Emerson caught up with me as we were just getting back to the house, my hair was wet and my clothes sopping, but Emerson caught my arm and pinned me against the wall just inside the front door.  I couldn't escape as he pressed his lips against mine and my thoughts went fuzzy again; but this time I was ready for it and kept my focus. 

I pressed myself harder against the wall in a vain attempt to escape him and he pulled away from me slightly, his eyes full of hurt.

"Is something wrong Brooks? You've been avoiding me all day," he said softly. 

I looked up into his fathomless green eyes, "I'm just...I'm not ready for this Em.  You've, you've been my best friend for, like, ever, and with everything else going on right now...I just can't..." my voice trailed off.

He sighed then smiled sadly, "you know, I've loved you since the day I met you, but Connor wouldn't let me change you.  He said it wasn't necessary."

"That's why we Impressioned," I said.

"And why Connor and Sam didn't.  There's never been anything except friendship for them, neither of them has been interested in anything more," he replied. 

"I can't do this Em," I insisted. 

He pressed himself closer to me defiantly, "you don't have a choice on this one Brooklyn.  It's your nature. I know you, and I know you like to be able to control things, but this is something you can't control this time."

"I'm sure as hell going to try," I said angrily, then pushed him away from me and stormed up the stairs. 

            Emerson was obviously not going to give up.  He had been this way so much longer than I had; let his instincts control him for too long, he didn't have any sense left. 

But I wasn't going to give in. 

I paced up and down mine and Sam's room anxiously while Sam slept a few feet away.  It was around four o'clock in the afternoon and I was exhausted, but couldn't sleep.  There was no sun; the sky outside was cloudy and gray and snow drifted lazily past the window.  I had bravely opened the thick curtains and watched the snow pile up outside.  I stopped in front of the window and stared desperately out of it. 

The endless days of night and entrapment that loomed in front of me blocked everything else out.  I felt nothing anymore; not happiness, nor sadness, nor anger.  I just felt empty.  There was nothing but blood and darkness and Emerson in my future now. 

Emerson was not going to leave me alone, not for one moment.  He was not going to give me time to adjust, he was going to go one hundred miles an hour and smash me headlong into a brick wall.  My only option was to escape. 

I quickly and silently dug through the drawers of my dresser and of the wardrobe until I found a backpack.  I tossed a few clothes and necessities into it and layered on thick clothing, more to protect from the sun than the cold.  I looked back at Sam's sleeping form guiltily, wishing that I didn't have to do this.  But she was content this way, and I knew better than to disturb that.  I slipped out the door. 

I felt compelled to say goodbye to Em; I eased open his door soundlessly.  I looked down at his sleeping face, he looked so young, so innocent; and it broke my heart.  But I needed to stay strong; this was for my own good, and no one else's.  I set my note down on his bedside table and turned back to the door. 

"I'm sorry," I whispered, and shut the door behind me. 

            The deep snow slowed me down considerably; it reached up to my knees and made it difficult for me to move my legs.  I could still feel the cold, but it didn't bother me; my wet clothing however, did bother me slightly.  Halfway there I was soaked all over and wished I could get there faster. 

I kept plugging my way through relentlessly. 

I glanced up at the sky every now and again, the UV rays didn't bother me today as it was too overcast, and relished the feeling of being out in the daytime again. 

I finally made it.  Soaked and dripping, I stood on their front steps.  I knocked quietly.  It was Kyle who opened the door.  He was sleepy eyed and in pajamas, but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw me. 

"Hi Kyle," I said shyly.

"Hi, uh, hi.  Come in," he said, standing away from the door and opening it wider to let me in. 

"Sorry I didn't call...and woke you up," I said, smiling slightly.

"No problem, we weren't doing much, just, um, sleeping.  What, what are you doing here?"

"Emerson.  He wouldn't let up,," I said sadly.

Kyle nodded understandingly, "I get it.  It's a lot to take in, and it's especially difficult when there's an Impression involved."

I pulled a face and nodded.

"Well," he said, running his fingers through his hair, "you must be exhausted; it's the middle of the day after all.  Is your backpack dry?"

I unslung the bag from my shoulder and checked it, "nope, soaked."

 "Then I'll find you some dry clothes and you can get some sleep."

"Thanks," I said.  I pulled off my hat and hood and shook out my hair, which was slightly damp from the snow soaking through.  It fell in a wet mess and hung at my middle back.  I put my backpack down on the floor next to the sofa. 

Kyle led me to his room and started pawing through his dresser.  I peeled off my wet jacket, sweater, and socks and hung them over the shower rod while he was digging.  When I re-entered the room he tossed a pair of basketball shorts and an old t-shirt.

"They'll be a bit large, but they're dry," he said, "you can stay in here, I'll crash on the couch."

"Oh that's okay, you don't have-" I started. He cut me off.

