Quite Altered

Chapter One

The rain was coming down in torrents as Lily, Caryn, Lexie, and Isabelle sat in Lily’s bedroom staring outside at the downpour, each of the four best friends wishing they could think of something more interesting to do on an uneventful Sunday afternoon.

“This is really lame,” whined Caryn. “Lily, think of something to do.”

“Well, it’s not my fault,” retorted the curly-haired girl. “Why did you all even bother to self-invite yourselves over here if you were just going to sit and stare out my window?”

Lexie, feeling a fight coming, said quickly, “Let’s explore your house!”

All three of the others turned and stared at her blankly. “Of all the random things you could have said...” Lily began.

“Ooh! Does your house have an attic?” interrupted Isabelle, excitement sparkling in her green eyes.

“We do, but it’s really small, and there’s nothing up there except old Christmas decorations. There isn’t anything interesting up there, really.” Lily replied, tipping her chair back on two legs with a glare still on her face.

“Well, we could just look,” Caryn countered. “You never know what’s going to be in an attic till you go up and explore.”

“Fine, but we better not let my mom catch us; I’m not supposed to go up there.” Lily said, getting up reluctantly and leading them to the attic hatch in the hallway. “We still need a way to get up there, as there’s no ladder.”

“If only Kyle were here,” Caryn said, covertly glancing over at Isabelle. Lily and Lexie smirked at each other as they always did whenever a reference to Isabelle’s not-so-secret crush was made. “Then Izzy here could just use him as the ladder and open the hatch for us.”

Isabelle glared at Caryn, “Don’t even start with me. I’m over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” The other three girls looked at each other and chorused, “SOOOOO NOT OVER HIM!” in perfectly rehearsed unison.

“SHUT UP!” Isabelle tried to assert over the onslaught of following giggles and jeers, “Shut up! You can tease me later about my terminal crush; let’s just get this expedition to the attic going, shall we?”

“Okay, that sounds good. I’ll go get the stool.” Lily answered airily, and she went out into the kitchen to retrieve a tall, four-legged wooden stool as Isabelle and Caryn faced off, the latter facing her friend’s glare with a smirk.

“Who wants to go first?” Lily asked, returning with the stool. When no one volunteered, she matter-of-factly pulled her black hair back into a ponytail before stepping on the stool and pulled herself up into the attic, poking her head out of the hatch once she was in to help the others up. Caryn, the last one up, accidentally kicked the stool into Lily’s bedroom as she scrambled clumsily into the attic.

“Well, at least now my parents won’t know we’re up here,” Lily said as she took out the flashlight she had put in her sweatshirt pocket and clicked it on. Lily’s small attic was dusty as all get-out and cramped as hell. The four girls had to crouch so their heads would not hit the exposed beams. Lily, the tallest of the four, had the most trouble, swearing frequently every time her head hit the ceiling, and Isabelle’s long bushy red hair even got tangled in the beams. There were several indistinct lumps shoved against the walls that looked like they might be sheeted furniture. There was a tall, old-fashioned, silver-backed mirror on the far wall and a huge, ancient-looking wooden trunk in the nearest corner. They were the only things uncovered. The mirror stretched from the highest rafter to the floor, and sediment clouded the reflection. The trunk was dark brown with peeling black paint and a rusted iron lock.