She was seventeen when she moved to the new town. She wasn’t like other girls, she didn’t wear jewelry, or had her face plastered with makeup. The only makeup she wore was eyeliner, and the clothes she wore were dark-blue skinny jeans with ripped holes in them, black combat boots, a white tank top, and a red and black plaid belly shirt. She had beautiful green eyes, and thick, brunette, wavy hair which fell mid-way down her back. The cab left her out on the side of the highway.
“Why are we stopping?” she asked.
“This is as far as we go ma’am. Go down that road there, and you’ll reach the town” the cab driver said.
She thought it was very strange for the cab to just stop at the end of the road, but she got out, grabbed her luggage, and headed down the deserted road. As she walked down the lonely, dirt road for a mile, she finally reached the town. Two, huge, black, steel gates blocked her way. She stood outside of the gates looking in at what she could see of the town.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” she called.
She saw a huge lock on the gate too, which she couldn’t get open. The wind began to blow, and she caught a chill.
“Hello?” she called again, and jerked on the gates to hopefully get them open. But they wouldn’t budge.
“Oh forget it,” she said and began to walk away, when the gates slowly creaked open. She turned around to see them open.
“Well, that’s better.” She said, and walked in.
“Let’s see now, the address is 22917” she said looking at the paper.
She finally reached a house with the number 22917 on it, the house was huge and looked very old. The stairs had cracks in the boards, and the paint was peeling off. She walked up the stairs, and onto the porch of the old house. She rang the doorbell, and waited. As she waited for someone to answer, she looked around the porch and saw that everything was dead. The whole atmosphere was very cold, and unnerving. Suddenly, the door opened, and an old woman peeked around the door.
“Hello, are you my grandmother? My name’s Amber” she said to the woman.
“Amber?” the woman said.
“Yes, you see my parents died in a car accident a month ago, and the child protective services told me that you were the only family I had left. And that I was to come and stay with you.” Amber explained.
“Amber McMillen?” the woman asked.
“Yes!” Amber said.
“Oh sweetheart, yes come on inside” her grandmother said, welcoming Amber inside.
Amber walked inside the house, and couldn’t believe the size of it.
“Your house is beautiful,” she told her grandmother.
“Thank you sweetheart, so come tell me all about yourself. I’m sorry to hear about your mother and father, what a tragedy.” The grandmother said.
“Thank you, well I just turned seventeen on September 30. I love to listen to music, especially Rock n’ Roll, and I love to draw.” Amber said.
“Drawing, so you want to be an artist?” the grandmother asked.
“Well, I don’t know about that. I like to draw and paint the most.” Amber said.
“What do you like to paint and draw about?” the grandmother asked.
“Oh, you know fairytale things. Like dragons, fairies, mermaids, things like that.” She said.
“Interesting, so you like things that aren’t real huh?” the grandmother asked.
“Yeah, pretty much.” Amber said.
“Tell me, do you believe in werewolves’, zombies, vampires, all of those things?” the grandmother asked.
“Um…well I’ve never really given them a thought. Probably not, I mean c’mon there not real either, there just fairytales as well.” Amber said.
“Interesting” the grandmother said, looking at her.
After they talked about each other, the grandmother showed Amber to her room, and helped her unpack.
“Dinner is at seven.” The grandmother said, and left Amber alone in her room.
Amber decorated her room, and decided to look around the house. Seeing as how old it was, it probably had lots of history.
“Brr,” Amber said, as she shivered.
“Why is it so cold in here?” she asked herself, as she continued walking through the house. She opened doors, and then walked inside to have a look around at the rooms. When she approached the last door, which she assumed led to the attic it was locked.
“Hmm, that’s odd.” She said to herself, as she turned the doorknob.
“What are you doing?” a voice said.
Amber jumped at the sound of the voice.
“Oh, grandma it’s only you. You scared me.” Amber said.
“Did I now? Oh, well I’m sorry. But why are you searching my house?” the grandmother asked.
“I’m not, I just wanted to have a look around. Why’s the attic locked?” Amber asked.
“That’s none of your concern. Stop nosing around, and just tend to your own self.” Her grandmother said, then left.
Amber was surprised at the sudden outburst her grandmother had, so she did as she was told, and stopped searching the house. She went outside, and decided to meet the other townspeople. As she walked through the quiet town, she saw no one. No one was outside, and it looked like everything was dead. Amber continued to walk and look around the town, until she came upon a church. It was also locked, she looked at the lock and it had some kind of symbol, or engraving on it.
“Wow,” she said looking at it.
Suddenly, she felt as though someone was standing behind her, watching her, and she quickly turned around to see a guy standing behind her. He was probably 6’2, slim, pale white, and had brunette hair.
“Um…Hello” Amber said.
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here” he told her.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Look, you just moved here right?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah. How did you know?” she asked.
“Word gets around in a small town,” he said.
