"Happy birthday Esther! Happy Birthday to you!"
Esther's family sang to her in the dining room, Esther stood up in front of her cake blowing out the candle as the song ended. Her grandmother stands beside her with a knife facing outwards on the back of her granddaughter's head and grinning menacingly at her other grandchildren who were about to push Esther's face into the cake. Esther's cousins backed away seeing the knife and the menacing smile, quickly running to the other end of the table to get a slice of cake.
Esther's cheeks flushed pink, giggling in happiness while her parents cut out the cake serving it to the rest of her family. She munches on the tres leches cake, loving the way the flavors explode in her mouth. the rest of the family sat on the long table, some on extra chairs brought to the table.
" has the letter shown itself yet?" her mother asks
" no, not yet mami" Esther responded pouting, bringing up her arm to show everyone at the table the clear skin.
"oh no worries, Mija. I'm sure it'll show up soon if not later tonight" her grandmother reassured her, stroking her hair while filling up her lemonade.
" Yeah, don't worry, mine didn't show up until in the morning before the sun came up. " her 13-year-old cousin; Julio exclaimed showing a letter A on his wrist in a neat font.
Esther has been excited about her 12th birthday ever since she found out about the existence of soulmates. She had seen her parent's marks of each other's name printed on their wrists. They soon told her the meaning behind it and about soulmates. On your 12th birthday, the first letter of your soulmate's name would appear. The more you're around your soulmate the more the letters appear.
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Esther hugged her grandmother, kissing her cheek, " bye uelita, I'm gonna miss you!" she mumbled.
Her grandmother chuckled hugging her back and kissing the top of her head " I'm gonna miss you too, sweetie."
"Don't worry Grandma I'm going to call you as soon as I get my letter!" Esther puffed up her cheeks, determinedly.
" I'll be waiting for it, Mija" She smiled at her granddaughter before walking to her truck.
Esther waved toward the rest of her extended family members as they got into their cars and started backing out of her driveway some of her cousins, tios, and tias waving back. Esther then walked back into the house, grabbing her pile of presents from the living room and taking them to her room.
"Mami, I'm going to be in my room organizing my presents" she called out to her mother, who was cleaning up in the kitchen while her dad started locking up the house for the night.
" Alright, don't stay up too late, your father and I are going to sleep early, as soon as we're done here"
"Ok!" Esther called out before closing her bedroom door.
Esther spread out the gifts on her bed and started sorting through them. There were various plushies of different cute animals, sketchbooks, a set of expensive colored pencils, gift cards to Starbucks, some card games, and a Tamagotchi toy. She started putting her gifts away around her room, most of them on her bookshelves and desk. She started getting ready for bed when she saw a necklace laying on her comforter. Confused, she picked it up it was a red stone necklace, Esther didn't remember getting a necklace when she had opened her gifts in front of her family.
She kept gazing at the necklace, it had a victorian gothic look to it, and the stone had a dark red color to it. She turned to the back of the stone and saw initials engraved on the outline, she almost didn't see it if she hadn't felt it on her fingers. Looking closer she saw 'LW ' engraved in cursive, her brows furrowed, She probably forgot about the necklace. But how could she, Esther loved shiny things, pretty things, she had a small box under her bed full of shiny and pretty things. From jewelry to shiny rocks and she had a shiny and pretty necklace to add to her collection. Inspecting the necklace some more she decided that it was too nice not to wear it.
sticking out her tongue between her lips, she unclasps the hook and puts on the necklace. after a couple of tries, she finally succeeded. Admiring the necklace in the mirror on her nightstand, she turned off the light and went to bed. Getting a hold of her necklace and bringing her wrists into view, which was clear of any mark, she soon fell asleep with the moonlight shining over her bed.
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T
The next morning, Esther was awoken by a thudding sound, groaning, she rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand as she looked around. Turning towards the sound. She saw her window wide open, the curtains gently swaying in the wind. Through the window, the wooden doorway that led to the backyard was unlocked and the door was hitting the fence by the force of the breeze.
Frowning at being awake, she got up and closed the window. Watching a couple of birds drink from a fountain in the middle of the backyard. Clicking the lock on her window shut, she grabbed her glasses from the bedside table, glancing at the clock above her desk.
It was 6 in the morning, and she could still hear the door swinging outside. By then her father was probably already tending to the animals in the barn and her mother was probably tending to the flowers in the front yard. Her stomach growled, and Esther grimaced walking into the kitchen. When she noticed the front door ajar, that's when she realized how quiet and eerie the whole house seemed.
" Mami, Papi!" She called out, expecting to hear her mother respond or poke her head through the doorway.
Silence greeted her, this wasn't right, something must have happened to her parents. Her parents wouldn't just up and leave, they wouldn't abandon her. No, something must have happened to her parents.
Esther's lower lip trembled as she quickly walked out the front door. Her mother wasn't in the front yard, the truck and van were still parked in the driveway. So that meant her parents hadn't gone into town. Rushing towards the barn, she pushed the doors open. A couple of chickens ran past her legs, Esther let them run she knew the chickens would just wander back.
Her bare feet stepped on the hard cold dirt, surveying the barn. She passed the horses in their stalls, and she reached the other end of the barn. When she stepped on something wet, grimacing she looked down stepping back. Reaching down and holding her ankle, her foot was smeared with blood.
Her eyes widened when she saw the pool of blood. She slowly looked up, following the trail of the red liquid.
Esther let out a wail at the sight of her parents' mangled bodies, their heads were severed from their bodies and neatly placed next to them. Their heads leaned against each other facing her way, their gray eyes staring right at her.
The horses were startled at her scream, and a couple of sleeping owls were brutally awoken and had taken flight. Esther ran out of the barn, sobbing hysterically.
A black crow was perched on top of the barn, watching the girl run across the field and into the house, slamming the front door shut. The bird waited a couple of seconds before taking flight, flying over the house, perching on the fountain. Some of the small birds drinking, scattered into the surrounding trees.
The crow shook its head, drinking from the fountain. Then flying onto the perch of the kitchen window, hopping along the side, and finding the young girl on the floor leaning her back against the front door, hysterically crying.
YOU ARE READING
The Darkest Of Souls
Fanfic"You and I both know this ends in blood." "I don't recognize you anymore" "Good" After leaving the only home she has ever known, Esther's life has changed after the death of her whole family. Now she's eighteen in her last year of high school, and a...
