Love In Darkness

chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

Beep. Beep. Beep

I rubbed the crust from my eyes as they peeled open one at a time. It happened again, the nightmares are coming back. Ever since I was a little girl I would have nightmares about a man coming into my room. It doesn’t sound like much of a nightmare, but what scares me is what he says and how he looks. I’ve never seen his face before, it’s always been concealed in shadow. The only thing that’s clear are his elongated canines. His fangs. I’ve had this dream once every two weeks for as long as I can remember, and I don’t know why. When school ended, and I finished my junior year three months ago, so did the dreams. I thought I was finally free from the creepy nightmares, but today’s the first day of school and they’re back. So far my senior year isn't looking so great.

I reached over groggily, feeling around for the snooze button.

“ANNABELLE GRAY! If you press snooze on that alarm one more time I will come up there and wake you up myself with a glass of ice water.” My mom yells from down stairs.

My eyes snap open because I know she’s not kidding and I’d rather wait until I get to the bathroom for my shower. I get up and reluctantly start my morning routine.

       

        ~*~

When I get out of the shower I throw on my new red and white striped sweater over black skinny jeans, and my  worn-out black chucks.

I run downstairs so I can get breakfast before my BFF Sarah comes to pick me up for school. When I walk into the kitchen I see my mom standing over the stove flipping pancakes.

“ ‘morning mom.” I grinned sweetly, wrapping my arms around her. My mom’s fiance is sitting at the table reading the newspaper. I still haven't gotten used to calling him that, since he proposed only last weekend.

It’s been just me and mom for as long as I can remember. My dad left us when I  was a baby and my mom raised me on her own. However a couple of months ago my mom met Dave at work and according to them it was an “instant attraction”. My mom's a Lawyer at the law firm in town, and Dave's the Mayor. They met while she was doing research for one of her cases. At first I was a little weirded out that my mom had a boyfriend in the first place--especially since he's the Mayor--but, Dave is pretty cool.

As long as he cares about her, I don’t really mind. You can tell he does just by the giant rock on her finger and the way they look at each other. It would be sickening, but I know that's how I look at my boyfriend sometimes

“ ‘morning Dave,” I say before sitting next to him.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” mom smirks. A plate of pancakes is set down on the table, among plates of bacon, eggs, toast, and a pitcher of orange juice.

“What is all this, mom?” I joke. I feel full just looking at the table.

“What? I just want my daughter to eat a good breakfast on her first day of senior year.”My mom looked at me with wide innocent eyes before sitting in the chair to my left, and putting her arm around me.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Dave chimes in without looking up from his paper.

“I’m just going to grab a granola bar. Besides I don’t have time because Sarah should be here to pick me up any second.” Getting up from the table, I walk towards the cabinet.

“WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!?!” I hear a shriek from the table and look over to see my mom wearing a horrified look on her face.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” I look down at  myself. I thought I looked good when I first put on this outfit. Is there a hole somewhere in my sweater? A bleach stain on my jeans?

“Those...things...on your feet.” she spats with her face screwed up in disgust. I just roll my eyes because my mom has been trying to get me to throw out my chucks for the past two months. “you are not going to wear those beat-up sneakers on your first day.”

“But--”

“End of story, Anna. Go put on something nice, like your ballet flats.”

A horn from outside saves me from having to change.

“Sorry mom, Sarah’s here. You wouldn’t want me to be late for my first day back, would you?” I smirk looking at my mom’s speechless face knowing I won. Then I grab a granola bar and run to the foyer with my bag. “Bye mom, love you. Bye Dave.” I slam the door shut before they can respond.

“Go, go, go” I shout as I run towards Sarah’s car signaling her to start it. I hop into the passenger seat just before she pulls off.