The Unshadowed | Book 1 |

Chapter 3 ~ Valerie Céliy

________________

Not a warning, but just letting you know, this chapter has a sex scene. It's not detailed, but it is spicy. However, it is relevant to the story.

________________

________________

~ Sinyaki, Russia ~

________________

Loneliness enshrouded Valerie Céliy like a cloak as she walked behind her boyfriend Yuri Descen and his group of friends, Jormes, Alexander, Ceslo, and Trace. They all walked out of the Mahazin store, laughing about some stupid thing Alexander did on Minecraft. It was a beautiful midnight sky, or at least Valerie thought it was beautiful. She loved it when the sky was pitch black in the parking lot. It was the only similarity she felt with the world, the night's darkness reflecting her own internal darkness.

Cars were everywhere, so it was relatively safe, though there were few people in the parking lot. They were the only ones besides a man loading a shopping cart full of groceries into his trunk and a couple of girls in tank tops and shorts walking towards the Mahazin store.

Valerie clutched her leather jacket closer, feeling depresssed and lonely. She always felt very isolated and alone, especially when she was surrounded by people. She felt like she never belonged anywhere, always feeling out of place, never in her own element unless she was alone in her room. She tended to keep an emotional distance from others, even from those she loved and trusted.

She kept trying to escape her present life, kept trying to escape feeling like this. She always felt alien from the world, feeling like there was nobody who could relate. She often listened to music on her iPod, turning the volume up to drown out her thoughts. She had an ex she loved, but he didn't love her back. She felt stuck in a life she didn't belong in, feeling like an anomaly.

Nothing seemed real to her; even the few friends she had didn't seem real, like they were just a name and nothing more. She felt very detached and disconnected, longing for a connection she lacked. There was nothing to fill the void, nothing to fill the emptiness she felt. Life was just passing through, and Valerie was an outsider, a shadow or a mist that nobody knew nor really cared to know.

Yuri was one of the only few friends she had. He was the life of the party, always talking and laughing with his friends, most of them he had known since early grade school. Alexander had just come home from the military and was spending time with his friends; Yuri was one of those friends. Yuri hung out with mostly Trace and Jormes, who lived nearby. Trace worked at Ekko Games, so Yuri usually came over to see him. In fact, they had just been at Ekko Games to check out a new multiplayer game before they went to the Mahazin store to grab some snacks.

As they were talking about boring videogames, Valerie hung back, feeling left out, wanting to go home where she could lose herself in her iPod. Music was her escape. Music was always there for her. It gave free reign to her emotions. It calmed her, comforted her, excited her, thrilled her, encouraged her, and made her feel special. People always let her down, but music never abandoned her.

But her iPod was back in her room, far away in the apartment she shared with Yuri. And Yuri and his friends were in no hurry to go home, intending to hang out in the parking lot, inadvertedly prolonging Valerie's dismay and loneliness.

Valerie sighed as her boyfriend let out another peal of laughter, laughing about something videogame related. She noticed Yuri didn't even hold her hand the whole time they were out. Valerie fell further behind, her gaze drifting towards a red sports car that was doing donuts in the parking lot. The guy driving it wasn't hot or handsome, but he had a car that could do what Valerie started to envision, feeling there was no end to this mental agony, no end to her loneliness and disconnection.