{JONAH’S POV}Jonah debated with himself over how much to tell them. Of course, there was more. There was his getting beat up by those bullies. There was her journal, lying mysteriously beside him. His suspicion that she had been there. That she had helped him. That she had even beat up those guys somehow. How, he had no idea.But what was he supposed to tell these cops? That he had gotten himself beat up? That he thinks he remembered seeing her there? That he thinks he remembered seeing her beat up four guys twice her size? None of it made any sense, not even to him. It certainly wouldn’t make sense to them. They would just think he was lying, making stuff up. They were out for her. And he wasn’t going to help.Despite everything, he felt protective of her. He couldn’t really understand what had happened. A part of him didn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. Had she really killed that vocalist? Why? Were there really two holes in his neck, like the newspapers said? Had sh

When I woke, it was morning. I could feel more than see the sunlight striking me, and I groggily raised my head to get my bearings. I felt cold stone touching the skin of my arms and forehead. Where was I?As I raised my head and looked around, I realized I was in Central Park. I remembered now that I had stopped along the way, sometime during the night, to take a rest. I had been so tired, so weary. I must have fallen asleep sitting up, leaning over and resting my arms and head on the marble railing.It was already mid-morning, and people streamed through the park. One lady, with her young daughter, walked by and gave me a strange look. She pulled her daughter close as they passed.I sat up straighter, and looked around. A few people stared at me, and I wondered what they must have thought. I looked down at my dirty clothes. They were covered in grime. At this point, I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get out this city, this place which I associated with everything going wrong.

He’s gorgeous.I sat on the straw floor in the barn, feeling so relaxed, and was overwhelmed with feelings as I stared at the sleeping Caleb.He reclined across from me, about fifteen feet away, so perfectly still. He was sleeping, and I took the opportunity to study his face, his perfect features, his pale, translucent skin. I had never seen features so perfectly chiseled. It was surreal, like staring at a sculpture. I couldn’t fathom how he had been alive for 3,000 years.At 18, I already looked older than he did.But it was more than his features. There was an air about him, a subtle energy that he exuded. A great sense of peace. When I was around him, I knew that everything would be all right.For the first time in weeks, I felt relaxed. Sitting comfortably on the floor of the small barn in the Hudson Valley, I leaned back against a bale of hay, and exhaled. A small fire raged in the stone fireplace about ten feet away. Tonight had been especially cold. Outside, the snow fell.

My worry deepened as he furrowed his brow and didn’t say anything.“Why do I want to feed sometimes, but not others?” I pressed.He sighed. “I’m not sure. It is different with you. You are a half breed. And perhaps…part wolf. It is a very rare thing….I do know that you are coming-of-age. With others, they are turned overnight. For you, it is a process. It may take time for you to settle, to go through whatever changes you will. And there is the fact that it seems you are also part….wolf.”I thought back and remembered my hunger pangs, how they’d overwhelmed me out of nowhere. How they’d made me unable to think of anything but feeding. It was horrible. I dreaded it happening again.“But how do I know when it will happen again?”He looked at her. “You don’t.”“But I never want to kill a human,” I said. “Ever.”“You don’t have to. You can feed on animals.”“But what if it happens when I’m stuck somewhere?”“You will need to learn to control it. It takes practice. And willpower.

I turned and saw Luisa standing there, one of the girls I’d been friends with before I moved.“Oh my God!” Luisa added excitedly, throwing her arms wide for a hug. Before I could react, Luisa was embracing me. I hugged her back. It felt good to see a familiar face.“What happened to you?” Luisa asked, speaking in an excited rush, as she always did, her slight Hispanic accent coming through, as she had only moved here from Puerto Rico a few years before. “I’m so confused! I thought you moved!? I texted and IM-ed you, but you never responded –”“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I lost my phone, and I haven’t been near any computers, and–”Luisa wasn’t listening. She had just noticed Caleb, and she was staring, mesmerized. Her mouth literally dropped open.“Who’s your friend?” she finally asked, almost in a whisper. I smiled; I had never seen my friend so flustered before.“Luisa, this is Caleb,” I said.“A pleasure,” Caleb said, smiling down, extending his hand.Luisa just kept staring. S