𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 ☆彡

PROLOGUE

A young Estelle laughed as she was thrown straight into the air and up towards a starry midnight sky. Her eyes shined as billions of constellations glowed and shimmered back at her. The smell of fresh rain dew filled her lungs; the feeling of pure bliss overwhelmed her.

Her uncle chuckled and threw her again, even higher this time that she reached the top of the observatory. The glass dome was open at night so he could examine the stars at a closer angle. Estelle grinned wickedly in mid-air and leaned forward to grab the edge. Her hair flying around her face in thin black strands, the little girl jumped and started to float.

A loud screech echoed through the empty halls as her tiny fingernails scratched at the metal: her tongue sticking out in concentration. Any ordinary child in an ordinary place would've fallen to the ground by now. But Estelle wasn't ordinary nor was she in an ordinary place.

One second passed. Her uncle called to her, beckoning her to come back down.

Two and her fingers lost their grip and her hands slipped.

Three and she was suddenly afloat upside-down looking at her uncle who was wearing a look of disapproval.

Four and Estelle smugly smirked before pushing her hands forward and starting to swim in the air. She tried to swivel around and turn her body back the right way.

Five: it took her five whole seconds before she'd balanced herself and grabbed ahold of the edge. With a loud banging of metal, she clambered onto the glass' cold surface. The evening breeze tickled her skin and Estelle rubbed her arms for warmth. Her mother had always insisted that they'd take her coat before coming out here. But it wasn't like either of them to listen.

"Stelle! C'mon now," her uncle's warm voice coaxed her but he had a smile on his face. "No playing in the observatory."

But little Estelle just giggled as she pushed her black hair out of her face and gestured for him to follow. The little girl had planted her feet firmly onto the glass and it wasn't likely that she'd come back down anytime soon. Her uncle shook his head and, still smiling, his hand reached down for his rope.

The rope was thick and sturdy in his palms and he looked ready to tackle her as he swung it experimentally before throwing it high over his head. It flew through the air and swiftly wrapped itself around a steel pole that he'd built for times such as these.

Her uncle let out a cry of triumph and started climbing up the rope as fast as a lemeourous instro. Estelle screamed excitedly and she quickly turned around and started sliding down the glass to escape her uncle.

"I'm gonna get ya!" her uncle cried as he reached the top and unfastened the rope. He placed it back on his belt before pursuing the little girl down the glass.

The two had just reached the end of the dome and were laughing happily when an ear-shattering roar erupted from the nearby trees. It was a sickeningly loud and furious noise and it reminded Estelle almost of an Earth alligator's angry bellow.

The ground shook and the observatory's sturdy walls trembled as the beast let out another booming roar. Estelle screamed again but this time in terror and fright as she lifted her finger to point towards the noise. It was coming from the forest.

Her body shook as violently as the trees' bark did when the beast started rustling leaves and twigs to emerge from hiding. The little girl clung to her uncle's ankles with one hand and closed her eyes tight. She wished desperately at that moment that she was wearing her coat; anything to steady the chill she was feeling.

Goosebumps rose on her skin and all the while, her uncle was as still as a statue. His gaze was focused on the trees and his hand was instinctively on his blaster. Estelle had only seen him use the explosion device once before; when he'd been playing with it and had accidentally pressed the trigger.

The little girl was trying to hum to herself when the beast materialized before them. Its reptilian-like, green scales glinted in the moonlight; its large, beady black eyes stared at them curiously; its razor-sharp talons as long as a sword's blade.

It growled. A strange and almost cat-like purr mixed with its cold-blooded saliva. The beast put one clawed foot forward on the grass and her uncle pulled both of them back a step. It looked almost, beautiful. Strangely, dangerously beautiful.

The little girl opened both her eyes and, despite one being blind, she could see it was looking straight at her. It stared longingly at her; as if enticing Estelle to come to it. She whimpered and suddenly, the beast lunged at them and her uncle grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. Then he started running.

Estelle's head bobbed and bumped as her uncle dashed down the observatory's emergency staircase. She could hear the beast bellowing and racing behind them and the little girl feared it would soon catch up. There was a deafening shatter from behind and she looked up to see the blur, of what she assumed was the beast's foot, crashing through the glass.

It was chasing them down the observatory. Her uncle must've turned his head too and seen it because he scrambled to place Estelle down on one of the steps.

"Stay put, I'll be right back," were the last words he had whispered to her, pulling a loose hair behind her ear, before rushing back up the stairs.

The little girl's eyes widened and she cried out in vain to her uncle. She'd only managed to crawl up six steps when a loud blast exploded above her. There were howls of pain and the sound of crackling leaves. Estelle's head whipped around towards the trees; two large reptilian-like footprints led into the thick forest.

And beside those footprints; trailing along the dirt like a water stream, was blood.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