CHAPTER 1

The thing about change is that, even though you wish you could prevent it, stop it, slam on the brakes, or even reverse it, change is as inevitable and uncontrollable as the falling of leaves in autumn, or the inevitable passing of the moon as it gives way to the rising sun. Change doesn't wait for your approval before tossing you relentlessly onto a new path. Not that this fact had escaped Charli Thompson, it's just that the sudden turn of events that grabbed her and maliciously tossed her onto a new road was not just unexpected but was also one that she would never have envisaged. It was a nightmare from which, she was certain, she would never wake. She had been flung into a life that felt like a bottomless pit of darkness, where the walls that were supposed to be her support through life, were now living tendrils of ruthless, life-draining monsters that grabbed her and slashed at her as she spiralled downwards into a life devoid of joy or hope. If only there was some way out or even a foreseeable end to this void, but she could see no end, not for Charli.

Her mother, Catherine, had died giving birth to her, and this was the cherry on top for her Aunt Lydia, whose deep-rooted hatred towards Charli's father, Tom, had already trodden deep roads of bitterness and hatred. Aunt Lydia believed he had stolen Catherine from her. Catherine being her twin sister had run off with Tom and two years thereafter had died giving birth to Charli.

This made Charli Thompson an automatic co-conspirator with Tom, winning her an instant second place on Aunt Lydia's endless I detest these people list.

This never bothered Charli, though, and it never seemed to bother her father either. To Charli, Tom was everything in her world; not only the best father a girl could ever have, but her best friend. Never once did Charli feel alone, even without a mother figure in her life. So, if it were up to Charli, change was unnecessary and unwelcome. Not that she wouldn't have minded having her mother in the picture, but she was happy, and her life felt complete. Her father had bubbled with a zest for life, his fun-loving attitude contagious and fulfilling, which was something Charli would miss most of all.

An aching, so unbearable, tore through her heart for the hundredth time since the accident. When would the pain go away? How would she possibly get through this? She never imagined her father wouldn't be around for her. Coming to terms with losing him was something she couldn't grasp. A growing hatred for the drunken driver of the vehicle who had crashed, head-on, into her father's vehicle, burrowed its claws deeper and deeper into her subconscious.

She would never forgive the man, even though he too had lost his life in the accident. This hatred awarded her with a strange sort of comfort, which mingled with power - and it was the only thing, in her toppling life, that she had control over. She cleaved onto it with all her might as if it was the last thing tying her to her father.

"Charli Thompson! You get down here, this minute! If I have to come up those stairs to fetch you, heaven help you, missy!′ Aunt Lydia's rantings seemed to shake the foundation of the very house as she yelled from the porch.

The school bus was ready to leave without Charli. She hurled down the stairs, skipping a few steps, and her bag bopped noisily behind her. When she passed her aunt, she was greeted with a deadly glower that was as lethal as being jabbed with a stick of ice.

"There will be no lunch for you, just for making my Nadia and Esmeralda late," she scolded as Charli flew past her and out the front door.

"Late on your first day of school, no less!" she shouted behind her, pointing her podgy index finger at her niece in disgust.

Charli ignored her and clambered onto the school bus. She was greeted with curious glances, and soft gusty whispers filled the air.

"These seats are taken. You'll have to stand," Nadia spat.

Charli ignored her cousin, one of the identical twins spawned by her evil Aunt.

Nadia's warning glare that signalled the other students on the bus, didn't go unnoticed. Charli immediately assessed the situation and realized that her cousins were undoubtedly, the school bullies. Anybody with empty seats beside them hurriedly placed their suitcases on the empty seat beside them. Unperturbed, Charli moved further down the bus.

A skinny girl with red pigtails and an extremely pale complexion doused with freckles ignored Nadia's warning glare and smiled at Charli. "Ignore them," she encouraged. "You can sit beside me." She patted the window seat beside her.

"I'm Millicent but you can call me Milli. Everyone does," she smiled sweetly.

Grateful, Charli flopped onto the seat beside her and nimbly returned her smile. "Thanks. I'm Charli," she mumbled, not in the mood to chat.

"I haven't seen you before. Did you just move here?" Milli asked with peaked enthusiasm.

Charli nodded, disinterested.

"Where are you from?′ Milli was clearly not perturbed by Charli's lack of civility and continued with her questioning.

Charli sighed with agitation but forced herself to be polite. Alienating the only friendly person she had met since her arrival at Bartonan Mountain Valley last week would be a bad idea.

She bit back her aggravation. "I moved into town last week."

"Is Bartonan Valley very different from where you're from?′ Milli enquired eagerly, "I've never been anywhere but here."

Charli regarded her thoughtfully for a minute before replying, "Yes, this town's so small. What do you do for entertainment?" Charli was suddenly curious.

"Not much. I'm only seventeen so I can't even go to the one and only club. And, don't laugh, we don't even have a movie theatre," Milli replied shaking her head despondently.

"No way, you can't be serious."

"I'm afraid so," Milli responded but then her eyes flashed brightly. "But we have hiking trails. If you're into that sort of thing. I am – I absolutely love it."

Charli noticed a sparkle in Milli's eyes and realized that was another topic that was about to flood into another conversation, and suddenly she wished she hadn't accepted the seat after all. It would have been less torturous to stand all the way to school than to have to sit and listen to any more Milli-chatter. She bit down on her teeth in aggravation and hoped the agonizing bus journey would soon be over.

'I'm going to be a geologist just like my father. He works down at the mine," Milli continued, her pride bubbling over.

"Did you know that the mountains around here are known for their ancient rock? They say the fossils found here are recorded to be some of the earliest life forms on our planet, and there's even evidence ...,"

"Really? Is there no end to your chatter?" Charli snapped, giving Milli a look that stifled any further words.

Milli swallowed hard and sank back into her seat, a look of shock, pasted on her face.

Charli sighed regretfully, "I'm sorry Milli. I've just had a really bad day. No, scratch that - I've had two weeks of hell, and I'm in no mood to chat." Charli didn't wait for a response and turned to stare blankly out of the window, grateful Milli had afforded her the window seat.

For a while, there was silence before Milli spoke again. "You know, you're lucky that we now have a school bus. Just a few months ago we didn't. Your folks can be thankful, for they would have had to drive you to school every day."

"My parents are dead," Charli blurted, and immediately regretted it.

The look on Milli's face was enough to make Charli cry and laugh simultaneously. To avoid any further awkwardness, she made the fatal mistake of pretending to be interested in something on the opposite side of Milli – which just happened to be a short, plump kid grinning at her from ear-to-ear, who then winked at her, much to her disgust.

Ugh. She wanted to throw up. Charli hurriedly turned around and stared out of the window again. When would this nightmare end? Then, all the questions that had attacked her every minute of every day for the past two weeks harassed her again. Why was this happening? What had she done wrong to deserve this? These were just a few of the many questions that had plagued her since the tragedy.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey to school was devoid of Milli chatter. She did regret her behaviour towards Milli and made a mental note to make it up to her - later. For now, she was low on energy and had little desire to do anything other than mope and drown herself in increasing sorrow, and to further lose herself by wallowing in the escalating lava pools of self-pity that were growing astronomical in size.