“I’m going to go get the cookies I like,” I told my mom with a cheeky grin, and she only laughed lightly at me as I made my way over to the aisle opposite the one she was still cruising through. Trying not to get too bored as I followed her dutifully through the semi-busy grocery store, I had to find little distractions to keep myself from grumbling and so I wouldn’t end up hurrying her. I’d agreed to join her in the first place because it was already late out, and I didn’t want her going to the store on her own. If she’d gone with my dad or with my aunt and uncle, I would have stayed home, but it didn’t feel right to just let her leave even though I’m usually not much for leaving the house at all unless it’s for friends or something fun. Cookies of course made it better.

I scanned the rows lined with packaged delight and finally found the cream-filled delicacies that were bad for my health but great for my soul, snatching them from the shelf as if they would run away any minute. Content, I my heel and started to make my way back to my mom. When I rounded the corner, I ran into one of them.

With a jolt and already prepared to apologize, I looked up at the stranger, but once I saw who it was, all warmth drained from my body. My eyes widened and I just about dropped the cookies I’d left my mom for.

He had fair skin, dark eyes, dark hair, and a smile that promised a broken heart. But I wasn’t charmed by him, however attractive he was, because he was part of the group that had been yelling obscene things at my mom and I when we had just arrived. He was the one that mentioned something about a stallion, and as I pieced that together, my stomach churned. I was only fifteen and he looked to be maybe in his mid-twenties already, and because I was fairly innocent, I was extremely uncomfortable all over again. I backed away from him immediately, mumbling my apology to avoid conflict. As I started to walk away from him, he caught my wrist and yanked just hard enough to throw me off-balance so I fell into him. He smelled good, I wasn’t immune to that, but I was still dying to get away, my heart booming in my chest.

In a deep, husky voice that made me shiver and my skin crawl at the same time, he told me, “If you run, I’ll only give chase.”

My mouth went dry. I tried to break free of his hold, but all that did was make him switch from holding onto my wrist to wrapping his arm fully around me, forcing me into a hug. I looked around, cursing the fact that we were in the area least occupied in the whole store. I tried pushing against his chest, but all that did was trap my hands further and made them hurt. I resorted to glare at him, and that led him to laughter.

Leaning closely, he inhaled deeply and released his breath shakily, shivering with excitement. “You’ve got what it takes to tie a guy down.”

I kneed him in the groin, and he doubled-over in a second. I backed away from him quickly, dropping the packet of cookies in the process, but I didn’t care at all about them anymore. I darted around him, but slowed and looked back over my shoulder when I heard him laughing, unsettled by his unlimited amusement even when he was in pain. When I glanced back, his eyes were a bright silver, reflecting the light back to me. He was grinning, and I could’ve sworn I saw his teeth were different, his lateral incisors and canine teeth long and sharp, like fangs. Horrified, I walked faster, remembering that running wasn’t wise. I heard his laughter strengthen when I finally ducked into a different aisle, and I could only hope that he wouldn’t follow.

I finally found my mom and forgot about being kind and courteous. “We have to go now,” I told her, and seeing just how shaken up I was, she nodded and took out her cell phone to call my uncle to come pick us up.

We went outside when he called to tell us that he arrived, and I pushed the cart myself, looking over my shoulder again and again while I spied down our transportation, afraid that the hooligans would show up any second. I told my mom to hurry, and she kept on telling me to calm down, but I couldn’t calm down, I had to get us to safety. When I finally got to my uncle's SUV parked a few spaces away from the main entrance, I opened up the back myself while my uncle got out of the vehicle to help.

I’d already put in a couple bags when he asked me, “Where’s your mom?”

She was taken away from me that night, and nobody believed me when I told them about the man in the store. How could they? He didn't even show up in the surveillance footage.