Bitter Heart √

Four

Skylar's POV

1:00 am.

My parents were sound asleep in their room. Chicken was sound asleep in my room, curled up on my bed. The moon was up in the night sky, glowing brightly. And I, Skylar Anderson, was dressed up in a black T-shirt and jeans, my favourite denim jacket, and some butt-kicking motorcycle boots.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I kind of resembled those actors in gangster movies. I looked like one of those sketchy dudes lurking in those creepy New York alleys, having anything but good intentions.

Maybe this was the exact reason why my mom never approved of me dressing like this.

With a heavy sigh, I went back towards my closet and picked out another decent pair of jeans, a crew neck sweater this time, and changed into them. Once again, I stood in front of the mirror and eyed my boots. With a frustrated huff, I took them off and slipped my feet into my sneakers.

I couldn't believe I was thinking too much over my clothes when I was sneaking out of my house, way after midnight, to someplace where I would probably get myself killed one way or another.

I was officially going insane.

I glanced over at Chicken once again, making sure that cat was still asleep, then went over towards my window and slowly opened it up without making any noise. Cautiously, I swung my legs over the window sill and hopped out. My heart almost leapt out of my chest as my feet hit the grassy ground of our backyard.

Few seconds later, I was walking towards my bicycle just after making sure that I hadn't woken anyone in my house. Thankfully, the neighbours' lights were off too as I sat on my bike and put on my helmet.

Unlike Alex's parents, my parents thought I was still too young to get a car, so I got stuck with a bicycle instead. I was glad that Alex's parents weren't like mine though, because that way I didn't have to walk each day to school. God only knew how I would've managed that.

Without wasting another second, I took off towards the so-called Chriswood Street, hoping I was following the right directions. I knew this town enough to know where each street was. Still, it was a bit nerve-wracking to pedal down the almost empty streets. This town got so eerily quiet after midnight.

After so many twists and turns, I finally stopped by a spot that kind of looked creepier than the streets I had left behind. Everything was so dark around me, the graffiti on the walls chipped and old, the surroundings looking a bit abandoned.

I kept my senses on high alert and slowly took off my helmet, parking my bike along one corner. I had my hand hovering right over my pocket, ready to take out my phone and speed dial 911. I was really hoping though that it wouldn't come to that.

There was barbed wire curling at the old wooden fence beside me, almost giving this place an even more scary feel. Moving alongside that fence, I found myself standing in front of a big playground, the swings and slides radiating that horror-movie vibe.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of those swings started moving by itself.

"Think positive, Sky," I muttered under my breath--which, hey, I was an optimist usually, but knowing that I had willingly walked into a death trap was so not helping. "Now's not the time to think about horror movies."