The Sacred Pendant

Chapter 1

Ding dong!
Ding dong!

     Celine stood by the door waiting for her aunt to answer it. She had been standing there for a while and beginning to doubt if anyone was at home.

     Life hadn't been the same after Margaret, Celine's mother, died. The mansion which was once cheery and lively was now dull and gloomy. Margaret's sudden and mysterious death seemed to cloud Kelvin, Celine's father, the most. He stopped being the exuberant and jovial father; he stopped caring about his daughter; he stopped listening; he stopped talking. The whole mansion was always in a dead silence because Kelvin fired anyone who dared talk or made any unnecessary noise. The curtains were always drawn down, so it was always dark inside and only the candles dimly lighted the inside.

     The chauffeur would take Celine to school and bring her back home when school closed. She wasn't allowed to go outside; she wasn't allowed to have any visitors. She only had the maids and other servants to talk to but they weren't really gregarious because of the fear that they might get fired. The once brightly lighted home became a dimly lighted prison and the darkness and thought of her mother's death enveloped Celine eerily everyday.

     Celine thought her life could never get worse than it was but she soon found out that she was wrong one day when she had dinner with her father and a strange looking woman she hadn't met before.
Celine was really perplexed when a maid came into her room that evening and said: "Your father wants to have dinner with you." Instead of the normal "Dinner is ready." After Margaret died, they no longer had dinner as a family. Whenever dinner was ready, Celine would eat alone staring at the empty dinning chairs and a maid would clean up the table when she was done. But suddenly, Kelvin insisted that they have dinner together and Celine kept on wondering why as she walked down the stairs with the maid following her from behind.

     Celine got to the dinning room and looked around. It was empty except for Kelvin sitting at the far end of the dinning table and an eerie looking woman sitting right next to him.

        "Don't just stand there, have a sit,"
Celine's eyes widened. She couldn't tell if she was awake or asleep. Those were the first words that Kelvin had said to her after four years. Celine had thought the agony of her mother's death might have made him dumb and she was very much surprise that she was wrong.
        You talk? She thought.
        "Sit, dear ," Kelvin offered again when Celine remained standing.

     Celine walked slowly to the dinning chair far opposite her father and as she walked she felt the stare of the strange woman following her. The dinning table had ten chairs but Celine didn't plan on sitting on any of the chairs close to her father or the woman. No sooner had she sat than a stream of servants came in with different delicacies. Everything was already becoming strange to Celine.
Why am I here? Who is this woman? Why is she staring at me like that? What's with this so much food? Why-
        "Let's eat, " came the voice of Kelvin which made Celine jump out of her thoughts.
     Celine ate slowly trying very hard not to look at the unknown woman but it felt impossible because she could feel the woman's eyes on her. They all ate slowly and quietly.
        "How is the food?" asked Kelvin after a long time of silence that was already becoming awkward for Celine.
        "Good," Celine replied after looking her father to confirm if she was the one he was talking to.
"That's nice, I'm -"
"Why am I here?" Celine interrupted.
"Dear, How about we -"
"Why am I here?" Celine asked again, sharply.

It had been four years he last spoke to her and Celine was already becoming irritated that all he could say after all these years was ask how some food was.
How about "How are you? " or "It's been a while " or "You wear glasses now? " Celine thought.
"Calm down, dear, I'm getting there. It's been a while we spoke ( You bet! Celine thought) so I thought I shouldn't rush it, " Kelvin said.
"Rush what?" Celine asked.
Kelvin heaved a sigh before answering.
"I know you must be wondering this lady sitting beside me is( You read my mind ) I'm glad to tell you that she is your stepmother. We are married."
The words " Your stepmother, we are married " rang through Celine's ears and it made her giddy.
"WHAT???" Celine bellowed, turning from the woman to her father.
"Yes, dear,"
"How come? When? I don't get it!" Celine said almost in tears.
"All that matters is that we are married and -"
"Married? Just like that? Without me knowing? What about -" Celine choked on the word 'mum'. It was the first time in four years that she had mentioned her mother.
"Celine, I understand how you feel but I did it for your own good. After your mother's death everything changed. You changed. You lock up yourself in your room everyday and -"
"I changed? " Celine asked, not believing her ears, "I changed? You were the one who changed! You stopped talking to me; you stopped caring. You were always busy with your work and didn't even care about me anymore. And now you are telling me I changed?"
"Dear -"
"Don't dear me! ," Celine cried, "After mum died all I wanted was you but you just ignored me like a plague!"
"Celine!" came a shrill voice that echoed through the room and made Celine's blood shiver.
"You do not raise your voice at your father! " The woman who had been sitting quietly beside Kelvin bellowed, but it sounded more like a shriek to Celine. She just stood still, paralyzed.
"It's a lot for her to take in, " Kelvin said, placing a hand on Celine's stepmother's shoulder.
"Still she should learn to respect her father, " She said and for the first time she took her eyes from Celine and turned to Kelvin. "There's nothing she can do about the current situation, so it's either she accepts it or she leaves it."
"It will take time for her to adjust but she will," Kelvin assured.
"What?? " Celine said, finally finding her voice, "Adjust? No way! There's no way I'm living with this...this -," Celine's stepmother's eyes met hers and she swallowed back the words.
"I knew you wouldn't want to live here anymore that's why I arranged your departure, " Kelvin said, smiling.
"My departure?" Celine asked almost in a whisper.
"Yes, dear, you will be moving to your aunt's place, your mother's sister."
"Mum's sister? Mum had a sister?" Celine asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes, it's just she and Margaret and she happily agreed to take you in, " Kelvin said.
"You want me to...," Celine turned to her stepmother and saw a sly smirk on her face, "You know what? Fine! I'll go to my aunt's place. It's not like I'm having much of a life here in this hellhole!" She bellowed and ran to her room angrily. Celine wept all night.
The next day, Celine woke up and found her room almost empty. Her clothes and other belongings were no longer in the room.
"I must have cried myself to sleep again, "Celine said.
She sat up on her bed and pondered on what had happened the previous night. Not long, a maid came in.
" Miss Celine, I'm glad you are awake," She said.
"It's Sunday. I'm not going to school today so what are you doing?" Celine asked, confused.
"You are traveling to your aunt's today and I'm here to help you get ready, " she said.
So that's why my room is empty, Celine thought, I guess he wants to get rid of me quickly. No problem, I can live with that. He's not much of a father anyways.
"Miss Celine," The maid called, "you need to take your bath now. The chauffeur is waiting. "
"OK," Celine said and got out of bed.

