Chapter One....Scene Three

Jade looked at herself disgustedly in the mirror. She had just come back from running in the nearby woods, and was a mess. Her lush fiery red hair had bits of grass and leaves in it and her face was caked with dirt. She grimaced and quickly ran a hot bath, planning to immerse herself in the refreshing water but her mother’s commanding voice downstairs told her there was no time for that or she would be late for school. Jade had been going to Sereneville High since forever. She had been born and raised here and unlike her parents, had never really much been anywhere else. There were the occasional times when they would drive down to the nearby town of Serenity to visit friends or relatives but that was pretty much about it. Jade felt suffocated in Sereneville and had actually wanted to change schools but her parents would not allow it.

She just hoped this year would be a lot more interesting than the previous one. She’d had to put up with so much crap, especially from Bryce who treated her like she was his own personal trophy and showed her off every chance he got to his equally boorish friends. She didn’t even know why she was going out with the guy in the first place but she had to admit, despite his obvious lack of manners, he was quite a catch; strong and determined just like his father.

Upon hearing her mother’s voice again, Jade reluctantly clambered out of the bath and dried herself off. She flung on a white T-shirt and some jeans and made her way downstairs where her parents were already having breakfast.

Amanda looked at her watch as Jade came in. “You’re late young lady,” she said.

“I bet you she was out again,” Adam commented.

Jade rolled her eyes at her parents. “Mom, I’m not late. Nobody is ever on time on the first day of school. Dad that was only like the third time I’ve been out this week, nothing compared to how many times you told me you guys used to go out before I came along.”

“Clever little thing isn’t she,” Adam said to his wife, “always finds a way to turn something right back at you.”

“A bit like her father that way,” Amanda said, letting a shriek as Adam lunged to tickle her.

Jade felt like she would throw up at the scene before her. She quickly gulped her milk, took an apple from a bowl of fruits on the counter and walked out the door, covering her ears as she heard her mother squeal.

Sereneville was quite abuzz this morning, with the sun sending its warm rays down just at the right temperature. Home to just three hundred residents, Sereneville was not the biggest town but what it lacked in size it more than made up for in history. The story that most people told or heard was that in the late 1700s, four pioneers had stumbled upon the area when one of them had fallen ill. They decided that two of them should continue to make ground while their partners would follow as soon as the other one felt better. The two went on and a couple of miles ahead, they found a lake. They quickly came back to their friends and told them of their discovery.

After scouting the area a bit more, the four pioneers decided to settle and build a small town there. There would be plenty of easily available lumber and good meat from the forest and an ample supply of fresh water and fish from the lake. So it was that the four built a town and named it Sereneville; a beacon of peace and tranquility. The founder’s names were Jonathan Cromwell, Cliff Callopis, Robert Shell and Zach Parker. Over the following years, the town had thrived both socially and economically.

But like most towns, it had had its fair share of tragedies, one of which prominently came to be known as Melissa’s Curse. Melissa Williams was a school teacher and had led a simple unexciting life until one day; she was accused of practicing witchcraft. She venomously proclaimed her innocence, stating it was pure jealousy of her life with her loving husband that people insinuated such things. She was tried and found guilty despite her protests. The locals bound Melissa’s hands and feet and drowned her in the lake but not before she cursed the town and said it would always be a haven for something evil. A week later, Melissa’s husband’s body was found floating on the lake. The coroner ruled suicide but some of the locals said the lake was being haunted by Melissa’s spirit and it had taken her husband in vengeance for turning his back on her. Since then, every year on exactly the same date, it was said a white mist slowly engulfed the lake and you could hear a sweet smooth voice humming. Anyone who was unfortunate to be close enough would be lured to the lake and drown.

Sereneville was entirely surrounded by woodlands which the locals said gave it a feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world, sort of like a private little island. Huge redwood trees lined the road entering the town. The first thing that one came across was the dock on the right, a couple of boats tied to it. A little further down the dock was an old boathouse. Past the boathouse, a couple of shops signaled the town proper. There were a few hardware and furniture stores, grocery stores, a salon, a barbershop and a bank. There was also an auto garage repair shop. After the shops were a couple of rows of houses, some still maintaining their colonial architecture while others had just a smidgen of a modern touch to them. Their lawns were immaculately cut and there was no shortage of flowers at each house.

Going past, one would soon come upon a roundabout right in the middle of town where four monuments in honour of the four founders were erected around a huge fountain. Just past the roundabout was a hospital and beyond it was Sereneville High School. On the other side of the road, was the entertainment part of town. There was a cinema, a sports bar and grill and a bowling alley and beyond those buildings was a park. The northern part of town was of a significantly higher class of resident as the houses here were much larger and more expensive. The town had two main roads. Castor Road, which was the only road out of town, ran right through the middle of the town all the way up to the end where it joined into Haven Road. Haven Road ran around the town, going all the way past the lake on the east side of town and then circling and coming back to join Castor Road on the west side of town. There were five main streets that cut across the roads. There was Parker Street which was the first street you came across after entering, Shell Avenue, Callopis Drive, Cromwell Street and Sereneville Close in that order. As is always the case with any town, there was a segregation of the population based on their economic status. The rich hang out with the rich and the rest of the town hang out with themselves.