The Duskwood Mysteries

Part 1

Take a deep breath.
In through your nose.
Out through your mouth.
Count to ten.

"Ok, I can do this." I said aloud, looking defiantly at my reflection.

I had been in, what most people would call, a slump. Since Hannah was found, I seemed to lose all of the purpose I had found during the investigation.
Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic that she was home and safe, and at least one of my new found friends messaged me every day, but I felt empty.
I'd found myself slowly sinking back into the same, dull routine that I was in before my number popped into Thomas's messages. Before I was dragged into the investigation of the disappearance of Hannah Donfort.

Before everything went down, I was the assistant to the editor of my local newspaper. You read that right. Not the assisting editor. The assistant to the editor. He treated me like his lackey and I despised him. All I had ever wanted was to be a journalist, but, like most aspiring writers, I hopped on a stepping stone to my dreams and got stuck there. My life sucked.

The town that I lived in, everyone knew everyone, but unless you grew up there, you were pretty much treated as an outsider. I moved there when I was 18 years old and by the age of 21, I still had no friends. Lots of acquaintances, but no friends. That's why the Duskwood guys meant so much to me, so quickly.

My family... Well we won't go there. Let's just say, their door wasn't open to me and I wasn't too keen to knock on it.

Then all of this excitement hit my life and I was in my element. So much to do, things to figure out, people to talk to. I didn't feel lonely anymore.

But my conversations with the guys had begun to consist of; constant updates from Jessy about the group and what they were doing day to day, she would talk about Richy a lot. I had a lot of unresolved feelings about him and struggled to talk about him. Casual 'hey, how're you' chats with Cleo, I didn't speak to Hannah and Thomas much, as they were enjoying their time back together, Dan would flirt unashamedly, but didn't hold much of a conversation and Lilly... Lilly I had grown quite close to since we found Hannah, but she would ask about Jake a lot. I found that very hard.

I still hadn't heard from him since he went offline in the mines.

I felt my stomach twist. I missed him.

But I had made a decision. I would not hang around in this tiny, dead end town, fetching tea and coffee for a control freak with a God complex and wondering eyes.
I was getting out.

I told that A hole to stick his job where the sun doesn't shine and packed my bags.

I had sold everything I owned apart from my clothes and personal belongings, gathered up my savings and booked a flight.

I took in my reflection, examining my hazel eyes and noticing the spark that had reignited in them.

I refused to be sad and alone for the rest of my life.

I was going to Duskwood.