Celine got dressed and followed the maid outside. The car was already loaded with her belongings and the chauffeur in the driver's seat. Some of the servants were outside; some busy with their work while some just standing, watching.
Celine looked around. Her father was nowhere in sight and this made her heartbroken but she tried her best to shake it off.
Beside the car standing was a tall dark-skinned woman with an unfathomable expression. Celine guessed immediately that that was her stepmother. She hadn't really had a good look at her last night. Celine's stepmother was really thin, almost emaciated. She had big bulging, mysterious eyes and her small lips were covered with red lipstick.
"Celine, " She said in a calm voice that made the hair at the back of Celine's neck shiver.
"I'm here to see you off."
"Where's my dad? " Celine asked, not bothering to say "Good morning " first.
"He's still asleep and I didn't want to disturb him, " She said as if she was proud of herself for not waking him up.
"What did you do to him? How did you force him to marry you all of a sudden and throw me out? " Celine demanded.
"I did nothing, Celine dear, " She said and ran her long fingers along Celine's face. Celine backed away.
"Your dad is really stressed out. Your mother's death killed him inside I'm glad I'm here to revive him. And sweetie, he isn't throwing you out. He only needs some space and time and I'm sure that's what you need too. Staying here all alone must have been truly horrible for you but now you have the chance to make friends and also know your mum's sister."
She was right but Celine didn't want to admit it out loud.
Celine's stepmother opened the door and beckoned Celine to get into the car.
Celine walked slowly inside the car not taking her eyes off her stepmother. She was smiling but Celine had a strange feeling that there was something more to that smile.
Celine entered the car and her stepmother closed the door. The windows were wind up and the chauffeur started the car. Celine's stepmother bent and stared at Celine from the window. She said something and smiled in a strange way that made Celine's blood shiver again, then she waved and the car drove off.
Celine wasn't good at reading lips and the thought of what her stepmother could have said kept on worrying her mind and she ended up with a serious headache.

It was already evening when they reached Celine's aunt's place. The chauffeur stopped at the front of a bungalow. It was really pretty. There were flower pots with beautiful flowers and on a bench at the front of the bungalow sat a white fluffy rabbit. The house looked like it was just newly painted. Celine smiled. This was her new home and she had a feeling that she would love her stay here in this idyll scenery.
Celine got out of the car and still focused on the nice bungalow, then she realized that the chauffeur wasn't taking her belongings to that bungalow.
"Where are you going? " She asked.
"Taking your things to your aunt's door," The chauffeur replied.
"Isn't this -" Celine asked, pointing at the bungalow.
"No, " The chauffeur said, "I just wanted to pack there. Here's your aunt's house." He said to the next bungalow at the right.
Celine turned her gaze to the direction the chauffeur was walking to and her heart dropped.
The next bungalow was the exact opposite of the one she thought was her new home. It wasn't even painted may be all the paint had peeled off. It looked so ordinary but in a strange and spooky way.
Celine looked around. That particular side of the street was lined with bungalows but her aunt's own was different from the others. It looked isolated and abandoned.
How could anyone possibly live there? Celine wondered.
The chauffeur unloaded Celine's bags at the front of her aunt's door.
"Just ring the doorbell, if she's home she will open the door, " The chauffeur said. He patted Celine on the shoulder; went into the car and drove away.

Celine rang the doorbell and stood by the door with her bags surrounding her legs. She had agreed to move in with her mum's sister because she thought that since they were related, her aunt would be a loving and cheery person like her mother. But now she wasn't so sure.