Beauty from the Past

It was a cold August night in Melbourne, Austrailia. Snow layed on top of the pavement floor as usual. Your breath would turn into nothing but a small cloud of frost everytime you breathed. That was how cold it was in Austrailia during their winter. Luke Brooks, a typical Aussie, walked down the frozen streets of his village with his red nose and rosey cheeks. The 17 year old wore his homemade hat, a black leather jacket and his boots to keep him from freezing. As he was walking, he heard the small solid particles of ice cracking under his feet. Crish crish crish. He always did this routine every dusk. He suddenly heard his name.

"Hey Luke!" said James Yammouni, one of his friends and neighbors.

"What is it?" replied Luke as he turned around.

"Will you have basketball practice with me and Beau?" asked James.

"I don't feel like it. Maybe tomorrow." answered Luke.

James nodded and left while dribbling his ball going to the court. A gush of wind went through Luke when he passed by a very old house. He turned his attention to the house and got drawn to it. It was as if the house hypnotized him into it. Luke pushed the fence open and went into the yard of the house. The yard or garden was like a marsh already. The trees looked like thin, withered hands, the pond was murky and muddy, dead frogs stayed afloat on the pond, the flowers were dead and the house itself was broken and creeky. No matter how ugly it was, Luke still proceeded. The house was HUGE. He pushed the heavy marble doors in order to enter. He stepped into the house. It had a dark and cold atmosphere. Cobwebs ate up the walls and dust crawled on the floor. The foyer was big since it could fit in 8 people alone without crossing it's borders. 2 stair cases were built in the foyer and led to the same location. A round marble table sat in the middle of the foyer. He walked up to it and saw a family picture lying down there. A family consisted of 1 dad, 1 mom and 2 kids. They were just doing their own thing in an open field. It was truly something caught in the moment. He smiled just thinking about how happy they were. Out of the midst, a woman in black, maybe around her late 30s luke estimated, appeared. Her hair was tied tightly in a bun and her face was weird and unusual. She opened her mouth and a green, foul smelling smoke went out of it. Before the smoke entered Luke's nose, a hand grabbed him from behind then dragged him to the living room and underneath the couch. They laid in front of each other. The faint light from outside shone on her face making it a little bit more visible for Luke. She had so much natural beauty although she looked tired, stressed out and her face had some smudges. "Hey, stranger! That's my cruel stepmother out there. If you don't want to experience hell, keep your mouth shut!" the girl advised. Luke nodded and started to get comfortable under the couch. As he was wiggling, he accidentally bumped his head and it made a loud "thump". The cruel stepmother stopped walking then pulled the both of them out under the couch. "How dare you hide from me, young lady! You've disobeyed me once more! No one does that to me." the woman growled. "Wait! Please don't hurt her! She didn't really mean to hide. She was just scared from what you were going to do to her." Luke pleaded while splitting the woman and the girl apart. He hugged her and comforted her while she was crying on his chest. "And who are you to tell me what to do? Are you one of my daughter's lovers? But she isn't allowed until she's 18! She's just 16 turning 17. Get away from her!" the woman screamed. "I'm not her lover, okay! Look, I just got lured into this house and then I met you guys. I have nothing to do with this and I barely know who she is! All I know is that she's one pretty girl." Luke said jstunned. The girl wiped the tears off her face and fixed herself a little bit. "Don't do anything stupid to my daughter and you're fine. If you do, I swear to the heavens I will torment you and her to your deaths." the woman threatened. She stomped off to the kitchen. Luke held the girl and assured her that everything will be okay. "She-she'll torment us to death." the girl cried. "No, no! She won't at all just trust me with this. Look at me, look now. As long as I'm with you, no one and as in no one will hurt you, understand?" Luke reassured. "You don't know her as much as I do. Do you know how many people she killed in front of her very own stepdaughter? Yep, that's right you don't. So next time you say you she won't hurt you or anybody else, remember what I told you. She killed and tortured more than 5 people in front of me! To hear all those screams of sorrow, you don't have a single clue of what I've been through with that... with that monster! I still have visions of blood and high pitched screams and the red and tired eyes of those she tortured. You don't know anything, Luke." said the girl while she pierced through Luke's soul with her green and soulful eyes. He was sucked in by her hypnotic and beautiful eyes. "Lucia! Close the curtains and turn the lights on before I force you to." ordered the woman in the kitchen. "Yes, ma'am" responded Lucia slowly. She ran all around the house just to flick on the lights and slide the curtains closed since it was 6 in the evening. She sat along the staircase with a sad and distressed look. Luke walked up next to her and placed his arm around her. "What's with the expression on your face? You know it makes you uglier, don't want that to happen!" teased Luke. "Just really confused on how I'll escape from myself and this prison." answered Lucia as she removed Luke's arm around her shoulder. "Prison? This isn't any prison really.What are you talking about?" Luke said confused. "You'll understand it more soon. Come with me." Lucia stretched out her hand and once Luke grabbed it, she led him into a room where he saw a young man around the age of 19 writing and whispering words. Great, she's got a brother who's gonna hate me but still be the savior of the day! Woo!