Super Dark (Super Dark Trilogy) Read Free

myriad of high-rise blocks, industrial estates, and Victorian terraces. Like every other town, the occupants were as gloomy and miserable as the weather. Elmfield was non-descript, unremarkable. The perfect place for me to remain anonymous.
    When I arrived at my stop, I climbed off the bus and ran down the street like a mad person, holding my bag over my head for shelter. The rain was turning my books to papier-mâché, but I didn’t care. It was worth the sacrifice to save my hair. I’d spent the whole previous night straightening it, and I had no intention of letting the frizz back yet.
    Within a couple of minutes, I reached my street. Our apartment was a rental in the basement of one of those innocuous, run-down Victorian conversions you can find on any London street. The entrance was straight off the sidewalk and you had to climb down a few steps to reach the front door. We had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. The apartment was pretty well-hidden, which I Iiked, but it also meant there wasn’t a whole lot of light in the place, even with the curtains open.
    I ambled down the grimy stone steps, barely noticing the pools of filth and litter strewn across paving slabs. When I got to the front door, I glanced through the frosted glass and saw the hallway light was off. Mum wasn’t home from work yet.
    I let myself in, hung up my coat, and headed straight for my bedroom, which was at the back of the house. It hadn’t changed much since we’d moved in; there was nothing in it but a wardrobe, a bed, and a cross-trainer. I didn’t own a computer, and most of my belongings—weights, books, CDs—were kept in a suitcase by the window, because I couldn’t be bothered to unpack. What was the point, when we’d probably be moving again?
    I threw down my soggy bag, stripped off my wet clothes, and slipped into a Reebok tracksuit. Then I went to the bathroom, bathed my face at the sink, and took a long drink of water. For a moment, I gazed in the mirror and ran a critical eye over my reflection. Staring back at me was a pretty but tired-looking girl with large, hazel eyes and a dimpled chin. My short, black hair had lost most of its bounce from the rain, and my bangs hung loosely over one eye. I look like a shaggy dog. I need a haircut!
    Since the age of fifteen, I’d been dying my hair and keeping it short in an effort to erase the memory of the little redhead whose photo had been splashed about by the media. When I was a little redhead girl, everyone had pointed at me and felt sorry for me. Not anymore. I didn’t want anyone’s pity. I just wanted to be a normal teenager and forget that horrible Halloween night had ever happened.
    I walked back to my room to start my workout. I did an hour or so of exercise every day: forty minutes of cardio, twenty minutes of abdominal crunches, and thirty minutes with my weights. I’d started working out religiously about a year earlier, after my doctor recommended it was a better cure for depression than medication. She was right. During the time I spent sweating it out on the cross-trainer, I never thought once about my problems. That was the only time I felt free and completely in control of myself.
    When I’d finished my work out, I rested the chrome dumbbells on the floor and dried off with a towel. Then I decided to grab something to eat. I padded over to the kitchen cupboard, took down a mug, and switched on the kettle to make some coffee. Just as the water reached a boil, I heard keys rattling in the front door. Mum was home.
    “My god, that weather is abysmal!” She shook out her umbrella, showering the linoleum with raindrops. “The commute to work was an absolute nightmare. I never want to see another human-being for as long as I live.”
    I muffled a snicker. “Fancy a coffee? I’ve just put the kettle on.”
    “Love one, thanks.”
    I took down another mug from the cupboard and spooned in some instant coffee. Then I poured in the hot water,