The Arcanum Manor

1: What was left behind - edited

September 5th, 2010, 2 A.M.

Elvira Thorngale

I was told multiple times that I should grow up, that my decisions mattered most, and I should be mature enough to make the best ones. But I wasn't ashamed to admit that I wasn't there yet.

It was amusing coming from my careless father's mouth. Perhaps he'd forgotten I was only fifteen when he eagerly passed me off to my grandmother just weeks before my first day of a new high school—very adult of him. The only thing he cared about was that high school was a decision I couldn't make alone. I had made an agreement with Grandma to choose for me.

I still remembered his laugh vividly as he couldn't understand why I was so scared and had to ask for help, but I knew one thing for sure.

There was no stopping me from wearing my fear with pride.

So here I was, very early in the morning when the sky was still dark, standing in my grandmother's guest room. I was methodically folding my clothes and arranging them into my bags and suitcase. I was packing just hours before our departure to my new school, but I didn't know where it was yet. When I'd mentioned I couldn't make the decision and I agreed for my grandma to help me, it had one condition—it would be a surprise until the first school day.

I know, I know. It wasn't the best idea ever, but it was too late now.

Anticipation and nervousness swirled within me, awaiting any minute that grandma would tell me where would I study next few years. She had assured me that she would find just the perfect school for me, but the shroud of secrecy surrounding it, now left me uncertain. I had to remind myself why I hadn't been able to choose on my own — too much stress didn't allow me to — and grandma had demanded she would spare me the burden.

Still wearing my fear with a pride.

The decision had weighed heavily on my mind, overshadowed by thoughts of my careless father, his new wife, and the custody battle that had played out months ago in the courtroom, where my grandma fought for full custody of me.

I wouldn't lie; it drained me of all my energy. Even my best friend noticed how stressed I'd been, which was quite something since I thought I had been hiding it well.

All the sorrows, mixed with the pressure of finishing elementary school, had darkened my thoughts.

So, I'd agreed to the blind high school pick.

The stress had been too real and the court had been an uphill battle, especially since my father was a very rich man who had hidden me from my only grandparent my whole childhood.

For over a year before that, Grandma Alvara met me countless times at cafes, finally being able to talk with me and tirelessly preparing for the court. Just when we began to lose hope, the judge granted my grandma Alvara everything. Giving her full custody and freeing me from the obligation of weekly visits with my father... Just like that, coming from nowhere, it was the beginning of a new, better life for me.

And it made sense to me; I used to love fairy tales the most.

Seven weeks had passed swiftly since my father kicked me off here and I settled into grandma's charming home in the middle of nowhere, and now I stood ready to depart once more, this time for a boarding school.

I had pledged to return every weekend, a commitment to my beloved grandmother, with whom I had already shared countless cherished moments already. We had a lot to catch on after the years, so we did.

Our favorite pastime involved collecting funny glass talismans and gathering around a campfire in her garden, delving into our family's history. That my mom was kind, ambitious, loving and had passed away in a car accident too soon. Words you would hear from every sad grandparent, but one truth was undeniable...