Rachel

Chapter 1- The Neighborhood

I was walking the neighborhood when out of nowhere, an arrow flew by my face. I turned to see Rachel in her tree house, quickly closing the door. Swiftly running through the street, I was in her yard within seconds. I climbed up the ladder and sat on the edge of the board. I buried my face into my knees and started to cry softly.

"Cayden is that you?" Rachel asked on the other side of the door.

"Y-yes." I said nervously.

Rachel opened the door and gestured for me to come in. I got down on my knees and crawled through the treehouse door. Everything was still here. The drawings, the bean bag chairs, the carving I carved for her... She looked so different. Black shorts, combat boots, a ripped red V-neck, black snakebites, and black hair with sky blue tips.

In case I didn't tell you, Rachel was my first love. She was my best friend from kindergarten up to junior year of high school. That's when everything changed. She stopped talking to everyone, especially me. We graduated last year, but we haven't talked much since junior year. That guy raped and abused her.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"What do you care?" I snarled back, turning my face towards the wall.

"Can I say something? I apologize for not talking to you much since junior year. I'm sorry I blew you off when you needed me most. I didn't want to throw away our friendship, but that guy... he hurt me Cayden." She said, tears welling in her eyes.

I could feel my heart ache. My instincts were telling me one thing while my brain was telling me another.

"Cayden, what's going on?" Rachel asked, scooting back.

"What do you mean?" I asked, turning towards her.

"Your eyes are blood red and you skin is pale. Are those.... fangs?" She said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Rachel don't be scared. I had to find you." I said, biting my tongue.

"Why?" She asked.

"Rachel please.. just kiss me." I said, looking into her eyes from across the room.

"So you can bite my neck and turn me into a monster like you?!" She screamed.

"No.... Rachel, I love you!" I shouted.

Rachel looked startled, she walked over to me and sat on my lap. Wrapping her legs around my waist.

"I love you too." She whispered into my ear.

Rachel pressed her lips against mine. They tasted like vanilla mint, just like they did in 7th grade. Rachel and I were in Mikey Johnson's house playing spin the bottle. When the bottle landed on us, we leaned in and kissed a couple times. That's how Rachel and I both had our first kiss. Gently setting my hands on Rachel's hips, I ran my hands up and down her legs. Rachel broke free of the kiss. I should have been more careful. Rachel's not the same girl she used to be. That guy changed her. Rachel didn't used to be emo, she used to be preppy. She finally found herself, and I'm over-joyed that she did.

"Why'd you stop Cayden?" She asked, her arms wrapped around my neck.

"You looked stunned, I didn't want to hurt you." I said, resting my hands on her hips.

"You weren't hurting me." She said, with a smirk on her face.

Rachel pushed me over onto a bean bag. I bit my lip softly as she pulled her shirt off. This was going to be an eventful yet awkward day.

~3 hours later~

I woke up to "Monster" by Skillet playing. I rolled over and grabbed my phone. 3:48pm?! I had to get home, I wasn't supposed to stay out this long.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked as I quickly pulled my pants on and zipped them up.

"I have to go home Rach." I said, slightly sighing.

"I'll come with, better than staying here with nothing to do." She said, sitting up and smiling at me.

"Rach you can't. I'll stop by later, I promise." I said, kissing her one last time.

Getting down on my knees and crawling through the door, I climbed down the ladder and made my way towards the woods.

Quickly pulling my hoodie on, I sprinted into the woods. Rachel seemed surprised to see me. But why? I'm a vampire now. There are many stereotypes about my kind. We can't go out in sunlight, we don't have a reflection, garlic stings our skin, and stakes through the heart can kill us. Those are just urban legends. The only thing that could hurt a vampire is decapitating one.

"You were supposed to be back hours ago." Dalton snarled.

"I was busy." I snarled back, walking up the stairs and shoving past him.

"Looking for that girl again? Face it Cayden, she's gone. Everyone left when Sean and I showed up." He said, closing the front door behind us.

Sean and Dalton... they changed me.