Chapter 1

Noah rolled over and glanced at the glowing numbers of his alarm clock. In the thick night they read 11:55 pm. Noah shoved the blankets off and rolled out of bed. He pulled a t-shirt over his goose bumped flesh. Walking across the cold tile of his room Noah shut his door and brought his computer to light. The beeps seemed loud and unnatural in the silence of the almost witching hour. He sat down in the armless computer chair tipping it back a little so he could comfortably close his eyes. The glow of the computer screen illuminated his palm skin, soft brown hair and strong chin. He was scrawny and since middle school was the butt of every jocks joke. His mother said he was sensitive the kids at school had less pleasing things to say. Noah rubbed his eyes sleepily and made a mental note to get a haircut soon. His hair was starting to brush his chin. Life since freshman year had sucked, and then he'd found Bloodnet. Bloodnet, an online chatroom for the dark and disturbed. One night Noah had stumbled upon it, and then he met Katrina. A user under the screen name of KatrinaRougeVamp. Noah had talked to her for two hours that first night. She was smart, sexy, mysterious and strangely had the same twisted sense of humor Noah had. He was in love with her, and had yet to actually see her. He yanked the keyboard out and logged onto Bloodnet. The clock read 11:59pm and soon Noah would speak to Katrina. He tapped on the computer desk until she appeared on the user list. Instantly he clicked on her and started typing.
DeadYetWalking: Hello Katrina.
KatrinaRougeVamp: Hello Noah. How's life my love? Noah smiled warmly loving the way she spoke. Every word had a power behind it; a heat he wished he possessed. Lost in his daydream he almost forgot to respond.
KatrinaRougeVamp: Are you there Noah?
DeadYetWalking: Yes sorry. Life is okay. School is hell. How about you?
KatrinaRougeVamp: Better because I'm with you. What happened at

school Noah?
DeadYetWalking: I asked Kiara out like you said I should and she laughed
at me. It was horrible. I thought I was going to die.
You are the only girl who understands me.
KatrinaRougeVamp: I'm sorry my love. People they can not
understand
you. You are above their though process. Have you
read The Inferno yet?
DeadYetWalking: I'm working on it. How was Blood and Gold?
KatrinaRougeVamp: Interesting. I like Armand. He's so young and so full
of pain. The bonds he creates are so deep and blood
tied. It's lovely.
DeadYetWalking: I wrote another poem for you.
KatrinaRougeVamp: Email it to me. I loved your last one. I was very
embarrassed and honored you wrote about me.
Noah could almost see her blushing. A short blond with long hair big eyes and a great body, she would look cute blushing. He wasn't sure about her body, but he'd fantasized about it enough to be sure. Noah opened his email and sent it to her.
DeadYetWalking: Done. I feel like I've known you forever. Are you sure
we cannot meet in person?
KatrinaRougeVamp: You know we can't Noah. I've got to go. Same time
next Friday?
DeadYetWalking: I still don't understand. Okay. Until next week.
Goodnight Katrina.
KatrinaRougeVamp: Sweet dreams, my sweet Noah.
In the blink of an eye Katrina logged off. Noah stared at the computer screen in a trance for a few seconds. It was a quarter past twelve when he shut down his computer. He'd spooked her into leaving he was sure of it. Noah crawled into bed, and sunk into his pillow. He closed his eyes and thought of Katrina. That of course would get him no sleep. So he stumbled back out of bed, down the hall and into the bathroom.
He shut the door and didn't bother turning on the light. There was no sense in waking his mom up. He took out the bottle of her sleeping pills and downed two straight. He felt them slid dryly down the back of his throat, and then he snuck back to bed. Noah was just drifting to sleep when he though he saw someone standing outside his window. He passed it off as a subconscious wish and fell asleep.