Chapter One

The day that my new neighbors moved in, I remember my mother gawking at them from our upstairs window. "They just don't seem like the kind of people we want to live next to, honey." my mother said to my step father, as she fully opened the blinds to gawk more. "Kimberly, please close the curtain." was all the response Gregory gave her. "Yeah mom, ya'know they can see you!" my brother, Markus, added in; my mother finally closed the blinds and fixed the curtain.

            I stood by, listening to them, giggling to myself. I tried not to pay any attention to the new neighbors moving in next door, however I couldn't help but to take at least one peek while my family continued on with the conversation down the hall. I peered through the sides of the blinds so I wouldn't be noticed. They sure did seem strange, they had all sorts of large tapestries with strange writing on them, many of which seemed to be homemade. They also had many hookahs and bongs, so I just assumed they were a strange hippie family. I didn't actually get a chance to see them, just the movers, I figured I'd see them in due time.

            I pulled away from the blinds and headed down the hallway and stairs, to join the rest of my family in the kitchen.  I thought about how we had just moved here a year ago, and how disappointed I was that no one in my neighborhood was in high school, like me. I was almost upset this new family didn't seem to have any children, based on seeing they had no children items. I had long awaited someone to move there in the hopes to have a new friend that lived close by.

            Gregory interrupted my train of thought when I heard him calling my name. "Mila? Mila? Mila!" I snapped out of it and looked at him. He gestured his elbow to the stove top where he was cooking pancakes. I shook my head no, and just grabbed a banana from our kitchen counter. "Are you driving us to school today dad?" Mark asked him, to which Greg flopped a stack of three pancaked onto his plate and wrote the word "yes" in chocolate syrup on the top. My mom giggled, and finished pouring coffee into her mug and fixing her name tag for work. We all stayed in the kitchen, but enjoyed our breakfast without speaking.

            When we finished, I helped my mom clean up and grabbed my backpack. We all headed out the door, my mother taking her car to work as we hopped in Greg's to go to school. "When are you getting you license, Mi?" I rolled my eyes and and looked out the passenger side window. "You're going to be 17 next week. You've had your permit for almost a year. You begged for it remember? It's time to take your test!" I know he was only trying to encourage me, but the fact of the matter was that I didn't feel ready to drive. I barley ever practiced, and after the first few times I drove, it became a boring and tedious task. "Greg, I told you, I don't want it yet. Besides, what would you do in your free time if you didn't drive us around?" My brother giggled from the back seat while Greg just sighed and focused harder on the road. I pulled my phone out and checked my social media for the rest of the drive to school, while Mark and Greg sang some song on the radio.

            We pulled up to the school and Mark was out the door nearly before the car was stopped. As I tried to step out, I felt Greg grab and pull my backpack towards him. I practically slammed myself back down into the car and huffed. "Mila, you're going to need to get your license eventually. Besides, don't you want to drive your brother and yourself to school?" I didn't look at him, and quickly replied "He can just drive himself to school in, like, a year. He'll be 16 in nine months! And he's never even led on that he wants me to drive him." Greg sighed again, this time rolling his eyes. I jumped out of the car, telling Greg that I would see him later. This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have today.

            I hadn't even made it to the door yet when my friends Connie and Walter came running up behind me, startling me so much I almost dropped my phone. "Mi! Have you seen the news yet?!" they practically both screamed in my face. I blinked in silence at them for a few moments before Walt snatched my arm and ran with Connie, dragging me, to our school's auditorium. The room was over crowded with members of the school staff and students alike; on the large projection screen in the front of the room was our town's local news. Once Connie and Walt stopped running and I regained my senses, I was able to read the title on the bottom of the screen. "MISSING MEN FROM RAMLOCK FOUND IN RAM MOUNTAINS" Reading the title rang a bell in my head, two months ago 7 men from our town went missing after they went hunting in the mountains. It turned out that they fell from a cliff and three of them lost their lives almost instantly, and the other four had several broken bones. I listened to the news report with the rest of my school.

            "The two survivors were found extremely dehydrated, starving, and filthy. The other five men were not so lucky, and were found dead upon rescue; three of which died from the fall, the other two dying over the course of the first month from their extreme injuries. The survivors had to resort to cannibalism of the dead men to survive the two months in the woods at the bottom of a cliff, only to be discovered and saved when two boys playing with a flying drone came across them."

            My heart sank lower and lower as I listened longer and longer. Those five men were fathers of children at my school, one even being on the school board. Gregory was also friends with a couple of them, I wondered if he was at work watching the same news story as me. The news continued on, but Connie, Walt and I decided it was best to just leave the room.

            "It's crazy, isn't it? I'm pretty sure one of those guys was Liz's dad. Isn't she in our homeroom?"  Walt spoke with such an upset  in his voice, and even though he was trying to play it off, Connie and I both knew he liked Liz and his concern for her was real. I looked over to Connie and saw the same look on her face as Walt's. "Guys, don't worry. The families will be well taken care of, and I'm sure that the children are going to be allowed some time off from school. Besides, it's probably better that we keep our heads up for them." We all smiled, and began walking to our homeroom. As we approached the room, our teacher and some students came out of the room. "Oh, hey guys. The school has canceled classes today, there's going to be services held at the town hall   for the entire town to attend, you guys should really come and pay respects for your fellow classmates sakes." Mr. Sterling said to us, stopping for only a second, then going down the hall and disappearing around the corner.

