A whole week passed since I threatened Noah. Leah didn't speak to me anymore and neither did the other girls. It's not that I expected or wanted them to but it was odd to be cast aside like that. I wasn't allowed to be angry, it was my own fault and for their own safety. But I couldn't help that I felt so damn alone.

For the past week, I would walk past Wickery road and contemplate whether I should go into the woods or not. I knew I needed my memories back, I had to make sense of this somehow. To make matters worse the hunger was slowly creeping back in. By my estimate, I had about a week before I went full-on berserk.

I said my morning goodbyes to mom and Leland before rushing out the front door. Leaves were starting to change color. The green fading from its once vibrant color to dark orange.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh earthy smell of leaves and dirt. The wind picked up and a subtle shiver ran through me. I shuffled to Wickery road, my senses strung as tight as a guitar string. My feet skated to a halt when I saw the old dilapidated name board swaying in the breeze. The letters were faded away but I could still make out some of it.

That should be a bad omen right there, I thought darkly.

A few leaves rustled in the breeze and my body pulled tautly. This was beyond creepy. Wickery road used to be my escape, now I was terrified just by looking at it.

I took a slight step forward just as the wind picked up. Leaves from the trees blew in the breeze across the street. If it was possible, the air turned colder and the darkness beyond the trees seemed to move like crooked fingers beckoning me closer. My breath lodged in my throat and I trembled.

I can't do this!

I spun on my heel and marched away from the dark road. This had become my routine every morning. I would walk to the turn in the road, look at the old name board and freeze.

I never made it two steps in and I probably never would.

Coward.

I kept berating myself on my way to school. At some point, I would have to put on my big girl pants and face the damn music. I felt angry and restless but most of all, I felt fear.

By the time I arrived at school, there were two police cars in the parking lot. My heart jumped in my throat. Did Noah finally spill the beans, were they here to take me in?

No, he wouldn't say anything he was scared shit-less of me and although that irked me it was good news. It meant that he would be careful. I walked into the building and all the students were crowded in the hallway.

A buzz was in the air and I instantly knew something had happened. The whispers reached my ears and I listened to the conversation around me.

"I heard they found a body in the woods." one eighth-grader said intensely to her friend.

"Where did you hear that?" her friend asked in a fearful voice.

"My dad is in the police. He got a call last night, I bet that's why the police are here."

I heard enough. A body in the woods. Maybe they had found my mauled deer. My heart sank further, nearly dropping to my feet because even I wasn't that naive, although, I desperately wanted to be.

The screen at the end of the hallway blinked once and flickered on. Our principle's puffy red cheeks flashed onto the screen and the conversation in the hallway seemed to die down. I didn't know how someone who looked like a nesting doll could look so strict but Principal Jones sure pulled it off.

He spoke sternly through the screens speakers. "Alright, quiet down. I have Sheriff Brice Thomas here and I expect you all to listen and comply."

Sheriff Brice Thomas was a large man. His dark eyes had an intelligent glint to them and my body visibly tensed. A light shadow was dusted across his strong jaw and he seemed to be somewhere in his late forties. Those eyes seemed to look straight through the TV screen and zero in on me. That, or I was being paranoid.

"By now I'm sure most of you have heard the rumors," his deep voice boomed from the speakers. "We can't provide any information regarding what we found in the woods but as of this very moment a town-wide curfew is in effect."

A collective groan rose from the students and some even hollered. I merely swallowed the lump in my throat. My eyes landed on Noah and he had his hands balled into fists at his side. His eyes never left mine. The intensity of his gaze had me skewered in place.

The Sheriff continued, "I know this isn't ideal but this is for your own safety. Please be in your homes by six pm every day. This goes for the weekends as well."

Sheriff Brice brusquely turned around and the screen swung back to the Principle. His face seemed paler than before and there was a glint of fear in his eyes. He cleared his throat. "Based on the recent events you are all excused from class today. Classes will resume tomorrow as usual and you are all urged to go home immediately."

The screen faded to black and the hallway was abuzz with conversation as students speculated about the events. Everyone had different opinions about what they think happened but none disturbed me as much as Noah Miller.

There was a blatant accusation in his eyes as he stared at me. He thought I did it. I couldn't blame him for that, stuck in his position, I would have thought the same thing. Hell, I would have turned him in at that very moment.

The kids clustered in the hallway started to move. Most of them grabbing their belongings and leaving. Noah stayed put and so did I. I wasn't sure whether I should speak to him or not and if I did what was I supposed to say?

I didn't have to decide as he marched up to me. He grabbed my arm and I tried to pull away. "If you don't come with me right now, I'm going straight to the cops." His voice was a low whisper but it brokered no argument, so I simply followed him.

Noah Took me outside to the parking lot. At the far end of the lot under a tree stood an old beat-up Ford truck. The pale blue paint was chipping and I could see large rusted holes on the frame. I recognized it from the one standing outside the Coroner's office.

He motioned for me to get into the passenger side and I shook my head. I wasn't going anywhere with him. If he wanted to talk that's fine but I sure as hell wasn't about to bend to his whim.

"Look, I'm not going to do anything to you, I just want to talk," he breathed out a heavy sigh and let go of my arm, "We don't have to go anywhere, I just need some answers."

Yeah, you and me both buddy, I thought to myself.

