Dad promised to take me to school on Monday morning. Mum had offered to let me spend this one day at home, but I'm perfectly fine. And just laying around doing nothing doesn't seem the best idea for me. Studying can keep my mind away from what had happened.

The thought of Jake made me a bit uncertain. I didn't know if I'd see him today. But I can't hide forever, which meant I had to face my fear. Trying not to show any motion, I got in the car.

The ride to school seemed to pass too quickly. Too soon, I could see the white building with three floors, surrounded sparsely by young maple trees. Dad parked pretty far away from the entrance, as the front of the school was too crowded. I smiled to my dad, affirming that I really was okay, and waved him good-bye as I stepped out from the car. Then I watched as his car disappeared from my view. Starting from that moment, I felt vulnerable.

I headed towards the school building, taking long and fast steps, at the same time keeping my eyes open for any threat. Like Claudia suggested, I stayed close to bigger crowds. If Jake should approach, he can't do anything to me in front of all those people.

When I had taken my things from my locker and made it to biology class, Nicole practically jumped on me, hugging me tightly.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you," she said, squeezing me even more tight.

"I think I can imagine," I replied, gasping for air, surprised by her strength.

"I am so, so sorry for forcing you to come with me. It's all my fault..."

"Nicole, it's not your fault," I told her comfortingly. "And I'm fine, I really am. I didn't even get hurt."

Released from her grip, we walked over to our desk. Rudy met me there, hugging me, too, but not as strongly as Nicole although his grip was still firm. And Rudy, again, was much calmer than Nicole. And more quiet, too. Until the lesson started, Nicole didn't seem to take a single breath between her talking about how sorry she is and how bad she feels. And I did my best to confirm that it wasn't her fault. I really didn't blame her for anything. Rudy rather stayed silent. He only said a few words.

As hours passed, Nicole gradually started to calm down. At one point I even managed to forget it all. Almost. But the day would move on pretty peacefully. I only saw Jake once, when we were heading towards our next class. Luckily we didn't happen to be too close to each other. I'm not even sure if he saw me.

At the cafeteria we three sat together behind one table, as always. Nicole, the biggest chatter amongst us, was talking about one of her relative who recently got into a car accident and has been in the hospital ever since. Today after school, Nicole had to go to visit him with her parents. I tried to pay attention to what she was talking, but I was too distracted by my own thoughts.

"And you are not listening to me, are you?" Nicole said when I had drifted away again.

"Oh, um..."

"It's fine. I understand you don't want to listen to other people's problems at the moment."

"I'm sorry. I was listening." I gave her an apologizing look. It was just that I couldn't take my mind away from what I had seen in that old school house. I couldn't forget those glowing eyes. As much as I wanted, I couldn't prove myself that it was all just a dream. Because I know it was real.

"Okay then," Nicole sighed. "I need to call my sister, to tell her to pick me up after school." She stood up, her food only half eaten, and left our table. It was so quiet after she was gone. I almost drifted away in my thought again.

"I haven't heard Nicole mention it yet, but did Jake show up at the party then?" Rudy suddenly asked, almost making me flinch.

"No," I said automatically. "At least, we didn't see him," I then added.

"Mhm," he nodded, taking a bite from his apple. "But what do you think of him?" he asked after a while.

"Of who?"

"Jake. About Nicole seeking his attention. For example, I don't really like this guy. But I don't think Nicole would like to hear my opinion."

"He is... different. We don't know much about him," I agreed. "I don't think I'd trust him either." I couldn't tell Rudy what I really thought or knew about Jake.

"You're agreeing with me? I thought girls wouldn't say no to him that easily," he said, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's go. Class is about to start," I said, standing up and taking my tray. Rudy followed me without a word.

At the last lesson, I didn't even know anymore if I wanted for the school day to end or not. Here, enough people were surrounding me, and I felt safe. But my way home will be different. Nicole's sister picked her up right after we were free to go home, and Rudy's home is the other way, which meant I have no one to keep me company. Exiting the school, I studied the faces of people around me. But I didn't see Jake nor the black Ford pickup. I started walking along my way home, hoping to be there soon.

