The darkness is coming.The words from my recurring nightmares kept echoing in my ears. Eerie and ghost-like, haunting me wherever I went. I had no idea whose voice the words belonged to, but I knew that it had something to do with The Shade, something to do with Derek. I was sitting cross-legged on one of the cushioned seats inside our school library. My elbows were leaning over the dark mahogany table. My fingers drummed over the book I was trying – and failing – to comprehend. Apart from the librarian shuffling her feet over the carpeted floor and the rustling of a page being turned by one of the students a couple of tables away from me, the library was quiet.I used to love the silence. It was once my refuge. That small corner of our school library was perhaps the only thing I missed about our school. It was my retreat. That afternoon, however, the silence only gave way to the voices that belonged to the dreams haunting me on a nigh

"Sofia?" Still in the library, I looked up to find one of the people I least expected to find there – the football team's linebacker, Connor James. The first thing I immediately took notice of in the tall, dark senior was the fresh new shiner on his right cheek. "Hey…" I muttered, not quite sure what to make of him approaching me. "What happened to you?"I pointed to his assaulted cheek with my pen. I was absent-mindedly fiddling with it while I read the same paragraph in my book for the fifteenth time. "This? It's nothing." He looked almost timid, a reaction I found strange. He was usually one of the loudest, most outgoing guys in our class. Is he blushing? I was beginning to find the encounter uncomfortable. Connor had barely spoken a word to me before. "Aren't you supposed to be at football practice with Ben? Did something happen?" He twisted his body to on

Claudia swung the door wide open and stepped beneath the doorposts of the bedroom she was keeping me in. Feet wide apart, hands planted on her hips, blonde locks cascading down to her waist, the little spitfire actually looked incredible. I smirked. This is going to be interesting. "Your brother is going to drive everyone at The Shade mad!" she exclaimed. Oh yeah… this is going to be very interesting indeed. "What's he done now?" Having just stepped out of the shower, I was still rubbing my hair dry with a towel. "He asked for a census of all the humans in the island." "What an enormous waste of time…" "That's what I thought. Of course, the mighty Prince Derek won't hear any of it." "Any of what?" I chuckled. "Your thoughts?" She shot me a stern look of disapproval and I was almost certain that I'd just

My escape was narrow to say the least. The only thing I managed to take with me on my journey was my backpack – filled with sacks of blood, a change of clothes and my wallet. Upon reaching the port, I immediately went for one of the speedboats. I didn't have time to think of other supplies. I just needed to get out of there before Cameron showed up to rip my heart out – or worse, take me captive so Derek could do the deed later. As the glass-covered tube lifted the speedboat up to open seas, I realized that I had to act fast. The moment the boat reached The Shade's boundaries, I would no longer be under the protection of its darkness; I would be exposed to broad daylight. The longer I stayed close to The Shade, however, the greater the chances that the guards could reel me back to the island. I did a quick inspection of what I had in the boat with me. All I had was a toolbox, a first-aid kit and a rolled up sheet of canopy used t

I was running through The Shade's dark, misty woods. I was cut up and bruised. I could taste blood on my lips. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. A dark presence was after me. Hope surged within me when I saw the clearing that would lead to my escape. I was going to make it. I sped up, desperate to find safety. Any hope I had was replaced by terror when I fell over the edge of a large, dark pit and right into the bowels of it. My gag reflex was immediately triggered by the stench, the sight, the silence and the sense of being surrounded by death. I was surrounded by countless corpses, some of which were familiar, dearly beloved faces. Ashley. Paige. Rosa. Sam. Kyle. Ben. Me. My entire body was tense. I couldn't move a single muscle, but I was keenly aware of the uncontrollable tremble of my body. "Sofia?" I felt Ben's arms wrap around me from behind, his breath hot and erratic against the back of my neck. I thought for