The spider's eyes were as black as pitch, watching me eagerly as it took me and sucked me dry. Every ounce of vigor I owned was pulled out of me, slowly, like air leaving a leaky rubber tire.

By the end, or at least, I hoped it was the end; I was empty, lifeless, lying on a bed of night. No stars shown down at me in the sky. There was no beacon of hope that I could cling to in the dark. It was black and barren, like the spider's eyes as they pierced me, daring me to fight back from the abyss.

"Is she dead?" I heard someone ask, but it wasn't the spider. It was another creature in the room.

"I don't know," the spider answered, its voice quivering, as if it actually had feelings.

"You can't keep doing this," another voice, this one female, "you go too far, take too much."

"I'd rather she be dead, than turning," yet another voice said. "When they turn they can become dangerous to us."

"Don't worry so much," the spider said, "We haven't lasted a millennia for nothing. We're stronger than they are, smarter. Nothing can take us down."

"Well, if she's dead, let's dump her," the female sighed.

There came a press of cold lips to my sunk-in cheek. "Goodbye, sweet Salem."

Then nothing.

Save for the silent scream in my head.

"Hey. Are you going to stand there all night?"

I jerked awake, my head pounding, my heart thumping hard against my ribs. Pain radiated from different parts of my body, mirroring what I'd experienced in my dream. I felt sick to my stomach. I was cold and wanted to curl up and snuggle into my bed covers. Except I wasn't in my bed. I was standing on a street corner.

Across the street from where I stood was a Super 8 Motel. I shivered.

"What's your problem girly?"

Startled, I glanced behind me. A middle-aged man in a wheelchair sat behind me, looking agitated and none too happy. His clothes were ratty, his long, dung-brown, hair greasy, flakes of dandruff sticking to the roots, and he smelled really bad.

I glanced down at myself and thanked the lord that I wasn't still in my pj's. However it happened, I guess I had the presence of mind to slide on a pair of black yoga pants and to put on my extremely worn-in black leather jacket.

"Where am I?"

He snorted. "You're in Wonderland, Alice, and I'm the Mad Hatter."

I glanced around the area, taking in my surroundings. It proved a bit difficult because the streetlamp above me was shattered. Pieces of plastic and gla.s.s lay scattered on the road. I didn't recognize the immediate area, but I did a few of the buildings a few blocks away. I was back downtown, not too far from where I'd been tossed into the dumpster days ago.

I looked at the motel again. This must've been where I'd been...

"Alice, why don't you give me some money? I'm hungry."

I dug into my jacket pocket and came away with two crumpled dollar bills. I swung around and put the ball of money into his outstretched hand, careful not to touch his skin.

"Did you see me show up here?" I asked him, now that he had his reward.

Without looking at me, he smoothed out the bills, and nodded. "You came from the shadows." He motioned toward the really dark part of the street along the brick wall of an old building now boarded up and abandoned.

I shivered at his strange words. "Are you sure I didn't drive here, or come on a bus?" Although I didn't see my mom's car anywhere. It was a POS but it would still stick out here like a sore thumb.

He shook his head. "No buses, girly. Not at this time."

Which was what I wondered. "Do you know the time?"

He glanced up at the black sky. "The witching hour, Alice. Don't you know about the witching hour?"

"Not really."

"A time for the boogeyman. A time for those evil things that go b.u.mp in the night. The type of things that creep and slither through the shadows." He looked at her then, and his gaze was fierce and penetrating. "Like you." He grinned, and I had an urge to back away. His two front teeth were missing, the rest were yellow and decayed. He looked maniacal as he grinned at me, his fingers constantly running the length of one of the dollar bills I'd given him.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and jogged across the street, away from him and toward the comforting glow of another streetlamp. Once there, feeling a little more secure, I dug out my cell phone which thankfully had been in my jacket pocket. Again, I couldn't call my mom. She'd freak out big time.

I could call Chloe but feared that one of her parents would answer. She didn't have her own line, so there was that risk, and she'd busted her cell phone. The only person I had left to call was Jamie. I knew he slept with his cell phone. Why, I really didn't want to know. Sometimes he could be a sick and twisted individual.

