Chapter 1: Wreak

Woods
“Great.” I said under my breath. This is
what? the fourth time this week I’ve
gotten in a fight with my dad and ended
up here. I looked around. Everything about
Wreak Woods felt wrong, however, I’d be
walking or driving with something like ‘me
and my dad fighting’, to ‘Failing my
algebra test’ and without paying attention,
I’d end up right here sitting on this fallen
tree.
I reached up and grabbed a twig out of
my long dark hair. I’m not the most
beautiful seventeen year-old girl in
Harwood but I’m decent. I have long dark
brown hair that lenghthens to just above
my waist, and emerald green eyes. I have
medium tan skin, and I’m about 5'6 and
not fat, but not too skinny either.
At that thought, I saw something move
out of the corner of my eye. I jumped off
the tree and spun around so fast I got
dizzy and almost fell over. As soon as
everything steadied I asked the open air
“Who’s there?” When nothing happened I
turned around to walk to my car and froze.
There, standing not 15 feet from me was
the most beautiful animal I have ever
seen. The dog stood as high as my waist,
if not higher. It had a thick coat of snow
white fur, and its eyes… I gasped so loud
the dog flinched. Its eyes were so
beautiful, sky blue so light it was almost a
shade of white.
I was contemplating if I should walk up
to it or turn and run. Then I had a thought
“here, puppy.” I said in a cheerful voice. It
cocked its head at me as if my reaction
was a surprise to it. It turned its head to
look at the ground so I took a step
forward. It snapped its head up so fast it
was a blur and it growled a low rumble
from the pit of its stomach forcing me to
back up a few steps unconsciously. That
few steps made the growling stop and it
looked at my feet. I looked down then
back up slowly when my eyes reached its
face I giggled a little to see the wolfish
grin it put on.
I felt relived that I was right, and it
wasn’t a wild dog. I mean a wild dog’s fur
wouldn’t look so white and smooth; it
would be all dirty and matted. So I sat
down on the twigs and rocks beneath me.
It was uncomfortable but I’d stand up
when the dog came closer. I reached out
and whistled for it to come. It hesitated
then approached slowly. The way it walked
was completely man like so I assumed it
was a guy. I was almost touching him
when a wolf howled. The beautiful dog in
front of me looked towards the sound then
back at me with a sad face. Before I knew
what was happening he was running
towards where the howl came from.

Chapter 2: The
Accident
When I walked through the front door, I
found my dad sitting on the sofa with his
head in his hands. I closed the front door
and he looked up at me with red rimmed
eyes. It was silent for a moment but he
broke it by saying,”Hey, Zianna…? I just
want you to know that I didn’t mean to
snap like that I’ve just had to deal with a
lot this past year and having you back just
gives me someone to be mad at.” That
‘alot to think about’ he’s referring to
means the accident. About a year ago my
mother and eleven year-old brother got in
a car accident and ended up crashing
through the blockers of the bridge into the
Alden Lake and drowning. His grieving is
where he lays in bed and cries or stares at
the ceiling so I ended up with my uncle
mike for that year and a lot happened in
that time, but I will get into it later. But
instead of bringing it up and starting the
fight that led me to Wreak Woods, again I
said in a lazy voice “you know damn well
that I hate my name. I told you to call me
Zee.” That must have been the right
answer because he straightened his back
and laughed. “I love your name and it is
your name legally, so I will call you Zianna
whether you like it or not.” I hesitated
then said “okay. But if you say that around
my friends I won’t talk to you for a month!
Deal?” he said “no promises. Your moth-“I
cut him off “um, dad, do you think we can
talk later? Its late and I have school
tomorrow.” “Yea, sure, night honey.” He
said in a soft voice. I was glad I didn’t
have to talk to him about mom so I simply
said “night, dad.” And stocked off towards
my room.
When I walked through the door to my
room, I headed straight to my closet for a
pair of sweats an old T-shirt, a pair of
underwear and a sports bra. With the
clothes I headed toward the bathroom. I
turned the water on hot and went to the
hall closet for a towel. When I got back to
the bathroom the mirror was already
filmed over with steam so I put the towel
over my clean clothes and got in the hot
water of the shower.
