CHAPTER one
Lydia Martin

"He has just left you. He couldn't really love you, could he? Why would he have left if he really did care about you?"

It was the same dream, just the dream I've had these past few weeks. Every. Single. Night. If I weren't so afraid of these dreams, I'd probably would have get bored already. But these weren't the kind of dreams you got bored of. It weren't exactly dreams either – it was a nightmare. The same one. Every single night. And I couldn't do anything about it. I don't know why he started visiting me in my dreams again. I didn't even knew how he could do it. He just did. He was there, every night in my dreams, all the time.

Peter Hale.

And he wouldn't let me forgive that I've just lost the one person in the world that meant more to me than any other person. The one person I've loved so much that I'd have done anything for him. But the thing is – Peter was right. I hated to admit it. But he was. Jackson had left me. Just like that. The night before he had been with me and on the following day... He'd vanished. I would have thought that something might have happened to him. But it had been his own choice to go away. And he didn't even bother telling me himself. All that was left of him was the letter I had found on his empty side of the bed the next morning. Since then I hadn't heard anything of him. And I don't think he would ever come back. He had left me. He had broken my heart. But it didn't matter. I wouldn't give in to the pain.

But it would have been so much easier to just push away the pain and the heartbreak if Peter just stopped reminding me of it every damn night.

"Why are you always here? What do you want from me? You got what you wanted... You're up walking again, all alive and shiny. So why do you keep coming back tormenting me?"

Peter smiled that terrifying yet somehow flashing smile. He mocked me. I knew that. He'd treated me like I was a little girl. Some stupid little girl he could scare. And the worst part was that he was able to do that – he scared the hell out of me, but I always tried not to let it show. But he knew anyway. He always knew and he enjoyed it.

One would think that I would get used to seeing him every night. And he really didn't scare me like he used to anymore – you know, when I've thought I was in some horror movie almost every time I closed my eyes. Now it was different... He was different. For one thing, he didn't look like a burned corpse anymore, which was the only good thing, I suppose. But his presence and what he said was almost more terrifying than him haunting me the way he had done before he'd awaken again. He knew exactly what he had to say to me to hurt me. And that was the most scaring thing anyone had ever done to me.

"I can't tell you that, Lydia. Not yet. You'll see soon enough..." He came closer to me. How I hated it when he did that. I didn't want him near me. But I couldn't run away from him in these dreams. I would only wake up when he wanted me to wake up. These dreams never ended before he wanted them to end.

I swallowed hard, trying to ignore him. But that was impossible, of course. How could you ignore the monster that had tormented you for several weeks? I thought he'd be done with me once he'd gotten what he wanted.

The strangest thing was that these dreams had only started again after Jackson had left. Maybe he wasn't really there. Maybe I was just going crazy for good now, imagining all of this.

But I knew better. He was real.

"You know, I really thought he deserved you. But now I think he was as stupid as he looked." He looked at me, still smiling. Then he reached out to me, touching a strand of my red hair. I shivered at his touch. I didn't want him to touch me and he knew it. That's why he liked touching me. "You deserve way more better than this, Lydia. You are meant to do much greater things... In time, you'll see. You'll see that you and I are both meant to do greater things – together."

"I don't think I want to join your little villain club," I said, even though his words made me shiver even more. What the hell was he talking about? "That is what you are, isn't it? You're evil." I glared at him, putting all the hate I felt for this horrible man in just one glare. But he still smiled. Of course I didn't scare him. Why should he be scared of me, when he was the monster? "You shouldn't picture the world in just black and white. Haven't you learned anything yet, Lydia?"

And then I woke up. Just like that. These dreams never had a real ending – they would just end. I would wake up and I couldn't make myself to go back to sleep again because I was just too afraid to meet him again in my dreams. I haven't really been able to sleep for the past few nights and I got more stressed out with each passing night. I think I might collapse if I didn't got at least one full night of sleep soon.

I sighed and then got out of bed, knowing exactly that I wouldn't fall asleep again. Taking a look at the clock on my little bedside cabinet, I knew that it was far too early to get dressed for school yet.

Even though I knew I shouldn't, I grabbed for the letter Jackson had left me. I should have burned that damn thing, but I couldn't make myself do it. I couldn't destroy the very last bit I had of him, no matter how much it hurt reading it. And I couldn't stop reading it. I've read it every night since he went away, punishing myself even more. But for what exactly did I punish myself for? It wasn't my fault that Jackson went away. It had been his choice entirely... But I just felt like that I should have known somehow. I should have felt that something was wrong. I should have made him stay here in Beacon Hills, here with me. Why couldn't he have stayed? We were happy. We were together. We could have figured out everything else together. What had happened had still tormented him, I knew that. But I had tried to be there for him as best as I could. He'd let me be with him... I had thought that everything would be fine now. But instead I had lost him for good now.

I didn't read Jackson's letter, though. I just laid back in my bed, hugging that simple and useless piece of paper hard to my chest. Right to the point where my heart was. I felt tears sting my eyes. I never, ever let anyone see how much I really suffered. I wanted everyone to think of me as a strong, confident and independent girl – Lydia Martin didn't need a boy to make her happy. And it was true. I didn't need a boy to make me happy. I needed Jackson. But he was gone and I didn't know if this empty space inside me would ever go away. But at least everyone on the outside should think that I could handle Jackson dumping me – again – well. I didn't want to be the girl with the broken heart.