A/N: So hey again! Sorry, Rain Dove, I know I said that I'd post chapter 1 up AFTER I'd found a betareader, but I changed my mind XD. As per usual, if you see any misttakes, please PM me! Thanks!

Major shoutouts to: Rain Dove for reviewing and putting me on alerts, thetimelessnight for putting me on alerts, ninja-marshmellows-r-attacking for being generally awesome and Nicci Watson for giving me the inspiration to write! I luffs you all!

Disclaimer: I own EVERYTHING in here (except for the ideas that vampires exist, and I think they stem from folklore :D)


Bitter Greetings

Earlier, it had been hot in my mother's tiny car, but I could now feel the temperature dropping steadily. I was already dreading life in Seathwaite with my father, David Taylor.

He and my mother, Rachel, had divorced almost nine years ago now, when I was five. They had met in a school contest of some sort in Germany. They dated for a few years, and then got married. But, when I was five years old, they split up, me and my mother going one way, and dad going the other.

But, now that I was fourteen, mom decided that it was time for me to go live with dad for a bit. Of course, this wasn't all mom's idea: the court that had given mom and dad joint custody decided that it was dad's turn to look after me. And now she was driving me all the way to Seathwaite, the rainiest part of Britain.

She had tried to make small talk all the way there, but I didn't listen. I couldn't listen.

"Please, Anneliese, talk to me," she said desperately, a last attempt. I looked at her.

"Sorry, I'm a bit preoccupied." I replied. Her eyes flickered between the road and my face.

"Look, I know you don't want to do this, but, trust me, you're going to thank me for it later." she said confidently.

I glared at her incredulously. "What makes you say that?" I asked, worried about her sanity.

"I just have a feeling about it, you know?" she answered. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"No, I really don't," I said. She clutched the steering wheel tightly, laughing silently. I shook my head, frowning a little; she was insane.

But she drove on anyway, oblivious to my question of her state of mind, and the narrow roads of Cumbria flew past my window. The houses were small, and seemed too squashed together to be comfortable, and were made out of ordinary red bricks, with identical little red doors with brass doorknockers.

Within a few hours, we had stopped outside a small house with red-brown bricks, a red door that matched the ones of the other houses, and blinds up behind the windows. We were unable to see the roof, as a storm was blowing steadily towards us, and fog was blocking our vision. I sighed, and supposed I should get used to it. But that didn't mean I liked it.

Dad was waiting outside his car, and ushered us into the hall. He smiled at me kindly, and I smiled in return. Then mom chivvied me into the living room.

"David, do you think you could help us get Anneliese's bags out of the boot? They're too much for us alone," she asked politely. Dad nodded stiffly; I guess he was still pretty mad at mom. Or they just really hated each other.

Either way, they rubbed alongside each other for a while, getting my suitcases out of the boot of mom's little car, and then dumping them in the hall.

"I do hope you're staying for tea, Rachel?" Dad asked politely.

"Of course, David dear," she replied in honeyed tones. She took a seat next to me, while Dad took the one the other side of me. It felt just like when I was four, in the middle of my two arguing parents. I sighed.

"So, Anneliese, what's your favourite subject?" he questioned.

"Erm… English, I suppose. But I also like art, and my wood work." I answered, rooting through my school bag; it had all my old books from Exmouth and everything.

"And what options did you choose for your GCSEs?" he asked, curiosity layering his voice. Mom glared at him, disgusted, as if it was her job alone to ask me questions.

"Erm… wood work, Geography, History and Art." I said, pulling my options sheet from the bottom of the bag. I glanced over it, making sure it had all my information on it.

"What, not PE?"

"No,"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm crap at it." Dad tutted at my lack of enthusiasm in one of my main school subjects (and probably my use of language too), but said nothing more. I was more than a little relieved. He then turned to interrogate Mom for God knows how long. It was only when I pulled my old Geography book out to study from, that Mom snapped.

"For goodness's sake, David, do you work in MI5?" she exclaimed. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she slammed her tea cup on the table, continuing by narrowing her eyes. Dad had just opened his mouth to retort, when I looked at both of them.

"God, I had enough of this when I was five years old. Could you at least act civilized?" I cried, standing up. They glared at each other fiercely, seemingly paying no attention to me at all. But I knew they were. Mom shook her head slightly, and a smile appeared on her face.

"You're right, of course, Anna." she said grinning up at me. Dad just sat there, still looking at Mom like she'd gone mad.

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right," I replied, and she smiled. But then she broke off, and sighed.

"I'd better get off, otherwise I'll hit traffic. Bye, Anna. Promise me you'll ring," she warned, as she stood up and hugged. I sighed aswell, and hugged her back. I was going to miss my Mom. Badly.

So she grabbed her handbag, turned back to Dad, who held his hand out for her to shake. She took it hesitantly, and then smiled at him.

"Thanks, David. I'll speak to you soon, yes?"

