Chapter 1

The dream began with snow. Softly falling and swirling around in the gentle breeze. The silver-blue light from the moon cast shadows around the clearing and made it look like a winter wonderland. My breath was a fiery dragon, twisting and turning in every direction, as it escaped the confines of my body.

The clock tower from the village ahead shows it was twenty minutes to midnight. Christmas will be here soon. I am admiring the intricate details of the tower when my breath catches and the dragon dies.

The soft sound of crunching alerts me that I'm no longer alone. The footsteps have a purpose—they want me. When I run, so do they, keeping perfect pace with me. A figure appears at the other side of the clearing, underneath the clock tower. The eyes seem to glow a dark shade of red. Blood is what it wants. The monster isn't tainted, it radiates evil. I didn't need to see it to know it was a vampire, as ice sharply shoots up the length of my spine.

I quickly jerk my head around as a warm hand is placed on my shoulder. An alarm fades as I slowly think that he seems familiar. He crouches down and pulls me into a tight hug. The pins and needles slowly return to my body, alerting me to what he was—also a vampire

"I told you to never go out in the snow without your scarf."

A silk scarf is placed around my neck. It's decorated with swirling blue designs. My hair lifts and whips around as it is blown by the wind.

His smile is kind, and the messiness of his hair gives me a strange feeling of déjà vu.

"Run."

Then I'm pushed quickly to the ground as he intersects the red-eyed monster.

Something is wrong with the threatening vampire. He doesn't look quite right. His skin is sunken and hollow, the bones painfully pronounced as his skin struggles to hold together against them. The red from his eyes extends down his face, smearing blood across his cheeks. He has no hair and the thick veins protruding from his forehead are pulsing. He may have been a vampire, but I could only describe him as some strange alien-like monstrosity.

My attention is now focused on the stinging sensation that slowly creeps up my arms and legs as I hit the snow, so I didn't have time to comprehend why I fell in the first place.

When I turn, the smoke from my breath returns in a rage, almost as if it is dancing. The vampire and the scary monster are fighting. I should have looked away, but I couldn't tear my eyes away as they fill with tears. The vampires are locked in a deadly game, if the gentle vampire dies, I would follow. The moisture from my eyes finally spills and falls freely down my frozen cheeks.

The terrible sound of flesh being ripped and torn makes me want to hurl. When a fleshy chunk lands five metres away, I'm finally sick. Blood is still pumping and oozing out of the end of the arm. The vampire is covered in blood.

He has lost a limb and blood pours from the other wounds he has received. I understood with sudden clarity just how sharp and deadly fangs are. They are not only for drinking blood. My body starts shaking uncontrollably. The monster has gained the upper hand.

Mercifully, my long hair covers and obscures my view briefly as the monster has a huge slice clawed from his neck. Blood spurts and rains toward the ground, staining the once white snow. It seems as if it could've been a pool, if only it wasn't red.

They seem like two lethal panthers fighting for meat. Only, they are vampires, and I am the prize should the monster succeed.

Now trapped in a tight headlock, the monster bites at the vampire's remaining arm as they roll around in the clearing. I scream, throat raw, but barely any sound comes out. I am too numb with fear to move, as blood spatters me and coats my clothes.

If there had been no one here it would have seemed like the earth had bled whilst howling to the moon.

Snow continues to fall and the flakes bathe me in a blanket of white. I want—almost need—to curl up into a ball, but my cold, aching muscles refuse to obey. I am an easy target on the ground. I should've run. That is why the vampire is slowly being tortured as he dies. He has just tried to buy time for me to escape.

Tremors are rocking through my body as the monster deals the final blow. My breath comes out in short, shallow gasps and my body quivers in fear as that evil monster smiles.

"Your turn now," is all he has to say as he saunters towards me, blood following in his path as it drips from his body. I'm finally able to move, but only to feel my eyes glaze over as I fall to the ground again. I want to shuffle back, but I can only observe as my muscles lock.

The monster laughs. It's a deep rumbling noise that seems to echo throughout the world.

"This will be most fun."

***

I scream and sit up quickly, tears streaking down my face. I didn't even realise I'm safe until someone comes in. They hold me tightly, trying to bring me back to the present.

"Who am I?" he whispers.

"Z…" I hug him tighter, seeking the comfort and warmth that his body provides.

"You know where you are?"

"Yes…" I open my eyes to my room—small and cosy, exactly as I like it. I don't own many things so there is no mess, and seeing as Z and I needed to be closer to the Academy, most of my clothes are already stuffed into a suitcase. We had planned to continue living here during our studies but didn't get accepted into the local university, our first choice. Our parents had already bought a house near the Academy, but wouldn't be moving until mid-way through the academic year. We have to go it alone for a while.

"The same nightmare?" he asks softly.

"It never changes," I say slowly between tears. "But I feel like there's more to it. My mind just refuses to show it to me."

I start shaking again as the chill of the morning creeps in.

"It's snowing."

Z only grunts—he knows I despise the snow.

I watch through the window as the flakes slowly twist and turn each time the wind blows them off course, preventing them from reaching their resting place on the ground. Sometimes I think they're pretty, but then the memories come creeping in and ruin it all over again.

"You ok?"

I sigh. Am I? I doubt I'll ever be able to consider myself normal, but I'm about as ok as I'll ever be. Still, Z waits for me to nod against his chest.

"Come on. Mum'll wonder what's taking so long."

His eyes are so gentle and warm when he comforts me after these frequent nightmares. The blue of his eyes could pierce through a person at any given time, but never me. For me they were always a source of safety that I could drown in.

I exhale again. It's my turn to grunt.

"Fine."

Z cracks a smile before he leaves.

I have to fight the urge to ask him to stay a while longer.