devious • n.s

Chapter 1

Niall

Relentless, the winter came like a merciless blow against this part of the map. Tiny, shiny snowflakes coat everything in sight like a thick blanket, making you only see white wherever you look. This morning I just opted to leave my hair down instead of the quiff I usually do and the harsh, cold air keeps blowing it all over my face. I try to ignore the goosebumps rising on my skin as I walk down the sidewalk, in hands a hot cup of coffee I bought this morning from the coffee shop across the street from where I'm staying, my uncle James' house.

The streets are almost empty. Only a few cars pass by me every once in a while, really nothing like the crowded New York city's morning traffic I was used to, which works just fine for me.

Today is when I start on my first job since I moved into the small town of Landerwood, about a week ago, and I just can't wait no matter how uninteresting being a waiter might sound to many, me included.

After my dad died, a little over two months ago, I moved to my mom's house in Codeland- where she now lives with my grandma Margaret- before deciding it was time for me to move to my own place. I knew mom was already broke due to my grandma's advanced stage of breast cancer, there was no reason for me to stay there and just raise the expenses.

I was planning on getting a job here to send her the money for the chemotherapy and the medication she was struggling so bad to pay. I knew what I could get here most probably wouldn't be much and depending on how much I'd send her I could even starve but I don't care. I'm glad to help.

If only the investigation of my dad's death had concluded anything. He worked for the Oswald's Enterprises, one of the biggest in the field of personal security and just security in general. Since I'd always been closer to him, I'd chosen to live with him when he and mom divorced. It was a hard choice for me at the time, I was only twelve and loved both my parents the same way, but it had to be made. Mom still had grandma Margaret but dad had no one but me.

For lack of a better word, my dad was a wealthy man. We lived in one of the most expensive apartments in New York. I never knew exactly what he did but it must have been important. I could have basically everything I wanted even though, just like mom, I never really cared about money.

Thankfully their divorce was absent of any hits of enmity. I like to think they simply just realized they weren't working together anymore and opted to part ways. Unlike most divorced couples, mom and dad were still friends afterwards and he'd help her whenever she needed, being it financially or in any other way he could.

When dad died was when things started to get complicated. Grandma Margaret got worse and my mom's salary alone couldn't afford her treatment and all the medication she needed. My dad's money was blocked until the end of the investigation since it was found that it had been a criminal death instead of the accidental car crash we first had thought.

We were warned not to leave the city under no circumstance. We were all suspects of killing my dad and I couldn't stand that atmosphere anymore, all the chaos my life had turned into.

Adding our financial issues I was on the verge of insanity when I decided to run away and move here. I contacted my uncle James, mom's brother and my parents' only sibling, and he didn't hesitate on helping me out. He took me inside his home with open arms and let me stay all the time I needed. I'll never thank him enough for everything he's been doing for me, he's been a savior.

I look up at the cloudy, foggy sky above as more snowflakes fall upon me and I shiver, taking a sip from my cup of coffee. I'm surprised it's still just as hot as when I first drank from it. As I keep on walking, the sight of the forest that surrounds Landerwood catches my eyes. I've seen it before, sure, but this time there's something different about it. It looks darker in kind of a creepy way, with its snow covered trees seemingly reaching out for the sky. The aura holds some kind of an eerie beauty though, the kind that makes you want to-