A/N: This is a short story I had to write for English, for my coursework. This is the first draft, and my teacher says it's A*, but I think it could be improved, so if anyone has any suggestions? Improvements? Anything really, I'll love you forever =D I hope you like it
~calasin

NO ESCAPE

Serena was cold, even in the car, swaddled in layers of clothing. The road ahead seemed to stretch for miles, the scenery the same on either side; a million different shades of green foliage. Silence hung heavy in the air; an ominous presence, and Serena felt compelled not to break it. Her mother, Eleanor, sitting in the passenger seat, the splitting image of her daughter, was gripping the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles white. Serena didn't know how long it had been, she only wished the journey would be over soon; spending time with Eleanor had been torturous ever since Serena's father had died. He'd been the glue that had been holding them together, and now there was nothing for them to do but drift apart. Both mother and daughter became uncaring; unfeeling; unresponsive. Saying that they were in shock would be an understatement, Ricky's sudden death had been a blow to them both, knocking them off balance, making them retreat into themselves; Serena in her music, and Eleanor in work. Serena and her mother both kept their gaze fixed on the road ahead, as if just by staring at it, the small town would magically appear. The sign greeted them a mile later; they had left the Interstate 5 by now, and what they were on now could hardly be called a road, it was more of a barely discernable dirt track. Serena breathed a sigh of relief, "Welcome to Hopewell" it read, and the small town came into view. At first glance, it seemed deserted, blending in with the Oregon scenery. Then Serena began seeing glimpses of people – blank expressions on their faces. Their clothes looked like they were timeless, not in the sense that they would be the clothes of the future, but that they looked like they belonged neither in the present, the past, nor the future. Serena found herself not being able to focus on one of them for too long, their faces almost indistinguishable as the car sped past them in the narrow streets. Soon enough, their new house approached, and Serena turned her attentions towards it, taking it in for the first time. The house was beautiful, picturesque; or it would be with a little decoration and restoration. Serena was glad that Eleanor would have so much work to do in repairing the house, but she'd no doubt have her friends over, and maybe a boyfriend and that would undoubtedly keep her out of Serena's hair for the rest of the summer.

There really was no point in moving so far away, was what Serena thought. Eleanor was starting a new job, in Salem, Oregon, but that didn't mean they needed to live so far away. In Eleanor's words, she wanted Serena to not be surrounded by the bustling city life. But Serena wanted to be anywhere but in Hopewell, in the middle of nowhere, with no contact with the outside world. All that she'd ever known lay back home, in Florida. Serena knew that the real reason for living so far away from the city was the price at which Eleanor had been able to get the house; it was much cheaper than anywhere in the city, but definitely bigger. Probably so cheap because they'd bought it from the owner, Mr. Knightly, who not so strangely enough wanted to get away as soon as possible from Hopewell. As she dumped all her belongings in her spacious new room, she observed that it was actually too big for just her and Eleanor. It didn't matter to Serena anyway; if it was up to her, she'd be gone for most of the day, and would only be spending the night at the new house. Deciding to put her plan into action, Serena left her mother, informing her with a shout of 'I'm leaving' and the slam of a door, to go explore for herself this strange new town. She didn't see anyone as she stepped outside of the house, but wasn't really expecting any friendly neighbours; Hopewell didn't seem that kind of a town. She walked aimlessly, and found herself past the shops she'd seen before, but they were all closed, on account of it being Sunday. They seemed old, the buildings certainly were, but the font of the names of the shops was even stranger. It seemed like the whole town was frozen in the past. She saw a few people now, but they kept to themselves, keeping their heads down, and continuing towards their destination, not stopping to associate with the new girl. Serena assumed this would be what high school here would be like once it started, and she felt happy about that, the last thing she needed was some new person intruding in her life, wanting to know all about her and her secrets. She aimlessly wandered, having done a complete circuit of the town in an hour, she found herself heading for the open expanse of fields that surrounded Hopewell. Bored almost to death, Serena found herself just sitting down in the exact spot she was standing, not sure what to do next. Going back to the house, was not an option. Talking to friends? Not possible. There was no signal on her phone. Clouds hung drearily overhead, heavy with rain, but not yet about to spill. Serena wished that she could just hurry up and be done with high school; college would be an escape from her mother, and all her troubles – a fresh start. Realising there really was no option other than to return back to their new house, Serena started walking back dejectedly, wondering if the rest of her life in Hopewell would be the same.

The first time she'd seen the boy was when they'd driven into Hopewell, his had been the face that had stuck out from the rest, but it wasn't until her third day living in Hopewell that she'd actually encountered him. She had been returning to the same spot every day, in the field; it seemed to be the only place where she could forget about her mother. Serena was about to leave, when she got the feeling that she was being watched. She turned her head sharply, and saw in the distance, a boy, who looked around her age, or maybe older, 16 or 17. Even from where she was sat, she could see his eyes were a pale, cold, blue, not like a summer sky blue, but the pale blue colour of an iceberg. His icy gaze was piercing, almost as if he could see right through her, into her soul. She shivered involuntarily, and tried to look away, but found that she couldn't. He approached, slowly, and she could make out his face – high, sharp cheekbones; thin, blood red lips; straight nose. His dark, brown-black, curly hair was in sharp contrast to his pale, almost translucent skin. Serena was entranced by the mysterious boy. He was only ten feet away now, and still her eyes were rooted on him. He stood before her, and all that could be heard was their heavy breathing.

