Two-Faced

Chapter 1

        Asriel had lived in many different places throughout her life, so many she couldn't even keep track anymore, but there was something about this house that made her uneasy. She and her mother had just arrived moments before, and she didn't think much of the building; it was nothing more than an old, Victorian-era house that had been fixed up for them. As soon as she stepped inside, however, she knew that something was off. Iris had told her that the house belonged to their grandfather, but had been abandoned for years. Looking around though, it appeared as if the owner would be home any minute; there wasn't a speck of dust on anything, and everything seemed to be in near-perfect working condition.

        Glancing over at her mom, Asriel wondered if she felt the same way. It didn't seem like it; she was already busily putting away the few items that they had with them.

        "Come on Azzy! Can you please help me bring the rest of our stuff in? There's not too much left..." Her voice trailed off as she went back outside to grab their things.

        "Coming!" Asriel called as she took one last quick glance around before running back to help, getting there just in time to catch a book that was falling out of her mom's hands.

        "Oh! Thank you so much. I can take that in..." she affirmed, trying to reach for the novel without dropping anything else from the precarious stack of items she was holding.

        "No, no, it's fine. I've got it. You just bring what you have, and I'll bring in the rest," she assured, turning back to the car, "There's not much left. I can handle it."

        "Thank you, Asriel."

        "No problem. I'll be back in in a minute."

        As she opened the back door of the car, Asriel's mom clumsily rushed for the door, almost tripping over a small stone barrier that surrounded a garden near the front steps. Shaking her head, Asriel gathered the rest of the items from the backseat, which was mostly her stuff at this point. Her arms filled, she turned to carefully close the car door. Before it shut completely, she saw something move in her peripheral vision, but she couldn't tell what it was. She glanced over, only to see nothing but a single large maple tree. She shook her head, confused and tired from the trip, closed the door, and went back inside.

        As she walked through the simple wooden front door once more, she noticed that much of their stuff had already found a place in the house. Her mom didn't even realize she had returned until she dropped the pile of stuff she was holding on the small table in the front room. She turned, startled, and nearly dropped the box she was carrying.

        "Sorry! I should've told you that I came back in," Asriel laughed apologetically.

        "Oh, that's alright! Nothing broke, so don't worry about it. Just... please, don't do it again," she replied, regaining her composure, "Why don't you go pick out your room? That way you can get settled in before the sun sets."

        "Alright, I will," she answered, heading towards the main staircase at the front of the house.

        When she got to the front door, right in front of the staircase, her attention turned to movement yet again. It was nothing but a blur, but she had no doubt that she had seen it. But when she turned, there was nothing there. Confused, she continued up the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the house. All of the doors upstairs were closed and dark. It became obvious that no one was there, or had been there for a while, pretty quickly; dust was spread in small patches of the furniture and floor, and cobwebs could be found scarcely on the ceiling. It was a huge contrast to the downstairs, but it was more like Asriel had expected. It would be awful to clean though.

        Cautiously, Asriel opened the door opposite the staircase; a bedroom. It was a smaller room with a bed centered against the wall, and a nightstand at each side. A massive window faced the backyard, allowing the evening light to come in. This'll be Mom's room. Asriel thought, closing the door behind her as she left.

        There were three other rooms on this floor; one was a small bathroom, and the other two were more bedrooms. Asriel chose to take the one at the very end of the hall, to the left of the staircase; a smaller room with a bed off to one side and windows facing the backyard and side yard. The sun, just beginning to set, could be seen off in the distance, beyond the tips of the trees. The closet, just opposite the bed, had a few boxes of girl's clothes against the right wall. She found this strange, but she preferred this over the other rooms with a small closet and fewer, smaller windows.

        Asriel sat on the edge of her bed and looked around. I'll need to clean this up a bit, she thought, noticing the dust on the furniture. Right now, though, she wasn't too worried about it. She just wanted to finish putting her stuff away so she could get to bed. She hung her clothes in the closet, still not touching the boxes of clothes that were left there. She figured they belonged to the previous owner, but had no idea why they would have been left behind. Maybe they were Iris's? She did say this used to be her grandfather's house, so she would visit, wouldn't she? Asriel dropped back on her bed, the comforter folding around her.

        "I'll just ask her on Monday... I'll be spending the day with her anyway, so I'm sure I'll remember at some point..." her voice trailed off as she began to doubt herself. She grabbed a sticky note from the nightstand and a pen and quickly wrote herself a note. "...but just in case, I should probably write it down."

        She stuck the note to the door carefully, making sure it was easily seen. Just as she was about to sit back down on her bed, her mom called her from downstairs.

        "Asriel, what would you like for dinner? I need to order it soon, or it won't get here until late."

        "Pizza's fine, at least if you're okay with that," she replied, racing down the stairs, "I have some money, I can pay."

        "No, no Asriel, I've got enough. You save your money. Jasmine said she wouldn't charge us rent, remember? We don't have to worry about that anymore," her mom assured her, "The house is already paid for, as long as it's in working condition."

        She had forgotten that Iris's mom just gave them the house. It was kind of unusual, but it had saved them from more financial trouble than they already had, so they were grateful. Regardless, she still felt weird about not paying to use someone else's property, but they insisted, and Iris's family isn't one you'd win an argument with.

        "I'm going to stop at the store, and I'll pick up the pizza on the way back. Do you want to stay here?" she asked, trying to change the subject, "Or do you want to come with me?"

        "I think I'll stay here, if that's okay. I want to explore a little bit. Besides, I still have some stuff to put away." Asriel replied.

        "Alright. Just text me every once in a while so I know you're still safe. I might be a while," she requested sternly, "Then, when I get home, we'll have dinner and then turn in for the night. Does that sound good?"

        "Yeah, sounds good."

        With that, Asriel turned to go back upstairs, and her mom got into the car and drove off. She returned to her new room and sat down on the bed. She stayed there, still and silent, for no more than a minute before grabbing her journal from the bedside table. It was a black, leather-bound book with "Journal" written across the cover and spine in delicate silver lettering. It was one of her most prized possessions; a gift from her parents for her birthday the year her father died. She held it in her hands for a while, just looking at the cover. A tear rolled down her cheek as she reminisced.

        "I wish Dad was still here," she whispered, tears dripping silently onto the cover of the book. She paused for a minute, thinking about him. "No, he wouldn't want me to cry... he would want me to let go... to be happy..."

        Wiping away her tears, she opened the delicate book to a blank page and began writing silently, waiting patiently for her mother's return.