Skin Deep

Hey guys its me. Um firstly thanks for reviewing its lovely to open up a story to see someone has taken time to review it. Also I notice most of you liked Skye being mean. I guess he is a little but he won't be a bad person. I just find the prince of the stars stuff to be a bit false. Like an act. Anyway on we go with the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3- A stranger?

Jill

There's something about staying up late on a weekend. Knowing you have a full day of looking after animals. Animals who love you unconditionally. Who don't judge.

I sat on the sofa and picked up a magazine. It had an article on how exfoliation made the skin glow and apparently people in French spas spent a fortune battering themselves with water jets. Well...I needed a shower...

I turned the shower up high enough for the water to sting my shoulders while I scrubbed all over with a loofah. But when it came to washing my face, I turned the spray down. Low pressure, cool water. I never forgot to do that. Couldn't.

I gave myself a scalp massage with the new hair conditioner, giving it time to soak in before rinsing it off. The bottle said it'd make my hair full and glossy. When I cleaned my teeth, I timed myself with a watch- two minutes like the dentist said. I had to do the flossing blind though; there was no mirror above the basin. I'd thrown a mirror at it when I got back from hospital and never replaced it.

I sat down at my dressing table to put on the moisturiser the dermatologist prescribed. I had to use sunscreen too but there was no point as it was the middle of the night. The moisturiser had to be applied in a certain way- tap the moisturiser in and then massage it thoroughly over the whole scarred area to keep the tissue soft and stop it contracting. The sunscreen was easier and only had to be smoothed over gently. My skin lived by this routine now.

I rough-dried my hair and gave it a quick smooth with the tongs, then threw on my clothes. Misty took one look at me putting on my old 'walkies' trainers and ran round in circles chasing her tail. I grabbed her lead in case we needed it and stuffed it in my pocket with an apple for my pony. She did her usual thing of hurtling round the garden and back to me again, over and over, as if she was on a bungee cord. I caught him up at the gate that led into the stable. I whistled to my horse and she headed over, led by her greedy little tummy. Her velvet nose snorted at my hand as she chomped the apple. Scrabble was a smallish horse but she got the work done.

I exited the stable and Misty ran along the hedge up the path towards the Harvest Goddesses pond. It was always quiet there at night. And the water was an eerie bluish black like Misty's coat. I followed her up towards the footpath. No one was around at this time of night, which made it my favourite time of the whole day. Misty disappeared into the undergrowth. She knew this walk as well as I did so I paid no attention and concentrated on picking a path through the nettles. The leaves on the trees above us were still pale green. They'd start to yellow soon, then fall. Misty and I would kick them up as we walked. She hadn't seen leaf fall before- this would be her first autumn. She'd love it. I lifted a branch aside and came out onto the footpath near the pond. Misty was already there peeing up a tree. I patted my leg and she fell in ad we strolled along the gravel path. But she stopped abruptly after a few metres, her whole body a line of quivering attention, and I looked up to see what she was watching, expecting to spot an owl or something.

Then I stopped too.

It wasn't an owl.

A boy was stood at the bank of the pond. He had silver hair that shone in the moonlight and very pale skin. I ducked back behind the trees, bending to grab Misty's collar. We were going to go the other way now, but the stupid dog jerked away from me. I patted my leg frantically, but he ignored me. He took a few steps towards the boy.

"Come back," I whispered. "Come back."

She fidgeted, dancing with her front paws on the spot, and then she made her mind up. She shot off towards the pond, yapping.

"No! Misty! Heel! Heel!"

But she'd gone, leaving me cowering in the trees.

Dun dun dun! Another chapter! Have you figured out what injury she has yet? Oh and theres going to be quite a bit of Vaughn in this. Not sure if they should be related or not... what do you guys think?

Review please!