Before she heard his drawling, southern voice, Amelia smelled him coming. It was a rancid smell, like meat rotting in the summer heat. “What do we have here?”

With every ounce of concentration she could muster, Amelia managed to turn around and prop herself against the sturdy railing, again silently thanking it for supporting her.

“That’s Amelia,” said some girl. Amelia had to blink a few times to clear the double vision but when it did, she almost screamed. The girl, the creepy little girl she had seen running, was just inches away. She grabbed Amelia’s chin and tilted her head, examining her neck.

“Let go of me,” Amelia yelped, stumbling sideways and landing on her butt. Her head was swimming, and she suddenly wished she had never drunk.

The girl’s eyes stayed fixed on Amelia. And the guy, thin and wiry looking, moved in closer. “Her bodyguards shouldn’t have left her alone,” he said, a malevolent smile creeping up on his face.

Amelia tried to stand up but she couldn’t make her legs work. “Leave me alone,” she said, sliding away from them.

“Why would he let you wander around all alone,” the creepy girl murmured, watching Amelia scoot across the deck and lean in against a corner. “Very careless, don’t you think?”

“Very careless, indeed,” he agreed, his grin spread wider, and a flash of white sharp teeth popped down.

Amelia felt cold. She was shaking and her head was still spinning. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was the booze. It had to be the booze, but those teeth… they looked real, sharp, and… scary. “Who are you guys?” she choked out.

They ignored her question. “And look at her mark,” the man said. “He hasn’t even bothered to claim her yet.”

Claim her? Amelia knew that sounded important but the ringing, buzzing in her ears wouldn’t let her brain put it together. She could see the party carrying on through the glass patio doors. No one noticed her outside, probably trying to ignore her, she thought, and with all the drama she had caused, she didn’t blame them. She tried again and managed to get to her feet. She started backing away towards the party. If she could just get back in the door. Eric would see her. He would help her.

“Leaving so soon?” the girl questioned. Amelia hadn’t seen her move but suddenly, she was right in Amelia’s face. Amelia screamed as she got a look at the girl’s eyes. Blazing red. And she clasped her hands to her mouth. It’s just the booze, she told herself. This isn’t real. You’re just drunk.

The man chuckled unpleasantly. “Oh, Kandi. Stop scaring the poor thing.”

“But Adam,” she whined, “Listen. Just listen. That beat. It’s musical. And he obviously doesn’t want her. He would be here if he did.”

Amelia scrambled backwards and tripped over her own feet. She crashed down, smacking her head hard against the railing, the railing that just a minute ago she had thanked for being there. A shooting pain pierced her skull and, mixed with her drunken stupor, sent her stomach into somersaults. Bright spots flickered in her vision and she closed her eyes tightly, only succeeding in making her spinning head speed up. She blinked a few times in an effort to make it stop. A hot and sticky feeling trickled down the back of her neck, and she caught the harsh red glow of eyes and white flicker of razor-sharp teeth, and she knew the stickiness was blood.

Amelia heard the piercing scream, bone chilling and terrifying, and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from her lips.

“Kandi, Adam, did you miss the mark?” Amelia heard a new voice, familiar and booming with authority and the screaming stopped. Luke. “She’s taken.”

“We were just having a little fun, Luke,” a girl said. Amelia’s mind was moving slower and it was getting hard to remember whose voice belonged to whom. They were all melting together. She forced her eyes open; trying to see what was happening. She wanted to shout for Luke to run away. She needed to warn him. But warn him of what? She wasn’t even sure. A little voice was screaming vampires but her brain was telling her she was drunk.

“Kandi,” Adam snapped, moving in front of her as if to shield her. From what? Amelia thought. They were the monsters, not Luke. “We were just chatting with her. We weren’t going to hurt her,” Adam continued.

Suddenly, Eric was hovering over her. “Millie… Millie, try to focus.” Eric’s eyes bore into hers. “Are you okay?” Amelia focused on him. There was something wrong. His face was contorted, eyes blazing… red. “Luke, she’s bleeding.”

Amelia tried to move. She needed to get away. Eric. Luke. She frantically looked around. Call for help. She needed to call for help. Then she saw Angelle. Looking sweet and deadly. A dynamic mix of sugar and fire; the sight made Amelia shudder.

“Get away from her, Eric,” Angelle growled. She turned to Adam and Kandi, who were cowering like scared little dogs, and the sweetly syrupy voice poured out. “If I ever see you near her again, I won’t hesitate to rip you apart.”

