The Beautiful Dead

Chapter 1

The smell of the bus exhaust pipes filled the air around me. I watched as the buildings grew thinner until there was nothing but thick forest surrounded by a dark cloudy sky.

I check my phone but there was no signal. Great, now I really am cut off from society.

The bus was empty besides me and some farmers who got off on the first stop. The bus driver had the station on some horrible country music.

I put my head phones in and randomly selected a song.

After awhile I hear the bus driver's muffled voice trying to speak to me. I pause the current song I was listening to and take out a head phone, "Yes?"

The bus driver, who was an older man about fifty or sixty with grey hair spoke again with a thick Southern accent. "What's your name?"

You could tell that this was one of those people from the south who wasn't aware that the civil war was over judging from his southern flag hat and T-shirt.

Don't bus drivers have to wear a certain dress code? I think to myself. I guess this far south this was their dress code.

"Oh, ummm Valerie."

He laughs. "I have a grandkid named Betty Ann, we were going to name her Valerie but we decided it was too Northern. Do you want know why we named her Betty Ann though?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't really care." Trying to tell him I didn't want to continue the conversation, I put my ear buds in, but he continues talking.

Goodness, I think to myself. Could he be anymore of a Southern stereotype?

"You don't sound like you're from around here, are you Nothern?" With a sigh I take out my head phones. "Yes." "Wow, we don't get a lot of Notherns around here. What brings you to the South?"

I look away from him. "My parents are dead." The driver is quiet for a moment. "Sorry." I just put in my head phones and ignore him.

By the time we reached my destination it was already late in the afternoon and my stomach was growling.

"Hey girl before you go can I ask you one more thing?" I looked at the driver while throwing a bag over my shoulder. "Sure." The driver still looked uncomfortable from my comment earlier.

"Well... What are you doing way out here?" "Oh" I say, even though I figured he'd ask this question.

"I got an aunt who is taking me in."

He nods. I get off the bus and look around. All there was, was a broken down mill and a bus stop sign which you could tell nature beat to a pulp, but no car the lawyer promised would pick me up when I got here.

I turn around to tell the bus driver to just take me back to the airport but he is already going full speed down the road away from this hell hole. I groan and drop my stuff down on the ground and sit.

Where could she be?

I've never met my aunt before this. To be honest I never knew I had an aunt, so after the fire when this mysterious aunt popped up I was a little skeptical, but my social worker said it was this or foster care since there was no one else.

So now I'm here waiting for an aunt that I have never met before to pick me up and take me to live with her.

I rake back my frizzy auburn hair and put it into a ponytail; in this heat I didn't really care if it looked good or not.

I look up at the sky listening to the low thunder claps. You would think the clouds would help with the heat, but it only made it hot AND humid.

My stomach growls reminding me of my hunger. I pull out the last water bottle and a granola bar I brought and inhale them.

I sit there for what feels like a couple of hours more, but in reality was probably only about thirty minutes.

I start contemplating on whether I can walk back to town before it starts to pour when a rusty pickup truck pulls in front of me.

I think to myself, 'finally!' But instead of my aunt, this boy about 17 steps out. The moment I see him I suck in a big breath.

This boy was seriously cute. He had messy lock's of curly black hair that could of been styled, but still looked soft and silky.

He was about 6,2 and muscular, his medium brown skin looked smooth, and when he looked at me I literally gasped, his eyes were such a bright blue it was shocking in contrast to his dark skin and one look made me melt.

He was wearing a long sleeve blue plaid shirt despite the heat, the color brought out his eyes.

He gave me a big smile. "Are you Valerie?" I stood up as fast as I could his southern accent was nothing like the bus drivers, it was actually kinda cute.

"Uh, yeah. Did my aunt send you?" " Yeah." He held out his hand I took it and he softly shook it. His hand was hard with calluses from working hard outside, I loved how they felt against my soft ones. "My name is Leonard, but you can call me Leo."

I blinked up into his blue eyes. "Uh, okay." His eyes dart to my things on the ground. " Oh, where are my manners. Here let me get those for you." He grabs my bags and lifts them like they were filled with feathers and sets them into the back of the pick up truck.

All the while I fidget with myself knowing my auburn hair was a mess and i was sweaty and dirty from being outside for several hours. He goes around and opens the door for me. "You don't have to do that." I say to him as i get in and buckle up.

He laughs. "Of course I do it's my job." My eyes widen. "What do you mean?" He gets in the driver's seat and buckles up.

"Me, my mom, and a couple other people work for your aunt at her house." "Oh." I say kinda disappointed that he was being nice to me because his job required it.

As if reading my mind He looks towards me and smiles. "But a pretty girl like you, I would help even if I wasn't being paid." I blush.

We get into the car and he starts the engine. A cool burst of air comes from the air conditioner and I feel like crying because it felt so good.

As if he reads my mind he says, "I guess your not used to the heat where you come from."

I shake my head. "Hot where I come from is like seventy degrees."

Leo laughs, "I can't believe you didn't melt out there in that heat! You must be exhausted!"

When he says this I realize how tired I am. I let out a big yawn.

"Go ahead and take a nap it'll take us a little while to get there"

I nod and lay my head against the window.

After awhile it got quiet, and the vibration of the car lulled me to sleep.

The last thing I saw before closing my eyes was sprinkles of rain hitting the car window.