The Darings

THE STORY BEGINS

Chapter One:

The Story Begins

On one Christmas morning when Astoria, Liam, and Daisy Daring woke up to the suspicious sound of glass breaking. They had presumed that their scrawny, and irritating, grey cat muffins had yet again knocked another glass vase off their coffee table. Astoria jumped out of bed and was excited to see what was to become, as was her twin brother Liam who ran to her bedroom before she was able to unlock the door.

"It's Chwistmwas!" The youngest Daring child Daisy, who was standing next to Liam proclaimed. "That it is." Said Astoria with a slight smile. So they all ran down the stairs of their mansion, watching their feet as they trotted across the staircase floor to make sure they wouldn't trip. When they finally reached the main floor they were expecting to see dozens of presents that were delicately wrapped in red and green wrapping paper stacked on one another, and their parents gesturing them to the big Christmas breakfast that was laid out to them. They would later then, after opening their presents gorge on fistfuls of pieces of chocolate chip pancakes in the shapes of Christmas trees and gingerbread men while their mother was laughing, and their father was recording them for the families home movies. Instead they got something much, much worse.

There was no Christmas tree, there were no presents delicately wrapped in red and green wrapping paper, there was no big Christmas breakfast feast with chocolate chip pancakes in special shapes, and lastly there were no Daring parents anywhere to be found. "Mom!" "Dad!" Liam cupped his hands around his mouth while saying so. "Where did thwey gwo?" Whispered Daisy. "I don't know...I just think something came up..." said Astoria in a very confused voice. Astoria's blue eyes were darting across the room, looking for clues to find where the crashing noise they heard came from. She at first thought that it was Muffins but, it couldn't be him because the vase that she thought Muffins had toppled over was sitting safe and sound on top of the coffee table that they had in the corner of the room and, Muffins was asleep, curled up in a tight little ball on top of the sofa. "Stay here with Daisy Liam. I'm going to see where that suspicious glass breaking sound came from." Astoria said as she walked out the door. It was a good thing she told Daisy to stay with Liam because the next thing she saw shocked her so much that she nearly dropped dead,

     It was her Parents, Her, Daisy's, and Liam's Parents. She tried to scream but nothing would come out, only an ugly croak that sounded as if it belonged to a dying frog. "No...it couldn't be" She thought. They both were dead on the floor with dried blood appearing at every inch of the upper half of their bodies. They looked cold, lifeless, and dull. Her parents looked almost unrecognizable, their skin developed a greyish-greenish hue, their hair was sticking at all angles, and their eyes were still wide open. Their eyes were usually full of joy and warmth but instead they were full of nothing...absolutely nothing. She was too busy examining her deceased parents bodies that it took her too long to notice the guns that killed the most precious and beloved people in her life were lying in their hands, it also took her much too long to notice the envelope with golden lace details.

    She began to trace her fingers over the envelope, too cowardly to see what's inside. She pocketed it and went back to the main floor. "Well..?" Liam started to tap his feet on the floor. Astoria couldn't tell him, it was dreadful, much too dreadful, to tell her younger brother that their parents had killed themselves. She tried to hold herself together for her siblings. "Stay here for a little while longer Liam, I need to call the a-u-t-h-o-r-i-t-i-e-s" Astoria spelled out each letter so her baby sister didn't know what was happening. "Wh-why what happened?! Is everything alright!" Astoria looked down at her feet, bit her tongue so she  wouldn't burst out crying and began to walk towards  the home telephone.