I'm shaken awake the next morning. When I open my eyes, I see mom looking down at me worried "honey, why are you asleep in my bed? Is everything okay?" She asks. I numbly nod my head. Sick of lying, but I know I can't tell her the truth. After all, how do you tell somebody that a serial killer held a knife to their sleeping body and is planning to murder them in front of their daughters eyes soon? You figure out how, and let me know okay? Mom doesn't look quite convinced but she doesn't question me any farther "it's time for school. You have twenty minutes to get ready" she says before kissing my dried-tear covered cheek. A loud groan comes out of me. Mom probably thinks I'm groaning because it's Monday, but that's only a fourth of the reason. I don't know what to do about Slyder and it's scaring me so much.

I get out of bed and slip on some sweatpants and a baggy Black Veil Brides sweatshirt, before putting my tangled hair into a messy bun on top of my head. Is it just me or does messy buns and sloppy clothes always seem to be my style of choice lately?

I grab my phone and trudge out of the house and into my car. I feel like I didn't get a single ounce of sleep, which is basically true because I only slept for an hour and a half. I was up the entire night crying, worrying, and trying to plan, of course all of my plans led to dead ends, which only made me cry and worry more.

I honk the horn four or five times in a row when I get to Abigail's house. Even though I wait for fifteen minutes (which means I'm going to be fifteen-twenty minutes late to school), she never shows up. I call her but it goes to voicemail. Panic is running through me. What if Slyder kidnapped her? What if he murdered her? What if he's in there right now? My heart is pounding wildly in my chest. I run up to her house and am literally about to kick her door until it opens, when I see a note taped to it.

Hey Bestie Bethy.

Jake-being the total hot, gentlemen he is-picked me up today on his sexy motorcycle. Thanks for coming to get me though. See you in school! :D

I yank the note off the door and crumple it in my clenched fist. I was worried sick about her! Ugh stupid, annoying, life destroying Jake!

I stomp back to my car and slam the door shut, peeling out of the driveway and towards school as fast as my car will take me. When I get to school I park and stomp up the stairs, flinging the door open. I am in a seriously pissed off mood at the moment. As soon as I walk in I see an empty hallway, well it would be empty if it weren't for one specific, horrible, sick person that stood there watching me with a smirk of his lips and a quirked eyebrow. "Look at little miss tardy. Who knew you were such a rebel" Jake mocks. Anger is the only emotion I'm feeling at the moment. Jake is destroying my life. If it weren't for Jake, Abigail would be dating a normal human being who isn't planning to murder her best friend. If it weren't for Jake, my biggest problem at the moment would probably be some test that's coming up. If it weren't for Jake, I would have gotten plenty of sleep last night. If it weren't for Jake, I wouldn't have to worry about my moms safety. If it weren't for Jake, I could enjoy my amazing relationship with Brandon. If it weren't for Jake, I would be happy.

Jake must have noticed the pure anger in my eyes as I stomp towards him because suddenly his eyes are widening and he's putting his hands in the air. "Why me?" I scream hearing my voice echo through the empty hallway. "Why did you have to come into my life? And threaten my mom? And date my best friend? And live right next door to my house? Why did you have to come and completely destroy my happiness? My life?" I scream not caring who the hell hears me "huh?" I shout so loud my throat is hurting "why me?" I scream standing directly in front of him. Jake stares at me with wide eyes, clearly unsure of what to say or do. I don't waver, I stand my ground and stare into his eyes, not caring to hold back a single ounce of my anger. "Princess-" he says sounding sympathetic as his hand reaches out and gently grabs my upper arm. "DON'T CALL ME THAT, AND DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" I scream so loud that people are actually coming out of the classrooms to see what's going on. I ignore all of them and smack Jake's outstretched arm. It must have hurt because he yanks his arm away to reveal a bright red hand mark.

I read the thoughts of others around me without meaning to.

What is her problem?

She does realize that's the Jake Lester right?

Woah! This girl has some serious pms going on.

Must be that time of the month on steroids.

Dang that girl has quite the muscles.

