THE BRIGHT LIGHT THAT SHONE through my eye lids was what woke me from my peaceful slumber. I had slept better than I'd expected, especially since I was stuck in a house with a dangerous creature who loved to kill for enjoyment. That's when I remembered the night before.

Zayn.

Cautiously, I inched my foot backwards, over towards the other side of the bed, only to find it empty. I sat up and looked over my shoulder at the once occupied side of the four poster, only to find that the duvet had been sorted, neat and tidy, back to its original state. 

I carefully rubbed my eyes as I stretched, the quiet cracking of my bones leaving me satisfied. I pulled the covers back and stepped out of the bed before tidying up the sheets. Zayn was nowhere in sight, the bedroom completely empty. I let out a relieved sigh. Seeing Zayn first thing in the morning would have ruined the entire day for me. The night before had been enough for me.

My eyes landed on a pile of neatly folded clothes on top of the desk by the window. I made my way over, listening for any sounds of movement as I did, still on alert for Zayn. I didn't want him to come barging into the room while I was getting changed. I quickly changed out of my pyjamas and into the clean clothes Zayn had brought over for me last night, which happened to be a pair of slightly baggy jeans,a strappy T-shirt and a zip up hoodie. My Halloween costume lay, folded at the bottom of the pile and I glared at it.

Stupid vampires, I thought.

I picked up my pyjamas and vampire costume before I made my way over to the bedroom door, slowly opening it and peering out into the hallway. It was clear, and so I continued onward, down the corridor and into the bathroom, Zayn nowhere in sight. I locked the door behind me and walked over to the sink, my eye catching sight of my toiletry bag which still sat by the taps. I rolled my eyes at my reflection, taking in my messy and still slightly damp hair, my red eyes, due to all the crying and the bags which sat proudly under them. I rubbed my hands over my face a few times before running the hot water tap. 

"Morning." I jumped when I heard Zayn's, before my eyes caught sight of him standing  directly behind me through the mirror, a small, tired smile on his face. I gripped the sink tightly, until my knuckles turned white and held my breath, waiting for him to try something. He always did.

"It's rude not to speak back when you're spoken to." Zayn muttered as he ran a hand through his messy hair. Only then did I notice his bare chest and I gulped at the sight of his muscles flexing as he continued to fix his hair. My eyes landed on the multiple tattoos that lay, inked into his skin, noticing ones I had never seen before. My eyes caught sight of the small black butterfly he had mentioned the night before and I looked down, swallowing before I answered him.

"Hi." was all I said and Zayn chuckled and reached forward to switch the tap off, his hand brushing my side as he did. I shied away from him and I heard him let out an aggravated sigh. All of a sudden, his hands roughly grabbed my hips and spun me around to face him, his hard gaze leaving me frozen in place.

"I really wish that you would stop being so childish, Laura. All of your jumping and whimpering has no affect on me whatsoever, and your pleading does you nothing either. Grow up and accept what's going on around you." he snarled in my face and I quickly nodded before he let me go of me and stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he did.

"Fuck." I breathed out as soon as I heard him stomp down the stairs. I turned around and turned the water on again, washing my face as quickly as I could before moving on to my knotted hair, taming it into a high pony tail and then brushing my teeth. When I was done, I slowly made my way over to the door, listening once again for Zayn possibly patrolling the hallway. When I was positive it was clear, I opened the door and stepped outside, carrying my clothes under one arm.

I could hear Zayn down stairs, singing to himself a Bob Marley classic and I frowned at his song choice. I would never have expected Zayn to be a Marley fan, not at all. I slowly made my way down the stairs, the aroma of food hitting my nostrils. My stomach grumbled in approval, and I slowly continued forwards, into the living room, listening to Zayn's singing. I wanted to laugh, because I, for one, knew that 'every little thing' was not going to be alright.

I pushed open the living room door to find Zayn lying across the couch, sketch pad in hand. He stopped singing all of a sudden and slowly glanced over his shoulder to look up at me.

"Made you some breakfast. I hope you like bacon and eggs." he said flatly before continuing his work.

"Thanks." I muttered as I took the same seat I had been in the night before, my eyes landing on a plate, full of food. I carefully picked it up and began to nibble on the breakfast, my appetite gradually increasing. I didn't want to get myself in more trouble by not accepting his offer, though he was most likely just keeping me healthy so that my blood would taste better to him while he was draining me dry.

