Annalise

Annalise

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The lightning roared outside the car. Heavy rain poured and made it harder to see. I traced a heart on the fogged-up car window. It's funny how I always draw hearts when I'm bored. Are all girls like that? If so, maybe that was the only girly quality of mine. I stared out from the car seat window and watched the fir and pine trees zoom past as our "new" house. We were headed to a small, really old town in Washington called Willowbury Lake, which was-you guessed it-near a lake. Since the town was so old, there was a tiny population that mostly consisted of families that lived here for generations. The house my parents bought was so cheap because of that reason, too. Of course, I was hesitant and uneager to go.

I didn't have many friends back in Jacksonville since I was always just by myself at lunch, quietly reading a book and avoiding attention. Also, most of the girls at my school were too girly or noisy for me. A girl kept asking, "You're gonna move to Forks?" I curse the day Twilight was written. Did she think I was going to go see sparkly vampires and werewolves with six-pack abs here? All there was, really, was rain, mud, nature, more rain, and creepy, old buildings that held too many memories-not to mention dust and mice.

"Are we there, yet?" my little sister, Edith, asked. She was playing with her long, brown, curly hair and listening to her iPod. Her long, full bangs hung in front of her face, casting a shadow on her fair skin. She was twelve years old. I was already four years older, but she looked like a high school student already.

"Almost, Edith," my mom said. Edith sighed impatiently.

"Why don't you be more patient, like Emily?" They glanced over at me, but I wasn't looking at them. I was staring at an old building that said, "Belle Authentique Poupee Dolls" in fancy, intricate, cursive script. Displayed through the window was an antique doll. It had a pale face, rosy cheeks, and curly, golden hair underneath a baby-blue bonnet. Its shiny, blue eyes glistened. It was wearing a matching eighteenth-century style dress trimmed with white, intricate lace. Usually, I had no interest in things like dolls-or anything girly, frilly, or lacy-but the doll strangely evoked my fascination and intrigue, having me stare at it for a while. Then, for a moment, I thought it seemed to look back at me. The hairs on my neck stood up, and I glanced away, but the image was still fresh in my mind.

"Uh, are you okay?" Edith asked with one raised eyebrow.

"What's wrong, honey? You're all pale," my mom told me from behind the car seat.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," my dad said while making a left turn, past what seemed to be an old general store. His words echoed in my head.

"It's nothing, really," I quickly said. My mom hesitated for a moment with a worried look on her face.

"Okay," she told me quietly and turned back to the front of the car hesitantly.

After about five minutes later, we arrived at the house. It was an old, two-story building with a navy-blue tile roof, white brick walls, tall windows, and a garage-which looked out of the place and foreign near the old house. We soon started settling in and unpacking some of our belongings, but the moving truck already bought all of our bigger furniture here. My mind still had the creepy image of the doll a while ago. Strangely, though, I still felt an urge to go to that doll shop. I know it sounded like a stupid thing to do, but it was as if something was telling me I needed to go, and so I grabbed my messenger bag and started downstairs from my bedroom. I didn't go very long without having Edith notice, though.

She asked me where I was going.

"I'm exploring the town a bit," I lied. She hesitated, and then asked if she could come. I was surprised since she rarely ever became interested in the things I did. I asked her, "Why?"