Chapter One

The sound of kissing drew me out of my thoughts. I turned to my left and saw my co-worker, Ben, and one of my good friends locked in a serious embrace. There was some serious tongue action going on and, ugh oh god, Ben was starting to slip a hand up her skirt. This was obviously my cue to leave. Collecting my coat and bag, I tried to cough to draw their attention and when they continued to play tonsil tennis without so much as a blink my direction, I awkwardly waved and slipped out the bar.

I was immediately accosted by the smell of cigarette smoke and puke and I tried not to gag as I made my way across the road. The bar hadn't seemed nearly this bad when I had arrived. It was meant to be a small gathering of close friends to say farewell to me and a few others before we left Dallas for good next week. One drink had led to two and the next thing I knew we were all shit faced and struggling not to cry as we sang "our song." It was some awful pop song that we all loved for some inexplicable reason and I choked up - I probably wouldn't get a chance to sing it with them again for a while.

Taking shelter from the rain, which by now had drenched my hair and was slowly seeping through my flimsy coat, I rifled through my purse for my phone and money. Seriously – why is it always impossible to find what you're looking for in a bag? Pulling out my wallet, I struggled not to cry as I realised I only had three dollars left. What the hell – I had started the night with at least fifty in there. I hadn't spent all that on drinks had I? I racked my brain to figure what I had spent the money on and realised I didn't even know how many drinks I had had – I lost count after the sixth tequila shot. Shit

I should have accepted the lift from Jesse when I had the chance! Ugh, why am I so stubborn? Every time I go out and drink alcohol, for some reason, and I seriously don't know why, I can never remember the way home. My friends know this and always offer me lifts or make sure I have called a cab but this time I had been the last person left, well, apart from Alice and Ben.

I could go back in the bar and ask Ben and Alice for a lift but Alice has been in love with Ben for like sixty billion years and there was no way in hell I was going back in there and a) ruin their moment and b) have to witness more of their awkward seduction techniques. I only live like three blocks away, I'm sure walking will be fine – I mean, what could happen in three blocks?

Peering up at the rain in dismay, I put my purse over my head and tried to make a run for it. I didn't get very far. After about three steps I wobbled in my heels and fell to the curb on my knees. My knee immediately split open and started welling with blood, staining the edge of my dress a deep crimson and I started to giggle, not even feeling it. Clearly I was drunker than I thought.

Still giggling, I staggered to my feet and slowly made my home. I was going to miss this place when I left. Miss the city and all its nooks and crannies, the coffee shop down the street that sells the creamiest hot chocolate in the world, the house at the end of my block with the crooked fence and the creaky swing, my apartment with its leaky sink faucet and sky blue door. I didn't want to leave.

I turned left into the local park, thinking it would make an excellent short cut home and would cut my travel time in half. Obviously I had drunk way more than normal because even when tipsy I would have never done something so stupid.

If I had been sober, the way the trees creaked in the wind would have freaked me out, the way the shadows seemed slink around and follow me would have had me running away screaming and not looking back. Instead, like an idiot, I whistled and strolled through, daydreaming about the new light and airy house I had bought in Bon Temps. It was only when I heard the twig snap behind me that I realised I wasn't alone and before I could so much as draw a breath of air to scream my lungs out, I felt a sharp whack to the back of my head and everything went black.

Everything hurt. My back, my head, oh god my head, my butt – even my throat (how?). I tried to groan but all that came out was a raspy cough.

"Ugh."

Slowly, I tried to open my eyes but it felt like they were sewn shut. My heart started pounding and my breaths came faster. This was like something out of my nightmares. I would go to sleep and when I woke up no matter how hard I tried I couldn't open eyes. I have had this dreams so many times that now I started to wonder if I was really awake. In my nightmares my eyes still wouldn't open even if I tried to pry them desperately open with my fingers. So if I try to force my eyes open and it works I'm not in a nightmare?

I lifted my arm and it was like lifting a sack of bricks but I managed to gain enough control over it to force my eyelid open. Oh thank fuck – I can open my eyes! I gradually opened both eyes and blearily tried to make out my blurred surroundings but when my eyes came into focus I regretted my decision to open them. This was worse than my nightmares.

The first thing I noticed were the metal bars, the second was the vampire staring at the blood on my knee.

I screamed.