I turned the corner, which took me to another street. I was now halfway home. The street was empty, dark and uninviting forest on left, old houses and hangars on the right side. I chuckled nervously at the thought of walking further from here. Maybe I should have taken another way, deeper through the city where at least some people would be around me. But I did want to be home as soon as possible, so I kept walking.

I now remembered, though I have replayed the events of that night several times in my head, there is still one thing I haven't paid much attention to. Though I should. Jake's mother had told me that Jake and his friends aren't the only savannians. I was told there are more of them than I can even imagine. Also amongst people who I know. Could she have been lying? Are those creatures really around me every day? Amongst my friends?

Deep in my thoughts, only at the last moment I realized I had reached the end of the street, and I felt relieved. Until I felt someone's hand around my shoulders. It startled me, causing me not only to flinch, but I also let out a slight scream. My first thought was to run. But the arm around me didn't let that happen. So I held my breath, cautiously looking at the person on my left. And I swear my heart skipped a beat, or two.

"Don't touch me! Let me go, you murderer!" I yelled, kicking with my hands and legs. But with his position and strength, Jake made it pretty difficult.

"Easy now, easy," he said, hushing me. He took hold of my left hand, so I couldn't kick him with it anymore. But despite his strength, his grip was delicate.

He walked with me, not saying anything at first. I sought for escape, hardly able to keep back my tears of fear. Unfortunately, I couldn't see any way out. And there was no one near to see what might happen to me. "Murderer," I mumbled quietly.

"I didn't kill anyone that night. They were dead already when I got back there." He said it so calmly, so casually, I couldn't believe he even had feelings.

"Should I apologize for wasting your time then?" I growled.

He shook his head. "You didn't waste my time. Chase was pretty fun actually." He gave me a sweet smile, which made me feel sick.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked then.

"What if we just had a little walk?"

"You can go on your walks on your own," I muttered.

"Oh please." He smiled and pulled me closer to him. Though I struggled, I couldn't stop him. "You didn't think I accidentally picked you as my companion?"

I didn't respond to him.

"So you haven't told anyone about this? Did my mother tell you to keep it to yourself?" he asked after a moment of silence. Our steps had been slowing down unnoticeably.

"I haven't told, yet," I replied quietly.

"Pay attention to what you're saying. My job is to make sure you won't say a thing about what you saw, remember?" he said gently, playfully.

"So you're going to kill me now?" My voice showed more courage than I actually felt. But a hint of fear was still there. I'm not sure if I should have asked that question, but it almost like came out on its own.

"In that case I should take you somewhere far away at first, and make sure there aren't other predators around. Besides, I'm not hungry. And I'm not killing for fun. So killing you isn't in my mind, for now at least."

His words and calm tone together sent shivers through my body, making me want to cower. Jake only laughed at my reaction and patted me on my shoulder.

I tried to say something again, and did my best not to seem too scared. "Why are you doing this?"

He smirked. "You really want to know?"

Thinking about it, I shook my head. "But is it worth it? Don't you care about your mother?" I don't actually think there was a point in asking that. How could he care?

"I won't hurt her," he said, this time his voice serious.

"You won't?" I asked. "I didn't mean the physical pain, you know?"

Jake didn't answer. But he didn't seem offended, more like lost in thoughts. I wondered if it's possible he really has a softer spot too.

"She knows what I am and has accepted that," he then said, shrugging. But remembering my conversation with his mum, it didn't seem that way to me.

"Accepted? She's scared of you!"

Jake turned his head rapidly towards me, looking deep into my eyes. I wanted to back off, but his arm was still holding me against him. "She's scared because of me, not of me," he said quietly, but his tone confident.

"I wouldn't be so self-centered," I muttered.

"This is not even the point of our conversation," he suddenly said, raising his voice just a bit. "I should warn you, that it's not even my problem if you're planning to tell anyone about what you saw. If you do it, I would be lucky if I'm the first one to get to you. Besides, one little girl isn't enough to make the world believe. This secret is kept strongly, so you better first think about your friends who might not like your revealing." After he had said that, he removed his hands from me and turned around, going back the way we came. For a moment I stayed there and watched him go, but then, remembering my freedom, I ran home.

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Dedicated to AnotherTeenCliche for editing this story :)