Hunting the flame

CHAPTER 5: SHADOWS OF THE VEIL (1)

MAUDE

30th October, 2016

I wake up to the sounds of the rain pattering against the rooftop. I don't check the time, but I know it's really early. Getting out of bed, I'm still half-asleep as I crack the window wide open to hear the rain better. The crisp, musky scent of rain and soil wafts through the window, and I can't even explain the feeling I get as I inhale it: a feeling similar to butterflies storming in my stomach when I'm in love. A gut-wrenching nostalgia washes over me, remembering all the happy moments I've lived in every autumn of my life.

The coolness of the air seeps into my bones, invigorating my soul, and I take another deep breath with a smirk on my face. I love rain. It's always so romantic. It offers solace to my soul, and for a moment, it makes me forget everything else exists; it's like time freezes, and nature awakens itself.

The heavy fog obscures the trees ahead of the house, and I hear the raindrops violently crashing against the window sill, as if the world has hushed, leaving only the percussion of rain to fill the air.

I turn around on my tiptoes and go back to bed, pulling the heavy blanket over me, going through the list of things I have to do that day, but my mind keeps wandering to the weather outside again. Autumn has been my favorite season forever, with so much to celebrate: starting school, mom's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fall Fest, and the nature being so beautifully painted in all the warm colors.

The moody rainy days always make me stay in and read or bake with grandma or watch movies, and there's always so much happiness around.

I've always counted the days until school, even though I never had many friends there; school just gave me a purpose. When I see pictures related to autumn, something jolts in my heart and I feel happy and nostalgic, but when I actually live it, it never reaches my expectations. Maybe I should just stop being such a perfectionist, I fight the thought away easily as my mind goes to the night before.

I wonder again what's wrong with that boy and what he's hiding. If he is hiding something, and I'm not paranoid, because that's going to add itself to the list of problems I have. I just couldn't wrap my mind over what happened and he was the only person there with me and then he disappeared. Gone. In like two seconds. And then he acted like nothing wrong happened.

I don't stay in bed much longer because I need to get ready for classes. After I eat, I help dad out with some computer related stuff, because it's still science fiction to him. Who can blame him? All his life he lived without a computer, it's way harder for him to adapt to one. When I'm finished, I throw a thick sweater on and sling the tote bag over my shoulder, and I'm ready to go. The brisk, sharp smell of petrichor hits me as soon as I step foot outside. The sky is still gloomy, and I pray that it won't rain again because I'm too lazy to take the umbrella with me. I gaslight myself that I won't need it because I have a car anyway.

As I drive away to the university, I can feel the atmosphere growing increasingly eerie as Halloween approaches, casting a dark shadow over the town. Even though I'm all for dressing up, carving pumpkins, and going to parties, it still gives me the creeps, and no one can convince me that nothing witchy-related is happening. God knows what demons are walking freely that night, and no, I'm not delusional or crazy. A lot of paranormal shit has happened to me and I'm almost sure something like that happened that night too.

Looking around me, I recognize the street I left Silas on and a subtle tint of embarassment washes over me. He deserved it; or at least that's what keeps me sane. I really need to stop acting impulsively and emotion-driven.

I park the car and head directly to the coffee shop because one of the things that makes me happier on a rainy day is a cappuccino.

I take a sip from it and walk through campus, heading to class. I never thought I'd actually study literature because I've been through so many obsessions of every other careers; I even wanted to become a medical examiner but medicine was gonna take too long and I don't think being surrounded by dead bodies whould have been my favorite choice. I'm not sure what I'd like to do of this degree either but I would certainly love to be a writer someday.