Shadows' encyclopedia - The Prodigies of Arahsmurd book 1

Rebecca's diary 🎀

Friday, October 14, 2016

Dear Diary,

I'm in my parents' car, on my way to our holiday home. My mum is reading a news article on her work tablet and my dad is listening to Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing. This is one of my dad's favourite songs. I'm also a fan of this artist, but I'm also revolted by his tragic end. I've noticed that people criticise us a lot because of our differences or our passions, and because of that we never know who to please, apart from ourselves. After my altercation with Bérénice, I agreed to go with my parents to Picardie. I'll never be able to talk to her again after what she told me. A pest is still a pest. She thinks she knows everything. But why didn't she ever tell me that I wasn't listening enough? Anyway, it's too late now. To forget her, nature is my only remedy. The trees, the sounds of the forest... these are the only things that can relax me and soothe me from the parasites of the outside world. Before coming, I was able to catch up on my week's lessons. Catherine is a good person and I've started to get on well with her.

In my memories, our big house was surrounded by shrubs and autumn leaves. The neighbours were rather discreet, and the scent of the wood made the paths so pleasant, as did the song of the wind in the trees. I always helped Dad get the suitcases out while Mum cheered us on. Our home was wonderful: the furniture, the smell of watercolours, the view over the garden, the tree branches rubbing and caressing the windows... My parents had saved for a long time to afford this luxury.

When I came to this house, I felt reborn. Mum would play with me in the garden. We'd run around the house for hours on end. My dad would join in - it was hilarious! Sometimes my parents would go and visit the Gérard: my parents' acquaintances. They seem to be friends of my mother's... I know that when I was a child I avoided them... I feared them, but I have a few memories of them... especially one old memory that I've forced myself to forget. My parents used to spend more time with me than they do now. The proof is that my mother never listens to me when I'm in trouble. She's too busy. My father listens, but he's absorbed in his work as an engineer. In the old days, when it got dark, I used to sleep with my hands clasped on my bed without meaning to. At that time, my cat became seriously ill and I couldn't bear it. I started drinking her blood so I wouldn't forget her, which I didn't find unpleasant. Thinking back, maybe it was creepy... But I was only a child and I was trying to imitate my hero. All this had happened in front of Berenice, who had been surprised but not freaked out. Her sudden reaction left me unmoved, because at the time she didn't seem affected by my strange behaviour, as she says so well today.

Finally, dear Diary, I want to unravel the mystery of the hero I once met and the guy from Pyramids station. Just thinking about it makes me nervous... No one could have seen this twisted guy... If it wasn't for that girl, I don't think I'd be writing to you again. It's horrible what this man did, and even when I went back to the scene of the crime I couldn't find his body. I wasn't able to help him as I'd hoped...