Darker Days Downward

CHAPTER ONE - Out of the Pages

“The night was about to start, I could feel the relentless hunger again – the usual hunger creatures like me are doomed to be slave of eternally.”

You are not the girl who would hide in the closet anymore, I could feel it. Belle thought, while staring at a pair of hazel eyes in front of her. You’re strong . . . we’re strong – we’ll walk this whole new path with a new smile on our face.

Belle sighed. It had been two months since the tragic accident that took both her parent’s life, but it all seemed to be just yesterday. Belle mused over her reflection in the mirror and watched how the sun’s ray from the window turned some streaks of her hair light brown. She blinked and her eyes traveled to the photographs pinned around the borders of the mirror.

Her brother had advised her to remove their parents’ pictures from her room but she insisted to keep them as is for the sake of being strong. She needed to be strong not just for herself but for her younger brother. He is all she had left and she could not imagine losing him.

Belle smiled half-heartedly as she stared at a picture of her hugging her mum right after winning prom queen last year. Then her eyes wandered to the next photograph of her dad and her brother Bret which was a candid shot while they were playing golf. On the bottom right picture was a giant Christmas tree, with four of them seated around the base – smiling innocently at the camera. Who would have thought that would be their last Christmas together.

A little ray of sun had managed to sink deeper into her bedroom from the only glass window behind her – quite illuminating the nineteen year old girl with shoulder length ebony black hair staring back at her from the mirror. A neat maong blazer was fashioned over a red tee which her mum had bought for her last summer.

Belle closed her eyes, carefully sorting the scattered array of memories. She had perpetually loved to stay at their home in Lionfall. Since childhood, she had believed it to be the perfect place to spend the rest of her life. It was far away from any major city – guaranteeing a pollution-free air for as long as she wanted it to. It was a tiny district – a tiny blot on the map surrounded with rich, abundant wild forests. But after the accident they moved in to where they are now – their Aunt’s place in Crestfield; a district about 5 hours drive from Lionfall.

Her Aunt Natalie was the youngest and only sister of her mum. She had known her ever since she was a kid since they would sometimes spend Christmas here at Crestfield. Contrary to her mum, Aunt Natalie was outspoken, bold and the risk-taker. She remembered how when she was still a kid, her aunt would secretly allow her for a bicycle ride around the neighborhood – which her mum forbid her for she might get an accident. Well it came; the scar from her fall was still on her right thigh.

“You turning emotional again?” said Aunt Natalie who suddenly appeared by Belle’s door. She had an elegant brown wavy hair that touched her shoulders lightly. Aunt Natalie was a natural bombshell – it was just a miracle that she has not yet tied herself to any guy yet now that she is on her late twenties.

“Course not!” Belle lied, grabbing a brush and combing her hair. “Just sorting out my sched’ for today.”

“You knew Bret hadn’t come home last night?” asked Aunt Natalie, moving towards the curtains by the window and drawing it sideward to reveal the morning sky. “I’m really beginning to worry that he took everything so badly.”

“Let’s just give him some more time,” said Belle, looking at Aunt Natalie through the mirror. “I’ll talk to my brother about it later.”

“Good,” said Aunt Natalie, moving towards Belle and placing the book she was holding over the bedside table. “You forgot this downstairs again. Where’d you get it? The story is as creepy as hell.”