Repent: Gwyllomay of the Darkness (1.5) (MANUSCRIPT)

Chapter 18, Grace's Fall From Grace (re1)

     I opened my eyes, now seeing a world through her. Grace's hands became mine. Her legs now my legs. Her breathing now belonged to me, as well. Such interesting ribs. 
     She appeared younger in this dream-like memory. Much younger, almost a child. Enough of her demeanor seemed to be self-conscious and preoccupied enough to at least put her at- 
     "Grace! It's your twelfth birthday. What do you wanna do for it?" The raspy voice of an older man boomed out from my periphery.
      Around us stood a series of chairs. No table, oddly enough. A dishwasher roared and hummed in the background. The gushing sounds of slippery soap rumbled through the air. 
     My attention turned to an older man, his face blurry, who wore your typical business-clothes. What a truly 'debonair' individual, to be wearing those kinds of amber-hued slacks. And those shoes made me wanna vomit! 
     "Well, I wanted to go to the museum." A young girl's voice escaped my lips, a foreign accent dribbling off of her. 
     "Uh. Oh. The Kilter Museum?" Her dad -- at least, I'd assume as much -- responded with a voice of hesitation.
     Oh, what's the matter, old man? Old, wrinkly, French man? 
     "What's wrong with that, dad? You always say that place is dangerous but you never explain why." 
     "Grace, one day, you'll come to understand why." 
     "Hmph!" My arms crossed themselves, all of this action happening from Grace's memory after all. 
     "Well, honey, if you really wanna do that, then I guess we'll do it. Let's get your brother, who lives in Cardiff with your mother, to see it then, too! It'll be spectacular. Magnifique!" 
      The muscles in Grace's younger face transitioned from a forced pout, to one of solemn concern just then. "D- Dad, why does Daniel have to live so far away?" 
     "Well, ask your mother that one when you get the chance, won't you? Haha!" Her blurry father laughed as he turned around. 
     Ha. What an incredulous remark. Something bitter went on between those two, that's for certain. That is to say, Grace's dad and her mom. Grace and Daniel are clearly the children of an acrimonious divorce. 

________

      From a series of blinks, one by one burning away the scene, like lighting the corners of a photograph on fire, I then found myself walking around in a museum... with a younger Daniel! 

     I see. There are things even he's kept from me!
    "Pffft. There's, like, no one here." The younger boy scoffed, his orange hair longer, and even more unruly. 
     "Y- Yeah, but it's pretty." Grace whispered as she stood close to a series of staircases. 
     Daniel stuck his tongue out. "I guess, if you call looking at caskets and mummies 'pretty'." 
     "Now, now. It's your sister's special night, tonight." The sultry voice of a woman vibrated at the right side of my face. 
     "Alright. I'll back off! No biggie." Daniel put his hands up, laughing nervously. "Say, mom, did you wanna go look at the Crab Exhibit again? I'm gettin' hungry." 

     "You're always hungry!" Grace rolled her eyes, the action making me feel a tad dizzy. Oh my!
     "Hm. So I am, sis. So I am." Daniel winked, rubbing his gurgling stomach, as he stood in a blue T-Shirt. "I'm proud of my big appetite, thank you!" 
     "Bigger isn't always better, you know."  
     "Sure, sure. Try telling that to the Crab Exhibit! All sorts of'em. Big! Long! Fat! Huge! And I have to say, I do kinda dig that rock-place, too!" 
     "R- Rock Place?"
     "You know, that one room with all those crystals and quartz-diamonds?" 
     "Um. Is 'quartz-diamond' even a real thing? It sounds super expensive." 
     "Probably. Probably not! I don't know my rocks, sis. You do, right? It's why you wanted to go to this stupid museum?" 
     "You don't know your rocks, that much is clear, 'bro'." 
     "Haha, what can I say? I'm not a geologist. I just love my crabs. This one even had long antennae! It was awesome! It was, like, crossing the boundaries between crab and lobster!" 
     "Yeah. Okay. Whatever. Ahahaha! You know, I heard my teacher talking about crabs once, but it was dirty for some reason." Grace ran a hand through her hair. 
     "Um, was she talking about -- oh gosh, I shouldn't say it around mum and dad -- an S-T-D?" Daniel whispered into his older sister's ear. 
     Grace giggled, her cheeks flushing red. "Ah, it was! It was so dirty. Very dirty!" 
     "I don't doubt that." Daniel flickered his eyebrow up. "What do they teach in France, anyway?" 
     "Um-" 
     "I heard they let kids watch porn!" 
     "Uh!" Grace put a finger to her top lip. "Depends. What kind of porn?" 
     "You mean there's different kinds? Holy cow! Sounds like a glorious business to be in. Ha. What I wouldn't give to be in the porn industry. Hmhmhm!"
     "You're a perv, and also way too young to be considering such things!"
     "Yeah, so? Mom said its natural for guys to be into that sort of thing. I'm not gonna fight it, then. But I can't deny that you're not alone in sayin' that kind of stuff about me."
     "Hm?"
     "I have a bit of a reputation at my school these days. Ha. Yeah, you could call it that. I managed to get caught trying to look up some corpulent stuff I wasn't supposed to."
     "Corpulent? Do you even know what that means?" 
     Daniel rolled his eyes. "Obviously not if I'm usin' it!" 
    "Then why say it?" 
    "Because it sounds important, so I wanna try to remember it." Daniel protested. 
    "Hmph, well, that's oddly reasonable, Daniel." 
    "Hmhmhm! Heck yeah, sis. Anyways. Porn." 
     Holy shit, how old is Smithwell at this point? He's easily aroused. This younger Daniel is quite full of lust, his eyes practically twinkling from excitement. 
     He's nonetheless entertaining all the same, and I don't believe that this part of him has really changed all that much throughout the years.