• Chapter one
    It was a dark winter’s night. The moon was shining brightly through my bedroom window. The ice crystals that hung from all the trees sparkled as the moonlight hit them. I was lying in bed with all my blankets pulled up to my chin, staring into the dark night.
    It was almost eleven o’ clock and I just couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about the embarrassing moments I would have the next day. I was transferring to a new school in the middle of the year, AND moving to a new house in a new town. could life get any harder for a fifteen year old girl? Early winter break was almost over and I was starting my first day of tenth grade. I had no idea what fate had in mind. I could only imagine how my life would change after that day. I had no idea.
    As I stared out my window, I watched the clouds drift past the moon. My eyes closed slightly as I grew more tired. It was very late. I listened as the clock chimed the hour.
    I tried to find something to listen to, something to concentrate on. But the night was quiet, and everyone was supposed to be asleep. I turned my head to find the hallway light on, and my baby sister crying in the next room over. My sister wasn’t really a baby. She was almost two but I still considered her a baby. I thought I could hear my mom, Sherry, getting out of bed to see what was the matter.
    I knew exactly why she was crying. It seemed that sometimes I had a sixth sense. Sometimes I sense when something is going to happen. Other times I know what someone is feeling or why something is happening. It is strange at times but other times it feels like any other feeling. I knew that my baby sister had woken up from a draft from her window. And that she was frightened by the howling wind.
    I got out of bed and tiptoed to her room. I expected my mom to be there, about to pick her up out of her crib. But the room was empty.
    “What’s the matter, Bria?” I asked in a gentle whisper. I didn’t expect an answer. She was old enough to talk but she only knew a few words.
    She looked at me with a pout on her face. Without saying a word Bria pointed a finger toward the open window about two feet away from her crib. I knew she was cold and had woken up from the draft. After all, I had a sixth sense. Walking over to the window I closed it, quickly trying to make as little noise as possible. Bria looked like she wanted to cry. My mother was the only one who could put Bria to sleep successfully. I took Bria into my arms and walked to my mother’s room. I found it empty and dark.
    “Mommy!” Bria cried. I struggled to hold her.
    “I know Bria, she’s got to be here somewhere.” I said, too tired to realize that my little sister had just pointed to the stairs, which were visible from the bedroom doorway
    Just then I heard voices downstairs in the kitchen. As I snuck downstairs holding Bria in my arms, I saw my mother, father, and both my mother’s parents sitting at the table. They were all drinking coffee and chatting with each other. I could barely hear them at the top of the stairs but as I crept closer their conversation became clearer. Though they spoke clearly, I couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
    “Time is running out!” I heard my grandmother say. “We must tell her by the next full moon or the whole clan will be in danger!”
    “Mom, I’m sorry. She’s just too young! Her 16th birthday is coming up in two months why can’t we wait until then?”
    Were they talking about me? Yes, they had to be. I was the only one in my family turning sixteen. I thought it through as much as I could but it just didn’t make sense.
    I heard my grandma groan with frustration. “I just don’t know, Sherry. We need to tell her, she has important responsibilities to take care of! We have put it off long enough!”
    “But ma! I told you, she’s too young! How is she ever going to take on the job of the Blood Goddess? Besides, if I tell her she’ll think we’re nuts!”
    “Ok, wait a minute! Don’t I have any say in this?” my father interrupted.
    “Sorry, frank. Go on.” she said sympathetically.
    “Well I think that as parents of a young adolescent we should be able to trust our daughter!” He said. My father was a professor at the University of Boston. He had just gotten the job in town. That is why he has such a large vocabulary. It seemed very strange to me but most of the time I just ignored it.
    “We do trust her!”
    “Then why don’t we just tell her the truth!” my grandma put in.
    “Mommy!” Bria cried, this time everyone heard. It was over. Everyone knew I was there. I walked downstairs and placed my baby sister in my mother’s arms. Looking at my feet I said,” she woke up and I tried to put her back to bed but she refused.” I talked fast, trying to get all the words out clearly.
    “Oh hi honey, thanks. Um… you should get back to bed. It’s a big day tomorrow!” she said trying to avoid looking me in the eye. I looked at her trying to read her facial expression.
    “Ok… goodnight.” I said and headed upstairs.


