Author's Note: This story is under going a massive edit/rewrite. Reviews are always encouraged, and they will motivate me to update.

Chapter One

I flopped onto my mauve colored bedspread, my forehead resting in my palms. My blonde hair acted like a curtain, shielding my pale skin from the sunlight filtering through my dense green curtains. The trip had really taken a lot out of me. It was, after all, hard to be just one more giddy high school graduate when you had an insatiable hunger gnawing at your sanity.

A soft knock landed on my bedroom door, and moments later my mother pushed it open, leaning on the door frame. The poor woman looked haggard. My absence had probably taken a toll on her as well. She was lonely, sadness seemed ever present in her blue eyes even while she smiled at me.

"How was the trip?" She asked, coming in to sit beside me and rub my back through my white blouse, "You look tired."

I nodded, willing excitement into my tone, "Oh yeah, we were busy. Marie insisted on getting to the park at opening every morning. I swear that girl has more energy than the energizer bunny. But it was a good time. I haven't been to California in so long." I could still feel the warm sun on my skin, the cool west coast air difting in through the open windows of our hotel room at night.

"Well it's good you had a good time," She forced a smile, her hand falling away from my back and into her lap. She stared at it awkwardly, as if unsure of what to say now.

"What's wrong mom? Is something bothering you?"

Her behavior over the weeks leading up to graduation had been peculiar, and I was worried that she would fall into another round of crippling depression. She had struggled with it for as long as I could remember. Being alone was the worst for her though.

"I just can't believe that your leaving so soon again. I know this is your future, and I don't want to hold you back from that..."

She trailed off, not that I had been really listening anyway. The mention of my fast-approaching absence did not exactly thrill me either. Mom thought it was college starting early – a summer program. Really that was just one more of the countless lies I had told over the past year to cover up the fact that I was going through the change. And I'm not talking about puberty.

It had began last summer during Thespian camp. Marie had been my best friend for as long as I could remember, and we always went together. But this year had been different. It wasn't just the glossiness of her hair, or the fact that she seemed to be "sick" every time she ate camp food (because really, it got to everyone at some point). But there was something more defined about her. The way she moved was like a wolf stalking through a pack of sheep. Her amber skin seemed to glow, and her eyes were sharp and silver.

I hadn't had the guts to question her about the changes, figuring she would open up eventually. When she didn't and I heard her sneak out of the cabin one night I followed her into the surrounding forest.

You bitch! Did you just bite me?!

I remember pulling my hand away from my throat and finding blood. When I looked back at her, completely horrified, she licked her lips and shrugged.

Curiosity kills, Elena.

Literally.

Over the past year I had slowly begun the transformation, living out my senior year in high school as one of the undead. When I had received the mysterious letter in the mail about a month away from graduation it hadn't exactly caught me by surprise. Silver Eyed Academy was prestigious, and with a name like that you'd think it would send up some red flags. But it didn't seem like the mortal world was any wiser.

"I know it's soon, but it isn't like I can turn down the offer for paid schooling." I shrugged, refusing to meet her sad gaze, "Like you said – it's my future we're talking about."

God if there were words to describe my guilt as I lied to her face. It twisted my gut in its strangle hold, and I still couldn't look at her. God knew how badly I wanted to tell her the truth. Going through this past year utterly alone was torture.

Somehow I would have to escape my clingy mother and fly off to school for another six years after already completing four. Yep, living hell did not even begin to cover it.