemed to inhale as if trying to taste me.

I could hear the blood pulsing in my ears as my heart accelerated.

"Easy Vagan. You don't want her to run." The guy, whose name I presumed to be Vagan, shot a warning glance to the devilishly handsome guy who had spoken.

"John, please! Like I wouldn't be able to catch her!" Vagan scoffed.

"Enough!" said another high pitched, melodious voice. Vagan and John seemed to shrink back as if they were burned.

"Blake lets get this over with so I can go home." The girl said, seeming slightly bored. The guy who she had spoken to struggled for words.

"But Carly…she might die…I might kill her!" He replied nervously. She rolled her eyes.

"It really wouldn't matter to me. Not that it ever has before." She snapped back with a smirk as she watched him recoil from the anger in her voice. He spoke up again.

"Gage?" He said almost inaudibly, "Please? I don't have the restraint… We can't claim animal attack forever."

Gage nodded silently, taking a few steps towards me, as the others seemed to turn and disappear into thin air. I could only see three options. 1) Let him kill me. 2) Run and give him one helluva fight. 3) Try to make a compromise.

"Gage…" I whispered, quite sure he could hear me. "Don't do this. Please. Don't let me die." I plead to him with tears streaming down my face.

"Sarah…" he whispered his voice like a baby's cooing. "You're not going to die. You're going to be like me. It'll only hurt for a few minutes." His soft voice seemed to lure me in. I took three involuntary steps towards him. As I gazed into his eyes, there was something vaguely familiar about them. He raised his chalky hand to trace my face. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"This is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you." He said quietly.

"I love you. I'm so sorry." He inhaled once more.

Then he growled a low, deep, menacing sound, before finishing what was started.