When I stepped out and wrapped my
towel around me I reached up and wiped
the steam off the mirror with my hand that
wasn’t holding the towel up and looked at
myself. My eyes automatically focused on
my birthmark. It was on the hollow right
underneath my ear, a spiral with two lines
through the middle, but it looked more like
a scar than a birthmark to me. I sighed,
brushed the hair out of my eyes, yawned,
and then went to my room.
It was 11:30 p.m. when I finally started
to doze off. Usually when I dream, it’s
about something I’ve seen happen to
someone, only where it happens to me.
Only when I started dreaming, it wasn’t
familiar at all. I was in a car. I was in my
mother’s car.

Chapter 3:
Nightmare
I know I am dreaming and I can’t
handle seeing this, but when I tried to
wake myself up, I couldn’t.
Then I heard him. “Mom, I hate this
song. Can I change it?” it was my Nicky!
My baby brother, Nick Joseph Anthony.
Then came my mothers voice, only I came
from my mouth “Sure, honey” then I saw
him. I wanted to cry. He was dancing in
the passenger’s seat. “Maybe you could
do dance when the new school year
com-“everything after that happened so
fast that I barely noticed that some idiot
ran through the traffic.
First we-we being me and my mom-
heard the screeching of the car tires in
front of us. We slammed our foot on the
brakes but that only slowed us. We jerked
the steering wheel to the right trying not
to hit the car in front of us, but instead we
went through the railing on the bridge and
luckily got stuck on one of the pillars. Then
it was black.
I don’t know how long we were out but
when we woke up we were falling.
We hit the water hard and three windows
and the windshield shattered. Water came
rushing in and we looked at the seat next
to us. “Nick!?” it came out raspy but
managed the next words before we were
overcome by water. “Where are you!?” he
wasn’t there. Then we had hope. Maybe
he got out. Maybe he’s okay.
There was no air left. We held our
breath as long as we could. When we
couldn’t any more we were gasping for air
we knew we weren’t going to get. Water
began rushing to our lungs. As the edges
of the dream started to fade black, we
looked up towards the back of the car.
There he was, the gorgeous blue eyes
staring back at us and the snow white fur
blowing in the wind. Then, I woke up.
Sitting straight up in my bed I began
balling. I had a million questions going
through my head, like; where was my
brother? The police said they drown
meaning both my mom and Nicky. Maybe
he got away, but if he did why hadn’t he
come home? NO! I can’t get my hopes up.
What if someone took him? What if they
just took him to hurt him? My head was
starting to pound, I need to stop crying
and get ready for school. I got out of bed
and went to get my clothes.
As I was putting on my sweater, a
picture of the beautiful dog went through
my mind. Why can’t I just forget him? Why
do I have this feeling he’s important?
Just then my stomach growled. “ugh.” I
said to myself. I didn’t realize how hungry I
was. I went to the kitchen to find a note
from dad that said:
Hey, Zianna. I’m gonna be working late
tonight. I put leftover lasagna in the fridge,
and there’s also snacks and stuff around the
kitchen. You can have friends over tonight so
 you’re not alone. I have my cell phone for
emergencies
Love,
Dad
I sighed. Yea my dad doesn’t have to
worry about me throwing a wild party. I
only have a total of three good friends
anyway. Emmery Anne, Stevie Rae, Kyle
Masen. I grabbed my bagel from the
toaster, and headed to the door.
 Chapter 4:
Regret
I opened the front door to walk to my
car, and something hit me square in the
chest. It sent me flying backwards, and
when I opened my eyes everything was
blurry. I sat up and saw what hit me, a
football sitting by the front door, and here
he comes. “Theo, what the hell!” I said in
an angry voice. “Oh god, Zee are you
okay?” Theo said while trying to stop
laughing. “Yeah, no thanks to you. Just tell
the room to stop spinning.”
I know I said I only had three friends
but Theo wasn’t a friend. He was a
nuisance. Oh and also an ex (my only ex).
We have been neighbors since I was three.
 We started dating when I was sixteen.
It lasted almost the entire time I stayed
with uncle mike, but we broke up because
I found him necking with one of my uncle’s
workers. Theo’s laugh interrupted my train
of thought. “Oh suck it up and quit being a
baby.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me
up. His touch made me shiver. I forgot how
cold his skin was. He laughed when he
noticed me shiver, and said “it’s not that
cold outside.” Ha he thought he was funny.