“How? There’s no one here.” She said.
“Oh, there here. They just don’t come out in the daytime.” He said.
“Huh?” she said confused.
“Never mind, I’m Zayne” he said.
“Amber”
“So, you want me to show you around?” he asked.
“Um, yeah sure. That would be great!” she said, as she followed him.
“Um, Zayne. If you don’t mind me asking, why is every building and gate in this town locked?” she asked.
“Don’t know,” he lied.
“Hmm” Amber said, looking at him curiously.
As the days passed, Amber and Zayne got to know each other. The two discovered that they had a lot in common. They hated the town, and wanted to leave, but couldn’t because of financial issues. They loved to draw, paint, sculpt, and listen to Rock n’ Roll music. They soon began to fall for each other too, but as Amber fell for the mysterious Zayne, and he fell for her, she had no idea that he had a deep, dark, secret hidden inside of him.
One day, while they were walking together, Zayne asked Amber a very mysterious and shocking question.
“Hey, you live with your grandmother in house 22917 right?” he asked.
“Yeah, why?” Amber asked.
“Well, rumor has it, that your grandmother is actually a deranged, mental, witch doctor,” he told her.
“Ha-ha, yeah right.” Amber laughed.
Zayne gave her a serious look.
“Well, if you don’t believe that. What would you say if I told you that I was a vampire?” he asked.
“I’d still laugh, and say that you’re insane. C’mon Zayne, things like that just don’t exist. It’s all make believe, it’s all fairytales.” She told him.
“You really believe that?” he asked.
“Of course, I do. I won’t believe it until I see it, or actually experience it. Crap, it’s almost seven. I gotta go.” She said as she looked at her watch, and began to leave.
“Amber!” he called.
She stopped, and turned around to look at him.
“Meet me tonight at the church,” he told her.
“Why?” she asked.
“Trust me, just meet me tonight at nine.” He said, and left.
That night Amber snuck out of the house, and went to the church. She saw that it was still locked, then turned around to see Zayne standing behind her.
“Ready to believe?” he asked.
“Huh?” she said.
The clouds moved across the moon, and Zayne covered his face up with his hood.
“Don’t be afraid,” he told her, and then looked up at her.
Amber was in a state of shock, and could not believe what she was seeing.
Zayne was still pale white, but now had blood red glowing eyes, and fangs. He was an actual vampire.
“Oh, my, god” she said, backing away from him.
“Amber, it’s me” he said, moving toward her.
“No! No, get away from me!” she said, and began to run, but he grabbed her arm, and pulled her close to him.
“No!” she screamed.
“Quiet” he told her, as he covered her mouth with his hand.
“You said you didn’t believe in fairytales, well do you believe in them now?” he asked.
Amber was shaking like a leaf in his arms, and just kept quiet, even when he released his hand from her mouth.
“Amber talk to me, you can’t stay mad at me forever,” he said.
“Fine Zayne, yes I believe you okay! You’re a vampire, and vampires exist okay?” Amber said, aggravated and scared.
“Look, I’m sorry I had to show you what I really am, but I had too” he told her.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because, on October 31, you’re going to become one of us as well.” He told her.
“One of us? Us who? There’s no one else in this stupid town!” Amber said.
“Oh yeah, look!” Zayne said, as he turned Amber around and showed her what happened at night.
What Amber saw she couldn’t believe as well, people everywhere in the town were coming out of their houses, and they were all some kind of mythical creature. Vampires, werewolves, witches, mummies, etc. She couldn’t believe that this was all real.
“Is this real?” she asked.
“Yes, now you know why no one is outside in the daytime. We all come out at night.” Zayne said.
“But, you were out in the daylight, and you’re a vampire?” Amber said.
“Yeah, but I’m not like the other vampires. I can come out in the daylight, and at night. See my mother’s a witch, so she gave me the power to walk outside.”
“And your father’s a vampire, right?” Amber asked.
“Yeah,” Zayne agreed.
“I still don’t understand how all of this is real. And what do you mean by I’m going to turn into something?” she asked.
“Because, your grandmother is the cause for all of us being these creatures. We’ve tried to destroy her, but we have all failed. And every human being that arrives here, soon becomes some kind of creature. And I know that you will turn into something as well, seeing as how you’re her granddaughter. And it may be sooner than you think.” He said, as his fangs got closer to her neck.
“No! You’re wrong,” she said as she shrugged him off of her.
“I will never become one of you. Ever!” she told him.
“Oh yeah?” Zayne said, and sank his fangs into her neck.
“Ah!” Amber screamed, as she woke up. She looked around to see that she was back in her grandmother’s house, and safely in her bed. She was covered in sweat from the nightmare she thought she had, and was shivering from it being so cold in the house. She touched her neck, and felt nothing. No bite marks, or pain. Was it all a dream? Was it all in her head? Or did it all really happen?