The Goddess

Chapter 1

(Lillian above)

~~~

I read the name off the small town's "Welcome" sign as I drive along the vacant forested road.

Forks. "Who names a town after an eating utensil?" The chilled air of my empty car did not reply as I sped down the windy roads. A few minutes later, the trees opened up to reveal a large old-looking brick building to my left. I pulled into the packed parking lot and parked in one of the only empty spots near the back. Scanning the immediate area showed that the parking lot was deserted of the bodies that would normally idle to the very last second they were able until they were herded into what they liked to call "Prison".

The bitter wind sent a chill of trepidation down my spine as I hurried toward the front of the building. A blast of hot air blew over me when I pushed open the double doors and I took a moment to shake off the chill that had settled over me before turning towards the doors that have a large "Office" sign hanging above them. The woman that greeted me at the front desk gave me a glare over her thick bejeweled reading glasses. She stood from her seat at her computer and beckoned me forward with a single gnarled finger, her shoulders hunched over a frail-looking frame.

"Lillian Ishtar, I presume?" she croaked with a deep frown on her colorless face. Her skin was like wrinkled paper stretched taut over her skull. Her black sunken eyes stared into mine, making me feel as if she was staring into my soul.

"Yes, Ma'am. I am Lillian," I replied, taking a step closer to the antique-looking desk separating the two of us. She spun with a wheezing-huff and slowly limped behind a book case to retrieve whatever papers I needed for today.

She limped back around the corner, her arms filled with a small stack of papers. Once she returned to her previous place across from me, she dropped the stack onto the desk with a groan of protest slipping past her chapped lips. Her hand whipped out to grab the top paper from the stack and she thrust it toward my waiting hands.

"This is your schedule. And this," she grabbed the second paper, "needs to be signed by all of your teachers and be brought back here by the end of the day." Her gaze shifted to the few other papers left on the desk. "These need to be filled out and brought back tomorrow morning." She explained as she hands me the other papers. "Make sure you do not forget." Then she abruptly turned and shuffled back to her desk and continued to type on her computer. I took that as my dismissal, stuffing all of the papers into my bag, and followed the signs to the cafeteria, seeing as lunch was starting in five minutes.

After I grabbed an apple from the lunch line, I turned to scan the room for a place to sit. The room is still deserted, so I picked a table near the middle of the room and took a bite out of the apple. When the apple was halfway eaten, a bell rung and students flooded into the room in a cloud of chatter. I heard someone sit beside me and turned to inspect them.

The boy ran his hand through his shaggy blond hair before sighing and turning to look at me with a quizzical look in his pale blue eyes. His eyes roved over my face before he asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Lillian," I gave him a smile and he smiled back, introducing himself as Mike Newton. We got to know each other for a few minutes until I heard three other people approach and sit at the table.

"Who's your new friend Mike?" the only boy of the group asked. He took a seat on my other side.

"This is Lillian. She's new here," he explained to his friend before turning to me. "This is Eric Yorkie, his girlfriend Angela Weber," he pointed to a pretty girl with dark brown hair in a ponytail and glasses covering her chocolate eyes, "and my girlfriend Jessica Stanley," he finished, smiling at the brown-haired, blue-eyed girl sitting beside him.