Outside the wind howled around, fallen leaves rustling in the dark grass as I sat beside the pool at this very stereotypical high school party. The only thing different about this particular party were the costumes in celebration of Halloween. The smell of tobacco and weed filtered through the air as the music inside the house pulsed with a steady beat. As I waited for my friend Jack to come back with the drink he'd promised me, my mind wandered to just a couple hours before.
The tall, sinewy frame of the dark haired boy hovering by the gate near my house, a lit cigarette the only light that shown in the darkness outside as I entered my home and locked the door behind me, a sense of innate fear creeping up my spine at his presence. I couldn't get him out of my head.
What had he been doing, standing there by my house in the middle of the night? Had he been amongst the trick or treaters? He didn't look older than eighteen so maybe he had been guiding a younger sibling along to gather as much candy as he or she desired?
I glanced around the pool at the couples talking, drinking, and making out. This all seemed so mundane in comparison to the week I'd had so far. So many odd coincidences and not to mention the rise in deaths in the past week. This town was not known for murders and yet...they had significantly increased in the last month.
As my eyes glided towards the back of the house to see if Jack was coming back, I saw him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Standing in an all black suit, with a white dress shirt covered in blood, and piercing light green eyes that were almost blue, I saw him standing across from me. The only thing keeping us apart was the pool. I immediately stood up, my body registering that this was a stranger.
"Who are you?" I demanded and a smile spread across the man's lips. He brushed his mane of thick brown hair back, his smile revealing fake vampire canines. He started to walk the length of the pool and I mimicked walking the opposite way trying to keep a safe distance.
"I might ask you the same thing since I seem to be seeing you everywhere today." He said coyly and I noticed his thick British accent. I stopped and he copied me, still a hint of a smirk on his face.
"Look, if you're some creep who is stalking me..."
"Me? A stalker? You've got it all wrong. You, darling, have been following me." I scoffed in response and he started to walk again. I stood still waiting to see what he would do next.
"I haven't been following you. I don't even know who you are. Are you new here?" He nodded his head, his eyes never leaving mine.
"So, I'll ask again, who are you?" I demanded as he was now walking towards me, my feet rooted to the spot. Clearly my fight or flight instincts were missing in action. I wasn't sure if I was feeling fear or if I was piqued in interest with anxiety coursing through my veins.
"My name is Harry Styles, what is yours?" He stated as he approached me, stopping so close to me that personal space was non existent.
"Ophelia Woods, my friends call me Phe." I said as I backed up so that he wasn't quite so close to me. His eyes scanned me up and down and I felt suddenly self conscious.
"Ophelia..." he said my name like it was the first time he'd heard of the word, "that's a beautiful name for an equally lovely girl." My heart started pounding. This close he was one to talk...he was breathtaking in a rugged way. I glanced down at his shirt and noticing the blood I said the first thing that came to my mind.
"Vampire?" His eyes went wide and then looking down at his shirt he laughed louder than I would have expected. He gestured to his shirt and smiled.
"Yes, I decided to join in the festivities since you Americans make Halloween into such a big deal. I mean don't get me wrong we celebrate in England but," he looked me up and down again, "you all take it to another level." Hating that I chose this skimpy witch costume, I tugged at the hem of the dress praying that pulling it down would make it appear longer.
"I hope I haven't offended you." He said gently and grabbed my hand that was attempting to cover my body. His touch was warm and it felt like an electrical pulse was circulating with every beat of my heart. His eyes went wide as if he felt the sensation as well and dropped my hand quickly.
"I...um...I should go," I said backing away and his eyes flickered between mine and his hand, "It was nice meeting you Harry. See you at school." I stated and when I felt like I could breathe again I turned and half ran into the house. Closing the door behind me I finally took a deep breath and exhaled. Holy shit what was that...?
"Phe! Where have you been?" Evangeline, my best friend, ran up to me holding two drinks in her hands.
"Double fisting I see..." I nodded at her hands and she shook her head laughing.
"No this one is for you! Jack told me to give it to you and he said to tell you he was sorry but he had to leave." I tried not to feel disappointed but I had a feeling that Jack probably saw me with Harry. I was also probably overreacting. Jack probably left because he was too cool for this party and me to begin with.
"Oh....okay. Could we leave?" Ev's face grew concerned.
"What happened?"
"That guy from earlier that we both saw outside of my house...he was here." Evangeline looked from me to outside and then back at me.
"Where is he?" She demanded and I shook my head.
"He was nice, it was fine, I just want to go home. I think this was enough for one night." I gestured to the party happening around us. Evangeline sighed and nodded.
"Okay, if that's what you want." I nodded and with a heavy sigh she sat our drinks down and pulled me towards the front door. As we walked down the street to her car I got the strangest sensation that I was being watched. The breeze kicked up again, the leaves in the trees shaking gently. Once in the car, I felt like I could finally breathe again and also think again. I felt like for the past couple of hours my head was fogged up with emotions and feelings that I couldn't quite explain.
"Phe? You okay?" Evangeline asked with concern laced in her voice.
"Ev? What does it feel like to fall in love?" Silence engulfed the car and I immediately started to panic, "I mean...I just never really had that kind of talk with my mom and as silly as it sounds I don't know what the difference is between like lust and really loving someone."
"Phe are you crushing on Jack?" She was instigating now and her voice was quivering with laughter. Jack was someone I had always crushed on, friendship or not, but...Jack was not the one infiltrating my mind at this moment.
"Oh shut up Evangeline. Maybe it's Jack, maybe it's Harry..."
"Harry? The guy from before?" I nodded in response and I noticed her face was void of emotion.
"Ophelia, promise me you'll stay away from him," I was about to interject when she continued, "just trust me...I get a bad feeling about Harry." I sat there watching her as she drove and I realized something for the first time in our friendship...Evangeline was hiding something from me...something that scared her...and it clearly had something to do with the mysterious boy that had just arrived in Savannah.
