• The • Rise • Of • The • Shapeshifters •

Chapter One~ Kingswood's Warm Welcome.

Alecia's PoV.

I wanted to walk. Barefoot. When I suggested it to my aunt Jessica, she stared at me, bewildered by my odd request.

Walking into a new community barefoot? Doesn't sound too great.

Looking around now, at the lush greenery, the light peeking through, the damp ground I started forward with my aunt beside me.

"Ally," she said smiling gently, "you're following me back here to get the car."

I nodded.  Of course, all my belongings were inside.

My past and my present. I was moving from a bright city life to the calm and serene home Kingswood had to offer. I'll be staying with my grandmother until I finish High School, then I'll decide what to do next.

As we passed the trees, little animals peeked out. Rabbits and birds. I looked at my aunt and she already had her camera out.

"Don't," I said poking her arm, "you'll scare them."

She frowned and put the camera away.

"Let's get going, Mama must be wondering if we got lost or something."

She said brushing locks of her dark hair out of her face.

She didn't look happy at all to be back at her childhood home, and I can imagine. Her sister, my mother, grew up here with her. Now, she's not with either of us anymore.

The trees thinned and buildings began to show.

We walked into the town where most people gathered, when they saw us they gasped and turned away.

At first I thought they were trying to hide the fact that their expressions were so shell-shocked, but then everyone turned away from us. 
As if we had a disease.

I looked at my aunt Jessica. She yawned and motioned for me to follow her. I did, we walked for a few minutes and the sign Willow Scheme greeted us.

"What was that all about?" I asked her.

She waved her hand dismissively. "The warm welcome of Kingswood."

I scoffed. "Looked pretty cold to me."

Aunt Jessica looked at me sadly. "People here have a long memory and they haven't forgotten what happened here with me."

I nodded in understanding. Aunt Jessica wasn't a clean slate. She accepted that and it made her continue her life.

"Come on Ally," she said poking my in the stomach. "I know one person who will be thrilled to see us." I grinned. "I hope grandma made some pot roast."

I sped off down the avenue to my grandmother's house with Aunt Jessica jogging leisurely behind me.

Unknown PoV.

I watched her got shunned. I smiled. Good, Jessica Bloom deserves it.

Her young companion though was a strange face. Family? Impossible. But the Blooms were sneaky.

I reached for my phone and called The Chief.

"She's here, with a young girl."

"Young girl?" The Chief asked.

"Yes, can't be more than 15." I replied.

There was a pause. "I want you to find out who that 'young girl' is understood? We can't have her being another Bloom. Those beasts are horrid."

I nodded. "Understood Chief."

"Be subtle."

The line went dead.

Teenager... How to be subtle... I know just how.

I lifted my black hood and stalked off into the woods.   

~KimZee ✨💜✨