Chapter one.
She stood there, looking out into the forest; she was fully surrounded. The skies were darkening, and Marley was so lost looking at the flashes above her heard, the storm was rolling in.
Everything seemed as if it was in black and white. The only other colour that seemed to appear in her vision was the pale blue veins in her arm.
She began walking, further and further away, she knew this forest was endless. She stepped on many decaying leaves in her path, and the whole place seemed eerie. She shivered, all she had on was a thin summer shirt, and shorts, her feet were bare.
She never felt anything, but in her mind she was cold. She was dreaming, she knew it too. She had always had lucid dreams, they had always shaken her inside - gave her the chills.
A lucid dream is where she is aware that she is dreaming. Only she could never figure out how to change the pattern. This place was too familiar, every night she would end up in the same place, no matter how far her mind would stretch to send her to a different place.
The wind began to blow, and like in the fall, the remaining leaves from the trees would shower around her. Falling to the ground, it could have been a beautiful sight, to someone with a Gothic taste. It only scared Marley.
She walked a few steps before pausing – a branch snagged at her hand, making a small thin scratch where light red had started to seep throw the lines. Her dream self rubber her head with her other hand, only to find it boiling hot. She actually did feel it too, she knew she must have actually been touching her head. She was now at the point where she was slowly regaining conscious and the images of the strange forest began to slip away.
XXX
Her eyes began to flutter open, only they felt odd – wet, would be a good description. She sat up in bed, and looked in the mirror of the antique make-up table. Her eyes were glossy. The liquid in her eyes felt thick, hating the feeling, she got out of bed and headed for the bathroom across the hall.
She washed her face, and her eyes felt a bit better, but were still - unfortunately, glossy looking. Her long brown hair was curled, naturally, into ringlets. She tousled her hair through her fingers, still in her morning haze.
It was her first day, at Vedder High – a boarding school. She recently moved to her father's town, Hope. The town was completely surrounded by forest, and she finally accepted the fact that she'd never get away, unless of course, she moved to Antarctica.
She had already had all her things packed up, and ready to go. Her father – who was already up, was clashing around dishes in the kitchen down stairs. She had no choice but to leave, and join a school where she knew no one.
The only good side was that she was allowed to go and visit her father any time, but she wasn't allowed to go out shopping for clothes or books unless she checked in a special day.
With a groan, Marley got changed, and met her father in the kitchen.
"Ready Ick?" He said. He always called her Ick when she was in a bad mood, only now the nickname became permanent and it began to stick.
"I guess. Are you going to be okay without me here to guide you?" She said, knowing that she was generally right, he didn't have that great of life skills. His house was fairly clean, though.
"Get your bags and put them in the car, and we'll stop for a muffin or something at Tim Hortons," he muttered, starring at the floor.
She mumbled a 'mkay' and walked up the stairs once more.
She got to the top, and she swore she could hear someone whispering.
"Dad?"
"Yes?" He answered from the kitchen; she knew it wasn't him. As she realized that, the whispering stopped.
"Never mind," She said quickly. She put on her fairly new pair of converse – which were from
Wal-mart, and got her bags.
She saw her father waiting for her at the door, and he opened it for her so she could slip through. She turned to look at the house. It was a well sized Victorian styled house with vines growing on the side.
She sighed and opened the truck door.
Her father worked at the hospital as a doctor, considering they didn't have that many doctors around in Hope. He had always told her facts about the body, so she knew a lot.
XXX
They arrived at Vedder twenty minutes later, and Marley had just finished off her chocolate chip muffin. She swung open the door, and nearly fell over. She realized that a guy was watching her, and she heard a laugh. She felt her face get hot, and she turned around, not wanting to see the guy with the black hoodie.
Her father walked her in the office. It was a huge school, there were two separate wings, one for the girls dorm, and one fore the boys.
"Hello, Mr. Percy. This is my daughter, Marley Wilson." He said, giving one of his soft smiles to the man behind the desk. Only she could decipher them It really meant please-show-her-around-so-I-can-leave.
She telepathically sent him mental daggers, but she gave up when he turned to say his goodbye. She gave him a hug anyway, knowing it could be a while before she saw him again.
"Ms. Wilson, your dorm room number is 666." He said, looking at a file. She nodded, knowing that he probably didn't see it because he was still looking down.
He reached for a paper and handed it to her with her name scrawled on the top with messy hand writing. She made a face, the muttered a thanks.
The walk to her dorm was awkwardly silent, but she felt like cheering when she saw that the bathroom – with the showers, was directly across the hall.
The dorm room was fairly big, and she was happy to get it all to her self. There was one single bed in the far corner with a decent sized window above it. On the other half there was a empty closet and a desk.
She smiled and thanked Mr. Percy, and she was left alone to un-pack.
The first thing she reached for, was her iPod and her speakers. She put the two medium sized speakers on each side of the desk, and hooked it up to her iPod.
She taped the iPod touch's screen, and Perfect Situation by Weezer began to flow into the room. She smiled a bit, feeling better.
XXX
She unpacked the rest of her things, and two hours had already passed. She decided to go check out the gym, since it was her free Saturday morning and she felt like running.
She threw on some shorts and a v-neck shirt, and headed for the gym, her running shoes squeaking on the floors because they were still slightly wet from the rain.
She passed a lot of girls, but none of them even acknowledged her existence. She came to the gym, it was really big compared to the gym in her old school. Last year, she attended Brockwood High school in Bridge Falls. She had lived with her mom, and had a lot of best friends. She wasn't popular of course, she didn't want to be.
Plugging in her iPod, she began to run. She was fast too, it was something she was good at.