New Blood: Shadows Of The Night

I walked to the window, taking a view of the street for what felt like the last time. I'd lived in Pineview my whole life, it felt so weird when my mother left town after the divorce. I had to adjust to the life of just me and my dad and it was a lot at first, but it was something I grew to live with; I got a call earlier from my mom, saying she was getting married, and she wanted me to meet Chris, her new fiancé. I'd never met Chris before, and I didn't intend to until my parents decided that it was a good idea for me to live with my mom for a while in Ravencrest.

My dad was a cop and so being home all the time was something he didn't do normally, but I'd learned to clean up after myself, basically do chores and sometimes cook when I could. It was something I was cool with knowing that dad was hardworking and really good at his job. With the increase in the rate of crime and the hours it seized from my dad, he was never at home anymore and so the decision of me staying with my mom was made. "Come on, Stacy. Let's go...We have a long journey ahead of us." My dad's car horn brought me back to reality and I was shocked to see that he was done loading up the bags within minutes. It was really a long journey, I finally understood why my mom barely visited nor let me come around. I got the chance to pay more attention to my drawings and my dad spent hours singing Country songs and making me sing along like we used to. We sang along to "I will always love you" by Dolly Parton and I realized that I was going to miss this most of all. My dad and I had created something special when my mom left, it was us against the world and I never had that with my mom.

"Are you okay, peaches?" He held my hand as he arched his eyebrows, like he noticed something was going on somewhere.

"I'm fine, dad..." I lied. I really wanted to stay back home with him, I didn't want to leave the few friends I had, the town, even Mr. Biggles: our neighbor's cat who came to my windowpane to take some treats every day.

"I know this is a lot to take in right now, but I'm sure with time you'd learn to love the town. It was a hard decision for me to make as well, but we both know there was no way you could put up doing everything on your own. I'm really glad you made the work easier for me, but you still need an active parent, Peaches. It's for the best."

"I get it, dad. Work's a lot on you right now and I'll be a burden with you thinking about me all the time." I look out the window to admire the trees and landscape, nature's a really good inspiration.

"It's not just that, Peach. Your mom and I agreed that we'd make sure the divorce didn't affect you in any way. We'd make sure we were there for you every single time. I'm not doing exactly that at the moment, and it hurts me that you get to live that way. I just want you to get the love and attention you deserve in full. If you ever need me, I'm one call away, I'll get in this car and drive as fast as I can to come get you, alright?" He looked at me with sincerity in his eyes. I could feel that he was heartbroken, it was not an easy decision for him. He held my hands tight and gave me a reassuring smile as I nodded my head in acceptance, I was going to miss my dad so much.

"So... What song should we play next, I'd hate it if we don't sing them all before, we hit town. He tapped his phone, and the next song started to play. It was "Old Town Road" by Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X, Our special song.

********

My dad woke me from sleep when we were about to enter town. I must've slept off while drawing, and recently I wasn't getting enough sleep at night because of the weird dreams I always had. I thought it was probably because I was always worn out every time I hit the bed. I ended up drawing the things I saw in my sleep: a red eyed Raven and a guy I'd never seen before, I couldn't really see the guy's face because every time I tried to, the raven would come for me, and I'd wake up each time.

"We're here, Peach. Thought you might want to watch the entry." He had a spooked face, I wasn't surprised he felt that way because it looked like we just left Sunshine City to Dark Cloudy Town. The sign at the entry had a raven on it and I immediately had a weird feeling about it, like I was about to be in a horror movie. We moved past a lot of houses as I laid eyes on new faces and how everyone seemed to mind their business, someone could take a shit in the middle of town, and no one would care. It was a gloomy town indeed. We drove up hill to where my mom lived, it was like a different part of town, I'd say the Beverly hills of Ravencrest, but it still didn't change how weird the town was. My dad tried to make a turn along the street and instantly pulled a stop which would've been pretty bad if my seatbelt wasn't strapped on. A blonde guy on a motorcycle was in front of the car and mouthed a 'sorry' as he started his engine and moved past us. I didn't quite get a good look at home before he zoomed off, but he looked..... Okay.

"This town really is weird, I wonder how your mom puts off with it." He gave me a light laugh and I returned it with a faint one.

"Yea, I'm sure she's okay with all of this. Mom's not one to live in a boring town." I was still reliving the sight of the blonde guy that almost became one with our car.

We pulled up in front of my mom's house and I saw my mom walking towards us probably to give me a big suffocating hug like she always does. She still looked the same, not a day over Twenty-Five. She looked like a Victoria Secret model, and I noticed facetime didn't do justice to how perfect her skin looked. I came out of the car and was engulfed in the same old hugs I used to get; Yep, still suffocating.

"Ohhhhh.... Stacy, you've become too big to fit into my tight hugs. How are you? I hope your trip wasn't so hard on you."

