Waking Up

Chapter One

I sat against my window nook, on the third floor of my house, or more commonly known as my room. It used to be the attic because my parents weren't expecting a fifth child and they had to put me somewhere and my sister, Jenna, was not up to sharing a room. I liked the attic, it was quite and I could read.

A yell outside pulled my eyes from my book and to the boys running around in the yard. Cam, my oldest brother, tackled Kyle, my second oldest brother, to the ground. Their hair was so similar and dark that from the third floor, without seeing their faces, I couldn't tell who was who. Joshua, my third oldest brother, sat on the ground watching the two of them. Cam was twenty-two, Kyle was twenty-one, Joshua was twenty and my sister Jenna was nineteen. I was the baby, about to turn eighteen in four days.

My brothers and sister all had dark hair, although Jenna's had a tint of red in hers. They all had beautiful blue eyes and were tall with the perfect build. I had thick, curly blonde hair that was so light it almost looked white, with only a hint of gold. My eyes were a dark brown, but they always had glasses around them, even though I only used my glasses for reading. I know, a werewolf with glass, but my dad said that it was because all the reading I have done fried my eyes. My parents criticized me a lot for not being the perfect werewolf, or more so for not being a normal werewolf. I barely reached five foot four and I only had the muscle that was natural to werewolves, so I was slightly toned. I didn't rain, or work or take part in any sport. I just liked to sit down, read, study and curl up next to a warm fire.

My room was large and covered in wood. I had two large bookshelves pressed against my wall, a queen bed, a desk with a tablet and key board resting on it and on the other side of my room was a beanbag chair and a flat screen TV that had dust on it, simply because I wasn't a TV fan. I spent most of my time at my desk or in my window nook. I preferred my window nook because I could see outside and watch my brothers, but I also got to enjoy the serenity of my room, not to mention the wonderful view of my book posters that covered my room.

"Krista!" My mother called at the bottom of my stairs. I set my book down and then headed to my door.

"Yeah?" I asked opening my bedroom door.

My mother was identical to Jenna. Long, straight brown hair, bright blue eyes and a tall, slender body.

"Are you going to the bookstore today?"

"Yeah, I was going to leave soon. Why?"

"Do you mind picking me up a cookbook? I don't have one for pastries."

"Sure." I replied no minding at all, because that meant I could spend a longer time in the bookstore than I had already planned and she wouldn't complain.

"Do you need money?"

"No, mom, I'm good." She nodded and then disappeared down the hall. I went back into my closet and changed my clothes. I pulled on jeans, a long sleeved tan shirt, and a decorative scarf—since I was a werewolf I didn't need to keep warm. I left my hair and its messy bun, which showed off its thick curls and I had a thin layer of make-up on. I rarely wore make-up, but that was a werewolf thing, most of the time our skin was in pristine conditioner and we were naturally attractive so there was no need for make-up. After slipping my brown combat boots on, I headed out the door. I could have driven but I preferred to walk since it wasn't too far way and I had been in the house all day. I avoided my brothers by going out the back door because I knew that they would try to get me to wrestle with them, which I was not in the mood for. I had my money in one pocket and my phone in the other. I did not really need a phone because I was not very social, but Cam always insisted that I carry it in case of trouble.

The walk to town only took about five minutes, but when I got there I saw a group of vampires hanging outside a bar across the street. I made sure not to make eye contact with them because in these parts, vampires were known to be aggressive and I was no fighter. I quickly made my way into the bookstore.

"How are you, Krista?" Miss Diehl, the shop owner, asked as she put a book away on the shelf and the bell above the door alerted her to my entrance.

"Fine, Miss Diehl, any new books?"

"I'm afraid not...oh wait I have two new books, sort of. They are both old, rare books from before supernaturals." She said, her eyes excited.

"Really?" I asked, looking around the shop, enjoying the homey feel it had. Books lined the walls and in the center of the shop were soft couches that people used as seats when they read. There was a second floor, dedicated purely to the pre-supernatural era, which was where I commonly was; in the back right corner was a coffee machine, which I used frequently.

