Shadows' encyclopedia - The Prodigies of Arahsmurd book 1

Old memories 🎀

The next day, Rebecca sat in the garden all day, staring at the mysterious book she had discovered in the attic. Her parents had left for a few hours to go for a walk. The Goth thought about Louis and the terrible experiments her family were carrying out. Vampires existed and the Gerard were hunting them down. Rebecca had countless questions about the true identity of her parents and the Gerard family. Traumatised, she watched out for the slightest suspicious movement in the neighbourhood. This dark day brought back old memories for Rebecca. In particular, rainy days. From her bedroom window, she would watch the drops drip down the glass. She loved to smell the rain and watch the grey clouds go about their daily business. Every time a raindrop hit the glass, sounds started to form in her head. Rebecca stared into space. She was lost in thought. When the song of the rain grew louder, strange images came back to haunt her. The face of Louis as a child reappeared in her mind.

One night, Louis and Rebecca wandered away from the Gerard house. The little boy had seen something strange moving around the house. The two friends went deeper into the wood... but never found their way back. The wood was dark and the rain roared down on the landscape, which was becoming sinister. Rebecca cowered, crying out for her mother and father, while Louis desperately searched for the strange creature he was tracking.

"Rebecca, don't cry! I'll protect you!" Louis swore feverishly.

"Louis, are we lost?" cried Rebecca sadly.

"No, we'll find our way back, but first I have to kill the monster!"

"What monster?

Suddenly, there was a creak of wood. Louis was holding a gun in his hand. The branches cracked and the atmosphere became heavy. Rebecca was shivering and breathing hard in the heavy rain. A few metres away, a figure moved. Louis, who heard the sound of the foliage, set off in pursuit of the monster he was chasing. Rebecca stood huddled against a tree, crying. She didn't know where Louis was... Suddenly, a doe ran up, stained with blood. It ran on without stopping in front of Rebecca, who was scared to death. Rebecca remained trapped in the hollow of a tree without flinching. Footsteps formed in the mud, lessening the intensity of the rain, which seemed less terrifying than at first. The clouds cleared in the sky, revealing the full moon. Rebecca looked up to see a shadow forming on the ground. She began to mourn, believing that the end was nigh. A hand bandaged in an old cloth and stained with blood landed on the tree where Rebecca had been hiding. The little girl closed her mouth and stopped breathing to avoid being spotted. The creature dug its fingers into the bark of the tree. As it slowly approached Rebecca, the smell of blood clouded the frightened little girl's senses. The strange creature leaned over the sprawled girl...

Rebecca came to her senses, her heart pounding. Her hands were shaking... The images she had just seen seemed unreal. She tried to put them into context, but nothing came back to her. Mixed in with these visions, her hero resurfaced. Rebecca felt lost... All sorts of images and smells were mingling with reality. The young woman lay down in bed, her mind in turmoil.

That evening, Rebecca's parents came home. The Goth rose from her bed, her eyes riveted on the ceiling. She went to the bathroom and washed her face. From upstairs, Rebecca could hear her parents talking. Slowly, the young adult moved closer to the stairs to listen to her mother's anxious account.

"Rose said she felt something terrifying nearby, I don't know what it is, but we need to leave as soon as possible..."

"What are you going to tell Rebecca?" asked Ryan.

"I don't know, but I have to protect her from any contact with them..."

"Are you talking about the Gerard or the terrifying thing? I thought the Gerard family were our friends?"

"I have to protect her in any case! replied Christine, worried. I want to avoid the accident that happened when Louis and Rebecca were children. Rose and Hervé don't want to lose their son a second time."

Rebecca huddled against the wall, wheezing. She hurried to her room. The young woman lay quietly on her bed, her head full of information. Images of her and Louis as children resurfaced. That strange creature, wrapped in thick cloth, was coming back to haunt her.

Suddenly, the door to Rebecca's bedroom swung open.

"Rebecca!" cried Christine in panic.

"Mum?" gasped Rebecca, in a bad way.

"Is everything all right? You look ill..."

"I'm trying... What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"I have to tell you that we have to leave tomorrow. I'm needed at work," Christine said, embarrassed.

"I see... I wanted to talk to you about something..."

Christine sat down on her daughter's bed, concentrating.

"A few hours ago, I recalled an old memory... Louis and I were leaving the Gerard house and we found ourselves in the woods, and then something happened, a creature... and then nothing happened, I can't remember what happened next."

"Are you sure of what you're saying?"

"Yes," Rebecca replied confidently, "what happened?" (Christine looked very annoyed. She got up from the bed and looked at her daughter closely).

"You gave us quite a fright that night... You ran away from home. When we found you a few metres from the Gerard house, you were unconscious because of the cold."

"Is that all?" asked the young woman, unconvinced. "I saw something that night..."

"Animals, of course," said Christine, clearly.

"Not at all..."

Suddenly, Ryan knocked on the door. He interrupted their conversation to tell them that Hervé and his son were coming. Christine stepped back and took charge of welcoming her guests. Rebecca hid behind the curtains of her window to watch the scenery.

Deep in thought, she tried to recall the night when she and Louis had got lost in the forest. But nothing came back to her. Strangely enough, she discovered her mother, Hervé and Louis chatting in the open air. Christine was gesticulating strangely, as if defending her position. Hervé was holding a document in his hand and presenting it to his friend. Louis seemed indifferent. Rebecca wondered about the situation, but a voice lulled her. The strange timbre was giving her instructions: "There's a second door leading to the Gerard' basement. Tomorrow night, when they leave, you'll find the answer to all your questions...". Rebecca crawled into bed, unable to understand where the mysterious voice was coming from. Without delay, she went to bed.