Underground Darkness: Book 1 of the Powers Children Series

Chapter 1

I hear voices before I open my eyes.

"Ella, why do you have to be so annoying?"

A soft thud.

"Well, Bella, why do you have to be so dumb?"

Silence. Then giggles. I decide to open my eyes then. I wake up to the sight of two girls standing across the room.

Ella and Bella, the twins. They're polar opposites, but they look exactly the same. Same 5'4 height, same green eyes, same blonde hair; only difference is that Ella's hair is straight and falling past her shoulders, while Bella's is pulled into a ponytail of loose curls. Both are dressed. Ella has on white, high-waisted shorts and a black tank-top with the Starbucks logo. Bella has on her favorite pair of black-and-pink Nike shorts and a tank top that reads, 'I run because I really like cake.'

Like I said, opposites.

"Okay, so looks like I won't be getting any sleep," I groan. Both girls turn to look at me.

"Morning, Lyra," Ella smiles. She is classy, gentle, a little on the shy side (even though I've known her for 2 years now). She turns away, giving me a chance to sit up and look around the room. The walls are the color of grey, so is the floor. On the opposite wall, toward the right corner is the door out, and to the left is the door to the bathroom. In the center sits a four-drawer dresser with a wide mirror on top. On this side of the room, there are three sets of bunk beds. I'm on the bottom of the center one. On my left side is the one Ella and Bella share, on the right my two other friends, Sarah and Ay, share. No one sleeps above me. No one even touches that bed. It's superstition. One time, Ella tried sleeping in it and woke up screaming from a strange nightmare. Another time, Ay tossed a shirt up there, and when she went to grab it the next day, it was mysteriously ripped up. So we all avoid it.

On the left wall is a large closet, and I notice, sitting in the chair next to it, is Sarah. Sarah is clearly the nerd of the bunch, even right now she has a nose buried in a book. Brown hair frames her face, but whenever she looks up, it just reaches her shoulders. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of hazel. She is also dressed: skinny jeans, grey-and-white striped shirt, and black flats.

A snore fills the room, making Sarah look up. The only one who snores is Ay. No one knows what Ay actually is short for, but there's speculation that she really has a crazy name like Anikka or Anastasia or Anaxandra. She's the prettiest of all of us, but she hates to acknowledge it. She's got this gorgeous, bright red hair that reaches halfway down her back in large, loose curls. She doesn't even have to use a curling iron! She has these vibrant green eyes, like a snake. I hear her roll over, groaning. She always does this when she wakes up, realizing she's the last one up, then groaning again and sitting up. I stand up out of my own bed, stretching.

"Lyra! Were you still asleep?" Ay asks. I laugh.

"Nope. You're still the last one up,"

"Ugh!! Not fair!!" Ay throws a pillow at me, but I spin away and dodge it. Chuckling, I step into the bathroom, deciding I should take a shower. I strip down and shower as quickly as possible. I walk out in my fluffy red robe, with black zebra stripes. Ay disappears into the bathroom after me. I pull on my favorite outfit: ripped, black skinny jeans and a floral Fall Out Boy T-Shirt. They let us listen to music that was saved from before the mega-earthquake. Matter-of-fact, a lot of culture now is just picking up where our ancestors left off. We have an assembly at 9 this morning, giving Ay 30 minutes to get ready and the rest of us 30 minutes to clean up.

"Guys, this isn't gonna cut it," I say, sweeping my arm across the room.

Sarah stands and closes her book," I'll get the closet."