Max:

Although Max tried to save himself by smiling he knew this girl wasn’t biting. She did, however, smile back at him. Her blue eyes were clear in the sunlight.

“I’ll take that into consideration next time,” she said. “Sorry for the mishap.” 

He heard her laughing a little, and before she walked past him she nodded quickly at Max. As she walked away, he stared after her. Max wanted to call after her to ask her what her name was but at that very moment, a slight chill ran through him. It was a nice, sunny day with no wind at all. It could only mean one thing.

Max was careful when he looked around, but no matter how much it happened he would never get used to how suddenly they would appear. Right behind him was a tall boy with blood dripping from his throat. Max could feel a scream bubbling in his throat, but he forced it down. If this thing knew that he could see it then Max would never be able to get rid of it. But as hard as he tried to just casually glance around, he couldn’t help but notice the…[i]the marks. [/i]

[i]Helen Schwartz.[/i]

A voice in his head whispered her name softly. Max tried not to stare directly at the dead boy. But he needed to get another look. Something was very wrong about the way his skin looked. Something seemed very [i]familiar[/i] about it too. When they found Helen’s body, somebody had carved symbols into her skin.

Before Max decided to take a closer look, the boy stepped forward scaring him. He tried to control his breathing as he slowly turned around and walked away. He knew if he turned around he would be giving himself away so he tried to keep his pace casual. He would just go to the library.

But he just couldn’t get that dead boy out his mind. What was up with his skin?