Chapter 2

I was sitting on my bed in my room on Saturday reading, when I noticed a slight burning in my chest. The burning slowly grew to a painful shock that wouldn't let up. I gasped, and pulled my shirt away to look at where the burning seemed to have originated. Right over one of the stab scars right in the center of my chest. The burning slowly spread to the rest of my body and than I heard a creak and looked up. Bright red eyes stared maliciously back at me. The man smiled in glee at my pain. Long sharp fangs poked over his bottom lip. I screamed.

And jerked up right in bed, breathing in gasps. I pressed my hand over the scar that had been burning, and looked to where I knew fang was. He was looking up at me curiously. I looked to where the man had been standing, but all that was there was a simple shadow. That abruptly moved, as if someone was moving. I screamed. Matt came running in, he turned my light on; Fang was on my bed and practically sitting on my lap in seconds.

"What's wrong?" Matt cried, coming over and sitting next to me. I started crying, I was so scared.

"Lexxi! What happened?" he asked putting his arms around me.

"He's back! I knew he would come looking for me!" I shouted, sobbing hysterically.

"Lexxi, Dad killed him, he can't be back. What would make you think that?" he asked rubbing soothing circles into my back.

"I saw him! He was right there!" I cried pointing to where I had seen him. Matt got up and went over to the spot and looked around.

"No one's been here, Lex. Maybe your mind's playing tricks on you." He said.

"I know what I saw. He was right there. He smiled at me. My chest was burning and he just smirked at me!" I urged. Matt raised an eyebrow.

"Lex, if he had been here Fang would have attacked him. Go back to bed, buddy. Your okay." He said walking out and turning my light back out.

Fang started growling almost immediately. I looked down at him and he was staring out my window. I followed his gaze and my heart stopped. Vivid red eyes stared back at me through the window. I clutched Fang to me. The eyes twinkled. There was a slight rustling and the red eyes were gone. I lay back down, pulling Fang down with me. I soon fell into a restless sleep. My back was to the window, so I didn't see the crystal blue looking in on me from outside.

When Monday rolled around I was exhausted, I hadn't slept at all Saturday night or Sunday night. I was too terrified. Those red eyes staring at me haunted me day and night.

"You look like crap."

I jumped and almost screamed. I turned around and there stood Achilles in all his handsome glory. Just the sight of him made me calm down almost immediately, I lunged forward and hugged him so tightly to me that I was sure I was cutting off his blood circulation.

"Are you okay?" he asked putting his hands on my shoulders and pulling me back a little.

"My past is coming to bite me in the rear." I shook my head. "You have no idea how terrified I am."

"I may not have an idea but I can listen if you want to talk." He said. I stared at him; he was different than he had been on Monday.

"Were you so talkative and friendly because you wanted to be my friend?" I asked, realization hitting my like a brick.

He smiled. "Yeah, I'm not usually that talkative and personally I like being alone. But when you walked in my pre-calc class, knew I had to be friends with you." He said guiltily.

"You want to get out of here? No ones seen us yet and I know a really nice place." He said.

"Yeah, let's go."

He took me to Siesta Key. He said since it was March, it was about the end of the tourist season so no one would be there. We walked the beach for a few minutes. Than found a quiet secluded spot and sat down. We watched the waves for a few moments than Achilles broke the silence.

"I'm quiet, a loner, I guess. My sister is a loner too. We mostly stick together. Everyone thinks we're freaks because we don't associate with anyone else. I like listening to Rock because you can't hear anything else when it's playing. My favorite color is navy. My favorite food is Fettuccini Alfredo. I'm from Athens. I don't speak any Greek though. I can speak Spanish and French, funny enough. And My parents died when I was 10 and my sister was 11." He said. Staring out at the Ocean. I was quiet, that was a lot to drink in. I guess my silence got to him because he looked at me. His blue eyes seemed to glow.

"How did they die?" I whispered. He sighed and looked out at the ocean again.

"We were living Athens at the time. We lived in the mountains though, so we were pretty secluded from everyone else. I remember hearing a stick crack and looking up and seeing a huge beast and yelling for mama and papa. They came running out and everything else happened in a blur. It seemed like I blinked and they were in shreds on the ground and the beast was gone." He said, as if he was trying to recall every detail. I touched his arm, and he looked at me.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. I couldn't rap my mind around anything that was happening today, and it was only 9 in the morning.

"Now you, I spilled my guts. It's only fair."

"What do you want to know?" I asked

"Start with that comment earlier. 'My past is coming to bite me in the rear'" he said

"My mom and dad were always a really secretive set. Almost every question I asked was answered with 'when your older you'll understand.' There was certain things that they made sure I knew though. I thought every kid's parents were weird like mine. But as time went on it started to dawn on me that no parents were at all like mine. Last year I was running on a trail near our house. Mom and dad had said specifically not to go out alone. They said there were dangerous creatures prowling around. I was about half a mile from home when something rammed into me and I hit a tree and the last thing I heard was a maniacal laugh. I woke up in the hospital Matt was there. Mom and dad's bodies had been found a few miles away from where I had been found. They had been torn to shreds." I said

"And now you think the person who killed them is out to finish the job?" he asked frowning.

"Yes, I swear I saw him outside my room Friday night." I said stiffly.

"Thats why your so tired and jumpy." He said, realization coloring his voice.

"Yes."

"I know I have no right to say this but," he took a deep breathe. "I won't let him hurt you."

I looked at him, really looked at him. I could see him protecting me. And I liked the image too much.

"I can see that." I said quietly.

He smiled, "Lets get out of here. I'm starving."