Chapter 7: Disconnection

Chapter 7

Disconnection

 

 

Walking out of the bathroom, Selene glanced down the corridor. Alex was talking with her back to her to Ms Quatra, and by the look on the teacher’s face, she wasn’t happy. Seeing that they were caught up in the conversation, Selene crossed the corridor soundlessly towards the door. I have to get away, I have to disappear, she kept repeating to herself.

There was no way that she could stay now, what with her teeth, and the fact that she was burning for blood. Just the sight of Alex’s blood streaked face was enough to set her skin tingling. Not the best way to feel before the bell rang for lunch. Her mouth still watered at the smell, like freshly picked strawberries, and she was starving.

Get away, Selene concentrated on her words as she was leaving through the gates, she couldn’t afford to turn back now; she had to go, but where?

Then it hit her. How could she not have remembered? Heceta Head - the most dangerous place to go climbing at high tide �" was right next to the rock she went when Tittles…passed away. That was where she had burnt his remains, and thrown them out to sea.

The lighthouse had been long abandoned and shone no more; there were rumours of a ghost haunting the grounds.

She started jogging off towards her house, as to not attract too much attention. Whenever she met someone on the street, she kept her head down low, and wished that she had thought to wear a jacket with a hood that morning. Luckily, she had chosen a black one, so she remained inconspicuous.

She felt the only just bearable glare of the faint sunlight above her vanish, and she took a moment to stop and look at the sky. The cool, sunny morning it once was had begun to darken, clouds filling the sky, albeit white ones. But they wouldn’t stay like that for long; they never did while chaos was around.

For a minute Selene wondered why it wasn’t cold while she was there, but instead shrugged and carried on. It wasn’t like her to dwell upon things she didn’t understand.

After a quick trip to her house - getting the essentials, such as clothes, water, and a few bags of…food �" she set of in the direction of the beach. Normal people would take a more direct route cutting diagonally across the town straight towards Heceta Head, but then again, Selene wasn’t a normal person.

 She took the road to the nearest beach, the wind picking up more and more as she got closer, because on a day like this, nobody in their right mind would be out. Once there, she would be able to run as fast as her body would allow. She hadn’t run properly in months, and she was scared that she would forget how, now, in her time of need.

But she needn’t have worried; when she got to the beach which was, as she had predicted, completely devoid of life, she could run so fast that even the wind had a hard time catching up with her. She laughed, enjoying the thrill of having the wind rushing through her hair, forgetting her troubles in the meantime.

The farther south she ran, the more the wind started howling, and the sky was amassing more and more clouds. The west coast was in for a stormy night. Selene hoped that it wouldn’t hit Yachats too badly.

*************

 

When Selene reached the lighthouse, she paused to catch her breath. Here the weather was clearly worse, the waves crashing against the rocks with vigour, creating a deafening noise along with the wind. She had chosen the perfect spot. No one would come and bother her.

Repositioning the bag on her back, she walked up and pushed the door. It slowly opened, creaking as much as it could. The abandoned place was dark, but dry.

‘It’s the best place I could have chosen,’ she said to herself, then thinking that she heard someone. ‘Hello?’

No reply. Selene shrugged; she must’ve been imagining things. Dropping her bag on the floor, she shut the door behind her. It slammed with a loud bang, making her jump. I’m too used to living with humans, she thought wryly. Turning around, she found herself face to face with…

‘Hello Selene,’ the Grey Lady said, in a velvety voice that oozed irony, floating several inches off the floor.