Chapter One: New Soul to Town

It was after midnight that I found myself walking through the cemetery. The night was a cold one, as it was almost winter. I pulled my jacket around me tighter as I walked along the path. I could see graves for miles, both recent and ancient. The sight calmed me down a bit, the anger seeping out of me like air from a balloon.

Glancing behind me, I sighed with relief. He didn't follow.

I heard laughter in the distance. This made me pause, wondering if I was hearing spirits. I quietly continued down the path. It might be a security guard or some hooligans spray painting some graves. What I saw was quite surprising.

Among the graves, there were several lit candles and a picnic basket spread out on a blanket. There was a couple cozying up under a blanket. I was about to turn around and start heading back when the guy looked up.

"Looks like there is another night owl in this town." He said in a deep, husky voice. The girl looked up as he said this. Her irritated expression quickly changed as she glanced over my clothes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I didn't think anyone would be here at this time of night." I awkwardly smiled. "I'm just going to go now. Have a nice night."

I quickly turned and walked several steps when the girl told me to wait. She caught my arm before I could start to run in embarrassment.

"You don't have to go. Are you new to town?" She asked. I was about to say it was none of her business when I saw her shirt. It was a My Chemical Romance t-shirt. An exact replica of the one that I had on under my jacket. Actually, her whole outfit reminded me of the ones I usually wore.

Remembering she had asked me a question, I quickly averted my eyes from her shoes to look at her face. "Yeah. Just moved here yesterday."

"I'm Raven. This is Alexander. Would you like to stay for a little while? We have plenty of food."

"I really wouldn't want to ruin your date. Besides, I should really start heading back. School is only a few hours away and I need to think of a way to ditch."

"Are you attending the high school?" Alexander eyed me, a worried expression on his face. No doubt it was because of my height. I was five foot two, way shorter than any other girl around my age.

"I'm a senior."

Alexander quickly relaxed. Raven, on the other hand, grinned. "Me too! Finally there's someone who has good sense in fashion. I'm tired of being the only Goth in that school."

This alarmed me. I came from a big city, so there were many others who shared the same interest as I did. Moving to this dull little town may have been a mistake. But it wasn't my choice. My father wanted to move to this town because some family members from my mother's side lived here. He wanted answers why she left him with a six month old daughter to take care of all on his own. It took him along time to find her maiden name and look into her family history. They married as strangers, a drunken night in Las Vegas. When she found out she was pregnant with me, she wanted an abortion. But my father convinced her to keep me and try to be a family. She agreed, but in the end, she bailed.

So while my father will be trying to find her brother, I'll be wasting away in a place that will be my prison for the next year or so until I figure out what college to attend.

A place that only had one person I could share interests with.

"Are you in college Alexander?" I asked curiously. Surely he was someone I could befriend as well.

"Oh no. I'm homeschooled. My family and I moved here from Romania quite some time ago. I'm a hardcore night owl. Sleep when the sun goes up until the sun goes down. So it's better if I didn't go to public school. Although, it would be worth to go so I could see my darling beautiful girlfriend every day."

"You guys are so adorable together. If only I had someone in my life like that." I admit I was a bit jealous. I've only had a couple of boyfriends here and there, none of them serious. Somewhere I realized along the way that I purposely never got close to them. I didn't want to end up like my dad.

"Aw, thanks. I'm sure your gothic knight will show up eventually…" Raven trailed off, a loss for words. I realized I never gave my name.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Amber. Probably should've said that sooner." Glancing at my watch, I realized that I should start heading back home. My dad was probably waiting with several police cars waiting to take me to the station for missing curfew. "It was nice meeting you both. I'll see you at school tomorrow Raven. I'll probably see you around too Alexander. But I should probably get home. My dad will go ballistic."

After saying our good-byes, I quickly retraced my steps. A few turns here, a few turns there. I almost face planted the ground by tripping over a rock. The house was located about two blocks over. I took the back way, hoping that no one mistook me for a prowler. I would've taken the main roads, but I didn't want to risk being caught by the police.

The single-story came into view. The back porch light was on, illuminating the backyard. The kitchen light was also on, meaning only one thing. He was waiting for me.

I quickly hopped over the fence and ran to the sliding glass door. Opening it quietly, I tip-toed into the house and looked left and right. No one in sight. After locking the door, I found my way to my room. Inside, my father was waiting.

Barely in his forties, he was quite the looker. Every woman he met swooned over him but quickly lost interest once they found out he had a teenage daughter. He didn't say it, but I could sometimes tell that he regretted meeting my mom and having me. Without me, he could have all the women he ever wanted. He didn't have worry about my well-being all the time. He could focus on himself more. I was just a burden to him. If I ever met the woman who birthed me, I would strangle her neck for making him go through this alone.

Clearing his throat, he caught my attention. He seemed angry and relieved at the same time. "Darling, you had me worried sick. I didn't expect you to run out of the house so soon. I know you don't want to be here, but I need to know what happened to your mom. If she's okay or if she's… not. I just need you to be patient. Okay?"

