Chapter 1.1 - Dismal Beginnings

This is the legacy of Amber Dark. She has just moved to the quiet town of Moonlight Falls. Banished from her home for her repeated crimes and dishonourable ways, she has to start her adult life completely alone. She was once part of a rich, highly respected family who were so ashamed of their rebel daughter that once she came of age, they sent her away with nothing but the clothes on her back and enough money to get her life started. They hoped that she would be forced to change her ways.

Amber looked at her small house with disappointment. She was used to a lavish life full of extravagance and luxuries. This house was neither extravagant or luxurious. As happy as she was to finally be free of the family who were always disappointed with her, part of her wished that she didn't take all they gave her for granted. What had all her plots and rebelliousness gotten her? This. This tiny little house on the outskirts of a distant town. A place where nobody knew her or her past. She was supposed to be the heiress of a grand estate but that would all go to her younger sister now.

Amber realised that she was just stood, staring at her house, she probably looked rather odd just stood there. If anybody saw her they might think her strange.

"Well, I had better get started. I have a lot to do if I am going to be successful" She thought to herself, and took her first steps towards her new life. She climbed the stairs onto the front porch slowly, still not quite sure what to do with her life. Despite her family's best efforts, the only thing she was ever good at was planning and pulling off pranks, crimes and doing things that would get her into trouble.

"I am going to need a job...but who would ever hire a disappointment like me?" She mumbled miserably, standing on the porch. She looked down at the ugly door mat at her feet, the word "Welcome!" emblazoned in bright yellow along it, probably intended to make people feel happy about entering the house, but it didn't work for her.

Sighing, she opened the door and walked into her house, it was sparsely decorated with aging furniture. The TV looked about 50 years old, as did the rest of the furnishings and decorations. The more she looked around the room that didn't seem to have a name, (for what do you call a room that is your kitchen, sitting room and dining room?) the more she longed for the luxuries of home. "It's not home anymore" Amber whispered to herself "This is your home now, stop wishing for it to be what it's not." But she couldn't help herself, she couldn't stop herself from wondering what it was that drove her to be such a bad person, who did so many bad things, that she was banished from her home. Maybe she was just born evil.

There was a dull thud from beyond the door that snapped Amber out of her daze. Hesitantly, she turned around and opened the door. The answer to all her problems was staring at her from the door mat. A job advertisement, an ad that seemed rather vague about exactly what the company did, or what the job role would be. It hinted at needing someone for a position at their warehouse, that somebody was needed in good physical condition, who can get along with the rest of the "gang" and has no problem doing things that some people would refuse to do. It promised lots of opportunity for promotion and "incentives".

Amber couldn't believe it. Was this...a criminal organisation? Hiring outright in the town newspaper? She felt it was her only chance. So dialled the number and waited nervously for somebody to pick up. It rang and rang. Amber was about to give up and end the call when somebody picked up.

"You calling about the job?" A gravelly voice said.

"Yes, my name is Amber Dark, and I feel I would be a great addi-"

"Save it for the boss, I'm just here to answer the phone!" The voice snapped, "Show up at 10am tomorrow." 

Before Amber could answer, the phone line went dead.

"Well..." Amber said, "I guess I had better prepare for tomorrow. They want someone in good physical condition and I haven't had a good workout in a while. I wonder if there is a gym in this town?"

It took her a good hour of wandering around town before she found it, good thing it was warm outside, she was just wearing her workout gear and if it had started raining she could have caught her death. She entered the gym, not sure what to expect. She had never been in a public gym before, her parents had their own private gym in their house, with top of the range equipment. Amber had used it a few times, but she wasn't one for the discipline of a regular work out routine, she was a complete newbie when it came to proper exercise.

The first thing she noticed was the smell. Once the doors behind her closed it hit her, stale sweat and rubber from the mats people used for exercising.

"Well, this is going to have to do. I am going to have to set up a home gym as soon as possible." She thought to herself, as she headed for the nearest treadmill.

She stepped up onto it and looked at the control panel, confused. There were so many buttons and different stats up on the screen!

"How do I....WHOAH!" the treadmill began moving so suddenly that Amber almost fell. Fumbling around with the controls the treadmill stopped, started and stopped again. People were beginning to stare.

She pressed a button that looked like a man jogging and the belt started moving again, this time at a much nicer pace. Amber started running, but wouldn't let go of the hand rails beside her until she was confident she wasn't going to go flying.

After a while she got the hang of things, how to increase and decrease the speed, change the incline and record her stats.

She ran until she couldn't run any more. Drenched in sweat, she hit the stop button and headed for the showers, looking forward to the hot water making her feel clean once more. Yet again, she was disappointed, the showers were freezing! She was in there for less than 2 minutes before she couldn't stand the cold water hitting her body any longer.

"I definitely need to get a home gym." She thought, "With a proper shower"

Back home, Amber found that all the running at the gym had made her hungry. She looked in the fridge and realised she hadn't yet done the shopping. Shopping, another thing Amber wasn't used to doing. She was so used the fridge being fully stocked and meals being prepared whenever she wanted that she had never even thought about the need to actually buy the ingredients to make into her own meals.

Reluctantly, she closed the door to the empty fridge and headed to the shop she had passed on her way back from the gym. She only had a small amount of money left. She picked up some lettuce, tomatoes and bell peppers to make herself a salad. She picked up some salad dressing too, just to make it taste less...salad-y. She was about to leave the store when she realised she hadn't paid. Looking around, she couldn't see any staff or security cameras, but there was a young boy stood by the toys and he was looking at her strangely. It was probably only because she was new in town but she couldn't take any chances...yet...she didn't know anybody here and was sure nobody would be there to help her out of a sticky situation. So she turned and went to the counter with her items to pay, then left as quickly as she could, the boy was still staring at her.

Once she was home, she set to make her salad straight away, her stomach growled loudly and she was tempted just to call for a pizza, but she needed to get herself healthy for her new job, she didn't know exactly how demanding it might be.

The salad tasted awful, it was so bland and boring, but Amber forced each mouthful down and soon found herself fuller than she thought a salad could make her. She was sure such a meagre meal would leave her hungry and wanting something else but it didn't. She just wished it didn't have to taste so bad!

"I am going to have to get better at cooking." Amber thought "Otherwise I will be eating salad for the rest of my life!"

Amber barely slept that night, tossing and turning on the cheap, lumpy mattress so thin she could feel the slats of the bed through it. The uncomfortable bed wasn't the only problem, she was worrying about what would happen the next day. Was this job even real? Was it a ploy by the cops, to stop criminals? Was it a hoax or a scam of some sort? She couldn't stop worrying about what might happen. She needed the income for sure, and crime was something she was good at. Eventually, in the early hours of the morning, she fell asleep, dreaming of the path that lay before her.