Marie Argent had gotten into arguments with her mother lots of time. This time, though, was probably the worst. See Marie, unlike her sister Allison, had a rebellious streak in her. Nothing major, she just refused to sit back and accept it when her parents constantly told her it was time to move again after promising that they would be somewhere for a while.

This time though Marie would admit, she went a bit too far. Now she found herself standing on the side of the road in a town called Beacon hills. Of course, she was the one who had told her mother to stop the car and let her out after she had refused to turn around and check on the person. they had almost run over.

So here she was walking beside through the woods with just a backpack and her phone trying to find her mother's almost hit and run victim. As she stomped angrily through the mud she almost missed the inhaler by her feet. Picking it up, she stuffed it in her pocket thinking if she found the person from the road she could give it back.

A crack sounded and Marie's head shot up looking around to find the direction of the sound. Now, Marie had never been afraid of the dark and she had never been afraid of monsters like her sister had when they were kids but when Marie saw an animal with glowing red eyes in the middle of the woods at night in a town she had never been in, she panicked a little.

Slowly and silently she backed away hoping to get out of hearing range before the animal saw her and hoped that whatever it was did not have a strong sense of smell. Keeping an eye on the creature, Marie put as much distance between her and it as she could while trying not to attract its attention. Though, it wasn't too hard as the animal seemed to be distracted and had not noticed her.

She had almost gotten away when it moved. Then, she went from panicked to scared. Whatever this thing was it was fast and it was huge but worst of all it had just heard her. As soon as it turned it's head she took off running. She had been detected so now her only hope was to get out of the woods before the beast caught up to her.

When she turned to see where it was she was surprised though, it was not alone and it was no longer following her. Now, it was focused on fighting something. Marie took the chance while it was distracted to run. She ran aimlessly until she couldn't. Her foot caught a stick on the ground and sent her tumbling down a hill.

Quickly she hid herself behind a tree to come up with a new plan because there was no way she was going to get eaten by some beast in the woods on her first night in a new town and most importantly she was not going to miss the chance to tell her father exactly what she thought about this new town he had moved them to and its wildlife.

She couldn't put weight on her ankle. She must have twisted it when she fell. So she called the one person who she was confident would know how to deal with this situation.

"Aunt Kate?"

"Marie? What's wrong?" Kate's voice sounded confused over the phone, no doubt wondering why she was calling so late at night.

"Kate, what do I do when there is a giant animal with red eyes chasing me?" Marie hated how her voice came out rushed and panicked, how it was so easy to hear her fear.

"Marie, calm down," Kate told her, sounding way too calm after hearing that her niece was being chased by a giant unknown creature.

"Listen, I'm going to tell you what to do," Kate continued, "first, do you have the birthday gift I gave you last year?" Marie sighed in relief. She knew that her aunt Kate would know what to do.

"Yes, I have it." A few years ago Marie had seen a rabid dog that almost attacked her. She had watched her father take out a gun and shoot it. Marie had wanted to learn to shoot a gun like her father did but he said no. So, her aunt Kate had taught her how to shoot in secret and then, a few months later after she had gotten good at it, her aunt gave her her own gun for her 16th birthday.

"Okay, load it with the special purple bullets I gave you." Marie followed her aunt's instructions as quickly as she could, she could hear the animal getting closer.

"Alright, I've got it," Marie said, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder after loading her gun.

"Now, shoot it. It will slow it down if it doesn't kill it so after you shoot it get out of there. Remember what I told you, trust yourself and you'll hit the target every time. It's in your blood." Then suddenly, her aunt's voice was gone like she had lost the phone signal. She was on her own now.

The animal was so close that she could hear it moving now. Then, she saw it. It was huge and that glowing red eyes were staring right at her this time and as it stalked towards her she raised her gun. She took a deep breath, aimed, and shot four bullets at the beast. She watched as it stumbled back before someone ran towards her and grabbed her.

She didn't have the time to get a good look at the person but Marie could tell that whoever it was was a guy and he was taller than her by a good bit.

"Come on, run!" he hissed at her before taking off and pulling her along with him.

He let go once she got her feet steady and was running after him.

They had run until they arrived in front of a burnt down house that looked to Marie like it hadn't been lived in for quite some time. Quickly, looking around to make sure they weren't followed, the guy who she had been following pulled her inside the house before he turned on her.

"Who the hell are you?" he snapped. Marie stared at him in disbelief, who did this guy think he was.

"Me? I should be asking you that, you're the one who brought me to this creepy old house in the middle of the woods!"

"Yeah, well, you're the one who almost got yourself killed by coming into the woods in the first place. So once again, who are you?" He seemed angry but Marie couldn't imagine why.

"Oh, right, what was that thing? And what were you doing out there?" Marie knew she was avoiding his question but she was not about to tell a total stranger who she was when she still hadn't figured out anything about him. He looked at her and she could tell he was frustrated.

"I was out there because someone has to keep the stupid little girls from getting eaten when they wander into the woods in the middle of the night," he practically growled at her.

Marie was furious. How dare he assume that he knows anything about her. Sure, she had made a poor decision when she went into the woods without knowing anything about this town but she couldn't very well leave without knowing whether or not the person who almost got run over was okay.

