Spirited Bodies

Chapter 1

The drop just in front of me was intimidating. I stood on the edge of the balcony, weighing the pros and cons of this particular jump. In the distance, the thunder and lightning was getting closer. I knew that if I didn't jump now, he would know what I was doing and stop me. I had decided. I needed to jump for his sake, just as much as my own. I spread my wings, and jumped.

Charmeine sat up in her bed with a start, covered completely in sweat. She jumped out of bed quickly, running to her desk starting up her laptop. Her room had not changed since she was a child. Old photographs of her family and mementos of a previous life still lined the white shelves above her desk, the walls were still pink and she was still sleeping in a single bed. The only change was when she was fourteen, the dolls and stuffed animals were shoved into a bag and stored into the walk in wardrobe. Now at 17, they still freaked her out a bit. Charmeine thought about the buggy eyes of the porcelain dolls she had as her laptop slowly jumped to life. Without hesitation, she opened her half written book on the word processor she was using and began to furiously type her dream out before she forgot any of the details.

'Gabriel stood on the balcony of the restaurant where she had just finished her meeting with Serephina and the other Fallen. She knew that she needed to leave, to tell David about their plan. He would kill her if he knew what she'd been doing, but to Gabriel, it was now a choice of life or death. David needed to know, not only what Gabriel had discovered- and how to stop the Fallen. She knew what she had to do, spread her wings and jumped, just as the near-by storm had settled over head.....'

"CHARLIE! Helllllllooooo?!! Are you still in bed??!" Charmeine jumped at the high pitched shouting of her best friend, Mia, as she busted through the front door of the two story house. "I'm in my room!!" Charmeine shouted back, still furiously typing away. "Are you ready? We are going to be late!" Mia asked as she practically broke down the door to Charmeine's room. "Careful Mia! I swear! You're going to break that door one day!" Charmeine snapped. "It's already hanging off the hinges anyway.. This place is a mess! Have you ever heard of the act of cleaning?" Mia snapped back. Charmeine glanced around the room, her bed was unmade and there were a few books on the floor, other than that, it appeared okay. "You can be so over exaggerative sometimes you know Mia." "Whatever, hurry up and get dressed, we are going to be late. I'll wait for you down stairs." Mia sighed and left the room without giving Charmeine a chance to snap back. Charmeine pulled a face at Mia after she had turned her back and left but slowly got out of the chair she had spent so many hours sitting in. She ran to the cupboard and pulled out her usual- denim shorts and a purple shirt, complete with converse sneakers. Charmeine didn't really care about what she looked like, as long as Mia didn't have something to say about her outfit.. Which she did almost everyday. Charmeine thought about what Mia would say today as she was brushing her long blonde hair so roughly anyone would have thought she was trying to pull her own hair out. She wrapped it up into a loose bun and quickly inspected her face in the mirror. Those light brown eyes that she hated so much were staring straight back. "Oh whatever!" Charmeine snapped out loud to herself, grabbed her bag and briskly walked out the door. Downstairs, Mia was looking at all the furniture in the lounge room. "Seriously, have you not cleaned since they left? This is a health hazard you know.. you could get sick.. and then...." Mia's voice trailed off as Charmeine had already walked out the front door.

Living in this town had to be either a gift or a curse and quite frequently I have decided it is a curse. My name is Charmeine Richardson. I am a 17 year old girl living in the lovely [hint: sarcasm], yet quiet town of Deep Water, just off the border between Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. I think that half the time no one knows whether we are actually apart of Queensland or New South Wales and it shows when you look a the people here. No one really seems to know whether they are coming or going. Population: 500. Eligible bachelors: 0. Chances of getting out: 0. So how do I escape? I write of course. I am always reading, always writing. Thats it. No magical story of how I gained my freedom, no prince charming to sweep me off my feet, no vampire who twinkles in the sunlight to steal me away in the night. Just me, here in this town, writing. About angels actually. Wear wolves don't do anything for me, too much hair. Vampires, well they suck blood for goodness sake! It's like, OoooOOooo, I'm a freaky monster and I live off of human blood! The girls are even worse then the vampires though. Bite me Edward! I want to be a vampire like Bella! Please. Anyway, yes, Angels.