Holding my breath, I quickly punched in his number. It rang. Then again. Then a third time.

Finally, he answered with a mumbled greeting. "What?"

"It's Salem. I need your help."

"What's the matter?"

"I need a ride back home."

He paused, and I imagined he was probably looking at the digital clock sitting on his bed side table. "It's three fifteen."

"I know what time it is Jamie, I need you to come get me. I don't have my car, and I don't have any money for a cab."

"Jesus, Salem."

"Jamie, please, I'm in a bad area and I'm alone."

He sighed. "Fine. Where are you?"

"At the Super 8 Motel on State." I swore I could hear the gears grinding in his skull as he tried to reason why I would be at a motel at three fifteen in the morning on a school night. "Don't ask. Just come, okay?"

"I'll be there."

I flipped my phone closed and shoved it into my pocket. I found a fairly clean piece of curb to sit on near the motel and waited. For the second time in my life, I felt like I was losing my mind and had no clue how to find it again.

Chapter 10.

"So, you're telling me you sleepwalked all the way from the North End?" Jamie asked over the din of speed metal blasting through the speakers.

I nodded while chewing my thumb nail. I was crammed into the pa.s.senger seat of Jamie's old beat-up Toyota Camry, my legs pulled up to my chest. There was no room on the floor for my feet. A mountain of trash, including MacDonald's hamburger bags, and empty Big Gulp cups, took up all the room.

I was still shaking. The heater in the car wasn't doing a very good job. It fact, cold air was blowing out instead. I glanced at the dash to make sure he hadn't put on the air conditioning by mistake.

"You're a pig, Jamie." I glanced behind me at the back seat and took in the piles of c.r.a.p on the seat and floor-dirty gym clothes, stinky sneakers, empty CD jewel cases, PS2 game cases, and various other boy related items.

"I'm allergic to cleaning," he said, as he turned down the music. "So, are you going to tell me what the f.u.c.k you were doing at a motel?"

Still chewing my nail, I stared out the side window too wired to look at Jamie. I shrugged. "I'm not sure really. Some strange things have been happening to me."

"Does it have to do with those a.s.sholes from Malice?"

I whipped around to stare at him. "Chloe told you?"

He nodded, and even in the green glow from the dashboard I could see the concern in his face.

"That b.i.t.c.h," I mumbled.

"Hey, she's your friend, Sale. She told me because she thought maybe I could help."

I arched a brow in mocking. "And can you? Can you help me Jamie? Maybe you can wave your magic Harry Potter wand and un-rape me."

"Don't be an a.s.shole." He glared at me and I could see the hurt in his eyes.

I looked away from him, ashamed for being a jerk to him when he'd jumped in his car and came to pick up me without an explanation. "I'm sorry. I'm just going through some weird s.h.i.t, and I'm not sure what to do about it."

"Maybe you could talk to one of the counselors at school. They have experience in dealing with stuff like this."

I shook my head, thinking about my black eyes and sticking to the ceiling, and now my strange sleepwalking. "No, I don't think they can help me much."

Jamie pulled up to the front of my house, put it in park and then turned toward me. "Are you going to be cool?"

I nodded glancing down at my thumb which I had chewed to s.h.i.t. Blood dotted the sides of my nail bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow. No wait," he laughed. "I'll see you in a few hours since it's already like four thirty."

Smiling, I leaned across the front seat to give him a hug. Despite his cleanliness issues, Jamie was a good friend. He patted my back as he hugged me in return, and a warm tingling sensation ran down my spine.

It felt good to be in his arms, safe, secure. He had a lanky frame but he was strong. I could feel the ripple of his muscles in his arms and down his back. I hadn't noticed it before. But now, I seemed to be noticing a h.e.l.l of a lot about Jamie.

He smelled good too. Which surprised me. Like a warm gooey cinnamon roll. Saliva actually pooled in my mouth as I drank more of his scent into me. I had a sudden urge to run my tongue along the side of his neck.