"Hurry up and eat it. I'm walking you home in about ten minutes." he said as he smudged the lead across the page of his drawing.

"So now you're desperate to get rid of me?" I said sarcastically, remembering how reluctant he was to let me leave and return home the night before. Zayn chuckled at my words and placed the sketch pad and pencil to the side, sitting up to face me.

"You become very addictive, so I'm nowhere near desperate to let you leave. I'd keep you here for the rest of your life if I could." he said, smirking at me. "You're so easily frustrated."

"And you're so easily angered." I stated, narrowing my eyes at him. Zayn bit his lip as he observed me, his gaze penetrating and fierce.

"Not as easily quenched though." he said and I felt my stomach flip at reference to his thirst for blood. It still disgusted me that blood was his main diet. He disgusted me altogether.

After I had finished my breakfast, gathered my clothes and Halloween costume together in my arms, Zayn walked me to the front door of my home, his arm wrapped around my waist as he did. I tried struggling away from him, but he wouldn't give up easily; he only held me tighter against his side.

"I can walk on my own!" I spat at him as he finally let me go when we reached the bottom of the stairs that led up to the door. I quickly ran up, two at a time and grasped the handle, ready to enter my home and leave Zayn's sight for good. I didn't want to be near him for a second longer. Before I could enter the house, however, my wrist was captured within Zayn's grip and I was whirled around, into his arms, forced up against his chest.

"Don't I get a kiss goodbye?" he asked, puckering his lips ever so slightly. The urge to spit in his face was increasing by the second, but to save myself the bother of facing his angry side, I decided to let it be. I shook my head quickly, causing Zayn to tilt his head to the side and give me a puppy dog stare.

"It's not going to work, Zayn. I want you gone, away from my friends and family." I said through my teeth. Zayn smiled at me before he let me go, his arms hanging loosely by his sides.

"But not from you?" he questioned.

"I've already told you that you can do whatever you want to me, but not anyone else." I said, and I gulped as Zayn's eyes darkened slightly, turning into two deep pools of blackness. I gulped as he smiled once again, revealing his two pointed canines to me.

"And I plan on doing lots of things to you . . . and with you." he said with a small wink before he turned and started walking towards his own house. Before he crossed the road though, he turned and called over his shoulder, "I'll be seeing you soon."

As soon as Zayn shut the door behind himself, I ran inside and locked the door behind me, my heart racing as I looked around the familiar home. Home, I was finally home and I was finally safe. I could hear my mum and dad in the kitchen, the clattering of pots filling the hallway. Not wanting to be lectured about the horrific events of last night, I ran up the stairs and into my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

As soon as I had entered my room, I dropped my clothes onto the bed before I fell forward, onto the mattress and let the tears spill over as the many horrid thoughts of what Zayn could do not only to me, but to the ones I loved, filled my mind. He had already hurt Kate, those families and myself. He no doubt used his mind control to win my parents over as well as most of the school, including most of the teachers.

It was ridiculous the power that one individual possessed, and it frightened me that someone so evil held so much immunity. The fact that he could do whatever he wanted to anyone he pleased was terrifying. Zayn took pleasure in hurting other people, and making them do his bidding.

I pulled myself up into a sitting position and wiped away my tears with the back of my hand, sniffling as I did. I had never been so scared in my life, the feeling of being trapped wherever you were, haunting me. It was horrible knowing that no one could help you - the police wouldn't be able to do anything against a vampire. My family and friends were just as vulnerable as I was when it came to being around Zayn. He had control over everyone, myself included, and the feeling was horrible. There was nothing I or anyone else could do about it.

I wiped the back of my hand across my cheeks once again and cleared my throat before I remembered that I had a whole lot of homework to see to for Monday. I had to do something productive while I still could. Reaching over to the bedside table, I caught sight of my phone and the folded drawing Zayn had given me to keep. My instinct was to rip the paper into shreds, but I was better than Zayn - I tried my best to hide my emotions, though in this particular case, I had failed miserably. Ignoring the drawing, I reached over and grabbed my phone, shocked to see  the number of missed calls and messages that had remained unanswered since last night.

