Tending The Darkness

Chapter 1

Valerie's perspective;

I wake up to heavy rain and thunder. I love the smell of rain, and I love the coziness of storm clouds. The wind is rattling the glass doors in my room that lead to the balcony. I get up and make my way to my bathroom. I start filling my bathtub with hot water. I add bubble bath and bath salts to the tub. It smells clean. When my bath is ready I remove my black satin nightie and climb in. The hot water soothes my drowsiness and the pitter patter of rain is a calming melody to my aesthetic.

I begin to scrub and decide to shave my legs. I wash my hair. When Im done the bath water is a grey colour, and I feel clean and refreshed. I dry myself and brush my wet hair. My hair curls when it dries and is a vibrant gold. I don't use heat on my hair because it's damaging.

I make my way to my wardrobe. And decide on a pair of black tuxedo shorts, thigh length brown suede boots and a black polo neck jersey. I add some gold hoop earrings and my ruby ring. The ruby ring is a family heirloom and it is quite a big gem. It gets many admiring glances and I hardly ever go without it. There is a legend about the ring that says when the wearer falls inlove it turns black. I have yet to love someone, so I don't know if it was true.

There is a scratching at my door so I open it. My black cat Ping Pong is asking me to let him in. I give him some affection and wonder how many females he impregnated last night. He smiles a cat smile and makes himself at home on my unmade bed.

I make my way down to the kitchen for breakfast. I help myself to some scrambled eggs. While I eat I begin to feel sorry for the chickens. I am literally eating their babies. My brother Dutchy looks at me and tells me to chill. I roll my eyes and put my dishes in the sink. Alice has her headphones on and is working on a business idea to open up a small restaurant. Its her dream and passion. My mother Daphne has already left to go to work. She is an interior designer and is quite busy at the moment. Dutchy finishes his breakfast while I sip my tea. The vibe in the house has been uncomfortable since the darkness openly claimed me. Its like having everybody read my mind. I couldn't hide anything anymore because they all knew my thoughts and they would be frowned upon. There is no escape anymore. My reality has become public knowledge.

It felt strange when the darkness claimed me. I was lying in my room and turned on my phone to take a selfie. When I viewed the screen I saw my face accompanied by a dark mist that settled above my eyebrows. This dark mist looked me in the eye through my camera and said outloud, "I am the Darkness and I have claimed you." At first I was in shock. But actually I should have known all along. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I remember a while ago. I was alone, and I kept wishing to be good, like it was the only thing I wanted. Now I realise that I must have known I was bad to have wished myself good. It isn't as bad as I imagined it would be. I have a bigger feeling of belonging and an answer to most of my internal thoughts. I'm excluded because I'm a bad girl.

I spend the rest of the morning envisioning the moment I lost my virginity to an adhd boy in the town. I might as well be infatuated because i can't stop thinking about it. He broke up with me already, I suppose he is used to having vigins. I got a bit carried away and choked him a bit. I think that's what might have scared him away. He said that we could be best friends. But I didn't think he understood my sex drive. I'm a fiend. I like to have a lot of sex. Like, I fantasize about a romance that satisfies me three to five times a day; one with leather harnesses and handcuffs and bondage. But this guy was more of a take me to rural Paris vibes, like an antique romance. He showed me some porn and it was super classy, so I don't regret it. But I needed a partner in life, not a happy memory.

Alice starts singing out loud and I wonder if she had been popular at school. She used to tell me that she was trying to keep up with the other girls and stuff like that but I wondered if she had any friends. Or if that even mattered to her at all. She was still in her pajamas and she stank like last night. She was claimed by the light. I was not surprised because she is really good with children and stuff.