"It's fine. Really," he said, giving me a dazzling smile.

"Thank you," I said gratefully.  "Sleep well," he said, then left. 

He left, and I was left alone.  Finally alone. 

            I'm sorry Em.  Please don't be angry.  I'll be okay. 

                                                                        Brooklyn

Those were the words Emerson woke up to the next night. 

"Connor!" he said, pounding on Connors door. 

"What?" he said, emerging tousle haired and sleepy eyed. Emerson thrust Brooklyn's note into his hand, "she's gone."

Connor's mouth fell open slightly as he read the short note quickly. 

"Where do you think she went?" he asked Emerson quietly. 

"William and Alex's," he almost inaudibly, "there's a trail leading that direction."

He leaned against the wall and slid down it, putting his face in his hands, "This is my fault," he mumbled to himself, "I can't believe this..."

Connor bent over and put his hand on his best friends shoulder, "it'll be okay Em.  Let's go tell Sam, if she went to William's, then they'll call.  If we don't hear from them by tomorrow, we'll call." 

This is an important chapter, it fgets the ball rolling for the rest of the story.  So pay attention!

            It was well past midnight - almost three in the morning as I stepped out into the cold night.  The cold didn't bother me, which wasn't surprising, my body wasn't supposed to be changing anymore. 

I didn't want this.  Any of this.   

I didn't want to be a vampire, I didn't want to live in never-ending darkness, didn't want to fall in love involuntarily. 

It can make you fall in love.

Whatever happened to free will? Or to choosing my own destiny?

Why did Emerson and Connor decide this life for me? I hated change, and they both knew that.

They saved us; I knew that.  But if I had known what the alternative to death was...I would have chosen death.  I would have never even known what had happened, and been perfectly happy with that. I like to make my own choices. 

It was like I had two different personalities inside me; like the angel and devil on your shoulder when you can't make the decision between what you want and what you know is right and natural. 

One part of me - the angel side - was telling me that this was all wrong and to go back to what it all was before.  I knew that Em and I being together was wrong.  As much as I loved Emerson, he's always been a friend; nothing more.  I was being forced into something that I didn't want and wasn't prepared for, and it made me want to resist harder.

But the fledgling part of me - the devil side - was pulling me in the direction I knew was wrong.  My newfound instincts were telling me that Emerson was right for me, and that it's natural to crave blood and to be so much more evolved than humans.  And that Impressions were just something to accept, and you couldn't do anything about it. 

But I was determined to change that.  Maybe it wasn't a romantical Impression, maybe if I stayed away from Emerson for a while we could stay friends, and we wouldn't fall in love, and I could be happy that way; with this life.  Just don't lead him on to believe that anything had changed between us, and it would all be okay. 

            "Hey you two, wake up," Emerson's voice broke through to my consciousness.  I opened my eyes sleepily and pulled the covers off my head.  I glanced over at the door to see him standing in front of it, he saw me awake and was beside me in seconds, "good night," he said softly and leaned in to kiss me, I quickly pulled the covers back over my head,

"I don't wanna get up," I mumbled. I felt his weight leave the bed and heard him cross back over to the door. 

"C'mon, we're leaving in an hour," he said smoothly, then exited. 

I peeked out of the mess of blankets and saw Sam already up and rummaging through the drawers of her dresser.

"You were right, he's got it bad," she said, "You should have seen his face when you did that."

"I know.  Is there anything weird with you and Connor?" I asked, she shook her head, "nope."

I groaned, "This sucks."

            After some coffee and blood we headed out into the freezing night.  Again, the cold didn't bother me.  It was about ten o' clock and everything was silent. I pulled the hood of my jacket up over my head and looked over at Em, "are you sure about this?" I asked. 

He nodded and smiled, "See if you can keep up."

And he was gone.  I picked my feet out of the snow and started running.  Instantly my surroundings changed and I was speeding through the countryside.  Sam was right next to me, looking as amazed as I felt, and I could see Emerson up ahead. 

I didn't feel tired or out of breath at all, which was shocking to me - it shouldn't have been, but it was - and I caught up with Emerson quickly. 

"This is amazing!" I shouted, he grinned at me and motioned for us to follow him. 

We made it there in about two hours - covered in snow and sopping wet - and Emerson knocked on the door softly. 

"Em!"  said a girl as she opened the door and rushed to hug him.  As usual for all vampires, she was gorgeous; her hair was blonde and curly and bounced around her face and shoulders as she ushered us inside, talking very quickly.

"You must be Samantha and Brooklyn! Connor and Emerson have told us so much about you - William! Kyle! - I'm Alexis, Alexis Hammonds, but everybody just calls me Alex. I'm so excited to meet you! Connor and Em are always talking about you, but we never got to meet you; you know, with the whole human thing.  They told us about what happened--"

"Okay Al, let them breathe," said one of the boys as they entered the room, "I'm William, and this is Kyle.  Nice to meet you," he said politely, smiling down at Alex as he wound his arm around her waist.  I suddenly felt very aware of Emerson and took half a step away from him. 

