A raven's secret

Small town issues

Hey guys!! Welcome to my first story here on Wattpad. In the first chapter you get to meet the characters and see the setting for the first time. Hope you enjoy it!!

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"This place sucks."

Those had been the first words Scott had said when we parked in front of our new house. And I had to agree, he was right.

Our new house was actually a cottage in Rose Hill. Rose Hill was a small town in the middle of nowhere, miles from London, where we used to live. But with Mom's new job at the local art gallery, and Dad's transfer to the Rose Hill police department, London had to stay behind as we left for our new life.

The cottage was big and old. It didn't look like anyone had lived here within the decade. The garden consisted mostly out of weeds, and the woods loomed at the back of the cottage. I was certain that wild animals were living in there, and I didn't feel too safe living so close to them. 

Another reason why this town sucked was because Scott and I had to go to Rose Hill High this year. Scott was my older brother. He was graduating and I was starting the tenth grade.  If you've ever seen a movie set in a small town you'll know that the local high school was always the source of the trouble. Or the woods that surrounded said town. Whatever came first.

"Can you guys just give it a chance?" Dad asked as he opened his door. "You haven't even seen the inside yet."

"If it looks anything like the outside..." Scott muttered.

I bit back a smile. Scott was one of the most sarcastic people I knew. We got along better than most siblings did, mostly since we had a strict unspoken agreement - stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours.

Dad fumbled for his keys while the rest of us stood in the garden, looking slightly lost. When the door finally opened I was greeted by the dark interior of the house. Stepping inside I could see that all the furniture was covered with white sheets, and dust had settled on everything that remained.

"How long did you say had the house stood empty?" I called out to Dad, who had already moved into the living room and was removing dusty sheets.

I saw him hesitate. "A while," he admitted. "But this is nothing a broom and a bit of soap can't clean up." He sounded extremely optimistic about the entire process of cleaning.

"I think you're going to need a lot more than some water and soap," Scott said. He rubbed a hand through his dark hair and looked around him with an expression of distaste. Than he looked over to me. "Race you upstairs."

"Wait!" I called as Scott sprinted up the stairs leading to the bedrooms. I followed quickly behind. Scott and I had talked about the bedroom situation when we first found out we were moving here. There were four bedrooms, the bigger ones being at the back of the house. Dad had already told us the biggest one was theirs, so Scott and I had to battle for the other one. The remaining two bedrooms were the same size. Our agreement was that whoever got to the bedroom first could keep it. 

"Scott! Ella! Don't run in the house!" Mom called after us.

We didn't pay much attention to her. Upstairs, Scott and I wrestled in the doorway of the bedroom. Scott, being bigger and stronger than me, won the match and stood triumphantly in the middle of the room. It was at least twice the size of his old one, and he seemed smug.

Grumbling out of the room, I had to be happy with whatever was left. I was the lone loser today. The smaller rooms were across from each other and I picked the one on the right. The room was definitly smaller than the one that Scott had won, but it was still an improvement on my previous bedroom. The window had a view of the front yard and the road that ran in front of it. A wooden desk sat in front of the window and I was lucky to have a built in wardrobe.