"Why?" I suddenly wanted to scream. "As soon as you find out if she's living, you're just going to ship me off to live with her so you can live your own life. That's why you want to find her so bad, right? So you can go have the life you always wanted. Without a daughter to care for."

A pained expression crossed his face. "Sweetie… is that what you truly think? That I don't want you anymore? If I never wanted you, I wouldn't have pleaded with your mom to have you. I wanted to be a father." He sat on the bed suddenly, as if he was pushed. He patted the spot next to him. I sat and he pulled me into his arms and pulled my head under his chin. "The only reason why I want to find your mother is for you. I want you to know her at least for once in your life. Or if she's not here, then at least spend some time with her side of the family. I don't want you regretting not knowing. I know how that path plays out. But never think that I don't love you or want you. That's not true. You're my daughter. I love you and I always will."

I quickly brushed away a tear before he noticed. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel even sadder. "I'm sorry for running out like that. I went to the cemetery to clear my head."

"It's okay just don't do that again. At least without taking your cell. Did you meet any vampires lurking around?" He asked jokingly.

"No. But I did meet some really cool people who could potentially be good friends. Although if they were vampires, I would've made them turn me so I wouldn't have to go to school."

"Speaking of which, time for bed. You are not ditching the first day. I'll be dropping you off at sevenish and picking you up around threeish. In between that time I'll be looking for the Madison family." He got up from the bed and gave me a peck on the forehead. "Good night Amber."

"Good night."

The next morning I dragged myself from my cozy bed and into the shower. I lathered myself up in the cherry blossom body wash and toweled dried my hair. I picked out a fiery red corset with a black tutu. I grabbed my scuffed combat boots and laced them over the striped stockings. Downstairs, breakfast was laid out on the dining table, my dad already biting into his piece of toast.

Shoving the scrambled eggs into my mouth, I reached into my backpack to memorize the slip of paper that held my classes.

First Period: English. Second Period: Calculus. Third Period: PE. Fourth Period: Health. Then it was lunch. After that I had free periods. Which means I could come home early.

Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the school gates. Looking around, I saw that Raven was right. There were no goths that I could see. There were clones of Barbie and Ken dolls. None of them seemed original in the least.

I spotted Raven in the parking lot, dragging herself from a beat up old truck. Next to her, a girl was happily jumping up and down. She had red hair and looked plain in a Pokka dot red dress and converse that matched.

Raven waved me over excitedly and introduced me to her friend. "This is Becky. Becky, this is the girl I was telling you about."

"What girl? I don't remember you saying anything about a girl."

"That's because you were so focused on Matt that you weren't listening to me…again." Raven seemed a bit annoyed as she mentioned this. I assumed this Matt person was Becky's boyfriend and she was obsessed with the relationship. Sounded like a former best friend I used to know.

"Hi. I'm Amber. I just moved here from California. I ran into Raven at the cemetery last night while she and Alexander were on a date. We were practically wearing the same outfit."

Hearing this, Becky finally noticed my outfit. Her face dropped a bit as she saw that it resembled what Raven wore. She looked threatened. "So you're a goth? Raven and you must have a lot in common."

"Perhaps. We really didn't say much to each other last night. I guess we have to get to know each other better over our breaks." I smiled, trying to get her to feel less threatened. It wasn't like I was going to steal her best friend away.

"So what made you move from an awesome place like Cali?" Raven asked.

"Well it's kinda complicated. My mom ran out on us when I was only six months old, leaving my dad to take care of me. He wanted to know why she left him and her daughter so he's been trying to find information on her whereabouts for years. But so far he was only able to find that she had a brother and he lived in this town. After looking into the school here, he decided to move us here. So that I could connect with her side of the family."

They both gasped in surprise. Not knowing what else to say, I shrugged and decided to change topics.

But a male voice interrupted what I was about to say.

"Well. If it isn't Raven. It sure has been awhile since we last saw each other, hasn't it?"

I glanced behind me to find a blonde haired guy that wore a black shirt and matching skinny jeans. He had a lip piercing and wore studs in his ears. His face reminded me of Alexander's. And someone else. Someone I couldn't place.

"Claude! What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be back in Romania?" Raven was practically yelling as she hissed at the guy.

Claude laughed. "I came to visit my dear cousin. What's so wrong with that? Besides. We left off on some much unfinished business, you and I. you-!" Claude stopped suddenly as he focused on me. He looked surprised and shocked. "Amber? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?" I was confused. I never met this guy in my entire life. Surely I would remember if I had.

"Do you know him?" Raven looked upset and confused as I was.

I shook my head and Claude grabbed my arm. "You don't remember me? You don't remember that night at the club?"

I tried braking my arm free from his grasp. But he was just too strong. "Look I don't know you. I don't remember anything about a club. I just moved here so how could I?"

"Let go of her arm Claude. She doesn't know you. You're probably mistaking her for another girl who has the same name as she does." Raven was about to slap him when he let go. He shook his head sadly.

"Of course you wouldn't remember. I made you forget."