This chapter is dedicated to the lovely  @xBeautyRisesx  for making the amazing trailer on the side. Thank you so much! :)

工 couldn't remember the last time I had went shopping with my friends and enjoyed it. I wasn't really that much of a shopper, but on certain occasions, the odd shop now and then done me some good. The Halloween shopping with Marielle had been going alright until I'd felt ill and Zayn had shown up, but somehow being with my three best friends made everything seem better - normal, you could say. All of us had been to numerous shops already, trying to find one that sold the best dresses for a school dance, but the results had been negative.

"What about in here?" Marielle suggested, nodding to the left at the double glass doors of the shop. Standing outside, it looked to be pretty empty inside, unusual for a Saturday. We all agreed and walked into the building, racks upon racks of different styled trousers and shirts coming to view. "I think the dresses are near the back. Me and my mum came in here once." May continued, pointing to the far end of the shop.

We all headed over, eyes scanning every item of clothing we passed. Several sets of undergarments caught my attention and I blushed when a pink set showed up. I couldn't help but remember Zayn raiding through my drawers and choosing a similar pair for me to change into.

Thinking of Zayn made my cheeks turn pink. The night before had been a mistake, and I had kept myself awake for most of the night thinking about what had happened. It hadn't been as bad as I had originally thought, but suddenly sinking into that kind of behaviour had baffled me to no end. I wasn't that kind of girl.

"There's dresses over there." Sophie said as she lead the way over to a wall full of different coloured and sized gowns. For a few moments, we all stared, no doubt trying to pick ones to try on. The worst part about going shopping with my friends? The amount of time it took for them to try on pretty much every dress the shop had. It sometimes took hours for my friends to all pick their clothes.

Kate dived for a white dress at the same time Sophie did and they ended up holding each others' hands. Laughing it off, they both picked up the same dress from the wall and started towards the changing rooms. Marielle and I chose at random, a pink and black one being selected from the racks.

"I think the pink would go great on you." Sophie said to Marielle as she admired the dress in her hands. "Bring out your eyes, maybe?"

"Shut up and try yours on." May sighed before we all headed into the changing rooms.

***

Λbout half an hour had passed before Marielle and I had finally picked a small selection of our favourite dresses. Kate and Sophie were late in deciding, still running back and forth with dresses they had tried on.

"No, the pink clashes with your hair too much!" I head Kate scold at Sophie.

"Well, I can't help that my hair is red."

"Ginger." Kate shot back.

"Shut up, I am ginger and proud."

I rolled my eyes and looked at the three dresses I had laid out on the racks in front of me. I honestly wanted to pick a random one and leave so I could go home and study. I seemed to be quite far behind in my classes, very unlike myself. My History assignment had been handed back to me on Wednesday, and I'd dropped at least thirty percent. I'd been so shocked at seeing the lower marks to what I usually received.

"I think the white would look beautiful on you." I heard Marielle say suddenly, making me jump. She walked over to me and stared at the dress I was inspecting.

"You think?" I muttered, remembering Zayn saying something quite similar the night before.

"Yeah, it would go great with the dark hair and eyes."

"I was thinking about this one, actually." I said, smiling at the dress. It looked very similar to the one Zayn had pointed out on the laptop, just a shade darker, with the long shoulder sleeves and low neck line. It was a stunning dress but then there was the question of would I manage to fill it or not? I hardly ever dressed up, so taking on a dress might have been a challenge.

"Then get it." Marielle said. "I think I'll get this one." she said, showing me the pink one she had originally chosen.

"Yes." I said, nodding. "Perfect. Maybe some pearls to go with it or something?" I suggested and May laughed at me.

A few more minutes had passed and both Kate and Sophie were still scrapping about what dress would be suitable for them. The pair of them could be heard from inside the changing rooms, and a couple of girls younger than us pulled confused faces as they passed.

"How's Zayn?" Marielle asked, catching me off guard.

My eyes widened all of a sudden and I managed to snap, "What?" I regretted it deeply. Had she somehow found out about us - about what we had done last night? Had Zayn maybe thought it was funny and possibly told someo-

"I asked how Zayn was. I mean, we all saw him at the table yesterday morning, he's totally into you." she said, smiling wickedly at me. I rolled my eyes at her and let out a deep breath I didn't know I had been holding. I knew she was referring to his 'I'll go if Laura is,' comments about the dance. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, if I were being honest.

