I flopped in the doorway, my chest heaving as I panted, struggling for breath. I slid down the door, letting my head drop back against the hard wood. I felt safer with something solid behind my back – nothing could creep up on me from behind – and I needed a moment to gather myself before I went inside. The feeling that I was being watched had chased me the whole way down to the beach. I’d done a few half-hearted hill sprints, before chastising myself – nothing had happened yet, so I may as well just get on with it – and managing to push myself to go faster, and to ignore the itch at the back of my head that swore someone was there with me. Wanting to distract myself, I pulled out my phone. Cyrus still hadn’t replied, which wasn’t weird as of itself, but was strange considering that he’d gone from responding instantly to not at all. Then again, I often missed messages, forgot to reply, or

The hand reached out again, white against the dark, and rapped on the glass. I drew my hands up, covering my face with my left and preparing to strike with my right. This had to be an intimidation tactic – otherwise, they were giving me all the time in the world to prepare for their attack. This time, however, a face followed the hand. It peered curiously in through my bedroom window, blue-grey eyes wide and scared. Rosebud lips drew downwards, pulling into a frown. I stumbled backwards, staring at her as she ran a hand agitatedly through her strawberry-blonde curls. It was Veronica. It had to be a trap – didn’t it? I inched closer, my eyes fixed on hers. She was crouched close to the windowsill, most of her weight supported by the tree that dangled its gnarled, naked branches across the glass. I swallowed, my throat tight and my mouth dry. She looked the same as she had before, and

“Whoever turned you must know that I’m a hunter,” I murmured to myself. “But why would they send you to me? I mean, why turn you in the first place?” Veronica shrugged, her blue-grey eyes molten with sadness. “I don’t know. I thought you’d be able to help me, but you don’t know anything more than I do.” My heart ached for her. I wanted to smack myself. Was I really feeling sorry for a vampire? Without consciously deciding, my mind had been made up. I had to help her. Veronica was no more a monster than I, if what she said was true. As she dissolved into sobs once more, I felt certain that she was being honest. “Ver,” I said gently, shaking her. “Ver. I’m sorry, but you have to talk to me if I’m going to be able to help you.” “You will?” She blubbered, turning huge,

I slammed the car door irritably behind me. My phone was ringing – again.   With a sigh, I declined the call and shoved it into my pocket. Cyrus had started the day with a text, and my lack of reply seemed to have panicked him. Good. He deserved to feel as hurt as I did.   I crossed the car park, stepping around puddles in potholes as I made my way towards the flickering neon sign. Ella’s was the last place I wanted to be tonight; I didn’t have the energy to pretend that the most stressful thing in my life was my breakup with Harper. In truth, I’d hardly thought about Harper since we’d last met – my focus had been on Veronica and her forgetful family, not the tragedy of my own collapsed relationship.   I smoothed down my top, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.   It was fairly busy, with a smattering of people sat at the bar and most of the tables full across the floor. Smiling at

I wanted to run to Cyrus, to confront him, eyes blazing and mouth shouting and fists pounding. Instead, I slowly unclenched my hands and smoothed out the fresh page of my notebook, focusing on the texture of the paper beneath the pads of my fingertips. After meeting Veronica last night, I’d woken my Dads – both of whom had fallen asleep on the sofa waiting for me to return – and told them everything I knew. Eager as we’d been to storm over to Seagull Road and take The Heath by storm, we’d learnt one major piece of information through Veronica’s misfortune: we didn’t know as much as we thought we did. As such, the three of us had taken the day off work once the morning had rolled around, and our plan was to spend the day researching. I’d felt awful calling in sick, but I’d decided that it was a necessary evil. If making Mae jiggle the rota around saved her life, then it was worth it. It wa