"Princess, please just listen to me" Jake says his eyes looking regretful. "Don't. Call. Me. That." I grumble before turning away and shoving past people in the halls. I swing the outside doors open and stomp right out of there. I don't stop stomping until I'm in my car. Then I allow myself to cry, slamming my fist down on the steering wheel, making the horn honk multiple times. I hear my driver side door open and look up to see Jake standing there watching me with wary eyes. "What the hell are you doing here? Go away!" I scream feeling more tears annoyingly slide down my already wet cheeks. Jake reaches forward and grabs my hand despite my protests. He pulls me up as though I weigh nothing more than a feather. "Leave me-" I start to say but my last few words are muffled when Jake wraps me into a hug. I want to yank away and kick him right in the crotch as hard as I can, but for some weird reason that I-no matter how hard I try-can't explain, I don't want to pull away. I want to stay in his comforting arms. The smell of oranges and peppermint calms me down, for some annoying reason I relax almost completely as I hold Jake back. It's so weird, I'm hugging Jake even though I know he's Slyder, I can't come up with a single reason why I would hug him back. It's not like he's controlling me, or forcing me to hug him, I'm choosing to. I rest my face in the crook of his neck. I'd like to say that he's controlling my mind, making me want to hug him, but it's so, so weird. I have the choice-and I know I do-to pull away, but I kind of-in a totally freaky way-don't want to. It's so strange that somebody so cold and heartless, could give such warm, comforting hugs. As I'm hugging him I instantly feel my worries drift away. That's the thing about Jake's hugs. I could be in the worst, crankiest, angriest state, but when Jake gives me a hug, every problem doesn't seem as bad, every worry shrinks. I don't know what it is about his hugs, but when his tall, strong-yet somehow soft-body presses against me, when I cover my face in the crook of his neck, and when he wraps his comforting arms around me, nothing seems to matter all that much anymore. Suddenly all I can think about is how great he smells, and how wonderful it feels. I'm no longer scared because I know that he'll protect me, no matter what.

Wait what am I saying? This is the "it" that's planning to kill my mom in front of me, and then torture and kill me. I pull away from Jake making me feel strangely bereft, and shake my head. "Quit controlling my mind" I tell him. He gives me a sad smile "I didn't control your mind Princess. You chose to hug me" he says. I shake my head vigorously as I back away "n-no I didn't. You're Slyder, I'd never want to hug you" I say before getting into my car and driving away to the one place where I don't have to worry about Slyder, I drive to Secreuni.

When I get there I pull out a blanket and turn on my solar powered radio. I can feel myself calm down slightly, but not even Secreuni can make all of my worries disappear. I'm so tired, I can feel my eyes dropping, but I can't fall asleep out here, not again. Not after all the trouble I went through last time.

I know I must stay awake, but knowing this doesn't help, I still end up falling into a long, deep sleep, with Untitled-Simple Plan playing on the radio.

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I wake up to see it's night time, (but it's really bright outside because of the full moon) and Slyder standing directly above me. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. Slyder is wearing his red mask and black hoodie, so I can't see his face. I quickly jump up and back away from him. He does nothing but stand there and slowly follow my direction with his head. "Wh-what do you want?" I ask my voice shaky and full of fear. Slyder slowly walks toward me, just like that day in the library, his steps are slow and calm. With each step he takes toward me, I take one back. "Leave me alone!" I exclaim feeling a tree press against my back. Oh no, I walked back so much that I was on the outside of the woods. Where was I going to go now? There's no way I'm going to be a total cliche horror film girl and run into the woods. I'm shaking fiercely as I try to figure out what to do, unfortunately, I take too long. Slyder is standing a foot away from me. "G-g-go away!" I yell. Slowly and oh so creepily, Slyder's head tilts to the side. He doesn't say anything, or do anything. He just stands there. I start procrastinating by talking to him as I think up a plan. "you know that picture you left me? Of my biggest fear? The picture of you holding a knife to my moms sleeping body? That picture scared me, I'm not going to lie. But there's one fault in your little plan, my mom is more strong, and powerful than you'll ever be!" I tell him, or "it" I guess.

Slyder morphs into an all too familiar homo sapien, Jake. Jake laughs mockingly at me. "Oh silly girl, you don't truly believe that Brenda is your mother do you? She still hasn't told you?" At my confused face Jake laughs again "I would have thought by now, you'd know the truth" he says taking a step closer to me.