One second they were cowering and the next they were gone, leaving Amelia with her roommates. “What’s going on?” she cried. Her hurting head was spinning out of control and everything around her was taking on a static-like, grayish tone. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

Before she knew it, she was in Luke’s arms, cradled like a child against his chest and they were back in the house heading towards the front door. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I’m going to take you home.”

Home. Yes, home sounded good. Amelia snuggled in and closed her eyes. She thought she heard Tyler and Erin but it seemed so far away, like a dream. Everything else was just too loud. Music was pounding, pumping out and she buried her head deeper into Luke’s chest, hiding from the noise.

The next thing she knew, she was in Luke’s car, cradled on his lap. Amelia fluttered her eyes open. Eric was driving she noticed and Angelle looked worried. But why? They were the vampires. Why were they worried? Nothing made sense because logically, she should be the one that was scared. She looked up at Luke, through half closed, sleepy eyes. “I think I should be scared of you guys,” she murmured.

Luke chuckled and it rumbled through his chest, jiggling her, “Why’s that, kiddo?”

“Because… you’re a vampire.” Then she giggled and rested her head back against his chest, closed her eyes, and let the darkness consume her.

CHAPTER 14

Someone was calling her name. It was frantic and relentless, calling and calling, over and over. Amelia struggled to open her eyes. They felt so heavy, and sharp stabbing pains radiated from her head, pulsing through her entire body. It was dark, black as the dead of night and she looked around trying to find who was calling her. With every move of her head, hot pain mixed with dizzy drunkenness overwhelmed her, attempting to suck her back into a cold, dark hole.

She struggled to keep her eyes open. It was getting brighter. There was a soft, white light shining down. Amelia looked up. Sunlight, it was the sun. Was it morning? Why was she outside? She blinked a few times. It was so quiet. The calling had stopped and she was alone in the soft grass under a big oak tree. Stripes of sunlight peeked through leaves and branches from above, warming her skin where it touched.

A soft hand brushed hair from her eyes. Her gazed shifted, and beside her, looking like a fallen angel was Mitchell. “Amelia, what happened?”

“I hit my head,” she slurred, feeling woozy and closed her eyes again.

“Are you drunk?”

Drunk? That sounded right. She remembered going to the party. “Yup,” she said and giggled, and then a thought dawned on her. “Wait, how am I drunk? I shouldn’t be drunk in a dream. And what are you doing here?”

“You’re bleeding.” He poked around at the back of her head which did not feel nice, and she tried to bat his hand away.

“Tyler’s a really good kisser,” Amelia blurted. “So is Eric, but you’re better.” Then she smacked her hands up to her mouth in red-hot embarrassment and giggled some more. She wasn’t really sure what was funny, but well, even her voice sounded funny, a bit slow and slurred.

Mitchell took her face in his hands and pulled her attention back to his sea blue eyes. “Try to focus, Amelia. What happened to you?” He looked so scared. Someone else had been scared, too. Who? She didn’t know and it didn’t matter. Mitchell was back. She had missed him and now he was back. Then Amelia saw him realize something, and his face turned cold, and he went deathly still. “Who the hell is Tyler? And what do you mean ‘so is Eric’? You kissed Eric.” The words came out snarled, contorted with anger.

“He’s really cute,” Amelia said, and then clasped her hands back to her mouth. Why couldn’t she stop talking? “He tasted like raspberries. I like raspberries.”

“You were with another guy,” he spat the words at her.

“My roommates are vampires,” she giggled. “But they aren’t scary like the other ones. I need to sleep. I wonder if Tyler will call me tomorrow.”

“Forget about Tyler,” he growled and dropped his hands from her face. He got up and started pacing back and forth, back and forth. Amelia tried to follow him but the movement was too much and it made her dizzy.

She closed her eyes and yelled, “No!” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to forget about Tyler. I like him. Go away Mitch. Leave me alone. I don’t want you here anymore.”

Right at that moment, Amelia moved. She didn’t mean to move and she didn’t think she did it on her own, but she was floating. And Mitchell was gone. No. She wasn’t floating, she realized. Luke was carrying her. There was so much commotion around her. Angelle was yelling and poking at her head. Amelia wanted to tell her everything would be okay and that she was fine but she couldn’t keep her eyes open. It all seemed like too much work. Someone tucked her into bed. The world spun around her and she passed out.