“Arian!” I heard my mom yell from downstairs.

“What!?” I answered reluctantly, my eyes focused intensely on the laptop which was sitting idly on my desk.

  My family and I had recently moved here to the unusually cold town of Hym. The move was in accordance to my step mom’s remarriage, and reluctantly I was forced into leaving my dad back in the warm Carolinas. The court had ordered that my father’s home and wages were not nearly enough to support both of us.

            “Arian what are you waiting for!?” My step mom yelled back up the stairs. I sighed placing both of my hands on the sides of the desk, and pushing myself up. I strode irritably to the cracked door, lifting my black hood over my face as I left the dimmed room.

“Jenna what do you want!?” I yelled down into the kitchen, the voice seeming to echo through the living room which welcomed the last step of the staircase into it’s midst.

“Arain you need to get ready for school!” I growled returning to my room

“She could have just told me the first time…stupid woman.” I flipped the panel of the laptop down, nearly falling onto the unmade bed after tripping over my mountain of bundled clothes. “Where did it go…?” I said irritated.

Then closing my bedroom door, I picked up a pair of thick black shoes; setting them on the white top desk along with my black laptop, and pair of baggy black pants. It never took me long to get ready, ten minutes at most. My selection of clothes wasn’t hard to choose from either. Most of the attire was black, with the slightest hints of red. I didn’t wear my sweatshirt today just a long fitting sleeveless shirt, with a pair of black and white arm warmers.

___________

My father was a weak man, and I blamed him in a sense for my mother’s murder, and me coming here. I was the only one who knew besides my step mom and dad, the scheme behind the whole thing, but they never knew that I actually found out. A few years ago, my dad went out, I knew why. My mom thought that he was working a night shift, she was wrong. He was visiting the woman who was now my step mom. As heard over the phone, he was visiting a woman, nearly every night, and I hated it. I was so tempted to tell my mom, to spill everything, but the fact that this would break up my small family, scared me. He worried my mom and gradually she became suspicious. He caused her so much pain, and after the third time I saw her cry, I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her that night, but that night I never had time, that night, was the last time I saw her beautiful face unscathed and her black hair untouched by blood.

I slid my laptop into my bag, and within a few minutes had left the room and was quietly walking down the stairs. The black shoes; soundless against the carpet. “Arian are you ready? Peter started the car already!” She yelled from the kitchen, expecting me to be in my room.

 I answered her “I’m going to walk.” Suddenly Jenna turned around her long blond hair tied up in a bun “Oh, Dear, you scared me.” I calmly strode past her making my way to the door “Honey, don’t you want to eat first?” I glared back at her, my hazel eyes nearly covered by my dark red layered hair, which was nearly black.

(My mom had black hair, my dad; a bright red.)

 “I’m fine…” The sharpness in my voice silenced a new comment that seemed as it were about to bubble from her lips.

I opened the door, and that comment regretfully was able to escape her lips.

 “Arian, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Haven’t you heard about the people that keep disappearing, all of them were students? The last disappearance was just last week!” I ignored her, my step dad Pete, surprised to see me walk straight past his car which was now humming in the cool weather. The gray clouds matched my mood, today, but I guess nothing had changed, the town of Hym was constantly clouded, and rarely did the sun manage to beam through the thick array of clouds. 

That night when I was going to tell the truth to my mother, she was killed, the killer was in our living room, and I walked down stairs to see him holding her tightly her neck lifted to his mouth, blood dripping from his finger tips witch held her up from the ground. I still remembered her pale face, but the thing that bothered me the most. When the killer was captured, he was dragged away, I never heard of a court hearing or anything, the police wouldn’t spill a word, but I saw it…the two marks on my mom’s neck, I saw them first. Two shallow holes, licked clean of blood. From then the words stuck…it was a vampire.  Everyone thought I was crazy but I never doubted myself after that, I knew they existed…somewhere.

Things only got worse from there, my dad started drinking and smoking, and he continued to visit Jenna until he finally married her. They got married and over time, divorced again, I was taken from my father, to the woman, who doesn’t know that I knew her secret.

Finally I reached the sidewalk of the school, and for a moment, I merely lifted my head to stare at it. I lowered my gaze releasing a heavy sigh “I don’t feel like going.” Then I continued to goad myself to walk, right past the school grounds. “I might go tomorrow…?” I guessed carelessly, little did my parents know, I never really went to school. I usually ventured off to the markets and stores, and the occasional restaurant, but that was rare considering I didn’t have much money with me.

I walked quietly, completely unbothered by the fact that I skipped school…again. The sidewalk in the area was completely empty, and strangely so were the roads beside of it. A large smooth wooden fence was to my right, and rarely would I find that it dipped in, to form an alley. My day seemed normal so far, but as I was passing one of the alleys, a figure caught my eye, at the last moment. It was dark ominous figure, one that scared the heck out of me since I only got a fleeting glimpse of it. As soon as I passed it I threw myself back, into the mouth of the alley, making sure I was right. There was nothing there. I seemed to stare at the dead end for a moment, and a few minutes past until, I finally deemed myself crazy, and moved on. Since then I got the feeling I was being watched, and before long I could hear footsteps. I began to walk cautiously, glancing behind me to see that nothing was there. Calmly recollecting myself I turned back around and continued to walk towards the next dip in the fence. I never did shake the feeling I was being watched, and still the footsteps echoed in my ear, I waited and was beginning to clammy nerves, and I was nearly fully composed until they suddenly speed up into a run. I jumped at the sound of their pace, and without looking back, also darted forward, the weight of my laptop bearing down on my shoulder.

I ran and ran ignoring the black spaces that I continued to pass in the fence, until finally I passed my last alley.

I was only reaching its edge when a hand reached out from it and jerked me sideward, my yells instantly muffled out by their other hand. I struggled, and landed a hard kick to their shin, but it was too late, they had covered both my mouth and nose. I lost conciseness in a matter of seconds.