ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ's ɢᴀᴛᴇ (ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴᴇ)

PROLOGUE

"Get back here you little wretch!" The sounds of my father's drunken yelling had woken me up yet again. His loud, booming voice easily audible from my spot in my loft bedroom. I nervously fiddled with my pale brown-blonde colored hair around in my fingers as I sat in my bed, tears stinging my eyes as I prayed to the gods that he won't come up and hurt me as well as mom.

"Here's what you deserve wretch!" The voice of my father boomed as more shuffling and thudding was heard from down the stairs. Suddenly a loud scream ripped through the house before it fell silent - too silent.

My eyes widened as I scrambled out of bed and dashed to peer over the railing and into the living room.

There, on top of the old wooden floors was the lifeless body of my mother. A knife stuck out of her chest and blood began to look both around and underneath her.

My eyes grew wide as I stared at the sight below me. My body began to shake and my lip trembled, I could feel my warm tears beginning to slide down my cheeks. I let out a whimper and scrambled away from the railing and back towards my bed. I went pass my bed and into the small bathroom that rested behind it.

Slipping through the door, I turned the lock till it shut with a click, locking me inside of my bathroom and away from the murderer who was my father. Once I was locked away, I moved towards my large walk in shower and slipped inside. I sunk down onto the light gray colored tile floor and brought my knees up to my chest. It was then that I finally allowed myself to cry.

When a sharp knock sounded at my bathroom door my head shot up to stare at the door with wide eyes. I quickly scrambled up from my spot in the shower to go make sure the door was still locked. As I neared the door, another knock fake from it. Another whisper escaped my lips as I pressed myself against the door in order to try to keep it shut.

"Royale?" A female's voice sounded from the other side of the door. The voice's speaking was followed by a soft knock. The voice was soft as it spoke to me. It seemed familiar too me, yet in my fear muddled mind, I couldn't pinpoint who it belonged to.

"Royale, are you okay in there?" The voice spoke again. I kept my head pressed upon the door as I tried to keep my breathing even, yet I failed miserably as my breaths came out quick and shallow as my panic continued to grow. "Can you let me in Royale?" She asked me as she tried to jiggle the doorknob to open the door to the bathroom. My panic mounted even more and I scrambled to keep it shut and locked right.

"G-Go away!" I shouted to her as I tried not to stutter, yet failed. My voice slipped into a stutter as I talked and I slightly winced at it. The doorknob jiggled once again before another knock came soon after. As I stood at the door, shaking with fear, I began to sob loudly.

"I can't open the door, I can't think of who would be at it and I'm way too scared to," I thought to myself as I wrapped my arms out my body in an attempt to comfort myself. With my whole body still shaking, I squeezed myself even tighter. My eyes were also squeezed shut as I tried to calm myself down from my panic, but I was having a very hard time doing so.

Then, it clicked inside of my head and my eyes widened before I quickly turned myself around and unlocked the door. A small smile on my lips as I gazed into the face of the female voice that had been calling for me to open the door and let her inside.

"INDIGO!" I cried as I threw myself at my older sister's open arms and enveloped her into a big hug. She gave me a small smile and pat my back. The tears returned to my eyes and the sobs began to overtake my body once again, this time it was as I was being held in my sister's loving arms instead of being alone.

"Shhh," Indigo told me as she kept her arms wrapped around me in comfort and continued to rub and pat my back. She moved us to the floor and pulled me into her lap while running her hands through my long golden brown-blonde hair as she hummed softly to me. Then, Indigo began to rock back and forth with me still in her embrace.

We stayed like that for a while, simply holding each other close while I calmed down from my panic attack. I started to get tired once again, yet I didn't feel safe enough to sleep anymore. My breath hitched as I realized I didn't know if my father was still inside the house.

"I-Indigo," I whispered as I lifted my head and leaned back so I could look her in the eyes. Fear evident in my pale gray-blue eyes as I looked at her. Indigo gave a soft hum as she met my gaze.

"W-Where's d-dad?" I asked her, my voice quivering in fear and sadness as I tried to hold back my tears and sobs. Indigo's eyes widened for a second before she pulled me back into her embrace and rubbed my back soothingly.

"He's gone now Royale," she told me in a voice just above a whisper. My eyes widened again as I thought of the worst possible meaning to that statement. "He's been arrested, he can't hurt anyone. You're safe now Royale," Indigo said as she pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

A soft sigh of relief escaped my lips and I felt myself beginning to calm down. After a while, we pulled away from each other and sat opposite the other on the rich wooden floors in complete silence, neither one of us wanting to break it for fear of what would be said. As we sat, my thoughts raced all over the place;

Why did he do this? What's the purpose? Didn't he love her? What about us?

Where will we go now?

That last thought snapped me out of my head and back into the reality. I slowly lifted my head to look at my sister, who was still deep in thought herself. I let out a soft sigh and then placed my hand on top of hers, gaining her attention back onto me.

"I-Indigo," I began before having to take a steadying breath to keep myself calm and to not stutter. With another deep breath, I continued. "Where will we go now?" I asked her, my voice just barely above a whisper as I spoke. Indigo looked at me me before shaking her head silently.

"I'm afraid I don't know about that, Royale," she said to me in a whisper with tears in her eyes as well. I looked at her and saw that she was starting to break down herself and that scared me.

"I've never seen her like this before," I thought to myself as I stared at my trembling sister. I took her hand in mine and offered her a small smile, which caused her to burst into tears. Sobs wracked her body as I leaned in to give her a hug, trying to comfort her like she did to me only a few moments ago.

We sat with her in my arms for a very long time. It seemed like hours went by before she had calmed back down. As we held each other once more, I couldn't help but let my thoughts wander again. And while they were all over the place, they kept coming back to one thought,

"I wonder where we'll go from here."