Scales [ON HOLD]

Chapter Forty-Seven: First Encounter

   "Fine? Nothing important happened? How are the teachers, the lessons... are there any hot boys?" Cleo giggled.

   "Right," I turned to look at her. She took a quick glance at me, a stupid smile plastered over her features. "How old are you, forty?"

   "Thirty-seven."

   "Act like it then! You shouldn't be so concerned in what my lessons are like." I crossed my arms.

   "I should actually, I'm your mother!" She smirked. I huffed, and she rubbed her hand on my face. Slapping it away, she turned the radio on, making it blare out a song by my favourite band, Panic! At The Disco. I hummed along to the tune. 

   "Stop there, and let me correct it, I want to live a life-"

   "FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE!" My mother shouted out of the window, barely in tune. I covered my ears ad groaned.

   "Why...? That was the best part!" I playfully punched her arm. She smirked and rolled the window back up, ignoring the horrified faces of the pedestrians she just scared the life out of.

   "Anyway... any new friends?" She said quietly, her eyes concentrating on the road.

   "Yep, there's this girl called Vinariah Mendleman. She's really cool. She has black hair and blue eyes. Then there are 'The Friendlies'," I made inverted commas into the air with my fingers. "Rebecca, Jilu, Diana, Jack, Hugo, Anjali, Iestyn. They're all really nice."

   "Do you know their surnames?" My mother asked.

   "No...? Why?" I asked as we turned a corner.

   "I might know their parents, that's all. Carry on~!" She said in a sing-song voice.

   "Then there's the sport's captain. Logan... I don't know his surname. He's cool." I looked out of the window. "He's really good at tennis, which is kind of annoying, but yeah. Then there are these twins, Sam and Jack-"

   "Two Jacks? Is there a nickname for one of them?" She interrupted me. I face-palmed. 

   "Just let me finish!" I yelled at her. Oh, My, God. She's so annoying. She can't even let me say more than thirty-two words! "Yes, two Jacks."

   We stayed in silence for a further twenty seconds. I took in a breath, and looked back at her. 

   "Sam and Jack. Their surname is Valentinovich, they're Russian. They're both really nice. Sam is a gamer sort of person, but Jack prefers musical things. They're both smart."

   My mother waited a while before turning to me, parking the car in our driveway. "Is that it? Anyone else...?"

   "No, that's it." I told her. I didn't want to tell her about Robin. The last time that I nearly had, she flipped. Knowing that it was best not to anger her, I faced my front and closed my eyes.

   She turned the engine off to the car and opened the door, picking up her handbag. She jumped out and slammed the door behind her, shaking the whole car. I followed her in. As she reached for the door, a scream stopped her in her tracks.

   "What the hell?!" I stumbled back, shielding my ears from the horrible noise. My mother turned back to me and unlocked the car.

   "Get in, now." She ordered me.

   She threw the keys to me and held the handle on the shaking, white door. I caught them and stared at her.

   "What was that?!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulder.

   Cliodhna bit her lip and looked away. "It's far too early..." She whispered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

   "Mother? What's wrong? What was that?!" I pelted questions at her.

   "Get in the car. I'll follow you after, okay. Go!" She looked back at me. Her hand was tightening on the handle. Suddenly, it began to rattle, as if someone was trying to open it from the other side. She down and squeezed it as hard as she could. I took a few steps back.

   Turning on my heels, I ran to the car. I opened the door and sat in, putting the key into the ignition.

   "Three!" My mother yelled.

   I looked up.

   "Two!" She braced herself to run to the car. "One!" She let go of the handle and ran to the car, opening the door. A shrill scream pierced through the air again, making Cliodhna fall to her knees.

   "Mother?! Get in!" I leaned over and pulled her arm to help her into the car.

   I stopped when a loud banging sounded on the front door to the house. The ground shook as it happened. We both looked over to the door.

   "Why did you leave?" An eerie sounding voice wavered through the air, coming from the door. Water began to drip out from under the door. "Why did you leave us~"

   "Octavia, move over." My mother told me. I kept my eyes on the door and nodded. I sat back in my seat and left room for her to get back in.

   The door began to crack as the banging got louder and louder, heavier and heavier. I looked at my Mother in horror, confusion stopping me from speaking. She had a mix of emotions on her face; sadness, anger and fear. She turned the key and started the car up, breathing heavily.

   "Octavia, cover your ears." Cliodhna said, almost in a hurry. She began to reverse out of the drive way, her eyes never leaving the door.

   "B-But-"

   "Just do it!" She ordered. I gulped and nodded, slowly covering my ears. 

   The door to the house creaked open, part of a face barely visible through the small crack. A wide smile was plastered on their face as their large, white eyes followed my Mother's every move. I blinked at it, trying to get it away from my vision, hoping I was hallucinating. A scaly, slimy hand creeped around the door, slamming it wide open.

   'What the...' I mouthed as I studied the creature in front of me. A long, dripping wet dress the colour of a cloudy sky covered a shiny body, covered in sharp crystal-like emerald shards. It's hair was so long and messy, that it was almost impossible to differentiate between the dress and itself.

   "What is that...?" I whispered. My mother swallowed, not taking her eyes of the creature. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel.

   "Something you shouldn't have seen for another five years."