The Shadow Wanderers

Chapter 1

Looking up at the illuminating sky, her heart filled with sheer delight as she pedaled steadily. Her feet strained against the pads of her bike on their own accord. The sun appeared partly on the horizon, the sea reflecting it flawlessly like a mirror. The insubstantial pink clouds hovered in the orange ethereal morning sky. The cliffs and low hills of the island covered the sea from three sides while the sun ruled the remaining one.

It was a breathtaking view to look at early in the morning. That was what she did every day at dawn―rode her bike to the cliffs to view the most pleasing sight ever. It strangely slackened her. She could relax and enjoy her own company and relish the magnificent displays of nature.

She halted her bike at the end of the cliff and bounced off the bike. Standing dangerously close to the edge, she took a deep breath. Strange calmness seeped through her body, her nostrils flaring with the sweet and salty tinge in the air. As she looked at the sun slowly, her heart started to ache and her mind started to conjure up images that she'd never seen before but longed too much for; a world beyond the island she'd never taken her feet off of.

Steadying her bicycle in the stand outside the school, Calista flung her bag over her shoulder and started walking toward the shabby building. Groups of chattering students were slowly making their way inside the hall. She jumped aside a little as some more students block her to enter first. When she finally held the main door open for herself, the shouting and chattering of energized teenagers greeted her ears. She walked straight to her locker and found Naomi waving at her, already closing her locker. Her olive skin seemed to distinguish her from the masses of people around them. She wore a striped black and white t-shirt with black jeans and her dark sleek hair fell down her shoulders as usual. Reaching her with a smile plastered on her face, Calista held up her hand and they both fist-bumped. She turned to work on the combination of her locker.

"Anything new?" asked Naomi.

"No, but why doesn't the internet know about it?"

"About?"

"The Erinian legend."

"I'm gonna have to stop you there," said Naomi, rolling her eyes.

"It's just something that annoys me. I want to look up something specific about it and I can't even take help from Google. I mean, it's as if this place doesn't even exist on the map of the world. Our histories, our traditions; nothing means anything to the world," explains Calista, an agitated frown on her face.

"You read books about it all the time," states Naomi.

"That's not the point. The point is we're cut off from the world."

Two lockers down, Calista glanced at the dark-haired boy just as he opened the door to the hallway.

With a grin plastered on his face, Isaac Scott made his way down the hall. No one really paid attention to him yet everyone seemed to care he was there. The atmosphere wouldn't change around him, rather he would change it often by doing something to grab the attention of a few.

He was a weird kid, Calista thought. He didn't really boast about being the mayor's kid. He wanted to make his own identity, so people wouldn't know him through only his father. But the two identities were sort of difficult to separate. No matter what he did, he was always treated as the mayor's child and automatically assumed spoiled. He was popular, but not spoiled, Calista knew. He wouldn't let himself get spoiled.

He was dressed in a black shirt and jeans; strands of his dark hair fell over the side of his face which he tucked back out of habit.

"You've been too adamant on practicing the legend yourself. Are you sure you've done enough research?" said Naomi, seeing the book in Calista's arms.

But she wasn't paying attention, her eyes too busy following the boy walking down the hall. Calista realized her mistake once it was too late because Isaac looked straight into her eyes as she was staring at him. Her heart skipped a beat and she turned around a little too quickly, causing the book to fall from her grasp.

Just as she was about to retrieve it, it was grabbed by someone else. Naomi and Calista turned to look at none other than Isaac Scott.

He raised his eyebrows, reading the title of the book. "The Incredible History of Erini. I didn't know we had an incredible one," he mused, as though they'd been friends for centuries.

Calista held out her hand. "I think you should hand it back."

"No need to get defensive. I was just helping," said Isaac, holding out the red leather-bound book. "You're going to need it, anyway, especially when you practice the legend." He winked at her and placed the book in her hands.

"What do you mean?" asked Naomi.

"Come on, we all know about her obsession with histories and legends. I'm surprised she hasn't practiced the legend herself yet," he said.

"How do you know I have?" asked Calista.

"We'd all know about it, Cal. Trust me," he said, flashing his teeth at her. "Honestly, what's stopping you?"

Within the three minutes of their conservation, Isaac had already grabbed the attention of a few. The popular mayor's kid, talking to an invisible girl; that was new.

Calista glanced at everyone around her; Naomi's expectant gaze, Isaac's smirk, and the interested looks of students who were now eagerly listening.

"I don't know," she muttered, her face going red, already wishing the humiliation to pass quickly.

"She's trying to escape Erini—this place she considers hell—by opening a doorway through a false legend. What's stopping you, Calista? I think everyone wants to see that," said Isaac, his voice getting louder.

"Isaac, don't," warned Calista.

"Are you scared of something, dear Cal?"

"I don't need to tell you, of all people, why I do or do not do something."

"Getting defensive, again. Look, I'm just trying to get you out of your comfort zone. It'll be good for you. Just do the legend, read the magical poem, and it'll be over before you know it. Maybe there can even be a new beginning," he said, chuckling now.

A sudden hush fell over her mind and her eyes went hazy. Isaac's laughter drowned with the echo of the ringing bell, and the students clambering to their classes; all felt like a motion in a blur.

A new beginning, that's all I've ever wanted.