All Chapters of The HIDDENS: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

PRESENT DAYI sighed as my father drove me to school it felt like I was being dragged to hell. Just a few weeks ago, I was living comfortably with my mom, Emily McHawlin, my world as normal as it could get. Now, I was living with a man I barely knew. A man I had believed was dead my entire life. My father, Daniel, who had suddenly emerged from the shadows, insisting he was back for my own good. Life has a funny way of slapping you in the face when you least expect it, twisting fate in ways that leave you breathless.I shook my head, still unable to fully process the turn my life had taken. A new father, a new home, and now, a new school.I pulled my cross-body bag off the shelf and stuffed a few notebooks inside, trying to focus on the mundane task. My thoughts raced as I questioned how I even agreed to this. Me, Prisca McHawlin, starting a new life on someone else’s terms. Daniel had convinced me it was “healthy” to get back into a routine, but there was nothing healthy about this si

Three days had passed so quickly, I could hardly believe it. High school was turning out to be survivable, and living with Daniel was slowly becoming less awkward. My friendship with Bryan had also grown closer, and I was grateful for that. He was easy to talk to, and I found comfort in his presence. But everyone at school had made up their minds that Bryan was my boyfriend. The rumors didn’t bother me, and Bryan didn’t seem to care either. We actually laughed about it.The weather here in Zimbabwe was usually blistering, the kind that made my skin feel like it was roasting under the sun’s relentless rays. Days like today, when the world felt hushed under the weight of the clouds, were a rare blessing.I decided to call Bryan it was a good day for a hot cheesy pizza anyways.---The pizza place was buzzing with the usual lunchtime crowd, a mix of students and families crowding around the red-checkered tables. Bryan and I snagged a booth by the window, and I tried to focus on our conver

I woke up the next Sunday morning feeling extremely sick and overheated. Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead, and I felt as if I were wrapped in a heavy blanket even though I wasn’t covered by anything. I didn’t even want to get out of bed. Struggling to sit up straight, I glanced at the small clock on the table beside my bed. Damn! It was already 10:00 a.m.! Why hadn’t Daniel woken me up like he usually did? Sunlight filtered through my curtains, casting patterns of light on the floor, but even that seemed blinding. I tried to get out of bed, but as soon as I stood up, I almost fell over. My legs felt numb, and I could feel heat rising from my feet, spreading through my entire body in waves, like fire snaking up my veins. “Oh my God,” I muttered, feeling unbearably hot. I grabbed the table to steady myself and looked at the picture of my mother, her eyes seeming to look back at me with concern. “Give me strength,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “What’s happening to me?” The s

I was beyond frustrated today, and I knew being at school wasn’t going to help my situation in any way. All I could think about were the answers I desperately needed. There were only two explanations for what was happening to me: either I was going insane, or I was turning into some cliché version of an alien.I dragged myself into my fourth class of the day, which was Literature. The moment I stepped into the room, I nearly choked when I spotted one of the seniors Bryan and I had seen last Saturday at the restaurant.It was Jake ....I groaned remembering ur last encounter. 'What is he doing in my class?' I thought, wide-eyed, as I made my way to my desk in the middle of the room. Damn, the guy was hot—seriously, why did he have to be so attractive?I could literally feel his gaze burning holes into the back of my skull, and it made my entire body feel warm, almost uncomfortably so. Thank God, Mr. Huggins, our teacher, walked in before I could embarrass myself further.“Good morning, s