All the Wrong Moves

All the Wrong Moves ~ Chapter One

I sucked in a deep breath as the cab pulled up in front of the yellow-bricked house on the corner. House number thirty-five, not at all as pleasant as it presented itself to be. The windows draped in a deep red colour, barricading nosy neighbors from peeking inside into its secrets. Secrets kept by a band of people in order to hold a certain level of safety.

Or at least that’s how I remembered it. My hazel eyes - more green than hazel - hadn’t laid an eye on it in close to two years.

My stomach clenched tightly, as I paid the cab driver and dragged my three bags out of the back seat of the vehicle. Nothing made me more sick than the thought of coming back here, after all that had happened. But the law was the law, and I was only seventeen. Eight more months and I would be free of this place forever.

Walking up the cobblestone driveway of the house, I passed the double-door garage and slowly drifted up the stone steps to the door. A large brown oak door stared back at me with a deep-seated knowledge. I glanced up at the sky, a dreary overcast of clouds mimicking my very mood.

Rapping at the door with a quick knock, I hoped that no one would answer, maybe then I would have reason to run off and, I don’t know, join the circus. It would certainly be better than this.

But no such luck, as I went to knock a second time, the knob rattled and the door swung open.

The man standing before me was about fifty-two years old, and the world had not been too kind to him. In his face I could see the wear and tear of the years that had passed, most of which had been brought on himself. His green eyes fixed on me, as a stray hand ruffled his dusty blonde hair.

“Danielle?” The man asked, as his eyes fell over my long chestnut brown hair - a feature I’d thankfully received from my mother.

“Dad,” I said, nodding curtly as he stepped aside to let me in. My eyes immediately fell upon the crystal chandelier, a prized possession handed down from my great-grandmother.

“I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow. I would’ve come to get you at the airport.” My father looked at me, a myriad of emotions covered up by a moment of awkwardness as I stood in the entranceway, uncertain what to do next.

I blinked. “I know, it was just easier to get in today. I preferred to keep the reunions to a minimum. Coming early seemed the simplest way.”

“Oh.” And then he seemed to remember his place, and the fact that I was carrying three bags with no where to put them. He straightened his faux light blue denim shirt attempting to mask the wrinkles. “Let me show you to your room.”

“I remember where it is.”

“Okay.”

Kicking off my shoes, I followed the average-heighted man as we climbed the stairs to the main level of the second level of the house. He seemed somehow nervous, not a trait I was used to perceiving through him.

“You know, I can get myself settled without any help. You can get back to whatever it was you were doing before I got here. I’m sure it was important,” I told him, as we made our way into my very blue room.

“Actually-” The doorbell cut him off mid-sentence.

I glanced up at him, desperately trying to conceal the awful look crossing my face. Either that was the muffin man, or it was business as usual.

His face crinkled as he turned around and walked out of my old room, heading to the front door. My stomach sunk lower as I dropped my bags on the ground. The door could only mean one thing.

Muffled voices sounded from the entranceway, as I leaned against my doorway, hoping to hear something I’d want to know. Instead, the heavy tread of footsteps made their way to me. Seconds later a young man topped with natural short black hair rounded the corner and stood not two feet from me.

“Dani,” he said, his dark eyes half-glaring, half-relieved.

“Michael,” I replied, narrowing my eyes.

“Wasn’t expecting you here anytime soon.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall. “What with the way you left things.” His jaw clenched slightly. “Especially since you promised you’d never come back.”

“Trust me, I’m only here as long as I have to be, not a second more. Extenuating circumstances and all. I don’t like that I’m here anymore than I like the situation.

Michael’s face twitched. “Yeah,” he began slowly, as if picking the right words. “I heard about your mom. Sorry.”

I looked away, not wanting to tear up again. Especially not in front of him. “Nothing for you to be sorry about. It’s not like you were the cancer that killed her.” My teeth clenched together angrily, as he flinched.

My hazel eyes bore down at his feet as a silence fell between us. But the moment was fleeting.

“Did you hear the news?” he asked, as I forcibly lifted my eyes back up to meet his. “I got promoted.” He said it as if he were speaking about a job, though he probably thought of it that way - I knew better.

I ground my teeth together in mild anger. “Oh, yeah,” I replied mockingly. “Congratulations.” I rolled my eyes as I turned around and walked into my room.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t anticipated him following me.

“Dani,” the twenty year old spoke in a serious tone, as he gripped my arm to turn me towards him. “However things were left between us, I’m going to be around here a lot. Being second in command is a big deal. Especially to your father. He’s the best we’ve had in years. We’re actually gaining some ground, and getting back the territory we lost decades ago.”

I turned to him harshly, ripping my arm from his grasp. “How would you know?” I seethed, stepping towards him as he backed off a step. “You’ve been around all this for what, three, four years? Don’t you think I would know? I’ve been around my father almost my whole life. This is not the life I chose to live, so why don’t you just leave me out of it.”

His eyes flared angrily, as if he were going to do something he would regret later. Knowing him the way I did, it wasn’t too far of a long shot, he’d always had violent tendencies. “You know what, you don’t want to be a part of this life so bad, why don’t you go join your mother? It’s what you did last time when things got too hard. Only, this time you wouldn’t be able to come back.”

Anger surged in my veins as I glared at him, hot tears quickly filling my eyelids. My hands balled up to fists at my side. “Why don’t you just crawl into the hole you came out of and die?” I replied, darkly. As my eyes stared at his chest.

“Gladly,” he remarked, turning around and marching out of my room, as hot tears leaked down my burning cheeks, unbiased to my own desires.

“And while you’re at it,” I yelled, not caring if her could hear me or not. “Why don’t you take that stupid gang with you. I’ve had about enough of it for as long as I could live.”

Throwing all my anger into slamming my door shut, I collapsed in a heap on the floor, gripping the locket around my neck in one hand as I let out one good sob.

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So, this is my first story on here, not sure how I feel about the first chapter, but I suppose it feels more like a prologue, so I guess I'll go with that.

Trust me, with what I've got planned, the chapters will get more intense and longer as the weeks go by. I just wanted to get the first part up here because I need to get it under way, but it's almost five in the morning, and I have to get up at eight. So not fun.

But anyways, let me know what you think, ask any questions. Feel free to just vent. I'll be here to reply to as much as I can. Hoping to update this at least once a week, hopefully more, seeing as I only have three classes right now. I'll probably post the first chapter in three or four days.

Leave any input or ideas you want. Suggestions are always welcome, and you never know what ideas might just come from them.

Also, got to give props to 'One Republic' for being the inspiration for the title of this story, although altered.