The Dark Maiden

Chapter 1

Carmen walked down the street, careful to check both ways- and for familiar faces- before crossing to the other side. The rain drizzled lightly, dampening her dark brown hair. She opened the door to the coffee shop on the corner, slipping inside quietly. She looked around the room for a moment, her dark brown eyes scanning for the face she was looking for, and when she found it, she strolled over. She almost turned around halfway to the table, but she kept walking.

An older woman, in her late thirties, with auburn hair perfectly arranged in waves around her shoulders was sitting down at the table. She was wearing sun glasses on her eyes, and when she removed them, one could see her large dark green eyes, so dark they almost blended into the black of her pupils. It was an odd trait to say the least, when one was in La Crujía de México, the primarily Mexican part of the city. It was filled with immigrants and a population of people that had migrated from the southern part of Mexico to Tila- Carmen's home city- when it had first been established. The majority of them had dark features, dark brown skin and dark brown or black hair. They had all settled within close reach of each other, and the section of the city they occupied had come to be known over the years as the "Mexican Bay", as it was right on the water and the majority of the population lived in houseboats- even some shops were on the boats.

"Carmen." The woman nodded to the young woman sitting across from her. "I'm so glad you decided to meet with me."

"What choice did I have?" Carmen fidgeted with a menu. She picked at the fraying edges absentmindedly.

"You could have ignored everything that I said and gone back to believing what you wanted." The woman shrugged. "That would've been much easier."

"A lie, you mean." Carmen specified. "Believing a lie."

"An emission of the truth. Don't be so hard on your father. What would have been better for you, hm? Not knowing who your mother was, just that she left moments after your birth, or believing that the woman -who for all intensive purposes is your mother- who raised you, is such." The woman with the sunglasses looked lazily through the menu. "He let you think you were an average girl for a while. What was the harm in that?"

"Well they told me, didn't they, Lilli?" Carmen exclaimed. "That you're my biological mother, that is?"

"Your real mother. Don't get me wrong," She paused, "I'm grateful, glad even, that you had a mother figure while you were growing up. But you need to acknowledge the fact that... Elsi, although she took care of you, is not your real mother. I am. And I always have and always will be."

"She is my mother. She took care of me when you abandoned me." Carmen was defensive of her mother. Elsi was her mother. She would always be her mother. Lilli was just the woman who gave birth to her. "That's what a mother does for their child. They love them always. You couldn't even do that the day I was born."

Carmen remembered back to a few nights ago when a knock came at the door, and her twelve year old sister Mae, being the one closest to the door, answered it.

"Hello?" Mae had asked.

A red haired woman wearing a sleek coat and knee high boots over dark blue denim jeans was standing there, looking completely confident she was in the right place even though Carmen- who was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal- had never seen her before. Neither had Mae, who looked at the strange women with a confused look.

"Carmen lives here?" She asked. "Carmen Francis, the daughter of Joshua Francis?"

"Who's asking?" Mae stood there, her hands on her hips defiantly. Her dirty blonde hair was plaited into two braids, one on either side of her head. Her skin was a few shades lighter than her sister's- much lighter than her father's due to her mother's heritage- and a tiny bit lighter than her older brother's. She had a heavenly golden glow about her tan skin. She was wearing her pajamas, a tank top with a unicorn on it and pajama pants with cats drinking martinis on them. They were a pair of Carmen's that had been her's when she was fifteen. Mae had skinny legs that were long for her age as a twelve year old, but Carmen's old pants fit her just right at that moment, even though they were a little baggy.