"He's good." I answered, looking away from her and down at the dress I was holding. I really wanted to avoid all conversation about the vampire, knowing that my friends would somehow manage to worm out the details from me, and explaining last night would just have me reliving the whole experience again. Not something I really wanted to do.

"Alright." May said, "What about your relationship side with him? How's that going?" she asked, curiosity in her tone. I slowly glanced over my shoulder at her, a small smile on my face. What was she getting at? I knew friends were curious about one anothers' love lives but, this wasn't exactly one of those.

"It's OK, though I wouldn't really call it a relationship. He's growing on me, slowly. He's a dick a lot of the time but . . ." I trailed off, not really knowing what else to add. It seemed as if there were a barrier from letting more hurtful words escape my mouth.

"But you still like him though, don't you?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

Without knowing it, I started nodding, Zayn's Persuasion about acting like his girlfriend running through my mind. At this point in time, I wasn't dreading it as much as I used to. I actually felt alright when admitting that I liked the guy, maybe not one hundred percent but fifty was surely enough, right?

Marielle looked down at her dress. "Have you spoken to Liam recently?"

I frowned at her question and shook my head slowly. Liam was the one making it difficult to talk - there had been many times since Halloween that I had tried to speak with him, but he always managed to change the subject or avoid me altogether. It hurt me terribly to see him go through so much hurt. But there was nothing I could do about it, could I? Certainly not if he wasn't willing to make as much effort as I was.

"Niall told us the other day that Liam's been awfully quiet recently. Really upset about this whole you and Zayn situation." Marielle continued, glancing up at me. "I thought, maybe if you spoke to him, he might feel better. We all know how he feels about you, Laura."

I nodded slowly, contemplating her words. I did want to speak with him. Saying 'sorry' hadn't felt like enough, but what more could I say to him? I saw of him more as a brother than a boy friend, and I couldn't exactly say that to his face. He'd be crushed, heart broken.

"I'm planning on speaking to him at the dance." I said, nodding to myself. That's what I would do and I wouldn't let him escape me this time. I had to express to him how sorry I was. All I had to do was figure out how to go about doing just that.

"I think that's a great idea." Marielle said, smiling up at me. Sophie and Kate could still be heard from inside the changing rooms, and May rolled her eyes before marching over to the entrance. "You two better hurry up. It's been three quarters of an hour, and I want food." she snapped.

"We're just trying on a few more!" Sophie said and I groaned, earning a chuckle from Marielle.

"Hurry then." she said before coming back over to where I was seated. I looked over my dress of choice once more before deciding it was the one. I'd already tried it on, and it fit perfectly. Now all there was to do was find some jewellery to match, like Kate had suggested earlier.

I wondered what Zayn would think of it? It was was very much like the one he had picked last night, but would he actually approve once knowing it was bought? I couldn't help but think about his opinion on it, and if he would like it on me. It's no secret that he's a fussy git.

After realising that Kate and Sophie would be a lot longer than they had claimed, I stood from my seat and started walking around the shop. Might as well have a look around the whole thing if I was going to be waiting a while.

"Laura? Where are you going?" Marielle asked.

"Just wandering. Can you look after my dress?" I asked and she nodded with a smile. I returned it and starting walking down the aisle, looking at the clothes on both my left and right. Only after admiring all the new clothes did I realise how bad my clothes were at home. Baggy jumpers, faded blue jeans and boring T-shirts? Maybe I should have asked Kate for advice last Summer after all?

When I made it to the top of the shop, I couldn't help but smile as I passed the rack which held the dresses like the one I had chosen. I instantly found myself thinking about Zayn once again and I mentally scolded myself for being so silly. Get a grip, and stop thinking about him and last night!

Only when I reached out to touch the material of the dress did I feel someone's eyes on me. Slowly, I looked to my right, out of the shop window and into the car park across the road. As soon as I saw the black coat, I knew I was in trouble. I stared at him for a few seconds, narrowing my eyes to try and see him a little better through the glass, but as soon as he lifted his hand and waved at me, I was terrified.

