Amelia Atwater-Rhodes: Demon in My View

Even while she was writing, it was as if she was in a dream — one which her waking mind did not understand. She never quite knew what was happening in any of the numerous novels that she was working on at any given time. But she had learned not to read the manuscripts until they were finished. The only time she had broken that pattern, the flow of words had abruptly stopped. That had been the only story she disliked. The scenes written after she had read it seemed forced and unnatural. Trying to think them up had been a chore.

She didn't realize that she had drifted into sleep until she was awakened by Anne's knock on her door.

"Jessica?"

"What?" she asked tiredly.

"It's dinnertime," Anne announced. "Are you going to come down? "

Jessica closed her eyes for a moment more and then got up and turned on her computer.

"I'm not hungry," she called to Anne. "Go ahead and eat without me."

"Jessica—"

"I'll eat later, Anne," she snapped. Normally she would have at least joined Anne for dinner, just to maintain the illusion of a familial relationship. But when she was in the mood to write, that pull was stronger than her desire to get along with her adopted mother.

WITHIN FIVE MINUTES Jessica was writing quickly, lost in the bubble of her imagination. The entire night passed as she typed. It was sunrise when the flow of words halted.

Exhausted, Jessica turned off the computer, stood to stretch, and fell into bed and a sleep filled with nightmares.

Jazlyn collapsed to her knees, unable to stand any longer. Her head pounded as her body fought the strange blood that was trying to overtake her system.

She knew this sensation. She had felt it once before, on the day she had died, years ago. It had not hurt so much then. It had not hurt to die.

It had not hurt to die…

Why did it hurt so much to live again?

Her vision went black as her heart beat for the first time in more than thirty years. She drew a slow, painful breath.

The heart in her chest labored, unaccustomed to its task. Her lungs burned with the constant intake of oxygen, which seemed to sear her throat. All the muscles of her torso cramped each time she inhaled.

Finally she fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Jessica woke, gasping for breath.

That same dream had frequented her sleep for years, but she had yet to become used to it. The pain was always so vivid.

She turned on the Lava lamp and let the glow of magenta light calm her. The clock read 6:13 A.M. Though it was less than an hour after she had fallen asleep, she was no longer tired. As always, that dream had forced fatigue far away.

After showering and dressing quickly, she paused to study herself in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom. Jessica well knew she had a body and face to die for. At five feet, five inches tall, she was slender but not bony and had well-toned muscles despite the fact that she rarely worked out. Her skin was naturally fair and had been kept that way by her aversion to sunlight. Unlike those of many girls her age, Jessica's complexion was flawless and always had been. Her long jet-black hair tumbled around a face with high cheekbones, full lips, and expressive green eyes.

Yet despite her attractive appearance, Jessica had never so much as had a date. Occasionally that fact bothered her, though she usually had plainer insults to deal with than oblique dismissals from the boys in her grade.

Annoyed, she finally turned away from her reflection. Again she'd been unable to find the flaw that made people hesitate when they saw her on the street or in the hall.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Anne was finishing a batch of pancakes.

"Morning, Jessica," Anne said as she slid two of the pancakes onto a plate. "Sit."

Jessica sat. She was in no hurry this morning, and the pancakes smelled delicious. She realized that she had eaten very little the day before. "Smells good," she offered. Anne smiled. "Thank you. I do try." By the time she left for school, Jessica was in a good mood. She even had the heart to smile at Mrs. Katherine when she saw her in front of the building, and the teacher returned her gesture with a nod. Then Caryn walked by, and Jessica's cheer vanished.

AS SHE ENTERED THE BUILDING, Jessica came upon a group of girls who had gathered near the main office.

"Nice body," she heard one of them whisper, referring to someone in the office.

"Who is he? " another girl asked.

"No idea," the first one answered. "But you've got to admit he's cute."

"Cute?" a third girl repeated. "He is totally hot ."

Jessica couldn't see the subject of this profound conversation. Probably some handsome bland substitute who will turn out to be the most hated teacher in the school, she thought pessimistically.

"Who are you looking at?" she asked the three gawking girls.

The quietest, a senior named Kathy, looked over her shoulder, recognized Jessica, grabbed her friends' arms, and pulled the girls away.

Jessica scowled as she watched them go. At least most people were subtle about moving away from her.

She quickly forgot the girls' behavior, however, when she glanced into the office and saw the object of their admiration.

His face could have been modeled after the portrait on a Roman coin. Hair the color of raven feathers contrasted with his fair skin, and when he turned a bit she saw that a few strands had fallen across his eyes, shading them. He was dressed entirely in black, except for a gold chain around his neck. The pendant on the chain looked like a cross, but Jessica couldn't be sure from where she was standing.

A shock of recognition struck her. Aubrey.

Aubrey was, without a doubt, her favorite character from the books she had written. He had been the villain in Tiger, Tiger and the main character in Dark Flame. Gorgeous, powerful, and somewhat mysterious, he was every teenage girl's fantasy … or at least, he was hers. Considering her present status in the world of teenagers, she couldn't pretend to speak for the rest of the female population.

Of course, Aubrey was a vampire.

Get a grip, Jessica. You write fiction, she reminded herself. Aubrey doesn't exist. She would hardly have minded if her vampire hero had existed, but such a thing was impossible. Vampires were not real.

Yet the resemblance between this new boy and Aubrey was uncanny, and the sense of familiarity lingered despite her efforts to shake it. She forced herself to turn away and walk to her homeroom before the boy could notice her watching him.

She sat in the back of the room once again, and this time no one came to talk to her. Caryn looked over once from the group she seemed to have been accepted into, but Jessica sent a fierce gaze her way and Caryn cringed, visibly shaken.

A few moments after attendance had been taken, the boy from the office walked in. He handed a form to Mrs. Katherine but didn't bother to explain why he was late.

"Alex Remington?" Mrs. Katherine asked, reading the form.

He nodded, barely paying attention to the teacher as he sought out an empty seat.

Alex paused when he saw Caryn, who was watching him with wide eyes. Unlike most of the other females in the room, Caryn looked terrified.

When the bell rang, Jessica watched with curiosity as Caryn pulled on her backpack and slipped quickly through the crowd and out of the room. She was clearly being careful to stay as far from Alex Remington as she could.

Before Alex had even reached the door, a girl named Shannon caught up with him. Jessica could recognize Shannon's methods of flirtation a mile away and shook her head in disgust. Shannon already had a boyfriend, but that had never stopped her when there was a drop-dead-gorgeous male in her line of vision.