Chapter One

Freshman year.

Oh, I dread it, I very much do. Yet I can't help but feel thrilled to finally reach high school. I know that it will bring boys, lots of boys, and the amazing experiences that I have dreamed about since I was a child. Prom, homecoming games, graduation, dating... so many thoughts run through my mind, and I'm so excited I can't even get myself to sleep. I'm in bed with a pair of floral shorts and a white cotton tank top. My phone waits to be touched on the nightstand to my left, but I don't reach over and text.

I just simply lay there.
What else am I to do, besides fantasize about my next four years?

I let out a breath before giving in and grabbing my phone. I send a quick text to my dad to ask about the take out he left home for. After a couple minutes he texts back that everything is well, and that he got dinner and is coming back. That is good to hear. As of recently I've been very lonely. Dad is my only company since my stepmother is constantly caring for my new baby sister. She is constantly fretting over the infant and I no longer go to her to vent of my teenage dramas. I just couldn't talk about them any more.

When the sound of the garage door opening vibrates through the house, I instantly sit up in bed and throw off the covers. I slide my legs over the edge and make quick haste down the stairs to the dining table. My dad is already there with a few bags from McDonalds and a cup holder with cold drinks. He sets the table as I take my seat across from him, and I can feel my saliva building from the aroma. French fries and greasy food. What more could you want?

"I thought you were going to bed," my father says as he sets down a yellow packaged cheeseburger on my place mat. To the left of it is a small bag of fries that is lightly coated with sea salt and to the right is a glass of water. I take a small sip as I wait for him to settle down with his hamburger between his hands.

"I was going to, but I think I better eat before I go to sleep. I remember a time when I didn't eat one night and in the morning I was practically starving."

My words get an understanding nod from my dad and he begins to devour his food. I do the same. In about half an hour, my fingers are left with salt and grease and there is nothing on my place mat but an empty wrapper and a few bread crumbs that were left behind. I grab my place mat and dust off the crumbs before putting it away and throwing away the rest of the trash that remained on the table. My dad went up to give my stepmother her dinner, and I turned off the lights. Maybe now I'll get some sleep.

When I reach the top step of the staircase I'm greeted with the brush of my calico kitty against my legs. She mews, begging for attention, and I bend at the knees to give a light scratching behind her ears. My cat purrs contently and pads away to her litter box, leaving me to walk to the door of my bedroom. As soon as my hand touches the silver of the handle, though, I feel it. It is a cold rush that runs through my body with a force that would've knocked me back if I didn't grasp the corner of the doorway. An overwhelming sense of terror claims my body for a moment. Then it is gone.

"What...the..." I breathe in disbelief. I bring one shaky hand to wipe a clean sheet of cold sweat beading on my forehead. I take a large gulp, turn the handle, and bolt in with the door closing loudly behind me. It doesn't bother me that I may have woken my sibling and mother. The only thing on my mind is the fear that I had just moments before. What was that, that cold tension in the air?

I shake my head, jump into bed, and attempt to close my eyes. My heart doesn't seem to stop its frenzied beating. I still can't grasp what had happened to me. That emotion of absolute fear. Of terror. It felt so real and I know it was. Somewhere inside of me I know that it is still there, because that night I had a nightmare for the first time in months.
A nightmare of a boy with looks of the devil, and charms like sin.