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CHAPTER ONE

WOLF MOON

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VANESSA RILEY SAT IN THE PASSENGER'S SEAT of her best friend's car. It was the first day back from winter break, and that meant that the duo were dressed to impress. Her blonde hair was curled, just like the strawberry blonde sitting beside her. Both girls were wearing skirts with bright tops, and the outfits complimented their figures.

Lydia's outfit consisted of a skirt, leggings and a blue top while Vanessa's outfit consisted of a pair of skinny jeans and a white shirt. The two girls had suede boots on along with their jackets, which covered them up from the cold January air.

The duo exited Lydia's car with matching expressions on their faces. They were ready to show the school what they had been missing for the past few weeks. Their heads were held high as they walked through the parking lot.

She walked past groups of people, ignoring their conversations, even as she heard her name called out by a spastic boy in her year. He continued to speak to her as she walked by, and she simply ignored him, just as he said she would.

Her designer bag was slung over her shoulder, showing off the fact that she was seemingly better than the other students who used backpacks. The purse had been a gift from her parents for when she passed her road test over the summer, and it was one of her most prized possessions.

"What class do you have first?" Vanessa asked while adjusting her hair.

"Math," Lydia sighed, "what about you?"

"History."

Vanessa smiled at her best friend as they walked through the hallway. Their lockers were on opposite ends of the hall, meaning that the duo would be forced to split up.

"I'll see you in chemistry."

With that, the blonde walked toward her locker. She opened it and placed her jacket inside before grabbing some of her notebooks.

"Excuse me," a voice called out from behind Vanessa, capturing the girl's attention. "Can you tell me where to find the administration office, please?"

"Oh, I didn't know there would be a new girl starting today." Vanessa smiled kindly and extended her perfectly manicured hand to the new girl. "I'm Vanessa Riley. And you are?"

"Maris Navarro," the new girl replied.

"What a pretty name!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Uh, thanks. I guess," Maris replied awkwardly.

"You're welcome," Vanessa replied. She shut her locker and turned to face Maris, her chemistry textbook pressed against her chest. "Come on, I'll show you the way."

"Great," the new girl replied while forcing a smile on her face.

Vanessa watched as the brunette shifted her backpack on her shoulder before leading the way down the hall. It wasn't normal for Beacon Hills to get transfer students, especially halfway through the year.

"So, Maris, where are you from?" Vanessa asked with a small smile. If she was going to show this girl around their school, or at least to the office, she may as well get to know her.

"Beacon Hills," Maris replied in a bored voice, as if her response was obvious.

Vanessa Riley furrowed her eyebrows at the girl's reply.

"Really? I've never seen you around before."

"I don't socialize."

"Well, we can change that," Vanessa smiled as she thought about what her best friend would think of the new girl. "Did you transfer schools?"

"Yeah." Maris' response was vague, which irritated Vanessa, but the blonde kept her irritation to herself. It wouldn't be surprising if the brunette thought that Vanessa was a stuck up girl, it's what the rest of the school thought.

"So, you came from Devenford Prep," Vanessa assumed, pushing her thoughts aside.

"Yeah," Maris repeated, causing Vanessa to force her smile to stay on. This girl wasn't making this conversation any easier with her one word answers.

"No way! So you knew my mother then? She teaches world history at Devenford Prep," Vanessa's voice was filled with excitement at the thought of now having a possible way to learn more about Maris.

"Uh, yeah, I attended her class. Mrs. Riley was nice," Maris replied.

"Yeah, she's the best," Vanessa said in response, smiling at the thought of her mother.

A few seconds passed before they reached the administration office. Vanessa turned on her heel and flashed Maris her signature smile.

"Well, here we are," she said, motioning toward the entrance of the office. "It was nice meeting you, Maris. Maybe we can hang out sometime?"

"Thank you," Maris said, then quickly ducked inside the office, leaving the blonde alone in the hallway.

"You're welcome," Vanessa called out before turning away from the office and walking toward her first class of the day.

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"Vanessa, meet Allison Argent." Lydia introduced the shyer brunette to her best friend, who smiled at the new girl. "She just moved here from San Francisco."

Vanessa's smile grew at the mention of San Francisco. She adored the city, especially since her trips there weren't frequent like her trips to her best friend's lake house.

"Did you live in the bay area?" Vanessa asked in an excited voice. "Why did you move here if you lived in San Francisco?"

As Allison was about to reply, Vanessa's attention was drawn to a lunch table occupied by one person, Maris Navarro.