    Chapter 2
    When I finally fell asleep that night I had horrible dreams. I dreamed that I was sitting on the snowy forest floor. All the trees were covered with a thick layer of ice. They sparkled in the moonlight. Men in black ninja suits surrounded me. Weirdly, they weren’t attacking me as I expected them to. They were standing in a semi-circle around me, as if they were trying to protect me, though from whom I didn’t know.
    Then I heard a howl. I looked around, trying to find where the strange noise came from. When I realized what I saw my mouth dropped and my eyes started to bulge. Were my eyes deceiving me? I was seeing something new and something frightening. I saw a snout change to a face a paw change to a hand...a wolf changing into a man...not an ordinary man...but a vampire. The moon lit up its pale face. Behind him, I saw five more wolves, transforming as they walked. They wore long fur capes made of their original wolf fur. I watched as they towered over me. The tip of long, sharp, yellow fangs poked out of each creature’s mouth.
    “Who are you?” I spoke for the first time. I tried to sound like had no fear of them but they could see that I was terrified.
    “We don’t want to fight you! Just hand over your powers and we will go without another word!”
    “What?” I said to myself.
    “Do not fear miss. We will not let them hurt you.” One of the ninjas assured me.
    “Why must you address me as miss?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why I was speaking with such old-fashioned English. The words just swam out of my mouth without even choosing my words. It was as if I was being possessed by a ghost or a spirit of some kind.
    “I’m sorry miss. How would you like me to address you? You are my goddess. It is my duty to please you.”
    I was confused until I remembered what my mother said earlier that evening. How is she ever going to take on the job of the Blood Goddess? She had asked.
    “Oh my Goodness!” I whispered in shock.
    “No! I will never renounce my powers! I will not be bribed by such a monster!” I said to the man who had spoken earlier.
    “Then we will not have peace! We will fight!” he bellowed.
    They dashed toward me at outrageous speeds. The ninjas stood in front of me ready to defend as well as they could. Our rival overpowered us for we had no chance against them. Though they weren’t armed, the vampires were stronger than we were. They were using their bare hands to tackle the ninjas. There was a loud crash and I watched attentively as one of the men pulled an oak tree out of the ground and came charging at us.
    He was just about to hit me with the tree when the whole dream changed its course. I thought it was a nightmare but at that moment I knew it was a good dream. At that moment one of the men tackled me. But I wasn’t afraid and I didn’t fight back. Something about him made me not fear him. I rolled over with him on top of me and stared into his eyes. I swear, they were gorgeous eyes!
    “My goddesses… are you alright?” his sweet, comforting voice made me speechless. He spoke I a heavy Italian accent. Instantly I recognized his voice, his deep hazel eyes. He was The Hunter.
    “Yes.” was all I could manage to say. He jumped off of me and helped me to a sitting position. Everyone had paused. They weren’t fighting and they weren’t charging at each other. They were just watching him as he spoke to them.
    “Why are we fighting the goddess of blood? “He asked them. “She doesn’t want to hurt us, she doesn’t want to fight us. Her job is to keep peace between the humans and vampires! So why on Earth are we fighting her?” he spoke to them as if he was very disappointed in them.
    I watched as the vampire men hung their heads in shame. This man had saved my life, for that I was very grateful.


    Chapter three
    “What powers?” I asked myself after I awoke. It had to mean something. Do I really have powers? I thought to myself.
    If its true, if I really do have the powers and the role of a goddess then that means my parents have been lying to me all this time? I wondered to myself.
    I didn’t get another wink of sleep that night, Despite the strong need of some descent rest. I had a stressful day ahead of me and when the morning came, I dreaded it.
    I woke around 6:30 and hopped in a quick shower. The hot water felt so good on my tense muscles that I felt a lot better when I got out. I quickly threw some jeans on along with a red and green sweater for the Christmas holidays. I decided I was going to try my best to look like I was enjoying myself. Though the chances of that happening was outrageously low.
    After about a half hour I smelled breakfast cooking downstairs in the kitchen. It was an old tradition to make chocolate chip pancakes on the first day of school.
    “Mmmmm. That smells delicious!” I said as I approached the kitchen table. I sat down and my mom placed a stack of pancakes in front of me. And handed me an empty plate. I piled two on my plate and served Bria, who was sitting in her booster chair next to me. My mom sat down across from me and placed her plate on the table along with maple syrup.
