Shadow Bite || WATTYS 2017

Prologue

The affectionate purr of the engine remains a faint background noise as the white Honda Civic trails down the road. Thick shrubbery encompasses the vehicle from the sides, and the tall trees seem to flank it endlessly. I lean my head against the smudgy windowpane – prone to too many finger drawings – and trail the rugged case of my worn paperback. We've been driving for well over five hours, and the sun has become a dimming source of light in the horizon. Its marigold rays burn through the dark leaves of the foliage, casting burnt hues onto the glass. My eyes fleet downward and I trace the bold-printed lettering on the book cover ambivalently. The thoughts inside my head mould and break apart incessantly, depriving me of sleep. I glance to the side, where my five-year-old little sister rests peacefully, a pillow propped up against her window and her golden hair spilling down her shoulders. Mum and Dad's quiet voices are only faint hums from the front, and the heavy air presses into me from all corners. With an exhausted sigh and droopy eyes that refuse to shut, I open the hefty book in my lap and brush the pages past until I get to the donkey-ear at the top right corner where I'd left off. I unfold it and let myself immediately be sucked in by The Clockwork Prince's mesmerising words.

·

"Camilla, darling? Wake up." Something soft prods my cheek lightly, cutting its way into my hot date with Theo James. I groan and shift in my sleep, curling up into a tight ball as his beautiful face begins to melt away. "Oh darn it. No, Camilla, wake up honey. We're here-"

"I DIPSY THE BIGGEST ROOM!"

I lurch upright and bang-smack my head into the back of the front seat. "Jesus..." I mutter, wincing as a painful throbbing begins to pound in my forehead.

"Don't pronounce the Lord's name in vain darling," Mum scolds me as she sticks her face back inside the car, even though her tone is light and teasing. She's a firm Atheist. My vision gradually clears itself from all the black spots, but it's not clear. Not in the slightest. I mutter a curse and spread my right eye with two fingers, before prodding around my eyeball. I bite my lip when the crinkled contact lens makes a long and uncomfortable show of detaching itself, and then I do the same with my left eye. I can feel the puffiness in them both and hastily run through my handbag with a blurry sight until my fingers curl around a hard case. I pull it out and open it, before putting on my big, circular, thin-rimmed, silver glasses. With the grogginess still intact, I swing the strap of my bag over my right shoulder and slide out the door.

"I WANT THE BIGGEST ROOM," my sister screams again at the top of her lungs.

Okay, maybe I should have stayed in the car.

"Keep quiet Mary. You'll wake up the neighbours," Mum says sternly as Dad ruffles his youngest daughter's hair.

"PROMISE ME I'LL GET THE BIGGEST ROOM FIRST!" She yells again, her voice an annoying shrill in the silence.

"For fuck's sake," I mutter.

"Mama she said the f-word!"

"Snitch," I fire back.

"Camilla, be nice," Mum interjects.

"She's being mean!"

"Fuckin' hell Mary-"

"CAMILLA DANIELLE WINSTON!"

"Girls, calm down please," Dad massages his temples at our sudden outburst and I narrow my eyes at my obnoxious little sister, grabbing the box that Mum is stretching out towards me. A few lights in the neighbouring houses turn on one by one and he lets out an exasperated sigh. "What a great first impression."

"Don't worry about it honey," Mum squeezes his shoulder and directs pissed-off eyes towards me, keeping them there even as she speaks to my sister. "Mary, help your sister with the boxes. You're both going to decide about the rooms together, in a civilised manner-"

But Mary has already grabbed a box and is running into the house with her little legs, her chubby hands grabbing onto the box desperately. She drops the heavy load onto the porch and the sound reverberates through the night air, evidently startling a dog inside one of the houses as it begins to bark uncontrollably loud. "I TOUCHED THE DOOR FIRST SO I GET TO CHOOSE MY ROOM!"

"Seriously," I snap as I tighten the strap on my bag with one hand and hold onto the box with the other, clumsily making my way over to the porch and tripping on the way there. The Victorian-styled house stands tall and proud, matching all the other prestigious residences on Magdalene Road with its unconcealed splendour. All we're missing is the white picket fence.

·

One hour later I let out an exhausted sigh and slump down on the queen-sized bed, looking at all the boxes scattered around the polished wooden floor with desperation. The room is still bare, except for the bright red and yellow striped duvet that I'm currently sprawled over and a few posters of Twenty One Pilots and Supernatural on the white walls. Mary ended up getting the biggest room between the two available options that our parents put forth. Okay, she practically threw herself into it and barred herself in with a chair that was randomly left behind. I sigh and stretch lazily, feeling the tightness in my aching muscles that refuse to loosen. I sit up slowly before making my way to the open window. I bite out a curse when my foot connects with a heavy box in the way, sending sharp pain tingling through my toes. I plop down onto the window bench and cradle my foot, leaning back against one of the bookshelves propped up against the wall, identical to the one on the other side of the bench. Both of them occupy the whole west wall on both sides, except for this space in the middle. I shift towards the closed door when the light in the hall turns off from underneath it, leaving the dark room in only a soft glow from the bedside lamp that I'd found in a box. I pull out my phone from my jean pocket and glance at the time displayed in bright numbers: 3:40 AM.

Suddenly, the small lamp flickers and sputters, and then it dies out completely, submerging me in blackness. Now, the only source of light shines from the twinkling stars and the silvery full moon above, illuminating the window bench and consequently, the spot in which I sit. I let the flowing breeze cool down my face and shut my eyes, finally surrendering to the vicious sleep that's been threatening to overtake me for hours now. As I plunge deeper and deeper into the wonderful abyss of a dreamless state, I never hear the bloodcurdling howls echoing around the dark forest below.