The Mystery Girl

Prologue

A scream resounds throughout the darkness, opening my eyes I find myself surrounded by grey with no distinct figures nearby. The scream comes again from all around me. Sweat drips down my face as I look around in panic. The scream sounds familiar, but I can't quite pinpoint where I've heard it.

"Emmaline!" The voice calls and I recognize it as my mother's. I scream back, running in any direction in hopes of finding her, but I don't. "Emmaline help!"

With all my might I try to follow the sound of the scream, but it doesn't have a distinct direction. As she continues to scream my name for help I can't help the tears that slide down my face. Exhausted I fall to the ground, my head in my hands. The screams drill into my ears, digging their way into my brain and I can't escape it. I want to help, I'm trying to help, but I can't find her. Why can't I find her?

With a jolt I wake up to Jet, my three-year old dog, licking my face. Grasping his black fur in my hands I snuggle close to him, grateful to have him here. We sit there for a moment on my bed, he rests his head on my shoulder while I calm down from my nightmare. It's not often that I get nightmares, but they do occur and Jet is always there when I come to waiting for me to calm down like he can feel my anxiety.

"Good boy Jet," I mutter, making him whimper slightly. "Are you hungry?" he barks quietly in response. With a sigh, I run a hand through my long brunette hair. Trying to drag my 5'8" figure out of bed, I go out to the kitchen. When I get there, I get the dog food and pour Jet some. After I put the food away I go back to my room.

With a brief shower, I change into a black oversized band tee paired with light denim jean shorts. With minimum makeup, I try to highlight my blue eyes and keep my face as normal-looking as possible. In other words, mascara and lip gloss. I really don't know much about makeup, but I do what I think looks good. Once I'm happy with the bare-faced makeup, I drag a brush through my hair and keep it down after drying it with my hairdryer. Soon enough I'm ready for the day so I leave my room to go back out to the kitchen. The scent of eggs and bacon abruptly finds my nose and my eyes find my father in front of the stove while Jet lazily lies on the floor under the table, his food bowl completely empty. It's odd to see my dad cook, he's never been the cook. It was always my mother, but ever since she passed my father has tried to make food. He's learned how to make a decent breakfast, but dinner is still a no go.

"Morning dad," I greet with a kiss on his cheek.

"Morning sweetie," he replies.

"What are you making?" I ask while sitting on one of the bar stools, watching him closely.

"Eggs and bacon," he states simply.

"Sounds yum."

"Are you ready to start your senior year tomorrow?" he asks, looking at me. I nod, fully prepared to be done with high school forever. "You're going to try hard like usual, right?"

"Yep, don't worry dad. I plan to only focus on studies this year," I say with a shrug. School has never been hard for me, but it's also not something I'm in love with. It's more like a love-hate relationship. I love that I'm almost done, but hate that I still have to go.

"Does that mean you're aren't going to go out at night to fight and dance?" he asks, causing me to bite my lip. He's always known I've done this stuff, but it's just a gentle topic to me. Yeah, you're probably wondering, why doesn't he stop you? Well, he loves me and just wants me to happy. Plus he could never really stop me and I think he knows that.

"Uh, I don't know yet," I say truthfully. He just nods, going back to making breakfast. "Oh yeah, by the way. I have to go out to the mall to get a few things for school," I state after a few minutes of somewhat awkward silence.