Falling Dawn

1. Reality

Chapter 1 - Reality

Hilafield, England

December 2013

Ultimately it is always easy to say that you could've seen it coming. Ultimately. The signals had been there, the right causes, and the perfect decisions that had brought me to this point. But why hadn't I seen it coming? I had eyes, a good pair of brains, why hadn't I made the link? Now it was too late.

So many things had happened in between, but it was all traceable to that one day. The day that for the first time ever brought some change to my perfect life. The day that announced the beginning of a load of misery. The day before I died.

Around the corner came the Queen Elisabeth I School into view. The road was slippery, and I walked the last bit over the ice. The fresh snow that had fallen last week was already disappearing and only the treacherous ice remained. The still thick snow lay high up in the mountains, too far away for us to reach.

The winters in England were cold, but it seemed like Hilafield had targeted us. Already from the end of October there had been snow covering the streets continuously, making it hard to travel.

Hilafield lay in the north of England, approximately two hours away from the sea and at the foot of a large hill.

It was extremely dull here in the winter and I longed for the summer, for the beautiful green trees and flowers that would appear in all sorts of colours.

When I stepped into the school, Celia Moore flew me around the neck. "Last day of school!" she shrieked in my ear. "I'm going to miss you so much," she continued. She let go of me and stepped back. When she didn't look I took the opportunity to bring my hair back in fashion and pick up a hair she lost on my expensive Armani jacket.

"Come on, you'll live. It's only for two weeks," I assured her, patting her back.

"Hey Lucy, Celia!" shouted Emily Woods enthusiastically through the hallway when she spotted us. Her cheeks were flushed bright red because of the cold and even though she only had to walk a minute from the bus to the school building, it looked like she had been waiting for hours in the freezing air. Next to her stood Audrey Chamerlain, who, like always, looked dazzling with her Asian looks. She surely was one of the pretty girls around here with her long velvet black hair, draped over her jacket like a rug – something she was very aware of.

"If you guys don't mind, I'd like to walk a bit further inside. It is freezing here with the door open," she said while zipping down her jacket and walking to our lockers. We followed her and leaned casually against the other lockers, something that had become our daily routine.

"Anyone got any plans in the Christmas break?" I asked, while thinking about how in God's name I was going to survive without my best friends.

"No, but I do have an idea about what you are going to do," Celia said with a smug smile.

"And of what exactly were you thinking?" I teased. I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You, Jason – somewhere in a dusty haystack at the stables." Celia raised her eyebrows and pursed her gleaming red lips, looking like a goldfish attempting to kiss.

I laughed at her and smacked her arm, looking around to make sure no one saw that.

I locked eyes with Jason, standing on the opposite side of the hallway. He raised his hand in salute and started walking our way.

"Speaking of the Devil," Audrey giggled. She pinched me in the arm and stared at Jason as well.

"We'll be going now," Celia said while she took Audrey's arm and forced her to walk away with her. They walked hip swaying past Jason and flipped their hair flirtatious over their shoulder in synchrony, smiling at him. I rolled my eyes, they were always flirting with him to tease me. It was one of the many clues I totally missed, I trusted my friends.