At First Bite Read Free

crazy to think that the movers will come first thing in the morning, and then Mom, Dylan, and I will board an airplane.
    I feel a tingle of excitement — but then a chill of worry. Arabella’s warning lingers in my mind. I’ll have to ask her more about the Dark Ones as soon as possible. Otherwise, her words will continue to haunt me.

Chapter Two
    “Check out all the palm trees!” Dylan shouts the next day, rolling down the window of the airport taxi.
“Sick!”
    I roll my eyes. “Stop trying to sound cool, Dylan,” I groan. My fifteen-year-old brother is a major dork. I’m talking computer obsessed, no social skills, bad dresser. If it weren’t for his blond hair and blue eyes, I’d swear we weren’t related.
    But for once, I have to agree with him. Los Angeles is gorgeous. We’re zooming down a wide boulevard lined with tall green palms. The sky is cloudless, the air smells like flowers, and the sapphire ocean shimmers to our left. I let out a happy sigh. Arabella’s unsettling visit last night has slipped my mind.
    “This area is called Santa Monica,” Mom explains from the passenger seat. “And this,” she adds as the cab comes to a stop, “is our new home.”
    “Seriously?” I gasp. The house is big and cream colored, with a wraparound balcony. It looks, as Dylan would say, pretty sick.
    “Seriously,” Mom laughs while Dylan whips out his iPhone and starts tapping away at the screen. I have no idea what he’s doing, but I don’t care. I’m in California! I burst out of the cab with my heavy duffel bag. The bright sunshine warms my shoulders, and I can’t wait to change out of my cords and turtleneck sweater.
    After the driver unloads our luggage, we straggle up to the house and Mom unlocks the front door. As we step inside, I’m surprised by the sudden, hushed emptiness. Cobwebs dangle from ceilings, and a lonely shaft of sunlight slices the living room walls. Long, twisting hallways lead to dark corners. It’s a little spooky, and I shiver.
    “Hey, check it,” Dylan says, holding up his iPhone. “I looked up the address online, and it turns out a movie was filmed in this house ages ago! A
horror
movie.”
    “Really?” I ask, my stomach tightening. No wonderthe inside feels ominous. I can almost hear the faint echoes of screams, and I can picture a beautiful actress fainting by the doorway….
    “Yeah, it was called
At First Bite,”
Dylan says, glancing at the screen. “So cool! Mom, why didn’t you tell us?”
    “Whatever,” I snap. “It’s not cool, it’s
creepy”
When you’re basically
living
a horror movie, you don’t want to have anything to do with one. I’ve never heard of
At First Bite,
but the sound of it makes my teeth throb. I hope I won’t feel a fang start to form.
    Mom shakes her head as she sets down her suitcase. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she tells me. “A million different movies have been filmed in a million different homes here. I know the space is unfamiliar now, but when our furniture arrives and we put down rugs, it’ll be
perfect.”
    Perfect
is my mom’s favorite word. I like it, too. And I know she’s right. I was just being silly, getting weirded out by the new place. It’s time to relax and settle in. As if reading my mind, Mom tells Dylan and me to go upstairs and unpack.
    “Okay, but I get dibs on the bigger bedroom!” Dylan hollers as he thunders up the stairs, the frayed laces on his Converse flapping.
    “You’re pathetic!” I yell after him, but I follow close behind, my duffel bag swinging from my shoulder.
    Dylan grabs the first room off the stairs, so I end up with a more private one down the hall. Best of all, it has a floor-to-ceiling window that opens up onto the balcony. I smile and step outside, and I see that I’m facing the beach. My heart leaps. Golden sand, crashing waves, and, in the distance, a Ferris wheel. I can see kids in shorts, carrying boogie boards and laughing.
    And I know what I have to do.
    I hurry back