So this is the story that I started writing a few weeks ago, the second generation of the Covenant. The new sons will make their appearance in the next chapter.

I'm working on A Beautiful Lie and also another story that I thought about while I was in the hospital. It'll prolly be short, prolly about ten chapters or so, just to help me deal with everything i've been through

and I wanna thank all of you who reviewed on my note on A Beautiful Lie, they made me feel better about still being here.


Thirteen

"Taylor, this place is awesome." I said, looking over at my best friend Taylor Michaels.

"I know, I thought that you'd like it." Taylor told me as she led me through the heavily forested area. It was like a magical place to me.

"How did you find it?" I asked her.

"I went for a run and I came across it." She explained. "Now are you gonna keep asking questions Peyton or are you gonna explore with me?" I took her hand and we both ran around our new hangout. We stopped at a tree and there was already a tree house built. It looked like no one had been there in years so I wasn't so sure about going to explore but Taylor practically dragged me up there.

"This place looks awesome." Taylor said, looking around.

"Be careful Tay, this place doesn't look sturdy." I told her.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to us here." Taylor told me. "This will be our special place."

"Our home away from home." I added.

"Our secret. No one can know about it." Taylor said, holding out her closed fist with the exception of her pinky. I wrapped hers around mine and firmly shook.

"No one will know about this place but us." I agreed.

"Oh I didn't show you the best part." Taylor said as she dragged me back down the ladder and around the forest

"What's the best part?" I asked her.

"You'll see Peyt. You'll love it." She promised me as she continued dragging me along. She came go a sudden stop and I had to catch myself to keep from falling in the creek that she led me to.

"Wow Tay, it looks amazing." I told her as I looked around. The creek look absolutely peaceful to me and beyond that was more forest that looked like heaven.

"How do we get over there?" I asked her. Taylor just smiled and ran over to an old rope that was tied to a tree branch above the creek. "Tay, that doesn't look safe at all."

"Peyt, trust me." Taylor said as she took hold of the rope and swung across safely. She threw the rope back over to me and I caught it nervously. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea but I took a deep breath and swung across. I almost forgot to touch down on the ground but Taylor caught me and helped me up.

"See, nothing bad happened." Taylor said with a small smirk as the two of us ran around over here. It was about the same as the other side but the different was it seemed more free over here because the creek separated us from everything else.


Fifteen

"I can't believe Jessica just had to be such a bitch." I told Taylor as we walked around our special place.

"It's because she's jealous of you Peyt." Taylor told me.

"Why would she be jealous?" I asked. Not like I had anything.

"Because didn't you notice that all the while she was trying to get Jordan's attention, he was looking at you." Jordan was the most popular senior at Salem High School, every girl wanted him and of course I was no exception.

"No he wasn't." I shook my head. "He can have any girl he wants."

"But he was looking at you Peyt. Wake up and take a look around. He's absolutely crazy about you." Taylor said with a smirk.

"Shut up Tay." I said, lightly pushing her.

"I'm serious Peyt." Taylor said. "You should try talking to him some day."

"I just can't." I shook my head as we climbed up to the tree house. Since we found it two years ago, we had completely decorated it with pictures of us and other things that made it our home.

"But why not?" Taylor asked as she laid down on the inflatable mattress we put up there.

"Because he's a senior and I'm only a sophomore." I told her as I grabbed a Diet Coke out of the box on the floor and took a seat beside her.

"That's two year difference, so what?" She asked.

"It's just not done, you know that." I said. "So can we please get off of the subject of Jordan Daniels?"

"Sorry hun." Taylor said, giving me a hug. "So do you wanna stay up here tonight?"

"We have school in the morning Tay. Besides, my parents will flip." I told her.

"Alright." Taylor sighed and together we walked down from the tree house and walked back to civilization.


Seventeen

I was sleeping peacefully in my bed when my phone decided that it was time to wake me up as it started ringing loudly beside my head.