Not. “No shit, Sherlock” I said sarcastically.
I looked passed him and noticed his friend
standing at the end of my driveway”You
don’t want to keep your minion waiting.”
Only after I said it did I notice that it came
out as a growl. He noticed too because
right after I said it he let go of my hand,
and I fell right on my rear end…again.
“Yeah, I guess I don’t. See you at school
Zee.” He seemed a little sad, but I didn’t
care. I was more than a little sad when I
found him giving a hickey to another girl.
“Yeah. Whatever.” I snapped. I got up and
walked to my car.
When I got to school my three friend
were waiting by the front office for me.
Emmery was wearing a blue jean mini
skirt and a white tank top with red flip
flops. Her black hair was pulled in to a
ponytail on top of her head. Stevie Rae
was wearing a white shirt with blue letters
that read “HOLLISTER” a red jacket, blue
jean mini shorts and black high top
Converse. Her auburn hair was French
braided down the back of her head. Kyle
was wearing a tight light pink shirt and
skinny jeans and low rim Converse. His
long blond hair rested on his shoulders.
Which makes since because he’s literally
gay. As I walked up I said “Hey guy what’s
up.” Just as I finished my sentence, the
office door swung open and a guy that I
haven’t seen around before came out.
He’s about 6’3 and wore vans with a pair
of skinny jeans and a green shirt not to
tight but tight enough to show his
muscles. He had light brown hair that
went to his chin. He had a light tan. He
looked at me and I froze. Those eyes.
Where have I seen them?
 Chapter 5:
Familiar
Stranger
My lungs felt like they were falling off
and I felt dizzy. I let out a breath I hadn’t
realized I was holding. I’m guessing he
noticed my dilemma because he turned
and headed my way. When he reached
me, he smiled a familiar smile and said
“Do you know a-“he paused and looked
and a ripped piece of paper”-Rebecka
Anthony? The lady at the front desk told
me to find her.” It took me a few seconds
to answer but finally I said simply “Yes,
that’s me. I’m Rebecka Anthony, and you
are?” “I’m Dylan Thompson. Do you mind
showing me to my classes? I don’t know
where anything is at this school and the
lady at the counter said you’d be the best
person to show me around.” “Um. Yea,
sure, just let me tell my friends I will meet
up with them later and then ill be right
back.” “Okay. Ill be here” he said with a
smile. I held up finger and walked around
him over to my friends. He seemed really
sweet, and gorgeous, and funny, and wow,
did I say gorgeous? When I came out of
my day dream, all three of my friends
where standing there in front of me, their
jaws touching the ground (Metaphorically
of course). Before I said anything Kyle
said”Damn that boy is one fine piece of
meat!” Right then Emmery and Stevie Rae
said at the same time “Uh-Huh!” Then
they all started laughing. I felt the blood
rush to my cheeks. “Hey, do you guys
mind if I just meet up with you at lunch
today? That ‘piece of meat’s’ name is
Dylan and he needs someone to show him
around campus.” I barely finished my
sentence when all three of them said at
the same time “OKAY!” and ran away from
me.
As I turned around to walk back to
Dylan, I ran into something and braced
myself for the hard impact of the concrete,
but instead I fell into soft, warm arms.
When I looked up I saw Jake smiling at me.
I stared at his remarkably perfect face and
finally choked out “God your eyes are
beautiful!” Why in the world did I just say
that? I thought as I slapped myself on the
forehead. “Thanks I get that a lot” he said.
OH MY GOD, I know where I’ve seen those
eyes before! The dog in the Wreak Woods.
“Why do you have that look on your face?”
he asked pulling me out of my train
thought, and pulling me closer to his
chest. I felt overwhelmed. “Oh! Sorry. I
was just thinking that I’ve seen eyes like
yours once before now.” he had a troubled
look on his face and he said “Really?
Where was that?” I hesitated, I didn’t
know how to put it so I just blurted out
“On a stray dog that I saw in the Wreak
Woods, and I know that sounds bad but it
isn’t.” he laughed once without humor,
and then said” Should I take that as a
complement?” “Yes you definitely should.
If you saw the dog you would know why.”
He had put on a grin and said “Is that so?”
I smiled and blushed at the way he said it
and looked away. Then I noticed two
things: One, I was in his arms and pressed
against his chest still. Two everyone was
gone except me and Dylan. As I looked
back at him I guess he realized the same
thing because, he shot up and pulled me
with him.
