Howl

The New Face

Shay Mitchell as Ilyanna Pernoka
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Chapter 2

After a quick breakfast of a wheat bar with chocolate chips in, I got dressed in a new plain black sleeved hoodie and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans over a pair of thick tights, as well as three pairs of socks. I hastily made a list of what I needed to gather and tucked it into my coat pocket as I slipped it on, the faded dark tan parka encased with wool that kept me warm.

I ran into the living room and snatched my wallet and keys.

I didn't bother with a hat this time and locked up, noting that the weather had calmed. The sky was a pale blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight, a faint icy breeze pushed through and unsettled the trees, their faint whoosh the only sound except the faint noise of traffic, though I had to strain my ears.

I breathed in the crisp air and skipped down the four steps at the end of the porch, my heavy boots clunking heavily.

I didn't have a vehicle yet, my brothers had also arranged for me to pick up one they would purchase from a local shop sometime after I arrived. The perks of having intelligent wealthy brothers, I thought wryly. But then again they had been taught strictly by our Father, an accomplished lawyer who was both feared and awed, and had married an ex model, he was one of the most accomplished men in the UK according to Cosmo.

I rolled my eyes. It was a shame that such a Father never had time for his daughters. Me and Emilie had suffered a slight neglect in the daddy department, the only male figures we could look up to were the male teachers who taught us at school.

I didn't care. Really. I had two loving elder brothers and if he didn't want to get to know me, then it was his loss. But Emilie seemed to think differently, and had always craved his attention, she wouldn't tell you that but I could see it in every calculated move she made, she took after Father and took the lawyer route, even though she had no interest in it. She would much rather be a star.

I cared not and had pursued my passion of writing.

I bit my lip as I walked up the pavement, it was a decline down the hill that slowly got louder and the trees got sparser as the amount of people and buildings become more of an abundance. My boots crunched in the crisp snow near my home but sloshed in the slush the closer I got to the main town. I shifted my gaze upwards as the trees were replaced with buildings and vehicles, the shouts, cries and chatter of people flooding my ears.

It was so different from London, where you inhaled cancer in the form of exhaust fumes, people smoking everywhere and the smell that constantly hung in the air; a peculiar blend of alcohol, perfume and fast food.

Here the air was so clean I seemed to taste it, like it cleaned out my filthy lungs and replaced it with cold water. The air wasn't heavy and instead was light, I felt that if it were to be bottled and made a cologne or perfume then I would invest my entire savings in stocking up on it.

I slowed down the fast pace I was walking at, turning it into a slow gait as I was approaching a crossing. I took the time it took for the light to turn red to admire the area.

The buildings were either old and worn or remarkably new with splashes of colour. The walk had taken about twenty minutes and I had come across a few more houses near the outskirts like me, I vaguely wondered if they would welcome me as a neighbour then realised it was quite a distance between one house and the next.

Tall wooden poles with wires were scattered throughout, transmitting power through the cables that criss crossed across the sky as it seemed. Most of the buildings were quite simple to label; most of them had signs such as 'Talkeetna Diner' or 'Ivien Supermarket'. I bee lined for the supermarket once the light blinked to red.