Chapter One

IN WHICH The New Girl Arrives

Melody Peters was the 'new-girl' in Maine, New England. It was only three weeks ago that she had moved into Maine on Dulac Drive.

She was living in an old Victorian estate, that is actually considered a mansion, that looks like ten kids went and vandalized it. Which, to Melody, wouldn't be a surprise because she had seen some of the previous shops and houses as they drove through the down that had also suffered the same 'treatment' as hers. To her everything seemed very dirty and gloomy - nothing that compared to their previous house which was in Florida. Ah, Florida! Why on earth did her parents want to move to this awful place? It all seemed a mystery to the young sixteen year-old girl.

The truth was that Mr. Peters (Douglas) had been transferred from his job. This all came rather suddenly to Melody but she acted as if it was okay - but really it was the opposite. This was because Melody was always closer to her father rather than her mother ever since she was little.

Mrs. Peters (Rachel) cared more about clothes and boys (or girls because Melody had an older brother) and things like that. But Mr. Peters liked sloppy things and he didn't really like it when his wife would go on about the latest fashions.

What was also a bummer about moving for Melody was that she would have to say goodbye to all her very dear friends forever maybe. Of course she could always contact them through email or Facebook or just plain texting but that wasn't the same!

The Peters' silver Volvo 260 station wagon had just pulled into the gravel driveway. It crunched under the thick sturdy tires. Melody didn't hear it though because she had her ear-buds in her ears which were plugged into her iPod. The song that was playing was a violin instrumental by Lindsey Stirling, Shatter Me, featuring Izzy Hale. It fit her mood if someone could have a mood like that song...

"This is it!" Mr. Peters said as he parked the station wagon in front of an old rundown garage.

"Why don't you park the car in the garage, Dad?" Said Tyler - Melody's annoying older brother.

"Ha, ha, very funny Tyler," he looked up at his son in the rearview mirror.

"This is it?" Melody said in disbelief. "This crappy dump? It looks like someone put ten shacks together and secured it with only nails!"

Rachel looked at her husband with concern on her face. She bit her lip then said, "Come on, Sweetie, its not that bad,"

Melody hadn't heard her though because she had turned up her music and was staring out the window. About thirty feet away from where the car was, there was a thick small forest that separated them from another house that was about thirty meters away.

"Melody, pay attention to your mother when she talks," said Douglas coolly.

His daughter wasn't listening.

"Why don't we unpack?" Suggested Rachel unlocking her car door.

"Good idea. I'm sick of this old car!" Said Tyler gladly.

Melody was still looking out her window so she didn't hear any of this or see anything until Mr. Peters came around to her side and tapped on her window with his knuckles. His daughter only folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes in disgust. He did it again. Rolling her eyes again she finally paused her music and removed the ear-buds from her ears.

Mr. Peters stepped away from the door and headed for the trunk of the station wagon where his wife and son were unloading the heavy suitcases and boxes. Rachel had already made a trip to the house and was coming back.

Unwillingly Melody stepped from the car. She took one glance at the old estate and shuttered. It looked like something she'd see in a horror film.

She followed her father toward the back of the car where her brother was unpacking her purple suitcase from the trunk. "Here, take it!" He handed the suitcase to Melody.

"Please," she muttered under her breath as made her way to the old house. As she did she passed her mother who stopped her saying,

"Mel, your room is upstairs; second door to the right!"

"Wait - am I sharing a room with Tyler?" Asked Melody adjusting the heavy suitcase in her arms.

"No, not this time!" Her mother replied smiling.

That was one good thing about this move. Now she got her own room all to herself. Back in Florida their house was much, much smaller so she and her brother were forced to share a room. It was always annoying having friends over and going into their bedroom because one side was very neat and smelled of cherry blossoms; and the other side was dirty, covered with smelly gyms attire, and smelled just like that!

Melody was now standing in the entryway of the estate. The doors were open and she was looking in. Nothing sparked her interest.

There was a place to put shoes and coats to the right. Then about three inches away was the living room. Another few inches away from the room was an old wooden staircase that looked like no-one had cleaned it for five years.

Melody slowly made her way towards the steps then up them. She quickly reached the top. And after she did she saw that she was standing in the beginning of a long eerie hall. There were about twenty doors in the hall - ten on each side.

Hardly any light shown through the small windows that were about a foot away from one another.

"Second door to the right," were her mother's words. When she opened the door to her room she found that it was a large pleasant space. When she first walked in she saw that there was a great big window that let it a tremendous amount of light that made everything feel bright and cheerful. (The view overlooked the backyard.) Melody turned to the left and found a bed, a dresser, a nightstand, and a few other odds and ends. And when she turned to the right she saw that there was a chair, a lamp, a rug, and an oak door. Curious to find where the door lead she walked over to it and twisted the bronze knob. Having to push a little, the door soon opened up revealing a good sized bathroom.

What a delightful thought to have a bathroom all to herself! After her little expedition through her room, she set her things down in her bed and started to unpack. This lasted several minutes. She had soon put away every piece of clothing she had brought with her in different drawers in the dresser.

The pack was soon over and Melody headed back down the stairs and toward the car. Her family was still bringing in boxes but it looked as if it were coming to an end. The only thing she had to bring in now was her pink backpack which held all her electronics - not counting her iPod which was safely in her pocket.