Ten of the messages were from Sophie, eight from Marielle, three from Niall and five from Liam. All of the missed calls were from my friends too, and I was shocked to even see one from Kate. What could she possibly have called me for? Hadn't Zayn made sure that she would never talk to me again?

I opened up each message and read them all through slowly, most of them saying the exact same thing.

From: May
Laura! Where the fuck are you?! We're going nuts here, we can't find you.

From: Soph
Where you at? You just vanished! 

From: Niall
May and Sophie are yelling at me to look for you.. Where are you exactly? It would help if you answered back? 

From: Liam
Where are you? I can't find you anywhere, and we're all worried about you, Laura - you just disappeared... Please answer me back - I'm sorry about before, I was a little pushy, forgive me?

I frowned at Liam's text. He thought I was mad at him and ran away because of it? That was what it looked like to me, but surely he knew that I wasn't that stupid? I answered everyone back, telling them that I was fine, and just decided to leave early because I wasn't feeling to great - there was no way I was bringing my friends into the whole situation, they would be in even more danger than they already were.

 Not a minute later, my phone started to vibrate in my hands and I answered the call quickly, glad to hear my friend's voice on the other end.

"Don't you ever do that to us again!" Sophie screeched at me and I couldn't help but smile at her demanding tone. She couldn't stay angry for long - it just wasn't in her nature. I let out a sigh as she continued to nag at me through the phone, not giving me the opportunity to tell her that I was OK.

"Sophie, shut it!" I ended up yelling at her, not able to take her screeching any longer. She shut up as soon as I snapped at her and she remained silent while I told her what had 'happened'. "Listen to me, I'm sorry, but I was so tired and didn't feel right at all last night, so I went home. I didn't have my phone with me remember?"

"But you still didn't answer any calls or messages that we left hours after the party had finished. You didn't bother to let us know you were OK. We spent ages looking for you before we left the school." Sophie said, and I could practically see the scowl on her face.

"Sorry Sophie, but honestly, I'm fine. Thank you for looking out for me." I said and she chuckled quietly on the other end of the phone.

"It's fine, just promise you won't do it ever again? Marielle thought a vampire or a zombie had got you." Sophie said with a laugh and I shivered as she said the name of the creature which had in actual fact taken me home last night.

I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah . . . that would have been really scary." I said, my tone flat. I hated lying to her - we never lied to each other before and I wasn't planning to ever do so, but sometimes you need to do things you don't particularly like.

"Yeah." Sophie laughed. "Do you want to do anything later today?" she asked.

I bit my lip, the idea bringing a smile to my face, only to vanish when Zayn came to mind. I didn't want him to see me out with my friends, or he might decide to act harshly towards them, so to save them from the hell that I was currently going through, I declined.

"Aw, it's OK. I'll see you on Monday then." Soph said. "Bye!"

"Bye." I murmured as I shoved my phone into my pocket. The thought of Zayn hurting more of my friends disgusted and terrified me so much. To know that I would have been the cause would have haunted me for the rest of my life, and it wasn't something that I was willing to take to the grave.

Just then, Jet came bounding into my room, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out. He jumped onto my bed and lay down by my side, his head on my lap. I stroked him slowly and carefully behind the ears, watching as his eyes closed slowly. At least someone was enjoying himself.

That's when I decided to go and clear my head. My family would only have bombarded me with questions, my friends would also. I gently pushed Jet off of me and stood from my bed, careful not to knock over the clothes I had placed there upon my arrival. I made my way over to the door and made my way down the stair case until I reached the front door, grabbing Jet's collar and lead before I left the house quickly. I secured the collar around my dog's neck and clipped the lead on before I turned and started walking towards the woods, the place where we usually walked.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Zayn could be watching me at that very second, and he'd already followed me into the woods once before, so what was to stop him from doing it again? I quickly turned around and made my way across the street, the perfect place in mind.

On my way, I tried as best I could to ignore the feeling that I was being watched. For all I knew, Zayn could have been following me at that exact moment, lurking in the shadowy corners and waiting to show himself. I tried my best to ignore the horrible thought of running into him, and made my way up town.

When Jet and I reached the shops, I couldn't help but smile to myself. It was almost like nothing had happened, and I was walking the dog into the town which I had grown up in, a safe place where vampires didn't even exist. Jet tugging on the lead brought me back into reality and I looked around, hoping that one of my friends might have been heading down to the shop. I'd bumped into them multiple times in the past, and I was hoping like crazy that a familiar face would show.

