Crimson Skies

One: The Scarf

Robin Woods

I took a step towards the small wooden bed, falling down on my knees as I searched underneath. I pulled a dusty box from below and took it into my lap. It's been months since I last used this. I blew away all the dust and slowly removed the cover.

The red scarf that my mom gave me was still there, clean and untouched. My mother used to wear it everyday, when she was still alive. I pulled it out of the box, bringing it close to my face. The length of the scarf reached until the floor, its fringe curling up on the wooden planks underneath me. I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of it, it still smelled like my mother's hair, of fresh strawberries gently picked from the bush.

I stood up, the room was empty, I rested in the attic where Adele made me sleep. The only illumination was from the small, broken window to my left. Adele was the woman who took my father and I in. I remember it all clearly, that dark, stormy night when we came upon this house. Exhausted and wounded, we were desperate. That night my father and I passed out on the floor of this house, that night changed my life, that night tore me apart.

That night, my mother died.

I faced the mirror, looking at my own reflection. My blonde hair has grown quite long, I need to cut it. My hazel eyes look exhausted and miserable, tired of this life. I wore the scarf over my head and wrapped it around my neck.

"Robin, what's taking you so long?" Her voice rang through the thin walls of the room. I could imagine her enraged, with both her hands on her large waist. She's made my life miserable ever since my father had left.

"I'm coming, madam." I replied immediately. She told me to call her madam as a form of respect but I thought that she had just wished to treat me like a servant- no, she wanted to treat me like a slave.

I brushed off a few stray locks from my face and tucked them behind my ear. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my basket and ran down the stairs.

I could hear the sounds of my footsteps as the leather soles collided with the wooden floor of the stairs. Adele's gaze met me as I descended, her painful eyes boring onto me.

"What took you so long?" She asked sternly, her voice was deep and angry and I could predict what was going to happen next.

I spotted Louis on the other side of the living room, washing the dishes while his sister, Pauline, was a few meters away from him, cradling the sleeping child, Carl in her arms.

"Nothing." I replied shyly, although in my mind I had so much more I wished to say. Her deadly eyes roamed from my boots, to my dress until they reached my scarf.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked, pulling on one of the ends of it. She eyed it enviously and I felt fright find its way into my spine as I felt chills run through.

"It's mine, have I sudeenly lost the right to have my own belongings?" I replied, raising my chin up a bit, suddenly confident with my own decisions.

"And just how did you get enough money for this?" She demanded an answer as she pulled it off me. She held it up, holding onto two of its ends and letting it fall down.

"My mother gave it to me, I've had it when I came here." I replied confidently as if I had nothing to hide, since I wasn't.

"Stop lying to me, you ingrate! Did you steal this!?" She yelled at me, I flinched in shock and in fright. How could that woman accuse me of such a crime?

"I did not, I didn't steal this! This is mine!" I yelled and tried to grab it from her filthy hands but she quickly dodged me.

"You are not to touch this, understand?" She quickly came at me. Her eyes held a certain evilness in them, that she felt joy to make me miserable. Why did she enjoy this? Why did she love seeing me weak?