"Mom! Mom, where are you?" I shouted. I ran around the house frantically looking for her. I heard the sound of running water coming from the kitchen. I ran in there and saw that she was doing the dishes. "Mom, I've been trying to get your attention for twenty minutes!" I tapped on her arm. She turned toward me and pulled her earbud out of her ear.

    "What was that, darling? I couldn't hear you, I was listening to music," she said.

    "Mom, I need a book to read. It has to be one I haven't read yet," I explained.

    "Go ask your father, he just brought home a bunch of books for the secondhand shop yesterday."

    "He's not home yet."

    "Well, they're in a box in the hall. Pick any you like."

    "Okay, thanks." I went into the hall and found the box. There were just over a dozen books. I sat in the hall for almost an hour trying to figure out which one I liked best, but they all seemed boring. I flopped onto the sofa and sighed.

    "What's the matter?" my father asked as he walked through the front door.

    "I need a book. It needs to be one that I've never read before," I told him.

    "Did you check the box in the hall?"

    "Yeah, none of them looked interesting."

    "Is this for school?" he asked.

    "Uh huh. We have to read a book we've never read before and fill out a bunch of questions about the book and what we thought about it," I said.

    "Well, here. I'm pretty sure you've never read Dracula before," he said as he handed me his copy of the book.

    "Thanks, dad." I took the book and went upstairs to start to read it in my bedroom.

***

    "Alright students, when I call you up to my desk, show me the book you chose for your independent reading and I wil give you the packet of questions you have to answer. First up- Nina Parker." Mr. Thompson said at the beginning of class Monday morning. After his mini-speech, Mr. Hathaway walked over to my desk and handed me some papers.

    "Here is your summer assignment. Great job." My essay about Emily Dickinson had earned me a 94. "Is Dracula what you chose for your independent reading?" he asked.

    "Yeah, but I kind of started to read it already. I couldn't wait for the packet," I admitted. He chuckled.

    "No, Tara, you cannot read Twilight. Let me write you a pass to the library so you can find a better book. Margery, your turn," Mr. Thompson said. I walked over to his desk and showed him my book. "Dracula, huh? That's a challenging read. Are you sure you can get through the book and the packet in three weeks?" he questioned.

    "I'm pretty sure I can handle it," I told him.

    "Alright, I believe you." He handed me a packet about ten pages thick. No matter how much I enjoyed the book, the packet would be a pain in the ass to complete.

***

    I realized, after finishing chapter eleven, that I had barely left the house in a week. I needed some fresh air. I grabbed my keys and walked into the living room to say goodbye to my family.

    "You're going out?" my father asked.

    "Yeah, I figured I'd drive around, find something to do. I've been cooped up in this house for too long."

    "You're not going out dressed like that," Mallory said.

    "Mal, why is it you always have a problem with my clothes when I'm wearing them, but they're perfectly fine when you're wearing them?" I asked.

    "Because I have a sense of style. Now, come on." She half-dragged, half-led me upstairs. Mal rummaged through my clothes for twenty minutes, pulling out a few things every now and then. She handed me a white sundress and yellow sandals. "Go change into this. I'm going to borrow this blue top. It's really cute," she said and before I could protest, she left the room. I decided to  stay on her good side and put on the outfit she picked out for me. I headed downstairs for the second time that day, and Mal was in the passenger's seat of my car.

    "Mal, what are you doing?" I asked.

    "I'm going out with you, duh," she told me. "Now, where exactly are we going?"

    "I don't know, I figured I would just drive around until I found something to do," I said as I climbed into the driver's seat.

    "Oh, cool." We drove around for a while. We weren't talking, and to keep the silence away we played some Beatles music. I stomped on the brake when Mal shouted, "Oh! Flea market! Stop there!"

    "God, Mal, don't scare me like that!" I parked a block away from the market and we went to go look at what was being sold. There were booths for clothing, jewelry, books, and pretty much anything and everything else you could think of. Mallory pulled me over to look at a booth that was selling jewelry and small statues. While she looked at earrings, a statue of a woman caught my eye.