            "I should find Mark so I can make sure he has a way home." I pretty much thought out loud as I pulled out my phone and called my brother. "Crazy what happened, right Mi? Jarred was a close friend of dads. We had been hunting together in those mountains before." was my brother's chosen greeting to my phone call, before I could even speak. "Yes, Mark. I know. I'm trying not to think about it. Do you have a way home?" "Yeah, I'm just going over to Joey's house. I'll be home later." "Alright, later." I hung up the phone and looked over at Walter and Connie. They had made their way down the hallway a bit more, and were reading posters on our school's walls. "'Say No To Drugs' is such a old school thing. You'd think they'd come up with some better slogan by now." I overheard Walt whisper to Connie as I caught up with them.

            The three of us went right to the town hall for the services, most of our town was already there. We didn't stay for long, just for our chances to say good bye and give our condolences to our friends. Connie was the first to speak after we left. "Do you guys wanna come over to my house and get drunk? This seems like a proper time. Plus, I'm sure my parents are going to spending time with everyone else tonight, we should be home alone." Walt and I both agreed and we walked to Connie's house.

            It did not take long for the three of us to be s**t faced, and we went from drinking beers to doing shots of warm vodka, that Connie found in her dad's study, with any chaser we could, to passing around a bottle of Fireball and drinking straight from it. Next thing I knew, we had been watching TV and drinking for three hours and it was almost 4 o'clock. I laughed out loud, "It's not even five yet and I can't walk straight." I said through my laughter, Walt also laughing so loud that Connie couldn't help but to laugh, too. I almost got lost in our laughter, until I heard the faint ringing of my cellphone.

            "Guys, guys, guys. Wait. I gotta get that." I figured that since I was with them, the phone call had to be my parents or brother. I stumbled around Connie's room looking for my phone, and when I found it, I was almost scared sober. It was my mother, and I had completely forgotten to tell her I was coming over here. I answered the phone and waited to hear what she could possibly say.

            "MILA! Are you joking? You get out of school early after a town crisis and don't let me know where you are or what you're doing? Get home right now!" I tried to talk over her screaming and explain what had happened and that I was sorry, but my drunken words barley made sense and she was too angry to listen. I let her scream it out, and hung up the phone after she did. I told Connie and Walt that I needed to go, but they were also so drunk they barley noticed.

            My walk from Connie's to my house was only a twenty minute walk but it felt like an hour. I finally got home around 5:30, and I noticed the neighbors were fully moved in. I walked into my house; my mother and Gregory sitting in the kitchen waiting for me. I assumed that Mark was already up in his room. I walked into the kitchen expecting the worse scolding, then being caught for being drunk, but it wasn't quite like that. "Mila, please don't do that again. You know we worry about you. I was scared and panicking because of what happened in the mountains." my mother said, with Greg following. "You're usually really good with this stuff, so we aren't going to punish you. We're heading out for the night to spend some time with the wive's of those guys. Stay here with your brother."

            This made me remember how happy I was that they weren't strict, and I rushed upstairs to change and lay down. While I was in my room, I couldn't help but to keep peeking over at the neighbor's house, I couldn't get my mind off of that weird writing. I went to my mini fridge and pulled a beer out from the back, and started trying to research old langues. I was unable to find anything for hours, and, a few beers deep, I decided I was going to go for a walk in the woods. I was hoping to be able to view into their windows from a tree or something. I walked into our backyard and jumped our fence into the woods behind it. It was about 9:30 now, and even though it was slightly dark I was still set on seeing into their house.

            I began climbing a tree right outside their fence when I felt my stomach drop hard, and I knew I was going to be sick. I fell from the few feet I had climbed, and then threw up all over the dirt in front of me. It didn't even occur to me to be quiet, and by the time I heard heavy footsteps coming towards me, it was too late to be silent again. I jumped up and tried to run, but I just tripped into the tree and fell over again. My heart was pounding as I saw a figure walk up to me and reach out. I wanted to yell, but my throat was sore from getting sick. I just laid in shock as this thing reached out and grabbed my arm. I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head, and my sight was gone almost as fast as my consciousness.

Author's Note

Please let me know how you feel about about this chapter, ignoring any bad grammar or spelling. This is a first, rough draft. I welcome any new ideas on future chapters, and I'm very open to constructive criticism. Thank you all! (I have chapter two ready if this gets positive reviews!!!)

Reviews

[R.E.K.]

I really liked the suspense threaded throughout the chapter, makes it so I already know it's going to be good.

[Paige Cierra]

Thank you very much! Chapter two will be coming soon.

[aj milton]

It is a nice creative start. My suggestion would be to think about adding extra dimensions to your descriptions, adding more of the senses (taste, touch, sound, smell, etc.) Doing that can give a better description of how your character "feels", not just what happens. You don't have to go overboard but it is worth considering where you can add more "sensation" for the reader. Particularly as this is a fantasy or mystery type fiction.