"Oh! That reminds me, have you seen anyone else in the woods tonight?" The guy looked at her like she was crazy or like he wanted to strangle her.

"No one but you." His words were pointed but Marie ignored it.

"Well, I found this if you do," Marie pulled the inhaler out of her pocket and tossed it at him. She watched in awe as he caught it with super fast reflexes.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Why should I? You haven't answered any of mine," she retorted. He didn't say anything. She studied him, noticing how closed off he seemed and realized that she probably wasn't going to get anything out of him unless she told him something first.

"My name is Marie." He nodded once.

"Derek"

"So, Derek, are you going to answer any of my other questions?"

"No." She could tell he was becoming tired of her questions but still she continued.

"Are you going to show me how to get out of the woods or are you just going to leave me to wander around on my own again?" Almost as soon as she said it her phone rang in her pocket. It was her father.

"Hey, Dad," she tried to sound nonchalant but failed under Derek's questioning gaze.

"Marie, your mother called me and told me you didn't get to the house with her and Allison. Where are you?" Marie hesitated, she knew that her Dad would freak out if she told him that she was in some abandoned house in the woods with a stranger.

"Um, I'm near the woods." She noticed Derek scoff at this. She shot him a glare and stuck her tongue out at him. Sure it was childish but it was amusing when she saw him scowl at her.

"Can you get to the entrance of the preserve?" She panicked, she had no idea where they were. She met Derek's eye and saw him nod. How could he know what she was asked?

"Uh, yeah I can get there."

"Good, I'll be there in 10 minutes to pick you up." He hung up without saying goodbye.

"Let's go," Derek said almost immediately after her phone call ended and Marie narrowed her eyes.

"How could you hear my phone call?" She called after him and he walked past her out the door. She ran after him, practically having to jog to keep up.

"Are you just going to keep ignoring all my questions?" He didn't spare her a glance, just kept walking.

"Wait! You can't just ignore me!" Marie jumped in front of him, making him stop. He glared at her.

"Look, we don't have time for questions. We have to get to the entrance of the preserve before your father does. Or would you like to explain to him what exactly you were doing in the middle of the words with a stranger?" He gave her a pointed look with his brows raised daring her to question him. Marie humphed, crossing her arms but followed him as he kept walking.

Soon enough they got to where they were walking on a path and she could see the road through the trees from where they were. Marie was so focused on getting to the road that she was thrown off balance when she ran into Derek's back. He had stopped walking.

"There, keep going that way and you will come out at the entrance of the preserve." Then he turned around and walked off into the woods.

"Wait!" but he was already gone. After a few minutes she saw headlights coming towards her before her fathers face came into view

They didn't speak the entire car ride home. Marie couldn't tell if her father was angry or if maybe he had just been scared. Maybe it was both. As soon as she stepped through the door into the new house-which she had yet to see- though, she was bombarded, she tensed as she took a moment to realize that she was not being attacked-well not really- but hugged by her sister who seemed very much awake despite it being late into the night.

"Where were you? I made mom turn around to get you but we couldn't find you! I thought something had happened! I was so worried about you!" Her sister, she noticed, didn't seem to be breathing between sentences. Before she even got the chance to attempt at placating her sister, her father spoke.

"It's late, I think it's time that the both of you try and get some sleep before you start school tomorrow." That was all he said. Marie practically feel her jaw hitting the floor, she had expected to at least get a conversation if not having her parents full out yelling at her for being stupid. She was a bit apprehensive about her parents' odd behaviour but didn't have time to ponder it as she was pulled up the stairs to her new bedroom by her sister.

As soon as the door closed Allison turned to her.

"What happened? And what was that with Mom and Dad they were acting like nothing happened!"

"I don't know what that was Al but if they aren't going to say anything then I'm not going to push it."

"Okay, but that still doesn't answer my other question. What happened? Where did you go?" Allison was practically begging Marie for answers but unfortunately Marie didn't really have all the answers either. So she had a choice, she could either tell her the truth and they would both be confused and scared or she could lie and so her sister wouldn't have to worry. Well, Marie would always protect her sister, even if it meant lying to her.

"I was fine Alli l, I just took a few wrong turns and got lost in the woods so Dad had to come pick me up."

"Okay but then how did Dad find you? I know that I overheard Dad saying that he would pick you up by the road." Allison gave her sister a look and Marie knew she would have to give her twin something. Sometimes being able to read each other was much more annoying than it was helpful.

"Okay fine, but you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, especially not mom and dad." Allison nodded her head immediately, eager for answers.

"I wasn't completely alone when I was in the woods. I met this guy-" Allison gasped, cutting her off.

"You found the guy we almost hit?" Marie shook her head.

"No, this was a different guy, all I found of the guy we almost hit was an inhaler."

"Wait so then who was the guy you met in the woods?"

"I don't know his full name but he was tall, dark hair, green eyes, you know super hot." As Marie was describing Detek to her sister she realized something she hadn't when she met him. Derek was hot. Despite him being a jerk to her she still couldn't deny that he was unbelievably attractive. Brought out of her daydreams by Allison's squealing and giggling, Marie was suddenly overcome with a wave of exhaustion. I guess the adrenaline has worn off, she mused as she herded her twin sister out the door so maybe they could both get some sleep before school tomorrow.