Chapter One

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Rolling over, seventeen year old Liliana Curry slams her hand on her annoying alarm clock. Opening her eyes, she notices the bright sunlight pouring through her open window. Groaning, she sits up and swings her legs over the side of her bed. Stretching, she stands up and walks around a pile of dirty clothes to her window. Looking out, she sees someone standing across the street, staring up at someone. Liliana gasps and quickly shoves her curtains closed.
"Pervert," she whispers to herself. Parting the curtains slightly, Liliana peeks out the window and sees the person is replaced by her mailbox. She rubs her eyes and looks again. The mailbox is still there. Shrugging and closing the curtains all the way, Liliana glances around her small room, trying shake off the creepy feeling she was having.
She looks around her room. She sees her bed pushed up against the wall on her left side. On her right was her bedside table that held her alarm clock, portable CD player, and a couple of library books she needed to return. Being an only child, Liliana never had to share anything, so her room was cluttered with stuff animals, clothes, and books. Kicking a stuffed dog out of her way, Liliana walks over to her dresser.
Everyone at school always thought Liliana was strange, so she didn't have a lot of friends to swap clothes with. She never knew her father and her mother, being a surgeon, was always gone. Liliana didn't even have neighbors to yell at her for playing her music too loud. All her life, she has been alone. Either walking through the woods that surrounded her house, reading one of the tragic romance novels she borrows from the library, or watching low budget horror films that came on late at night.
At her dresser, Liliana pulls open one of the drawers and pulls out her favorite skinny jeans, a white t-shirt with horizontal purple stripes on it, and purple knee length toe socks. Putting everything on, she glances at her alarm clock which reads 7:15. Liliana walks over to her closet and pulls the door open. She grabs her purple flats out and slips them on. She then grabs a beige wool sweater off a hanger, slips it on, and closes the door shut.
Liliana walks out of her bedroom to the little bathroom across the hall. Turning on the light, she looks at her reflection in the mirror. Looking back at her is a naturally tan worn out and tired looking girl. One of the things that made people stay away from Liliana were her eyes. She had the strangest gray eyes she had ever seen. They had flecks of blue in them. Sometimes when she is really angry or sad, she swears she can see the blue twinkle. Sighing, Liliana dabs on some mascara on her long black eyelashes. She then grabs her brush and pulls her long auburn hair into a ponytail.
After brushing her teeth, Liliana walks back to her room to grab her book bag. She looks around her room to make sure she didn't forget anything. Something on her dresser catches her attention. She walks to it and notices the silver locket laying on the dresser. She picks it up and rubs her finger over the engraved name. Opening up the locket, she sees two pictures. A man and woman whom looks familiar to her. Her mother told her the story of how a young frantic looking woman banged on her door, holding a little girl. She basically threw the girl at her and ran off. Her mother couldn't believe it. She said she didn't have the heart to put Liliana in a foster home, so she raised her.
Liliana closes the locket and puts it to her neck, clasping the lock. She sighs, walks out of her room, and down the stairs to the kitchen. Walking towards the refrigerator to grab her lunch, Liliana notices a note taped to the door. Reading it, she rolls her eyes.
"Liliana, I'm going to be home later that I thought. You can just have the leftovers from last night's dinner. Have a good day at school. - Mom."
"Surprise, surprise," Liliana says to herself.

Liliana rips the note off the refrigerator door, crumples it in her hand and walks toward the front hall, throwing it in the trashcan beside the oven. In the corner of her eye, she notices movements out the large window that is overlooking a patio. She turns her head quickly only to see the trees' leaves moving around in the breeze. The sky had darken, looking like it might rain in any minute.
The hair on the back of Liliana's neck stands on end, suddenly, and goose bumps erupt all over her arms. Rubbing her arms, she got this weird feeling someone was watching her. She looks around the large kitchen, not knowing what caused this reaction. Shaking her head, she quickly walks back to the refrigerator, opens the door, and grabs her lunch.
All of a sudden, Liliana hears a loud bang come from outside, making her jump violently. She drops her lunch that she was holding. She quietly closes the fridge door and slowly approaches the window. The breeze outside had turned into a roaring wind. The loud sound Liliana had heard came from a couple of wrought iron chairs that had fallen over. Sighing and rolling her eyes, she shakes her head once again.
"What has gotten into me this morning?" Liliana whispers to herself.
Glancing at the oven's clock, Liliana sees that it is 7:40. Gasping, she runs over to her dropped lunch and shoves everything into her book bag. She hurries to the front hall and runs out the front door, quickly closing it behind her. Stepping off the porch, Liliana can see the big yellow bus driving towards her bus stop down the street. She takes off running down her driveway to the street.
As she is running, huge rain pellets start pouring down on her and the surrounding woods.
"This is just my day," Liliana grumbles to herself, breathlessly. Glancing up she can see the bus sitting at her stop. "Crap!" She gasps, trying to quicken her run through the rain. "Wait!" Liliana screams at the bus, but it's useless over the roaring engine and wind. She stops running and watches helplessly as the bus drives off.
"Damn it!" Liliana yells, stomping her foot in a puddle that she hadn't seen, which, consequently, splashes her.
Growling in frustration, she turns around and starts walking back to her house. While walking back, Liliana feels the feeling like someone is watching her again. She looks around but doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The sky darkens even and the rain and wind worsens. Liliana quickens her step, trying to hurry home.
Finally seeing the rustic mailbox that sits across the street from her house, Liliana runs the rest of the way to her driveway. Running up the driveway, she didn't notice the black van sitting right outside her front door. She looks up to see a boy around the same age as her leaning against the front of the van. Liliana walks closer to him and notices he has spiky blonde hair. He was staring absentmindedly into the woods next to her house; seeming oblivious to the rain soaking his clothes. Liliana approaches the van slowly, feeling weary. She can see the boy did not look too happy.
"Umm… can I help you?" Liliana asks him.
The boy turns his head, making Liliana gasp. His eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen. They seemed to pierce right through her. All of a sudden, she felt this chill inside of her that went straight to her bones.
Stammering, Liliana tried to say something, but her mind was wiped of all thought. The chills she was feeling was replaced by numbness. Her body started to real heavy. She felt like she was tilting backwards. Liliana tried grabbing onto something around her, but her arms wouldn't budge. She felt herself falling backwards. The last thing she sees before succumbing to darkness were those piercing, cold, blue eyes staring into her wide, scared, gray ones.