CHAPTER 1 THE NEW GIRL!

  The cool night air wrapped around me like an invisible ice blanket sending deep rhythmic chills into every bone of my overly exerted body. I slowed my pace from a jog to a brisk walk, letting the sound of my pounding heartbeat decelerate back to it’s normal pace.

  Walking through the dark sand stone cobbled streets of this small isolated town that my parental guardian, or mom for short, and I currently inhabit I felt a sudden wave of alertness and panic shoot through me. My body involuntarily shudders and tenses up as I feel a startling eerie sensation creep over me. I throw a worried look over my shoulder with an alarming suspicion that someone of something is following me.

   Moving my head from side to side for a better view, my dark round eyes pierce straight threw the blackness of the night with little effort but I see nothing but transparent shadows gently swaying back and forth in the midnight breeze, playing dauntingly across the asphalt road. I clench my fist tightly together and continue on my way, speeding my pace back up to a light-striding jog.

  A few minutes pass and yet another disturbing jolt of fear passes over me like a dark menacing cloud that I can not escape. My heart begins to race in my chest. Beads of sweat trickle down my back despite the cold breeze that is sweeping through the silent town. I run my hand over my forehead to wipe away the warm perspiration beads that have gathered above my brows.

  I turn left and head down an abandoned alleyway that the street kids call, “Kat’s Alley.” It is plain to see the reasoning behind the name. Passing through the dingy alleyway I spot a number of scraggly unwanted cats wondering around in the dark alone. Stopping to gaze at a small gray and white tabby cat who is fiercely struggling to pull a stale piece of meat out of the nearby dumpster I realize that in a strange twisted way I can totally relate to this unwanted creature of the night: lost, lonely, and wandering around in the dark for scraps because that is exactly how I feel most days but instead of seeking bits of discarded food I seek the truth.
  There are fragments of lost time, bits and pieces of memories that I can not connect. So many questions yet not enough answers.