Chapter 2

Something was hurting me. I slowly became aware of it, an annoying persistent pain on my arm. It brought me back to consciousness and sent alarm bells from all of my nerves into my slow moving brain. In the span of seconds the pain intensified until it was burning like fire. My eyes shot open and I looked down to see nothing but a shaft of sunlight shining through a crack in the curtains.

I yanked my arm back into the shadows and brought it closer to my face. It was red, like I had been out in the sun for hours and hours slathered in oil. It looked like a severe sunburn but how could that be? And where was I? The room wasn't familiar. It was small with one window, the one that was letting in the light, which was now blinding me. I squinted my eyes against it and tried to look around.

The curtain fluttered and for the first time I noticed that someone had been standing there holding it open. "JESSE?!" I shot up, the pain in my arm forgotten. "What the fuck?" I blinked but he was still there, creeping in the shadows by the window.

"Finally! You're awake." He pushed the curtain so it completely blocked the light and started across the room.

I sniffed recognizing all sorts of scents. Traces of dirty laundry made my nose crinkle in distaste but it was the smell of Jesse's icky cologne that really got to me. It seemed so strong, like it was actually on me. I couldn't erase it. "Is this your room?!" I looked down at the bed and saw blue plaid sheets. It definitely wasn't my room judging by the smells and the decor. I lifted up a pillow which was covered by a Spiderman pillow case and tossed it aside.

Jesse.

"What the hell is going on?" This was all too much even for me "We didn't?!" I shuddered at the thought of having slept with him. It wasn't his looks. He was cute and he was kind of sweet, but he was Beca's puppy dog and therefore not fling material.

"No, no," he said, eyes wide. "We didn't. No. Absolutely not. I wouldn't do that to-. No." He paused a second and I just stared at him because he was being super weird. That wasn't new for him, he was always a little jumpy, but still, nothing about this made sense. "Wait," he said, gathering himself. "What do you remember about last night?"

I pursed my lips and raised an eyebrow. "Well, first of all, you don't have to sound so against the idea." His face suddenly turned a dark shade of red and I couldn't help myself laughing. But there was something off about me. I felt kind of sick or something and that burn was starting to really itch.

"No, Chloe, seriously. I need you to tell me what you remember."

"Were you watching me?"

"Of course I wasn't- Why would you even ask that?" He turned towards the window and looked out but I noticed that when he tried to touch the sill where the light shone he jerked his hand away fast. It was strange and not like him.

"What's wrong with your hand?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "And anyway, I asked you a question, remember," he seemed upset with me. Or worried.

"Okay, you're being really weird Jesse. I don't even know how I got here."

"So, you don't remember?"

"Not really." Or, wait… Did I?

It was all a little murky, like fog was inhabiting every corner of my brain. Little pieces, images and snippets of sound, funneled back to me. Darkness with neon laser lights flashing. "I was at the club!" A smile crept onto my face and I felt kind of accomplished but that soon went away. "There was a guy." I stopped talking and idly scratched my arm where it hurt while Jesse stared down at me.

"And?"

His impatience was starting to get on my nerves. "Calm down. I'm trying to remember." I sniffed and scooted to the edge of the bed. My head felt weird and kind of heavy and I could hear weird, faint, noises in the distance. He sighed heavily and crossed his arms, tapping a finger on his arm. The sound of it was somehow so loud. It felt like it was happening inside of me and then I realized that I shouldn't be hearing it. I let out a breath and realized that I'd been holding it for far longer than I thought. My hands went to my ears and I shrank into myself.

"He was behind me." I whispered the words. "And I thought he was going to…" I looked up and saw pity reflected back at me.

"He did it to me too," Jesse said.

"What?" I clamored up and started toward him. "What did he do to me?!" I needed to know. I fingered the spot on my neck where I'd been bitten. There was nothing there. Was it a dream? Was this a dream? "Answer me!"

Jesse said nothing and we stood frozen for a moment until he walked to the chair in the corner and collapsed into it like a rag doll. "I'm not sure." He gave me a haunted look. "I think he turned us into…"

"INTO WHAT?"

I wanted to shake him. None of this made sense and all I could feel was rage building inside of me. It was unfamiliar but somehow satisfying. It filled me with strength and confidence. Not the kind I usually had. That was just knowing that I am awesome. This was something else. I felt like I could bend the world with my hands.

