Where The Shadows Rise

~ Chapter 1: Part 2 ~

We still were in the car. A 15-hour drive to this small town in between Orlando and Atlanta. Before moving to this new town we lived in New York. It's a very lovely, lively city and we all lived happily together, though things changed a few months ago and here we are. I couldn't tell whether this all is a good or a bad sign.

I wanted to clear my mind but couldn't. So many things flowed through my brain as if it were just a puddle of water starting to fill up to become an ocean. An ocean I was drowning in, one I couldn't get out of until someone shook my arm hard.

"Shade, wake up!" My brother said, with a worried tone still shaking my arm. "Are you okay?"

I slowly got up from the slumped shape I was laying in. I looked at my brother. His eyes, brown like fresh brown whipping cream on top of a cake. His hair was in the style of a messy textured medium top with tapered sides. The warm sandy brown color of his hair glistened under the light of the car.

"Mikey, wh-a-a-t happened", I tried to ask as my words got jumbled over with the fear built in me. Mikey grabbed onto my shoulder, trying to comfort me.

"You seemed to be choking in your sleep, I was worried so I woke you up all of a sudden" he takes a deep breath, "I'm sorry".

When I heard the word choking, it brought me back to when I was drowning in the ocean of my fears, my memories, my thoughts. Without hesitation I quickly hugged Mikey, my breathing got a bit heavier and my eyes just wanted to burst out into tears.

I held it, I held it all in. Mikey wrapped his arms around me and didn't say a word.

"Honey, you sure you're okay?" My dad asked as he paid careful attention to the dark road ahead. I backed away from Mikey and answered my dad with certainty, "Yeah, it was just a nightmare... I'll be fine". My dad nodded, then smiled.

We weren't far away it was about 10 minutes away from our current location according to the GPS. I looked down at my watch, it was 11:59 p.m. Right as my watch struck 12, the storm started to fade. The clouds then started to come down, our sight was covered in clouds. The only thing that was visible was the headlights of the car. The fog started to thicken up, as in a far distance Mikey spotted something.

A border of lights covered something, my dad slowed the car down. The car drove its way over to the light covered thing. There it was, our entry tickets to this hell hole of a place. A sign, broken down sign covered in cobwebs and paint. The bark of the sign seemed to be peeling of, though the paint seemed fresh.

The colors. Red. Blue. Black. A symbol of what... Was it a symbol of death.

The sign also read WELCOME To HELLSWORTH FALLS, with a drawing of a waterfall on the right-hand corner of the sign.

My dad continued on driving. The colors on that very sign reminded me of that day my whole life turned around, but I was able to control myself.

The fog started to clear up and there it was. The new town in front of our very eyes. Buildings, shops, petrol stations, schools, parks, everything built that was needed in a town. I looked out the window. Graffiti, trash, alleyways, gangs were what caught my attention. The idea of this place seems so great on the Internet it was all a hoax, but then again every small town has its secrets.