{Editing Status: Unedited}

"Hurry up, loser!" Liana yelled from in front of me. Trees streaked past in a hazy green blur as we sprinted. My legs were aching as I tried to keep up with her, but she was too fast. The wind was loud in my ears.

"Slow down, Liana," I huffed, my chest tight with exhaustion.

Liana slowed down to a walk in front of me, and laughed. "That was fun," she grinned, slightly breathless.

I elbowed her in the ribs. "Show off," I muttered, running my fingers through my knotty hair.

"You're just jealous," she laughed, playfully punching my shoulder. I loved my younger sister, but sometimes I wanted to strangle her. In an attempt to catch my breath, I sat down. Liana sat beside me and re-tied her hair into a high ponytail.

"I can't believe I've never been in this forest before. How did you discover it?" she asked me.

I shrugged and picked a small, red flower that was growing out of the soil. "I'm not sure. I just came by it one day," I answered, picking the petals, one by one, from the flower, and sprinkling them onto the ground; a flutter of red.

"It's quite scary, though. Don't you think?"

I looked around. I hadn't really thought about that. I loved coming here, when I needed some fresh air. It was quiet and isolated. I never really thought of it as scary. The trees were so dense that they blocked the sun from coming in; only some streams of light filtered through the thick canopy above. It was dark, and shadows seemed to cling to the trees. I liked it; the darkness calmed me.

"Yeah," I said. "It is."

Liana leaned back, so she was lying against a tree, and she sighed. "It's nice to get away from Mom for a while."

"I know. You musn't listen to her, Liana."

She rolled her eyes and picked at a nail. "It's hard not to listen to her when she's screaming at me," she muttered.

"You know it's been hard for her to bring up three girls by herself..."

"Ivana, don't stick up for her. She doesn't have a right to shout at me like that. Why doesn't she shout at you and Aurelia like that? What is it about me that she doesn't like?"

"She loves you, Liana. I know she does. She's depressed, that's all. And you know she's bipolar. She can't help shout sometimes."

Liana sighed. "I guess."

I stood up, and offered her my hand. She took it, and I lifted her up onto her feet, then brushed my dirty hands on my jeans.

"Let's get going. We don't want Mom to be mad," I said, rolling my eyes.

Liana snorted and nodded. We followed the way we came in, and left the forest, walking through a couple of fields, until reaching a gate. I pushed it open and walked through. We walked down the long, winding road until our neighborhood was in sight. We were going to fetch some groceries from the mall.

"Anything interesting happening at school?" I asked her.

Her face suddenly lit up, and she smiled. "Yes, actually."

"What?" I asked, as we walked into the entrance of the mall.

"There's this new boy in my grade," she grinned.

I raised an eyebrow. "What's his name?"

"Blake...he's so..."

"Hot?" I laughed.

She blushed. "Yeah, he is," she said, her cheeks pink.

"Why don't you speak to him?"

She shook her head. "No way." I nudged her.

"Come on, Liana. Don't be a baby."

She glared at me again. We walked into the food store. "I'm not being a baby...I just know that there's no way he will ever like me. There are way more prettier girls in my grade."

I sighed. "Liana, don't be stupid. We both know that you're the prettiest girl in your grade. How many boys have you turned down, because you're an idiot?"

She glared daggers at me. "I'm not an idiot. You know I'm not good at talking to boys."

"Talk to him. For me. Maybe he does like you."

She rolled her golden brown eyes. "I doubt that. But I'll talk to him."

I smiled at her, grabbed some vegetables (because my mom insisted on healthy eating) and chicken, and headed to the checkouts.

"So who do you think is going to win the elections?" I asked Liana, as I paid for the groceries, and we walked out of the shop. As I checked my watch, I suddenly realized it was getting late.

"For mayor?"

"What else?"

"Hopefully Mayor White," she answered.

I nodded. "I want him to win too," I said. "I think he will."

"Salem needs a good mayor. The last one was crap."

I chuckled. "Yeah, he was."

"We find out the election results tomorrow right?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. They're being held at the town hall. We're going to go; all of us."

Liana raised one of her eyebrows. "What, even Mom?" she laughed. I could hear the hint of doubt in her voice.

"Yes, even Mom."

Liana shook her head and snorted. She had every right to hate our mother. She didn't exactly treat Liana well. In fact, she acted like she didn't exist half of the time. She'd been depressed ever since our dad died, when Liana was only 2 months old. But she had always been weird; nothing like other parents. She was so...intense, unearthly. We had no other family; no grandparents, no aunties or uncles, no cousins. According to my mom, they were all dead. It was just me and my two sisters: one older and one younger, and our mom. It was difficult for all of us, living without our dad. But we've managed.

The mall was quite far from our house, because we lived isolated from the other houses. We lived in a white mansion on the outskirts of Salem; it was out of the way from the other houses. I wasn't sure why. I knew that it was an old house, though, and that my early ancestors built the house in the late 1600's. I was surprised it was still standing. In about fifteen minutes, we were home. I pushed open the old, front door, and walked inside. The house was dark, and quiet, as usual.