Immediately, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and called Zayn. He'd know what to do. I kept my eyes on Louis as I held the phone to my ear, waiting for him to pick up. He did after the second ring.

"Laura, what a lovely surprise. It's usually me calling you." he said, and I could practically feel his smirk through the phone.

"Louis's standing opposite me." I said, my voice low. "He's standing outside Tesco." I stammered, shaking as the vampire slowly started to walk towards the shop my friends and I were in. I sucked in a lungful of air when the line suddenly went dead. I stared down at my phone in disbelief, had he hung up on me? In a situation like this? As soon as I looked up from my phone, Louis was gone from sight.

Not wasting a second, I turned, ready to grab my friends and leave, but instead, I bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry!" I blurted before I looked up and shut my mouth abruptly. Fuck, run, Laura! Run! I heard a voice screaming inside my head, but I was frozen in place. His pale blue eyes seemed to smirk at me just as much as his mouth was. I pushed past him and took off, running to the left, straight for the flight of stairs that led up to the second floor of the shop. I wasted no time in running towards the empty changing rooms, pulling the curtain closed behind me and pulling out my phone once again.

Where's Zayn?! Why hasn't he come and helped me? I thought to myself, panicing as I hid in the small, enclosed space of the changing room.

I remained silent in the corner of the stall I was in, trying to calm down and think straight. What might help me in a situation like the one I was stuck in? Zayn had proved to be a little shit, so I could score out that option. Kate? Nah, she was probably half naked and trying to pull on another dress, like Sophie. Marielle? Maybe with a friend of mine near, the vampire wouldn't attempt anything, and not make a scene? I quickly sent my friend a text, asking her to come up to the second floor, my fingers crossed. I had either made a smart move or a really stupid one.

I held my breath when I heard an unfamiliar voice call through the changing rooms.

"Laura?" it said and I squeezed my eyes shut. "I know you're in here, and me being a modest gentleman, won't come into the ladies' changing room." he said. "No matter how tempting it may be."

Finally, I knew where Zayn adopted his twisted humour from.

I continued to hold my breath, my heart beating ten times faster than usual. I heard footsteps pacing back and forth at the entrance. What was I supposed to do? How long would it take someone to come up? Maybe Louis would just grow tired of waiting and decide to come in and kill me.

Gathering all the courage I needed, I took a deep breath and asked, "What do you want?" My voice shook as I spoke, and the vampire chuckled. He was just like Zayn, lovnig the idea of making someone tremble with fear. He sickened me deeply already.

"Lovely to meet you too, Laura. How are you? You been good? No gracious greetings from you, I take it?" he asked, the footsteps growing closer by the second.

"What do you want?!" I demanded, wrapping my arms around myself, trying to find the comfort I needed to get me through this conversation. What was he doing here? Why was he wanting to speak with me? Zayn's words ran through my mind about him using me to get to Zayn and I shuddered. What exactly had Zayn meant about Louis 'using' me?

"I guess not." he said. "I want you to tell Zayn something for me. Tell him to watch his back."

Suddenly, the footsteps could no longer be heard, and everything went silent. I was very tempted to stick my head out and check if the coast was clear, but I knew better. It might have been a trick, to make me think such a thing. I stayed quiet in the corner, my heart pounding and palms sweating ridiculously. I remembered feeling scared and uneasy around Zayn, but I was positive that that had been the most terrifying moment of my life. The mere thought of a vampire like Louis being close to me made me tremble with fear. 

From what Zayn and Harry had told me, he was the worst being on the planet, cruel and torturous. Maybe Zayn had been right that day he had told me there were worse people than him walking on the earth?

The curtains were ripped back and I screamed, sliding down the wall of the stall and to the ground, covering my head with my arms protectively. Tears spilled from my eyes when a pair of hands grasped me and pulled me to my feet.

"Get off of me!" I screamed, my fists flying towards the chest before me.

"Laura, calm down!" I heard Zayn say firmly and I stopped struggling, and looked up into his eyes with shock. He had arrived to help me. He did care, at least a little to make sure I was safe. I didn't hesitate to lunge myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and I started to cry into the collar of his leather jacket. His arms wrapped around me securely and I relaxed completely in his arms.