"Let's go sit with Maris," Vanessa suggested as she led the two other girls toward the brunette's table. She hadn't noticed Jackson, who had joined the group a few moments before. "Hey Jax."

"Nessa," Jackson greeted with a curt nod.

The blonde led the way toward Maris, who had a panicked look on her face at the sight of the group of friends.

"Hi Maris!" Vanessa greeted with a smile as she sat down across from the new girl. Lydia sat on her left with Jackson by the strawberry blonde's side.

"Hey," Maris reluctantly greeted.

"So, you're the other new girl," Lydia said while studying the girl. Vanessa watched her examine Maris, trying to figure out as much as she could without asking questions. "Maris Navarro, right?"

"Yeah," Maris replied.

"I'm Lydia Martin," Lydia introduced herself before tilting her head to the side. "So, Vanessa told us you transferred from Devenford Prep."

Maris nodded her head in response, obviously tired of the questions she had been receiving that day.

"Why did you transfer schools?" Lydia asked.

"That's a little personal, don't you think? I mean, why does it matter? I went to one school and now I'm here. It's not that big of a deal."

"You were expelled," Jackson realized with a smirk. If Vanessa had been sitting next to him, she would have stepped on his foot for being so inconsiderate.

"Guys," Allison piped up from beside Maris, causing the smug expression on Jackson Whittemore's face to fade away. "She's right, it's her business." Allison turned to look Maris in the eye, an understanding expression on her face. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Vanessa wondered why Jackson had to be so Jackson, especially when Maris had just started going to school at Beacon Hills. She hadn't said anything when the Navarro girl showed up, but there was no reason anyone would come to Beacon Hills High instead of Devenford Prep unless they were expelled. It wasn't surprising for her to find out a new student had come from Devenford Prep, especially since her mother had mentioned that one of her favorite students had been expelled before Christmas.

She smiled at Maris and Allison before turning to Lydia and talking about the party they would be throwing at the strawberry blonde's house that Friday.

"So your parents aren't going to be home, right?" Vanessa questioned while twirling some of her hair with her fingers. "Because this party is going to be our best one yet."

"You think I would offer to host if I wasn't certain that they wouldn't be home?" Lydia questioned incredulously. "They're going to do couples counseling or something."

Vanessa hummed in response to her best friend's comment. She knew that Lydia's parents hadn't been getting along well over the past few years and hoped that they could resolve their issues to hopefully give Lydia a normal home life.

"Do you know who's coming for sure yet?" Vanessa asked, hoping to take her friend's mind off of her parents.

"Unfortunately, Allison can't make it because Friday is family night," Lydia replied to her best friend.

Vanessa looked between the two girls, who were seeming to have a silent conversation.

"So, what about you, Maris? Do you want to come to my party? There's going to be free beer, food, music, cute guys," Lydia wiggled her eyebrows while speaking.

"Uh, no thanks," Maris replied. "I'm not really the party type. Besides, I've got plans for Friday anyway."

"Are you sure you guys can't come?" Vanessa frowned at the brunette's response.

"Sorry," Allison apologized. Then, the shyer brunette offered the blonde a smile. "Maybe next time?"

Her response seemed to make Vanessa happy, and the blonde girl smiled.

"Okay, sure. Next time."

Vanessa turned to face Lydia with a smile before continuing to talk about their party. The two girls discussed what drinks they would have there, especially because Vanessa disliked beer.

"What if we made a rum punch?" Vanessa suggested. "I think I know someone who can get us enough so we don't have to raid your dad's stash."

"That could work," Lydia replied with a smile.

The two girls stopped speaking when Maris practically jumped out of her seat and picked up her lunch tray.

"Where are you going?" Vanessa asked with a confused look.

"Free period. Gonna go and familiarize myself with the area," Maris replied before quickly leaving the table behind.

The four teenagers sat in silence as they watched Maris disappear in the crowd of students.

"That was strange," Lydia spoke up, breaking the silence.

"So Allison, I have a very important question for you," Vanessa began in a serious tone. "Are you team Edward or team Jacob?"

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Vanessa walked ahead of Lydia and Allison onto the bleachers before lacrosse practice started. The two best friends wanted to spend time with Allison, especially since Maris was nowhere to be found. She assumed that the other new girl went home rather than staying to meet people, so the blonde decided to make the best of the day.

"So have you seen anyone that's caught your eye Allison?" Vanessa asked with a slight smirk.

Allison shrugged as she kept her attention on the lacrosse player in goal.

