Authors Note: Some characters names, and places have been altered to better fit with my story line. Most things will remain the same though. Thanks for understanding and happy reading!
CHAPTER 1
Melody awoke with a start. Once again her thoughts had been riddled with dark shadows, and strange figures. She turned to glance at the glowing green numbers on her alarm clock. Five-thirty AM. What was the point of going back to sleep? She would just have to get back up again in a half-hour. She groaned miserably. Today was Friday...that meant it was also the day of her Human Anatomy test. Of course she hadn't studied. To be honest she found the structure, and overall appearance of humans to be quite unsightly. Especially the girls with the supermodel bodies and perfect pouty faces, not to mention the guys with "super jock" fibers. It wasn't so much their outward appearance, as their inner attitude. They were attractive and boy did they know it. Not only did they know it, they flaunted it! They were the teacher's pet, the preppy populars, that straight A student that only earned the grades by flirting or sleeping with the teachers. They were uncaring dunderheads, jammed undeservingly into a radiant body. I guess you can't both brains and brawn though.
Melody's mother, Jody had always told her daughter she was beautiful, but most of the time Melody didn't believe it. She knew what she was. She was a tortured artist, screaming inside. She wanted out of this hellhole, out of suburbia where the sun only shines on the perfect people. And that...that was another thing that bothered her. Everyone here was the identical replica of everyone else. Same routines, same smiles, same gossip, same yards, same styles, same morals, everything was the same...except her.
Jody worried herself into a right state over her daughter's oddities. What would the nieghbors think? When next-door sent little Susie out in a darling pink jumper, Melody appeared in her black on white color scheme. Suburbia was home of the pastels and pleasantries. Melody dwelled in her own dreary thoughts.
While other highschoolers went to football games and parties, Melody sat alone in her room with her canvases, paints and charcoals. She didn't have many friends, and those she made were soon lost. But it didn't bring her unhappiness like her parents assumed, she felt secure in her solitude.
The seventeen-year-old shook her head, to rid the sleep. She turned on her bedside lamp and sat up in bed. She could have gotten out her books and studied for that Science test, but her mind wasn't up for it. Instead, she placed her feet on the cold wooden floor and tiptoed across her room. She made a swift stop to adjust the temperature, and the settled onto the windowside bench, equipped with pillows and cushions. Her smoky blue eyes gazed out into the frosty night. It was November and though the temperature was frigid enough, no snow fell to the Earth.
The last time Melody remembered seeing snow was when she was nine years old. The year after, when her Grandma Kim died, saw neither snow, nor the year following or ever afterward. She closed her eyelids over her misty eyes, and remembered back. Back, eight years ago....
Tell me again Grandma, who sends the snow?
"Why Edward does dear...you know the story, as long as the snow comes each year, I know he's still there."
She opened her eyes again and sighed. She missed Grandma Kim more than ever, those cold dreary nights. She shifted her gaze to the north where the looming silhouette of a dark and gloomy manor stood shrouded in a haunting feeling of remorse. Melody knew that her grandmother's stories were not true. She had only took advantage of the mysterious crumbling fortress to make up romantic fairytales to intrigue her granddaughters imagination. Maybe Edward's legend had died with her grandmother's young-hearted faith. Maybe faith was what really brought the snow. Though she denied it to herself in mind and thought, somewhere deep within her heart, Melody still believed in her grandmother's story. So many times she had laughed and danced in the snow with Grandma Kim...how could such a wonderful feeling hold no truth? Still even if her grandmother's fables held any truth, anyone that had lived up there that long would have perished by now.
But her mind swept the childish stardust away. I'm going to fail Human Anatomy. Melody thought. It wasn't in the character of this town to fail at something.
Though it was still dark outside, Melody began to get ready for school. She took a quick shower, and dried her hair. Back in her bedroom, she stared at herself in the large antique mirror. She had her Grandma's face and slender figure, her fathers deep blue eyes, and her mothers raven hair. But unlike most girls her age (to her mother's dismay) Melody chose to wear her hair in a short choppy cut, with one side of her bangs falling like a veil over her left eye. The rest of her ebony hair flew up in feathery wisps.
She often noticed a couple of spiteful, longing looks in the other girls eyes as they observed her edgy, funky crop. But they were to family oriented and common to make that kind of change to their identical, long, flowing locks. The cut framed her face beautifully, though she couldn't see it. Even though her mother felt slightly embarrassed of the rebellious do', inside she secretly smiled. Such a lovely young woman her daughter had become.
She chose a thin material, white skirt from her wardrobe, a soft black tank, and her charcoal gray jacket to wear. It was only six-o-five a.m., but she grabbed up her shoulder strap book satchel, and quietly made her way out the back door.
Melody slipped past the side of the pale blue house and crossed the front lawn. It was a dim blackish gray outside, and the chill bit seeped down to her bones...she liked the feeling. The grass, hard from frost crunched beneath her shoes. The ember streetlights cast a yellowed glow onto the sidewalks. It was a strange feeling walking the pavement.
She would often walk herself to school instead of riding with her mother, but never this early. She noticed again the foreboding mansion, before she turned. As she was making her way towards Griffin County High School, she felt suddenly disturbed. She didn't like having her back towards the manor. It felt almost as if it was...well...watching her. She stopped and turned around to return its gaze.
An abrupt impulse flicked across her mind. She had always gazed at that haunting estate, wondering what it withheld, but never once had she actually thought of finding out for herself. There was no knowledge of who had built it or when it was established because the people of this town didn't shine light on anything different or unique...in fact, Melody hypothesized, they probably didn't even know it was there.
A strange sort of beckon seemed to call out to her, possibly curiosity. She began to inquire what magnificent antiques could be found beyond the mysterious, faded stone walls. She checked her watch, six-fifteen. Biting her lip, she looked towards her house. Lights are still off, everyone's asleep. She observed neighboring houses, all the same, suburbia was still asleep. She drew in a deep icy breath. What the hell? I have no friends to meet, a test to flunk and general torment waiting for me all day. Melody thought to herself. Maybe I'll be a badass and skip out...yeah, I don't have to put up with those close minded jerks. Maybe Melody will have herself a three-day weekend instead out two. Mind made up, She folded her arms across her chest, changed directions, and began to very swiftly, make her way towards the shrouded manor.
NOTE: So I hope you enjoyed this fanfic of mine. I promise it will only get better. Chapter two is nearly completed. Whether it goes up or not is entirely up to you. If I find that you are enjoying it I will be obliged to accommodate you, by frequently adding to its chapters, until my story has reached its end. If you don't like it however, I see no point in wasting time finishing it. Well hope you liked it!
