The Wolves ***Book One in River Falls Series***

Death and new life

I can't pay attention to what's being said or what's going on. I can see people going up to the hole and throwing flowers in. I can feel Aunt Sara tugging on my hand to get me to do the same, I know my feet are moving but I don't really feel completely with it. I can feel my hand stretch forward and I can see the flower in my hand. This is it.  It's real. It actually happened.

My parents are actually gone. I'm officially an orphan.

My fingers slowly open and I release my hold on the flower. It seems to take hours to float down the hole, finally it lands on top of the coffin, and although it's just a single flower that I know isn't very heavy, it somehow makes the loudest thump in my head as it lays down mixed in with the others. Like a clock striking the hour, it rings in my head and blots out everything else.

Aunt Sara lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere, literally, nowhere. I had never even visited her there with my parents. She always came to us. She moved away about 6 years ago, not long after my grandmother died. She was an artist, and to be honest she was a good artist, and made a good living out of it, she had exhibited at several major galleries and got good reviews, so I suppose the reason why she moved to River Falls, makes sense. For her.

But now, as I have no other family, still a minor and an orphan, I have to move there too. Aunt Sara keeps telling me that I will love it there, so peaceful and quiet. Good to clear my head she says.  I don't want to tell her that my head is already empty. Has been since the funeral. I'm just moving around and doing things on autopilot.  It took a few weeks after the funeral to clear the house of what we wanted to keep and what needed to go to goodwill. Walking around it while it was empty was strange.  I kept trying to remember what it was like with furniture, music, laughter, my parents, but I just couldn't seem to get my head to focus properly.

After a five hour drive in a rented car, because Aunt Sara had flown in when she heard the news, we were finally in my new home town. River Falls. A place where I could start again.  A place where people wouldn't look at me with pity in their eyes, and keep asking me how I'm doing.  I lost count of the amount of food that we threw away because people obviously think that when your parents die, you forget how to cook.

I have to admit though that it is beautiful here. Driving past huge forest trees, it's just green everywhere, I've never seen so much green. There's not a beach in sight though, that is the only problem I can see so. I love the beach, having it right outside your front door for the past sixteen years, it's going to be strange now to not smell or hear the ocean.

In the distance above the trees there are the most majestic looking mountains, if I was an artist like Aunt Sara I would want a blank canvas to paint those mountains every day, and I'm sure I wouldn't get bored of painting them. 

Driving further into town Aunt Sara points out little restaurants and a café, a bookshop, hardware shop, convenience store and a boutique. That pretty much makes up the whole town. Apart from the bookshop I can't really see a reason for me to ever make a trip into town.

Aunt Sara's house is a little further outside of town, if I was driving myself I'm sure I would have missed the turning for her drive, a small bumpy dirt road leads the way through more trees and then comes to a stop outside a cute little two storey, white and sage green painted house. It looks like it belongs next to the beach, so I guess that maybe Aunt Sara and I actually do have something in common.  Aunt Sara's truck is parked next to the house, it's a stick shift she told me on the way here, so I'm going to have to learn how to drive it before I can use it to drive myself to school. That's if I can make myself drive it. It's not as new as the rental but I actually prefer it.  It has character. 

The house has a wrap around porch that I could imagine myself sitting out on one of the sofas, wrapped in a blanket at night, reading a book or just thinking, you know 'clearing my head'.

Aunt Sara looks at me.

"Home sweet home." She gives me a half smile, Not really reaching her eyes. I know she is struggling with her sisters death, I've heard her crying a few times at night. But she never cries in front of me. I think she thinks she has to be strong for me, now she is my legal guardian.

I give her a half smile back and for the first time since those officers came and knocked on my front door, I feel like I could actually, maybe start to think about living a life again and not just continue being the shell of a person I am right now.

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Hey all thanks for reading!

Lots of info on how Alex is feeling in this chapter but That's the first Chapter done!
I'm considering changing the cast since im re-writing the story.

Any ideas???

Main girl???

Main guy???

Hope you liked it.

Feel free to leave any votes and comments on what you think.
Much love xx