"Who's that?" Allison asked her two friends, who shared a look of confusion.

"Him?" Lydia asked, her head tilted to the side. "I'm not sure who he is. Why?"

"I think he's in our chemistry class, but I don't know," Vanessa chimed in with a small smile.

"His name is Scott." A voice called out from below them, startling the trio of girls.

"And who are you?" Vanessa asked as the brunette turned to face them.

"Luci, his twin sister," the brunette replied as if this information was obvious.

Vanessa looked at Lydia, trying to figure out if her best friend recognized the girl. The strawberry blonde simply shrugged her shoulders before turning her attention to the other brunette.

"Wait, aren't you in my chemistry class?" Vanessa asked with a friendly smile. "And aren't you friends with that kid from our chem class? Miles?"

"Stiles," Luci corrected, "and he's on the team too."

"Do they actually play?" Vanessa asked, her voice filled with confusion. She knew all of the players on first line, so perhaps the boy Allison was interested in was typically on the bench, same for Miles.

This question earned a glare from Luci, which startled Vanessa. She hadn't asked a rude question, she simply asked if either boy played on the field.

"Do they just sit on the bench all the time?"

Before Luci could answer Vanessa's question, the whistle blew and the boy in goal clutched his head as if someone screamed in his ear.

"What is he doing?" Lydia whispered to Vanessa, who chuckled at the boy's reaction.

"I have no idea," Vanessa stifled her laughter after noticing the glare that was aimed in her direction.

The group of girls watched as the goalie was hit in the head by the lacrosse ball before being shouted at by a member of his team. The boy stood up and adjusted his grip on the goalie stick in his hands, and Vanessa could tell that Luci was nervous.

Vanessa watched as Luci's shoulders tensed while watching her twin brother prepare himself for the drill to continue. The girls watched as the next player in line ran toward the goal with his stick ready to shoot the ball into the goal, and to everyone's surprise, Scott caught it.

"Yeah," a kid from the benches called out, clearly excited by the boy's catch.

The girls watched in awe as the goalie caught every shot thrown at him, shocked by his drastic improvement. Vanessa's eyes widened at the sight, impressed that this typical benchwarmer was being a better goalie than Danny.

"He seems like he's pretty good," Allison said, her eyes glued to the boy.

"Yeah, very good." Lydia nodded in response.

"Like surprisingly good," Vanessa commented.

The blonde watched as Jackson pushed his way to the front of the line before preparing himself for the drill.

"Is Jackson gonna hurt him?" Vanessa whispered to her best friend, who simply shrugged her shoulders in response.

"He better not hurt my brother," Luci mumbled to herself. Vanessa could tell the brunette wasn't pleased with the team captain going up against her twin, but the brunette relaxed when the goalie caught the ball.

Lydia, Vanessa and Luci stood up from their seats, the latter of the three cheering on the goalie with more enthusiasm than the boy on the benches.

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Vanessa was relieved that the school week was over. She had spent too many hours in her high school, especially since it wasn't cheer season. It had been two hours since the school day ended, and she was currently at her best friend's house in order to set up for the party.

"Lydia, where do you want the rum punch?" Vanessa called out as she added some more alcohol into the drink. "Do you want it to stay on the counter?"

"Put it on the dining room table!" Lydia called back from the front room. The strawberry blonde was putting the more expensive family belongings away to prevent any of their classmates from breaking them.

"Will do!"

Vanessa picked up the large punch bowl and moved it into the dining room, where Lydia had set out some cups ahead of time. She placed it on the center of the table before rearranging the cups so that they would be accessible from any side of the table.

The party was set to start within the hour, so the two girls were putting the finishing touches on the house. Jackson had promised to grab a keg for them, so they had set up a spot for that, which would be in the kitchen rather than the dining room. He was supposed to get to the house soon in order to help the girls with the end of their set up.

The blonde smiled as she heard the front door open, knowing that Jackson was there.

"Hey Jax," Vanessa greeted as the lacrosse player walked into the room with the keg. "Lyds wants that in the kitchen."

He simply nodded before walking toward the kitchen, letting out a sigh of relief once the keg was out of his arms.

"Was it really that heavy?" Vanessa teased with a small smirk, earning an eye roll from the captain of the lacrosse team. "Lyds is in the living room putting away some of her mom's vases."

He left the blonde in favor of finding his girlfriend. Vanessa rolled her eyes as she listened to the duo greet each other before the doorbell rang, meaning that the first guests were probably here.

