Shadows' encyclopedia - The Prodigies of Arahsmurd book 1

The secret of solitude 🎀

In a French suburb―in Essonne―lived an ordinary-looking family. The father, a computer engineer, and the mother, a teacher, were arguing a lot. The expenses and behaviour of their only daughter were at the heart of their quarrels. Rebecca had preoccupied her parents since she was a child. She read dark books about black magic, witchcraft, and supernatural things. Before she became engulfed in darkness, Rebecca was a bright and sociable girl. Her taste for colorful clothes and fashion magazines always filled her with joy. As a child, she reassured her parents who read in her like an open book. As she passed through her teenage years, their daughter changed radically after a near miss in Picardie. This scenario made her a completely different person. The young lady had a strange attitude that led her to isolate herself and prefer the world of the imagination―as her parents liked to point out. Her wardrobe consisted of tons of black clothes that piled up from short-sleeved tops for the summer, oversized hoodies for the winter, and other clothes that attested to her taste for the gothic style. Worried by Rebecca, her parents decided to have her seen by a psychologist, Gaylord Garcia. He was patient, objective and always responsive. All the patients he treated were satisfied with his work. But Gaylord Garcia questioned himself when he welcomed the Laurence family, because all his methods had no effect on their daughter.

Like every morning, before going to university, Rebecca had an appointment with the psychologist. Ryan, her father, accompanied her before dropping her off at the station. As an English speaker, he often dreaded the sessions because he could not decipher everything. His daughter held her diary in her hand, in which she described her days and her daily feelings. This indispensable support was regularly examined by Gaylord. The atmosphere in the practitioner's office was stifling. Rebecca's father smiled at his daughter to reassure her. Only the sound of clocks chimed. Three minutes passed and the lock on the door clicked lightly, revealing a tall, dark-haired man. He motioned for his clients to join him at his desk. The room was warm and decorated with pop art. The paintings bore the signature of Andy Warhol. Rebecca hated the warm atmosphere of the place. Gaylord invited them to drink tea. Ryan and Rebecca declined and then sat down to make themselves comfortable. The man spoke in a clear voice.

"Hello, Rebecca, how have you been since the last visit?"

"Not much has changed," the girl said, who was hiding in her leather jacket.

"Can you give me your diary, please?" Gaylord Garcia asked affectionately.

She hesitated for a moment and then handed him the holder. Garcia referred to the last page, which was dated yesterday:

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Dear Diary,

As I rode the train, I wondered again what was wrong with me. The smell of blood tickles my nostrils and still plunges me into my old memories, the Picardie I hate [...].

Gaylord Garcia interrupted the reading. He handed her the diary.

"You haven't finished reading it," the patient said, watching her father out of the corner of her eye.

"Since I've been following you, Rebecca, you've never stopped talking about Picardie. On every page of your diary, that place comes up," the fifty-year-old man said, while leaning towards her. "Every time I wanted to know, you never deigned to answer me. You're older now, you're not the little girl you once were, so what happened?"

Rebecca bit her lips to show that she was embarrassed. Her father was curious and wanted to understand.

"I hate this place because, as a child, I used to see strange things. One day, when I was sleeping in my room, I heard noises below the window... curious, I approached and discovered a spectre with red eyes and a strange weapon in its hand. I went back to bed in fear, my heart pounding. When I looked up at the window, he was standing there, staring at me in the dark" ―tears streamed down Rebecca's face as she recalled the scene― "Another time, when I was walking with my parents by a lake, I saw a creature in the water squirming... I thought I saw a human being, but its skin was covered with scales, like a caiman's..."