"Sunva bitch." I muttered into my pillow as I reached out to answer it. "Hello?"

"Peyton." A male voice said.

"Who's this?" I asked grumpily. "And what time is it?"

"It's around eight thirty and it's Jordan." That had my full attention.

"Hi. How'd you get my number?" I asked him.

"I've been asking around for months but no one would give it to me." He confessed. "I ran into Taylor the other day and she gave it to me. Told me to give you a call."

"She did, huh?" I asked. It's been two years and Tay was still trying to get me to go out with him.

"Yeah. You don't mind, do you?" He asked.

"No of course not." I told him. "What's up?"

"Well I was wondering what you were doing today." Jordan told me.

"Nothing that I know of, why?" I asked.

"Figured you might want to go out with me today." Jordan said.

"Of course." I nodded.

"I'll pick you up in half an hour." Jordan said before hanging up. I jumped out of bed and instantly ran over to my closet, looking through it for something that Jordan would like me in. I decided on a pair of blue jeans, a black tank top, and Taylor's black hoodie that she let me borrow. I did my make up very light so it looked natural but you could still see it and brushed out my dirty blonde hair, letting it flow freely down my shoulders. I grabbed my phone and debated whether or not to call Tay this early and decided against it as I slipped on my black fallens and walked out the door just as Jordan pulled up in his blue Audi. I hopped into the passenger seat and buckled myself up as he pulled away.

"You look great Peyton." Jordan told me as he looked me over. I blushed under his gaze as I looked him over too. He was wearing black jeans, a black Disturbed T-shirt and a AFI hoodie resting beside him. His dark brown hair was hanging in his face and I could see his bright emerald green eyes shining in the early morning light.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I told him. We both laughed as he continued on driving. "So where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out when we get there." Jordan told me. "But I talked to Taylor and I figured that this would be the perfect place to take you."

"Well then I must trust your judgment if you talked to Tay." I told him as he continued. I started to grow nervous as we continued on our way. I didn't want to say something stupid or do anything stupid to him.

"We're here." Jordan told me as he stopped the car. I hopped out and looked up at our day's activity with a smile on my face.

"Go carts?" I asked happily, turning back to him.

"My dad owns the place." He told me. "He told me he'd close it down for as long as we wanted."

"This is so awesome." I said as we walked into the place and turned to him. "So you ready to get beat by a girl?"

"Oh I think you are dreaming young one, It will be I who will win." Jordan said with a smirk.

"Oh you wish." I said, playfully shoving him and running toward the carts. I put on my helmet and strapped myself in as Jordan did the same.

"Ready. Set. Go." Jordan and I both took off around the track, trying to gain the advantage over the other. We whipped around the course what felt like a thousand times before we decided to call it quits.

"I won." I said proudly as I got out of the cart and took my helmet on.

"You're a great racer. For a girl." Jordan said with a wink, making me roll my eyes.

"You're just mad that girls can totally kick your butt." I said with a smirk.

"Whatever you say." Jordan said rolling his eyes. He led me into the main building and over to the small ice cream parlor. He got us a big sundae to share and two spoons and led me over to a small private table near the back.

"This is so awesome Jordan." I told him as I took a bite of the sundae. "Thank you for asking me out today."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Peyton." Jordan said with a smile at me. By the time we finished the sundae, it was three in the afternoon. There was a sharp pain in my side and I started to feel sick.

"I should probably get back." I told him. "I still have homework to do."

"But it's Saturday." Jordan pouted.

"I know but I usually do homework Saturdays so I can hang out with Tay and relax on Sundays." I explained.

"Alright, I'll drive you home then." Jordan walked me out of the building and over to his Audi. He opened my door for me before jogging over to the other side and getting in. He started up the engine and drove off toward my house.

"This really was fun Jordan." I told him. He smiled over at me and took my hand in his. The rest of the ride, he made me laugh so hard, I had to remember to thank Tay for this. He stopped outside my house and I sighed. I didn't want to leave but I knew I had to get back into the house.