"You too," I said, "you can call me Brooks."

"Call me Sam," she cut in.

"Hi," Kyle said, he was tall and well built with a boyish face and a mess of red hair; William was slightly shorter and skinny with short brown hair, kind of geeky looking but in a good way, both were grinning at us excitedly. 

"How was the trip?" Kyle asked. 

"Wet," I replied, shaking water out of my hair, everyone laughed. 

"It was their first run," Emerson informed them.

"Was it exciting?" William asked us, we nodded excitedly, "it was amazing," said Sam. 

            We stayed there for the day, talking and laughing and getting to know each other.  I really liked Alex and Kyle; they were funny and cool and we were a lot alike.  Kyle played guitar and Alex grew up in the Chicago area like I did; only about fifty years before me. 

I was hyper aware of Emerson all day.  I discreetly tried separating myself from him - squeezing between Sam and Alex on the sofa, leaning up against walls - to no success.  He would sneak up behind me and wrap his arms around me or interlace his fingers with mine when I wasn't paying attention. 

"They're sneaky," Alex said to me as I successfully shook Emerson off again, "You gotta watch out."

I noticed that Alex talked very quickly.  So quickly that sometimes it was hard to make out what she was actually saying.  It was quite entertaining actually.  I said goodbye to her outside and rolled my eyes at her as Emerson wound his fingers with mine again and pulled me alongside him. 

Ugh. Filler. 

My hang up this month is The Twilight Saga.  I've been thinking about how the whole vampire thing has gotten totally out of control. 

I'll admit it; I am a huge Twilight Saga fan.

Not because of the movies, but because the books are so well written.  I started reading the Twilight books about a year and a half ago from the recommendations of friends.  So, I haven't been there since the very beginning, but I have definitely been here before the madness started. 

I am a fan of Twilight because I love the books.  The movies are just a bonus to that. 

But there are those Twilight "fans" that give the rest of us a bad name.  "Fans" that make the real Twilighters embarrassed to admit they like the series!

Of course, I'm talking about the fans that saw the movies and say "Oh em geeeeeee!  Edward Cullen/Robert Pattinson is soooo hot! I love Twilight!"

Or maybe those who read the books after they see the movies, and are totally biased to the movies when the books are so much better!

Personally, I'm on Team Jacob.  I started on Team Edward at the beginning, but then Jacob came into the picture and I started rooting for him.  I would rather have a big, furry, warm boyfriend than a cold hard one who has to fight the urge to kill me on a daily basis.  Nothing against Edward, though, I love him too; I just prefer Team Jacob slightly. 

Stupid Twilight teenies.  Make me angry. 

How weird is it that my two best friends have their birthdays on the exact same day? Is that weird? Am I just a freak magnet?

            Another thing this month that's been bugging me is Hot Mess.  Every time I listen to it I'm left wondering how they came up with it.  Personally, I like Viva la Cobra better.  I'm one of those people that doesn't really like mainstream music.  But I also don't like the garage band stage either.  My favorite band stage is what I like to cal "The Limbo Stage".  It's the point halfway between mainstream and garage band. All of my favorite albums from the bands I listen to are from halfway through.  My favorite All Time Low Album is So Wrong, It's Right.  My favorite Fall Out Boy album is From Under the Cork Tree. 
Hot Mess was so built up that rim a little disappointed on how it turned out.  It's a great album and I love it and listen to it a lot, but I definitely like Viva la Cobra better.  

My Mom has been going crazy for like three weeks wanting to put up Christmas decorations.  It's too damn early.  Two weeks before Christmas is the acceptable benchmark.  I don't have many things that irritate me that much, but that's definitely one of them.

My brother Brad and I had the funniest conversation the other day.  He was telling me how the lead singer of The Devil Wears Prada lost a tooth crowd surfing at a concert, got a fake one, and then lost that in a mosh-pit.

"That would be a great conversation starter," I said, "He could use to impress girls, can you imagine?"

 "Oh, this? I lost it a concert.  I was playing with my band, on stage, at a concert, while I was singing, with my band; and I was crowd surfing, I jumped off the stage while I was singing, with my band, at a concert, that we were playing.  And the crowd threw me back on stage, and I hit my mouth on the microphone, that I was singing into, with my band, at a concert.  Then I got a false, but I lost it in a mosh-pit, at another concert, that I was playing at, with my band, on stage....with my band....when I was singing....with my band...on stage..."

Quote of the Month:

"Bradley! When did you grow a uterus?!"

