Finding Alex

Chapter 1

The wind rattled the white French door shutters that covered the windows of the second-floor bedroom on the left. Their paint was peeling off, they were some of the only original features of the 1930's grand home that had since been renovated. The building itself was unrecognisable inside. Marble countertops and walk-in robes the size of small rooms, a theatre and a wine cellar. The outside however remained somewhat the same. A white wrap-around porch and thick white pillars that held up the porch, three dark stone steps lead up from the red brick walkway to the double black front doors. The red brick walkway ran from the front porch to the front of the property with bright green hedges lining it, it opened to a round space with a stone fountain in the centre of it. The driveway had two entrances on either side of the house, one led to a new garage that housed six car parking spaces, and the other led to behind the house but was stopped by an old white gate. In the wind you could hear the old gate rattling, it sounded suspiciously like someone was trying to get in. Or out. From the window in the second-floor bedroom on the left, you could see the streetlight pocking through the gaps in the shutters. The light streamed into the lush carpet and raced the shadows to reach the queen-sized bed that stood proudly on the far wall of the room. A seventeen-year-old girl lay in bed, barely awake. Her eyes slipping closed for minutes but kept fluttering open in an effort to keep them open. Thunder crashed outside and the girls' eyes snapped open. She sighed and sat up. The shadows danced on her floor, an orchestra of trees and wind from outside. The house creaked and her eyes snapped to her door. A tall boy stood in its frame, his dark curls spilling off his head and his eyes gleaming in the dark.

"Alex?" the girl whispered. Another crash of thunder made her jump briefly and turn her head to the window. When she turned back to the doorway the figure turned around and walked back into the hallway. The girl swiftly got out of her bed, slipped her feet into the slippers to the side of her bed and took off after him. She turned into the hallway just as he disappeared down the grand staircase. She continued after him. As she reached the bottom of the staircase the figure was disappearing behind the front door. The girl reached out for the door but it had closed behind the figure. She grabbed a hold of its handles and tugged; it was locked.

"Alex!" she yelled at the closed door, pulling it towards her and trying to open it, rattling it loudly.

"Alex wait!" the door finally clicked and it swung open forcing the girl to the floor, as she stood up she looked at her reflection in the hallstand mirror. A twelve-year-old girl stared back at her. The girl stepped backwards, confused by what she was seeing. She turned to the front door to see Alex disappearing into a black car. She tore herself away from the mirror and ran outside, down the porch steps and down the red brick pathway to the road. She yelled after the car as it sped away, chasing off after it down the road.

"Alex wait! Please!" 

A car honked its horn and she turned to see two bright lights closing in on her at great speed. She closed her eyes and screamed, bracing for impact. 

A second later she jolted awake. The girl sat up confused. The room around her was different. Newer. Outside it was light. 

"A dream," she whispered, "It was just a dream."

The sun streamed through the window and the chirping of the birds that lived in the trees could be heard. The girl reached for her phone and as it turned on she made note of the date. 

August 10th. 

Her stomach dropped. That made a lot of sense. She tended to have these dreams but they were always more severe the week leading up to and especially the night before the 10th. 

Sighing the girl stood and walked to her wardrobe. She switched the light on and walked towards a dresser. In the mirror she looked at herself. Yep, still 17. Thank God. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on the only necklace that sat in her tiffany blue jewellery box. A silver chain with a small silver bar on it. The silver bar had an inscription on the inside that read, 'Birdie'. The girl touched the bar and smiled a small smile. She then turned and grabbed a black knitted sweater from the abundance of clothes hung via coat hangers. The girl walked to a set of draws and pulled out some light washed blue jeans. Once she had slipped into the clothes she returned to the mirror. She pulled her dark into a high pony tail above her head, consdiered it for a moment and then let it go, watching it fall down her shoulders. This would have to do. She grabbed a pair of white shoes converse and walked down the hallway and down the stairs, she stopped briefly to stare at the hall stand and the mirror by the front door, different hallway from the one in her dream but the same mirror stood proud, staring back at her.