For the first time in a while, I was completely relaxed around him.

"What's going on?" I heard Marielle say all of a sudden and I looked sideways to see her standing at the entrance of the changing rooms, her eyes wide at the scene before her. She must have been terribly confused to find Zayn hugging me in the ladies' changing rooms.

"It's fine, Marielle." Zayn assured her. "Could you possibly give Laura and I a minute please?" he asked. I couldn't tell if he had Persuaded her or not, but at that moment I didn't care. I wanted him to be the one to comfort me - it was pretty much his fault that I was in this mess anyway.

"Alright, Laura, I'll be down stairs." she said and I nodded to her and managed a small smile. She turned and left, and only when her footsteps could no longer be held, did Zayn pull me off of him and hold me at arms length. His eyes scanned over me a couple of times before his hands held my head up to look at him. He wiped away my tears with his thumbs and looked into my eyes.

"What happened?" was the first thing he asked. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he?" His hands moved down to my collar and he tugged it down, inspecting my neck for any damage. I rolled my eyes and pushed his hands away.

"No, I'm fine." I stammered, sniffling at the same time. "I was just so scared." I said, looking down as more tears threatened to spill. "I - I thought he was going to hurt me."

"It's alright." Zayn said, pulling me close again. "I promised you I wouldn't let him."

"He told me to give you a message." I muttered. Zayn's arms tightened around me and he looked down at me with curious eyes.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"To watch your back." I answered and he nodded slowly before rubbing my back gently, rocking me back and forth on the spot.

And in that moment, I forgot every bad thing he had done to me. I let everything go and respected him more than I ever had. He was here, making sure I was safe and sound. The beast I had met a few months ago was slowly turning into the prince. I hugged him tightly, finding comfort in his cool touch.

"I should probably get back to my friends." I muttered, pulling away. "They'll be worrying now."

"Would you like me to tag along with you guys?" Zayn asked, taking my hands in his.

I shook my head. "No thank you. I just need some time with my friends." I admitted, nodding as I spoke. It was true - I needed some sort of distraction from the supernatural world I had been tugged into so suddenly.

"You sure?" he asked once again and I smiled at him.

"Yeah, besides, I don't think you'd like to be part of a girly shop." I said.

Zayn cringed and I couldn't help but laugh at his response. He joined in the laughter, his eyes scanning my face as he did. He hugged me once again and pulled back for a kiss. And I let him, gladly. Whether it was my way of showing my gratitude, I had no idea, but I felt like he deserved some sort of reward for coming to my rescue. My small hands grasped the front of his jacket as he deepened the kiss, one of his large hands holding my head in place.

"I'll stay round about the area. Just to be sure." he mumbled against my lips and I nodded quickly in response. We parted and began walking down to the bottom floor of the shop once again, his arm wrapped around my waist. Just when my friends noticed the two of us, did Zayn kiss my forehead and leave the shop, waving goodbye.

"Are you alright?" Marielle asked as soon as she reached me. "Have you been crying?"

"I'm fine." I answered, "Honestly." I finished. Kate and Sophie looked at each other before looking back at me with an unsure glance. None of them mentioned Zayn's sudden appearance. 

"If you say so." Soph said, before she tilted her head to the side. "C'mon, we're going to buy now."

We all paid for or dresses and bought other accessories to go along with our outfits. It turned out that the dress Kate had bought was the first bloody one she had tried on. I tried to act like I didn't care about all the time we wasted in that single shop.

After leaving, I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Zayn and Harry's maker. I couldn't see him anywhere, but that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't near by. The girls laughed in front of me, peering into their bags every so often to look at their dresses. Seriously, where were they going to go?

"We could go to Jolene's?" Kate suggested, pointing at the small corner cafe across the road. The last time I had been in Jolene's was with my mum a couple of years back, and I did recall their scones to be extremely good.

Entering the cafe, and we were overwhelmed by the smell of baked goods and different kinds of coffees. It always smelled good in there. I smiled over at Jo, the owner of the business before the four of us piled into a booth in front of the window. Our bags were dumped on the inside, near the wall before we bundled together to check out the menu.

