Whispers

Chapter One

1

"Christine?" My eyes snapped open as Mom gently shook me awake. Her skin was delightfully warm against mine, a result of the heater.

I was sitting in a soft velvet seat, the gentle roar of the car's radio mixed with the soft pattering of the rain against the windows did a quick job of bringing me back to reality. A dream, I assured myself as the memories of the fire danced around my head. It was just a dream.

"Christine," she repeated. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, swallowing down the last bits of fear as I buried the memory in the darkest parts of my mind, back where it belonged. "Yeah," I replied. "It was just a dream."

"Well it's time to get up," she said, a soft sadness in her voice. "We're here."

My eyes still heavy from sleep I turned my head to look out toward the facility sat in front of us. A building nearly twice the size of my old school loomed over Mom's beat up mini-van, menace oozing from each and every cinder block that made up its foundation. Surrounded by large wrought iron gates and little, crumbling cement walkways Hallow Kingdom Academy looked exactly like what it was- a reform school. A school for troubled youths.

An alternative for prison.

Tearing my eyes away from the building I stared down at my hands in my lap. One was covered up by a soft black leather glove, concealing the hideous reminder of that night. Squeezing my hands together I shut my eyes tightly.

"I don't want to go," I whispered.

A soft sigh passed my mother's lips and I felt her hand as it bega to stroke my arm, comfortingly. "I know, sweetheart."

"Why couldn't we have just stayed in Brooklyn?" I asked her.

"You know why."

After the car incident with my Dad, his girlfriend had insisted on pressing charges and even filed a restraining order against me. A restraining order that kept me away from her, her home, her new car, and whenever he was with her, my own father. On top of that rumors of what I had done circulated through my school at an almost impossible speed and I was immediately expelled. Any possibilities of scholarships for college? Gone. My crummy job at Pizza Hut? Gone. My world seemed to completely fall apart before me. I couldn't even live with my own mother anymore! I was forced to shack up with a bunch of other juveniles, only allowed to see her once a month and on court dates. Luckily the judge for my case was kind and agreed to release me from juvie on the account that this was my first offense and so long as my mother enrolled me in a reform school. So, here I was. Staring at what I could only describe as Hell as it sat before me.

"I'll come by every week to visit you," my mother continued, her tone reassuring. "Call me as soon as you're all settled in, alright?"

I nodded. "Okay."

Her soft velvet chair creaked lightly beneath her as she leaned across the center console and wrapped her arms around me. The gentle scent of Olay face cream and Suave shampoo filled my nose and I was enveloped in the familiar warmth I've known since I was a baby. Unable to restrain myself I threw my arms around her, squeezing tight.

Compared to juvie, weekly visits were a godsend but right now, wrapped up in my mother's arms I didn't want to wait that long. I didn't want to leave and head inside that building. I didn't want to ever let go. I buried my face into her shoulder, into the soft dark curls that fell over it, wishing so desperately that time would just stop and I wouldn't have to leave her.

But if there was something I knew it was that wishing was a hopeless endeavor. Wishes never came true. Not when it really mattered.

Eventually, we were forced to release each other and before I lost my nerve I slid out of the car and pulled my bags out from the back seat. The wheels of my suitcase smacked against the wet earth with an audible splash.