Chapter One
"Finally" Aria let out a breath of relief at she placed the last, heavy, box on the floor. Next was the worse bit, unpacking it all. But she wasn't going to be doing that today. It was already 5.30pm and she'd spend the day driving here and dragging the heavy boxes from her car to the house. Tiring stuff.
Aria got out her iPhone and googled the nearest shop, her stomach growled for food. Great, it's not far away, I can walk, Aria thought.
The sun was close to setting outside, a small summer breeze blew Aria's long locks gently around her face. The little town she'd just moved in was too quiet compared to Aria's recent home in the heart of the city.
There were a couple of kids playing with a football on the field across the road. A few of the kids' pants was covered in dirt. The silence was filled with the sound of a lawnmower. It was the typical summer afternoon. The smell of freshly cut grass wafted up Aria's nose as she passed a large garden. All the gardens were very well looked after - watered regularly, cut frequently and decorated with colourful flowers. Aria had a passion for gardening but she didn't have a garden in her city flat. She made a mental note to buy some seeds tomorrow.
Aria passed a guy who was walking a dog – a black rottweiler. The guy smiled as they passed – friendly people, something Aria hadn't come across much. After a few more minutes of walking, she finally got to the shop.
As Aria pushed the glass door open a bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the shop. It looked a lot bigger than it did from the outside. There was an old woman browsing the shelf and a guy at the counter and that was it.
Putting some juice, crisps, bread, butter and a bar of chocolate in her basket, Aria went to the counter.
"How you liking the neighbourhood?" Asked the guy whilst he started to scan Aria's food.
Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Small town, everyone talks" He replied, he was quite young, only about 17 or 18. He had dirty blonde shaggy hair, he was quite tanned and he had the typical body build of a 17 year old. His eyes, they were two totally different colours. The right one was sparkling blue, the colour of the Pacific ocean, and the other was a really dark grey, almost black colour. What a bizarre feature.
"Oh..umm, yeah it's quiet" Aria finally replied, looking for her purse in her bag.
"Well get used to it. Nothing exciting ever happens around here" He said as he placed the food in a bag.
"Great" She replied, sarcastically. Getting out the money, Aria dropped it in his hand. Suddenly his arm flung up and grabbed her wrist.
Aria tried to pull away but he had some strength for a teenager. "Get off me"
His whole expression was blank. No hint of emotion in it whatsoever. His freaky eyes were staring at Aria, like he was could see through her. She continued to yank her hand away but he wouldn't budge.
Looking around the shop, she realised there was no one else here. She didn't even hear the bell ring when the old woman left. "Get the fuck off me" She shouted, a little panic could be heard in her voice.
"Sorry" He smiled at her and let go.
"Fucking freak" Aria whispered as she took the bag and headed out of the shop. Her heart was racing. Deep breaths, deep breaths Aria, she told herself. She hadn't even been in the town an hour and already she'd almost been attacked. What a great start.
The next day, was even hotter than the previous. Aria had started to unpack the boxes but the heat was getting too hot to work in. She fiddled around with the air conditioning but it was bust. She called someone to come and fix it but they couldn't send anyone out until Friday – which was in 2 days' time! Her body was still sweating and she only had a white vest top and a pair of denim shorts on.
She thought this move would be the start of a new life. But it had just started to feel like a mistake. Aria was in a town full of strangers.
By 7pm, she'd unpacked everything. The house was starting to look like a home.
Now, time to put the DVDs in order, Aria thought to herself as she sat in front of her book case. Horrors on top; Paradise Lost, I Spit on Your Grave, the Paranormal Activity films, Wolf Creek, Straw Dogs and The Last House on the Left always went first, they were her favourites. She'd been addicted to horrors ever since she was a kid, begging her mum to let her stay up late and watch them. Aria had almost a thousand DVDs but it would have been too much to move them all so she put most of them in storage and kept the good ones.
Somebody knocked on the door. Getting up from the floor, Aria made her way to the front door.
"Hi, I'm Laurel, you're next door neighbour. I just wanted to welcome you to the neighbourhood" Said a cheerful voice as soon as she door opened.
"Oh thank you" Aria smiled as she took in the woman's appearance. She was a middle aged woman, late 30's, with dyed blonde hair and chocolate colour eyes. Not many winkles graced her faces but her skin was dry and a bit pale. But her 100 watt smile made you forget about her appearance.
"Here" She pushed closed dish in front of Aria. "It's a cake. I didn't know what you would like but I saw you looked pretty young and all young people love cake!"
"That wasn't necessary but thank you!" She took the cake and placed it on the table near the door.
"How you liking the neighbourhood so far?" The second time she'd been asked that question and Aria didn't want a repeat of the last time.
"It's lovely…a little quite though. I'm used to the cars honking, people screaming at each other and music blaring. I'm from the city" She finally clarified.
"Oh" Laurel clasped her hands together. "I'm from the city! Lovely place but sometimes you just need a break"
"You got that right"
"Well I best get going. I left my husband in the house with 4 kids…he's probably got no hair by now" She laughed.
"Thank you for the cake, I appreciate it"
Laurel started to walk backwards doing the path. "Not a problem. If you need anything I'm just next door"
Aria smiled and waved until her eyes caught something else. Someone lurking on the opposite side of the street, leaning on a tree. Aria couldn't see what they looked like because they were in shadow but she knew that whoever it was, was starting right at her. Was staring the right word? Maybe glaring. They were glaring at her.
Shiver wet down Aria's spine as she shut the door.