The next half hour was a blur of greeting people and telling them where to find drinks. She ignored the stares of the lacrosse team on her body as she walked around the party. It wasn't surprising to her, but Lydia had gone out of the way to make sure she looked gorgeous in her dress.

It was a simple black dress that clung to her figure, showing off her curves to the world as she walked around. She took a sip from her cup of punch, which thankfully helped to wash some of her nerves away.

The blonde walked away from her best friend and Jackson in favor of finding someone to talk to. She pushed her way through the crowds of people, smiling and greeting them as she saw new faces. Her attention was drawn to a brunette in the crowd who was standing with a boy with a buzzcut in their year.

"Luci, hey!" Vanessa greeted with a smile as she approached the duo. The two teens stopped their conversation and simply stared at the blonde as if she were an alien. "Luci?"

She snapped her fingers in the brunette's face, only for Luci to glare at her.

"Who's your friend?" Vanessa asked with a kind smile as she looked at the boy, who was seemingly frozen in place. "Wait, aren't you Miles?"

Her question seemed to snap the duo out of their daze. The boy simply nodded in response as Luci elbowed him.

"How are you liking the party?" Vanessa questioned, not allowing the brunette to answer her question. "Have you had any of the punch yet?"

"No," Luci quickly replied. The blonde could practically feel the girl's unease at her presence. She watched as Luci's eyes trailed over to the cup in her hands, the brunette's shoulders tensing at the sight of the alcohol.

"It's really good," Vanessa smiled at the duo. "I made it with Lydia."

A voice called out for her from the other room, causing the blonde to shoot the duo an apologetic look.

"I'll see you around Luci," Vanessa said with a smile. "Bye Miles."

With that, she turned on her heel and left the duo in favor of whoever had called out for her. She walked through the crowds of people until she found Chris Andrews, one of the starters for the lacrosse team. He was standing in the kitchen beside the counter with a drink in his hand.

"Hey Vanessa," the lacrosse player greeted her. "Have you had any of the punch yet?"

"Of course." Vanessa smiled at the lacrosse player as she took a sip of her drink. "What about you Chris?"

The lacrosse player nodded as he moved closer to Vanessa. He adjusted himself so that she was in between the counter and his body, causing the blonde to internally groan. Chris reeked of alcohol, making Vanessa flinch a bit as his face moved closer to hers.

"Let's go upstairs," Chris whispered into her ear. His voice was laced with lust as he placed his hands on either side of Vanessa.

"No thanks." Vanessa smirked at the boy. "I'm not in the mood."

"Come on," Chris murmured. "There's nothing stopping us."

Vanessa rolled her eyes at the intoxicated teen. She had no desire to hook up with him, especially since all he would do is tell the team about it.

"I'm not hooking up with you," Vanessa said as she moved Chris' hand from her side.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not in the mood," she lied, not wanting to be called a prude by the boy. "And you're wasted Chris."

With that, she slipped away from the jock and back into the crowd of the party, knowing that she should probably make sure everyone was having a good time. She spent the rest of the night in the same cycle of being hit on by boys in her year and wandering around the party.

After a few hours, the crowd of students left Lydia's house, leaving only Vanessa, Lydia and Jackson to clean up the party. Vanessa rolled her eyes as the couple made out in the backyard, conveniently forgetting about cleaning the house.

"You know that I'm still here, right?" Vanessa called out, only for the couple to pull apart and roll their eyes at the blonde. "Fine, get back to sucking each other's faces. I'll just finish cleaning the kitchen and head up to bed."

The couple nodded at the girl before continuing their make out session. Vanessa picked up the empty solo cups that were scattered around the kitchen before putting them all in the trash.

She walked up the stairs and to Lydia's room before changing into some of the clothes she kept in her best friend's room. After getting into a pair of soffee shorts and a t-shirt from the Lady Gaga concert she had gone to with Lydia in December, she crawled into Lydia's bed and fell asleep, not caring that Lydia and Jackson were in the guest room.

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Author's Note

Chapter One of Creature of the Night is finally here!! I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Vanessa, who has easily become one of my favorite characters to write for, especially since she isn't a lot like my other characters. I also hope that you liked meeting Luciana McCall and Maris Navarro, who belong to my besties pseudonym-lux and dunbonnet. Be sure to check out their books Dragon's Fire (pseudonym-lux) and Siren's Song (dunbonnet) to get Luci and Maris' perspectives on this chapter. Be sure to comment and vote as they help with my inspiration.

- Daniella

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PUBLISHED: December 31, 2020

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