He raised his eyebrows once, and smiled at her slightly. Then she whirled around and left. Thunder rumbled overhead, so I barely heard her car engine roar to life. Then, with a flash of bright headlights, I watched her car disappear into the night. I sighed, yet again, and picked up my suitcases.

"Where are you going?" Dad asked, looking up from his newspaper.

I held my things up. "Unpacking my stuff," I answered, and he nodded, and then went back to reading the paper. I stood there for a minute, and then shook my head silently as I walked up the stairs.

My room was pretty easy to find, due to the massive sign on the door reading 'Anneliese's Room', and I groaned internally; I hated my full name. That was why I made everyone called me Anna. So I twisted the brass doorknob, and stepped into a fairly large room that was painted a pleasant lavender colour, with a bed, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. There was also a desk on the far wall, below the window, with a computer sitting upon its laminated surface. I walked over to this vital piece of communication, and switched it on quickly. You could tell that it was new by how fast it loaded up. White it buzzed, I looked around the top of the house for a bit, finding the upstairs bathroom that appeared to be mine (dad was having the downstairs bathroom). I opened the door and walked in to examine it.

It was pretty long, a large bath with a showerhead hovering above it sitting in the top right corner, a toilet in the top left corner and a large basin underneath the window at the very top of the room. The walls were decorated with simple white tiles with a thin blue mosaic border. Tiny blue squares glittered on the floor tiling, balancing out the whiteness of the room. A small cupboard covered by mirrors stood on the wall by the door, and I walked to this first.

My reflection showed a tall girl with long golden blonde hair. I looked especially pale in the bright light of the strip lighting, and my chocolate brown eyes glittered, although you could only see one of them; the other was covered by my golden side fringe. I opened the cupboard door and put my bag of toiletries into it, and walked back into my new bedroom.

Hurrying over to the computer, I opened up my inbox, to find an email from Jasper.

Jasper had been my very best friend in Exmouth. He was pretty tall, just an inch taller than me, and I was around five foot six. He was pretty pale, like me, and he had bright blue eyes. His brown hair seemed to make his eyes glint a little stronger. I knew he had been sad to see me leave, as had all my other friends. But it was different with Jasper. He seemed to be really upset.

'Anna,'it read,

How are you? My mom had a right go at your mom about sending you off like this, so if she's a bit touchy, you can blame me. The triplets send you their love, and Kayla's driving me mad by asking me for news of you, so will you send them an email to shut them up already?

Hope to see you soon,

Jasper

I chuckled to myself at the thought of the triplets badgering Jasper.

Kayla, Alesha and Marti were three sisters, who we called the triplets because they always seemed to be joined at the hip and it honestly seemed like they could read each other's minds. It wouldn't really surprise me if they could. They were all about my height, and looked both alike and not alike at the same time. In essence, they all looked completely different, with Kayla and her long black curls, Alesha and her straight brown hair and Marti and her shoulder-length blonde curls. But there was some weird aura around them, and they all had the same pale skin, the same eye colour, which made everyone believe they were related.

The triplets and Jasper were my little niche at home, and I had left them behind. Knowing this made me just that little bit more nervous about going to the scary Ulverston Victoria High School. I didn't have any friends there, and if I had, I had forgotten them.

'Oh, well. At least we wear the same uniform.' I thought, pulling out a pair of blue trousers, a blue blazer and a little blue tie with white diagonal stripes on it. A tiny red 'U' was printed onto the tie and the blazer. I hung them up carefully, along with the white shirts, and then settled to replying to Jasper.

Jasper,

I was wondering why mom was so temperamental. It's raining - already. I already said goodbye to the sun though. And, yeah, I'll email Kayla now; I can just imagine her bombarding you. Speak to you soon,

Anna.

I clicked 'Send', and waited for the screen to refresh. Then I type in Kayla's email address, and thought hard about what to say to her.

Kay, Leesh & Marti,

Hope you're all well. Just got to Seathwaite, it's raining already. Jasper's mom had an argument with my mom, would you believe it? I found it so funny. I miss you all so much.

See you soon,

Anna

I clicked the 'Send' button again, and watched as the envelope icon flitted about the screen. I then switched my computer off, and carried on unpacking the last of my things. I was just organising my bookshelf, when Dad called.

"Anna, come get some dinner," he shouted up the stairs, and I sighed while I grabbed a book. Dinner didn't consist of much, some chips from the chip shop down the road. It was right outside my school, actually. I would have to remember that when I was allowed offsite at lunch times. But, until that time, I supposed I had better make myself a packed lunch.

I was relieved when it was finally acceptable for me to go to bed, and I escaped to my room as fast as I could. I was worried about tomorrow, when I would have to face my new school. I had covered nearly the whole curriculum for year nine.

I tried to control my panicking, and got ready for bed, brushing my teeth and washing my hair. I climbed under the warm covers, and switched off the lamp. I fell into an uneasy sleep.


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