    “So,” my mom said as she sat down. “Today’s a big day. Am I going to see you at all after school?”
    “Sure.” I muttered. I could tell she wasn’t too crazy about my one word answer.
    “Well that’s good.” she said with a disappointed look on her face. I guess she could tell that I wasn’t too excited about having a conversation with her.
    I glanced at the clock. I knew the bus would pull up anytime and I had to hurry up or I would miss it.
    “Ok mom. I’ll see you after school. I should go outside to catch the bus.” I said in a cheery voice.
    “Alright.” She said as I slipped out the door holding my lime green messenger bag.
    As I got on the bus, I saw lots of unfamiliar faces. I hadn’t met any of them yet. I had only met Joe, the bus driver who I said hi to as I passed him. I walked down the isle until I found an empty seat. Nobody offered a seat so I sat down.
    I stared out the window the whole ride. I spent the time wondering and worrying about the day that was to come. I wanted to jump out the window and run all the way home. I wanted to hide under the blankets. At least there I would have no embarrassing moments, no schoolwork to do. I knew I had to face my fears-How would I ever get through life if I didn’t?
    My thoughts drifted again to the dream I had had the night before. I thought of the boy in my dream. He was so wonderfully handsome. I remembered his pale face, how it looked so delicate in the blue light of the moon. His brunette hair had touches of gold in it. The best thing I could remember about that dream was that I felt something special between that boy and me. I had never met him before but there was instant chemistry, like two lovers in a romantic movie.
    I had never been in a serious relationship before. In fact, I had just about no romantic history at all. At my old school back in New York, there were so many kids that I didn’t have a chance of being thought of as one of the “cute” girls. My freckles and clumsiness just made it less likely that I would ever get a date. Besides, my parents weren’t going to let me date until I was thirty. I was sure about that. I was basically putting my love life off until I was older so my parents wouldn’t bother me about it. That plan was going pretty well so far.
    I still couldn’t believe what I had heard the night before. The big news was still sinking in. of course, my parents didn’t know that I had over heard them. Or did they? I was wondering if it was just a really early April fool’s prank, but that would be too low of a prank to be funny. My mother always dissuaded me from playing mean pranks so I didn’t think that was the case. I chuckled at the thought of how I would react when they would tell me it was all a joke. It made me feel a little better.
    I was pulled from my daydreams by the sudden jolt of the school bus coming to a stop. I got off the bus and walked up the concrete steps of Middlebrook High school, into the chilly wind. "Cold!" I whispered to myself. The wind sent a chill down my back. Maybe it was the wind that made me shiver, or maybe I was just nervous. I rushed into the school, pulling my hat and gloves off as I entered the hallway. I stepped aside to get out of the way of the students around me and looked for the main office. I had received a slip in the mail that I had to have signed by the secretary. I spotted it to the right of me. Walking towards the office, I dug through my bag for the slip
    “Hello," a cheery woman's voice greeted as I approached the big wooden desk.
    "Um…hi. I’m Alyssa. I have this slip-" I handed her the white piece of paper.
    "Oh, you're Alyssa! I hope you a have a good first day!"
    "Oh, thanks. I hope so too. "I said as she signed the slip.
    "Bye!" she said happily.
    “Bye” I said back and turned the corner.



    Chapter four
    Unfortunately, my daydreams returned in homeroom. I just couldn’t help myself for I sat in the closest desk to the row of windows on the west side of the classroom. After the embarrassing introduction that the teacher had made for me, the fifteen minute long class had moved on to the morning announcements.
    “Thank you, and remember to always stay alert in the hallways!” the principle finished on the intercom. As he got off the intercom there was a high-pitched squeak of feedback. It startled me so much that it made me jump a foot out of my chair. All the students groaned and blocked their ears.
    “Alright, children, settle down.” The teacher ordered over all the commotion. I hoped he didn’t notice my eyes roll.
    I was glad when the period was finally over. The bell rang and I hurried to the door. I had the locker combination in my pocket which I grasped as I walked down the hall. I had been assigned locker number 23 which I found across from the art room. My bag was getting heavy and I was in a rush to put the supplies in my locker. I grabbed a pink binder that I had labeled science grabbed the pencil case and looked at the map I had picked up at the main office. I found the science lab in room 101 and slipped in the classroom as soon as the bell rang. As I walked up to the teacher’s desk I struggled to catch my breath. Behind the desk was the black board, which had the teacher’s name, Mr. Brownfield written in messy cursive.
