Hunted (book 1)

Chapter 1

My favourite thing about North Shores had been the people in it. I'd had friends and a boyfriend, and all the teachers had liked me. And then there had been the beach. The long smooth coastline, the soft white sand, the clear blue ocean. When I was five, my dad had taught me to surf. I used to love surfing.

Then we moved. I hated Myers Harbour. It was the most boring place on Earth, with its gardens lined with neatly-clipped hedges, its schools full of high achieving snobs, and its crime rate which flat-lined years ago. My parents had said the move would be an adventure. Boy, were they wrong.

I stepped into the middle of my new room and dropped my suitcase. The room was empty, save for a few unpacked boxes and a battalion of dust bunnies. I sighed and sat down on one of the boxes. I looked up and out the window I could see the flat shiny surface of an almost-full moon outside. At least the sky was the same as it had been in North Shores.

I shivered. The cold night was getting in through the open window. I got up and closed the window. I reached to close the curtains but came up empty. No curtains. Great.

Even with the window closed, it was not warm in the room. I rummaged through my suitcase until I reached my hoodie and pulled it on. Looking down, I could see a message scrawled by Lola on the wrist. Lola was my best friend in North Shores and we had promised we'd keep in touch, but I hadn't heard from her since we arrived in Myers Harbour two weeks ago. She had got this hoodie for me before I left and everyone from North Shores had signed it. Although I couldn't see it, the message on the back from my old boyfriend, Jacob, sent warmth through my heart. I missed him more than Lola, more than the beach, and more than my other friends in North Shores. He had been a big part of my life; I couldn't believe my parents just made me up and leave him.

Unlike North Shores, Myers Harbour was cloudy and rainy and cold. The beaches were covered in sharp pebbles that hurt to walk on and there were sections of the coastline that ended in jagged cliffs with no beach at all. North Shores had always been warm and sunny, perfect surfing weather, but I doubted anyone would dare try to surf in Myers Harbour. Sea stacks littered the horizon and waves crashed onto giant boulders protruding from the surf closer to the shore. There were 'no surfing' and 'no swimming' signs everywhere. What was the point of living in a coastal city if you weren't allowed to enjoy it? The only thing Myers Harbour had that North Shores didn't was fish. Lots and lots of smelly dead fish. And me. Myers Harbour had me.

"Charlotte, come down stairs!" Mum called from what I assumed was the kitchen.

A strong smell of garlic and some sort of fish came wafting through my bedroom door. I wrinkled my nose. "Coming!" I took one more look out the window at the night sky and hurried down the stairs. 

My parents were both in the kitchen. Mum leaned over a steaming wok of stir fry. I could see a mix of string beans, mushrooms, asparagus, and bell peppers frying in the pan and my nose identified a mixture of garlic and onion, as well as the unpleasant fish smell. Dad turned to me from the dinner table and held up a big plate with a round disc-like fish on it. The source of the smell no doubt.

"Honey, I've made flounder!" He grinned at me as though cooking this fish was some big achievement.

I forced a smile. "That's great, Dad. I loooove flounder."

The flounder was blackened, probably burnt, and was practically floating on a buttery sauce. I swallowed hard. I would have to fight to keep from throwing up all over Dad's masterpiece.

I sat down at one side of the table and Dad joined me, soon followed by Mum who was carrying her wok of stir fry with an oven mitt. It smelled great. Much better than Dad's fish anyway.