Chapter One

Athena POV

Everything is moving, spinning. I can't see like I'm looking through a fogged window but when I try to wipe it away the fog only becomes thicker. I see the night sky, the chill in the wind as it knocks against the dark trees that hide in the shadows. "Come to me little one..." A familiar man's voice calls out from the darkness. "Come on..." I hear his voice as if it was a melody I couldn't help being drawn to. "Where are you?" I asked, my bottom lip trembling from the fear that overwhelmed my body. "Come on babybat, come to me..." He whispers. I take a step forward towards the voice that's drawing me into the deep forest as I pick up the pace, running. "Hello?!" I called out. "Over here..." I hear the man's voice whisper. "Where are you?!" I yelled my voice echoing against the trees as I'm now surrounded by the deep forest. My heart is pounding in my chest so hard I felt it in my ears. "Here!" I heard very close to me when suddenly I whipped around. "Ahhh!" I screamed.

I run at top speed, full force into the diner filled with people from my little small town. "You're late again Miss Black!" My boss called out to me from behind the counter where people sit and eat their breakfast. "I know, I know. My car wouldn't start and--" He cut me off. "I'm sick of the excuses. If you're late again you're fired. Nothing to it!" He waved his finger in my face aggressively before storming off. I let out a huff of air before putting on my apron and tying it around my small waist before picking up my notepad and pen. I walked over to a table and saw a group of teenage boys smirking at me. "What can I get you, boys, to drink?" I asked, setting menus down in front of each boy. "I don't know about drink, but you can get me your number" The one boy with blonde hair joked, causing his friends to give him a high five. "How old are you, Ten?" I arched my brow, causing his friends to snicker. "If you're not going to order anything, I suggest you boys leave" I stated before placing my hand on my hip and waiting as they looked over the menus. "You know what...Let's go over to Mandy's her mom will feed us. She nicer" The boy who tried to hit on me spoke. They all followed him out of the booth and over to the front door. "Hey, wait! Where are they going?" Sally, my coworker asked me when she stood next to my side. "I don't know, something about getting to school" I shrugged my shoulders, lying about what had happened. "School doesn't run on Saturdays" She reminded me. "Then I don't have a clue" I stated before trying to walk away. "I'm gonna have to tell our boss about this" Sally stated as she walked after me. I begin cleaning a table "Why? So you can suck up to him again? Get another pay raise, or is that because you sleep with him when his wife is out of town?" I shot at her, the words fuming from my lips like venom. Her mouth slightly dropped as her face went pale "You-you better watch what you say!" She hissed out. "Or your job isn't the only thing you'll have to worry about" She threatened me. I felt my heart sink in my chest, knowing the nightmares I have been getting. My mouth becomes dry. "Get back to work..." She shook her head before walking away from me. I run my hand through my long dark brown hair and let out a huff of air. "I'm heading out, close up?" Sally asked as she handed the keys to me. "You're leaving me here, alone?" I arched my brow. "I have things to attend to, so yes" she nodded. "Try not to burn the place down?" She suggested before leaving out of diner doors. "Bitch..." I mumbled before shaking my head and beginning to clean up the diner. "Excuse me" I heard, spinning on my heel to see a man standing just inside the door. He's dressed in all black, and his long jet-black hair hanging from his face makes him look unsettling. He's wearing a long black leather coat. He arched up a brow "What?" I shake my head out of the trance-like state I felt like I was in. "Are you still open?" He asked me. I looked at the time and see it was past midnight. "I was about to close but...uh, I guess one more customer wouldn't hurt" I smiled. "Perfect" he smiled back, showing his shiny white teeth I notice the fangs and giggled before grabbing a menu and handing it to him as he sits down at a booth. "Do you want anything to drink?" I asked. His eyes lingered on my arm "Are you offering?" He asked teasingly. I rolled my eyes "We have soda" I answered. He ordered his foot and I went into the kitchen and began making his food. When I'm finished making his food I walked back over to the table and set it down in front of him. "Here you go sir, anything else I can help you with just holler. I'll just be cleaning "I'll be sure to remember that..." He looked over my nametag. "Athena..." He then smiled once more, showing his white fangs. "Right.." I nodded before walking away from him and back over to the tables I was cleaning and continued picking up the mess before beginning to mop the dirt-covered floors. Ding ding! I spun on my heel to witness that the dark-haired man was no longer in his booth. "What...?" I knit my brows together as I walked over to the table to see he had finished the entire meal, leaving 100 tips next to the plate. "Weird..." I shook my head before shoving the 100 into my pocket and finishing closing the diner. When I was finally finished I grabbed my coat, pulled it over my arms, and made sure all the lights were off before exiting the diner. After walking out I made sure the doors were locked. The night air was cold, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin even from under my coat. I lifted my head to see a bright full moon in the sky but it doesn't make me smile in fact, it gives the night a more creepy feeling. I walked across the street and I hear heavy footsteps behind me, causing me to pick up pace as I got into the parking lot. As I walk fast the footstep gets heavier. My heart pounds into my ears by the time I reached my car I was scrambling to get my keys out, my hands trembling before I dropped them. "Fu-fuck" I stuttered out before quickly bending down and picking them up off the ground. "You okay?" I heard a man's voice ask, causing me to whip around to see the same man with long black hair standing there. "O-oh...it's just you" I breathed out. He arched a brow at me, tilting his head to the side. "Just me?" He asked. "Were...were you following me?" I asked him, trying to catch my breath. "No..." He let out a chuckle that felt like it shook the ground. "Don't be silly, I was just walking by and seen you drop your keys" He informed me. "Oh...Alone? At night?" I questioned as I knit my brows together. He looked confused for a moment. "You know..." He let out a sigh before continuing. "You remind me of someone" He spoke softly now. "Someone that's been long gone from this world" He added. I began to feel unsettled by the man. "I should get going...It's getting late" I tell him. He cleared his throat as I turned to my car "Of course...but before you go.." He spoke when suddenly he grabbed my arm with inhuman strength, forcing my head to the side. My eyes widened when I see his fangs and suddenly I felt a sharp pain as he sank them into my neck. "Ahhh!" I screamed out, tears forming at my waterline and escaping through my lashes and rolling down my cheeks. I struggled against him but it was no use. My body began to feel weak as everything muffled around me like I was looking through clouded glass. I thought I was seeing things when he bite into his wrist but when he shoved it into my mouth the metal taste hit my tongue. "You...you are going to be perfect" He whispered into my ear just before everything went dark around me.