Prologue (c): Aggravation

Gotums is the pits. Seriously, this place is disgusting.

I kick a beer can that’s lying by my feet and it rattles up the road. I follow it and kick it again, harder this time, as I pass by buildings that were once museums and art galleries now covered in layers of graffiti.

What the hell happened to this place? Was it only ten years ago that Gotums was the place of culture, private schools and the socially elite?

Ten years ago…

It was ten years ago almost to the day that I went to Camp Woodlands. I shudder as I think of it, and it takes a lot to scare me these days. But what happened there… I can’t talk about it. I mean, that kind of thing just DOESN’T HAPPEN in real life, right?!

I jam my hands into the pockets of my long red jacket as I kick my can past a group of men huddled around a burning rubbish bin. I’m careful not to make eye contact as I pass them. Just looking someone in the eye in Gotums is an automatic invitation to fight and I’m not in the mood just now. Even though I know I could take them all down in less than two minutes, I’ve got other things to worry about now.

That incident ten years ago at Camp Woodlands has been in the front of my mind for weeks now. It’s driving me crazy! It’s like it’s suddenly been burned into my brain, I can’t get it out. There must be a reason for it, for all the crazy shtick that’s happened since then in Gotums.

I know that Gotums is in a permanent shadow thanks to one of the three moons that orbits the planet. Ten years ago, people thought that was mysterious and enchanting. Now, it’s creepy. Funny how things can change in just a decade, huh?

As I look up, I notice I’ve arrived home without even realising it. Giving the can a final kick, I open the gate that’s starting to fall off its hinges and head up what was once the garden path. I pause before I open the door, my hand hovering above the doorknob.

They’re going at it again. I can hear my mum and brother arguing as clearly as if they were standing out here with me. I wonder what he’s done this time.

I sigh and look up at the second floor window that opens into my room. I briefly consider scaling the drainpipe but then remember what a scene my mother caused when she found out. Why? I mean, it’s not like I can’t do it! All those years of self-defence classes and gymnastics have got to be good for something right? What then, if not to scale a two-story building to escape a fight that’s going on below? And believe me, that kind of thing happens a lot around here.

Dammit. My life sucks.

I turn the knob and go inside, bracing myself for the verbal attack that always came when I entered.

“-doing who only knows what!” my mum screams at my brother before noticing that I’ve entered. She quickly switches her focus to me, my ever caring brother taking the opportunity to scuttle off upstairs out of the line of fire.

“And where have you been, Chloe? Running off, were you?”

“I came back, didn’t I?” I resist the urge to shout back. It gets me nowhere and only drags things out.

My mother sneers. “Got into another fight, didn’t you? Came running back to me for money or protection, right? Well, you ain’t getting neither, you selfish little whore!”

I’ll admit it, that last bit hurt. I mean, I know people who will do anything to make a little money around here, but I can’t. There are just some levels a girl won’t stoop to.

“Screw you!” I snap back. “Didn’t I just say I came back? Although I don’t know why, when we all know I’d probably be safer on the streets than with you people!”

Okay, that was a mistake and I know it. I can see my mother’s eyes burning and decide to make a break for it before this fight turns physical.

Before I’ve made it to the stairs, my mother yells out a bad word and slaps me across the face, hard. “You are never to speak to me that way again, do you hear me Chloe?”

I grit my teeth. “I hear you.” She glares at me a moment longer, then stalks out of the house. The car door slams and the engine grinds to life, before my mother peels out of the driveway and down the street. I sigh and gingerly touch my face. It still hurts.

“Is she gone?” My brother, Jack, creeps back down the stairs.

“Yeah.” I turn and push past him, heading for my room, forcing back the tears that are threatening to come. I close the door and lean against it for a moment.

Camp Woodlands….

“Get out of my head!”I bang my head against the door, aggravating my already sore face.

That’s it, I can’t take this anymore. I change my clothes, discarding my long red coat in favour of a purple leather one. I wear my heavy boots and black, lots of black, even outlining my eyes in black. Don’t ask me why, doing this stuff just increases my confidence. I guess I tend to hide behind looking like this, it ensures that no one gets close to me. You can’t trust people out here.

I pull my backpack out of my wardrobe and start stuffing it with things. Clothes, books, toiletries, whatever I could possibly need.

Finally, I am ready. As I leave, I catch a glimpse of myself in my mirror. The place where my mother struck me is red and my eye is already starting to go black, not that you can really tell with the way I’ve applied my eye makeup.

For a moment, I wonder what people would think if they knew what my life was like… if they knew who I was. Despite what people may think of me, I did make a few friends at Camp Woodlands. I forget their names now, but I remember they all came from different cities. One girl was from Plotovesus, which is now the place Gotums used to be. There were two guys as well, one from Quintrow and another from Labresci. I wonder If they’d remember me, or even recognise me.

Well, I can’t worry about them now. I have other things to think about.

I’m going back to Camp Woodlands…