Into the Dark

Chapter 1

Have patience, readers. The first couple of chapters are just filling you in on some background information. :)
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"Guys, come here! I have an announcement!" I heard my dad shout from the living room. Not really wanting to get up, with a frustrated groan, I very lazily pulled my earbuds out and set my iPod onto my nightstand. The sun gazed through my open window and nearly blinded me as I pulled myself out of bed and scooted into the living room.

The family had all gathered: my mom, my dad, my little sister and brother. It was early in the morning. Maybe seven? And me, not being an early bird, slouched onto the leather couch in our living room and laid my head back on the arm rest.

The others had found themselves seats also, my siblings on the floor, my mom sitting on a matching black leather chair, and my dad... well, actually my dad was standing with a broad smile on his face. But peering through that, I could see what looked liked apprehension in his eyes.

Oh, great.

My sister, Lilly, sat in her pink Disney princess pajamas, rubbing her tired eyes while her blonde hair shot out in an unusual manner. My brother Daniel's hair was just as matted but he looked more awake than Lilly, sitting in his ninja turtle pajamas.

They both crossed their legs and slouched over their laps like all bored little children did, and yawned loudly enough to emphasize their drowsiness.

"Can we go back to bed?" Lilly complained, followed by an agreeing groan from Daniel. Mom gave them that "be respectful" look and shook her head slowly.

"No, your father has something very important to tell us and we all need to be here," she said. But even I could hear how tired she was. Her blonde hair looked like it had been quickly brushed and there was the faint droop of her eyelids that told me she had been arose unexpectedly too.

"Bella can you sit up, please! Show some manners!" she snapped, turning her attention on me. I knew her grouchiness was only because she had gotten up so early, which was something she didn't normally do on the weekends, especially Saturday. So I obeyed and groggily pulled myself up to a sitting position, only to lean my head on the back of the couch.

This time, she didn't bother to correct my actions and turned smiling to my dad. "Honey, you were saying?"

My dad glanced from me to her and back at me again before rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"Okay," he began, "You know that job I got down at that executive office, right?" My mom was the only one who nodded. "Well, my boss called me into his office the other day and told me he had a special offer..."

Mom's face lit up with what seemed like fake excitement as she tried to hide her complete boredom and sleepiness. But my siblings and I just kept our nonchalant poker faces, not caring whether or not we got in trouble for being rude.

"Really?!" Mom exclaimed. "What kind of offer?" Still, the tiredness in her voice remained, although she did seem a little more interested in what my dad had to say.

Dad looked over at Lilly and Daniel, his eyes glistening. "He gave me a promotion! I'm now the CEO of the medical research we're doing down at the labs!" Mom squealed and clapped her hands together like a overly excited school girl who just got a date to the prom.

Me, I just smiled respectfully at my dad and mumbled a quick "congratulations" that seemed to satisfy him enough. I was never interested in his work anyway, whatever it was. All I knew was he worked as some kind of medical scientist and right now his company was working on some type of drug that could possibly help cancer... or tumors. I didn't really know. And I didn't really care.