Cold as you

Chapter One

The heavy rain splattered across the cement,  raindrops sliding down car windshields.

Her make up running down her pale face,  an emotionless expression surfaced as she walked down the almost deserted street.
Her long chocolate brown hair sticking against the back of her neck,  a few strands also stuck to her cheeks.
She stopped walking,  turning her gaze to see a trio of friends laughing, walking out of a bar across the road.

They all had dark,  if not black hair.
One of the two guys had gotten her attention, his almost black hair spiked up.
He had a bottom middle lip ring that shone under the streetlight.

She watched him for a few moments.
He lit the cigarette that one of his friends gave him and brought it to his mouth, taking a drag.

The two made eye contact.
Time had felt like it had stopped.
He was perfect...

He was the first guy she would ever unknowingly kill.

She dropped eye contact,  turning back around, walking away.
Leaving the guy and his friends.

She pulled her soaked, thin, grey cardigan tighter into her body as she walked, hoping for an extra bit of warmth.

The bare skin of her legs covered in goosebumps, she had decided on wearing faded denim shorts earlier that day, the weather forecasts being perfect, no chance of rain.

She continued her walk home through the dimly lit street.

Stella was a local,  and she had never seen him around before.
It was obvious that he wasn't from town.

She shortly arrived at her doorstep.
Standing there she contemplated if she should go in the front door, or sneak around the back.

She opened the front door and entered, expecting to hear the familiar yelling between her parents, only to be greeted by silence.

She walked in.
The screen door slammed shut,  the wooden door following pursuit.

Walk-in around the house Stella found her mother asleep on the lounge, surrounded by empty alcohol bottles.

She made her way upstairs to see her brothers door ajar, Derek laying on his bed,  surrounded by smoke, the musky smell of marijuana strong as she passed his room.

Further down the hallway she checked her little sisters room, Lucy was fast asleep under the covers.

She softly closed the door and made her way to her room, the attic.

The house only has three bedrooms, and when Lucy came along Stella decided that she wanted the attic.
It was more spacious

She turned her bedside lamp on.

She got changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a white singlet top, she put her hair up into a messy bun, and wiped away the remaineder of her makeup.

Headlights shone through her window.

Looking out she saw a taxi,  her father emerging from the back passenger seat, slamming the door shut.
His tie was loose, shirt untucked,  and his hair was messed up.

As soon as the front door opened and he set foot in the house, it began..

She sat on her windowsill listening to her parents argument as she did every night.

After ten minutes, the raging argument between her parents worsening, she heard her door creak open.

Turning her head, Stella saw Lucy.
Her soft blonde curls messy,  fear in her little eyes.

Stella nodded, standing up and walking over to her bed, pulling the blankets back,  and sat down.
Lucy shut the door and quietly ran over to the bed, jumping onto it and crawling up, and laying next to Stella,  who had now pulled up the blankets to cover the two of them.

She reached over and turned the light out.

Lucy cuddled into Stella as their parents we getting louder each minute.

Stella listened to every word that he mother threw at her father,  and vice versa.

After an hour, Stella could her Lucy snoring softly beside her.
Her parents were starting to quiet down for the night.

Tomorrow during daylight they'll be nothing like this..
They'll be 'Happy' and 'loving' like the other families in the neighbourhood.
A 'perfect' family.

As Stella laid in bed,  she could help but let her mind slip away and think about the guy from earlier...