The Mysterious Messages

Part 1- Introduction

The Box on the Doorstep-

    Riley stood under the showerhead, as the water doused her head while she ran her hands through her waterfall of dark brown hair, streaming down her back. Her hazel eyes shimmered in the bathroom lights and she rubbed face wash all over her rosy cheeks which were covered in clustery freckles. Riley finished letting the soap slide down her skin, and turned the water off. Her faint hum filled the echoey bathroom, as she stepped out of the shower. Cold air struck her as she wrapped the towel around her body, and walked to the mirror which was foggy and blear. She wiped the fog and left a patch on the mirror, which reflected her bare face. Empty eyes stared back at her which sent a chill down her spine. They seemed as though they were staring at her, drawing her in. She turned her eyes away and it was as if the eyes weren't there.

Riley finished combing her knotted hair and spreading lavender-oatmeal lotion and a honey serum on her skin. Riley has always had an intricate skincare routine that she learned from her mother when she was much younger. She had remembered the nights when she would join her mother at the sink and stand up on her stool, and watch her mother do her skincare routine. It had been a small thing, but it always reminded her of her mom back at home.

Riley had grown up in a very rich family, known as the Heilenburg Royal Family. It was very unknown to other countries, but in England, her family was a bit more popular. Her younger days were filled with sessions with her private teacher and going on exotic trips every month. Yet all the perks of being a royal child, there were other days of plastering fake smiles on her face when important people that came to her house... "We have to look like a pleasant and normal family to Mr. Luthenier when he visits tomorrow for the interview. Just act like a good child you are, and I will let you buy anything tomorrow, sweetie..." Her father's tight and strict words drifted through her head like bad memories. After a while, she forgot when to stop smiling and acting like she was happy.

The images still haunted her. Everything that had been building up in her life last year came collapsing onto her one autumn night. It was supper time and the ring on the phone pierced through the silence of the mansion. The police had called Riley's family to tell them that her grandmother had been murdered, by her husband and that he had been found dead- hanging from the rafters shortly after. The case continued for months until it was decided that the husband of Lucy Hillenburg had murdered her and then proceeded to kill himself. When the case ended, Riley's last chance of hope that her Grandfather was innocent had died, as if a flame extinguished within her. Nobody talked about it in her family though. With all those interviews her parents did, you would think they would talk about the biggest tragedy to hit them. But they didn't. Instead, they kept a smile up, but Riley remembers the nights when she could hear her father crying in the bathroom to himself. No one could easily forget what happened, no matter how tough of a person they are. Facades will soon fade at the end of the day...

Riley has just recently moved out of the mansion that she grew up in a couple months after the incident with her grandparents. She felt as though she had to get away from her parents, no matter what. All of the drama and fakeness led her to finally leave to live her own life. To start over, without the constant nagging of being perfect. Her father tried to stop her by saying how she will tarnish the family reputation, and that she has nowhere to go, but she did...Her grandparents house.

Riley had just arrived at big heirloom that her grandparents had lived in. She legally owned the house since they had written on their will that their house had gone to their dearest Granddaughter, Riley. The rickety and decrepit mansion still had moving boxes covering her new bedroom floor. So far, the only conclusion she had made about this new house is that it is moldy and filled with shelves and shelves of historical books (and dust). Some of her friends asked why she would move to the place where her grandparents both died. She understood why some would wonder, but she didn't focus on the tragedy of the house, but the good times. The Christmas mornings spent with her family in this house. Days of playing in the woods when she would visit during the summer. Those memories...

Riley snapped back to reality, as she stumbled back. She hesitantly headed to her cluttered bedroom still dazed, to change into a nightgown. Just thinking of when she left her family, made her heart fall, but it was for the best.

Riley got into bed and wrapped herself in her comforter and stretched her arm out to tug down on her lamp's string. As Riley's eyes fluttered closed, the loud doorbell echoed through the mansion's halls.