"One is called the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the other is The Great Gatsby."

"I've read the first one...not really my kind of read. I haven't read the second, can I buy it?" I said, my eyes looking for cookbook section.

"Of course, Krista, you know you get whatever selection you want." She smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Diehl. Do you have any cookbooks for pastries? My mom needs a new book."

"Back left corner, dear." I headed to the back and grabbed the first one I saw, since I wasn't really sure what she wanted. "Will that be it?" She asked as I walked up to the counter.

"Yeah, I hadn't planned on staying long. It's already dark, but I don't think I would be able to sleep if I didn't smell the books." I laughed as I handed her the money. She handed me a book with a blue cover that had yellow-ish eyes and red lips that rather looked sad. The book looked so...elegant. The Great Gatsby, I had never heard of it before.

"Have a good day dear, and be careful."

"I always am." I smiled and the walked out of the book store. I hadn't realized how dark it had gotten, the moon was out, lighting my path. The night felt different from usual, like something was about to happen, my stomach was in knots and I had a strange pressure building in my head.

I could feel their glares on my skin as I crossed the street and that raised goose bumps across my skin. The vampire group from earlier was still outside of the bar, but now their attention was locked on me. I looked everywhere but at them.

"Hey!" One of the called but I walked faster. Suddenly, two of them were in front of me.

"He said hey." The brunette one growled, looking me over. They were much taller than I was and I knew that they were much stronger, and I was severely outmatches when their three friends joined them.

"What are you doing out here all alone, pup?" The first one, a red head, asked.

"Getting a book." I said, not meeting their eyes. They hooted in laughter.

"I don't usually like wolves." The brunette said. "But you don't look much like one, you look kind of sexy." I heard him lick his lips and it took everything in me not to shiver in fear, because I knew that would only excite them.

"Maybe the pup wants to play." One of them said behind me. When had they gotten behind me? I was completely surrounded.

"Um...I should really be getting home." I said, trying to side step them but they simply moved to block me.

"Not so fast, pup." One smirked. He grabbed onto my arm, squeezing it tightly. "You are you going to play with us." He began dragging me to an alleyway.

"Please, leave me alone!" I begged and I tried to pull against him, but he simply threw me into the alley. I had been made-fun-of, laughed at, even pushed, but I had never been treated like this. I was terrified. There was only one way out and there were five vampires blocking it.

"Now, it's time to play." He sounded like a predator. I knew I shouldn't have run, it was purely irrational, but my body picked flight over fight and I bolted away. The vampire tackled me to the ground, splashing the dirty all over me. The snow from the night before had melted, and the alley was filled with a kind of sludge.

I tried to kick him off me and he punched me in the face. I kneed him in his groin and then scrambled away from him, only to have another vampire on top of me within a heartbeat. He gripped my shirt in his hand, tearing it slightly.

"Get off me!" I screamed, flailing my limbs. He pinned me against the wall, his hand against my throat.

"I do whatever I want, bitch." He spat.

"Get off!" And it felt like a rubber band snapping loose. The vampire shot away from me, hitting the wall across from us, the sound of his skull hitting the brick echoed in the night. I stared at him in shock, and the other vampires around me froze.

"What are the chances?" The one farthest away from me growled. "One of Lana's?" He shook his head. "We'll be back bitch." And just like that, they were gone. I slid down the wall and stared at my hands in shock. What the hell had just happened? One of Lana's? What did that mean?

My body shuttered and I could feel the tears coming. I felt my back pocket for my phone, only to find it empty. I looked around the alley, and saw it's white case, covered in mud and I snatched it up. For once I was happy for the dumb white case my mother had picked out for me. I called the first person on speed dial.

"Yep?" Cam's voice asked, cheery.

"Cam..." I held back a sob.

"Krista? Are you okay?"All happiness quickly leaving his voice.

"Come get me." I cried.

"What happened, Kris?" He asked, but I could hear his car door shutting, so I knew that he was on his way.

"They...they attacked me and then....come get me, please! I'm in an alley...by the bookstore."

"I'm coming now, Krista."