My heart was still beating fast, but I didn't know why. I don't think that we were in any real danger, the doctor was just helping us, and I doubt she was going to try to find out who we were: runaways from a group home for mentally disturbed teens (which was actually an experimental facility for genetically modified supernaturals). But now, going by that term, we couldn't trust anyone, not even the good guys.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" echoing Derek's words.

Yeah, it really did.

So we kept driving through the icey morning. I could tell it was morning now, the faint orange-ish glow of the sun rising behind the trees. Derek didn't say anything; neither did I.

We kept driving, and I wondered where we were going. I didn't want to ask him, he seemed so tired, like he was going to drop dead any second. And that isn't a good thing when you're driving on a high speed freeway. There were dark bags under his bright green eyes, still glistening with fever. I didn't really wanna bother him, but after a while, I grew impatient.

"Derek? Where are we going?"

He didn't say anything, or even look my way. I knew he heard me, so I waited for an answer. Finally, he spoke, but still didn't look my way, "Some store I found on the map, where we can get clothes, food and warm up a bit before we head out to find them, and put an end to this shit.". He said it with a tone of annoyance. I didn't blame him for being ticked off. After all, he had saved me, for the millionth time. And had his brother kidnapped, which was a problem enough.

Simon and Tori. They never really left my mind, thoughts of them jumbled up inside my head, incomprehensible. Were they really safe? What was Edison Group doing now? What are they planning? Did they find Rae? Had she turned against them? What about Aunt Lauren? Oh damn it, was she okay? So many questions, no little time.

I looked at Derek again. Man, he really needed some sleep. And I wouldn't mind a rest.

"You should sleep before-"

"No."

Ugh, he was so stubborn. And he was the one usually making the senseful decisions. I guess worry was overcrowding his head.

"Yes, you should. We're never going to get any where if you're this tired,"

"Who said I'm tired?"

Will he ever listen?

"Come on Derek, it's obvious. And I'm not dumb. I'm keen enough to observe and make rational decisions." I looked at him to make sure he was listening, and I couldn't tell, so I continued, " I say we find a place to rest before we leave. You don't look like you could go much farther." I knew he wanted to find his brother. And his Dad. Possibly Tori, but that was doubtful. I wanted to find them too, but we weren't going to have much success like this. "You know as well as I do that we'll never find them this way,"

He gave me one hard, piercing look, as if I insulted him, and nodded once. "Fine." he said through his teeth.

Who knew I could be so convincing?

After a while, I started to worry. If Derek was worried about them, our situation wasn't good, or worse than I thought. And he probably knew more about what is going on than I did.

"Derek?"

No answer.

"Derek?" I said in a louder voice.

"Yeah?" He said reluctantly.

"Are they gonna be okay?"

Again, no answer. What the hell is his freakin' problem? He was getting me pissed off. And if they weren't safe, then I had the right to know. But I really, really hoped they were okay.

"Derek!"

"What?!"

"Are they?!" I couldn't take it anymore. I was shaking, my eyes watering, but I quickly dried them before he noticed. I seriously needed to get myself together. If this was life I'd have to live for who knows how long, I needed to stand up and be a big girl.

To be my big girl....

I will Mom. I promise.

He sighed, "They should be okay for now. Edison Group won't do anything to them till they find me. Once they find out Liam is gone, they'll look for us, or me. They think you're dead." He added quickly, though I already knew. "Which could be an advantage to us. So we're really in more danger than they are."

He forced himself to believe that, but I could tell he didn't. Who knew what they were doing to them? Sure we were in danger, but we have no idea what they're planning, or what they've already done. I shuddered, and suddenly realized that we weren't moving.

Derek was staring out the window, thinking hard, sadness and weary in his eyes. A car started beeping, and the loud noise burst my eardrums. Derek jumped and hit the gas.


We got to the store which turned out to be another one of 24 hour supermarkets you find every couple exits or so. We walked in, and I instantly felt it.

Woah. The werewolf powers were really kicking in. I could smell everything. I could tell what each aisle contained. Cereals and breads to the far right. Juices and fruits to the left. Meats and dairy straight ahead. The deli somewhere nearby. Clothing and hardware left corner of the store. People had scents too, though there weren't many shoppers at this time. Mixed scents of perfume, sawdust (from construction workers finding a snack to munch on, supposedly), and other things I just couldn't put my finger on. It was completely .... amazing. And somewhat scary.

"Are you coming or are you just gonna stand there all day?" I jumped.

"Yeah, you got the money?" I asked.

"Yeah. I think...uh, wait." He looked through his sack. "Damn it, grabbed the wrong sack," he cursed under his breath, but I could hear it now, with my super hearing. Ok, this bionic stuff was kinda getting annoying. No matter how cool. Hearing almost everything within a half a mile? Cool. Smelling every odor or sweet scent within the same half a mile? Awesome. But I had a feeling it was going to annoy me.

