Sinister

Prologue & Chapter One

This story will have mature content, please read at your own risk! 

Prologue

It wasn't how she'd thought it would be.

It wasn't bright or intense, gentle or inviting, it was just there, as was she.

Both herself and the door hovered, humming slightly in the space between being and oblivion.

The only light in the room seeped under the door, washing the floor in a silver glow that pebbled her skin.

There was no feeling attached to the door, no overwhelming emotion, it was just a void.

She couldn't help but think that was the point.

Leighton Connors was dying. Dead? She wasn't sure about the tense.

But dying or dead her time on earth was over.

Sinister

Chapter One

Leighton had never been fussy over her nails. She wasn't one to experiment with nail polish or file her nails into perfect semi-circles. When they were long she bit them. The rest of the time she used them to open cans of soda, hit the keys on her phone and pick at the rough skin around her cuticles.

Now Leighton wished she had paid her nails some attention, washed them thoroughly, shaped her cuticles and applied some sort of pick-me-up colour to them. Leighton curled her fingers into her palms and placed her hands beneath her arms, hoping no one had noticed the shape they were in.

No one was paying attention to her. Teenagers mulled around, occasionally knocking her shoulder or stepping on her exposed toes. They laughed and cried, hugged and fought, made the most of their last foreseeable get together before they separated, heading for different paths of life.

Leighton had promised herself that she wouldn't be one of those girls who went to prom. But in the end, nostalgia and the fear of missing out pushed her out the door wearing one of her mother's cocktail dresses. The dress didn't fit right in the chest and the sleeve continued to slip down her shoulder but it was all her mother could round up in such short notice.

Leighton pulled at the material uncertainly, careful to keep her nails out of sight. She hated to think what people would say if they saw the destroyed cuticles and thin layer of dirt beneath the pink nail.

The dress clung to her hips in an unflattering manner and was no comparison to the multitude of floor length gowns that covered the dance floor. Majority of the girls present let their eyes slip past Leighton, unaware of her presence. A few noticed her appearance and smirked, tugging on their friend's skirt to pass along the view.

Leighton looked down, her eyebrows pulling together as she once again caught sight of the horrid state her nails were in. If she were to be honest, looking at her nails made her feel more out of place than her ill fitting dress or wobbly high heels. She thought that perhaps being a completely unpolished stone was better than only shining in a few places.

She folded her hands behind her back.

"Leighton, I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you weren't coming?" Bethany's smile was stretched and plastic looking. Her eyes shifted underneath her glasses, indicating she was only approaching Leighton out of the obligation of old friendship.

"I wasn't going to come." Leighton tried to swallow but her throat was dry.

"I know," Bethany forced a laugh. "That's why I was surprised to see you here. You look nice." Leighton bit down on her tongue, suspecting that Bethany had seen her nails.