Chapter 3

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, my God," she muttered under her breath.

For awhile, she just stared at the reflection of her image, lost in her own thoughts. The love bites were placed in places around her naked flushed skin like a mess. Without thinking, her hand reached to lightly touch her skin, fingers softly brushing against the swelling bruises on the skin of her neck.

She couldn't believe it. It wasn't then that she realized what her Grandmother used to tell her.

If you dream the same dream over again, it is sure to come true.

The fact is, she had dreamed of the shadow before ever since the first night she came at the mansion. But those past dreams never had been erotic. It was only last night that the shadow actually touched her.

Was her dream slowly coming to reality?

Just as fear was slowly crawling under her skin, her thoughts vanished in an instant when the sound of someone knocking against the door echoed in her ears. She snapped out of her trance and quickly ran around her room, searching for clothing. Because she was naked for goodness' sake!

The knocking came again after a few seconds.

"One second!" she cried.

Once she had settled herself in a clean shirt and worn pants, making sure she could cover herself perfectly, not to mention the bruises, she approached the door and gently opened it.

"Goodmorning, Grandma," she greeted, smiling.

"Goodmorning, Dear," answered Lola. "Have you eaten breakfast?"

"No," she answered instantly, feeling her stomach growling.

"Come down to the kitchen, I'd like you to meet someone."

"Who's this someone?" Anna asked curiously.

"Oh, they're members of our family and you'll meet them in the right time..when you're properly dressed." The old woman looked sharply at her beneath her glasses.

"I am properly dressed!" Anna exclaimed. She was, wasn't she? As a matter of fact, she had herself covered perfectly. At least, that was what she thought.

"Oh, no, Missy. Take a bath and get dressed right now. Today's your first day of School."

She frowned. "First..day?"

"Well, yes! Goodness, child! Hurry up now!"

Lola shut the door behind her. Anna rushed to the bathroom and quickly took a bath and got ready for her first day of School. Having love bites all over her neck wasn't really a good sight to begin with on the first day so she decided to wear her red hoodie dress reaching mid thigh paired with black ankle boots. She let her thick dark hair cover her neck and trail down her stomach.

By the time she thought she looked presentable, she went out her room and ran down the stairs to the dining table. She entered the large room and instantly smelled the delicious scent of breakfast.

Lola was sat on her chair and there were two guys sat opposite her. Confused, Anna approached the table, looking strangely at the two strangers.

"Dear," called Lola, smiling sweetly at her granddaughter. "This is Benjamin and this is Jonathan. Your cousins."

Finally. After all those years she spent not knowing anyone from her family besides her grandmother, Anna felt relieved that she did have cousins.

She smiled warmly at the two men and shook the hand of each. "Hello, I'm Annabelle. You can call me Anna. Can I call you Ben and John?"

The two brothers grinned at her and nodded their heads. They proceeded to eating and after a few minutes, she had already learned a lot about the two brothers. John was older than Ben. John was a Senior in High School and Ben was a Junior the same as Anna was.

"You should come to the house often," John told her. "Our little sister will be glad to have you."

"Oh, how old is she?"

"Actually, she's my twin," said Ben, "But since she acts like the girly girl that she is, she's considered ten years old."

John smacked the back of Ben's head and Anna laughed at the scene.

Scratching his head, "What was that for?" Ben angrily asked his older brother.

"She's two minutes younger than you, idiot."

"She sure doesn't act like it," Ben muttered to himself.

"Well, you don't either," replied John, obviously hearing him.

"That's ridiculous because sometimes I act more mature than you do."

"Oh, really?"

"You can't even play Call of Duty properly!"

"Well, that's because I don't play stupid immature games like you do!"

Ben stood up, looking directly at John's eyes with complete seriousness. Then said, dramatically, "Do not underestimate the power of gamers, John. Or it will be the last thing you'll do."

Everyone laughed. Except John.

After the fun breakfast, Ben and John led Anna to their truck but not before having their goodbyes to Lola.

"Where is Orlando High School?" Anna asked during the ride.

"It's somewhere around the woods. Not necessarily the usual school you'd say but it's large enough to fit horny teenagers."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Horny teenagers, huh?"

"Well, the school's basically full of teenagers with fücking hormones, searching for their fücking soulmates. You see, it's a maze so people definitely get lost in there and then go along to find themselves..In fact, that's why you're here."

She thought about how many times John said the cursing language before she said, "So, practically, I'm lost?"

Ben who sat at the passenger's seat looked back at Anna in disbelief. "You really have no idea who you are, do you?"

How was she supposed to answer that? She didn't even know her parents nor could she remember. She shrugged and looked at Ben questioningly as if demanding for an answer.

"Well, you're lost, kid," said John. "Let's see if you can find who you are, then."

Anna was confused. She looked questioningly between the two, raising an eyebrow. Ben laughed at her face. "This' gonna be fun," he muttered to himself although everyone heard it.

After a few minutes, the truck stopped. "Here we are!" exclaimed John, getting out of the driver's seat just as Ben got out of the passenger's.

Anna looked at the sight on the front of the car but there wasn't much to see. Grabbing her backpack, she got out the truck's door, tucking her hands inside the pockets of her red hoodie dress. Hearing the sound of people murmuring and talking everywhere, she quickly tugged her hood down behind her head to see her surroundings.

Her eyes widened in amazement. The large School was indeed surrounded by the woods and there were students everywhere.

"Hey."

She turned her head, seeing Ben carrying his backpack. "So," she began, "what now?"

John's chuckle echoed behind her. "What now?" he repeated.

"Now," said Ben, "is you consider yourself the Little Red Riding Hood. Get lost. Meet the Big Bad Wolf. And find yourself."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Little Red Riding Hood, huh?"

"Well, you're wearing a red hoodie and don't ask why because, yes, I believe in fücking fairytales despite my sexy Greek God body!"

She laughed at his immature behavior, realizing for the first time that John was, in fact, right about saying that Ben's an immature kid.

"Don't be a child, Ben. You do know this is High School, right?" she asked.

Ben laughed. "Believe me, I know." He looked behind her. "Oh, well, here comes the Devil."