Shadows

Chapter One

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Chapter One

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I keep having this same dream over and over again. Every night when I close my eyes, I see her, the girl with the dark hair and that's all I can see, her dark hair. Her long locks blow in the wind, covering her face. She stands in a plain white room with no windows or door and is the only one there. I feel like I'm watching her, but I'm invisible, she can't see me.

I don't know who she is or what she wants I just know that she needs me and I don't know why. She pulls me towards her, I get closer to her every night. But no matter how close I get I can never see her face or figure out who she is. It's been bothering me for months and I haven't slept much, maybe three or four hours a night.

When I can't sleep I run. I run through the town I grew up in, through the fields and all the way to the old mansion, that hasn't been inhabited since the 1920s, and back again. Last night I could have sworn I saw the lights on and smoke rising from the chimney, but I shook it off and put it down to tiredness.

When I run I completely avoid New Broke Bridge. It's got some bad memories attached to it, memories that I don't feel like digging up anytime soon.

When I do get a decent sleep it's with Austin, my best friend. He sleeps over and I have the best sleep ever. He's my only friend, the only one I trust in my room with me at night.

However, this summer Austin's been gone, all summer. I haven't seen or heard from him the whole time and I'm kind of worried. He'd told me on the last day of school that he was going to visit his sick grandmother in New South Wales and not to worry, that he'd be back for the start of school, but that was it. That was the last time I saw him.

My Aunt Angie said I'm just being paranoid, but I think something bad has happened. He wouldn't go away and then not text me or give me a call.

This thought ran through my head as I walked up the driveway to my house. I walked through the front door and did my best to close it quietly in case my family were still sleeping.

"Camila is that you?" Angie called from the kitchen.

"Yeah." I replied. I leaned against the door, sliding my back down it until I hit the ground, sitting in an upright position, and took a deep breath. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed.

My cousin from my father's side of the family, Leslie, came down the stairs. "Hey, Camila. I'll give you and Karla a ride to school today, if you want." She said. Leslie was one of the trainee music teachers at my school. She played piano and guitar and sang beautifully. Her voice was so angelic and calming.

I nodded and Leslie skipped into the kitchen. She was way too chipper for this time in the morning.

"How much sleep did you get?" Angie asked. She came into my view, walking down the hall towards me. A worried expression crossed her face.

"I don't know. A couple hours, maybe." I yawned.

"Go upstairs, take a shower, maybe it'll wake you up a bit." Angie said, extending her hand out to me and helping me to my feet.

I nodded and made my way up the stairs. I collected clean clothes from the drawers in my bedroom and made my way into the bathroom. I locked the door behind me, removing my clothes and stepping in the shower. I turned on the hot water and my cold sweaty body was met with a rush of warm water. I sighed and rubbed soap on my body, then let the water wash the soap away. I sighed again and turned off the water. Getting out, I wrapped my towel around my body and began drying myself. I dressed myself in the clean clothes I had brought from my room and left the bathroom after placing the towel in the washing basket.

I went into my bedroom and collected my black leather jacket from it's hanger on the back of my door and my school bag off the ground. I put my pencil case and purse in the bag and left my room.

I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed a slice of toast off the plate on the table and a glass from the cupboard. Taking the bottle of orange juice from the fridge, I poured some into the glass and put the bottle back.

Karla was sitting at the kitchen table with a slice of uneaten toast in a plate in front of her and her phone in her hands, completely engrossed in the screen. She typed furiously.

I rolled my eyes at my twin and sat in the seat across from her, placing the glass of orange juice on the table in front of me and taking a bite of my toast.

Karla looked up from her phone for a brief moment, giggled then looked back at the screen again.

Aunt Angie came into the kitchen. She glanced at Karla and I. She looked at our wrists and nodded. Taking a second glance at Karla's she said, "Val where is your brand?"

"Eh...." Karla froze.

"Did you cover it up? You know you're not supposed to do that." Angie scolded.

"I know but I don't like it. We get judged because of it." Karla protested.

"Camila has her's out." Angie stated, glancing at me.

I put the last corner of toast in my mouth, chewed and swallowed. "Please don't bring me into this." I said.

"But it's so stupid-"

"It's the law." Angie cut Karla off. "Now go wash the makeup off it. Now!"

Karla huffed, stood up and left the kitchen.

I left the kitchen after my sister and went up the stairs to my room. I entered my room and collected my hairbrush from my desk and brushed the knots out of my wet hair. I plugged in my hairdryer and dried my hair. I brushed my hair again, put the brush down and left my room.

I walked down the hall and bumped into my sister.

"Sorry." I mumbled keeping my head down.

"Watch where you're going freak." Karla shouted.

"Sorry." I mumbled again, moving out of the way and letting her go down the stairs first.

She walked down with her head held high.

"Wrists." Angie said as Karla and I stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Karla and I held out our wrists. Angie looked at them and nodded. She let us passed and we picked up our bags and jackets before following Leslie out of the house.