In a strange way, Twilight inspired this story, so yes, it IS about vampires. Claire just doesn't realize that yet. :)

Chapter 1

Truth be told, maybe I should have seen it coming. I'm not stupid. However I suppose I simply refused to accept that it was going to happen. It was just my luck.

Friday seems to be my favorite day of the week. It means escape from that hell of a school Marshal High. Unfortunately I attend that very school. I remember that day perfectly. I had been frowning as I glared at the high school. I had never approved of Marshal High. It was hideous. Consisting of grey old bricks and- well, that was it. Which makes it repulsive. It looks more like a torture dungeon than a high school. My fourth year here and it still gave me the creeps. The sun wasn't making it any better either. The heat was awful. I realized someone was now beside me on the bench.

I turned my head to see who it was. Instantly, a smile lit up my face. It was Raye. He didn't return the smile, but he was obviously at ease. He must've took a seat beside me silently while I was turned in the opposite direction. He was on the same bench, but I noticed he kept his distance from me. His blue eyes peered at me with an indifferent look; it was one I had never seen. I spoke first.

"What seems to be the issue? Are you just going to sit there and stare at me?" I asked impatiently.

" We have to talk," he said. I nodded. I mean, sure he was my boyfriend, and I liked him alot, but he was acting strange. I started to have my doubts. Five months we'd been together. It seemed like less.

"About what?" I demanded. Quit wasting time and get to the point. I kept the rude thoughts to myself however. After all, we were an ideal couple on campus. If we had an arguement it would fly around the school in the blink of an eye.

"Us...," he started. He was still at ease. He finally edged closer to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "There's just some things that aren't working out between us."

I gazed at him in amazement. His blue eyes and blonde hair never seemed more beautiful in the golden sunlight. He's not doing this to me. He can't be... if he does... Then what?

I chose my words carefully, but they came out sharp. "What's not working? I disagree. Everything has been going great. Tell me what the hell you're talking about." For the first time I saw his discomfort. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to find the right words. He only sighed in distress.

"I don't want to do this to you. I really don't." Do what? If it is what I'm thinking you're talking about, you will regret it. "I'm just going to say this without trying to be sugarcoated. Our relationship is in ruins."

I stared at him blankly. "Why?" I asked in a low, threatning, voice. He picked up on my mood quickly. He was frantic. "Don't get mad, please listen. It's just... our relationship is going nowhere. For this reason I feel we should end it. So we don't continue like this."

So I'm boring. I was seething. "Continue like this?! Nothing was wrong! Oh, you bastard!" I stuck him hard across the face with my right hand (the stronger one) and jumped from the bench. I then sprinted away in rage. It was too much at the moment. I didn't want to do something I would later regret. If I had lost my temper, I hadn't meant to. "Claire!" Raye called after me. Fuck you, I thought.

Right as I was racing around a corner (rememeber, I was having bad luck) I smacked straight into somebody. The impact sent me toppling backwards. The only lucky thing of the day was probably this, when I fell I landed in the grass. It wouldn't have been to pretty if it were cement. I started to get to my feet.

A deep voice startled me. "Don't you watch where you're going?" Embarrased, I glanced up. To my suprise, this guy was attractive. In a weird way. He had jet black hair, but it was glossy, cut short. His eyes were a dark mysterious brown, I had never seen such eyes as his before. He was a towering six feet and he had broad shoulders. To top it off he was muscular and his face had no flaws. Great, I happen to slam into him.

"Half of the time," I replied dryly. I finally managed to stand up. Before I could say anything, he held out his hand. I stared at him. "What?" I asked. He dropped his hand to his side and shrugged. "I guess you don't shake hands." I realized I was making an idiot of myself. You are so stupid. Just get out of here as fast as you can. "Sorry," I mumbled.

I turned to step past him, but he placed a hand lightly on my shoulder. The touch chilled me to the bone. It was eerie. "I'm Eamon." I turned to face him and blinked. "So what?" My lack of manners appeared not offend him. In fact, he seemed accustomed to it. "I'm new." I figured that. "Good luck. A warning, this school is a damned hell hole." For the first time, he smiled. "I know what hell is like." It was a nice smile, I admit. A straight, white, one. Of course I wasn't going to tell him that. But that last sentence... creepy. "Heard someone yelling. That was you?"

My cheeks became blushed, what an awful thing! Okay, I wasn't going to lie. "Yeah," I said sheepishly. "But I should go," I said. Lamest words in the book, but it was all I could think of to get his penetrating gaze off me.

Once again I turned away, and he stopped me. "Tell me your name first," he said. He didn't even ask. It was a command. I obeyed. "It's Claire. Good-bye." He didn't stop me again, but I could feel his eyes on my back. I didn't like it, no matter how attractive he was. Besides, I had to find my best friend Heather. I had a few things to tell her.

I couldn't find Heather, which was strange. I knew everywhere and anywhere to find her. Unless, that is, she went with a boy. Which was probably exactly what she had done. I gave up searching for her not after long, and decided to take it home. I was tired. The funny thing was I seemed to care less about Raye by this point. It seemed I liked him alot. Maybe I didn't. Who cared? I didn't. All I wanted was to get home and go to sleep. Forget it all. I glanced at my watch on my left wrist, 7:32. Most of my time had been spent in the library at school. Books are the one thing I can honestly say I live for. It helped me forget... events that had occured earlier in the day.

It was becoming dark outside and I knew I'd better get home soon. I ran a hand through my long brown curls of hair nervously. Perhaps I should've set out earlier. Usaully I'm not this nervous to be out late in the dark. But tonight for whatever reason it was, I was terrified. I was positive I wasn't alone. For this reason, I was quite scared. I picked up pace.

When I do think of this day, it always makes me sad. It would be the night I would lose my innocence. I never made it home that night. My prediction had been right. I wasn't alone. Whoever it was, he had amazing strength. I hadn't even realized I was being attacked from the back until my head had crashed against the sidewalk. A film of blood clouded my eyesight. I felt I was being lifted. Easily, the attacker threw me over his shoulder, as if I were as light as a feather.

This made me oh so dizzy. My head ached and I felt nauseated. I couldn't comprehend anything, it hurt to try to concentrate. But I did catch this, one glimpse of my captor, just before I passed out. He was almost a stranger, but I knew his face, no doubt.

It was Eamon.