Band of the Month:

Every Avenue

Happy December and ho ho ho and all that crap.  DON"T PUT UP CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS TOO EARLY! IT"S ANNOYING!

            The first thing I did when I woke up that night was open the curtains.  The moonlight filtered in the room and shed a weak light onto the floor and my hypersensitive skin felt a slight chill as the curtains swished against the cold glass.  I smiled slightly and watched the snow drift across my view and down to the ground and the trees. 

I let in a deep breath and exhaled, then headed out the door silently, trying not to disturb Sam.  I descended the stairs and heard the clinking of china drifting up to me with the pungent smell of freshly brewed coffee. 

I entered the kitchen and gave them a questioning look, "I thought we only drank blood," I said. 

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it.  We can be affected by anything we drink.  Coffee, alcohol, it still affects us," Em informed me. 

"Oh, well, awesome," I said happily, enjoying the fact that my love for coffee didn't have to end.  I got myself a large mug and sat down between him and Connor.  I glanced up at the clock, ten thirty at night.  I yawned and pushed my long black hair out of my face. 

I glanced over at Connor, he was reading a newspaper, his black hair was wet and kept flopping into his eyes and he would impatiently brush it away.  Emerson was staring out the window absentmindedly, his finger slowly tracing the rim of his mug.  The silence was absolute, and it bothered me.  I cleared my throat softly and they both looked up at me. 

"It's quiet," I said.

"Yes, that's how it is this early.  I suppose patience is another thing you attain as you get older," Connor said with a smile. 

"But we can adapt to our little fledglings needs can't we Connor?" Em said, giving him a look.  Connor laughed and nodded. 

"So, why don't you tell me more about being a vampire," I said smiling. 

"Um, well, we told you most of what you needed to know yesterday.  There isn't really anything else that's important," Connor said, still absorbed in his newspaper. 

"Hey, if no one knows we're here, where did that come from anyway?" I asked, gesturing to his paper.

"I ran into town this morning," he said simply,

"But we're miles away from anywhere," I protested.  He gave me a look over the top of his paper, "vampire speed."

Noticing my confused look, Emerson cut in, "you'll see when you try it yourself.  Maybe I'll take you and Sam up to see our friends in Detroit.  They're vamps too; William, Kyle, and Alex all share a house up there.  Alex and William are together, you'll like Alex; she's very cool."

"So have you guys been living here the whole time we've known you?" I asked. 

"Nope.  We lived in Chicago just like you did.  We kept this house put together just in case," Em responded.  His sweet breath blew into my face again and I lost focus for a second. 

Sam shuffled in, her medium-length blonde hair disheveled and sticking up on one side of her head, and I tore my eyes away from him.

"Coffee?" she mumbled,

"Yep! We can still drink it, isn't that awesome?" I said, grinning.  She nodded and got herself some. 

"What's up?" she asked, her eyes flicking to me fidgeting to Emerson staring at me to Connor immersed in his paper. 

"Nothing.  Em says he might take us to Detroit to meet some of their friends," I said quickly, eager to break the silence. 

"Fun.  Are we driving?" she said.

"Nope, running," Emerson interjected, "we'll go tomorrow."

"We're going to run two hundred miles?" Sam said incredulously, "isn't that, like, impossible? It's a little cold outside."

"You'll see," Em said, getting up from the table and leaving the kitchen.  

I got up too, and made my way down the hallway to the foot of the stairs.  There at the foot of the stairs was a large antique mirror, glancing at it as I walked past; I noticed something that made me do a double take.  Taking a step back and staring hard into the mirror, I looking into the blood red eyes of a complete stranger. 

The stranger had my face, but it was so much...better.  Her skin was pale and perfect as a china dolls and contrasted perfectly with her midnight hair; scarlet colored eyes glowed out from behind her bangs.

"It fades after a month or two - the eyes," Emerson said as he rounded the corner and caught me staring at my reflection, "so does the scent."

"Scent?" I asked, still not able to tear my eyes away from my face.  "Fledglings have a very unique scent; human and vampire mixed together because of the recent change.  It fades with time," he said, "it's actually a very nice smell," he added. 

I finally tore my eyes away from the mirror and looked up to find him inches away from my face.  His scent overpowered my senses and I again leaned towards him unconsciously.

"I smell good?" I said breathlessly,

"In a fledgling kind of way."

I smiled slightly, "so do older vampires have a scent too?" I asked,

"Every vampire and human has their own unique scent. The humans don't notice; their noses aren't sensitive enough," he said.

I thought about the way his smell affected me for a moment, "Can certain vampires smell affect you differently than others?"

He pulled away a few inches and smiled, then nodded, "yeah.  It's called Impressioning.  It's a bond that forms between a mature vampire and a fledgling he creates; their lives become permanently connected, no matter what.  It doesn't happen very often and occurs between a mature vampire and a fledgling. But there are others factors that affects if it happens or not, and what kind of Impression it is," he said with a smile.

