A World in the Shadows

Chapter 1, Lyra

CHAPTER 1

LYRA

I looked into the bathroom mirror, and scared, green eyes stared back at me. I breathed deeply, it wasn't that bad. I pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and examined my cheek. My shower had washed the dried blood off but there was a long, visible gash lining the left side of my face, beginning at my forehead and dipping down to my chin. I untied my hair and shook it out, parting it to the left and sweeping it so that the gash was hidden. I swallowed and looked at my reflection, dark green eyes stood out, bright yet even I could see beyond their colour. Pain and loss were so etched in my pupils there might as well have been a warning sign above my head. 'Damaged goods'. I Iooked further, the hair that I had painstakingly shifted to cover the gash was purple. Dark purple mind you, you had to be in certain light to distinguish it from brown.

"Get out of there! I've been waiting 45 minutes!" a voice boomed from the other side of the door. I sighed and threw on my school jumper from the floor. I opened the door and brushed past Harry, who was slumped against the door and had a toothbrush hanging out the side of his mouth. I headed to the kitchen and threw my schoolbag over my shoulder, and I headed out the door.

I shuffled my feet along the footpath as I trekked to school. I would normally go faster to avoid Harry catching up but today was not a morning that I was bothered to speed up. Harry had only come last week, but he was already getting on my nerves. Fourteen year old boys are not in the kind of category of people I could be bothered with. Wasn't I supposed to be an adult now anyway? Turning eighteen should mean something at least. It was in times like this that I wished I had an iPod that I could plug in to my ears. I could close my eyes and forget everything and life would be that much easier. I heard a thumping on the pavement behind me and I groaned, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Hi!" Harry said, falling in to step with me. He grinned, much happier than he was this morning.

"Hi" I grudgingly muttered, trailing my feet slower still.

"Why do you do that?" he asked

"What?" I sighed

"Do that thing with your feet"

"Because I do, okay?" I snapped "Leave it!"

"Whatever" He paused, turning towards me. "Why did you dye your hair purple?"

"I did it a long time ago"

"Well why do you keep dying it?"

"Because I like it"

"It looks weird"

"Can you just leave me alone Harry! Just piss off!" I flinched, realizing that I had stepped towards him, my fists clenched.

"Scoot over kid. Give a girl some space" I looked behind me for the voice that had rung out. Standing behind me on the pavement was a boy. Well, more of a man really. He would have been a few years older than me. Light brown hair hung short around his face. He looked at Harry with narrowed eyes.

"But-" Harry spluttered.

"Walk away" The stranger said. Harry turned to look at me, his eyes wide, and quickly sprinted off along the street. The stranger flashed me a crooked smile and held out his hand.

"Ethan" He said, obviously introducing himself. I stared at his hand. It wasn't as if he had done me any great service. I ignored his hand, and for something to do, tied my hair in a knot on top of my head and kept walking. Without even hesitating, stranger-boy Ethan had matched my pace and gave me a casual, sidelong glance. "Did he do that to you?" he asked, pointing to my cheek. Shit. Another example in which, playing with your hair gets you nowhere. I hastily undid my hair again and re-fanned it over my cheek.

"He's 14. Do you really think that was him?" I said. He looked at me, a frown playing out on his face.

"I don't remember catching your name" he said slowly.

"Maybe that's because I didn't give it" I said, preventing myself from dragging my feet along again.

"I saved you from a teenage twit. I reckon I deserve your name in the very least."

"You didn't save me from anything, and if it was something that I needed to be saved from, I could save myself" I said, looking at the trees in front.

"Anna?" He asked. "Sophie, Clara, Georgia, Hanna, Mia?"

"Keep trying" I said.

Looking thoughtful he asked, "What letter does it start with?"

"You tell me" I said, flashing him a dazzlingly fake smile and turning the corner.

"You know" He called after me. "Your hair would look better bright purple instead," I ignored him and continued down the street. I wanted to slap myself as a small smile creped on to my lips. He wasn't so bad. But that did not mean that he was going to get me to tell him my name. I doubted I'd ever actually see him again.

School that day was awful. Six lectures about forgotten homework, three essays due tomorrow and two detentions. One because, 'my hair was distracting a student from paying attention' and another because I emptied a mug of coffee over the head of a guy that called my friend fat. From my perspective, that's undeserved Karma. I pay my way in life. I didn't see Harry all day, in fact I was grateful for it, but Jenna kept bumping in to me between classes. I should probably explain. I lived in a foster home, I have for my entire life. I've lived in five different foster homes, the first starting when I was two. The one I'm living in now has been the longest. I've been here for five years now. The couple that foster us seem to find my personality charming, not many people do. Foster homes tend to work by new kids coming and going every few weeks or months, however sometimes, like in my case, some of the kids become more permanent. That's what I meant when I said Harry came last week, he's a new foster kid. Jenna is only twelve, in her first year of high school. She's been living with us for a few months, and I really like her. I'm trying not to get attached though, that never ends well.

I had a sudden thought that maybe stranger-boy Ethan had been following me this morning, and it was no accident I ran into him. I hoped not. I was so sick of people letting me down. I didn't even know stranger-boy Ethan, but I had a feeling that he was someone that wouldn't stop until he had answers. I cooked dinner for my foster parents, Jenna and I headed back to the room we shared when we were finished. Why was my faith in humanity fading every single day?