Once she had gotten her backpack, she marched upstairs to unpack that. In a few moments she was done and had unzipped a pocket in her backpack which revealed where she kept her phone.

She quickly pushed a button on the top that made the screen turn on. Melody typed in her short password; then it took her to her menu where it showed most of her apps. In truth Melody didn't have that many apps. Not as many as some, anyway.

Melody checked to see if she had any text messages. She found that she had and then tapped on the texting icon. In a few seconds all her unread messages were seen and she read them.

She was disappointed, however, to find that there was only three messages. She was hoping for more. But Melody replied to them anyways.

One was from her best friend in Florida: Amber Morrison. Another was from a guy friend named Richard Collins who, somehow, had gotten her information and added her about a month ago. She found, though, that he was a kind person and a pleasant texting companion. The last message was from a preppy girl in Florida who Melody only pretended to like. Their conversations, which were mainly carried on by Paris (Melody usually only replied with a "yea" or "yep), were basically about boys and abs. Which Melody found discussing and boring. The prep girl's name was Paris Beverly.

After replying to the messages, Melody heard her mother calling from the kitchen downstairs. She packed away her phone in her backpack pocket from once it came and left her bedroom.

She slowly reached the kitchen, not yet familiar with the layout. Once she had reached the kitchen, however, she was greeted by the fragrant smell of lasagna. Lasagna was one of Melody's favorite meals. That and spaghetti and ravioli- really anything with pasta!

"So," Rachel said after they said grace, "how do you kids like your new rooms?"

"I like mine," said Melody as she took a bite of the good, steaming, delicious lasagna.

"Mine's awesome!" Tyler said with a grin.

"I'm glad you like them," Mr. Peter's smiled with pleasure. He, too, took a bit of the lasagna and, once he was done, slowly threw his head back with satisfaction.

"I picked them out." Stated Mr. Peter's. "I'm glad you like it." She said to her husband who continued eating.

The dinner lasted for about twenty minutes. When it was done, Tyler asked when the WI-FI company was going to come to put in the new WI-FI for his laptop. Mr. Peter's responded saying that they wouldn't come for another two weeks yet. They would come when him and his sister were at school.

Perfect. Thought Melody with satisfaction. That would give her more than enough time to explore the big house. Even though it looked like a dump from the outside, the inside (to Melody anyway) seemed rather nice and charming. Very different than anything she had ever seen before...

Two weeks passed very quickly for Melody Peters. Whenever the moving company had visited them, she always explored the upstairs - sometimes the downstairs. Nothing really interesting had happened to her and her findings where the same as well. There was a basement that she found but it was too creepy for her liking so she ignored it.

Now it was the school day. The first school day. And Melody was nervous. Very nervous.

Melody awoke to the smell of warm crispy bacon. She grinned but didn't open her eyes - not quite yet. She let the glorious smell fill her nostrils.

Very slowly she began to open her eyes. She blinked, adjusting her eyes to the tremendous amount of morning light that poured through the large glass window in the middle of her room.

Pushing back her covers she sat up. Her bed was soft and comfortable. It was, in truth, better than her one in Florida. Melody glanced at her clock which read: 6:56. She yawned and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. From there she walked over to the large oak dresser and retrieved some clothing items from almost every drawer.

Once she was done picking out her day's outfit, she crossed her room, heading for the bathroom. Her own personal bathroom. Closing the door behind her Melody quickly undressed from her pajamas and stepped inside the shower. Turning the hot handle a little above halfway, water began to shoot out of the showerhead like a waterfall.

After she was done, Melody stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and dried her cold wet body. From there she then started to dress. Melody was dressed in a long white tank top, white skinny jeans, and black and white sneakers. She also wore over her tank top a short black jacket.

Melody Peters was sixteen year old girl with light brown hair, fairly natural tan skin, with light ocean blue eyes. She was a very beautiful slender girl with a good build.

She checked her outfit for any slip up or rip. Happy, she found none. Satisfied she left the bathroom and headed for the bedroom door. She she opened it, the scent of bacon became stronger than it had before. Melody smiled and happily followed the aroma to the kitchen.

When she was standing in the kitchen she saw that her father had just left and her brother was sitting at the breakfast table enjoying a small stack of golden brown pancakes. Melody sat down at the table across from her brother. She too had some pancakes and quickly ate them up - along with some bacon and biscuits.

Breakfast was soon over, lunches were grabbed, and Melody sped up to her room to grab her phone. That took about a minute. When that was over with, Melody met her brother at the foot of the stairs; then they left the house.

The whole darn walk to the school Melody was both excited and nervous. The two siblings were soon to be attending J. Waterhouse Middle school. It was a fairly large school, but was said to be the biggest in Maine. Melody wondered what the others looked like compared to this one.

As the middle school came into sight, Tyler smirked at his sister and said, "Stop being so nervous. Loosen up."

"Shut up, I'm not nervous. Why do think that?" Wondered Melody.

"I can just tell. Listen, Mel, you'll be fine." Assured Tyler.

For once, Melody felt like her brother really cared about her... J. Waterhouse was soon only two meters away from the siblings. Melody took a silent deep breath in. She silently let it out. This was the big moment.

Tyler and Melody pushed through the school doors and were staring at what seemed to be a crowd of one hundred students all talking. Melody was really, really nervous...