PARADISE | Caught In The Fire

Chapter One:When Birthdays aren't happy ( Part One)

"One day I found myself here. The world was massive, and I felt so small, I was observing the color and the vastness of the sky. It is endless, it is infinite and it is terrifying. One day I was here, tracing my fingers along my skin. I was breathing slow, fast, and then slow again. Sometimes I would hold my breath just to see how long I can stay without breathing. Sometimes I would spend my nights floating, and some days I would spend my nights observing. But on those days when the sky feels infinite, the night feels endless, and time feels frozen at that particular moment, the noise became louder, and when I try to move my fingers I don't feel them, and I can't tell if I was breathing, my eyes become fixed on the white ceiling but that moment kept playing over and over until I start to feel like I'm floating in an empty space with an infinite troop of memories, and all that you wish at this moment is for everything to stop, for the world to stop spinning. And even though I spent my whole life learning how to swim, I never made it to the finish line"

The clock said 6:30, and the voices whispered one word over and over " Late". She has been standing for thirty minutes motionless with her arms crossed, and her eyes  fixed at the front gate waiting for him to show up, and even though she wished for that day to feel different, the same things happened, and nor the pain or the disappointment ever felt less. And down at the preparations of the party, the tension was rising. The kids were clueless as they ran around, screaming at the top of their lungs, messing stuff up and breaking a glass here and a dish there. The adults were on the verge of losing their patience, but not because of the kids but because of that man who was supposed to show up three hours before. Everyone was there but he wasn't. He was always late, and she was always waiting for him.

"He is still not picking up," Katherine tried to reach him for the 16th time, but even though his phone was ringing he was still unreachable. Thomas threw his head back in frustration

"I just hope he is ok" Thomas said then went back to his kids  trying to distract his mind from worrying about his younger brother.

"Did he answer?" Isabelle showed approached Katherine with her usual calm tone. But Katherine's stare gave her the answer she needed, and she nodded her head head lightly expecting this answer.

"Can you go and check on Paradise, I can't seem to find her" Isabelle said, and Katherine left the back garden to enter the house knowing where Paradise was .

Paradise saw Caiden's car approaching the house, but she knew he would stay there for a while. It as a habit of him, to never walk into the house as soon as he arrives. he just sits in his car sometimes for an hour, sometimes for couple of minutes. Paradise stood there watching him, always waiting for something to happen.

" It can't be like this forever " she though

Paradise heard Katherine calling for her, so she left the attic. she walked through the endless halls of their mansion, pictures of her great grandparents just stared into her under the dimmed orange lighting. the inside of the house has always been ghostly and silent, but the music outside was loud. all the cousins and relatives were gathered in the garden, and everyone was waiting for Caiden so they could cut the cake.

But Caiden was still in car, trying to gain control over his own breathing. slowly inhaling and slowly exhaling, or else he would lose his mind.

The kitchen was busy with the chef and his assistants preparing the feast for the birthday. Everyone was busy to even notice Paradise's entrance. Her eyes were roaming the room looking for what exactly she came for. And there it was standing in the far end of the room, the 7 tiers birthday cake. Paradise never liked big birthday cakes, they were pretentious, but the real reason was that she felt small next to them, that she felt that she couldn't be happy on her special day even though she got this massive cake, expensive party. They irritated her, and all she wanted to was to smash it and tear it down. She wanted to stuff Isabelle's face into it.