The Fallen Star (Fallen Star Series, Book 1)

A half an hour later, bundled up in a heavy black coat, purple gloves and a matching beanie, I was climbing out of my Mirage. It was cold and dark, and I had only one lamppost to light the way to the entrance of the school. Plus, no one was around.

  Needless to say, I was freaked out a little.

  The icy air seeped through my clothes and burned coldly against my skin. My breath puffed out of my mouth in a cloud of smoke. I yanked my hood over my head, zipped up my coat, and sped up toward the school. I made it about halfway when I suddenly got the shivers. I would have chalked it up to the fact that it was as cold as death out here, but the flash of yellow I saw from my peripheral vision told me otherwise.

  I started to jog, my eyes scanning the parking lot. The flash could have been from the headlight of a passing car. That was what I tried to convince myself until I caught sight of two eye-shaped yellow lights flashing wildly in a cluster of nearby trees.

  “Oh my God,” I breathed and jetted off in a mad sprint, my adrenaline pulsating like mad. The monster was back. Or maybe it had never left. Maybe it had been waiting around for the perfect moment when I would be wandering around in a dark parking lot by myself. How could I be so stupid? I was so focused on the whole Alex and Sophia thing, when really what I should have been focusing on was the fact that there were real life monsters around that wanted to kill me. And now my mistake had left me completely vulnerable.

  My footsteps thudded loudly as I ran across the ice. I heard a swoosh, and I flicked a glance over at the cluster of trees just in time to see the silhouette of an inhumanly tall figure emerging from them.

  I ran faster. The entrance door of the school was getting closer. If I could just make it inside the school, then hopefully there would be other people around and I might be okay. But as I glanced back at the monstrous creature, I saw its demon eyes blazing violently beneath the hood of its cloak, and the next thing I knew, it charged for me.

  I knew I was a goner.

  My skin buzzed, and then I was slamming into something solid. I screamed as I lost my balance and started to fall toward the ground. But someone caught me by the arm. I regained my footing and jerked my arm away from Alex’s grip.

  “What the heck were you doing?” he asked, sliding the hood of his olive green coat off his head.

  I backed away from him, putting some space between us. But not too much space since the more space there was between he and I meant the less space there was between the death creature and me. “I was…” I shot a panicked glance over my shoulder. Nothing. No inhumanly tall figure. No glowing yellow eyes.

  My legs felt wobbly and my hands were shaking. “Heading into the school,” I told him as I walked unsteadily past him.

  “But why were you running?” he asked, following after me.

  My heart was beating so fast that I wondered if it was trying to escape and free itself from this madness. I know I wished I could. I was scared. More scared than I have ever been. “Just leave me alone.”

  “No.” He matched my pace. “Not until you tell me what you were running from back there.”

  I yanked open the door and shot him an angry look. I wasn’t in the mood for his crap. “Are you going to tell me what you were talking to Sophia about?”

  “It was nothing important,” he said indifferently.

  I shook my head and stepped inside the warm and brightly lit hallway. Then I let the door slam shut right in his face. I couldn’t deal with him right now. Not when there might be monsters skulking around outside, waiting for the moment when they could finally kill me.