Alexander Altair Black, the son of the infamous Sirius Black, found little enjoyment in life as the sole heir of a family known for nothing but its darkness and misery. The name has followed him around all his life, casting a shadow over everything...
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the prologue.
( the bad luck begins. . . )
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07/12/2024**If my announcement was missed for those who don't follow me, I'm rewriting what little I had for this book. I already posted a new extended summary (go check that out!). The prior prologue was entirely scrapped, and this is the new one. However, the three chapters I previously had will mostly be the same, with new scenes added/small details left out. I would still suggest another read-through or perhaps just skim :)
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December 19th, 1986
The first time Alexander Black experienced his wretched black luck was different for everyone.
For most, it was just an ordinary December night. Snowflakes drifted down from the heavens, blanketing the streets in a glistening powdered white. Lights of all colours sparked inside the iced-shut windows, and through the frosty panes, families could be seen from below huddling on their sofas, hot chocolate warming their hands as they enjoyed some Christmas classics late into the night. A few lonesome people hurried along the sidewalks outside, their cheeks reddened by the biting wind, heads ducked low to avoid the flurry of snow spinning around them.
Among those lonely souls was six-year-old Alexander Black, bundled up in an overstuffed thick red coat with matching fluffy mittens on each small hand. His nose felt as though icicles were forming, and his breath puffed out in front of him as he struggled to match the pace of the woman next to him.
"Mummy, it's cold," he muttered, eyelashes heavy with powdered snow settling on them. He tried to blink it away, but it felt nearly impossible. He couldn't see, he couldn't feel his toes as he trudged through the snow, and he couldn't understand why they were outside in the first place.
Mara Byun swallowed thickly, her grip on Alec's mittened hand growing tighter as she herded him closer to her side. She should have brought them here earlier in the day before the snow began to fall in earnest, but she found herself forgetting her common sense more often than not these days. "Hush, darling," her sweet voice soothed, pushing a piece of her brittle raven hair behind her ear with a trembling hand she quickly hid in her pocket to avoid worrying her brilliantly vigilant son. Truthfully, she couldn't even feel the cold that had Alec shivering at her side. All she felt was numb. "You'll be warm soon, I promise."
Alec highly doubted that, yet he held his tongue.
The odd flock of ravens overhead, who called that street home even in the throes of winter, watched with fascination from their perch on the building across the way. Glossy black eyes followed the young boy and his mother as they made their way across the street, coming to stand in front of an ordinary-looking townhouse building.
