𝙷𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞- 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

     Elizabeth remembered that morning very clearly.  Waking up in the warm sheets, slowly opening her eyes, faint blue light giving her bedroom such calming and enigmatic presence. She yawned lazily, sat up in her bed and felt cruel coldness of that morning.  looking around,  Elizabeth tried guessing the time of early morning and  recalling dreams she had seen during previous night but as per usual all efforts were in vain. Her mind was blank. after moments of absorbing her surroundings  she felt something unusual, she felt as if everything had fallen into deep slumber. Everything on the face of planet had either vanished or died. Even voice in her mind had chosen silence. Maybe out of fear or confusion. But one thing i can tell you is that it was the last time she ever felt such soothing peace. This unusually calming stillness was soon interrupted by silent sound of weeping, clearly coming from the same floor, likely from her parent's bedroom. Feeling of distraught and fear took over her body and mind once she clearly heard her beloved mother's cries. Many questions and even more theories filled up her mind and before she would even realize, wooden floors were already making creaking sounds, there was sense of coldness beneath her feet and door with metal handle was becoming bigger in her vision. Those steps taken by her were purely out of curiosity, fear and wish to help her mother, whatever the reason of her unexpected cries might have been. Door handle slowly moved and she silently walked out in dim corridor, it's only light source now being her room. Voice became more audible and girl could even hear whispers, murmurs from that room which she concluded were of her father's. 

"i swear to you, Edith, i will find whoever did it and make them pay. i promise you, my darling"

"who or why would they do it, William?  my Leon... my sweet Leon..."

"oh my..."

cries were getting louder and louder by each step she took towards the closed door. Mentioning of her uncle's name, her father's promise and sound of her mother weeping quickly made Elizabeth realize that her uncle might have been injured or worse-dead. the thought of her uncle Leon being lifeless and gone made her body shiver from feeling of intense fear and shock

*-calm down Elizabeth, stop thinking about such horrid idea. Maybe he was just badly injured during the night and mom is just worried about him.

-but he has been injured before. mom has never cried like this. My god... please someone tell me that he isn't dead. Please....dear god...*

as voice inside of her chaotic mind tried to stop her from jumping into terrifying conclusions, the hall lit up more and she could see silhouette of her father, standing in the doorway, looking at Elizabeth with clear sadness and surprise in his eyes. 

-Elizabeth? why aren't you sleeping...

he said quietly, very calmly.

She quickly looked at her father, then inside the room, in which she saw her mother, sat on the bed, her face showed nothing but  grief, soul-consuming melancholy. Her arms dropped on her lap, almost like she had no control over them. Little girl slowly walked past her father and approached the woman, who no longer looked like someone who she used to called "mother". Now only thing her teary eyes, drained body and stillness reminded her of were those marble sculptures that were created out of artist's pure hopelessness, eternally stuck in time. Those sculptures engraved in history of art, which perfectly embody grief one can feel.

*he's dead* Elizabeth thought, despite that she didn't want to believe it at all

-mother..... 

she whispered, as tears filled her eyes. The sight of her loved one in such state and realization of her uncle's sudden passing made her little, fragile heart slow down, get quieter as if it was getting ready for sudden outburst. just like calm before the storm.

-mother.... what has happened to uncle Leon?

Mentioning of his name worked like a magic charm, sculpture turned its head towards Elizabeth, put it's cold palm on her pale cheek, gently wiped her warm tear and kissed her softly. The warm breath on her ear were followed by words

-Go Elizabeth, go my child. Let me mourn in loneliness, my beautiful girl

-Come, Elizabeth, Leave your mother in peace... 

she heard voice of her father that sounded unusually calm. She was used to it sounding commanding, confident and fierce, but now everything has changed, absolutely everything. Girl followed her fathers words, stepped away from her mother, who looked at her with smile, that showed opposite of happiness. Tears were still dripping down on her face and night gown, feelings in her heart were waiting for perfect time to unleash and control her body. She turned away and walked towards the door, towards her father who waited patiently. 

*what..... what is happening.... he's dead....  Uncle Leon is dead.. mother, she is in pain.. what is going on... what what is he isn't actually dead... no, it can't be*

Elizabeth walked out in still dim corridor, unlike several minutes ago, now she knew the answer to her question. Peace was replaced by sudden outburst of heartache and sorrow. her mind was taken over by confusion, sudden feeling of despair and sorrow. her mind filled with hundreds of thoughts, hundreds of questions regarding past, future and present. She thought about how her siblings would get over death of their dear uncle, how was he murdered, what happened, what is happening and what will happen. All these were left unanswered for now. Elizabeth felt like her heart would soon explode from such strong sense of bereavement. She quickly ran into her bedroom, leaving her father behind, who didn't dare to speak more . She buried her face in messy sheets, kneeled on the floor and finally let her sadness take over.  This unsettling feeling of unexpected shock didn't let her sadness flow freely from her mind. Instead all that was heard in her room was fast and hard breathing alongside silent mourning from time to time.  This morning had brought nothing but darkness and life-changing tragedy to this family. One that would lead to many more in the future. 

As  time passed Elizabeth could hear her siblings and father quietly walking in the corridor, their silent murmur and restrained behaviour indicated that they were already aware of disaster that had struck the family of well respected detective, William Cromwell.