Coerced

Chapter 1

I hope you enjoy chapter 1, Lily x
p.s. if you don't like the length of this chapter because it is too long, the others probably won't be as long as this, it's just because this is the introduction to things and there are things to explain :/
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What a joke.

I wished we could turn around and do another two plane journeys and an almost 10 hour drive just to be in the place I felt comfortable.

As our car drove through the iron gates outside our new house, I couldn't help but despair. It may have been our new house, but I didn't think it could ever be my home. It had an ominous demeanour, like a haunted house from a horror film. I already missed LA, the liveliness and bustle of the city, our friendly neighbourhood. This place looked like a ghost town.

"What do you think?", my mom asked me from the drivers seat next to me.

"It looks shit. Why did we move here? What was wrong with the apartment?" I made it clear how annoyed I was in my voice.

My mom sighed.

"Look honey, I know you're gonna miss that place, but it's nice to have a change once in a while, right?" She looked at me with hope in her eyes, pleading for me to give her a positive answer.

I sighed. I didn't want to drag her down all the time, and even though I wasn't feeling it, I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't enjoy this town just because I didn't.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just that, Cali was where I grew up. All my memories were there. And this place? It looks like it was built in the 1800's. And it should have been demolished in the 1800's. It doesn't give me a warm welcome type of feeing." It was true, just the front garden of the house looked barren, like no one had occupied it for centuries.

The grass outside was grey, what was left of it anyway. There were just patches of dusty brown mud, cracked from dryness with unnecessary weedy strands growing from the cracks. The driveway was huge, probably the biggest I had ever seen. As my mom's Honda Accord drove up the bricked pathway, I took in the size of the house. It was more like a mansion, something my mom had never mentioned to me. When she told me we were moving states, my disapproval could not have shown more on my face. I had never been good at hiding my emotions, but I hadn't made an effort to hide it this time. I was devastated. My school was there, my friends, my home that I had lived in for as long as I could remember. My best friend Harley had told me I wasn't allowed to go, that I was his only hope to have an escape from his house.

I planned to call Harley every night, and check up on him. He was so special to me, and he had always been there for me in times of need. He deserved me to be there for him too.

The car rolled to a stop, and I noticed the exterior of the house for the first time. The walls were painted a murky grey, with white, mouldy window panes that looked bigger than me. It was a ridiculously plain house. The high-sloped roof was covered in moss and permanent patches from what must have been rain storms or something. I must have showed my disgust, as my mom looked at me and tried to lighten my mood.

"Hey, come on, you'll like it eventually. It might not look like much but i'm sure it's not that bad." She was always so optimistic. I was the complete opposite. She and my dad always used to call me Nancy from when I was younger all the way up to a few years ago, saying things like: "Always so negative, Nancy!" and, "How are you going to cope in life being so pessimistic?"

My dad was hilarious, when he wanted to be. He and my mom split up 3 years ago, and got a divorce a couple of months back. It didn't have the biggest impact on me, seeing as i'm nearly an adult and I can cope with things like that, despite what my parents thought. The person it did have an impact on, though, was my 9 year old sister, Lara. She didn't understand, and when dad told her that he was going to look after her and mom would look after me until I left home, she threw a tantrum until she cried herself to sleep.

She didn't want us to be apart, and the long distance didn't help either. I only really see her on holidays now, and even that isn't enough. I miss her like crazy, even her temper tantrums. She's a little ball of sunshine, literally. The prettiest hazel eyes I have ever seen in my life, and an almost platinum blonde bouncy hair, with the cutest waves. Even the details on her face were adorable, like her little cute-as-a-button nose and tiny pink lips. She was gorgeous, almost the complete opposite to me.

I was blue eyed, brown haired and had the ugliest details on my face. At least I thought so. My nose was way too big, and from a side profile I looked like a gremlin. My mom always told me I was gorgeous inside and out no matter what, but she's my mom, she has to say that. There wasn't much I liked about myself, but I had always liked my eyes. They had aquamarine blue, with shades of royal blue, blending into a slight bottle green and specks of brown around my pupils. When I was younger, they used to change colour, and some days I could have grey eyes, or completely green. My mom always told me I was magic, or a fairy. She used to make up stories of me being a powerful, and beautiful princess. But as I grew up, I never felt beautiful.

I had a nice curved body, but I was never slim and always had more fat on my stomach and arms. My legs were another story. They were ridiculously long, and I was in adult sizes when I was 12. My thighs were too big, and in the summer always rubbed together and gave me rashes. I was taller than everyone in my family, but at school I had felt like a midget. I was 5'6", but everyone at school seemed to be around 5'10".  I felt small there, even though I was average height. But I had to be happy with myself, there was not much time for insecurities taking over my life.

"I just miss home already. And we're complete opposite sides of the continent to Dad and Lara. I miss them." I was starting to wallow in self-pity, something I didn't often do, and I wondered if this town would invite me more after a few days.

I hoped so.

Mom put her hand on my leg and I looked down at it, then back at her. She gave me one of her warm smiles, and I immediately felt better. She was amazing at comforting me. I put my hand on top of hers, and smiled back.

"There we go, the smile I like to see." She was the most amazing woman, with gorgeous wavy chocolate brown chest-length hair. Her eye colour was a sparkly hazel, explaining where Lara got the captivating eyes from. She was the woman I admired the most.

"Come on, come help me with the bags and cases." She patted my leg and opened the car door, and I followed. I walked round to the trunk of the car and pulled out my suitcase, and a couple of bags full of things like kitchen utensils and other bits and bobs for the other rooms. I carried them to the front door and pushed the handle down, expecting it to do nothing and not budge. But as I pushed it, the door clicked and opened straight away.

Why wasn't it locked?

I put one foot over the doorframe, and the floor creaked underneath me.

Great. A creaky, old, abandoned house.
The stuff of horror movies.

A sudden scratch near the top of the big, winding staircase made my breath hitch in my throat, and suddenly I became unable to breathe. An outline of a figure, shadowy and unfamiliar came into my sight and I immediately dropped the bags I was holding and turned around. I began to break into a run when I was stopped after 3 steps by another figure, this time more clear and less ominous.

The figure towered over me, but it wasn't until I looked up at the face above me that I realised it wasn't a current threat to me. The face was gorgeous, perfectly chiseled and looking down at me with striking ocean blue eyes.

My heart fluttered.

Then he spoke.

"Hello."
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