Sorrow For The Darker

5

She kept her gaze on the picture of the woman, muttering, "Mom..." and in an instant, she lost all her senses, and a blinding light came out of the picture.

She opened her eyes. Her head turned left and right, looking at her surroundings. A home. A comfy and cozy home, with a fireplace giving heat to the freezing winter, wood planks served as the floor, with porcelain walls. A Christmas tree stood near the burning fireplace, with presents underneath, giving off the holiday spirit. A calendar was at the corner. December 24. Her curly locks were tied in two pigtails, her body covered in warm clothes, mittens on her hands, and cute boots on her feet. Elise raises her head, and sees the same woman from the portrait reading a book.

The woman smiled at her, before checking on her phone, "Our cab is here, sweetie. Come, and we'll go visit Auntie Rosa and Uncle Edward for Christmas." She stood up and picked her little girl up from the ground.

"And Cousin Erika, mommy?" Elise giggles at her mom. Vanessa nodded and put her down. She held the darker girl's hand and pulled her close. The girl then grabbed her toys on the ground. The woman stopped the fire from burning and they walked out the comfy house, hand in hand.

A taxi was parked in front of the lawn. Vanessa knocked on the tinted window, and it pulled down. The driver looked at her, eyed her up and down, "Vanessa Taylor?" She nodded. The man then pulled the car window back up and unlocked the doors. She then opened the back door, and let Elise inside. The little girl immediately followed and stepped in. She sat on the backseat, the door closed, and then the woman went at the front seat next to the driver.

The cab drove off to the other side of the city, as Vanessa tucked a strand of her long auburn hair behind her ear. The darker girl in pigtails played with her two toys, a princess with a frilly dress and tiara, with a prince holding a sword looking all mighty. The mother looked behind her seat and smiled at her daughter with one of the purest grins on her face.

"Hey, lady. Want to know something?" the driver asks, causing Vanessa to switch her attention. "This is a hold-up, so hand over all your items!" The man grabbed her by her hair, pulling her to his side, and aiming a gun on her head.

The woman struggled to breathe, and tried to get his hand off her hair, "N-No! E-Elise, open the door, we're getting out of this taxi, right this instant!" Elise, out of fear, stayed in place, and dropped her toys.

"Lady, I locked the doors. Now, unless you give me all that money, I'm shooting-"

"LOOK OUT!" Elise screamed, pointing at the car's window. A car turning left and right, lost control of its brakes, and was heading straight for the cab, the light blinding the eyes, after Vanessa grabbed hold of her child, hugging her tight.

She screamed, a loud pitched scream, as the glass shards pierced her back, her hair being blown to her face. She looked down and saw her daughter crying, tears welled up in her eyes, and she hushed her quiet. The girl looked up, and she smiled. And everything went black.

The world, is really, truly, full of dangerous and evil people.

Elise's eyes opened, and just as she thought she was in a different world, came back to reality. A portrait of the mother who saved her, inside a mansion locking her in, with evil people chasing her down. She stared back up to the picture, framed in the middle of the room. Tears dripped down from her eyes, as her body rattled. She covered her mouth and fell on the floor. "S-So that's how y-you died," she whispered. She hugged herself with both arms, "T-They killed y-you. K-Killed you!"

Suddenly, footsteps were clicking in the distance, voices speaking from behind, "She's in the ballroom!" But she couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She stayed in place.

A fair man in a complete tuxedo attire, with his grey strands pulled back, came running inside the room, hand in hand with Rosa, who took off all the gems and pearls on her hair, and replaced her tall heels with black flat sandals. The man stopped, and pointed at Elise crying in front of her mother's picture, "She's actually here."

The voice of the man bounced in her head. She turned her tear-soaked face to the man and stared him dead in his aqua eyes. It was him, the man who ruined her dignity.

"I told you, Edward, why are you so shocked? Get her!" Rosa says, hitting him lightly on his back. He moved towards her, taking small and gentle steps as if she's a wild animal, "Elise, it's me. You're going to be okay."

Elise scrambled to her feet, almost standing up on the golden tiles before he ran towards her and grabbed her by her black leather choker. "G-Get away from me!" she screamed, as his other hand held her arms together. Rosa stepped in front of her, giving a smirk from her ruby red lips, "You really think you could get away? You're free from your murder of Matthew if you come with us. You're meant for lesser things," she grabbed her by the chin and pulled her upwards, "don't you see? You're a servant to the family, Elise. Just accept it."

Elise spits on the woman's face, causing her to stumble backward. Edward, who was caught off guard at his wife's fall, lost his grip, as she raised her foot and kicked his crotch. He fell on the floor, grabbing hold of his privates with a groan. She felt her feet return to the floor and started to take a run for it. Behind her, she could hear her demons scream her name. She shook her head and continued sprint. What's important now is to get some sort of weapon from the kitchen, she pondered. She just has to find out where.

And that's when she heard it, "Mom? Buy chocolate chips? I'm like, eating in the kitchen right now. I know, the services aren't here today-"