"How can you stand it?" I said quietly.

"Stand what?"

"The scents, the sounds, it's cool, but it doesn't get annoying?"

"Wha-" He looked confused. "Oh,"

"You started - I mean your powers, er, whatever is-"

"Yeah," I said. He looked concerned, which was an improvement from this morning's grouchiness, but I didn't want to put any more worry on him. I was a burden enough, I had to admit. "I'm fine," I added quickly. " Listen, I'll go get the sack, and you go get what we need." I headed out the entrance. He looked like he was going to say something else, but I left before he could.

The sun was out now. The fuzzy warmth made the morning a grateful gift after that long, cold night. I smelled the early morning dew, refreshing and cool. I took a deep breath, taking all the goodness in and walked to the van.

I took out the keys from my pocket, and started to unlock the door when a strange scent filled my lungs. I paused. It was sweet and strong, but smelt something like rust and salt. Like someone sprayed the area with some crappy designer perfume. But this was like nothing I had ever smelled before. I heard a rustle and looked around.

Danger never leaves me, not for a second, always waiting to jump out and torture me with whatever it has in store.

I took another look around, and unlocked the door slowly, trying to ignore the fear burning inside of me. I reached for the sack, but my hand barely got there before I heard a loud groan, almost inhuman. It came from the forest. I focused my eyes, and saw a flash of white, then.....gone. I guess my super-sight didn't really work in the daytime then. How disappointing.

Stupidly enough, I walked away from the van and towards the place where I saw the flash of white. I was scared, yes, and shaking too, but my curiosity overcame my common

sense. And I didn't stop to think what the rest of the saying went. "Curiosity killed the cat"

Curiosity killed me. Ha.

But I'll stick to my promise. And as I thought about Mom, I felt safer, and I stopped shaking.

The closer I got, the stronger the scent became. I kept walking, and kept at it until I saw it.

It was a human, extremely pale, but normal looking. He was a man, leaning over a dark figure, shadowed by the trees. He had short brown hair, and looked so dark in contrast with his pale skin. I took another step forward, and the dry leaves rustled making an audible sound. The man turned, and I ran behind a tree, just around ten feet away from him. The strong, strangely sweet smell, now stronger, was making me dizzy, and I swayed a bit before I regained my balance. I peaked behind a branch, and saw his face.

I screamed and ran for my life. I ran, and I didn't care where I went, I just needed to get away. Big girl, big girl! I tole myself.

SHUT UP! I shouted back at my inner voice.

I had to get out of here. ASAP. NOW! The man's eyes were red. Red. R-e-d. And in my book, that was nowhere near normal. His lips, dripping with blood, black rimmed eyes like goth people who overdo their eyeliner, and perfect white teeth (which shouldn't scare me, but now, anything would).

I kept running, faster than I've ever ran, feeling my legs stronger and sprinting to safety. I hit something hard, and fell on the concrete parking lot, pain blasting in my head. Did I always have to run into him?

"Chloe? I had extra money in my pocket, so I just...." Derek said, but I could hardly hear him. I was still in a state of shock. Shock wouldn't even cover it. "Chloe what's wrong?"

"Chloe!?" I was still shaking. He dropped the bags and knelt down so that his face was inches from mine.

"Chloe? Oh man, you're bleeding." He touched my forehead and I saw the bright red liquid on his fingers. "What happened? What's wrong? What happened to you, Chloe?" I opened my mouth, then closed it, finding no words. "Geez Chloe, you're shaking like hell. What happened?"

"N-n-no-o t-tim-me. H-have t-t-o get out-t of here-e-" I managed to choke out. I shot up and ran to the van in odd, shaky movements. He ran after me, leaving the bags where he dropped them.

"Chloe, you tell me what's going on right now!" He paused and caught a scent, "What is that?" He asked in wonder.

What was I supposed to say? Some weird dude with black rimmed red eyes was drinking blood from whatever poor creature he was leaning over? No, I knew what the man was. I wasn't stupid. And neither was Derek.

In the past month, I have learned that strange, supernatural.... things exist in our world, hidden in secret, away from anything normal.* There were ghosts, people like me who could see them, sorcerers and witches, all sorts of demons, and werewolves. And now, another vile and disturbingly frightening edition has been made to that list. One that I was reluctant to add.

Vampires.

Could things get any worse?

"Chloe, for the last time, what the heck happened?!"

*** Sorry I hadn't updated in a while, it was examination month, and well, you know. Anywayz hope you didn't lose interest, cuz what you guys think means a lot to me. Hope you liked the twist, I just had to add vampires. :) Let me know what you think!***