A Greater Evil

Chapter 1: A New Life

A figure sat at an old wooden desk and chair in a rundown bedroom, writing in a small black book. The figure gazed upon the nearby broken window and observed the slowly setting sun as it reflected its reddish-orange light upon the figure. The figure was revealed to be a young 18 year old female with long dark brown hair. She picked up an old gold tipped black pen engraved with the name 'Vanessa'  that was lying on a pile of small boxes. Her hand begun to write;

'Mother said I should start learning how to manage my thoughts, dreams, and emotions by writing in this diary. I highly doubt that it will work, but I guess that I have no choice. I guess Dear Diary would be a good place to start.'  The figure thought as she wrote in the book. "Here goes nothing. Dear diary, today, mother, father, their henchman, and I moved into father's old childhood house in New Jersey. Clearly, it's very rundown and most likely infested with swarms of all kinds of bugs, rodents, and who knows what else! But, I do admit that I will miss my old room and life back in the old place. My large vanity with the adjustable lights, my large bed fit for a queen, my walk-in wardrobe with its own closet for shoes and accessories." the pen then stopped on the page. She let out a sigh and began to write again. "but, mother said that before I know it, this place will start to feel more like home and that I just need to be patient and give it some time and how this could be a good chance to start living a normal life and maybe make some new friends along the way. Well, semi-normal anyway. Between mother working at her new job and father doing who knows what with his henchman all of the time, you never know when things will ever be normal. I swear, it seems like it has been like this every single day of my life ever since I can remember. It seems like that one moment things will be calm and "normal" but something"not normal" always happens and chaos erupts in a violent and fiery explosion. Even though I know that I should be used to it by now, it would still be nice to be able to have a nice 'normal' day where nothing bad or crazy happens. Like, is that too much to ask for? 1 day of being a normal person with a normal life?! I probably just jinxed myself but oh well. My life is nothing but a fucked up mess.

"Look at me, talking to a book as if it's a living being." The figure said mockingly with a scoff to herself as she closed the book and placed the pen upon the book. "Sweetie, have you finished unpacking your things yet?!" She heard a deep, raspy voice call up to her from downstairs. "Almost done mother!" she yelled back in a blunt, irreverent tone. "Don't you take that tone of voice with me young lady!" the deep raspy voice yelled back. "Yah! And don't make us come up there!" a shrill voice called up to her. Rolling her eyes and standing up from the old wooden chair, she stretched her arms and legs before walking around the pile of unpacked bags. Grabbing her coat off of the door handle, she proceeded to put the coat on and close the bedroom door.

"I'm leaving now!" She called out as she raced down the old wooden stairs while zipping up her jacket. She had just reached for the old and slightly worn out door handle on the large wooden front door when she heard the deep, raspy voice call out to her. "Wait just a minute young lady, you better make sure that you are home by dark and that you have your cell phone on and with you at all times. We are in a new place and your father and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. The 4 of us can go exploring tomorrow so don't go too far." The voice got closer and closer to her as she saw her mother walking towards her with her father close behind.  "Mother, get off my back! I am just going out for a walk!" she said with a sigh in a harsh, sarcastic tone before opening the door and walking out. Once she was outside, she slammed the large door behind her with a breath of relief once it was closed. She proceeded to walk out down the stairs and out the front gate to the sidewalk.

A few moments later, Vanessa arrived in New York and she began to explore the city. Minutes turn into hours and Vanessa found herself in the middle of a park. "What a day." Vanessa thought to herself as she sat down on a nearby bench. "This seat taken?" she heard a thick New York-Italian accented voice say to her. "No. It's not." She said to the figure. "I'm Sirena." the voice said to her as she extended her hand. "Vanessa." she said back extending her hand back. "So, what brings you here alone?" Sirena asked Vanessa as she sat down. "My parents and I just moved into my dad's old place in New Jersey and I just had to get away from my overprotective father and his henchman. I know I must sound crazy." Vanessa said to Sirena. "You have an overprotective father too?" Sirena exclaimed in a what seemed like a sarcastic tone. "Ha! You have no idea!" Vanessa respond to her in a joking manner. The two young women sat on the bench in the park while watching all of the people go by talking about their family, likes and shared interests. The sun began to set as the sky grew darker. Noticing the position of the sun, Vanessa wipes a tear from her eye from laughing too much as she tried to catch her breath. "Ahh. Well Sirena, it has been wonderful to have met you and I really like hanging around with you. I have to get going before it gets too dark. What do you say we do this again sometime?" Vanessa says standing up while taking a pen out of her purse. She finds a piece of paper in her purse and writes down her phone number and then proceeds to hand it to Sirena. "We definitely should!" Sirena nodded in agreement while taking the piece of paper out of Vanessa's hand. "I'll text you later ok?" Sirena said to Vanessa as she put her number into her phone. "I'll look forward to it!" Vanessa said happily to her as she adjusted her jacket and put her purse across her torso. "Later!" Vanessa yelled back to Sirena as the two women walked home for the evening.

Later that evening, Vanessa arrived home and then began to take her shoes off. "Where have you been, young lady?!" She looked up and saw her father standing on top of the stairway with his arms crossed and her mother standing behind him. "Out." Vanessa responded back in a snappy tone as she took her jacket off and hung it up in the hall closet. "Do you realize what time it is, young lady?" Her mother asked her in an angry yet caring voice. "Does it matter? I'm back now." Vanessa said as she started to walk up the stairs towards her room. "Well, did you have a nice time?" her mother asked her as her father walked towards the master bedroom. "Yes I did. In fact, I even made a new friend." Vanessa said as she walked up the stairs and towards her bedroom door. As she reached the door to room, she watched her parents walk into their room before turning the door handle and walking into her own room. "I'm glad that you made a new friend. Now get some sleep. We will talk more about this in the morning." Her mother said to her across the hall as she walked into the master bedroom. "Fine." Vanessa replied as she shut her door so she could get ready for bed. After taking a shower, brushing her teeth and then changing into her nightgown, she sat down at the desk, picked up the penk, opened the book, and began to write;

'Dear Diary. I guess maybe this place won't be so bad after all. I made a new friend named Sirena and we have so much in common! From things like our favorite bands to having overprotective parents who send their henchmen to spy on us constantly. Who knows, maybe I will finally start feeling like a normal person. Just then, she heard a crash that sounded like it came from her parent's bedroom. "Sorry honey!" She heard her father say. She rolled her eyes, smiled and chuckled a little. Or not... Here is to hoping for the best. Vanessa Fitzcarraldo."

She then closed the black book and set the pen beside it. With one last stretch, she got ready for bed.