He's lying, that's what Slyder does, he lies. Don't believe a word he says, of course Brenda is my mom, there's no doubt about it. I tell myself this as I distract him while reaching behind me for a strong stick. "What are you talking about?" I ask but I won't believe anything he says, I won't. "Bethy, Bethy, Bethy. I find it quite hilarious how little you truly know. If you think Brenda not being your mother is insane, you should hear about your real mother, or maybe about your real name, or I got it, about the man your dating" Jake's voice is cold and mocking. I shake my head vigorously. He's lying. He's a liar, don't listen to him, he's just trying to freak you out. Finally I grasp a big stick. "Slyder" I say and watch as Jake takes another step forward "yes princess?" He says a smirk forming on his lips "bull" I say before flinging the large stick as hard as I can at Jake. He easily catches the branch in his hands and smirks mockingly at me. I yank it out of his hands and run forward diagonally, running until I'm no longer under the trees shadows, but instead have the full moon glowing down on me. "Don't tell me you thought you could hurt me" Jake laughs. I wait shakily, my breath hitched and uneven as he walks toward me, an evil grin on his lips. I wait until he's standing a little less than a foot in front of me, then I breath in the feeling of the moon shinning down on me, and fun forward, swinging the stick hard at his legs. Maybe he was taken by surprise, maybe I'm right about the moon, or maybe it's just complete luck, but I make contact with his legs and he falls down hard on his side. There's no way that If Slyder and I fought, that I would win so I take this moment to my advantage and make a run for it. I can't stop to put my radio or blanket away, I must keep running. It's not long before I hear his footsteps following close behind.

I run, and run, and run. Even though I so badly want to look behind me, I don't allow myself to. I push my legs harder than I ever have before. I close my eyes for only a moment as I feel the moons power course through me. Soon I'm running so fast everything moves past me in a blur. I don't hear Slyder's footsteps behind me anymore. I keep running, somehow I run faster and faster by the moment. This feeling of power, or invincibility, it's magical.

Soon I'm home and I run inside as fast as I can. I run into my moms bedroom to find her snoring loudly. I sit down on the floor as I catch my breathe. I'm surprised that I never hear the front door open. I have no idea why Slyder wouldn't t follow me in here, but he doesn't. I silently thank the moon for keeping me safe. I know I sound totally crazy to you guys, but whatever, I know the moon gives me power, after today, I'm sure of it.

I'm completely covered in sweat, so I walk to my bathroom and strip my clothes, stepping into the shower, reeling the feel of cold water on me. After probably fifty minutes of being in the shower, I step out and wrap a towel around my body.

I'm gently brushing my hair when I walk into my bedroom to find Jake sitting on my bed, staring at the picture that he had left on here only just last night. "What the hell?" I say, I don't know what to do. If I scream mom will come in here to find a guy on my bed and me half naked and wet, that obviously wouldn't be good. The only reason I'm not running into my bathroom to change into some clothes is because Slyder is a Necrif (what ever the hell that is) that doesn't have any human feelings, so he probably won't even notice my covering, or lack there of. Jake looks up at me and then back down at the picture. He doesn't have a single sweat on his entire body, he doesn't look like that run bothered him one bit. "I ran away from you, I escaped you, can't you just leave me alone?" I say my voice cracking near the end. "Princess, we need to talk" he says setting the picture down on my bedside table. I fling my hand over to the picture "you took that picture, you wrote me a note talking about how you were going to kill her in front of my eyes, you tried telling me that my own mother isn't my mom, that my name isn't my real name, you are quickly destroying my once happy life, you're threatening me almost daily, and yet you heave the nerve to break into my bedroom and tell me that we "need to talk"? Screw you! Screw the hell out of you! I want you out of my room right now!" I say my voice rising with each new sentence. Jake looks around then back at me "I did what?" He asks looking worried. I roll my eyes "please do not tell me that you're still trying to act innocent, that you're still trying to act like you're worried about me. You admitted that you're Slyder! You can't act like you care now, this is ridiculous! You actually think I'm that idiotic? Do you actually think that I'm going to fall for this act of yours? You're pathetic" I tell him, my voice is shaky with anger. Jake takes a step closer "Princess, you don't understand, I-" he starts to say but I don't t let him finish "quit calling me that!" I growl "get the hell out of my bedroom right now!" I exclaim, shoving him towards my window. Jake's eyes look at me with regret and wariness. I swear he's like the greatest actor ever. I shove him again, and again, finally he obeys and turn around, jumping easily out of my bedroom. I slam it shut and fall down, tears streaming down my face. It's not fair, I never cry this much, before Slyder I would cry maybe once a month, if that. But lately it seems all I do is cry and worry. I don't know how much longer I can stand this.

Why did Jake have to come into my life? I'm not a powerful being, the most I can do is read minds, what's so powerful about that? I drop my face into my hands and cry harder. I hate Jake, I hate Slyder, I hate that stupid, angry, hateful, cold, heartless Necrif. I hate him with every ounce of my being. I hate him.

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