I reluctantly got into the passenger side and shut the door. Noah walked around and got into the driver's side. When we were finally in the truck he didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if he expected me to start but he's the one who wanted to talk, so I just remained silent.

"Was it you?" he finally asked, breaking the tense silence.

I looked at him like he was crazy but he avoided my gaze, staring out the windshield.

"Was what me?" I asked, acting dumb.

It was a deer, they found the deer, I kept repeating the mantra in my head but I knew in my heart that was not the case. Had it been a deer they found they would have simply been disgusted. They wouldn't have enforced a town-wide curfew.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. They found a body in the woods, so you need to start talking."

I sighed and rubbed my face, digging my palms into my eye sockets as my frustration rose. "No, it wasn't me, I swear, Noah."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, but you need to tell me what the hell is going on. And no more threats? Okay?"

I sighed, I might as well tell him. He seemed relieved but that didn't take the suspicion he had away. When he looked at me, I nodded my head.

"What are you?"

I frowned, scrunching up my face, "Are you being for real now? What am I supposed to say, vampire?"

Noah's eyes went wide, his mouth falling open in shock, "Oh my god, are you?"

"No, you idiot! That was sarcasm."

Noah guffawed and I shook my head. I had no clue what to tell him, hell I didn't know what I was. But I guess starting from the beginning should suffice for now. "I was attacked in the woods about three weeks ago, I have no idea what it was because I woke up on my bedroom floor, covered in dirt and no memory of the night before"

I shivered as I recalled the memory, the confusion I felt when I woke up. At the time, I thought I was going crazy. Not that that option was entirely off the table but I knew something was happening to me. When fully fed, I could run faster, smell, and see better, and I had the ability to snap bones like pixy sticks. Not to mention the black veins that sprouted on my skin and the blood-red eyes.

"I thought, maybe..."I swallowed hard "...Maybe, I had tripped and hit my head somewhere and I was hallucinating."

I looked over to Noah to see him listening intently to my story. He didn't interrupt me and I found myself thankful for that. I hadn't told this to anyone and it was hard to say it all out loud. Saying it would mean accepting it. I wasn't ready to accept it yet.

My eyes darted away from his face and I fiddled with my hands. Dammit, I was nervous as hell. My knee bounced up and down and I weighed my next words carefully.

"A few days after that night, I started getting hungry, really hungry. Nothing I ate helped and it hurt so much." I cleared my throat "I was so hungry it nearly drove me insane. I started to smell people."

Noah had a perplexed look on his face, "you smelled people? I don't follow."

I gave a rueful smile, "I smelled them, Noah. I smelled you and even now, being this close to you, it's driving me crazy."

My eyes blazed and I felt that same sensation of crawling on my face. Noah jerked back in horror. No doubt staring into the face of a monster, he was rightly terrified.

"I get it! You want to eat people!"

"I don't want to! I can't help it. Whatever attacked me in the woods is the cause of this."

Noah moved his face away from mine staring out the windshield. For a moment none of us say anything and I tried to collect my thoughts.

I averted my eyes, shame sinking in deep and hitting home. I didn't dare to look at Noah but it seemed that the words just tumbled out of my mouth.

"I was so disgusted with myself and I tried really hard not to give in but I was scared I was going to hurt someone."

"So, not a vampire." Then Noah turned in his seat, "Holy shit, you're a zombie!"

"Can we please stop with the labels? I need to figure out how to stop this."

I clenched my eyes shut as tears threatened to spill. This was just great, I had explosive word diarrhea and I was spilling my guts to Noah Miller.

"Is that why you were at the Coroner's office that night?"

I peeked up at his face and I wished I hadn't. He looked horrified and repulsed at the same time, I didn't blame him. I basically just confessed to breaking into the coroner's office for a midnight snack, so if he wasn't scared of me before he is sure as hell was now.

"I don't even know how I got there. I mean, I remember walking and then I was there. But when I saw you, I just had to run."

Noah looked at me intently for a minute. It looked like he was debating with himself over his words "Where did you go after that?"

"I ran to the edge of the woods," I said keeping my words vaguely. I didn't really feel like telling him I ate Bambie.

He shook his head and bit his lip. "Do you think, do you think that maybe, you could have done it? Maybe you didn't know you were doing it?"

It was my turn to be shocked. I had just told him that I didn't do it. Heck, I told him everything. My anger flared, I spilled my guts to him and he still sat there accusing me. My hands moved to grab the door handle, I said my peace, if he still wanted to go to the cops then so be it. I was damn tired of running and hiding.

"I just told you everything and you sit there acting high and mighty."

He smacked his hands on the steering wheel "Dammit, Syd! I'm sorry! That night I saw you, your eyes were glowing red and you had black veins sticking out of your face. Can you really blame me for asking?" He took a deep breath, visibly trying to regain his composure, "I hardly recognized you. I nearly pissed myself and I kept thinking I had finally lost my mind.

"Then you came to me the next day and threatened me to keep my mouth shut. I was damn terrified and I still am. So I need to know for sure you didn't do... that."

My hand fell limply from the door, he had every right to be pissed with me. I was selfish only thinking of myself. Not for one second did I think what that night could mentally do to him.

I took a deep breath, "That night after I ran, I..., " my throat closed up but I refused to stop, "I killed a deer... I killed it and then I ate it."