Unnamed (Prologue)

Friday woke up suddenly. She stopped breathing and pulled her twisted covers around her shoulders. The cold hit her like a million frozen kisses but what frightened her most was the silence. She could not here any birds wandering through the night, or the faint sound of the movement in the adjacent lake or even a shout from stupid, drunk students going for a ‘romantic’ walk at midnight. What had woken her up? She was used to the cold because for most of the year she lived in England with her mum apart from in the summer, when she visited her dad in New York. This year he was on a work trip to China and would be gone for at least a month but Friday refused to stay at home with her mum because she was getting married again to a guy called Simon Baker. He might have fooled her mum but beneath his perfect bronze hair and in his icy blue eyes, she knew he was not to be trusted. However, Friday could not persuade her mum to call the engagement off so she asked her dad to help. The only solution he could come up with was sending her to a camp that had been recommended by one of his colleagues. It was better than staying with him.

So here she was, at Sunderset Camp and now… she was quite scared. She looked around her cabin and the only movement she saw was the rising of the chests of the various girls in their beds. They were all asleep. Silently, she pulled on a navy hoodie and slipped on her trainers from beneath her bed. She grabbed a torch from the table and cautiously crept outside. When she stepped out she realised that the moon was shining very brightly. Perhaps that was what woke her up? She didn’t think, she’d been at the camp for eight days already and she had been fine for the past nights.

She glided through the site –a voiding the leaders cabin – and made her way to the forests. She wasn’t meant to be in the forest because it was dangerous. Especially alone, especially at night. Friday never followed the rules. She pushed aside the low branches that were getting tangled in her long, black hair. She wandered for what seemed like hours but eventually made it to a big gate. She thought it must have been quite magnificent but now the paint was peeling off and ivy had woven its way around the walls. What was beyond the gates? She wondered…and vowed to find out.

Beyond the blanket of the trees above, Friday could see a faint orange light and swiftly turned back towards the camp site – not before seeing a shadow past the old gate. She was running out of time. It was probably an animal, she thought. Yeah… because most animals run on two legs wear leathers jackets and have golden hair that glowed without the sun. She couldn’t worry about that now because when she emerged from the forests, she saw a group of people surrounding her cabin and she knew they were waiting for her.

“Friday Delacour, where have you been?” Gosh, Hannah, who was the camp leader, sounded like her mother, she thought. Out, she replied. “I got that but where?” Hannah asked, in a more agitated tone. “I was walking around the campus and I got lost.” she lied. At first Friday thought she’d see right through her lie but she shrugged and just said ‘we’ll talk later’. Phew, she had got away with it. Friday heard her name being called in a familiar southern drawl “Friday?” It was Kristie, her best friend at camp. Oh no, she always woke early and probably realised she was gone and then called Hannah. How was she going to explain this one? She hated lying to her friends. “Over her Kristie.” She waved. A tall, pretty ginger girl ran towards her with her arms out. “Where on earth have you been? I woke up this mornin’ and you were gone and I waited for twen’y minutes before I called Hannah.” Friday bowed her head in shame. She wanted to keep the strange gate a secret…for now. “I…I, er, was woken up by a noise outside, an animal, and I went out to see what it was, and um, I got lost chasing it. I’m sorry.” She said. Kristie rolled her eyes and grabbed Friday by the shoulders and led her towards the cabin because according to Kristie, they had a ‘great day’ ahead of them.

When the two giggling girls walked out again, the sun was shining high in the sky. Friday walked down to the lake and got ready for their surprise which turned out to be scuba diving. Friday pulled on her wetsuit and strode out in the water. “Hold up!” cried a voice. She turned around to face a handsome boy, probably only a couple of years older than she was. “Oh sorry, I wasn't going in I just…” she couldn’t find words. Wow, he’s gorgeous, she thought. “Nah, it’s cool but you might wanna hand around with the rest of us coz it’s a big lake and who knows what could be out there.” His grey eyes stared past her shoulder. She turned around and looked to the other side of the lake. “What’s out there?” she questioned. His grey eyes dropped to hers. “Nothing, nothing at all. C’mon we can go in the water now. “He murmured as he took her hand and led her through the crystal blue water.  

Friday enjoyed the scuba diving until she felt a sudden chill. “Hey er… you” she sounded so rude “What’s your name?” she asked. “Oh right, it’s Alexander, but I allow certain people I like to call me Alex.” He grinned. “So Alexander-“She was interrupted by his deep, handsome voice. “Alex.” His smile was contagious and she found herself smiling- and blushing. She continued “Well Alex, I’ve gotten really cold suddenly and quite tired so I was wondering if I could head back and get changed.” She pleaded. She could not tell him that she wanted to get ready for tonight so she could sneak out to check out the old gate and what lay behind it…especially that figure. “Sure, shall I come with you?” he said. “No, it’s cool.” She shook her head. “See you around…er?” “Friday, my name is Friday.” She smiled. “Goodbye Friday…until we meet again.”

She swam back to the shore and lay down her soaking wetsuit on a nearby rock. She threw on her clothes and ran towards her cabin. Her black hair had not been tied up and now it was flying in front of her eyes and dripping wet as she sprinted to the door. When she opened the door, she quickly made her way to her bed at the back of the cabin and collected a torch and a jumper. No one would be suspicious because it gets dark very early and tonight, there was some celebration happening in the main field which she wasn't going to anyway.

She exited the empty wooden cabin and jogged back to the lake to find that everyone was just returning from the scuba diving. She saw someone waving and her eyes fell upon fiery hair…Kristie. She sure looked excited about something. Friday walked over to her friend and she pushed her away from the group and started quietly squealing. “Ok, what was going on at the lake?” She tried to keep a straight face. She always did when she was interrogating Friday about something…and she always failed. “What?” Kristie rolled her eyes. “I see someone was so caught up in a certain somebody they haven’t left dream world yet. For goodness sakes Friday, I’m talking about Alexander!” She almost shouted, her hands waved in the air. “What? Well, yeah we talked a bit I suppose…” She didn’t know what else to say. “But what’s so bad about talking to some guy. I’m 17 now Kristie, c’mon stop acting like my mother.” She laughed. Kristie smile faded a little and she raised her eyebrows. “Omg you don’t know do you?” Now it was Fridays turn to raise her eyebrows. “You don’t know who he is?” She shook her head bashfully. “Friday, the guy you were flirting with was Alexander Sunderset, the son of the guy who owns these camps, you might judge him on his looks but you’ll judge him even more on his money.” Friday gasped for air. She usually hated rich guys because they were snobs…but she was willing to change that, if it meant she might have a chance with Alexander.