Beautifully Dark Places
Chapter 1
The Ugly Duckling

Introduction

It was a usual dreary November morning in the sleepy town of Oakbridge, Ohio. The normal sound of the neighbor's two Labradors howling at a quickly disappearing moon was the only sound on Second Street, apart from Mr. Jones's old Volkswagen roaring to life down the road. In a small, white house on the corner lived Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, with their two sons and two daughters. Their youngest daughter, Kymma, is a particularly interesting young women. At the age of sixteen, she had managed to be expelled twice, kicked off the math team, and fired from her job at the concession stand. Kymma could argue that she hadn't done drugs, drank, or any of the other things that T.V. had stereotyped a teen her age to do, but she had a reputation to uphold. The reputation of a screen worthy family, being that her older sister had starred in two movies and won a Grammy by the age of twenty. The family did not dare tarnish their 'star's' rep. But, after being teased for years about her imperfect hair and blemished skin, it became Kymma's goal to be the opposite of her goody-two-shoes sister.

Kymma, of course, would have never guessed her own destiny. She didn't believe in silly things like fate.

"Kymma! Get up!" I sighed as I flung the covers off of me. Once again, my mother was sentencing me to another day in that prison. I grabbed the first wearable dirty T-shirt I found and threw on some jeans. I honestly couldn't care less what kind of clothes I wore. I trudged downstairs, past my little brother, and to a waiting piece of toast. Mom asked some questions, probably something about where I would be after school and the like, but I ignored her as always and preceded out the door on my usual route to school. I didn't have time for my mother, especially if she only had time for my sister.

The first few minutes were rather uneventful, a few dogs barked at me, a squirrel did something that sounded like a hiss when I walked past it, but no one jumped out and attacked me. My life was pretty boring, aside from the few hours I spent playing my favorite games. I turned at the stop sign a few blocks away from my house, just as I had for three years now.

Then something strange happened.

Now, in Oakbridge, Ohio nothing strange ever happened. We all woke up at ungodly hours and followed the same routines we had for the past decades. Crime rates were low, gas prices were high, and the streets smelled of car oil and the barbecue being cooked at Ms. Wigley's. There was never anything really out of the ordinary- aside from my sister winning her grammy, but she'd been considered a star since an early age-and today should have been no different. Except, it was different.

A man walked out from behind a tall shrub, startling me so bad I nearly screamed. He had his head bent down so that his black hair hung down in front of his eyes. His body was bent in strange ways, making him seem deformed.

"Kymma Richardson?" His voice was gravely, creepy even. He wore all black, reminding me of the gothic kids at school, except I had never seen a man dress goth, only teens.

"What?" Fear paralyzed me as he raised his head. How can he know my name? His eyes were nearly all white, as if he was blind, but they seemed to see right into my soul. It was more than a little creepy, but I couldn't pull myself away to run. The hair on my arms stood straight up.

"You seek something larger than yourself. Remember that victory belongs to those who seize it."

"W-what are you talking about?" I shook my head, staggering back a few steps. "If you want money I don't have any."

"When the time comes, remember what is important to you."

And with that, he was gone.

Weird. I thought. He must have been on something. I continued my walk to school, a bit more than freaked out to say the least.

"Nice shirt, freak," Ariel, the head cheerleader, sneered as I past her on my way to my locker. Her little clique called out other rude insults as they followed her. Anger built up inside me, causing my fingers to shake. I shoved my books in and slammed my locker door. Ariel, not having made fun of me enough, had made her way back behind me and was standing with her group. I turned to face the inevitable.

"Wow, have you heard of make up?" Clarise, one of her henchmen, commented as another girl walked over to inspect my hair.

"Or a straightener?" She picked a piece of my curly hair and tossed it aside

Frustrated, I shoved the girl's hand away from my head. My instincts screamed to punch that bleach blond cheerleader right in the nose. Ariel barked another insult at me. I choked down the need to punch her. Her laughing crew was too much to handle, especially after the day I endured. I started out of the hall, to the double doors at the end that led outside. It wouldn't be the first time I had cut school, and it wouldn't be the last.

By the time I made it to the doors, the entire hall was laughing and pointing. Not that it was unfamiliar or new to me, I had been getting made fun of for three years straight. All because of Emma, my incredibly gorgeous sister.

Behind me, I heard someone shout, "Look! The ugly duckling's running away!"

I had to brake out in a run to get away from it all. I started crying when I heard the doors shut behind me. I hated to cry in front of people. I couldn't really go anywhere to cry. I didn't have a car, because I refused to be my sister's charity case. So, I had to walk, just like always. The trees behind the school caught my eye. I had always wanted to wonder in there, and today was just a good as day as any.

The tree line wasn't that far from the parking lot that I was standing in. The trees were beautiful: green, dark, lush with leaves. Once inside the woods, I sat on an old fallen tree. I was so tired of my life. All I wanted was something good to happen to me. Just once.

Suddenly, a sharp pain burst through my entire body. It felt I was going to explode, and then pop.

That's not a troll, Nolan."

I opened my eyes a little bit. Three boys, roughly my own age, were standing in front of me, looking rather confused. They were dressed very strange: one in yellow, one in purple, and one in black.

"I could argue that it was."

Yeah, it's short, but come one! It's a first chapter! I promise the next chapter will be longer!

Any guesses who the three guys are? Cookies to the person who guesses right!

Until next time!