by Jo Ho
Pushing herself into a sitting position, she looked down at the pretty yellow dress she wore. It had a brown trim and the whole thing had made her think of a sunflower, which is why she had bought it.
She had thought it would impress.
There was something flittering at the edge of her memory. A flashing red light of warning, but she couldn’t think what it was. Had she hit her head? Is that why she didn’t know where she was or what she was doing here?
The ground was cold and hard beneath her. She shifted her position, trying to get more comfortable when her body screamed out in protest. It seemed that she hurt everywhere. Her arms shook and her legs throbbed with a terrible ache. Even her ribs felt as if they had gone through a battle. Looking down at herself, she pulled up the knee-high fabric of her dress to see that her legs were riddled with ugly, purple, finger-shaped bruises. What was this? Twisting to examine the tops of her arms, Eve saw the same finger-shaped welts denting her skin.
What the hell had happened to her?
Suddenly, she heard a sound crashing through the trees behind her. Her blood turned cold. Whoever had caused those marks was still here. They were still coming after her. Stumbling to her feet, Eve started forward. She had no idea where she was going. All she could see was trees for miles. She caught the occasional glimpse of blue sky, but that seemed so far out of reach that it might as well have been another planet. It was just her in these woods.
Her and whoever was coming for her.
She ran through the pain, ignoring how much sound she made, desperate to put as much distance between herself and her pursuer as possible. She ran until her lungs were on fire and her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. When she could run no more, she braced herself against a tree, greedily gulping down air.
A sharp stabbing pain lanced her side.
Eve looked down to see red blossoming over the yellow dress.
Her blood.
Someone had just cut her with a knife. Before she could do anything else, she was tackled from behind. She flew forwards, landing on the hard ground with a painful thud. She could feel her attacker’s body on top of her, crushing her with his weight. Her face was pushed into the ground until she tasted dirt.
Then suddenly everything went black again…
Back in the safety of her room, as Eve tossed and turned from her nightmare, a moth landed on her window, quickly followed by another. Then several more. Swooping in, their patterned wings beat at the glass as they tried to get inside.
But Eve was oblivious, trapped in her nightmare.
Chapter 20
Eve woke to the happy trill of a bird eagerly greeting the dawn of a new day.
Grimacing, she wished the stupid thing would shut up.
She felt like the dead despite knowing she had slept for a decent amount of time. Her mouth was dry like she hadn’t drunk in years. Her body ached as if she had spent all night on the hard ground instead of her orthopedic mattress. She reached for the bottle of water she always kept next to her bed and sat up, twisting the cap off. As she raised the bottle to her lips, she saw something hanging off the end of the bed that gave her pause.
Something that was so battered, so covered with dirt and stains that it was almost impossible to see its original yellow color.
The bottle slipped from Eve’s fingers, spilling water everywhere, but she didn’t give it another glance, her attention fixed completely on the impossible thing in front of her. Sliding out of bed in a complete daze, Eve moved towards the piece of clothing, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
Lying on the end of the bed was the yellow dress with brown trim that Eve had worn in her nightmare. As well as the dirt, it was covered with bloodstains and cuts. Her blood, Eve knew.
She remembered it well.
Although she wanted nothing more than to run away, she had to see if this was real. There was no way it could be, yet she had to know. Reaching out, she lowered her hand until it brushed against the dress. The dirty yellow material crinkled under the weight of her fingers.
Eve flinched as if it had burned her.
The dress was real. But how was that possible?
Feeling the edge of hysteria bubble up inside, Eve snatched up the dress, then ran out of her room and down the hall. Reaching Si’s room, she didn’t bother to knock. Gripping the handle, she flung the door open, racing inside. The door crashed against the wall from the sheer force of her actions, startling Si, who woke immediately in his bed.
“What the hell, Eve…” he managed to mumble. Eve didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. She held the dress out in front of her and didn’t have to wait long. Si blinked several times, staring at it before his face mirrored her own shock.
“That’s not possible,” he finally uttered.
“I know. But here it is,” Eve replied, feeling sick to her stomach.
ONE YEAR AGO.
