Bite Me

Chapter 1

Roxanne woke with a start. Her face dampened slightly with sweat; her heart leaping out of her chest; her breath short and sharp. It was just a dream. Looking around she took in her surroundings: or tried to being as the room she was currently in was incredibly dark. The last thing she remembered was being curled up on the sofa with Zach watching a movie, one she'd never heard of before, but now the television was off and she couldn't feel Zach behind her. Confused, she began to move, shaking off the sleep that had overcome her and trying to navigate her way around the room to find a source of light. After walking into several walls and items of furniture that she was sure hadn't been there before, and still failing to find a light switch, beneath her fingertips she felt the velvet fabric of the curtains that hung theatrically in Zach's living room. Tugging hurriedly at the material they parted and a beam of moonlight fell through the air and into the room. From this limited light Roxanne saw no sign of Zach anywhere. Getting her bearings she slowly walked towards the light switch, flicking it on and shielding her eyes from the sudden flood of harsh light. The clock on the wall showed the time to be 2:34 in the morning, just the thought of this made Roxanne stretch and yawn. It was too late, or rather too early, to go home and possibly wake her parents and brother up thinking there's a burglar downstairs, so instead the thought of going up to Zach's room crossed her mind. Maybe he had the sudden urge to go to the toilet or maybe he was too uncomfortable on the sofa, whatever the reason, going up to Zach's huge comfy bed seemed like the best idea: she could wait for him there. Drawing the curtains fully closed again and finally cutting off the blinding light, she tip-toed up the stairs so as not to wake anyone, she finally reached the top of the stairs and proceeded to go along the hallway to the room at the end. Silently, opening the door and stumbling along in the darkness she fell onto Zach's bed with only a muffled cry of surprise at the trip. Roxanne intended to stay awake and wait for Zach's return, but the bed she lay on was too comfortable and soon her eyes closed and she drifted into yet another troubled sleep, plagued with nightmares.

For a while now, maybe a month or so, Roxanne Ashton had suspicions about her boyfriend of 3 years. Of what? She wasn't sure. He wouldn't have cheated on her, he wasn't that kind of person, and nevertheless the feeling in the deepest part of Roxanne's heart told her something wasn't quite right. From the outside no one would notice anything, being as popular as he was Zach still played up to people's expectations perfectly, but underneath the surface he was hiding something and Roxanne was determined to find out what it was.

Whilst asleep in Zach's bed, without Zach, the dreams came back to her. She was high up somewhere, in a tall tree maybe, looking down at several figures hidden under what seemed to be dark cloaks or capes of some sort. Not one person looked up, it appeared they were all oblivious to her presence, as she continued to watch the scene unfold, unnoticed. Certain one of the people under the cloaks was Zach, Roxanne tried in vain to get from her position above the crowd but stayed trapped by the invisible bonds restraining her. The cloaks formed a circle and began to murmur what sounded like an incantation, as this happened they began to raise their heads one by one. Not one of the faces did she recognise. Then, only one remained. The chanting grew louder and faster until it was the only sound filling her head, making it so she couldn't think straight. As the last hooded figure raised their head the chanting was broken by one sound. A scream louder than any heard before erupted from Roxanne's mouth as she fell from the place she had been confined to and into the centre of the circle. It was at this point every time that she woke up: still without knowledge of who that final person shrouded in shadow was.

Repeatedly waking up crying because of the nightmares took its toll on Roxanne, but this time was different. As she sat upright, gasping for breath, she was soothed and calmed by the gentle coos and comforting words being whispered softly into her ear. Someone began stroking her chocolate-coloured hair, moving it away from her face and revealing their own identity in the process. Roxanne immediately hurled herself into Zach's arms, knocking them both backwards onto the bed and bringing on even more of her tears. After a few minutes Roxanne's sobbing subsided, allowing her to choke out a few words intended to start a conversation.