"Hello," He said the one word, so quietly, Serena wouldn't have known he had even spoken if she hadn't seen his lips move. She felt compelled to talk to him, and found herself rambling, telling him about her life, how her father had died, and her feelings, and how hard it had been. How her mother didn't care about her, and how she wished she could leave for college already, and be done with high school. He was listening, she could tell, but he made no move to reply, or start talking about himself, and so their one sided conversation continued. Serena found herself strangely comfortable with him, with no awkwardness like there would be with strangers. Silence fell between them, and Serena bitterly thought to herself that silence seemed to follow her like a curse. There had been silence after her father's death in her house, there had always been silence at school when it concerned her, and everywhere else she went. Even with the mysterious boy, all she found was silence.

"What is your name?" He asked her, and Serena noted how his voice was melodious, a rich sounding baritone.

"Serena," She answered, dawning on her that she'd told him her life story, without telling him her name. On reflection, Serena realized that what she'd told him was the most she'd spoken in one go since her father's death.

"I'm Nathaniel," He replied to her unspoken question. Their companionable silence continued as they walked. Soon enough they were back at Serena's house, and she wondered how he knew it was hers, but then assumed that everyone in the town must know. He left without a word, not even goodbye, and Serena found herself fascinated by perplexing Nathaniel.

The next week passed almost like a well practiced routine, with every day passing reminding Serena that it was getting closer and closer to the end of summer. Her time was spent with Nathaniel, mostly just doing nothing but walking around the town, with her talking and him listening. She didn't know much about him. Actually, she hardly knew anything at all. Serena had been feeling strange all day when Nathaniel decided to do something different. He led her down a route she hadn't seen before, towards the circlet of woods she had yet to explore. The weather was reasonably warm, and for once the sky was a bright blue. Nathaniel stopped at the edge of the woods, and when Serena questioningly stared at him, he just simply shook his head, as if to indicate that he couldn't go any further. Compelled by some strange force, her legs began moving of their own accord, propelling her forward, deeper and deeper into the wood. All the while, she could feel Nathaniel's ice blue eyes boring into her back, until the trees thickened around her, and she wasn't visible to him any longer. She didn't know how long it had been, time became something of a fantasy; all she did was keep walking, in the same direction. Serena reached what she somehow knew was the centre of the circlet and was hit by an intense feeling of dread. There was something, a presence that hung in the air, making her feel that way. She couldn't explain what it was that caused her to stay rooted in the spot, her eyes fixed on the hut like place in front of her. She heard faint laughter, and then children playing, shouting, talking, singing Ring a Ring o' Roses cheerily. She collapsed to the ground, on her knees, images flooding through her mind, rocking her body. She saw the children, running around, alive, before her eyes, but then the scene changed. It was still the hut, but the stench of death hung heavily over it. No more children ran around, there was nothing remaining, just blackened carcasses, of both the hut and the children. The nursery rhyme was sickening as she could still hear it being sung, the children's voices turning into a chant, a prayer, louder, and louder and louder…Serena felt bile rise in her throat and shook her head violently, trying to stop the images, but to no avail. She saw then what made her heart stop, and her eyes widen in shock; a pair of shockingly familiar ice blue eyes, staring back at her from the doorway of the burnt hut, the face entirely too familiar. Serena jolted back to reality, finding herself curled up into a ball on the floor, wet and shaking. The hut, or the remains of it, was still there, but all Serena wanted was to get away, as soon as she could.

Nathaniel was nowhere to be found the next day and when Eleanor offered to take Serena with her to Portland for the day, she gladly accepted, knowing that just being somewhere different would bring her some peace and sanity. The drive wasn't too long, and Serena was puzzled at her mother's cheerful behaviour, which she guessed was associated with the new boyfriend. It didn't matter much to Serena, as long as Eleanor was happy, and back to the way she was before her father's death, Serena would be happy. Serena practically ran away from Eleanor, in her hurry to get to the library. She read fiction for quite a bit, before getting bored, and heading over to the smiling librarian.

"Do you have any records for Hopewell?" Serena asked her politely.

"Hopewell?" The librarian asked, with a confused look on her face. "Now why on Earth would you want that?"

Serena shrugged, but was just a bit bewildered at the woman's reaction. She passed it off as being confusion as to why anyone would want records for such a small, insignificant town, but she still went and got her a file, that wasn't entirely large looking. Serena flipped through it, shocked when she saw the last article. 'BOY SETS ENTIRE VILLAGE ON FIRE' the headline read and Serena skimmed over it, hurriedly taking in the details. The flimsy paper fluttered from her grasp and onto the floor when she read the name of the boy, and the date. Nathaniel Dawson, 14th November 1901. Picking it up with shaking fingers, Serena replaced it back inside the file, and rushed over to the librarian.

"Um…excuse me?"

"Yes?" The librarian turned to her.

"Was Hopewell ever rebuilt? After the fire, I mean?" Serena fiddled with her hands nervously.

"You must be new here. No, it never was, nobody lives there anymore. And they never found that boy, either. Strange though, they said he was only very little, but the only one of them who survived long enough said that the boy had done it on purpose, that he was evil. Of course that's just the ramblings of a dying madman, so no one believed him. Around here they use old Nathaniel to scare children into behaving," She laughed at her own joke, but Serena was feeling anything but cheerful. She hastily thanked the librarian for her help, and ran out of the library, running straight into her mother, who was on her lunch break. She was unwilling to explain to Eleanor what was happening and why she wanted to go home so bad, so they rode home in silence, once again, and Serena stepped out of the car, slowly, as her mother drove away. She fumbled with the keys in her handbag, and turned around, only to come face to face with icy blue eyes, that glinted with menace.

"Hello Serena," His rich voice said, as Serena felt blackness at the edge of her vision. She looked around for possible routes of escape, only to find the villagers…the non existent villagers, surrounding her. There was no escape.