House Of Horrors, Chapter One: The Darkness

“Would you like fries with that, miss?” The girl in the Mac Donald's uniform peered over the counter, waiting patiently.1

“Uh,” Lily counted the spare change sitting in her hand. It came up short. “No thanks.” She felt a bit guilty for making the poor girl working wait, but then again, she was supposed to be watching her figure, so maybe it was just as well that she couldn't afford it.2

The server girl rushed off to fill Lily's order while Lily stood there. She felt so silly. Everyone else in the crowed fast food restaurant was with other people; everyone else had a family.3

That was one thing she wanted most in the world; a family. But she was only 16, too young to have one of her own. Her heart ached. The server girl came back with Lily's order; a small cheeseburger and a small lemonade. Hardly enough to satisfy any appetite.4

She took the tray and tried to squeeze her way past the many adults and kids that littered the place. Once free from the huge mob in front of the counters, she could see that there was no free tables. Lily was so embarrassed. Being here on her own was bad enough, but then standing in the middle of a busy restaurant looking for a seat when there wasn't one was horrible.5

Lily blushed and quickly walked over to a four seated table where a young man sat alone. Well, at least I'm not the only one, she thought, slightly happier.6

She sat down at one of the opposite seats.“Is it all right if I join you? There are no other seats..” She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. She hoped he wouldn't mind, how embarrassing would it be if he said no and she had to find another seat? She hated to think about t.7

The man lifted his head and Lily caught her breath. He was simply.. amazing. His hair was blond and wavy and the way it shone in the light was gorgeous. His features were flawless and his skin was smooth, not a spot in sight. She could tell just from his shoulders that he was fit and muscled. But the thing she liked most was his eyes. They were sky-blue and they showed laughter and fun. Lily found herself staring at them, with her mouth open. She blushed and looked away, hoping he didn't notice. But that was unlikely, he had been looking at her too.8

“No, it's fine,” He laughed; it a beautiful sound, kind of like musical chimes. “Us single people have got to stick together”. He looked for a response and found Lily with a foreboding frown on her otherwise pretty face.9

“Pardon?” Her voice was deep with indignation and embarrassment. Lily hated it when people thought she was single, just because she was by herself. In actual fact, she had a very nice boyfriend, not as good looking as the man in front of her of course, but he was nice and caring and interesting, and definitely not rude to strangers.10

He looked confused and bewildered but his voice was calm and steady “I just meant that we're both here by ourselves. Of course someone like you,” He waved his hand at me and continued, “Has a boyfriend. Or something.” He picked up a chip and took a tiny bit then put it back.11

“Oh, yeah. Thats.. um.. what I thought you meant..” Lily was so embarrassed, tonight was not going well. She had hoped to have a nice, yummy, but slightly fatty, tea and then go to a movie. But the way her night had started off, she just might as well go home, to avoid further embarrassment.12

The mysterious man smiled and said in a very cheerful voice, “Whatever you say” Then his voice became worried, “I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry. Well, let's go back to basics. Hi, my name's Damien. What's yours?” He leaned in and gave a big smile.13

Lily was so bewitched by his glorious smile that she answered straight away, without thinking that it might not be a good idea to give out information to a stranger. “I'm Lily. Lily Connors. Nice to meet you,” She held out her hand, still transfixed.14

Continuing to smile his wonderful smile, Damien reached over and shook Lily's hand lightly. Lily didn't know what it was, but she felt something like an electric shock up her spine. She shivered and took her hand away and started to eat her burger.15

“Yum?” He had stopped smiling but his face and voice was light with amusement. Not waiting for Lily to answer, he continued, “I go to the local high school, Hilltop High. What about you? He picked up the chip he had nibbled before and took another ency bite. 16

Lily looked at him weirdly, there's something weird about him, she thought. Then she silently laughed at herself, he's probably on a diet. He is very fit looking. Then she remembered that he had asked her something and answered with what she hoped was a pretty smile. “I go to Summerdale.” She took another bite of her cheeseburger; it was very greasy. Thats the last time I eat here, she thought.17

Damien laughed “Ah, our arch enemies. But if they were all like you, then, there would be no competition. You guys would win every time.” He glanced over his shoulder anxiously. Was he waiting for someone?18

Lily blushed, even though she wasn't completely sure of his meaning. She looked at the time and could see that her movie was going to start in 15 minutes. She sighed and said “I'm sorry I have to go. I'm catching a movie. But maybe I'll see you around?” Lily didn't know why she said that as a question, but deep inside, she was really wanting to see Damien again, maybe just she could look at him again.. 19

He smiled his dazzling smile again and winked, “Hey, maybe I could join you?” His eyes looked hopeful and once again, Lily found herself lost in his crystal clear blue eyes.20

She checked herself and grinned. “That would be awesome. It's 'The Laser Bird'. It's supposed to be really funny.” Lily looked at his face to see what his reaction would be.21

He laughed loudly and said “Sounds funny. Ok, let's go,” He started to get up and put his rubbish in the tray when he said, “Don't you want to finish your burger?” 22

Lily looked down at her tray, she had completely forgotten about her food. She blushed again and said “Oh, no. I'm not hungry anymore. Besides, we'll miss the movie if we stay any longer.” She walked over to the rubbish bin and quickly tipped her rubbish in. She cursed as the burger wrapper fell onto the floor, instead of going into the bin. 23

Lily bent down to pick it up, except someone else's hand had got there first. She looked up in surprise and found herself looking at Damien, who was chuckling. He had, somehow, already tipped his rubbish in the bin and was standing so close to her, that she could see something in his eyes that she had missed before. A single red speck. But she was sure that hadn't been there before.24