"I think I'll have an espresso. Always a great coffee." Sophie said. She pulled her long hair out of her face and tied it up into a pony tail before leaning back onto the table with the rest of us.

"Cappuccino for me." Kate said.

"Same." I said, smiling up at my best friend. She grinned  back at me before May chose a latte. The cafe was very quiet that day, only some elderly people sitting up the back and a boy around our age sitting by himself near the counter. Nowhere seemed to be awfully busy that day. Practically empty.

"Let's order." Kate said as she slid out of her seat, the rest of us following suit. I noticed Zayn sitting outside the cafe on one of the public benches, his eyes fixed on me as I walked to order. I smiled at him and tucked my hair behind my ear as I did.

"Two cappuccinos, one espresso and one latte please." Kate said, smiling at Jo. Jo was a tall, thin woman in her early forties, with bleached blond hair and fake nails. She was friends with Kate's parents and so the rest of us had been quick to get to know her.

"Alright, ladies." Jo said, scribbling down the order on a piece of paper. "You having a girly day, then, eh?" she asked, nodding over to our bags and chewing noisily on her gum.

"Yeah, Christmas dance next week." Sophie said, taking a seat. "We needed some dresses."

"Well, I bet you'll all look lovely on the night. You got your dates yet?" Jo asked, waggling her eyebrows at us individually. 

"It's more of a go-to-the-dance-and-find-someone occasion." Kate said with a shrug. 

"You should go with Niall." I said. "You'd be cute together." I finished and everyone agreed.

"Always full of idea, you are." Jo said, smiling at me. "Who are you going with, Laurs?"

"Her boyfriend." cooed Marielle and I rolled my eyes at her, trying to blank her out. My attention soon fell on the small TV in the top corner, and I watched the news reporter babble on about rain that was soon to come within the next week. Great, I thought.

"I've never heard of this 'Zayn' fella." Jo said, shrugging. "He a good chap?"

"He's the definition of tall, dark and handsome." Kate said, nudging me ever so slightly. I rolled my eyes at her and looked up at the TV once again, trying to ignore the fact that Zayn was probably listening in on our conversation, hearing everything we said.

"Well, at least you have a guy. I never did at your age." Jo said, chuckling slightly. I smiled up at her before she left to make our drinks. I thanked her when she handed me the creamy looking cappuccino and I started gulping it down without a care in the world. Hopefully no one would ask me anything else about Zayn if they saw I was drinking.

"And now, more shocking news in the Bradford area." the news reporter said, and I glanced up at the television once again to see two pictures of a man and a woman around their early thirties. "Two bodies have been found on the outskirts of Bradford, married couple Jenna and Michael Cox in the early hours of this morning."

I placed the coffee down on the table and asked Jo to turn up the volume. I listened to everything the reporter said, right down to the fact that the bodies had horrid looking gashes on their throats and wrists. My first thought was vampire - what else could have done something so brutal? But then a more horrible thought came to mind. The last murders . . .  was it  Zayn?

I glanced over my shoulder at him, still sitting on the bench on the other side of the road. He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees. When his eyes met mine, he shook his head quickly. So it wasn't him? But how could I fully trust him? How did I know he wasn't lying to try and stay on my good side?

"Christ." Jo said, standing with her hand on her hip. "This country's population is getting killed by the second, ain't it?"

"Sure is, that's about ten odd people brutally murdered in about three, four months." Sophie said. "It's like the Vampire Diaries in real life." she chuckled and I felt a shiver run down my spine. She didn't know how close she was to guessing the truth.

"Shut up, Soph. That's all bullshit." Kate said, grinning at the red head. I nodded in agreement, a little too quickly to show I was thinking along the same lines as them. It was scary how such creatures had suddenly jumped from the pages of books into the real world. Why couldn't all this just be a horrible dream? Why did people have to die, be hurt and lied to? Everything had been fine last year and now my world was falling apart.

I ordered another cappuccino and tried to drown out the more gory details about the bodies. 

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Christ, Louis feels are out of my control at the moment.

PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT! - My favourite comment gets a dedication in the next chapter :)