He shifted in his seat, his hands clenching on my back. "Ah, Salem, what are you doing?"

"Mmm, hugging you."

"It feels like you're kissing my neck."

I pulled back, startled. "What?"

Frowning, he rubbed at his throat just below his ear. "You kissed my neck."

"No, I didn't." My heart was pounding hard in my chest, acting as if it was going to explode. But above my own beating heart I could hear the thump thump thump of Jamie's. It was loud. He was as revved up as I was. Did he want me to kiss him? Was he attracted to me?

I eyed him carefully. He was a good looking guy, I always thought so, but I'd just never considered him boyfriend material. We were friends, had been for the past two years, since grade ten when he fell off his skateboard in front of Chloe and I, and the board hit me in the shin. He chipped his front tooth that day.

I could see it now between his parted lips. I liked the look of his mouth right now. It was inviting. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. As I continued to study Jamie's face, something shifted. I could see past him to the aura that surrounded him. He had an alluring red tinge floating around his head, like a crimson halo. I liked the color red.

"Salem, what's wrong with your eyes?"

I didn't answer him. Instead, I cupped his face in my hands and slowly leaned toward his mouth. The need to kiss him nearly made my head swim. I could feel the rolling sensation start in my legs like someone was kneading my muscles. I had to kiss him. The urgency of it socked me right in my gut.

I brushed my lips against his. I kept my eyes open watching him. Seeing his reaction was all part of the sensation.

His eyes widened and he dug his fingers into my shoulders. "What the f.u.c.k?" he grunted around my mouth.

He tried to push me away, but I held on to his face, my lips still molding his. I needed him. Without his kiss I would die. I just knew it. The thought kept spinning and twisting my head. It didn't make any sense, but I couldn't stop it from controlling my actions. The craving gripped me so tight I couldn't escape.

I was suddenly ravenous and only Jamie's kiss could satisfy me. His vigor, his energy, was the only thing that could fill me and stop the violent hunger from ripping apart my stomach.

Clamping my lips over his mouth, like a suction cup, and sucking the air from his lungs, I began to...

Feed.

He struggled against me, pushing at my arms, trying to pull his head away. But I was strong. I could feel a force filling me, giving me everything I needed to survive-food, water, warmth, love, power. Everything. It was both exhilarating and frightening to experience.

"Salem! Stop!" Jamie yelled, his voice m.u.f.fled by my mouth, but still quivering with fear.

An image popped into my mind-Thane over top of me, sucking out my soul. It filled my head until pain exploded at my temples.

I pulled back from Jamie, releasing my hold on him, breathing hard, my heart pounding like a piston radiating pain throughout my chest. I couldn't believe what I'd just done.

Jamie blinked at me, a stunned look on his face. His lips were puffy and sore looking as if I'd bitten down on them again and again. He wiped a hand over his mouth then looked at it, probably expecting to see blood.

"What the f.u.c.k is wrong with you?"

Cowering against the pa.s.senger door, I just shook my head. I was scared. My whole body quaked. I didn't know what the h.e.l.l I'd done, or how it happened. I lost control of my thoughts and my body and it frightened me to the core. It was Jamie's pleas which had mirrored my own that finally stopped me. What would have happened if I hadn't heard them, recognized them as my own? I shivered at the morbid thought.

"I...I'm sorry, Jamie," I stammered. "I d...don't know why I did that."

"You need some serious help, Salem."

I scrambled to get out of the car. I pulled at the door handle, once, then twice, until finally it opened and I spilled out onto the curb. Without looking back, I slammed the door shut and ran up the lawn, nearly tripping over the stupid decorative rock inexplicably in the middle, to the front door. I dug into my jacket, found my keys, and quickly opened the door. When I was safely inside, I kicked off my sneakers careful not to make a huge ruckus. I padded down the hallway to my bedroom. Thankfully, no one woke up, and I was able to escape inside and shut the door behind me. After locking it, I shed my jacket and crawled under the covers on my bed.

My body was racked with intense shivers. No amount of heat could warm me. The cold crept through me from the inside out.