"Like?" I said curiously. 

"If there was a relationship between them prior to the bite, their orientations; if they're gay or straight.  Different forms of it can happen too; it can strengthen a friendship, or make you fall in love.  And there's different kinds of them, like, the Impression that you and I have is because I changed you; but if another vampire drank your blood or vice versa, it creates a blood Impression, which is weaker than a change one and fades over time, but can feel like one while it lasts, " he said. 

I inhaled again and almost staggered backwards, his arms caught me around the waist and he took a step closer to me; I could feel the cool wall on my back.

"You were the one that changed me," I said breathlessly.  He smiled a knowing smile and nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on mine; then bent his face towards mine and met our lips together. 

An electric shock shivered through my body and I nearly fell over, his arms held me up and pinned me against the wall as he deepened the kiss.

I began to melt into his arms, giving into my new instincts, when he straightened up suddenly and looked down the hallway, "Sam is looking for you," he whispered, "we'll talk later." 

He kissed me swiftly and disappeared in the blink of an eye.  Seconds later, Sam rounded the hallway and looked at me wearily.

"Brooks you, uh, left your coffee, I brought it with me," she handed it to me, "are you okay?"

I unglued myself from the wall and turned back to the mirror, my face was unchanged; but I looked different somehow, my expression had changed, I couldn't pinpoint how. 

"I don't know.  This whole vampire thing is a little overwhelming," I said nervously. 

"Your voice is higher and you're twisting your ring.  You're lying.  Spit it out, what's wrong?" she said with a grin.

I glanced down at my right hand, the hand with my class ring on it, and sure enough, it was backwards.  I quickly ran it through my hair nervously and started ascending the stairs. 

"Come on, I'll tell you upstairs where they can't hear us," I said. 

These are some that I took at my cousin Joh's Battle Of The Bands.  I was supposed to do it with him, but his school wouldn't let me 'cause I don't go there, so he got me backstage and I was his rody for the evening, haha.  People kept asking if I was his girlfriend, I was like, um, no.  This girl standing net to me was like "oh em gee he is so good!" over and over again, and it was actually kind of irritating.  I already know how talented he is, thank you very much. 

I got my senior pictures done last month, but I only just now got my hands on a few electronic copies:
Look how colorful I am!
  
^^^ Signed All Time Low shirt! (can't see signatures, boo!)

Plus I got a new haircut!



Really shity pictues, but it's very Cassadee Pope-esque.

Part One

Chapter Three

            "Come on guys, you expect us to believe that? Vampires aren't real," I said nervously while Sam sat next to me immobile. 

"We beg to differ," Connor said.  With a grin, he turned to Emerson and raised his eyebrows, "why don't you show them Em?"

With a smile, Emerson opened his mouth and his incisors instantly grew to abnormal size and sharpness.  Sam and I gasped in astonishment as they both laughed slightly and Em closed his mouth. 

"So...that's why when I opened the curtains...?" I said tentatively, holding out my arm. 

Emerson leaned forward and took my arm in his hand, rubbing his thumb gently over the red patch. 

"Yes, the sun does hurt us.  It won't kill us unless it's prolonged exposure without any protection.  This isn't too bad, it wasn't direct and you weren't exposed for very long, so you'll be okay," he said, he stood up and exited the room suddenly. 

"So, uh, what else should we know?" Sam said quietly. 

"Well, we don't sleep in coffins; we sleep in beds like humans do.  Our senses and abilities are much more advanced than a humans; we're stronger, faster, better hearing, better vision, better sense of smell," Connor said,

"And we don't age - we're immortal - we can't have kids because our bodies don't change, and the only thing that can kill us is fire; we have to be burned," Emerson cut in.

"And yes, we have to drink human blood or we'll die," Connor finished. 

"So we have to kill people!?" I said, panicked. 

"No," Emerson said, returning with four glasses of the dark red liquid.  The sweet metallic smell hit me like a wall and sent my senses into a frenzy and made my throat burn.

"Here, you probably need this.  And it will make your arm better."

I gulped down the blood and my frantic thoughts slowed as I relaxed slightly. 

Emerson glanced at me and threw me a quick grin.  Clearly, he was delighted at this new life for Sam and me.  Me, on the other hand, wasn't so excited. 

My brain was slightly overloaded; like a glass that you accidentally fill too full and it sloshes over the edges before you realize its happening. 

I glanced quickly over at Sam; she was gazing around the beautiful old house calmly, and envied her and her cool calmness.  She had always been that way; just going with the flow.  It took a lot to upset her.

And this was nothing to her, she loved horror and zombies and vampires; to her, this was a dream come true, to find out that the things that usually resided in fantasy were real. 