    “Hello…” he said waiting for my reply.
    “Hi, I’m Alyssa. Um… I just moved to town.”
    “Oh hello, let’s see, where can you sit?” he replied, getting up out of his swivel chair. He scanned the classroom and said, “Oh, there is an empty seat in the second row.” He pointed as he said this. I made my way to the second isle and placed my binder on the desk.
    “Hi” I heard someone whisper as I sat down. I turned around to see who had spoken.
    “Hey” I managed to say.
    “The name’s Jesse.” A dark haired boy said in a low whisper. His face glowed along with his golden eyes. “And you must me Alyssa.”
    “Yeah, I’m Alyssa, but how did you know my name?”
    “Oh, I know. We have been expecting you.”
    I wasn’t quite sure if I should be afraid of this guy. I hadn’t even told him my name and he acted like he had known me forever. I thought maybe he had heard some things and decided to let it go.
    “So, “he said. “You just move here?”
    “Yeah, I moved from New York.”
    “Hmmmm.” he said as if he was thinking about believing me.
    “What?”
    “Oh nothing, I was just thinking…” He paused. His deep, gruff voice was softer now. “about new York. It’s so beautiful up there. I can’t imagine why anyone would move to a place like this.”
    I thought he was being a little nosy on his part but I answered his question anyway. ”My dad just got a job in the city. We can’t afford an apartment so we found a house here. It’s convenient for us since Middlebrook is just outside Boston.”
    “Oh.” He said.
    I turned to the overhead which had paragraphs from the text book reflected onto the board. when I realized that the teacher was starting to teach a lesson. I tried to pay attention by taking notes on everything the teacher said but kept getting distracting by Jesse. His writing was so perfectly smooth that I was embarrassed when I looked down at my messily written notes.
    “Alyssa,” I was interrupted by the teacher’s voice.
    “Epidermis…” I said. I knew what he was asking me even though I hadn’t been paying attention. “…is the surface or outer layer of the skin.” I said. I remembered the definition from the science class in my other school. We had left off at this chapter before I had to move.
    “Very good. But… I didn’t ask the question yet.” Mr. Brownfield said suspiciously.
    “Oops.” I muttered to myself. There goes my intuition again. I thought, covering my blushing cheeks with my hands. I had no idea what to say at that point.
    The class went by pretty slowly after that. We took some more notes, and got a worksheet for homework. I was so thankful that he didn’t call on me again for the rest of the class. I was so thankful when the bell saved my guts. I was so happy to get out of that embarrassment that I barley heard Mr. Brownfield when he told us we were doing a lab the next day in class. I made a mental note to take my book home and walked out with the crowd of students. I was only one class into the day and already I had someone having suspicions about me. This day can’t get any worse! I thought. But, boy, was I clueless!
    As I walked down the hallway I noticed someone following me. I turned around and said, ”hi”
    “Hey Alyssa,” I heard the same dark haired boy’s voice. It was Jesse. I hadn’t noticed how cute he was before. He wore nicely fitted jeans and a Coldplay t-shirt. His golden skin was a bit paler now. His eyes still shone so brightly that I struggled to look away from them. He had a muscular build, his t-shirt showing some of his muscles.
    “Hey, Jesse.” I said my voice breaking.
    “That was pretty cool back there,” he said. I blushed but decided to hide my embarrassment by playing dumb.
    ”What do you mean?” I asked with a hint of cloudlessness in my voice.
    He winked at me and said, “oh you know. How you knew what he was going to say….” I had hoped he wouldn’t notice my dumb trick and would just let it go, but he didn’t.
    “Its… a little secret of mine.” I flirted and winked back.
    “A secret ey, you can tell me.” He brought his voice down to a whisper.
    “Um…I have to go.” It was a lame excuse to escape but I realized it was true when I glanced at my watch and saw that I only had three minutes to get my books and run to my next class. I still had three more classes to go through before I went to lunch.
    “”Alright, bye.”
    “Bye!” I said and walked in the direction of my locker.
    For the next three classes I sat in my seat and tried my best to avoid all confrontations with anyone. A few of the teachers made me introduce myself but after a few times it w