Eve watched as the hole was dug in front of her.
She waited, trying to control her trembling, gingerly feeling her arms which were riddled with those finger-shaped bruises. Leaves were tangled up in her curls, slick with dirt. As if in a trance, she stripped out of her blood-soaked yellow dress, hurriedly pulling on the sweatshirt Si passed to her. Holding the soiled dress over the hole, she dropped it inside as Si buried the evidence where it would never be seen again.
Only then did Eve let out her breath.
Si enveloped her in his arms. There, in the safety of them, Eve finally let loose all the emotion she had kept repressed for so long. She sobbed, wailing her fear, her rage, until there were no tears left.
PRESENT DAY.
Eve stood in front Si, the dress in her hands. Only one other person could know where that dress had been buried.
And he was dead.
Unless… could it be possible?
Was he back?
This is the end of book four. Continue the story now with WHEN TROUBLE COMES!
Afterword
Twisted is a television series that I have been trying to make for coming up to eight years now.
I created it soon after my television series Spirit Warriors aired.
At one point I even had one of the producers behind one of the biggest film franchises in the world attached. We were trying to get it set up in the States but for a variety of reasons, it just didn’t happen.
In all this time, and after so many other projects, I still haven’t been able to let this one go. I believe in these girls and their troubles and I believe there are others out there who want to hear their story. Outside of the supernatural shenanigans are the problems so many girls face today. I know, because each of these girls is a part of me in some way.
I wasn’t one of the popular girls at school.
I was very overweight — one of the side effects of coming from a troubled background. I was bullied from students and a staff member who took great joy in belittling me in front of the whole class on a regular basis until I learned to be terrified of attending those classes.
I was also the girl who couldn’t bear to look at herself in the mirror as she saw nothing but ugliness, which wasn’t surprising as that is what the world repeatedly told me I was.
And I was the girl who looked for validation in all the wrong places.
So this series is important to me as I know there are millions more girls out there who felt the same way I did. The ones who aren’t “perfect”. The ones who are outcasts, misfits, geeks — to them I say, know that you are unique and special. Stay true to yourself and great things can and will come.
If you’d like to help me make this into a TV series, please leave your reviews for these books and help spread the word. The more love there are for these books and the more demand there is for this show, the more likely it is to happen.
My thanks go to my wonderful proof reader and grammar guru, Janice Harris for her support and insightful work. Thank you also to the fabulous Harold Trammel whose notes aren’t only perceptive but an utter joy to re
ad. Last but not least, thank you to Dawn C. D. Harrison and Simon Richardson who cast their critical and much-needed eyes over proceedings. I’m so grateful to you all.
And finally as always, to my love Matt who brings joy to each and every day.
- Jo
About the Author
A self-taught screenwriter who learnt the craft when she locked herself in her room and binge watched studied her favorite genre movies and television shows, Jo’s writing life began in film and television, when she created the ground-breaking, critically acclaimed CBBC action fantasy television series, SPIRIT WARRIORS, which introduced leading actress, Jessica Henwick (GAME OF THRONES, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKES, and the upcoming Marvel/Netflix show, IRON FIST) to the screen.
Granted the biggest budget ever given to a CBBC show at the time, it was nominated for Best Children’s Programme at the 2011 Broadcast Awards, with Jo herself, going on to win the Women in Film & Television’s, New Talent Award in 2010.
Since then, Jo has worked with some of the most acclaimed producers in the world, creating big budget projects with even bigger ideas, with several television shows and movies currently in development including supernatural horror, BLOODLINES, and family fantasy, SKETCH.
WANTED, was Jo’s first foray into book writing. Next up, she will be working on the rest of the Chase Ryder series, followed by the YA paranormal series, TWISTED, where we’ll be introduced to four outcast girls who discover they command some super dark powers.
A self-confessed geek and video gamer, and champion of female driven stories, Jo lives in London and hopes one day to travel across America in a super kitted out, Zombie-apocalypse-ready RV, with her lovely fella, Matt, and three equally lovely kitties.
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For a complete list of Jo’s books, visit her website.