Chapter one

Laura was walking home from school thinking about if she had to make dinner again. She had a little brother who was only ten years old, a mother who got married again when Laura was four. She never knew her real father because he left her when she was a baby. Her mother never talked about him so she never asked. Her step-father was always very nice to her and joked around all the time. She always wished she could be the youngest instead of being sixteen. Her brother got away with everything; he just blamed things on her and her parents believed him. She wondered what her next door neighbor was doing. Every day she peeked stared at his house since she never saw him outside. There had been rumors that he killed his parents and kept their dead bodies in his basement. Although she never believed he would do that. Than why didn't she ever see him outside? Even she didn't know the answer to that. But he didn't seem like the type who would murder his own parents. His name was Luke and his hair eyes were dark brown. He was strong and very tall.

She stopped walking and stared at his house again, it was white and green. Laura thought, I should just go to his house and ring the door bell. The worst he can say is no I don't want to talk to you. So she walked to his door and rung the doorbell. He answered and said, "What do you want?" She replied, "I thought you would like a visitor today since you don't seem to have any friends from school." "I'm sorry but I have an uncle who is very sick right now and I need to take care of him." "Thanks for the offer but He's going to be sick for months so I don't think I'll be able to talk to you for a long time." He shut the door and went inside. She started walking to her house again. She said to herself, I think he said that as an excuse. She opened the door and went into her house. Her mom was in the kitchen, busy typing a letter to her father who lived in Texas. Laura hated living in Washington since it was always raining. She wanted to move to Florida or California but her dad worked as an engineer for air force air planes. So her family would probably never move. She sat on the couch in her living room and clicked on the TV. A few minutes later she fell asleep.

Her step-dad came home from work and saw her sleeping. "It's time to get up sleepy head, it's time for dinner." She got up and walked to the dining room. Her brother was already sitting there waiting impatiently for the food to be set on the table. Her mother called for her, "Laura come in here and help us set dinner on the table." She walked to the kitchen and helped her mother and sat down again. Her parents came in and sat down with them. Her mother was short and a little bit overweight. Her father was tall and had an athletic built body. Her mother asked her father, "How are things going at work Robert?" He answered, "Everything is going great Linda, and I just got a raise so I'll be able to pay for that new dress you wanted." "You do I'm so happy I could just cry right now." "I didn't think you world ever have enough money for it." She looked at me and said, "I was just talking to Ms. Sims earlier and she said the new neighbor who just moved in a few days ago, has no parents or relatives." "She said she knows this because she peeked through her window and saw him sitting on a chair, so she looked through the rest of the windows and didn't see anyone else". Ms. Sims was their other next door neighbor; she was the noisiest person Laura knew. "Mom I don't think she's telling the truth." "You know she'll make up anything to tell someone." "I know she does but sometimes she tells the truth so I don't know if I believe her or not." Eric her brother, got up from his chair and said, "Maybe he's a monster from the lagoon." Laura had always wondered who he got his dry sense of humor from. She got up and looked him straight in the eyes. "I've had enough of your stupid jokes." Eric looked so much like his father, with his green and messy blond hair. "I'm going to bed so I don't have to listen to you anymore."

She stomped upstairs and walked to her room. The walls were sky blue with posters of monsters. Her parents said she was too old to read about monsters and hang up posters of them. But she didn't care; she liked to read about something that could take her away from her problems. And monsters were so interesting and different from anything else she had read. She especially loved reading about vampires and werewolves. She looked in her mirror and didn't think she was that pretty with her ivory skin and dark brown hair. She thought about what her mother said; maybe I should look through Luke's window. Just to see what he does in that house. No I shouldn't my parents could see me sneaking out. But they won't see me if I go through my window. She waited until her parents were in a deep sleep. She dressed into her pajamas and put on her shoes so she wouldn't have to get dressed again after she came back. She opened her window halfway and squeezed through. She walked quickly; she didn't want to run because he might hear her. She saw his house and the four windows around it. , maybe I should look through the one that goes to the kitchen. So she walked as quietly as she could. She didn't want anyone to know she was outside this late. When she finally got to the window, it was too high to reach so she picked up the ladder that was by the house. I bet this is what Ms. Sims used when she looked through one of these windows. She placed it by the window and stood on top of it. She almost fell down but she kept her balance. She looked through the window and saw him drinking blood from a dead rat. Ewe, how disgusting! She climbed down the ladder and started running back to her house. She couldn't believe what she just saw. There has to be a reasonable explanation to why he would do be doing that. No there isn't, the only one I can think of is he's a vampire. She squeezed back through her window and took off her shoes. She jumped into her bed and dreamed of Luke biting her neck. No I need more proof; it was probably just my mind playing tricks on me. I'll follow him home from school tomorrow and see if he really is a vampire.