I walked down the cold, empty streets of Ville-Noire. It was called Ville-Noire because there was no life after dark. Even the houses would be dark, only lit up by a single candle in each room. As a young girl my parents would always tell me about about a creature who was half human and half beast, and at least six-feet-tall. As I grew older, my fascination with this so-called beast grew also.
As I continued to walk down the streets, I watched the cloud of air escape from my lips. I soon heard a rumbling noise coming from the bushes of the Avis household. I stopped in my tracks and slowly walked towards the bushes extending my arm. As I brushed the bush lightly, a small cat jumped out and pounced onto the Avis' porch. The cat stared at me with it's glowing, green eyes with its head tilted.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket and looked at the time. The brightness of the screen was slightly blinding. When I looked back up the cat was gone. I searched around, but it was no where to be found. I looked up at the sky, and started to walk back home. When I arrived at the house, my mother came running up to me checking my arms and caressing my face.
"Iree, where were you? Why weren't you home before dark?" My Mother asked."I'm sorry, Mother, I was on another adventure," I responded."Iree, you have to stop going on your so called 'adventures'. One of these days you are going to get hurt and then no one will find you," Mother replied"I'm not going to get hurt, Mother, I will be fine." I replied."What about Jax? Remember him?" Mother asked."Yeah," I replied as I lowered my head. "I do." I began to feel a stream of tears slowly trace along my face.
I quickly wiped my face clearing away the trail of tears that was left behind. Jax was a boy who I would always hang out with when I was younger. Jax and I were best friends, and nothing could ever break apart our friendship. The two of us would go on adventures every day and find new insects to put them into jars. We had a secret clubhouse, which was located deep into the woods where none of our parents could find us. One time Jax and I snuck out of the house and accidentally fell asleep inside our clubhouse. Luckily, we managed to wake up before any of our parents could realize that we were gone. A week after that night, Jax disappeared. It left the whole town puzzled; everyone wondered about what happened to him. A town that was filled with life during the day soon turned into a empty ghost town. Nobody said hello to one another or even stopped by to have a small conversation with the others outside.
At school, I could feel others staring at me as I walked to my classes.The classes that Jax and I had together were filled with flowers and a picture of him. His locker also had a picture of him, flowers and notes. His mother would come over almost every day to have either a cup of coffee, or earl grey tea with my mother laughing and gossiping about the latest news around the town and the other towns. It seemed as if nothing changed about her life when Jax disappeared.
Jax's father, on the other hand, seemed very depressed and lonely, and was willing to do anything to find his son. Before the disappearance, Jax's father was full of energy, having a cigar with his fellow co-workers after work, and drinking at the local pub. Jax had been his father's pride and joy in life, and when Jax wasn't here, all the pride and joy dissolved. His father had with nothing to look forward to.
Almost four years after the incident and the town was back to normal. The days were full of energy, and people talked among themselves. Jax's father was still quite upset, but he played it off as if nothing never happened.
