Old Reliable [Watty Awards 2012]

Hey Readers! This is the first book ever uploaded by Lucy and Jen! We're really excited and hope you enjoy it. The name is pending at the moment, and give us a vote or a fan if you like :D

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Rain lashed at the windows of the little red Chevy. The chug of the engine was heard over the roars of the thunder as the car rolled along the road. The temperature outside was dropping rapidly as the cold front moved across Sydney.

“I think you’ll fit in really well here girls,” chimed Mrs  Young for what seemed like the billionth time. For all the attention she was given, she might as well been talking to a brick wall.

The sisters sat on either side of the back seat, the backs of their hands barely touching as they looked out in different directions. Aurora’s long dark hair fell down around her shoulders in soft curls before settling around her waist, she had shut her eyes, and her forehead was leaning against the window. It was as though she could have been sleeping, but she wasn’t.

Aria had pulled her feet up onto the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees; her hair exactly identical to her sisters, flowing down her back like a waterfall. She stared outside the window, without really seeing anything beyond it. Her green eyes reflecting the bolts of lightning that struck the night sky.

The pair hadn’t spoken at all. Not when they’d gotten into the car. Not when they drove out of Airds, their old city, or when they’d driven onto the motorway. Not now as they pulled into their new suburb of Vaucluse. Aurora and Aria Hills showed no signs of interest, or any sign that they’d come back to Earth.

“So, this is your new town girls, I’m sure you’ll find it lovely,” Mrs Young said to them. “The people here are lovely, and we’re such a tight-knit community –everyone knows you’re coming…just around the corner now…” she said softly, and neither of them showed any signs of interests. “It’s number eighteen, Laguna Street, your new home.”

There was a crunch on the gravel driveway as the car came to a halt. The four passengers climbed out and the girls looked up at the –can they even call that a house?

The Young  Manor stood three stories high and was a beautiful sandstone structure. The driveway was gravel, and stood alongside a small grass lawn with a water feature in the centre. Mrs Young  ushered the girls inside where they saw a grand staircase, marble floors and fancy doors leading off into various places.

Though rather gobsmacked by the size of the manor, the girls remained silent, their faces blank and uninterested. Mrs Young  seemed to not notice the lost cause she was fighting and proceeded to walk the girls around for a tour.

“Perhaps the tour would be better tomorrow,” Mr Young  interrupted, as his wife led them to the games room. “You’ve got to be tired, right?” he directed toward the girls, who both nodded slightly. “I’ll show them up to their room.”

The sisters followed, Mrs Young  in their wake. Aria tried to memorise the way, so she wouldn’t get lost in this labyrinth, but upon reaching the third corridor and climbing another set of stairs, she decided that getting lost in the manor was inevitable.  

“I hope you two don’t mind sharing a room,” Mrs Young  said, smiling slightly at the silent pair. She threw a look of dismay to her husband who seemed to be rather enjoying the silence the pair provided. “Here,” with that she opened the door revealing what the girls supposed was their bedroom.

It was frankly the biggest room the girls had ever seen. They each had their own double bed, and the room still had enough space to fit a lounge and a flat screen TV. There were two study desks surrounded by bookshelves and various cabinets. They even had a bench space with an espresso machine and a bar fridge.

“So, you have an ensuite and a walk-in wardrobe each…I’ve already bought you some things, and your uniforms. Oh, and I’ve arranged some outfits onto hangers for you…” Mrs Young  continued. “Oh and you can go to school tomorrow –“

“Goodnight girls,” Mr Young  said, ushering his wife out of the room. “Sleep well.”

The door closed behind them, and the voice of Mrs Young  was heard chastising her husband on his ‘rude’ behaviour as the pair retreated down the hall. Aria and Aurora were yet to decide whether Mrs Young  was a lovely, kind hearted woman, or a control freak.

Aria and Aurora stared each other for quite a long time. The deep blue of Aurora’s eyes stared into the sea green of her sisters, as though searching for the emotion behind the blank face. Aria broke the intense gaze and lay on her new bed, shutting her eyes against the world, as Aurora sat upon her own and thought about her life; the losses she had endured, and the things that were yet to come.