She forgot it as he gently grabbed her hand and smiled. The rubbish that had been in his other hand had disappeared. She shrugged and they walked towards the door. Lily had forgotten about her boyfriend, Sam, this whole time. He hadn't even crossed her mind.25

They started making small talk and they didn't even notice when a group of high school basket ballers walked in. They had gone straight through the middle of the group, when they had heard the angry shout, “Lily??!”26

Lily turned towards the sound and, startled, saw her boyfriend Sam glaring at her. He looked so angry, but in his eyes there was sadness. Sadness and horror.27

“So this is why you couldn't make it to my basket ball game, huh? Huh? Lily. How could you?!” His voice was low and intense.28

Lily looked at her hand intertwined with Damien's and gasped. She quickly jerked her hand back and looked at Damien angrily. What a jerk. I bet he had this all planned. All mean and unkind, and beautiful and smart, and fit, and.. She stopped herself and looked around.29

All of Sam's teammates had surrounded them and were glaring at her. All except for one. One of them was looking at Damien with an expression of concentration. Then his eyes opened wide.30

“He's that Hilltop prick! Damien, I think his name is! He broke Tom's leg last year because his team lost the rugby match! And now he's stealing other guy's girls!” After his little rant, he paused to breath and looked at the effect it had had on his team mates.31

Lily didn't care what they thought. Her minds were swirling with worries. This Damien guy was great, but she had only just met him, and she loved Sam, she didn't want to lose him. She turned to Sam and said “Sam, please. It's not what you think.” her voice was high and soft but there was guilt in it and Sam picked up on it.32

“Get away from me, you slut.” He said it with such hate that Lily cringed. Strangely enough, so did Damien.33

“What did you just call her?” His voice was calm but his eyes were narrowed. Lily tried to step away from him, but he was reached out and held on to her shoulder.34

Sam winced and stepped back. It was obvious he didn't want to fight, he just wanted to get away from this. “Stay out of it, prick. Lily, we're over .” After saying the two words Lily dreaded to hear most, he ran out the door and into the street.35

His team mates gave a worried glance in the direction he had headed, but figured he would be alright and they turned and walked towards the counter, calling over their backs, “Prick”.36

Lily felt her heart drop. This night was a disaster. She turned to Damien, about to say something when she noticed that he had two specks of red in his eyes. She narrowed her eyes. “It's all your fault” She accused. She sounded like a little girl, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was cry.37

Lily wenched her arm away from Damien and she ran out the door, leaving Damien standing there with a bemused look on his face. If she had stayed there with Damien, she would have noticed that he had another mysterious red speck in his eyes.38

Lily ran down the street, not knowing where she was going, all she wanted was to get away from that dreadful place. She could feel the tears streaming down her face and she just decided to let them; fighting them would only result in more. It was a dark street and there was no one around. Well, no one that was visible.39

Lurking in the darkness, was a predator; a predator stalking their prey.40

Lily leaned against a solid stone building, her heart wrenching in great heaves. She was crying, glistening crystals sliding down her red cheeks. This was one of the worst nights of her life. She had been together with Sam for 1 ½ years now; that had been through so much.41

But now everything was ruined, there was nothing to look forward to tomorrow. Theres Damien, a small voice in the back of her head said. Lily hit herself and started crying louder. This was all his fault. This mess, this disaster, was all the fault of a stranger she had met twenty minutes ago. A stranger that, although perfect in every way, had messed up her life, and suddenly, Lily wanted payback. She wanted revenge. 42

She tried to pull herself together; she tried to stop the tears falling. They did, but that was probably due to the fact that she was so enraged at the moment. The moment that anger left her, she would be vulnerable again. She had to be quick.43

She dried her face and headed off in the direction she thought the restaurant was. She ran and ran and even when she would normally be out of breath, she kept going; the adrenaline was pumping fast through her veins.44

Except there was a slight problem in her plan; she was running in the wrong direction, and something merciless was following her.45

After several minutes of near-sprinting, Lily decided to stop and see where she was heading. The street was not well lite, but she was able to see reasonably clearly. She looked around for a hint of where she might be. A thought that something might be wrong, that she should be afraid, or at the very least cautious, had never even crossed her mind; she was still warped with the idea of revenge.46

She turned around, but the way she had come was no longer there. It had disappeared into darkness, and Lily started to run. She could see, could feel, the darkness creeping closer, closer. She ran and ran, finally afraid. Lily's heart was beating so fast that she could hardly believe she was still alive, surely her heart must have exploded now.47

But she kept running, her only thoughts were to escape the ever growing darkness. She turned around and was terrified to see it had almost engulfed her completely. She let out a blood-curling cry. She didn't want to die, not this way. She wanted to die peacefully, during her sleep maybe, not slipping into the unknown.48

She turned around, thinking it may be better to concentrate on getting out, and bumped into something shockingly hard. Whatever it was was so hard it had knocked the breath out of her. She tried to stand, but the hard thing had wrapped something around her ankle. It looked like a hand. She tried to shake it off, trying not to cry, and show afraid she was. 49

The thing got up and Lily saw that it was human. Or human looking anyway..50

She screamed at the sight of his face. Damien was standing in front of her grinning. “Aw, Lily,” he chuckled.51

Lily was downright horrified. She shoved him away and stepped backwards, trying desperately to get away from the man that had ruined my life.52

“Lily, stop. Or you'll regret it,” The smile was gone now, a dark scowl in it's place. His voice was deadly serious, but Lily didn't care. Who was he to threaten her?53

She continued stepping backwards until she picked up the courage to turn around and run. She was afraid, but also so angry, so heartbroken. She ran through the darkness, her heart still pounding heavily. 54

The last thing she heard was Damien saying “Oh well, your funeral.” Then her vision spin and Lily's head hit the ground.