A Secret To Keep

Chapter 1

Bursts of light poked at my eyes from the outside. I groggily opened them to a bright room. The source of the light, a large window with the curtain open, made me squint. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I jumped up suddenly, realizing what today was. Looking out the window all I could see was the large expanse of water that made up the Pacific Ocean, waves crashing one after another onto the glimmering sand.

“Ready for breakfast, sleepyhead?” Someone yelled from the bathroom. Rachel’s head poked around the corner, her dark hair a pillow around her face. “You took forever,” she added, stretching the last word out until I thought she would never stop.

“What are we still doing? Today’s the musical!” I exclaimed. She smiled at me from her perch on the counter and turned to finish her lipstick.

“I know!” She said. “We were waiting on you, silly!”

I rolled my eyes. Quickly yanking on my favorite pair of jeans and a comfy tee, we headed downstairs to meet up with the rest of our group. We found Amanda waiting at the foot of the steps. Rachel startled her with a poke to her side before pulling her in for a peck on the cheek. They made the cutest couple. Rachel, with her dark hair and fair skin, and Amanda with her just-came-from-the-beach tan and blonde waves. I, on the other hand, did not even look like I woke up. I didn’t get a chance to put on makeup, and my chocolate brown hair was frizzy from pulling on my shirt. A purple pair of crow’s feet planted themselves under my eyes, only adding to my unkempt outfit.

“Everyone’s already on the bus, let’s go!” Amanda called, already leading Rachel by the hand. I followed excitedly.

The tour bus was stalled with most of our class already inside. As it rumbled and began to crawl forward, I let my mind drift from reality. About three days ago, we had arrived in Los Angeles with about half the senior class. Today though, we were going to see a musical, Unplugged, about a family whose son goes insane. It was a comedy, with Tyler Jacobs playing the lead role. I fantasized about getting to meet him in person.

It took us a while, but eventually we made it to the theater, with a few minutes to spare. I waited for Rachel and Amanda before heading in to take our seats.

“So...” I started as we waited for the show to begin, “Where did you guys want to go for lunch?”

Before either of them could respond, a loud crack rang through the theater, making my head buzz and my ears ring. I looked up to see the stage lit by a glowing fire. My eyes widened as Rachel grabbed my arm.

She said something, but I felt like we were underwater. I couldn’t hear anything. But I followed as we ran out to the bus. Other students were already on, some still clambering up the steps. We sat down, and immediately my eyes were glued to the window. A pillar of smoke rose into the air, and at the very top of the building a few small flames licked the air.

The bus pulled off, jerking everyone against the back of the seats. I didn’t know where we were going, but my hearing was starting to come back. I heard people whispering about what had happened, what had caused the explosion.

Someone said it was one of the actors, although nobody knew why.

Another student said it had been a crazed fan trying to get backstage to everyone.

I tried to remember if I had seen anything right before. I had been asking Rachel and Amanda a question, but I was glancing at my program. Maybe I had seen someone headed that way earlier?

The bus came to a screeching stop, to be met with cries of fear and surprise. A lone figure stood in the road, but something seemed off. It looked as if a shadow had formed a body, dark and abysmal with no features or face. The creature walked closer, up to the front of the vehicle. I blinked hard, trying to clear this hallucination from my vision. But I opened them again, and the shadow was still there. Still creeping onto the bus and moving towards where I sat in the back. I glanced over to see Amanda panicked next to me, eyes wide with fear and her mouth open in a silent scream.

Tendrils of black smoke licked the ground below the figure as it continued to move closer. I shrunk back into my seat, but it did nothing to widen the closing gap. Another step, and all I could see was black. Smoke filled my lungs, suffocating me, and suddenly everything around me faded into the shadows of the figure in front of me.

Author's Note

Hello!

This is my first story and honestly I don't know if I'll finish it but so far I'm really enjoying writing it! Yes, it is a vampire novel and yes, I will be using some stereotypes. However, I hope it is enjoyable for all of you!

I am totally open to recommendations but please try to be constructive. If anybody is super artistic I'm happy to accept cover images too! I'm super bad at drawing, editing, etc. so I would be really honored!

Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully you'll hear from me again soon!

Sincerely,

Issey <3

P.S. This is totally unedited so if you find typos comment and I will fix them!