In my mind I was thinking: if vampires aren't really fantasy, what other creatures are real as well?

"Why did you take us out of Chicago?" she asked suddenly. 

"We had to steal you from the hospital, so the police will be searching for you...and us.  This was my great-great-great grandparents' house.  No body knows I own it so we're safe here," Connor said. 

"Brooklyn, are you okay? You look a little funny," said Emerson.

"I'm fine," I lied, "just a little tired." I yawned. 

"It is late; we should be getting to bed.  It's almost ten in the morning," Connor said, glancing at his watch. 

"In the morning?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yes, we're nocturnal.  When you consider how the sun affects us, it makes sense.  So, even though you just came to, your internal clocks are telling you it's time to sleep," Connor said. 

We just simply nodded, stood up slowly and began to go up the sweeping staircase. 

"Good night girls," Emerson called up to us,

"It's morning," I replied. 

"Fine then. Good morning," he said, flashing me another smile that made my legs turn to jelly. 

            "So, what do you think?" Sam asked me anxiously as we climbed into bed. 

"I don't really know yet.  I think I'm still in shock," I replied. 

"I think it's fascinating.  The whole fantasy turned reality thing," she reacted as I predicted.

"Well, good morning then," Sam giggled slightly and rolled over, pulling the covers over her head.  I heard her breathing slow down and within minutes she was asleep. 

I couldn't sleep.  I stared up at the ceiling unthinkingly for a while before I couldn't stand it anymore.  I threw the covers off of me and paced the room anxiously.  I stopped in front of the window. 

I wanted to open the curtains, to look outside into the beautiful snowy February morning, but knew the sun would burn me again if I did.  I glanced down at my arm; it was back to normal now.

I pressed my palm again the thick curtain and felt the cold morning seeping through the glass.  I started pacing again.  Up and down, up and down. 

Sam stirred in her sleep and I climbed back in bed. 

I stared up at the ceiling blankly and felt my brain slowly shutting down and my lids closing, then everything was dark. 

You Know You're an All Time Low Fan When...

1.      Your All Time Low CD's are your most prized possession.

2.      You like the Macarena.
+ You say "[insert your name here] likes the Macarena."
++ "Jack" is the name you insert regardless of what your name is.

3.      You need Lullabies to sing you to sleep.

4.      You are Shameless.

5.      You have arguments with yourself over whether Zack's a douchebag or if Zack's just quiet.

6.      You randomly steal construction cones & put them on your friend's heads.

7.      When you hear someone say "count me in," you say, "there's a story at the bottom of this bottle & I'm the pen."

8.      You have memorized the dance to Poppin'.

9.      You want to feel Weightless ('cause it would be enough).

10.  You are planning on naming your son Alex, Jack, Zack, or Rian.

11.  You are planning on naming your daughter Maria, Holly, Jasey, or Stella.

12.  Circles are your favorite shape.

13.  You realize Holly is actually about Hollywood and Stella is about a beer, not some girls.

14.  You can't believe that "fans" don't recognize Rian and don't consider them fans at all.

15.  You look in trash cans trying to find your "MOM?"

16.  You're dying to get matching tattoos with them.
+you already have done this.

17.  You feel like you have to stay seventeen.

18.  You have dressed up as one of the band members for Halloween.
+people recognized you.
++ It wasn't Halloween.

19.  You stalk them on MySpace/Buzznet/Facebook/Twitter
+ you stalk the crew members too.
++ and people that you believe have songs of theirs written about them (like Maria or Jasey)

20.  You think Baltimore is the greatest city for being All Time Low's hometown.

21.  Whenever you insult someone, you say "Nothing Personal" afterwards.

22.  You feel like you are Damned if You do Them, Damned if You Don't.

23.  You know the words to Living the Dream even though it hasn't officially been released.

24.  You've seen every Buzznet video.
+ Multiple times.

25.  You know all of the crew members.  You don't say "who's that?" when they show Grieco or Matt Flyzik or Vinny.

26.  You wish you were Cody Carson and able to sing with them.

27.  You are a Straight Up Hustler.

28.  Your favorite dance move is the "Superman."
+ "....that hoe."

29.  You love Lisa & Kara & think that they make the perfect couples with Alex and Rian

30.  You think Alex & Jack would make the most amazing gay couple ever.

31.  When you see Atlanta abbreviated ATL, you flip out.

32.  If your weekend doesn't go as planned, you just say "maybe it's not my weekend, but it's gonna be my year."

33.  You know more songs than just Dear Maria, Weightless or Damned.

34.  You know what the Three Words To Remember When Dealing With The End are.

35.  You know ALL the lyrics to ALL the songs on So Wrong It's Right.
+ and Nothing Personal.
++ and Put Up or Shut Up.
+++ and Party Scene.
++++ and Three Words.

