Hungry, wet, and tired was the only things that held me down as I ran. What was I running from? Honestly, I have no clue. My house had been raided and shadows danced everywhere before one by one my family screamed. Not long after I was met with the color red painting the floor around there bodies.

My feet pounded the dirt below me. That incident had been a few months ago. I thought I had lost them but instead they found me. I'm still trying to understand why I wasn't yet dead, but then again I should be grateful. I bit my lower lip to keep my emotions from rising up and out of me. I couldn't cry when I was running for my life. I just couldn't. All I knew was I was running from the shadows that threatened to drown my life away in complete darkness.

The last place I stayed went to chaos. People were there and had helped me but in the end it cost them their lives. Whoever these shadow people were had found me at Water Ridge, which was a town near one of the many rivers. I had met nice people who gave me a place to stay and eat. But when the shadows found me they forced me to watch as they slowly killed my friends. Letting me hear the screams and watch the blood pour from their many open wounds. There was so much blood, so much that it seemed like you could swim in it.

I stumbled a few times before regaining my footing. My breathing turned into dry pants for air that wasn't reaching my lungs. My chest soon began to burn from the lack of oxygen but I knew I couldn't stop running. The sound of dry leaves crunching were evident behind me and that was the only thing keeping me going.

Just when I thought all hopes was lost and I might give up I spotted a small town. A desperate smile appeared on my lips as I pushed myself to keep going. This might be my only chance to survive. I emerged from the woods still running even as I ran on one of the roads. I decided to go into one of the bars that had a sign saying open. Not many places in this town was open during the night and so this was really my only option to get help.

I bursted through the wooden doors as I fell to the floor in heaving pants. My knees hit the ground first once the doors was closed and soon my hands helped to make sure I didn't collapse and pass out in this place. My dry mouth still found it difficult to bring in air.

"How may I help you little lady?" A rough voice asked and I couldn't help my lingering eyes from looking up at the man who spoke. His hair was messy with some other parts of his hair spiking out in different directions. I fought the urge to run my hand through his hair to tame it so instead I focus on catching my breath.

The man froze. He looked big and intimidating but I saw the small flash of possessiveness in his eyes, "What happened to you?"

I didn't want to speak. Instead I wanted to be small and unnoticeable, yet I needed help. I tried to clear my throat but what was there to clear? Instead I broke out into a coughing fit as my hand went around my throat. Shaking me roughly as the coughs racked my body.

"Get me some water. Now!" His shout traveled to the bartender as he scrambled for a cup and filled it with tap water. The glass was rushed to me by the stranger as he brought it to my lip. In return I greedily drank it to sooth my scratchy throat. As I drank it the man ran his hand to my chin with a worried look edged onto his features. When I finished the water he took the glass from my mouth and gave it back to the bartender.

"It's okay. Whatever happened you're okay now. Nobody is going to harm you." His tone soothed me causing my body to relax. For some odd reason I felt relatively safe around this stranger. When I got a better look at his face I noticed the small scars scratched onto his jaw and left eyebrow making him look like someone who you'd best avoid at all costs. I could only wonder if he was like the things that chased after me. The shadows that threatened to swallow me whole. I let out a small whimpered cry along with a shudder.

The man crouched down so he would seem smaller but instead it only proved how big he was. He seemed to be about twice my body size and that was even more intimidating. I wanted to crawl up to him and into his arms but I was too frightened to do so. I could feel myself lower down as I used my arms to push myself away from the scary man I didn't know. Because I felt safe around someone I didn't know somehow only scared me even more. I didn't understand my own feelings.

When my parents had met they told me that they had met under bad circumstances. My mom had ran away from home over a disagreement with her parents. She told me they arranged a marriage for her she didn't want and so it gave her enough courage to pack up and leave. My mom explained to me when I was only a young girl that she was happy she had such courage because if she didn't then she would have never met dad and they'd never have me and my older sister named Ada. My mom said that she felt safe and comfortable around dad and she just knew he was the man for her. That they were meant for one another.

But this was different. My mom isn't in this world anymore. Instead she passed on to never return along with my father and Ada. I will never see them again. I choked out a sob and allowed the tears to finally flow. I felt despair and sadness consume me to where I couldn't stop the tears from pouring down my face.

