INTO

CHAPTER ONE

Gwendolyn walked along the forest careful not to fall due to the tree branches lying carelessly around. Her shiny black hair now a dirtier shade of black was covered in dust, hanging loosely around her shoulders as she limped in the forest. Her blouse was tattered and her right arm bled from her falling countless number of times. She had no idea where she was or how she got there.

Suddenly, her eyes caught a glow. It was an unusual glow. She looked closer to meet an owl staring at her. The owl was huge. It was the same size as the teddies she got for Christmas. Its huge black eyes stared at her like it was about to pop out of its socket. It made a weird screeching sound that reminded Gwen of the werewolves in her favorite TV series.

Suddenly the huge black eyes turned red. It shone at her like the fire used at camps. The full moon shone on the owl as it grew bigger.

Gwendolyn grabbed the hem of her tattered gown as she began to walk backwards.

"Where are you going?" A voice echoed from the woods making Gwen let out a scream as she fell. She tried to move but her legs had become tangled in between the twigs.

"No.No.No" she whispered as she uselessly tried to set her legs free.

Her body froze in horror as a creature flew beside her. It descended right beside her and its wings disappeared. It looked like a human and at the same time didn't look like one. His body was covered in a black cloak that cover his face. He had black gloves on and there was a mask dangling from his neck.

He took off the cloak and Gwen immediately let out a scream. He gave an evil smile and lowered down to her. He leaned forward to her and grabbed by the shoulder.

"Let me go," Gwem wanted to say but it came out in whispers. He grabbed the tail of her hair and pulled it. She yelled in pain but it took no notice of her desperate sounds.

"You'll be delicious," he commented as bent over pausing as he got only few inches away from her neck. He opened his mouth showing a set of colored teeth with fangs at the sides. He closed it almost immediately making it seem like he was giving her a hint on what was going to be driving into her skin. He opened it again and placed it right beside Gwen's neck and...

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo."

Gwendolyn's eyes flew upon as she felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her. Her almost seeming never ending scream was quickly replaced by heavy pants. She jumped out of bed immediately standing in front of her huge mirror. Her hair in French braids were neatly hanging around her shoulders. Her pyjamas had no dust on them and showed no sign of cuts. She nervously ran her hands around her neck to check if they had any marks on them.

"Miss Gwendolyn, Miss," Gwen's maids babbled in unison as they rushed in.

"What happened?! I heard your scream," Lucy, her personal assistant followed, rushing towards her. "Are you okay? Miss?"

The familiar sight of maids and Lucy reassured her she was home not in an ugly forest. "I had a creepy nightmare," she replied as Lucy gently stroke her hair. She pulled her into a hug, as she watched goosebumps crawl over her skin. "It felt so real, Lucy."

"It was just a nightmare," Lucy tried to assure her but Gwen was persistent. Very persistent.

"But a very creepy one," Gwen emphasized. "It was like i was being chased by a monster."

"And he bent over like he wanted to kiss me," she stopped halfway trying to remember. "Gosh he had horrible teeth."

"No, he wanted to eat me!" She yelled remembering. "Lucy, i'm too terrified to go back to bed now."

"It's gonna be fine," Lucy continued trying to assure her, gently patting her back. "Now go back to bed. You need rest."

"Okay," Gwen replied Lucy and lay back on her bed positive there was no way she was going back to sleep just like that. She glanced at the wall clock. It was 1:37am. She still had hours before waking up to get ready for school.

"It was just a scary nightmare, Gwen, okay? Good night," Lucy said again, Gwen nodding as she watched her leave and shut the door to her room, leaving her alone in the empty huge room.

She turned to her left and switched off the lights, dragging her duvet over her head immediately the lights went off. She hated to admit but she was terrified. Too terrified to even shut her eyes. That wasn't the Gwen everyone worshipped at school. She needed to get it together.

Gwendolyn Patterson, 18, the prettiest and most popular girl at school with extremely rich parents. Having parents who were both extremely in love with their jobs, she grew up without having them around all the time. Instead of their time and affection, she got everything she wanted instead. Literally. On her 15th birthday, along with a brand new car she would never be able to drive until she turned legal, they gifted her Lucy, a personal assistant to keep her company. Though she initially argued she didn't need one, with time she grew fond of her and enjoyed going home to someone who'd gladly listen to all her rants.

