Chapter 1

10:30pm…….10:31pm…….10:32pm…….

“Jonathan, hurry up” I shouted over the noise of screaming people and crying children who were running home, I was standing in front of Jonathan’s grandma’s coffee shop which was in the town centre and in the heart of the town stood a massive clock tower, kind of like London’s big Ben. It was a big reminder to everyone that once it was eleven, no human was safe. 10:35pm. Hopping from one foot to the other, I peered through the glass window to see what was taking Jonathan so long. He was still putting away boxes. Obviously taking his time. I thought to myself.

“Jonathan, you can stack boxes tomorrow, when were, you know, NOT DEAD!” I shouted even louder. Finally he finished putting all the boxes away, came out side with a key in his hand and locked the front door. When he turned to face me, he had a grin on his face.

“Took you long enough” I said. But couldn't stop the smile that was creeping on my face. That was one of the things that made Jonathan my best friend. Every time he smiled, I couldn't help but smile too. Then I remembered. Vampires, 11:00pm, Blood hunt, RUN!

“S**t!” I whispered, we had to get back to the dorm otherwise were dinner. And with this crowd of people and the sun not on our side, it didn't necessarily make that easy.

“Yer” Jonathan whispered back to me, almost as though he could read my mind. He grabbed my hand and we began to run, blending in with the crowd of panicking people. 10:40pm. Rounding around a corner that led to a dark ally. We stopped for breath. Our dorm entrance, well the back door entrance, was only just a few blocks away. All easy right. That was until Jonathan tugged on my hand, and I could now see what he saw. A vampire, well what looked like a vampire. Holding the back door entrance to our dorm open. For us. I could see the smirk on his face under the only street lamp that was working. I didn't understand what he was happy about until I glanced down at my too expensive birthday watch that Jonathan gave me when I turned sixteen. 

It was 10:56pm. O oh. I thought and Jonathan whispered.

“O oh is right, young ones. Well” he said, purring the word at us. “You better run. I believe the time is…. 10:57.” The vampire said. His voice sweet and innocent. However his eyes said a different story.

Dangerous. Defiantly dangerous. We began to run. 10:58.We could make it. We could really make it. Jonathan was through the door first, not sparing a glance at the vampire. I was about to make it through the door when a cold hand closed around my wrist. I turned to face this vampire, with an angelic face and pitch black hair, with streaks of dark blue. He turned my wrist around so he could see my watch.

“10:59:36pm” he sighed. Looking up at me. I could see what colour his eyes were. Not red like the other blood thirsty vampires, but a cool, ocean blue. What is he? .He pulled me close, “until next time my dear” he whispered, the words rolling off his tong. And suddenly he was gone. No puff of white smoke, or that sparkly, fairy dust rubbish. Just here one minute and gone the next. He just. Disappeared. Defiantly not a vampire.

Quickly closing and locking the door behind me, I ran down the hallway towards the orange, bright, light in the living room. The minute I walked in there Jonathan grabbed me and started looking at my hand.

“Jonathan, what are you doing?!” I said, pulling my hand away.

“Sorry, I just had to make sure you weren't fanged” he replied, looking at my neck now.

“I’m fine” I said. Over his shoulder I could see all the kids that also lived in our dorm.  There were 7 dorms in Ghost Town. I, Jonathan and the ten other kids that lived in our dorm were, Josephina, Lilly, Doran, Stanley, Beth, who was carrying a baby called Edward, Jev, Caspar, Summer and Scott. We lived in the Stadfell dorm. We were known as the quiet ones. The ones who followed the rules, kept out of trouble, kept their heads down. There was also the wellener dorm, the Black Dawn, the Bitter Rose, the Ferdale, the White Wave and the Red Rifle, who were the complete opposite from us. They liked to make trouble, even if it was in small ways like not answering a vampire when he asks you a question, or littering. Their motto was, ‘if you’re gonna go down might as well go down in history.’ They were also the ones who liked to stay out after curfew and as a consequence were killed during the blood hunt. The blood hunt happened every day from 11:00pm till 2:00 am. Everyone had to lock their door once it was 11:00pm, if you didn't you’d be punished. This was because once it was 11:00pm, anyone outside can legally be killed by a vampire. Even if it was 11:01pm, you’re a goner. Whilst to us this was murder, to them it was more like, dinner- is- served.

I could tell from all the worried faces looking at me and Jonathan that they thought we wouldn't make it, but not only that. There were ten people in the room and they were meant to be twelve, not counting me and Jonathan. Two people were missing. Two people were dead or soon to be. Scott stood in the far corner of the room. He was our protector. Every dorm had one. The protector was the oldest person in the dorm. They were the one who organised everything and made sure we all had food and water. He was also the one who had to give a pint on his blood every month. However once you were twenty one or over you have to get a job and move into a one 3 roomed house provided by  our ruler,Founder Cather. You also have to give two pints of your blood every month. Children were taken to dorms four months after they were born. One thing Founder Cather allowed parents to have choice involving their child is what dorm they go to. Each dorm allows a maximum of 30 people, but most parents decide that they don’t want their child to be a vampires pet. A.K.A, us. However Children that lived in dorms were allowed to meet up once a year. On New Year’s Eve

“It’s Susan and Jacob” Jonathan said finally breaking the cold silence.

“Maybe they could make it “Josephina said. She was sitting on the floor cross-legged. It was possible to make it; you’d have to be good at hiding and running. It would be hard, very hard, but not impossible. Scott was evidence on that. It was before he was a protector. He was my best friend at the time. We were closer than me and Jonathan. It was 11:57pm and we were so close to our dorm. I was thirteen and he was fifteen. It was our first time being this late. I remember dropping this yellow bracelet that he gave me. I was about to turn around to pick it up but Scott stopped me and told me to keep running. So I did, he picked up my bracelet and was so close to the dorm. Then the door shut. I remember the fear and shock on his face. It was Jonathan who shut the door and at the time he was the same age as me.

‘I’m sorry Leah but its 11:00” I remember him saying.  I cried and screamed a lot that night.

In the morning I woke up to find a yellow bracelet under my pillow. My bracelet. When I went downstairs to the living room there was a crowd of dorm members and Scott was in the middle of that crowd. But he wasn't the same anymore. No one expected him to survive the blood hunt. Not even me. But he did, he survived, he didn't die, but a part of him did. The part of him that made him my best friend and with it died our friendship. The yellow bracelet that hangs loosely on my wrist is a constant reminder of that.