36.  You sing along to Alex's indie/emo song & Jack's boner song.

37.  You've downloaded all of their music videos.
+ including the unreleased Hustler and Circles videos.
++ and the Buzznet videos.

38.  Their songs dominate your iPod.

39.  You say to your friends, "my friends are a different breed. My friends are everything."
+ you call these "Vegas moments".

40.  It always amazes you how incredibly sexy Alex Gaskarth is.

41.  You have named your fish (and snail) after the tour pets.
+you have gotten fish solely for this reason.

42.  Your friends think you're obsessed and need a life.
+ they're right

43.  If you don't have All Time Low merch, you took an old T-shirt and wrote All Time Low all over it.

44.  Your binder/locker has their pictures all over it.
+because of this you have been "suspended and possibly molested by the school enforcement agency."

45.  You think Rian and Zack deserve more fame.

46.  When someone asks who All Time Low is, you slap them across the face.

47.  You have turned someone into a fan of theirs.

48.  You obsess over them so much your friends start to hate them.

49.  You have read all of these.
+ you've done at least one of them.

50.  They are without a doubt your favorite band ever and you love them with all of your heart!

*edit*  (I came up with these)
51. You need/are in Therapy.
52.When youwalk into Tim Hortons/Starbucks, you sing Coffee Shop Soundtrack. 
52. Blink 182 is your hero.
+you have a tatoo to prove it.

Check out usdan12cello for more.

Original:
http://www.buzznet.com/groups/alltimelowfans/journals/78077191/

Pretty cool journal, I felt the need to re-post it cause I liked it so much.  Do not credit me for this because I did not write it. 

Part One

Chapter Two

Thick curtains were drawn over the large windows, old antique furniture was scattered decoratively across the room.  I quickly realized I was in a bedroom, and I was lying on a massive four-poster bed with curtains; they were drawn back with thick tasseled ropes.  I turned my head to the side as I sat up and saw Sam doing the same. 

"Brooklyn!" she whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. You?" she nodded.

"Where are we?" I asked, she shook her head, "I don't know."

I stood up and went to open the thick curtains.  I pushed them aside and let the sunshine enter the room. 

Suddenly my eyes and skin exploded in pain, I yelped and jerked the curtains shut again.  I looked down at my arm where the sun had hit me, it blazed red and I could see it swelling up before my eyes.  I rubbed my eyes and turned to face Sam, who was also rubbing her eyes vigorously.

"What the hell was that?" she said. I shook my head. 

I heard footsteps ascending stairs outside the old mahogany door and I jumped.  I joined Sam on the bed and we clutched at each other in fear as we waited for the door to open and see what lay beyond. 

"Em! Connor!" I said as they opened the door and entered.  We rushed to hug them and bombarded them with questions.

"Guys, calm down," Connor said with a grin with Emerson chuckled softly behind him. 

"Can you guys please explain to us what the hell is going on?" Sam said angrily. 

"Come on downstairs and we'll explain," Emerson said, holding open the door for us. 

As I exited past Emerson, I caught the smell of something delicious, something irresistible, it smelled like sunshine and the smell after as thunderstorm mixed with the smells of a meadow; it was mouthwatering.  I looked up at Em and he smiled down at me. 

"Glad to see you," he said softly, his breath blew in my face and the smell of it lean towards him involuntarily.  The smell was emanating off his skin, out of every pore of his body; it made me ache for him.

And it also confused me.  Em had been my best friend - nothing more - for years.  What was this sudden attraction I had for him?

Nevertheless, I followed Connor and Sam down the stairs, Emerson following behind me.  The rest of the house proved to be as massive and old as the bedroom we had just left.  Antique furniture and huge old-fashioned windows were everywhere; it seemed to be an old Victorian style with dark wood. 

Connor and Em sat us down on an old couch and they sat across from us in matching armchairs, 

"So?" I said anxiously.

Connor took a deep breath and began, "five days ago you were in a car accident that gave you injuries so severe that you were going to die.  Emerson and I went to see you and we realized what was going to happen, we snuck you out of the hospital and brought you here."

"Where is 'here' exactly?" I interrupted. 

"We are in rural Indiana," Em answered me.

Connor continued, "yes, we brought you here where we..."
he hesitated, "we...bit you...and turned you into one of us."

Mine and Sam's mouths flopped open and Connor and Em shifted nervously. 

"What would that be exactly?" I finally asked.

Emerson leaned towards me conspiratorially and whispered: "Vampires."

DUN DUN DUN!

Comment and Buzz! I need opinions!

Haley and I were absolutely terrifying! If, you know, zombies sitting ona front porch singing and playing guitar can be scary.  I discovered that Haley and I can harmonize quite well. 
We met "Kanye West" and he told me a played good, and got lots of compliments on my singing. (I guess that's good.  I'm trying to get used to playing for people cause Josh and I want to entrer a BOTB in February)  And then we asked some little kids if their brains tasted delicous. 