"We're home!" I shouted. My voice echoed for a few seconds, and then disappeared. Liana closed the door. We walked into the kitchen, with the bags of shopping. We packed away the shopping together. When we put the last of the vegetables in the fridge, I heard footsteps from behind me. I span around. Aurelia was standing in the doorway. She was frowning, and had her arms folded across her chest.

"You took your time," she said.

"Sorry. We took a detour through a forest."

Aurelia went as white as a ghost; the blood rushed out of her cheeks. "A forest? Why?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Liana wanted to race," I laughed, looking at Liana.

She grinned.

"Don't take any detours in the future, please," Aurelia said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be so boring, Relia," Liana huffed, and sat down at the table. The chair squeaked; a harsh sound in the silence of the house.

"It's not safe," Aurelia said.

I frowned at her. "What do you mean?" I wondered.

She looked at me; there was something different about her eyes. They was a hint of foreboding in them, which scared me slightly. I wasn't used to seeing Aurelia scared. She was usually so brave and strong. She swallowed.

"Just listen to me, you two. No more detours, okay? Especially not in any woods or forests around here."

"But why?" Liana asked Aurelia, glancing at me with a worried look on her face.

"Just listen to me and don't ask any questions," Aurelia said. "It's for the best."

"I'm confused..." I said, but she interrupted me.

"Just...stay out of the forests. Please. For me. And for Mom."

I hesitated, but then nodded. I could see Aurelia didn't want to speak about it anymore. I would ask her when we were alone. Maybe she didn't want to say anything in front of Liana, because she was too young. As she left the kitchen, I eyed her carefully.

"What was that all about?" Liana asked me when Aurelia had left.

I sighed and shrugged. "I've never seen Aurelia so..."

"Freaked out?"

"Yeah. I wonder what's so bad about the forests. I go in there all the time and nothing bad has ever happened. I wish she had just explained why."

"I know."

"Do as she says though, Liana. Don't go in the forests."

"What are you telling me for?" she asked. "You're the one that goes in the forests all the time. Not me." I felt guilty for not telling Aurelia the truth. I spent more time in the forests than at home. But, I had never seen anything, and nothing bad had ever happened. I didn't understand why it wasn't safe. On the contrary, I felt safest in the shadowy blankets of the trees.

"Well, if she says it's not safe, then it's not safe. I believe her."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're still going to go in there, though."

"It's my happy place, Liana," I sighed. She rolled her eyes. She did that a lot. "Nothing bad has ever happened. So why should I not go in there anymore?"

"That's true. Maybe she's just trying to hurry us up when we go shopping," Liana laughed, and I couldn't help laughing too. But there was something about the way Aurelia's face went white as a sheet when we told her we were in the forest. I'd never seen her scared before. She wasn't that good of an actress. I looked at my watch. It was 8pm.

"You better go to bed. You don't want Mom..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm going," she sighed, getting up from the table.

"Night, Ana," I said, smiling at her.

"Night, Iva," she said, smiling back. She left the room.

I heard the stairs creaking as she walked up them. I yawned. It was too early for me, but I needed to sleep. I hadn't slept in two days; insomnia was a bitch. I walked out of the kitchen, and down the long corridor to where the staircase was. Before I could ascend up them, I saw my mom out of the corner of my eye in the living room. The fire was crackling quietly. She sat in her armchair and watched the flames flickering in the fireplace.

"Mom?" She jumped slightly and looked at me. I walked over to her. "Are you alright?"

She smiled slightly. "I'm fine, Ivana. Did you get the groceries?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yes, we got everything you asked for."

"Good girl."

"I'm going to go to bed now, Mom. Goodnight," I smiled.

She opened her arms, and I couldn't help feeling surprised. My mom hardly ever showed signs of affection. She wrapped her arms around me, and I breathed in her warm scent, trying to hold back the tears.

"You know I love you, Ivana," she whispered.

"I know, Mom. I love you too."

She stroked my hair. "I'll keep you safe. I will," she murmered.

I wasn't sure if she was speaking to me, or to herself. She let go of me, and went back to staring at the flames, like she had never even moved.

"Night, Mom," I said, and retreated out of the room. I watched her before I walked up the stairs. In the light of the fire, her lips moved silently, but quickly and fluently, her eyes closed, like she was chanting something. Shivering, I ran up the stairs, to my bedroom, and shut the door quickly.

Somehow, this house felt even more harrowing than usual.

---

A/N

Hello everyone.

I finally updated the first chapter! I decided, because my other two books have quite short chapters, that I would make this book have longer chapters. I actually prefer writing longer chapters anyway.

I have so much planned for this book! I don't want to give anything away, because there's going to be lots of twists in this book (and I don't want to give them away!)

I hope you guys enjoyed the first update. I really enjoyed writing it, and I cannot wait to write the next chapter :)

Olivia J. Clarke

(Picture: Ivana Cain ~ Nina Dobrev)

© Olivia Clarke 2016

Salem