"Shh." I whispered to Jet as he whined and continued to tug me along the street, right past the bakery where Liam and I bought our muffins after school. Maybe someone's in there? I thought to myself. I pulled Jet over towards the front door, and carefully tied the lead to the closest lamp post before I turned and pushed open the bakery door.

Inside, it was rather quiet, none of my friends in sight. In fact, nobody that I knew very well was in there. Disappointed, I turned and left, tugging the door shut behind me. From where I stood, I could see through the bakery window, and Lucy - who worked behind the counter - gave me a small wave. I returned the gesture before I turned and found a man kneeling down in front of Jet, clapping him gently behind the ears.

The man must have sensed my gaze on him, because he stood from his position on the ground and looked down at me. Me, being naturally quite small, had to look up to see him properly, and I smiled back before I untied Jet and pulled him towards me, smiling down at him as I did. I looked back up at the man and smiled once again before I started forwards.

"Excuse me." I said as I walked past him. He slowly moved to the side and said a quite 'goodbye' to me before I quickly crossed the road and continued towards my destination. Only then, did a thought come to mind - that man looked awfully familiar to me, but where I had seen him before was a mystery. I slowly looked back over my shoulder and found him standing at the curb, his hands in the pockets of his black jacket, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly at me as I watched him.

That's when it clicked. He was the same man I had seen in the coat, the one who always seemed to be wherever I was. I had seen him while Zayn and I made our way to Kate's and I had also seen him when Marielle and I went shopping. Now he was standing right behind me, watching me like a hawk. I quickly looked away and walked a little faster, trying to ignore the shivers running down my spine.

Just before I turned the corner, I looked around once again, only to find the man in the black coat nowhere in sight.

My first thought was: vampire. It would make sense after Zayn had revealed his true form, and this man seemed to be in one place and then the next in the blink of an eye. I had seen Zayn run using his vampire speed - he was bloody fast. There was a good chance that this mysterious man was one of the night creatures too.

I shook my head and continued onward, towards the park where me and the girls had played as children. It was the next place I could walk Jet besides the woods, and also the safest. It was about a half hour walk from Kate's and far enough from home, giving me time to think everything through.

I shuddered when I remembered Zayn and I walking past the park that night weeks ago. That night we had spoken about the murders of the McFadgen and Morgan families, and only now did I know that the killer had been Zayn all along.

I pushed the small, rusty park gate open and unclasped Jet from the lead, watching as he ran forwards and began sniffing at the nearest bushes. I slowly made my way into the park and looked around, making sure there was no one around. As soon as I was positive that it was clear, I let myself cry away the pain. I slumped down into a swing and started to push myself backwards and forwards on it.

I thought back to the last time I had felt truly happy. That time happened to be a few years ago when the girls, Niall, Liam and I had went to the beach for the weekend. Although we were a few years younger, we were still just as careful about what we were doing. We had went swimming, sun bathing, Liam had attempted surfing and Marielle had helped Kate build a massive bonfire. It had been a weekend that the six of us had enjoyed, and all of us still remembered. I doubted that I would ever feel that happy again with all of the recent events.

Not sooner after I had sat down on the cold, hard swing, and my phone started to sing in my pocket. I sniffled before I scanned the caller ID, and the unknown number flashed across the screen at me. I sighed and pressed the answer button.

"Hello?" I whispered, my throat sore from all the sobbing. The line remained silent for a while before a male voice started to reply.

"Where are you, Laura? Answer me." Zayn demanded when I remained silent. How had he got a hold of my number? Without answering, I ended the call and stuffed my phone back into my pocket. Why did he want to know where I was? Also, how did he know I wasn't at home? Was he standing outside my house, looking for me at that very moment?

When my phone vibrated once again, I pressed the top button and switched the small device off completely, glad to be free from any more contacts. I needed space to think, time to be alone and balance my options out before me. I was terrified, and there was nothing I could do to get myself out of the mess I was in. I was going to be dead within a week, probably drained dry by Zayn and his vampire friend who he had promised to introduce me to. I'd be served up as the main course, wouldn't I?

