Among The Shadows (FULL story is uploaded here part by part)

Among The Shadows (1)

Preface

I was running wildly. I tried catching my breath, and how hard I tried to stop, but every time I did try, a new rush of adrenalin pushed me forward. I had no idea where I was, or what was happening; but something urgently told me to run for my dear life. The only thing I knew was that there was a tall, dark man holding a blade. I gasped for air, and frantically looked behind me. Nothing. I saw absolutely nothing. Was it true? Was he really gone? Suddenly the ground under me shook violently, the endless vast of forest began fading into a black darkness. My knees gave up on me and I fell with a thud on the unusually soft, itchy ground.

I jumped up, only to find myself panting, gasping for air, on the floor next to my bed.

"It was only a dream," I sighed.

Chapter 1

Let me start by introducing myself. My name's Victoria Williams, but my friends call me Vicky. I'm your average 17 year old with long chocolate brown hair, highlighted with blonde streaks. I have green eyes and creamy skin (although I do tend to breakout once in a blue moon). I'm not too tall, and not too short. I go to Lake Forest High School, and my junior year is coming to an end in a few months. I live with my mother, and you'll soon find out why.

I turned around to see what time it was on my digital clock. 6:15 am. I still had an hour before I should get ready for school. There was absolutely no way I could go back to sleep now. Sometimes I wondered where I was. I wasn't used to anything yet, not my room, or the atmosphere around me. Right now, I sort of felt like how I felt a year ago, in the town of Billings, Montana. I used to wake up shivering of my own sweat thinking of how different life would be after moving to Barre, Vermont. It was after my dad left us without a trace. One day he was there, next thing you know, there's a vague message on the phone saying that we won't be seeing him again. It was hard looking at mom's face for almost three months. Her face was full of pain, stress, and anger.

It was September when it happened. After school, I drove home and walked into the kitchen expecting my mom to be watching food network. But instead I found the kitchen empty and dark. Now that I think back to that day, the whole house was dark and eerily quiet.

Suddenly I heard someone sobbing. I froze, and listened carefully...it was my mom talking on the phone. "Why? How - what did I do wrong? Please, talk to me! We were a perfect family...and now - I don't understand!!" she stuttered and then even more sobbing. I ran upstairs and literally barged through my mom's office room. "Mom..." I said cautiously, "What's wrong? What's going on?" She immediately hung up the phone. She sniffed once, and blew her nose on a tissue before answering me.

"I was leaving your father a message..."

"But...why were you crying so hard? Mom, tell me what's going on! I'm so confused..."

"Your father..." She began, "left us a short message saying that he's leaving us. I just don't understand; we were all just on a happy vacation last week, and we were so...happy, and, and all of a sudden I come home to a vague message that he left. He won't even pick up his phone!!" she shrieked.

Then we were both holding each other, crying for what seemed like an eternity long...when we tried calling my father a week later, his number was changed.

A loud screech rang nearby. Ugh, I guess I did fall asleep again. I turned off my alarm and ran to the bathroom, cleaned up, and carefully brushed and pulled my long, chocolate brown hair into a ponytail. I went back to my room and grabbed on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a red halter top, and threw on a black leather jacket. Lastly I put on my black converses and I was ready to go. I went downstairs and put a piece of toast into the toaster. I rummaged through my bag until I found my copy of Macbeth, the book we were reading in school. Unfortunately for me, I was way behind, and I tried to read as much as I could while eating my breakfast. Ten minutes of hopeless reading later, I grabbed my bag, and hurried out the door, almost dropping my car keys.