FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

Chapter 18

Dylan

It was my first day at Crescent Hills Middle School and so far I was hating it. The school was huge and I knew absolutely no one here. Plus, I was beginning to think this wasn't really a school where everyone was human. I had sensed vampires as soon as I had set foot inside the halls.

Eric was in High School now which meant that practically no one here knew me. We has moved out of Crescent Hills a few years ago but my dad had gotten a new job here so we had moved back.

But so far, nothing about being back here seemed pleasant. I had assumed Lisa and I would continue to be friends after I had been Turned. But after a while she had started being distant. When I moved away, we had kept in touch for while, but then that too, stopped.

The classes here were easy and I could easily catch up with the rest of the class, but I could not get the fact that there were vampires in this school out of my head. Normally, vampires could never stand werewolves and I was expecting one of them to come up to me and start a brawl. But so far, that hadn't happened.

Last night, a guy from the Crescent Hills wolf pack had showed up at our doorstep. He wanted to know whether I was happy living with my family, and that I could join them at their pack house whenever I wanted. It was obligatory for every werewolf to join the pack. If they didn't, they would be considered rogues and savages. So of course, I had complied and I was supposed to meet with them once a month.

I was sitting at a table near the back of the cafeteria, and I could already sense that two of the girls sitting at the table across from mine were vampires, and one of them had very recently been Turned. As I watched, they both got up hastily and made for the doors. The third girl ran a hand through her hair and got up too. But instead of following her friends, she started to walk towards me.

"Hi," she smiled at me. I uneasily smiled back at her.

"Hey."

"Is this seat taken?" she asked me. "I'm sorry. My name is Ashley Brenton. My friends.." She indicated the two girls that were now leaving the cafeteria. "Just left because they have some work to do in the library, so I figured I'd come to you. We could both use some company."

Despite the fact that I barely knew her and had never seen her before, I smiled because I figured she was right. We could both use the company. And who knew? Maybe she was nice.

"Sure, the chair is empty and doesn't have anybody's name on it," I grinned. She laughed and plunked her lunch-tray on the table before sitting down. She was tall with straight, blonde hair that fell just above her waist, and light blue eyes that seemed to sparkle when the light reflected was in them.

"So what's your name?" she asked me, taking a bite from her chicken sandwich.

"Dylan," I told her. "Dylan Grace."

"Did you just move here?" she asked me, looking up from her sandwich.

"Well, yeah," I told her. "Just yesterday. Although I did live here before, but we had to move away for a while." She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and grinned.

"So, how old are you?" I looked back at her in shock. Wasn't everyone in the seventh grade supposed to be around twelve or thirteen? Why was she asking me my age then?

"Umm I'm thirteen." She stared at me for another two seconds before leaning forward in her chair.

"No, I mean old you actually are. I know you're like me."

I looked back into her bright blue eyes in alarm. Like me? Did she mean what I thought she did?

"L....like you?" I sputtered. "I don't get it."

Her lips stretched into a wide smile. "Yeah, silly!" she giggled. "You're a werewolf! I can tell."

How could she be a werewolf and I hadn't sensed her? I was normally able to sense the presence of a vampire or werwolf. So how come I hadn't known she was not normal the second I saw her?

"You're a werewolf too then?" I asked her uncertainly.

"Yeah, I've been one for a long time. So tell me, how old are you?" Ashley asked, glancing at her sandwich.

"I just Turned a few years ago when I was nine. So I'm thirteen. I haven't really been one for long." I laughed nervously. The fact that I hadn't been able to sense her presence was still bothering me so I decided to ask. "How come I wasn't able to sense you?"

"Oh, I've been a werewolf for so long. That has got to have it's perks right? I've had loads of time to practice my skills." Her tone was light and carefree but for some reason, she intimidated me.

"But your other friends...they're vampires, right?" I asked her. "How can you be friends with them? Do you have a bond with them?"

Her eyebrows shot for up for a moment but then she smiled serenely. "Who said they are actually my friends? Well, I'll see you around, Dylan." With those words, she got up, tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and picked up her tray. Before she left the cafeteria, I caught her looking right at me and I could have sworn she narrowed her eyes in my direction.