Chapter 1

A solitary girl walked slowly down Beech drive. She had pale blonde hair and cold grey eyes that matched the stormy turmoil of clouds above her head. She wore a coat, for it was quite a cold August, and on her feet she wore a pair of old and worn trainers. She dragged her feet wearily along the tarmacked surface of the pavement, her eyes darted quickly over the symmetrical lawns and flowerbeds of the front gardens, hardly noticing the prim lawns and highly ordered flowerbeds. She looked instead through the net curtains of the windows, trying to make out the shadowy figures of the people within, attempting to make out all the guilty secrets hidden behind the closed doors. Some people would call this being nosy, but she preferred the term… inquisitive.

Given the choice, however, she would not be wandering around peering through people's windows at all, but instead at home, lying on her bed and reading a good book. Unfortunately, her mother had insisted.

"You need to get out more Susie! Make some friends; find something to do with your life other than just reading those damn books!"

Yet for Susie, it was when she was reading books that she felt most at home. She could spend a whole day shut up in her room just reading. Susie sighed wearily as she thought back over the hour she had just spent down at the park. It had been a complete waste of time, just as she knew it would. She'd stood around for half an hour looking like a complete and total idiot. If only she'd had the foresight to stick a book in her coat pocket, she might at least have spent the time finishing another few chapters.

It wasn't that Susie didn't want to make friends. More that no-one ever seemed to notice the shy quiet 17 year old reading in the corner. Her small physique and pale blonde hair just seemed to blend in with her surroundings; her stormy grey eyes could just as easily have been invisible for all the notice people took of her. Susie had never been noticed in her life, the only person she'd ever talked to properly was her mother, and since her father had died, that was only ever to argue with her. Everyone just seemed to be far too busy to waste their valuable time trying to talk to her.

The wind was really picking up now. It rushed hurriedly through the branches of the trees by the side of the road and whipped pale her around her shoulders. Susie shivered and pulled her coat tighter.

It was about then, that she noticed something, out of the corner of her eye. It was nothing remarkable really, the sort of thing you saw every day and never gave a second thought to, but for some reason, the sight of it really made Susie uncomfortable, like there was something very wrong. There were two people, walking along on the opposite side of the road. They made an imposing pair, both tall and walking with a purpose to their steps. The woman had a huge mass of black curls that framed her pale face; she had a commanding stature and looked as though she'd never been disagreed with in her life. Accompanying her was a man slightly taller than his companion, but with hair almost as long, however his locks were straight and paler even than Susie's, so pale it was almost white. On anyone else this might look angelical but this man was different, he had a harsh face that made Susie certain that he was not the type of man you would like to meet alone at night down a dark alleyway.

Susie could now hear the distant sound of traffic from the end of the road. Cars and busses honking and hissing like angry geese, and the sound of a motorbike revving up and some traffic lights. Susie quickened her pace, eager to get home before it started to rain. She trailed her hand along a fence enjoying the tangy metallic ring the buttons on her cuff made as they scraped against the metal. The main road was closer now, and the sound of the busy traffic was even louder, making a horrific noise. She could also hear the bike again and it sounded, Susie noted with a hint of disapproval, as though it were speeding up. The two people she'd noticed earlier were now a lot closer, the seemed to have crept up while Susie wasn't looking and they were now only a few feet behind her.

Just then, the motorbike turned the corner.

Susie gave a quick start when she noticed that the guy riding it could only be a few months older than her. He had a mop of shaggy black hair that fluttered gracefully out behind him as it was caught up in the wind. His clothes were slightly tatty and worn, a pair of baggy jeans and a red sweater that could have done with a wash.

Susie was preparing to give him a disapproving look as he dashed past (he was driving way above the speed limit) when suddenly the boy stuck out his arm, grabbed Susie round the waste, and shoved her, unceremoniously on the back of his bike!

"WHAT THE HELL?" Susie yelled as she threw her arms around him to stop herself shooting off the back. The boy just laughed and sped off down the road. As they passed the couple who had been following her, Susie watched the boy make a very rude gesture and noticed the look of complete and utter loathing he received in return. She clung on even tighter as they rounded a corner and drove off down the main road.