"You should have answered the phone." a voice said behind me, making me jump. I stood up and away from the swing before I turned to face the figure standing behind me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jet running towards me, standing in an almost protective stance in front of me, between Zayn and I. The black dog barked loudly at the creature standing opposite me, and I finally understood why Jet hadn't liked Zayn in the woods - he could sense that there was something different about him, something off.

Zayn didn't move towards us, or away from us, instead he glared down at Jet through narrowed eyes, making the dog cower and back away from him slowly. Jet turned and ran behind my legs, sniffing the ground curiously as I stood face to face with the vampire.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I quickly tried to wipe away some stray tears. Zayn didn't reply - he only turned and made his way over to the swings, taking a seat on the one I had been sitting on only moments before.

Zayn looked up at me, squinting against the sun's rays as he grinned at me, his pearly whites on show. 

"I forgot  to tell you something this morning." he said. I froze where I was when he stood up from the swing and stepped in front of me. Before I could dodge away from him, his arms grasped me roughly and held me against his front. I struggled in his arms as he glared down at me.

"Zayn, stop it!" I yelled at him. I was sick of his demanding actions and words, so I chose to fight back, and I would only continue to do just that. I was a human being not an object - he had no right to act as if he owned me and like he was able to do what he wanted with me.

"Laura, stop struggling." Zayn said through his teeth as he looked me in the eye. Reluctantly, my body froze from struggling and relaxed against his frame. I was sick of him doing this to me. I knew it was all part of his game, but he was a sick bastard who only cared about himself. I highly doubted that there were other people out there who were worse than Zayn.

"Please leave me alone? I haven't done anything to you!" I sobbed as Zayn drew small circles on my back, his hand moving in steady circles above my backside.

"But you have." he said, a smirk on his face. I looked up at him questioningly and waited for him to continue. "You've intrigued me."

"Get off of me." I warned, bringing my hands up between our bodies, pushing at his chest with all of my might, but I was losing before I'd even started. When my gaze caught with the vampire's, more tears sprung to my eyes as I felt his demanding mind control pin me to the spot.

"I want you to act like my girlfriend, Laura." Zayn whispered down to me as he rested his forehead against my own. "Especially in public places, so people get the hint that you're taken. By me."

"No, you can't make me do that!" I said shakily. I knew I was wrong; as soon as he used his tricks on me, I couldn't disagree to his commands.

"You have no choice." he finished with a wink and I groaned as the thought of acting close to him danced through my mind. What would he all have me do? Have me say? My friends and family would soon hear about it, and there was no doubt that Zayn would trick all of them into thinking it was OK.

"What's it called?" I whispered, my curiosity getting the better or me.

"What's what called?" Zayn asked, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, out of my face. I slapped his hand away and he chuckled.

"The . . . mind control thing you can do?" I said, barely above a whisper. Zayn let out a loud sigh, his arms unraveling themselves from around me, and instead rested themselves at my hips, tugging my as close as possible. I let out a shriek as my pelvis touched Zayn's, disgusted by his actions.

"Persuasion." he answered. "I can make anyone do anything I want." he finished, his mouth at my ear. I shivered at his closeness and tried my best to shy away, but his hold restricted me from doing exactly that. Slowly, he pulled away and looked down, into my eyes. "I'll even give you an example. Kiss me."

My eyes widened at his request, and before I knew it, I was forced to lean forward and connect our lips.

It's not called Persuasion, it's called fucking Demanding, I thought to myself as I scrunched my eyes shut, letting Zayn do as much work as I could. I didn't want to kiss him, but in the current situation, I had no choice. I submissively let him work his lips against mine, and I yelped out when he bit down - hard - on my bottom lip. I pulled away, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth.

That bastard, I thought.

I watched in horror as Zayn licked away the few drops of crimson from his lips, a smile on his face. "Hmm, you taste delicious."

"You're a sick bastard." I said to him, leaning as far away from him as I possibly could. "How can you find this amusing? Torturing people until you finally decide to kill them?"

Zayn didn't answer me, instead he smiled and lowered his face down to my neck and kissed me in an almost soft gesture. I shivered at the coolness of his lips on my skin and bit my lip to stop myself saying something rude at him. 

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun." Zayn muttered before he pulled away and looked into my eyes. Before I could reply, he leaned in and licked the remaining drops of blood from my mouth.