"Vampires."

There, with one word he completely took it all away. Deflated, I fell back onto the bed, sitting just on the edge again. "That's stupid." I shook my head and waved a hand. "No that's crazy." Vampires don't exist, except on TV, and then they're hot teenagers who are actually hundreds of years old. "I can't be a… vampire." Could I? Everything in me from top to bottom hummed with energy.

I looked up at him again, biting my lip and then releasing it. "Are you screwing with me?" I looked around to make sure no one was going to pop out and yell "GOTCHA". He just looked back at me frowning. "Did Beca put you up to this?" I knew it wasn't Aubrey. She'd never do anything as silly as this.

"It's not a joke, Chloe."

"The hell it isn't." It was starting to look like this was real, like I wasn't just going to wake up again and everything would be normal. "Where are they?" I got up and paced the room, looking for places for people to hide. "Beca? If you're in here you better come out, right now!"

"She's not here." He rolled his eyes. "I wish she was." The sadness in his voice stopped me in my tracks.

Nervously, I looked to the closet and then the bathroom. When I looked back at Jesse I could tell for once that he was being serious.

"Wh… What does this mean?"

"I don't even know," Jesse said, defeated.

"But if this happened to you when did it happen?" I asked. I stood before him looking down. "And how-how do you know we're…" I didn't even want to say it again. All I could think was Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be.

I had no strength. I was drained and so was he.

That man, he...

"He drank us," I said.

Jesse raised his head to stare up at me blankly.

"It's just like a horror movie," he said.

"I know," I said back. But I couldn't stop myself from feeling insane. I was talking for no reason. We needed to speak but neither of us could even muster up strength. And then there was that burn on my arm.

"Wait," I said. "So if we're vampires that means-" My eyes shot open as I rushed to the window and pulled the curtain open to let in all the light.

"WHOA!" Jesse said, springing up and pulling me back from the blast of sun. I felt his hands grip my arms and pull me back right as the sun hit my skin. He tried but he wasn't quick enough. I felt the rays cover me hot all over like a flaming blanket.

I screamed as he pulled me away and quickly shut the curtain.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" He yelled. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

I was too stunned to respond. He never really got angry, at least not that I had seen. And Beca never said...

"The sun," I said. At first it burned but that didn't last. Instead, it made me dizzy… All of a sudden I was unbelievably tired.

"There are ways," he said, calming once he could see that I was recovering. "Ways to cover yourself up and make it so you don't pass out but unless, unless..." He stopped speaking and I suddenly knew.

"Jesse?" I asked. It was too much to take in. The sun had literally drained me of my will.

"You need blood," he said.

"What?" I felt myself laugh.

"It's not funny Chloe, we're monsters."

"We're not," I laughed.

Somehow life had returned to my body since I was back in the shade. I was weak but not dead. At least, I didn't feel dead.

"I honestly don't see how you can be laughing about this," he said, sitting back down in his chair and holding his face in his hands.

I thought about getting up to comfort him but I knew my body wasn't strong enough right now to try and really move.

"We'll be okay Jesse," I said.

"How?" He scoffed, unable to laugh. His spirit was gone. He wasn't the same boy I knew. He definitely wasn't the boy that Beca fell for. Jesse was troubled, hurt. He had nowhere to run and now we were in it together.

"He was strong," I reminded. "All we have to do is find him." I was right. I was hopeful. It wasn't much but it was something we could do for ourselves. Right now we just needed a goal, we both did.

When Jesse looked up at me he seemed to see something in me he had never seen before.

"What?" I asked queerly.

"Beca was right about you," he said.

When he cracked a half smile I knew that whatever Beca had said about me it was a good thing. Something about me cheered him up and for that I was happy.

"Thanks," I said. I didn't have to know her exact words. Curiosity was beginning to creep in and eat at me though, just in this new mystery.

I sensed something then. It's hard to explain. I felt a tingling and two seconds after that my phone lit up and I had to squint to see the name as noise came loudly out of the phone speakers and disrupted whatever calm I had been feeling up until then.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's Aubrey," I said. Of course it was Aubrey. She'd be worried, I never came home…