She turned again realizing she had spent close to 30 minutes doing nothing but stare at her purple duvet. She needed to sleep and after another 30 minutes of a staring competition with her duvet, the duvet finally won.

---

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare, of course."

Gwen crossed her legs, anticipating what her best friend, Imogen Peters had to say. It was a free period and she had her crew were using it to play truth or dare, as usual.

"Well," Imogen pressed her lips together, eyes running through everyone in the class. "I dare you to kiss Adam."

"Adam Caesar?"

"Yup," Imogen popped the 'p', earning sounds of pleasure from their mutual friends.

Gwen turned to look at Adam Caesar. Mysterious Adam. They had being in the same class ever since the 7th grade and not even for once spoke to each other. Just like his nickname, he was truly mysterious. Only spoke to a handful number of people and never actively participated in any school events. He was smart so Gwen had just concluded he was just another very typical nerd.

"You know it'll be an honor for him to kiss me," Gwen said, shifting her gaze back to Imogen.

"Give him the honor then."

"Come on, Gwen."

"You scared?"

"Gwen, it's just a kiss."

"Babe, don't worry. I won't get mad," Kareem, her boyfriend she dates only because he was hot chipped in.

"Fine, fine," she got up finally feeling under pressure. It was just a kiss, nothing more.

She walked over to Adam's desk. His read was rested on the desk, earphones plugged in his ears. He was either sleeping or pretending to be.

"Um, Adam?"

No response.

"Adam," she hit his table lightly hoping that'd wake him from his slumber.

Still no response.

She was beginning to feel eyes on her do she did the next thing that came to her mind.

That worked. He raised his head immediately as he flashed the earphones in her hands. "You weren't answering and patience isn't one of my strongest virtues."

He had an extremely confused look. "What?"

"Forget it," she flashed him an unusual smile. "The thing is, um, look I know we've never really talked or anything but can I kiss you?"

"What?"

Gwen could hear her friends snickering.

"Don't misunderstand," she cut his thoughts short. "It's a game. Truth or Dare. I was dared to kiss you so here I am. Can I kiss you or not?"

His face was unreadable. What was that emotion? Confused? Disgusted?

"No, I don't want to kiss you."

The reply was unexpected. Took Gwen and her friends by surprise.

"Oh?" she stuttered. Never had she imagined someone would turn down the opportunity to kiss her. She could hear giggles, snickering and whispers and it seemed like the whole class' attention was on her.

She tried to stay cool as she handed his earphones back to him. "Your loss then."

He collected it, his eyes meeting hers. "Trust me, it's not."

"Woahhh. Gwendolyn Patterson just got rejected by a guy!"

She could see phones and hear the sound of cameras clicking. She flipped her hair with confidence and headed over to meet her friends.

Imogen looked at her apologetically and as she sat whispered, "Sorry."

"It's no biggie," she shrugged. "I guess that nerd's saving his first kiss for his wedding night."

That lightened the moods as they all laughed. They continued the game with Kareem's hands around her waist and her eyes and mind all over Adam.

---

"Have you seen Adam?"

Imogen groaned. "Oh, come on, Gwen. Just forget it."

"Yeah, sure," Gwen lied. "I just need to ask him a few things. So do you know where he is?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Imogen asked, taking a bite of her medium sized hamburger. "It's lunch break and any normal person should be at the cafeteria having lunch."

Gwen groaned, running her hands through her hair. "This is crazy."

"Hi... Gwen...hi!"

Gwen and Imogen turned in the direction of the voice. Gwen groaned again on spotting the person in front of them.

Tina. Tina Reeds. Typical nerd but unlike other nerds, was pretty much obsessed over Gwen since they were in the 7th grade. Had always wanted to be her 'friend'.

"What is it this time, Timid Tina?" Imogen spoke up.

"Nothing. Just... wanted to say...hi."

"Okay, Tina," Gwen sat up. "You want to be my friend, right? You want to be of help, right? Fine. Tell me where Adam is right now."

"Oh... Adam? I think I saw him going in the direction of the art room."

