Chapter 1: To Escape To Paradise

Hailey looked around, she'd been walking around for at least three hours and she was thoroughly lost. By now her step mother would have noticed her absence and done nothing about it. Not that she wanted her step mother to find her, let alone drag her back to that hell hole of a house. Her stepmother was like Cinderella's step sisters and step mother rolled into one. She was worse than the worst person in the history of life.

After her mum died giving birth to her, life wasn't too bad. Her dad loved her and spent all his money on her, taking her on vacations and hiring the best tutors and trainers to make sure she was smart and trained in fighting. Her dad was always a tad overprotective, but she liked it. Although ever since he married "Cynthia" AKA the worst person in history, he's been away working hard to keep up with her expensive habits AKA shopping.

If she didn't find a road or something soon, she'd have to backtrack and go back to step mother. So lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the dogs trailing her until they backed her into a corner. Great, now what was she going to do?

'Good doggy' Hailey said, reaching out to touch one of the dogs but the dog began growling, so she retracted her hand. What was she going to do now? Wait until they leave? Fall asleep and let them eat her alive? This is not how she planned her escape. A loud piercing whistle rang in the air and the dogs lay down at her feet.

'Are you okay?' Hailey looked up to see a handsome guy with dark hair and light eyes around her age walking her way. Dammit she was caught, now he'd take her back to her step mother and then she'd be watched like a hawk. Not because her step mother loved, but because she'd get in trouble with her dad if she let harm come to her.

'Why are you trespassing?' his question bought her out of her thoughts and back to reality.

'Umm' Hailey said, trying to think of a response. If she was trespassing that meant she was no where near her step mother or her house, which raised the question of where she actually was.

'Do you know your name?' He asked, looking sympathetically at her. What kind of question was that of course she knew her name, but if she told him he'd find her step mother and she would be back in that house within a day…

'Ummm' What's a good fake name?

'Do you speak English?' He asked, oblivious to the fact that she was trying to figure out a convincing way to lie to him.

'Yes, I do' Hailey answered, happy that she didn't sound like a complete retard.

'Are you okay?' he asked, walking up to her.

'I don't know…' Hailey said, getting annoyed she was starting to sound like a bit of a retard, but then a thought struck her… if she keep saying I don't know, he'll assume she have amnesia and that's not a bad plan.

'Do you remember where you came from?' he asked. Of course she did but she wasn't going back there, so she shook her head.

'Do you have anything on you?' he asked, and Hailey resisted the urge to feel her pocket for the fake ID and thousand dollars she took before running out of the house that morning. She shook her head again.

'Why don't you come with me and you can stay at my hotel for a few days' he offered, 'I'll call a doctor and maybe we'll find out who you are.'

'Ok' Hailey said, she didn't know why she trusted him besides the fact that he was offering her free food and a bed to rest in, for all she knew he was a killer, but she felt safe with him even though she barely knew him. And feeling safe was something that she rarely felt, so she followed him through the woods to his hotel.

Stepping through the threshold, was like stepping back in time, everything was so beautiful and so antique. It was like being in the nineteenth century. Biting her lip, Hailey quickly looked around and made note of all the possible exits she could see. If her step mother found her, she didn't know how much time she would have to run away.

'Good evening miss, my name is Barney Thompson, may I help you?' Turning around, Hailey saw an elderly man in a suit watching her and smiling kindly. What was she meant to say? I'm faking amnesia and followed a hot boy, who is practically a stranger to her, here? No.

Hailey smiled back, 'I'm not sure.'

'She's my guest' the hot boy from earlier said, 'I'm going to show her to the purple room.' Then he turned to Hailey and said 'If you follow me.' Hailey followed as he led her up two flights of stairs and onto the second floor. They walked in silence down the hallway, until he stopped in front of a room and opened the door. 'Your room, madam.' He did a little bow as he held open the door for her.

Hailey walked into the room and felt like she was in a fairytale. Everything was so beautiful and old and gorgeous. The whole room was decorated in purple and gold. The windows were huge and looked out over the forest. She felt at peace, but at the same time on edge. She couldn't stay here, it wouldn't take long before her step mother to find her. She walked over and sat on the bed. Sighing, she lay down and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, hot guy was standing at the edge of the bed, looking down at her.

'Why the long face? Don't like the colour purple?' hot guy said, turning his head to one side.

'I like the colour purple' Hailey replied.

'Good' Hot guy grinned down at her.

'What's your name?' Hailey asked, sitting back up.

'It's Christian, don't forget it' he said, a dimple in his cheek appearing as he continued smiling.

'Ch... what was it again?' Hailey teased.

'Yeah yeah, don't pretend you don't remember' Christian said, 'I know you love my name.' Hailey laughed so hard she fell back against the bed.

