The Veil

Chapter One

This is my first shot at writing again in a while, please let me know what you think and how I can improve

The first thing I felt was the pounding pain in my head, I couldn't really tell what else was hurting but I knew I was sore.

My eyes fluttered open to an overcast sky; the dim light still stinging my eyes causing tears to well.

Gingerly I sat up every movement sending shooting pains up and down my spine. Groaning I pulled myself up to a sitting position then I froze.

I realised I was in the center of town, the main street that was usually bright and bustling, was dull and eerily silent, a strong feeling of unease set in; there wasn't a person in sight. There wasn't even a car parked on the street; only empty buildings, I couldn't even see the stray tabby that loved to hang out around this street, getting fed by all the street vendors.

The world around me was hazy and out of focus, as if nothing was quite here. A fog hugged the buildings and pavement, everything looked as if it had faded and washed out over time only the brightest of colours managed to slightly seep through.

I moved my hand in front of my face and saw I had the same translucent, faded colouring as the rest of my surroundings.

"What in the hell?" I thought aloud as I continued to look around the street, I must be going crazy, or maybe I was just dreaming... I pinched myself but all it did was make my arm hurt.

A giggle behind me alerted me to the fact that I wasn't as alone as I thought. I turned around scrambling to my feet and saw a young girl jump off a table at the café behind me with an ice-cream in hand. She looked like something out of the 60's with a red and white polka-dot dress and a bright red bow headband. Even her pale blonde hair stood out against the dark contrast, she was fully formed and coloured.

"Weird huh" she licked her ice-cream but her black eyes never left my face.

She may have seemed like a little girl but she was sending shivers down my spine, "You look like you've seen a ghost" she smiled, when she showed her teeth I saw that they were pointed.

"Where am I?" I asked confused. She smiled at me like I was a silly child as if she was older than me, she opened her mouth but before she could say anymore she exploded into jet black smoke after an ear-piercing bang.

I didn't even get the chance to scream when another girl walked through the smoke, she was older than the first and looked a lot rougher. I scrabbled back falling to the ground

"Get up, we gotta go" she said offering a hand that I could only stare at, as if I was going to go with some lunatic that I just watched shoot a young girl... even if there was something off about that little girl

"Look we don't have the time to get to know each other, just trust me for 5 minutes, they're coming" her voice was urgent and commanding, I had a feeling she wasn't lying.

"Why would I trust you?" I spat at her

"If you don't you'll die, good enough?" her eyes darted around the street, faintly I could hear something approaching, many somethings.

"Look I'll explain everything to you but only after we're out of the street" she shoved her hand towards me again but this time I took it. Once I was standing she looked over to me and grimaced, leading me off down the walk way and shooting looks over her shoulder every few seconds.

"You need new shoes the last thing we need is you to break an ankle" she said without even looking at me. I looked over my outfit and down at my shoes as she dragged me along the street, I thought I had looked cute today but apparently this girl found them an inconvenience. Even as I complained I could hear them echoing into the soundless town.