1

My life was basic.

I adored my family; my little sister, Sydney, was my closest friend. She came to me with all her worries, and never failed to trust me with a secret. At the age of nine, her maturity surprised me every day. Sid was wise beyond her years, and gave me advice that I could never receive from an adult, let alone one of my school friends. I hoped with all my heart that she would stay that way, that she would never let go of the innocence and love that drove her personality.

I couldn't express in words how much I appreciated my parents. Everything about them was comforting, and they were always there to guide me, to support me, to love me. I had been reassured all through my life that they would be there as a pillar to hold me up and keep me going, no matter the path in life that I chose to take.

Then there was my brother Ryan, only a year my junior at fifteen. We didn't have the best relationship...but then again, what brother and sister did? With such a small age gap, we couldn't help but fight and disagree on the smallest of things. Nevertheless, he was my family, and despite our rocky relationship, there were moments— no matter how small and private —where he would treat me with respect and care, providing me with support in the times that I needed it most.

Our dog, Roxy, was also a member of our seemingly perfect family. I spent countless hours playing with her, watching her, caring for her. She was there to cheer all of us up in the circumstances that brought us down.

Next came my friends. Caitlyn was my best friend— I didn't share as much with her as I did with my baby sister, but I always came to her if I needed a shoulder to cry on. She was there if I couldn't go to my family, and regardless of the time— even if it was vastly inconvenient —she would be there for me.

Indie, Macy, Amy and Sheila were also part of our little group of girls; we were all extremely close and we relied heavily on one another. Indie was authoritative a lot of the time but she would often listen quietly to our worries and offer solid advice. Macy had a fiery streak to match her ginger hair, and didn't seem to have a filter. Amy was quiet and appreciated solitude— but could make me laugh like no other. Finally, Sheila was a gossipy, headstrong princess who could cheer anybody up in less than a second.

To an outsider... To even myself, my life, my world, seemed perfect. My home in Norfolk, South-East England, was comfortable and buried in the outskirts of a small village, Wolferton. We hadn't always lived so secludedly: once we were located in the centre of London. But that didn't suit us. In the Lumley family, we always managed to find our way, to find the place that matched us.

Everything was going my way.

And then suddenly, abruptly, frighteningly, everything I knew was exposed as giant bundle of lies.

>>

The Christmas Holidays were over. Today was Monday.

It was a new year, a brand new beginning for me. As I felt with every new year that came along, I knew there was something to look forward to, something that would make the year memorable. Even if it would be a single day filled with happy times to make for happy memories.

Unfortunately, today was not one of those days.

"Ryan!" I screamed hoarsely up the stairs, making Mum wince beside me. Mum was a naturally quiet woman, but at the end of the day, she could draw tears out of a grown man if somebody messed with her.

Beside me, Sydney held my hand tightly in her Hello Kitty mitten, her neck wrapped up tightly in a matching scarf. Her green eyes stared up at me worriedly, glancing at the front door as if concerned. Out of all of us kids, she was the only one to inherit both my fathers bright eyes and his light brown hair.

"Don't worry, Sid, I won't let you be late on your first day back," I assured her, glaring at the staircase.

"I'm coming!" Ryan shrieked back, and I heard muffled curses erupting from upstairs.

I stared pleadingly at my mother, who seemed to get the message and rolled her eyes.

"Ryan Lumley, if you don't come downstairs right now, I'm driving the girls to school and you can walk. Have fun being an hour late on your first day," she called. Almost immediately I heard stomping footsteps and my auburn-haired, brown-eyed brother came galloping down the stairs.

"I'm here, I'm here," he panted, scowling hatefully at me. I shrugged and smirked back; I was older that him, so I made the rules.

"Everybody out! Go, go, go," Mum ordered and shooed us out the front door, the three of us piling in the car. I sat in the front and waited for Mum to lock the door and jump in, before she started the car and backed out of the driveway, racing down the woodsy lane to the village centre.

"Ryan, is it going to be like this every day? Because I don't want your sisters to have to turn up to detentions seven days a week," Mum said.

He rolled his eyes behind me, "No, okay? Jeez, I'm late one morning and you think I'm going to mess up the lives for the precious girls. I'm just not back in the swing of going to school, alright? Give me some credit."

Mum nodded, accepting his answer. "Fine."

My gaze turned to Ryan, who's stony face was reflected in the side mirror. I softened a little; I guess it was hard for him, being the middle child and the only boy out of the three kids. I was just about to jump in with one of my famous 'older sister lectures' but I decided against it, and just kept quiet.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you that I'm going to walk home today. I have to go to the library after school to take out some revision books, and there's no point you picking up Ryan and Sid, driving them home, and coming to pick me up half an hour later. I have my phone with me and I'll be wrapped up nice and warm, don't worry," I said to my mum.

She glanced at me briefly, frowning. "You're sure? I don't mind coming back."

I shook my head, "Nope, there's no point. It's only a twenty minute walk anyway."

"More like thirty minutes," she muttered.

"Mum, seriously, I'll be fine, don't worry."

She sighed, unconvinced, but nodded anyway.

