I'm not afraid of anything.

I'm really not. Horror movies, haunted houses, pitch black rooms, you name it I'm not scared of it. This pisses my friends off because it's impossible to scare me or freak me out. While they cling to each other during scary movies, I sit back and stare blankly at the television screen. While they sleep with the lights on for the next month after walking through a haunted trail on Halloween, I wonder why I can't be more like them. Maybe I over-think everything. Instead of taking the movie for what it is, I know it's made up. Sure, it flashes "based on a true story" during the opening credits, but come on. A demon living in the walls of a house that makes people go crazy is just such a far-fetched concept to me.

I have this small group of friends; there's only five of us. Liv, Sam, Court and Em. We all met at the beginning of high school and bonded over the fact that we all have birthdays in October. Actually, we were all quite shocked to realize that our birthday's fall on the same exact day. October 13. I'm so different from them; they love shopping and gossip, while I enjoy sports and working out. That's how I met my boyfriend Eric. Eric thinks it's cool that I'm not girly and that horror movies bore me. Eric on the other hand is just like my friends; scared of horror movies and haunted houses. Actually, I think he sleeps with a nightlight. My friends call him a bitch, I think it's cute.

After long days at school, my favorite thing to do is run. I just like being able to feel free. I like the burn I feel in my legs and lungs. I usually have this routine. I'll come home from school, do a bit of my homework and then run. I take the same route every day. The same three mile route that I've been doing since middle school. I could probably do it with my eyes closed. Left at the huge corner house, left at the beat up old Volkswagen Jetta with the popped tire, then straight for a mile, right at the small house with no grass and another left to get me back to where I started. Same routine every day, why bother changing it?

It was a cold Wednesday in November and midterms were well underway. I was hanging out with Eric by the football field watching the clouds move. It was freezing. Even the four layers of clothes and Eric's warm embrace was not enough. Neither of us had said a word for a few minutes. That's what I loved about Eric. Total silence didn't freak him out, it was comforting. I felt his breath against my cheek, and could feel his chest rise and fall. My phone let out a high-pitched beep that made me jump. I was meeting Liv, Sam, Court and Em at the library tonight to study for our science midterm, and they were trying to figure out the driving situation since Liv and I were the only two with cars. I agreed to pick up Court and Em, since they lived near my neighborhood and Liv would get Sam. Eric finally broke the silence between the two of us.

"I wish we didn't have to sit in the freezing cold to spend time with each other." I looked up at him puzzled- we've been hanging out at school for months now, why was it suddenly a problem?

"You know how my parents are," I said, looking at him, still confused. My parents both worked a 9-5 job. They were tough- no dates on school nights and no in the house alone- that included Eric's house alone.

Eric made a face. "You're almost eighteen, you're going to be a senior next year. Can't your parents cut you some slack?" I pulled out of Eric's arms and glared at him. For the last few months, he must have mentioned, asked and told me my parents should cut me some slack at least once a week. It was beginning to become annoying.

"I don't want to do this right now, Eric," I said. "I don't want to hear it." I wished Eric would lay off, hoping he'd just drop it. Usually he did. Guess today he was in the mood to fight.

"I'm just tired of it, I feel like I'm dating a twelve-year-old." he said. What the hell? "I don't understand why they insist on making our lives difficult." Our lives? I wasn't in the mood to argue with him. So I just grabbed my books and headed down the bleachers.

"You're really going to be like this? Fine then I guess we're done!" Eric called after me. I stopped for a second and whirled around. Eric was standing up, breathing heavy now. I couldn't think of a response or even a decent comeback. So I gave him the finger and walked to my car.

I jammed my keys into the ignition and pealed out of the parking lot. It wasn't until I was on the main highway that I allowed the tears to fall. I whipped my car into my driveway and bolted into the house, chest heaving and the tears still falling. I slammed every door in my house on the way to my room. My phone beeped again, and to my surprise it was a message from Eric. "Call me when you stop acting like a child." I threw my phone on my bed and sat down on the floor. I could feel my face turning red. I was pissed and hurt. I needed to clear my head from everything. Run. I needed to run.

I took off down my street. Left at the huge corner house, left at the beat up old Volkswagen Jetta with the popped tire, straight for a mile, right at the small house with no grass. I came up to the last left I had to make before I was home. I wasn't satisfied. I was still so angry and hurt. I continued straight. I pushed myself to run faster. Everything else around me was such a blur. I finally stopped. I had no idea where I was or what time it was. I reached for my phone, only to realize I left it on my bed back home. It was getting dark out now. I really couldn't figure out where I was. I was walking down a busy street. No one seemed to notice me, or how out of place I seemed.

Upon walking, I noticed a dark alley. I stopped in front of it. There was no light in it. It made me so curious. Maybe it was a short cut out of the small town and back to where I needed to be. Dark alleys would send any normal person into a frantic state and make them run the other way. Not me.

I'm not scared of anything.

The dark alley smelt like weed and garbage. There was no sign of anyone else in the alley. Just me. The only thing I could see now was my breath. The alley only seemed to get darker. I heard something- it sounded like a plastic bag crinkle. Stopping in my tracks and staring a head. I squinted my eyes, but I couldn't see anything. It would be here where the characters in any horror film would shout "hello?! Anyone there?" I always thought that was dumb. Walk into total darkness and scream hello. Was the murderer supposed to scream back "hi! Over here making a sandwich!" I continued to stare into darkness. I knew I heard something, just not sure of what.

But I wasn't scared.

I'm not scared of anything.

I figured I should get home now- I couldn't miss my study date with my friends. I turned to leave the dark alley when I felt something hit me in the back. I tried to turn around and figure out what the hell it was, but I lost my balance and felt my body fall towards the hard pavement.

And that's the last thing I remember.