• Chapter 1


    "Silence!!", he yelled. The fortress became quiet. All you could hear was the wind blowing and the rain beating on the weakened cover they had built.

    "This is it. Give it all you've got. All of you will be remembered..." The generals of both sides were attempting to give their troops a "pep-talk".

    Dawn came. The troops prepared themselves and went out to the feild.

    "Ready.... FIRE!!!"



    BAM!!



    The door slamed open.

    "Ah, Ms. Lovett. Nice of you to join us..", Mrs. Kowichi said glaring at Artemis.

    She gathered her books and went to her seat.

    "Over-slept again, didn't you?", Amara Alice asked her quietly.

    "I was up late writing. Give me a break, Ali...", Artemis muttered to her best friend.

    "Wow, you must still be tired...", Ali said under her breath.

    Artemis felt something lightly hit the back of her head. She turned around to see her other best friend, Chase Dukes. He was pointing to the floor behind her. Artemis looked down behind her to find a folded up piece of paper. She picked it up and unfolded the paper. It read, "Why were you late?"

    She sighed and wrote, "Over-slept, again..." and passed it back to him.

    He read it and mouthed, "Oh.."

    "Ahem!", Mrs. Kowichi said.

    She slamed a ruler on her desk.



    BAM!!



    Tatiana ran around the corner. She had been running for over fifteen minutes and her legs and lungs ached. She was breathless. She heard another crate smash into a billion pieces. She was glad she had entered an abandoned part of town. The innocent people who lived in the little town didn't need to see this monster.

    "Come out, you COWARD!!!!", the hunter shouted.

    She needed to get back to her grandmother's house. She needed something to drink. She knew she had to keep running and she had to lead the hunter away from her, ssend him on a false path...

    " There you are.." Tatiana turned around to see the man pointing a special kind of gun at her. She knew what it was- An anti-vampire gun. She had one in her pocket, but she never wanted to have to use it.

    All of the sudden, a crate fell on top of the man. He fell to the ground under the crate.

    Tatiana jumped back. Her face expression was completly shocked. He mouth was wide open.

    A young man jumped down from the building.He grabed her wrist. "Come with me! That won't keep him down for long...", he said, leading her down an alley.

    They entered an abandoned store.

    "Uhm, who are you? Where are we going?", Tatiana asked franticly.

    The boy pulled her into what would be an employee lounge, if it were still a store. He brushed his light brown hair out of his face. "I'm Oliver. This is. . . Well, my "hide-out" kind of. . .", he said.

    The room had a couch, a TV, and a fridge. Oliver sat down on the couch. His hazel eyes were twinkleing in the light.

    "Um. . . My name is Tatiana. What were you doing out there?" , she asked him.

    "I could ask you the same of you. . .", he said smirking.

    "Um. Thank you. But how did you find me? I mean, I thought I was alone. . .", Tatiana said, confused.

    "Oh, that guy has been causing trouble all over town for a while now. He must have found out you're a vampire. Do you want something to drink?" Oliver was acting very casual, as if they had been friends for a long time.

    Tatiana was shocked. "What would make you say that?", she asked nervously.

    He shrugged. "I could just tell." He went over to the fridge and got two bottles of water out. He tossed one to Tatiana. She caught it with ease.

    "So, where are your parents?", she asked opening the bottle and taking a sip.

    "My dad works in a shop downtown. I, haven't seen my mother in about four months. She is a spy and was sent on a mission in America. I talk to her every now and then but. . . It isn't the same as to see her everyday. . . ", he said, his voice sounding a little lifeles.

    "Oh, I'm sorry."

    He looked back over at her, smiling again. " So what about you?"

    " Oh, I travel Italy with my grandmother, She has a temporary job the big restraunt downtown.I haven't seen my birth parents ever. I was adopted and I haven't seen those parents in a while now. They live in America. My sister and brother go to school in Japan. " Tatiana didn't know why she was telling this stranger all of this.

    "Oh, well-" His cell phone started rang, interrupting him. He looked at his phone. "Oh, it's my dad." He answered it. "Hey dad........... No I'm...Out running around...........No I haven't gotten into trouble............Okay........Why don't you get Lil's help?......................Okay, okay. I'll be there A.S.A.P.......Bye..." He sighed and hung up. "My dad needs my help at his shop. You can come with me or I could help you get home, if you want. . ." His white T-shirt rid up a little, revealing his stomach a bit, when he stretched.

    "Um, I'll come help you out.", she said smiling. She turned around to face the door.

    "Uh, I don't want to take the chance of running into that guy again. . .", he said. Oliver moved a desk aside on a wall revealing a secret half door." This leads to a short cut to town" He grabbed his jacket. "You may want to put your hood up. . ."

    Tatiana walked over to the door and put the hood of her jacket up.

    They went through the door and started walking out to Oliver's father's shope.