After dinner was finished, Lily dragged Zoey up to her room so she could tell her what happened yesterday. Zoey knew exactly what it was about as it was basically all Lily's conversations ended up being about. Zoey remembered being sixteen where all her friends mainly talked about boys and nothing else. The girls both plopped on Zoey's bed.

"Zoey, Mason finally did it!" Lily squealed and laid dramatically back against a pillow.

"Did what, lily?" Zoey asked while laughing at her childness.

"He talked to me! Do you know how many times I daydreamed about having a conversation with him? Too many to count!" Lily sighed dreamily while Zoey rolled her eyes, a smile still on her cheeks. Ah, teen romances.

"Congratulations, lily! You've been waiting for this forever," Zoey chuckled while poking Lily in the side. "What if he asks you out next?"Crimson red spread instantly across the teens whole face.

"I'm pretty sure I would die," Lily responded with a serious look on her face. By now, she was a fire truck red. Zoey laughed at her again, and Lily pouted, covering up her face.

"There was something else, but you can't tell anyone, okay?" Zoey nodded, and furrowed her brows at Lily sudden serious expression."You how your mom and my grandma talked about Cathy's daughter and her friends?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

Lily sighed, "I actually snuck out to go with them," she responded nervously. "My friends and I will all hanging out. Mason and one of his friends showed up, and after a little while, they got bored and said that we should go out and find the beast. We thought it was no big deal and agreed. After an hour or so of looking, I felt a disturbing feeling come over me, and I turned around, and I... I think I saw the beast. It was dark, but I thought I saw a silhouette of someone, but I couldn't tell. I got freaked out, and I told my friends to run, so I didn't really get a good look. It was so scary since I was the only one who saw it." Lily was looked down at her hands when she finished.

"It's why mason talked to me. He wanted to know why I ran so I told him I saw the beast. I just really hope this doesn't get back to my parents. They would kill me!"

Zoey ran a hand through her hair and thought about what to say. "I doubt your parents will find out. Mason probably doesn't want his parents to find out about it either. You really think you saw the beast?"Even though she asked, she knew the answer."Yeah. You're the only person I would want to tell with what happened to you last year..." she trailed off.

Zoey didn't want to believe the Beast was real. She believed it was just a story made up by the towns folk for the longest time. She still wanted to believe it was just a story. No! It is a story. The towns folk got bored so they made up the stories or some sick person trying to scare us. What everyone saw and what she saw was a fragment of their imagination.

"Zoey?" Lily spoke, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry, I zoned out for a bit there. Forget about the beast. It can't seem do anything to you." Lily nodded, and Zoey could tell she felt a bit better.

"Let's go downstairs." They walked downstairs just as Dave and Nancy finished up their conversation with Zoey's' parents.

The two families said their goodbyes to each other. As soon as the door closed, Zoey's mom spoke, "Zoey can you clean off the table and do the dishes. I have to talk with your dad,"Zoey sighed but nodded, and they went to their room. She cleaned up all the mess from dinner and tiredly sauntered up to her room. It was late, and she had to wake up earlier tomorrow to open up the café. Zoey laid in bed and eventually drifted off.

"Zoey..."

She stood in the middle of the dark woods, alone looking for the voice that called out to her. It seemed to belong to a man.

"Zoey..."

"Who are you?! Where are you?!" She yelled into the darkness. The voice chuckled as she frantically looked around.

"You know who I am... I haven't been far from your thoughts lately..." Puzzlement crossed her face, but the realization hit her like a tin of bricks.

"The b-beast?" Zoey felt nothing but a blind terror. She clenched her hand above her heart, feeling her heart hammer against the rib cage.

He chuckled again, "Yes, that's the name your town has decided to call me."The beasts deep voice ran shivers down her spine from how close it seemed to come from.

"W-what do you w-want from me?!" She stuttered, her voice thick with fear.

"You, Zoey. I want you."His words paralyzed her. She tried so hard to move, but it was no use. She couldn't tell if it was the fear or if it was him who was causing her body to be motionless.

"And I will do everything to have you."Zoey shot up in her bed and focused on turning her breathing into a regular pace. Her heart was pounding as she placed fingers on her temple. The dream felt so real, but she knew that it must have been caused by how much the Beast was on her mind. She shivered unconsciously still hearing the voice in her ears.

Zoey looked down at her phone to see the time and noticed she woke up an hour earlier than she was supposed to.

She arrived at work fifteen minutes early, just as the sun rose over the mountain tops causing rays of gold to shine through the windows of her old gray car. Zoey walked to the front of the café and unlocked the doors. Shutting the door behind her, she felt odd looking into the usually crowed and chaotic café.She started with her morning duties, and soon Gracie arrived to help. The café opens at seven, so they had to quickly get everything ready for opening. The morning was busy as usual, even more since it was Friday. Zoey collapsed dramatically against the counter once the business had slow down. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Gracie glaring at her. She quickly straightened up but heard a chuckle behind her. Zoey turned and saw Bret with a smirk on his face.

This man was unquestionably attractive with short, styled blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He worked out every day, and you could definitely tell through the thin t-shirts he wore. Okay, so Zoey may or may not have had a crush on him the entire time she had worked here.

"Careful, don't anger the witch." He whispered so Gracie wouldn't hear. Zoey laughed with him but a little too loud since Gracie turned around and gave them both a sharp look causing them both to head back to work. He winked at her before turning back to a customer.

The day was slow, and she was finally able to go home about five o'clock. She walked out of the café, and the smell of damp leaves hit her nose. The air was crisp and a little chilly today, hinting that a cold front was coming through.

She once again felt the feeling of being watched. It annoyed more this time. Zoey was sick of feeling paranoid, and she wanted it to stop. She looked around her, seeing no one as usual, but she felt braver this time as it was light outside.

She wasn't sure what came over her, and she screeched, "Stop watching me! I can't take it anymore! I don't know who you are, but you will NEVER have me!"

The feeling disappeared as she got into her car. Yep, she was definitely paranoid. She groaned into her steering wheel thinking how embarrassing she must have looked screaming at nothing.

For the rest of the evening, she stayed in her room watching movies, only leaving to get snacks. What else's was she supposed to do?

Thanks for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!