Good Gone Bad

chapter 1

Dark. Wow has my room always been this dark. I turn my head to the left. The only light in my room coming from my laptop showing it's on charge. Dammit I wonder what time it is... my bedroom door slowly opens. A short figure walks in.

"Wake up sweetie, schools starting today,..." Oh... my mom. I move slightly so my mother sees I'm awake in some way. She leaves my room and heads to the kitchen. I lay there in bed debating on whether getting out of bed is worth it. After finally coming to the conclusion that I am starving, I slowly get up. Still seated on the bed, I look for my pink socks that somehow manage to find their way from my feet to the ground. Putting on my socks I make my way down the hall to the kitchen. Still in my pajamas and walking as slow as possible I eventually reach the kitchen. I'm greeted with a warm smile from my mother. I walk over to the counter and sit on the bar stool. And like every morning my daily cup of green tea magically appears before my eyes and shortly after that breakfast- made by the best person in the world. Yes I know I'm spoiled with a mother that does everything for me and I'm most certainly not going to stop her. Yes sometimes it can get a little annoying but she means well.

"So, ready for school today?" She asked
"Mmmh" I'm not a morning person so my reactions are kept to a minimum.
"Tenth grade huh, feeling nervous?"
"Nah" I continue eating my slice of toast.
"You should get a move on, you take forever to get ready. I'm going to wake your brother up." as she leaves I start drinking my tea. After finishing the tea I place my dishes in the sink and head to the bathroom and start my daily routine.

After putting on my school uniform, I tie my hair in a ponytail. Wish my messy brown hair and green eyes, i look in the mirror and notice some small changes of my appearance. Since last year. My hair is longer, my skin seems more cleared up and glowing in a healthy way. I feel something walking past my ankles and see my beautiful white pet cat, looking up to me, greeting me with a soft meow. Taking my bag I go to the car and get in on the passager side. It's still pretty dark out but that doesn't stop the temperature from increasing. With my mother driving and my twelve year old brother in the back seat we drive off to the bus stop. It's quite in the car except for the radio. Looking out the window my mind drifts off to what happened last year. Was he serious? The image of the guy on a laptop screen repays in my mind....

No signal**
Reconnecting....

The screen goes black. What just happened? Where's, Ashley?
The laptop makes a ear piercing screech. "Hello!" ..... "hello..." the screeching is replaced with a voice of a man. What is happening? My first instinct is to close my laptop as quickly as possible but the sudden picture of a face stops me. It's an old, black man with a beard and seems to be wearing a suit. Have I been hacked?! Why would a guy dressed so formal hack into the laptop of a 15 year old? The man in the picture blinks causing me to jump out of my chair.
"Charlene, hello!!" What?! He knows my name? Staring at the man with wide eyes I feel the panic start to kick in.
"Don't be scared, I mean you no harm" huh?!
"Look I don't have much time to explain, Charlene, they're after you. You need to be cautious at all times especially since you're almost 16. You need to watch out for anything suspicious and do whatever it takes to get away from them. Do you understand?"

I stare at the screen. Confused doesn't even explain the way I'm feeling right now. Maybe this guy gots the wrongs Charlene.

"Charlene I can see you're confused but only time will reveal the truth to you ..........when it's the right time," he stays silent for a moments , "I was sent by your father to warn you, be careful, please... you're our last hope". Black screen.

"Charlene, come on your bus is here"
I kiss my mom goodbye and lightly punch my brother on the arm. I get out of the car, the warm January air reminding me of how hot South Africa can get. Making my way across the parking lot to the bus, I suddenly stop when I see who is on the bus. Patrick. Ugh not him, not on the first day. I walk onto the bus walking past him without making any eye contact. Once I thought I was finally safe, I somehow managed to trip over my own feet. Or so I thought. I look back seeing Patrick smirking with his foot out. Great.

"Falling again for me, sorry I didn't know I had that effect on you." Bullies. I hate them. If I could I would give each and every bully a taste of their own medicine. Only problem is... I'm shorter than them... I'm weaker... I'm slower... okay maybe there are a few problems. Point being I want to punch them so hard in the mouth that they would have to gum their food or liquefy everything they consume.

I can't believe I once dated this @sshole. Yeah you read right. I dated my bully. And yes he was my bully even before we dated. Look it's not all my fault, I was constantly being told that he liked me and didn't know how to handle it. Being so excited to finally have a guy actually like me, I agreed to go on a date with him. The relationship mainly consisted of awkwardness and the occasional side , one arm hug thing. I broke up with him finally having enough of this stupid game. And as quickly as we dated, as quickly everything went back to normal. He continued bullying me, and I continued planning his death.

"Seriously, Patrick?" I look him dead in the eye trying to find some sort of sign that he finds me intimidating. But as expected, he doesn't. He doesn't even see me as an equal to treat like every human should be treated.

Not trying to make a scene, I just get up and walk to my seat. I take out my earphones and decide to listen to some music. I look out the window and my mind wonders off to the strange call from the man in a suit.

Sent by my father? No can't be. My dad left when my mom was expecting my brother. I was 3 years old at the time but even then he always worked long hours. We don't even have pictures of him. So why would he have the sudden interest in my safety after 12 years. And what did the guy mean by THEY were after me? Maybe it was all just some kind of prank.

Beep beep* A message?

Unknown: 15:00. KFC across ur School.