Through the eyes of a capital girl

Chapter Two

The door creaked open slowly, the sound echoing through the silent house. Ever held her breath, silently praying her parents were asleep.  With her heart racing, she slipped off her heeled shoes and tip-toed up the carpeted stairs. The hallway that held her and her parents rooms was shadowy, the old oil lamps hanging from the walls doing nothing to ward off the darkness, the walls were covered in paintings her mother had made, a thunderstorm flecked with soft strokes of lightning, a green forest towering over an old lake, a beaten down shack tucked in the corner. One image stood out to her the most, an image Ever saw every year through the shining TV in their living room, far away in the center of the capital, a place impossible to recreate so clearly unless you were there.

The Arena.

Each glossy black starting mark was exactly in place, the arena was a sunny desert, a misty glade, an endless field. Ever had stared at this painting ever since she was a tiny child in a lacy bib crawling up and down the hallway, hoping to steal a single moment of love from her distant mother.

Ever followed the paintings to the end of the hall, her hand trailing absentmindedly over the wooden walls. 

Then she turned the knob of the door at the end of the hallway, the metal cold against her fingers. The knob turned in her hand, as she slipped inside the wooden doorframe, the door slowly shutting, she could just make out a person, awash in the glow of the moon. 

Her mother stood at the entrance of the hall, her chestnut hair falling around her in waves, now streaked with the ghostly white of Long Lost dreams. Her mothers face was cast in shadow, the pale face that had once been beautiful, glowing with happiness, had long since gone cold. For a moment, Ever believed she saw a flicker of recognition hidden under the many curtains behind her mother's lifeless eyes, but soon, the hope had gone as fast as the  rain dripping down a windowsill.

Ever closed the door, silently knowing that her mother was farther away than she could ever be. She stepped into her old bedroom, sighing as she plopped down on her silk coverlets.

The room was large, and filled with small trinkets and baubles. The floor was strewn dresses and hats from the morning as she frantically searched for something to wear.

The room was dark, only illuminated by the light from the moon seeping in through the billowy curtains. Ever sighed, listening for crickets she knew she would never hear, the only sound ensuing from outside were the soft shuffling noises of people heading home.

In the darkness, the room seemed sinister. The large vanity in the corner contorted into a monster, the bookshelf into a dragon's lair.  Soon the room was full of demons, whispering from nooks and crannies all around,  whispering threats and promises, jabbing deep wounds into her already bleeding body.

Ever wanted to cry out, to scream for the parents who weren't there, to be shielded from the shadows, like a child.

You don't belong, the darkness cried.

she wished she could fight back, tell them they were wrong, that she did belong among the brightly colored capital, in silk dresses and skirts, she wished she was like a fairytale knight, facing the dragon.

                                    But she wasn't a knight, and this wasn't a fairytale.

A/N 

HI! sorry for the short chapter, but I needed some filler, I promise the next chapter will be longer and hopefully I'll finish it soon.

Thank you so much for reading! 

-Moonlarkrising