    The statue was about eight inches tall. The pale woman had long black hair and red eyes. Her mouth was full of sharp teeth, and she had three pairs of black wings. She was beautiful in a creepy, supernatural sort of way.

    "Do you know who that is?" a voice asked from behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around and saw it was Alexander.

    "Jeez, Alexander. First my sister and now you, people need to stop catching me off guard!" I exclaimed.

    "I'm sorry, I just saw you looking at that statue, and I was wondering if you knew who it was a statue of," he explained.

    "Oh, uh, no, I don't know."

    He picked up the statue. "Her name is Lilith. Many people believe her to be the first wife of Adam. She was too independent and strong willed, so she was replaced with the more submissive Eve. Lilith then became the mother of vampires and demons." He handed me the statue.

    "I didn't know that, that's very interesting," I said.

    "I always thought so. Anyway, I have to go. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I'll see you on Monday," Alexander said before leaving. I looked at the statue and decided to buy it before meeting my sister at the car. When we got home, I put the statue on my bedside table.

    That night, I dreamed of Lilith.

    "Come on Mal! If you're not down here in five minutes I'm leaving without you!" I yelled up the stairs to my sister.

    "I'm coming, I'm coming! Don't get your panties in a twist!" she yelled back. She ran down the stairs and toward the door. Mallory stopped to check out her perfectly curled red hair in the hall mirror, as if she hadn't spent the last twenty minutes on it. "It's the first day of school, why aren't you dressed nicely?" she asked.

    "I would've worn my new green top, but you wore it the other day, without asking me I might add, so this was my next best choice," I responded, heading out the door to my yellow jeep. Mal followed behind me.

    "You couldn't do anything better than a pink hoodie and a pair of capris? Oh, can I drive?" she asked.

    "No, Mal, just get in the car," I told her. We hadn't even started school yet and I already wanted to go back to sleep.

    "Pretty please?" she pleaded. She made the same puppy dog face she used to use on me when we were younger.

    "Ugh, fine, but let's go. I don't feel like being late on the first day," I said.

    "Yay! Thanks Mar." She gave me a quick hug before hopping into the driver's seat of my car. In no time at all we were driving down the road to school.

***

    I reached my first period English class at the same moment the bell rang. I sat down  in the only seat available, front row next to the windows.

    "Okay students," one of the two men at the front of the room said, clapping his hands once and rubbing them together. "I'm your English teacher this year. My name is Mr. Thompson, and this is Mr. Hathaway, my assistant. He will be with us for the first two months of school. Now, I will take attendance while Mr. Hathaway walks around to collect your summer assignments."

    The man with the light brown hair walked towards me to collect my assignment first. Shit, I sighed. I looked up at Mr. Hathaway, who was standing next to my desk.

    "Let me guess," he said. "You don't have it."

    "I meant to print it out this morning. I was kind of in a hurry, and I guess I forgot."

    "What is your name?" he asked. I was about to answer, but Mr. Thompson beat me to it. Sort of.

    "Mar-gary Jacobs?" he said.

    "It's pronounced Mar-jury, as if the 'g' was a 'j'," I responded.

    "Oh, I'm sorry," he said before moving on with the attendance.

    "Okay, Margery, just bring in your assignment tomorrow. I'm sure Mr. Thompson won't be too hard on you. It is only the first day of school, after all," Mr. Hathaway said, bringing my attention back to him and my forgotten assignment.

    "Oh, uh, yeah okay," I said, but he had already turned away to collect the other students' papers.

***

    I waited outside the school for Mallory for what seemed like ages, but was probably closer to thirty minutes. My phone rang and Mal's name came up on the screen.

    "Where are you?" I asked, not even bothering to try and hide my annoyance from her.

    "Woah, calm down, sis. I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed your car. Stacy, Liz, and I are at the mall," she said.

    "Mal, you can't just take my car without asking!" I told her in a not so calm manner.