'Hey, what's so funny?' Hailey looked up to see a skinny young girl with short spiked up red hair standing in the door way.

'Nothing, she was just laughing at me' Christian said.

'Aww, poor baby' Red head walked up to the bed, looked down at her and then at Christian, raising a brow, 'And she is?'

'A guest' Christian replied.

'A paying guest' Red head say, 'Or your guest?'

'Everyone's my guest' Christian said, grinning.

'If everyone's your guest then we're going out of business' red head said, grinning back at him. Was she his girlfriend?

'This is Kit De Luca, she helps me run this joint' Christian said.

'Helps you run it? Please, you do nothing and I'm practically left running it on my own.' Kit said, she stretched, her back cracking and a belly ring becoming visible. She straightened and looked at Hailey. 'What sort of guests doesn't have any luggage?'

'My sort of guest' Christian said, winking at Hailey.

'Eww' Kit said at Christian, then turned to Hailey, 'Would you like to borrow some of my clothes?'

Hailey was stunned she didn't ask any more questions about who Hailey was, then considered her offer. She looked down at herself, then up at Kit, there was no way Kit's clothes would fit on her. 'Umm, we aren't the same size?'

'Don't worry about it' Kit said, then without waiting for a response left the room.

'If you want to take a shower and freshen up, there's your own bathroom through that door' Christian said, pointing to a door, 'I'll tell Kit to leave the clothes on the bed, and I'll be downstairs if you need anything.' Christian left, leaving her to her own thoughts.

'Okay, thank you' Hailey said.

'It's pretty late now, but tomorrow morning I might call the doctor for you' Christian popped back into the doorway, 'Bye.'

'Okay' she said, more to herself than to Christian. She wouldn't let him call the doctor, if it was the same doctor her step mother used she'd be made, her escape would be compromised. She felt slightly guilty, for abandoning her father, but he abandoned her when he left her in that house with her step mother for months at a time.

Dragging herself from her thoughts, Hailey went and took a shower. Washing her hair and drying it with a towel, then tying it up with a hair band. She walked out of the bathroom in a towel to see the door to her room closed and some clothes laying on the bed. She put them on, surprised they fit and then went downstairs.

Kit, Christian and Barney were sitting at the dinner table. It didn't look like they had any other guests and she was relieved. She didn't feel like talking a lot. 'Please, come join us' Barney said when he noticed her presence, and she did. They didn't ask her a lot of questions, or force her to join in their conversations, they just let her eat in peace.

After dinner, everyone went off doing their own thing and Hailey went back to her room. She checked to see the ID and the money were still in the pillow and then lay on the bed, blocking all thoughts, and relaxing. Hailey looked out the window, noticing how the sky darkened and the full moon shining brightly, outlining everything. She knew she wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. She never did, but tonight with all the adrenaline rushing through her bloodstream, she was going to get even less sleep.

Hailey stuck her head out the door, listening for sounds that would indicate that someone was still awake. When she found none, she snuck downstairs and turned on the TV. The volume was low that she had to strain to hear what was being said, but she didn't want to wake anyone up. She watched a full episode of Vampire Diaries, before being found.

'So this is where you're hiding out?' Christian's voice said, walking around the couch to sit next to her.

Hailey's heart shot into an adrenaline rush. She was so lost in the TV show, she didn't notice Christian walking up to her. She could not let that happen again, 'Oh my god you scared me.' Hailey's heart began to slow.

'So did you when I couldn't find you in your room' Christian said, cocking a brow.

'You went to find me?' Hailey asked, trying to fight a smile.

'No, I was just checking on you and you weren't there' Christian said, and Hailey smiled at his concern.

'If I left would you find me?' she asked, watching Christian.

'Yes, but if you didn't want to come back I wouldn't force you' Christian answered, watching Hailey back.

'Oh' Hailey said, not knowing what else to say but touched he cared about her.

'Can I join you?' Christian asked, 'Or would you like to be alone?'

'Yes you can join me' Hailey answered, glad for his company, 'I love vampire diaries.'

'You do?' Christian said, confused.

'Yeah, it's one of the best TV shows' Hailey answered, then realized if she had amnesia she wouldn't think that.

'I don't like it' Christian said, not questioning her about how she knew it was her favourite TV show.

'How can you not? Stephan and Damen are the hottest things ever!' Hailey said, grinning at Christian. Not mentioning to him that he was probably hotter than both of them combined.

'Of course they are' He laughed, rolling his eyes and pulled Hailey closer to him. She ended up lying across the couch with her head in his lap. She was about to get up, but Christian said 'Stay, please.' So she did. She put a pillow underneath her head and Christian stroked her hair and they both watched Vampire Diaries together in happy silence.

Eventually Hailey fell asleep. And for the first time, in a long time, the nightmares didn't come.