"The art room?" Gwen asked, getting up.

"Yeah. The old one. The one that's no longer used."

"Okay. If you turn out to be right, you can congratulate yourself for being useful for once," she said as she grabbed her bag. "Imogen love, I'll be back."

"Gosh, you're so adamant," Imogen rolled her eyes to Gwen's blown kiss. "I'll be here anyways."

He sure lived up to his nickname, Mystery Adam. The old art room had been abandoned since forever and students rarely even went there. It was just an empty old room.

She climbed up the stairs to the last floor leading to the art room. The hallways was deserted, the lightning poor and had cobwebs decorating the corners of the wall.

She stopped on getting to the entrance. The door was shut and the faded golden knob was stained with something red. It was just red paint, afterall it was the art room.

She held the door's knob to open the door immediately pulling away realizing her hands had gotten stained too. It wasn't thick like the paint they used. She moved her hands closer to her nose to confirm what it was.

She smelled it and it didn't smell like paint. It smelled like blood.

Just the smell sent cold shivers down her spine. She exhaled, telling herself she was just overreacting. She turned the door's knob gently and stepped in.

She was welcomed with a faint groan. It sounded like a groan from someone in pain. She stepped deeper into the room and saw a figure leaning by the window.

"Um, excuse me? Adam?"

It was indeed him.

"I was just leaving," he said hurriedly, not even bothering to see who the guest was. Eyes fixed on the floor, he grabbed his backpack and turned.

"Adam," she held his arms, making him stop. "It's you. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, it's you," he slowly freed himself from her grip on his shoulder. "Did you follow me here?"

"And if I did?" she folded her arms. "You're so weird, you know? What are you doing alone in this creepy place?"

"I'm not obliged to answer that question," he shot back. "Now if you'll excuse me."

"Wait," she held unto his arms again. "Calm your balls, what's the rush? I have a few questions for you."

He heaved a deep sigh. He slowly turned moving closer to her. "What? Is it about me not wanting to kiss you earlier?"

"What?" she was taken back by his bluntness. "Well, that too."

"Fine," he muttered, grabbing her by the waist. Before she could process what was going on, he placed his lips on hers.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds before she pulled away.

"Woah!" she exclaimed, flustered.

He adjusted the strap of his backpack draped on his left arm. "You've gotten the kiss you wanted now stay away from me. Trust me, it's better for you that way."

"Hello?" Gwen was dumbfounded. "You literally just kissed me."

"You wanted me to kiss you."

She couldn't believe her ears. "Wow, Adam. I never knew you had so much guts."

"Why?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe because you don't talk to people? You're like this mysterious lone ranger."

"I talk to people."

"I mean humans. Animate things."

He smirked. "Yes, I do. I just don't talk to you."

"You have quite the talent for surprising me," she laughed. "And why is that? Why don't you want to talk to me, Gwendolyn Patterson. The girl everyone in this school wants to talk to."

"Because I'm in love with you."

Just when she thought nothing that came out of his mouth could surprise her. "You what?"

"Crazy right?" he smiled a little. It was the first time she saw him smile. "Forget it."

"No I won't," she folded her arms. She opened her mouth to say something and immediately shut it.

She saw a pair of eyes staring deeply at her. It looked like the whole body was invisible and the only visible parts were the eyes.

She blinked her eyes continuously. Suddenly, she felt a bony hand over her neck in an attempt to squeeze.

"Go away!" Adam yelled as Gwen felt the hand move away. She opened her eyes that had been closed, breathing heavily.

"What was that?" She asked, panicking. Her breath was heavy, her voice laced with fear.

"What do you mean?" Adam tried to act clueless, running his hands through his hair.

"This. What just happened. What the hell was that?!" Her voice was still shaky. "I saw...it seem like...i-"

"Look nothing happened and I don't know what you're talking about," he said, trying to assure her. "Whatever you think you saw was just your imaginations, a trick of the light."

"No. It wasn't. I saw..."

"No. It's nothing. It was just your wild imaginations," he reassured her. The tight corners of his lips crawled into a smile slowly showing his teeth. Gwen stepped back not sure of what she saw. At the corner of his teeth were fangs. Exactly like the ones in her dreams.