The man reached for me and I back away even more, but that didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to his chest. I continued to cry against this man's chest. It felt nice that he was comforting me. I needed that. I was holding in all the emotions for a few months and now they were breaking free.

His hand went behind my head as he gently stroked my hair, "Shh, its okay flower. Let it all out." His body slowly began to rock back and forth in attempt to calm me. It took some time but sure enough my tears died down and I was now sniffling and panting a little. His hand moved away from my hair and down to my chin. I felt him raise my head so my eyes looked into his. His thumb wiped away the remaining tears away from my eyes, "Now do you think you'll be able to tell me what happened?"

My eyes wandered away from him as I noticed the other people in the bar having their full attention on me, making my body stiffen up. I gave the man a slight shake of my head knowing I wouldn't be able to say anything with all these people staring at me. It made me feel uncomfortable.

The man only gave me a nod before turning to the bartender, "Make calls to my siblings to inform them of the situation. I'm going to take this little lady to my house so she won't feel so scared."

Without saying anything the bartender pulled out a phone and dialed in some numbers. I don't know why but at the same time his house seemed like a good and bad idea. Would that mean I'd be alone with him or is he married? Have a girl friend?

I was too lost in my thoughts to notice the man picked me up off the ground. When I finally did come back down to Earth I could feel the slow rise of panic emerge. My heart beat quickened and my breathing became small pants while the alarm shone in my eyes. Suddenly I started to squirm and kick in the man's arms wanting to scream for help but nothing came out of my mouth except another whimper. He held me tighter against him so I wouldn't and couldn't get away but not tight enough to do harm, "I promise to you that I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to my house so we can talk with my siblings, but I want you to talk to me first." He explained while he exited the bar.

I shook my head again and new tears formed at the corners of my eyes, "N-no they'll find m-me." I said softly.

His brows furrowed with this new information, "Who will find you? Flower, who is coming after you?" He asked in a serious but affectionate tone. I started to shake my head over and over again in fear. I could feel the panic in the pounding of my heart. I couldn't be somewhere where I'll be trapped. His question still floated in my mind. Who. I didn't know who, all I knew was that they were deadly and killed my whole family including the innocent people who try to help me. I wasn't sure if they wanted me dead or alive but quite frankly I didn't want to stick around to find out that answer.

I did my best to even out my breathing, "I d-don't know. Shadows e-everywhere. Barely any l-light." I froze in his arms, "B-blood."

The images of the blood on the walls and floor still haunted my mind and when I actually tried to sleep I was woken up with the nightmare of the dark red substance staining the house and now my mind. The images would be forever engraved in my head and there would be nothing I could do about it even if I wanted to.

"Daniel." The man said before he walked faster to whatever destination his was going to. I had no idea where his house was or even what it looked like and it seemed like I was going to find out. He looked down at me with affection, "My name is Daniel."

"Lexi." I told him. I don't know why we were exchanging names but I thought it was only fair since he told me his.

I turned my head away from him to see where we were going but to my surprise a black, shiny car came into view. The car had tinted windows so you couldn't see what was happening on the inside. Hopefully that wasn't where we were headed. But it was. Daniel shifted his hold on me to open the door of the car and carefully deposit me in the back. He reached past me and buckled me in before taking a seat next to me, heaving out a heavy sigh while he closed the door.

"Why hello there darling. What makes a pretty lady such as yourself catch the eye of my dear brother Daniel?" The driver asked in a playful tone.

"Shut it Trevor, we need you to drive to my place so we can meet the rest of the squad. This matter is serious. Didn't Aden tell you?" Daniel asked but wasn't stern. Only making this a statement without getting angry.

Trevor let out a sigh, "Sadly, I he did not. It tells you how much Aden likes me."

Daniel rolled his eyes. I sat next to him listening to their conversation. It reminded me of sibling rivalry. A conversation Ada and I could have about something else even though Ada was gone. I leaned my head against the window and watched the scenes disappear as Trevor drove to Daniel's house. I was physically and emotionally exhausted and as of now I will take this time of safety for granted to rest up before I had to run again.

And this time I won't put anyone in any danger.

-Here is the first chapter of this book! One of my longest chapters I've ever made before. If you like the book please tell me in the comments and I'll publish Chapter 2. Other than that, hope you all enjoy and see you guys in the next chapter! Byeeeee-