    "I did ask. I just asked mom instead of you. She said that until I get a car, I can use yours when I need it."

    "Yeah, but now I have to walk home, and it looks like it's going to start raining."

    "Sorry, Mar. I'll ask you next time."

    "No you won't, you never do. Just get home with you and the car in one piece."

    "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Love you! Bye!"

    "Bye," I said, but she had already hung up on me.

    I started walking home, and the sky started to get darker. Before long it started to drizzle, and then it started to pour. I wasn't even halfway home yet. A car pulled up next to me.

    "Do you need a ride?" I recognized Mr. Hathaway's voice.

    "No thanks, I'm fine," I said as I stopped and looked at him.

    "Are you sure? I would hate for you to get sick and miss school tomorrow. You still have to hand in your paper," he said.

    "I wouldn't want to be a bother."

    "You wouldn't be a bother. You're already soaked to the bone, and I'm worried about your health."

    "Um, no offense, but I just met you today. I don't really trust you," I said.

    "You're afraid I'm a pedophile."

    "Kind of." He reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a small black cylinder.

    "Here, it's pepper spray," he said as he handed me the cylinder. "Feel free to spray me in the eyes if I start acting pedophile-y."

    "Um, thanks, I guess."

    "Is it okay for me to give you a ride now?"

    "Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Hathaway," I said as I climbed into the passenger's seat of his car.

    "Buckle your seat belt, and when we're outside of school, you can call me Alexander," he instructed. "Where do you live?"

    "82 Broken Carriage Lane," I told him.

    "That's not close, you were going to walk that far in the rain?" he asked, surprised.

    "My sister took my car," I said.

    "Who's your sister?" he questioned as he pulled away from the curb.

    "Her name is Mallory. She has Mr. Thompson for English either sixth or seventh period, I think," I explained.

    "Mallory... Oh, I know her. Is she your twin?" Alexander asked.

    "No, she's a year younger than me," I said.

    "Ah, alright. Well, we're here. See you at school tomorrow. Don't forget to print out your assignment," he added.

    "Thanks again, Mr. Ha- I mean, Alexander," I said, giving a quick wave and walking to my house. I turned back around. "Wait, your pepper spray."

    "Keep it, you might need it for something," he said as he started to drive away.

    I turned back around and ran into my house, making sure to take off my muddy shoes to avoid my mother's wrath.

    I was in a forest, standing at the edge of a pond. Lilith was next to me. She had a basket full of beautiful flowers, though none of them came close to  her beauty. She turned toward me.

    "Hello, little bat," she said. Her voice was deeper than I expected, with and accent that I couldn't quite place. She started to put flowers in my hair. "You're more beautiful than I imagined."

    "What do you mean?" I asked.

    "The last time I saw you, I didn't realize how beautiful you would turn out to be."

    "But we never met before now."

    She chuckled. "Of course we have. I always meet all of my children, in one way or another. You probably don't remember, you were barely past my knee the last time we met," she explained.

    "I'm not your child, my mother is Anne Jacobs," I said a little more defensively than I meant to.

    "You may not be my child now, but do you remember what my son Alexander told you?" she asked.

    "Alexander? He told me that after Eve replaced you as the wife of Adam, you became the mother of vampires and demons. Is that what Alexander is, and what I will be? A vampire?" I questioned, stunned.

    "Yes, Alexander is a vampire, and although he doesn't exactly know it, he was sent here to find you, my daughter," she said.

    "Me? But I'm nothing special, why would you choose me?"

    "Everyone I choose has something special about them, you just have to look closer." She turned us both toward the water and we looked at our reflections. Even though our features were completely different, there was something similar between us. I couldn't put my finger on what exactly that was. She looked back at me and stared into my eyes as if she were staring int my very soul. "I'm afraid I have to leave you now," she said.

    "Will I ever see you again?" I asked.

    "I'm sure of it." She kissed my forehead. The last thing I remember before waking up was how her lips were was cold as ice.