When we reached the school, I checked my watch and discovered that I had five minutes to get to my locker and run to Registration. My eyes widened and I started to panic, so I leaned over, pecked my mother on the cheek, yelped goodbye to Sid and leaped out of the car, sprinting into the school. I quickly checked to see that Ryan was behind me and made my way to my locker in the empty halls. Speedily, I stuffed my coat, scarf, hat and gloves into the metal cupboard, locked it and ran to my classroom, making it just in time. Other people in my class were making their way in at the same time as me, so I didn't draw too much attention to myself.

Scattered in different seats, my best friends glared at me simultaneously and mouthed 'you're late!'. I rolled my eyes and sat down quickly as Miss Moran called our names on the register.

"Dawn?"

"Here, Miss."

I breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't note that I was late. I hated being late— it only led to unwanted attention and detentions.

Ten minutes later, the bell rang and we all streamed out of the classroom, Caitlyn and Indie snatched my arm and dragged my out into the corridor, facing me with questioning looks. Macy, Amy and Sheila joined us moments after.

"We were worried you weren't coming in! How could we function without our ray of light to brighten up a Monday?" Caitlyn teased. My friends always called me something to do with the sun because of my name, which led to exaggeration about my personality. I was no 'ray of light' or 'morning sunshine'— in fact, quite often, I was the opposite. To others I was a quiet nerd who couldn't look people in the eye, but with my friends I would say and do the craziest— and weirdest —things.

"Blame Ryan," I snarled. They all rolled their eyes and started walking to class, pulling me along with them.

"He's your excuse for everything!" Macy laughed.

I threw my hands up in the air exasperatedly, "That's because he's a little shit!"

"No he's not," my friends chorused good-naturedly.

"Yes he is! That boy is adopted. He was sent here from the fiery pits of Hell," I insisted.

"That's funny, because you're the only person who seems to find him annoying," Indie commented.

"...Okay, fine. He's not that bad. But I still don't like him."

"Yes you do," the girls chorused again. I narrowed my eyes, but stayed silent.

>>

The day passed uneventfully, leaving me bored, and quite frankly, a little depressed. Starting school again reminded me of the fact that my life was in continuous loop, and would always be, for the rest of my life. School, then University, then working life, then retirement, then death. Society would always have a hold over me, so that I would live a normal, everyday life. Did I want to go through such a boring, mundane existence?

Breaking from my reverie, I said goodbye to my friends and promised to text them, before crossing the road from the school to the line of small shops that was the village High Street. I made my way into the library and took my time browsing the different revision guides and GCSE books, trying to find something that I could understand.

After closing a selection, I took them to the librarian, whipped out my library card and she checked them out for me. Thanking her, I stuffed the books into my bag— which was now very heavy —and lugged it out of the door, heading home.

Once I reached the street corner, I walked for about ten minutes until I reached the crossroads, and started down the long, bendy road that would lead to my driveway— my house was right at the end. Trees surrounded the lane and their branches leaned out over the road, intertwining into a roof of bark, moss and dead leaves. I breathed a heavy breath and pulled my coat tighter around myself, shivering in the cold as I watched my exhaled air thicken into a vapour. I was the only person I knew of at school who lived as far from civilisation as I did; the majority of the students lived in the residential streets just off the main road, where caravan clubs an strawberry allotments were common commodities.

Just before I reached my house to my left, was the winding lane that remained a mystery to everyone in the area. I had never seen anyone leave or enter the property, and the driveway was so long that it disappeared into the trees, meaning that it was impossible to make out even a hint of a house at the end. The intimidating sign at the entrance read, 'PRIVATE. NO ENTRY.' Despite the clear lack of an owner and my burning curiosity, nobody dared to enter, not even me.

Noticing that I'd stopped, I continued on my way, pulling out my keys to the front door as I strolled.

My ear twitched.

My head shot up, my eyes searching for the source of the sound that had caught my attention.

No car was coming in either direction, and the trees to the right of me were empty. So I looked to the left.

I saw a flash.

Huh?

A flash of brown passed again, but it seemed like my imagination. I wondered idly if I was walking so fast that when I passed a branch it seemed like a blur. No, that was stupid.

Ah, it was probably a rabbit. Rabbits occupied the forestry all over Norfolk, especially in my small town.

With peace of mind, I started to turn right into the entrance to my driveway.

Whoosh.

To the left of me, a rumble of snaps and wind whipped through the forest. My eyes span to the trees, squinting into the dense foliage. Through the cracks in the trees, I could make out a figure... Maybe a dog. It looked something like a large, black German Shepherd. My eyebrows shot up as I stared at it, almost doubting my eyes. So the property wasn't deserted...and clearly the owner liked dogs.

I found my feet taking me closer to the fenced woods and, on the edge of the road, I gripped the fence and peered over.

The dog seemed to have the same idea, and slowly stepped towards me, out of the pattern of shadows, and as it came closer, it's size grew larger.

Only when I knew it was too late to run, I realised.

This was no dog, no German Shepherd. This was a huge, jet black wolf.

And it's staring me in the eye.