"I'll call you later." Jordan told me, taking my hand and kissing the back of it.

"You better." I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before getting out of the car and walking up to my house. I heard Jordan leave as I walked into the house

"Peyton. Peyton is that you?" I heard my mother call from the living room.

"Yeah it's me." I told her. As I walked into the living room, I was instantly swept into a hug.

"Thank god you're okay." My mother said, hugging me tight.

"Yeah, I'm okay but I kinda can't breathe right now." I told her. My mother was never this emotional; something was wrong.

"We thought you had died." My father said as he pulled me into his arms after my mother released me.

"Dead?" I asked, pulling back. "What do you mean?" Both of my parents looked down, avoiding my gaze. "What did I miss?"

"It's Taylor." My mother said.

"What about Tay?" I asked nervously. Again they avoided my gaze. "Tell me what the fuck is going on!"

"She drowned." My father finally said. "She was swinging across the creek on a rope and it broke. They think she hit her head." I felt the world spinning around me. There was no way that Tay was dead. Tay was like my twin, my other half. Then I remembered the pain that I had felt earlier. Was that my body telling me something was completely wrong, that my other half was dying.

"Peyton." My mother moved to hug me again but I backed away.

"You're lying." I muttered under my breath, shaking my head.

"Peyton, I'm sorry." my mother tried again. I just moved away from her again.

"Don't touch me." I said, my voice strong.

"Peyton." My father tried.

"She's not dead!" I yelled, running out of my house and down the street to Taylor's house, where there were cop cars outside. Outside beside the cop cars were Taylor's parents.

"Peyton." Taylor's mother started as she wrapped me into a hug.

"It's not true." I cried into her shoulder. "We had plans for today."

"It is true sweetheart." Her mother told me as she cried.

"No, it's not!" I yelled, pushing her away. I was pulled into a hug, this time by Taylor's cousin Dan. "Let me go!"

"Calm down." Dan whispered to me softly.

"She's fine. She's just asleep in her room!" I yelled trying to get out of his grasp.

"Peyton." Dan said firmly. I couldn't fight anymore and I broke down in his arms.

"I was supposed to hang out with her today." I told him. "It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault Peyton. Taylor wouldn't want you thinking like that." Dan said softly.

"But it is my fault Dan. I was supposed to be with her. When the rope broke, I would've been there to save her." I instantly felt extremely guilty. How could I have ditched Taylor for a guy. My other half for some kid I promised myself I would never see again.

"Peyton." I was shocked at the sound. I looked up to see Taylor but there was something different about her. Soon, everything faded away but Taylor and me.

"Tay?" I asked, my voice small and scared.

"This is your fault." Taylor accused. "You were supposed to be with me!"

"I'm sorry Tay. I'm really sorry." I cried.

"Sorry will never fix this Peyton." Taylor said coldly. "I'm dead because of you!"


I woke up in a cold sweat, my hair sticking out in all different angles. I tried to steady my breathing as the scene faded away and I found myself back in the guest bedroom of my Uncle Carter's house in Ipswich. After what had happened to Taylor a month earlier, I couldn't stay in Salem anymore. Everywhere I looked, I saw Taylor yelling at me, blaming me for what had happened and I knew that I had deserved it. I slowly got out of bed and walked over to my closet where I had a box containing all of Taylor's things that I had managed to sneak from her room. A bunch of pictures of the two of us, her iPod, a bear that I had bought her for her birthday two years earlier, notes that we had passed around in class, a necklace that I had made for her in second grade, and the bracelet I had made for her at camp in third grade. I couldn't help as the tears fell from my eyes. I missed Tay so much and I sometimes wished that I had gone with her; the scars on my wrist were proof of that. I closed the box and put it back in the far corner of the closet before shutting the door and walking back over to my bed.

"I'm sorry Tay." I cried silently into my pillow as I fell into a restless sleep.