"I'm fine, Mom. Dad made it interesting." She cupped my cheeks and held my hand before looking at my dad. "Hello, Matthew. It's been a while."

"Hello to you too, Helen. Trust you're okay? You don't have to answer it, clearly it speaks for itself." He smiled at her and it looked like she did the same until the awkwardness started building in.

"Come... Come. I made dinner and I'd like to introduce you to someone special. I trust that you have the bags under control, Matt?" She grabbed my hands and lead me through the pathway.

"Yea, you guys go ahead. I'll be in soon...." It didn't look like he did but maybe he was trying to save the awkward situation. I admired the house for a bit before stepping in and it looked like it was even better inside. Everything looked like it was carved for a rich vampire, the antics and the decors were so beautiful. The house was big enough to house a whole orphanage and I started to question if this was going to be my life from that moment.

"I'll give you a tour of the house later, your room is so beautiful." My mom whispered as she caught me in my admiration. We walked straight to the living room and I saw a man in a blue shirt wearing a apron, I could guess he was the fiancé my mom talked a lot about. Looked like he still had a few things to do in the kitchen.

"You finally made it... I was wondering when you guys were going to show up. Welcome, Stace. Can I call you Stace? He let out a hand for a handshake and I accepted it with a light smile.

"Just Stacy is fine. You have a lovely home, Mr. Smith " I've never really liked the idea of being called Stace. It didn't sound cool.

"Thank you. Stacy. Being the mayor comes with its own hardship and packages. And please, call me Chris. We're going to be family soon." He offered me a friendly smile and I had a feeling were going to get along quite well. "Well... Make yourself at home, the butler will help you get settled in, I'm sure my son will be happy to have you here and do let me know if you need anything else." He hurried back into the kitchen. Just then, my dad walked in with a handful of bags and looked like he was so uncomfortable until the butler went straight to him to help out.

"You can count on Dilly to be there at the right time." An unfamiliar voice said behind me and I was quick to assume that he was Chris' son when I looked at him. He had a brown colored hair like his father and he was a bit taller than me. "I'm guessing you're going to be my new stepsister... I'm Eric."

"I'm Stacy, it's nice to meet you, Eric." I flashed him a smile. Having company in this house didn't sound like a bad thing.

"I know, dad wouldn't stop talking about you and how perfect he wanted everything to be for your arrival. I could bet he was going to get a red carpet and paparazzi. I laughed out loud, and he looked please. "Want me to show you around?"

"Yea... Sure." It's only been 10 minutes since I got here, and it already felt like I could adjust. Eric gave me a tour around the house, and I finally found where my room was, it was five times bigger than my room back at Pineview and I was so amazed when I saw the princess touch it had. Eric had told me all about the town and school, how fast I'd catch up on the events in town with him by my side. We went downstairs for dinner, and it turned into an awkward situation, seeing my dad, mom and her fiancé together in one room.

"So... Uhmmmm, Stacy. Your mom told me you just turned Seventeen few weeks back. What's it like being Seventeen? You're almost legal if I may add." Chris tried to start a conversation. I was sure he noticed the awkwardness in dad's face.

"It's going great, dad extended my curfew to 9pm, I have the chance of dyeing my hair, Dad and I talked about boys and dates. I answered casually.

"9pm? On a school night? Dyeing your hair?" Mom pitched in while giving dad a look that felt like a death scare.

"It's not on a school night; she barely leaves the house anyway. Plus, she's old enough to make her own hair choices, and I told her she had to get good grades first before anything. Maybe start with highlights." Dad replied subtly. The rest of the dinner time went by so fast because we all ate in silence, Chris and mom had quiet conversations that were filled with giggles, and I saw how uncomfortable it made dad. Meanwhile Eric tried to tell me basic stories about the town.

After dinner, dad stayed back to help mom clean up the dishes so they could have a 'little' talk as they so liked to call it. I overheard them arguing in the kitchen and I could already guess that it was about me. This was how it started in the first place, before they got a divorce. The constant bickering that made me sleep with a pillow over my head almost every night. I decided to go out for some air while they argued more in the kitchen.

I walked down the street, and I heard music that sounded like there was a party going on. I got distracted by the lights and screams coming from inside the house that I didn't notice someone in my path and I bumped into him. "Heyyy!!! Watch where you're going! you spilled my drink all over me dude." A guy in a football jacket shouted at me and he looked pretty pissed. I could've sworn his eyes turned bright yellow while he was shouting.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I wasn't looking. How much does it cost for dry cleaning? I could take it and bring it back when it clean."

"Dry cleaning? Okay now you're really pissing me off and you're going to pay......" He walked towards me like he was about to rip me to shreds until a voice stopped him.

"I thought we were only throwing this party for fun, Jason. What's with the angry look on your face?" A guy walked towards us, it was dark, but it sure did look like I'd seen him before, until I took a closer look and immediately recognized him. It was the blonde-haired guy from the car incident with dad earlier today.