Chapter 1

Melanie inhaled deeply the mix of the damp, moist air on a frosty morning, painted wood, cut grass and jasmine and freesia.

This is it Mel. She thought glumly to herself. You might as well see all the positive sides of this house since we are going to be living here for god knows how long.

She sighed heavily and squinted through the thick fog and mist to give her house a thorough look over. It wasn't that bad of a house considering how old it must be. The pure, green lawn stretched out in front of the massive house and two large golden willows stood symetrical on either side of the path that lead up the stairs to the front door. Rose bushes lined the pathway, which, from a distance had splashes of red, yellow, pink, white and purple. The structure of the house itself was massive and painted in a creamy white which looked like it, recently, had had a touch up job.

Melanie narrowed her eyes at her house and made her way via the path up the flight of stairs. The stairs were also just painted a thick layer of white and the wood underneath was starting to show due to age. As her hand slid up the railing she could feel splinters piercing her delicate skin. Don't you dare mess with me. She warned the house through her thoughts.

Melanie stood on the little verandah made from slabs of rotted wood and watched her parents from down below pulling bags and bags out of the boot of their car. She heard squeals of laughter as her eyes automatically formed into slits. She glared at Holly, her little 7 year old sister who was clutching her ragged, ugly doll and skipping around, kicking stones and having such an absoloute ball. She was such a cute, innocent girl. Her bronze ringlets curled down to her shoulders and her emerald eyes were mesmorising yet freaking scary! She had a pale complextion and her face just had the right amount of chubbiness to make people stop dead right in the middle of the road and gaze at her. You could just about see her angel like wings attached on either side of her little body and the halo glowing brightly above her head. Melanie cringed at her lovely sister and looked back towards the house. This house looks pretty new but it was probably 150 blah blah years old. She thought wearily. I bet-

"Melanie! Are you daydreaming about Dumbo again?" Holly asked Melanie innocently, pulling at her floral skirt. Remember Mel she's just a baby, she doesn't know what she's talking about.

Melanie looked down at her confused sister and smiled gently. "No, silly Holly! I'm not daydreaming about Darren," She corrected Holly and continued. "Melanie doesn't even like Darren."

Holly frowned, her perfect M shaped lips drooping down. Melanie grew smug. It's not like I hate my little sister or anything like that. It's like she's an annoying little angel that was raised by the devil and is such a brat! Melanie nodded in agreement at the thought.

Melanie was a 14 year old child who, pretty much, envied her sister. It wasn't that Melanie was ugly or dumb, no it wasn't like that at all. In fact Melanie was a beautiful girl with the same orangey-brownish curly hair as her sister and the same green eyes -except Mel's had a touch of red in them- and her pale, skinny figure. It was Holly's attitude and the way she looked at life differently to Mel that would make her -when she's older- have all the boys chasing after her, a successful, wealthy career and a stress free life...

"Look Melanie, do you know what that is?" Holly tugged on Mel's arm as she pointed her tiny, skinny finger back towards the car where their parents were now arguing over how to get all the junk up the stairs and into the house. Melanie tried to figure out what Holly was pointing at and rolled her eyes.

"Holly." She grabbed her sister's tiny body and shook it gently. "Have you or have you not seen a park before?" Melanie demanded of her sister. "It's a beautiful place where all the little kids like you." She jabbed a finger at Holly while rolling her eyes. "Play on the swings and slides and monkey bars and all the other crappy equipment you find fun and hilarious!" She continued sarcastically, throwing her hands up in the air and gesturing towards it. Her sister didn't find it amusing at all and looked quite impatient. She slowly shook her head and Melanie eyed her sister as her curly hair swished side to side and her little forehead creased in annoyance.

"No! No, no, no, no, Melanie! I know what a playground is." For a 7 year old, annoying sister she seemed pretty smart. "It isn't a playground because I've played in one before! Remember? This place has iron gates around it and has a big sign, but I can't readed it yet because we haven't learnted big words like that. It looks scary Mel. I'm scared!" She grabbed onto her big sister's jumper and tried to hide under it. Melanie rolled her eyes in annoyance and tsked at her sister's pathetic vocabulary. She grabbed Holly's arm out of the way and smoothed down her creased jumper.

Why is Holly acting so nervous? I know she's played in a playground before but what place has iron gates and looks scary to her?

Melanie sighed and turned back toward where her sister had pointed to. She tried to squint but couldn't see past the dreadful fog. She focused her eyes hard on the block of land across the road from their house and there it was, exactly what Holly had said. There was a big black, high fence that surrounded the perimeter of the land and a big gate with patterns on the sides whcih was closed. A large, threatening sign hung down from the gate and when she focused her eyes even more, she gasped in pure shock. Adrenaline coursed vigurously through her veins and she just wanted to sprint down to mum and dad and beg them to go back to their old home. Holly was absoloutely right, this wasn't a playground, it was nothing like a playground, infact it was scary. Melanie's mouth gaped open as she read again and again the letters that made up the horrible, horrible words. Welcome to Red Gum's Cemetery. Unless you want to play in a Cemetary. Melanie added, frightened.