Half Light

The Shadow

Over her shoulder, she could sense an overwhelming amount of discomfort. Turning her head slowly with caution, to her left was a weathered mirror appearing boundless and petrified. A mirror you would only see in another decade, if you were lucky. Oval, brass, and detailed with delicious swirls... in need of a good polish. With one foot in front of the other, she stood no more than a foot in between. The delicate glass coated with smut. Without hesitation Alina took the hand to her right and wiped away the filth. Revealing the curtain awning her pale depicted face. Alina did not care to look at her reflection very often. Most of the time, she didn't recognize the person staring back. Her ashy-brown hair seemed dull and lifeless, and about as brittle as the mobile she just found. But her hair was exceptionally long, reaching right to her tailbone. Alina had a defined face. A pale creamy complexion and she was well upholstered in all the right places. She didn't dislike herself, but there was always something simple about the way she presented herself to be. She was simply unique. A vintage soul, she always thought. She did favor her eyes, however. She thought because they seemed to remind her of her daddy. Slate blue, that gleamed like a diamond in the light. Which could be the reason she has a hard time looking at herself. As the grime clung to her clamming palm, she wiped away the years that it sat collecting. Right behind her mirrored twin stood a stagnant shadow. In that moment you could even say she was staring at fear itself. Her eyes stared into the pitch-black sockets staring at her from behind her true self. There she stood straight as a pin, unable to move.

She hears her mother and the clanky, wooden soled clogs she's wearing coming up the stairwell. She cannot mutter even a sound, her lips sealed shut again, like her dream on the way here. "how do I protect her?" She said panicked. Alina took her eyes away from the mirror for a split second to watch the doorway, and in that same second the shadow was gone. Simultaneously, her mother stumbled over a raised floorboard into the room, trying to hide the smile emerging from her clumsiness. That same smile immediately wilted as she saw Alina's face turn the color of the milk in her stale, off-brand cereal she ate earlier that day. "Plum, what happened?" She sounded exasperated. "I...I...Well, I..." Alina stumbled, "I scared myself in the mirror... It was so caked with dirt, when I wiped it, I scared myself with my own reflection." She said in a child-like manner. Her mother bolted out a laugh that echoed through the entirety of the house. "Oh my 'lina," She sympathized, "You are way too high strung." She ended it with a smile. Alina returned a believable grin, and walked back into the hallway, her heart still racing.

"How are we supposed to live here?" Alina asked concerned. "Well," Her mother started, with a distracted look on her face. She walked over to the molding mobile that now caught her eye, just as it did Alina minutes before. With a grin from ear to ear, her mother then shed a tear. "I don't believe it!"
She picked up a lone wolf from the floor, that had fallen from the piece of twine that had rotted itself apart. Holding the grungy piece of wood as if she were holding a baby. "They kept it after all these years..." Nora muttered under her breath. "Kept it?" Alina replied. Her mother paid no attention to the response, she just continued to sway her thumb back and forth on the rotting carving. Now shedding tears like the downpour they drove through on the way here. "Ma, are you okay?" Alina asked distressed. "Yea, plum" Her mother sniffled. "This was yours." "Daddy whittled each of these wolves with his own hands," She paused, "I strung them up, and we made this for you." She continued. "Wait?" Alina interrupted, "I've been here before?" She questioned hastily. "Alina..." Her mother started, "You were born here."

"Excuse me!?" Alina shouted out. "Born here!?" "Ma, you told me I was born in California?" She continued frantically. Alina was unsure why she acted this surprised. She never felt she belonged there. She was always too hot. Something felt released for her on the inside. As if a weight was lifted. Perhaps it was the fable her mother crafted that made her react the way she did. "You just lied to me my whole life, and that's okay?" Alina sounded defeated. "I just don't understand the point?" She turned away. "Alina..." Her mother hesitated, "There's a lot about our family that was kept away to protect you." "Daddy and I..." She continued, "We always wanted the best for you." Alina was starting to feel a whirlwind of emotion, and aggravation reached the top first. "I deserve to know about my family!" "About myself!" She demanded, "Especially since half of all I had is already gone!" Her mother was hurt by Alina's shouting. Now angry, Alina shrieked "Daddy is dead!" "I have absolutely no idea about any of my grandparents!" "No brothers, no sisters, no aunts, or uncles!" "You could die any moment, and my whole life would be a lie!" "Are you even my mother!?" Alina knew she went too far.

Alina felt a welted sting, as her mother smacked her plump cheek with straight palm. "You stop this, right now!" Her mother fuming. Alina didn't budge before saying "No." "No, I won't stop, ma." "You drag us all the way to this town in the middle-of-nowhere West Virginia, to this creepy, rotting house, that we now have to live in, tell me I wasn't born in the place that I knew my whole life, but instead you decide to tell me now I was actually born here!?", "Now there's mystical secrets about our family that was withheld because...?" Alina frightened herself with her aggression, but something wouldn't let her stop. "Alina Lyall Aniveshak..." That was all her mother could say. She turned and walked out of the door. Alina knew she was crying. She quickly followed her steps, "Ma...I'm really sorry. I couldn't control myself..I don't know who I was, it was like I was watching someone else." "Alina," She cut me off as if she understood, "It's fine." Silence accompanied them both through most of the unexplored rooms.

Flooded with the remorse of her actions, scolding herself over again Alina voiced the entirety of slander she shouted out loud to her mother. Walking with shame behind her throughout the top floor. The very last room to the right of the hall almost drew her in on it's own. She felt a cool, winded gust just around her ankles as she entered through the frame. The door was a deep, rich chocolate wood, intricate with designs. Crown molding and trim matching every detail. It was a breath-taking house, even now. The door was open about a quarter of the way, as she gave it a slight push. The heavy, brass handle fell to the ground making her jolt through the air like a startled feline. Heart fluttering, she tried to push a little further but the door came to a halt. She assumed there was something blocking from the other side. Alina squeezed through the door, and to her surprise the room was mostly intact at a glance. She looked behind the door to see what had attempted to keep her from entering. She let out a gasp, and cuffed her hand around her suspended mouth. Her mother wasn't far behind, as she entered the room anxiously.