Halloween horror stories? what did you do?

Part One

Chapter One

                   Sam and I sat at a red light in downtown Chicago laughing manically.  The chilly February air swirled around my little Volkswagen, carrying with it a fine powder of snow.

We had just seen a man with a neon orange belt with green pants and shirt walking down the street, he looked so ridiculous we couldn't help ourselves. 

"Oh my gosh you know what he looked like?" Sam said with a grin.

"Who?" I said as the light turned green and the cars in front of us started to move. 

"Michelangelo! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" she sang.

"He's in a cult, he must be, nobody else in their right mind would wear that," I said firmly.

"Holy crap, Brooks, it's an Orange Belt Cult!" she said in mock terror, "they're going to destroy us all!"

We continued laughing as we crossed the intersection, then, about halfway through, her laugh turned into a true scream of terror. 

I whipped my head to the side, too late, as a pair of headlights smashed into us. 

            The two men rushed into the subdued hospital looking harried and scared.  They had been called and told that Brooklyn Smithie and Samantha Colmes - their best friends - had been in a horrible car accident. 

"Hi, we're Connor James and Emerson Watts, we're here for Brooklyn Smithie and Sam Colmes," one of them said to an elderly receptionist. He was tall with dark skin and black hair with brown eyes with a straight nose and strong jaw, this was Connor.  Emerson was slightly shorter than Connor, but still tall, his hair a brown with a reddish tint to it; his eyes were large and green, his skin pale.  She nodded and shuffled through some papers, "one moment please," she said politely.  Connor nodded and motioned to Emerson and they retreated slightly away from the counter. 

Emerson was shaking, and Connor put his hand on his arm, looking at him with eyes that tried to hide the fear.  The fear of losing their best friends; the fear of having to live without them. 

"Connor James and Emerson Watts?" a man in a white lab coat emerged from the white double doors and looked around for them.

"Here," Connor said shakily. 

"Come with me please," he said, motioning to them. 

"I'm Doctor Ramirez," he said, obviously he was Latino; his skin was tanned, his hair and eyes very darkly colored. 

"They were brought in after their car was hit by a driver who ran a red light.  They slid into a barrier and tipped over.  They are both stable, for now, but their injuries are major and we'll be keeping a close eye on them over the next few days," he explained as they walked through the maze of the hospital.  Every step they took the smell of disease, death, and blood reached their sensitive noses and drove them to the brink of insanity.  So, when they finally reached the right room, their entire frames were shaking severely. 

The beeping and buzzing of medical equipment met their ears first, and as their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they saw what a mess they were.  There were tubes and wires snaked across their bodies and into their skin, stitches and bandages covered most of their bodies, and their hearts beat rather erratically on the monitors. 

"What's the matter with them?" Emerson said shakily. 

"Most of their ribs are broken, they had some internal bleeding, severe concussions, Miss Brooklyn has a punctured lung; her side of the vehicle was the one hit.  We have them stabilized for now, but we'll have close eyes on them for the next several days," he informed them. 

"Will they be okay?" Emerson asked. 

"There's no way to tell this soon, I'm sorry," Dr Ramirez replied, then exited. 

"Connor, we have to do something," Emerson said anxiously, his eyes shining, "they aren't going to make it.

"I know.  Quick, close the door and open the window," Connor said as he swiftly switched off al the monitors and disconnected the wires and tubes from their mangled bodies.  Connor scooped up Sam and Emerson got Brooklyn, then they carefully climbed out the window and ran into the night. 

                 Everything was blurry; my senses didn't seem to be working right, except for one.  I felt stabbing pain on my neck and wrists that radiated outward to the rest of my body; I couldn't move or make a sound.  The pain froze me where I was...where am I exactly? The last thing I remember is those headlights coming towards me.  Where's Sam? Is she okay? 

Everything was so black, and I couldn't force my eyes to open.  Flashes of memories skipped across my closed eyelids.  The headlights, the man in green and orange...the longer I sat, the farther back I remembered...the day Sam and I met, Emerson's smile, Connor's joyful laugh, Swinging on a swing set as a child...

Why was it so dark? Why was there so much pain? Every fiber of my being was exploding in pain, the longer I was frozen, the stronger the pain was. Was I dead? Death was supposed to be peaceful, this was incredibly torturous.

I don't know how long I was stuck this way, the pain getting worse and worse, it could have been years, it could have been days; when all of a sudden it was gone, and everything was clear again.  I opened my eyes and looked up into a darkened room. 

Okay, so this is more of an opening/informative first chapter, so it's not very exciting.  The next chapter is way better in my opinion. 
Hope you enjoyed it! Buzz and comment, comment, comment!