 Chapter 6: The
Loss
I had no idea where we were going so I
asked “What happened to me showing you
where you’re classes are?” He laughed
and said “It’s a little late for that don’t you
think?” I felt the blood rush to my cheeks
so I looked away. He noticed and said” So
you’ve never skipped class before, have
you?” We were still walking but I didn’t
pay much attention to where we were
going, I just looked at him and said “No,
but you really shouldn’t skip on your first
day, it gives you a bad reputation.” I said
in a matter-of-fact voice. “I think I can
manage.” He replied with a gorgeous
smile.” So what brought you to Harwood?”
I asked. His face fell and he answered in a
sad voice” Um, my dad just past away and
my mom wanted to get away from all
memories so we moved here.” “Why did
you move here out of all the places in the
world to move?” “Well like I said my mom
wants to get away from every memory so
we moved here. It’s completely different
than New York here so it helps a lot.”
We walked and talked for hours and
neither of us kept track of time. It started
to get dark outside so Dylan walked me
home. When we got to the door I asked
him” Can you stay with me until my dad
get’s home?” I pleaded “Um, sure. Can I
use your phone?” I smiled and replied
“Yeah.”
We talked for a long time, to where we
knew almost everything about each other.
I found out that his dad died in a robbery
in New York, he was a banker and when
the robbers broke in they shot him. By the
time the doctors got to him he lost too
much blood and died. The subject hurt him
to talk about so I changed it and learned
his favorite color which is blue, how old he
is which is eighteen.
After a while we got hungry so I
ordered pizza. Fifteen minutes before the
pizza was supposed to be here the door
bell rang “That was fast.” I said surprised.
I looked over at Dylan and he was
frightening. His hands were balled up and
he was sitting up straight and perfectly
still with a stern look on his face. “If you
didn’t want pizza we didn’t have to order
it.” “It’s not the pizza. Just get the door.”
I walked to the, door opened it and there
he was.
 Chapter 7:
Confessions
Theo was there, he looked bewildered;
his hands in fist, he was shaking, and his
teeth were clenched. When he looked up
and met my confused gaze, I looked away
to see Dylan standing next to me. He
looked ferocious; his hands were balled
up, he was gritting his teeth, and he was
shaking like a mad man(and thats an
understatement). "Do you know each
other? What’s wrong with you two?” Theo
was the one who answered me "Can to
talk to you its urgent.” He looked and
sounded like he was pleading. “Um, yeah
hold on.” I turned to Dylan and asked” Hey
do you mind if I talk to Theo for a seco-”
"Yeah, whatever.” He snapped. Theo
grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the
house.
I pulled my hand away and closed the
door to give us some privacy. “What do
you want Theo?” I asked sourly.
“I need you to promise me that you won’t
scream and run. I’m not supposed to tell
you this so don’t tell anyone and please
don’t hate me. Do you promise?” “Yeah I
promise, now what are you talking about?
Why would I scream and run?” “Well you
know how you think I cheated on you…
well I didn’t. I wasn’t making out with
her…” ”Then what were you doing? A
dare?” I interrupted “No, I was… eating.”
WTF!?!?!. Was my ex boyfriend a
cannibal? The word hurt to think of. “Are
you a cannibal or something?” My voice
broke on the last word. “No, of course not!
I’m a… I’m a…” “You’re a what!?” I said
impatiently.” I-I-I’m a v-v-vampire.” I
couldn’t hold it in. It bursted out. “Ha ha
ha.” “You think this is funny?” “Yeah!” His
face was upset, and shocked. “That’s a
joke right?” “NO! This is nothing to joke
about Zee! I’m serious, I’m a vampire.” “I
don’t think this is funny anymore.” I didn’t
understand. Was he serious? “There never
anything funny about this. Why don’t you
believe me?” “Because vampires don’t
exist!” “Just like werewolves don’t exist,
right?” “What are you saying?” “Your
boyfriend in there. Why don’t you ask him
about it? Huh? Why dont you?” “Dylan is
not a werewolf.” “Oh. Is that his name
‘Dylan’?” Dylan opened the door and said
through his teeth “Don’t bring me into this
Bloodsucker.” “SHUT UP, MUTT!” Theo
shouted.