I take my first breath. My second first breath to be precise. I look up at the sky, the moon shone brightly down. I breathe a sigh of relief, glad the sun wasn’t here to destroy the few pieces of me that remained remotely human.

I pull myself out of the coffin sucking in the night air. It didn’t do anything for me anymore, it didn’t need to. Maybe it was just habit.

I glance down at my hands, my skin was deathly pale now. I didn’t remember how I died. But coming back was a lot less painful than I would have assumed. Surely the death I faced would cripple me somehow? But no.

I was stronger now. Wilder. But yet still in control. And I only wanted one thing. Needed one thing. Blood.

James sucked in a deep breath, his eyes darting around the room, silently begging no one to enter the freezer room. He had planned it perfectly, but that didn’t mean plans couldn’t change.

With a quick glance at the clock, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had 1 hour before any of his employees would arrive. 1 hour to deal with everything. 1 hour to fix things. Pulling himself together, he shoves the last few dirty plates in the dishwasher, and steps into the freezer room.

Quickly, he imputed the code to stop the alarm being set off from opening the door, and stuffs his hand in his pocket as the icy chill hits him. And there it was. Glinting behind a few bags of ice. Everything he’d ever worked for.

Before you kill me, I want to know one thing. Why? Did you have some traumatic childhood? Or are you just a pathetic little being who wants to take a life just to feel something?

I don’t believe you’re doing this for no reason. You’re doing it to be heard. So go on. Talk to me. Tell me your life, your pain and your heartbreak. I will listen.

And after that, go ahead; kill me. If that is what you want after I have heard your story, then sure. But then the only person in the world who understands you, will be gone. And that will be on you.

Luca tied his flowing hair back into a leather bobble, swiftily pulling it into a ponytail. He shot me a small grin, his dimples popping out in an instant.

“Ready to discover our destiny, darling?” He murmurs, his breath hot against my ear as he wraps his arms around me.

Darling. It still felt heavenly everytime he called me by that name. Definitely an improvement from Olly Bolly and all the random nicknames he’d come up with when we first met.

“Ready.” I nod.

His lips meet mine in a gentle, yet teasing brush. I savour the moment, the sweet scent that always drifted off him bringing a soft smile to my face. I take in the chestnut freckles dotted across his nose and his stunning eyes. Then finally pull away.

Luca moves his hand to mine, intwining our fingers. With a breath, he meets my gaze once more.

“To a fresh start.” He says. “Or death.” I finish.

With his traditional lopsided smirk, we step into the entrance way. I close my eyes as we hit the darkness and suck in a sharp breath of air.

It tasted…

Like home.

You know those moments when you can’t remember a thing? Like how you got there. Or why you are there. Or even what your name is. That’s what happened to me.

I lay there in the frosted grass, my hand above my head, just poking a single strand. A pain stabbed through my side, my breathing a weak cloud above my face. I tried to speak, my throat dry and crackling. It was as if I was paralysed, locked in my own body. I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t move.

Clouds hovered above me, the sun a beautiful contrast shining between them. I wondered what I looked like. A mess probably. If my mum saw me… ha, I could just imagine her expression. “Oh deary me.” She’d murmur pulling me close. “Oh deary me-“ My thoughts stopped in a sudden. She’d say “oh dear me-“. My name. What, what was my name? Of course… she’d say it. Like always when I got stuck in stupid situations. “Oh deary me-“.

A single tear escaped my eye, somehow beating gravity and forcing its way down my face. What was going on? I couldn’t… I couldn’t remember anything. It didn’t make any sense. How do forget…

I just lay there in the frosted grass, my hand above my head, just poking a single strand.

He was there again. He was there again.

My breathing became forced, as my chest tightened.

It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

The repetition barely helped me as his glazed eyes stared around me, his sinister smile never wavering.

It would be over soon. It would be over soon.

The rain turned to hail, as he dropped his dark umbrella, almost relishing in the pain as it racked against his sickly green skin.

It was the same as always. It was the same as always.

I knew this. Of course I did. But as he reached forward, all rationality left me, leaving me a broken shell of fear.

It should be over. It should be over.

The fear is was used to feeling suddenly dropped. This was too real. As his arms latched on to me, his slimy grasp clung to my skin.

I could feel it. I could feel it.

Why wasn’t it over? What was going on? These questioned ran through my mind as he grabbed my neck, pulling me into the darkness of his coat.

Wake up. Wake up.

I urged myself with my last ounce of desperation. I had to wake up.

But I never did.

Creaking movements from behind me jarred my footsteps. I slid around the corner, hiding deep within a crevace of the wall as a tall slender body passed before me. I knew I only had 5 minutes until it was all over. I had to get out.

“Hurry.” My colleague hissed, suddenly appearing beside me. They showed me the hand signal for “follow”, before leading me away from the murmur of voices.

As we rounded another corner, an illuminating light shone in our eyes. With a dart, i raced towards the wall, my breath shallow. I prayed silently.

I couldn’t lose it all now.

Nobody will understand. See, I get it. I don’t make much sense. And that’s fine! But when they start to mess with him… well lets just say it isn’t my fault what happens next.

Leah always messed with me. Playing pranks. Calling me names. Dropping her lunch in my lap. The usual. But… i’d been able to deal with this for a long time. I was used to it by now. But when you mess with my brother… that’s when its too far.

“You little pig.” She chuckled staring at my brother Alfie. Everyone in the cafeteria went silent as my brother turned a bright shade of red. “Why don’t you give someone else a chance?” Leah pointed to the cake on his plate. “Of course YOU got the biggest slice.” She rolled her eyes and got her gang to laugh along with her. As she threw more insults at him, tears whirled up in his eyes, and he looked helpless.

That’s when it happened. The feeling filled up inside me again. The sharp, stabbing pain pounced into my lung, and i couldn’t breathe. All of a sudden, the monster inside me took over. I lurched for Leah, chucking her against the wall. Alfie reached over to me, whispering calming words in my ear. Slowly, I calmed down.

Now obviously i got a detention and everything. Blah blah. That’s not the big deal. See… Leah returned for round two later that day.

As i wandered out of school, Alfie by my side, I apologised over and over again for my actions. As always, he was fine with it, just checking i was ok. And that’s when she walked up to us. Now, to understand why she can release this being inside me so easily, you’ll have to understand our relationship.

From the age of 3, we were BEST friends. Sooo close. Then, she became cool… but we stayed pretty close. But once we started high school, everything changed. She took that as her chance to leave me. And to be honest, i would have been okay with it if she hadn’t turned to bullying instead. The worst thing was, she knew why i was like this and why my brother had become slightly overweight. Since our dad passed, I couldn’t control myself. And Alfie, had taken to overeating to keep himself sane. But… there was one thing I knew about her. When her mum had passed at the age of 12, she had taken the opposite turn to Alfie, and had stopped eating entirely. And i knew now was the perfect time to bring it up.

“You can’t say a thing.” I hissed as Leah met my eyes with a glare. She swore at me, knowing in an instant what i meant. “You promised to never bring that up!” She screamed. “You promised!” That was the turning point. I’d promised?! She’d promised to keep hundreds of things secret yet everyone in school “somehow” found out. She’d promised to never turn against me. Now look where she was.

The next moment was a blur. I lunged for her, Alfie yelling behind me. Then we landed on the ground. Her breathing was muffled and short. She screamed, but it came out a whisper. The last thing I remember, is her hand, limp in the grass.