What Happens in the Dark

Chapter 3

I woke up to the sound of my alarm buzzing next to my ear. I sat up rubbing my tired eyes. 6:00 A.M.

My plane leaves for 8 A.M. Today was the day and I still felt unsure about all of this.

I looked over at all my bags already packed from the night before, all I had to do was get myself ready and be in the cab by 7. I got up and walked to my bathroom to take a shower. After I got out I slipped on the black leggings I laid out with my black zip up jacket. I took down my braid leaving my long black hair in loose waves. I brushed my teeth then packed my toothbrush up. 6:30 AM the time read. I'm doing great. I still couldn't help the nervous pit in my stomach. It wouldn't go away. I drank a cup of coffee and ate a cream cheese bagel. Still nothing helped.

As I put all my bags on the porch I looked back at my mother sleeping in a drunken bliss. My nervousness was now met with a slight sadness that I hadn't felt in a while when looking at her. I'm so used to despising her which don't get me wrong I do, because this isn't how my life should be, however as she laid there, I saw an innocence in her face. I miss my mom, who has been overcome by so many challenges, But that shell of a woman isn't her. I frowned taking one last look of my childhood home before turning away from it forever.

I called the cab and it pulled up in about 15 minutes. A tan very tall man stepped out of the cab to help me load up my bags.

"Where to?" He asked.

"The airport." My aunt had arranged the tickets and sent me the link to print them out which I handled a couple days ago. I climbed into the backseat and stared out of the window watching the faded signs pass by, then Briana's house, where we used to sit in the front yard of her parent's huge home, and played together.

I smiled at the memories of her sharing her Barbies with me. It's sad to say I'm going to miss her more than my own mother.

About forty-five minutes went by and we arrived at the airport. I tipped the driver and went through the security bullshit, waiting for my gate to be called. This was really happening.

I caught up on some rest, waking up 5 minutes before landing. It was a quick ride. I looked out the window and saw lots of clouds. No sunlight. It was A gray dim city.

I went to find my luggage then pulled out my phone taking it off airplane mode.

Dana: 3 missed calls

I smiled at her urgency before calling her back. I wasn't used to someone being up my ass like this.

"Seven! Hi, did you make it? Was the ride okay? I'm waiting outside. You actually arrived earlier than anticipated !" She squeaked.

"Yeah I'm headed out right now, what car are you in?" I asked heading towards the huge glass double doors.

I then see her parked out front waving at me, her blonde hair bouncing up and down at her shoulders.

"hey Aunt Dana." I smiled giving her a hug. I haven't seen her since three Thanksgiving's ago.

"Seven! You're so big! How tall are you!" She gasped twirling me around.

"I'm 5'4 I'm not that tall" I giggled loading my things into the back of her Lexus. Aunt Dana was still as skinny as ever. Legs for days, although with as cold as it is up here, you'd never know.

"Come on let's get in the car, I have the seat warmers on." She winked. I smiled and got in.

"I am just so excited for you to be here with me! It gets so lonely now that Kilian is back in college." She sighed. Her and Kilians dad split about a couple years before my mom and dad did. So she lives alone.

"I'm happy too, it's been an exhausting summer for me."

She frowned as I said that.

"Well now just know, you'll be able to be a kid. Your mother needs to go to rehab she makes me so darn mad."

I laughed as her country accent came through sharply.

We drove through a really nice city, strip malls, restaurants and fast food on every block. The gas was significantly lower than it was in Texas which is great. Although, I don't know why I care considering I don't have a car.

We pulled into a long and narrow street with nothing but trees. A few speed limit and neighborhood signs started to pop up. We turned into the last turn on the right.  Silk Road Manors.

The houses, well mansions, were huge. How anybody could live in these and not get lost amazes me.

We pulled into a gray gravestone drive way that led to a double wide garage. Attached to it was a huge red and tan structured mansion. It had a long wrap around balcony strapped across the top surrounded by Windows. My jaw probably dropped a little as I've never been around anything this nice, probably ever.

"Wow aunt Dana I didn't know you were living like this." I said admiring the home. It was so beautiful.

"Wait till you see the inside." She squealed grabbing my hand.

"What about my bags?" I asked pointing towards the car.

"Oh don't worry about it Raymond will take care of that for you.

"Who's Raymond?"

"My assistant. I'm a pretty big realtor here around Courtside. I get tons and tons of calls for house buying, house parties, Realtor events, just too much for little ole me to handle on my own, so in turn we have Raymond."

I nodded. Damn. Although I knew I would never get enough confidence to ask Raymond for any favors, it was nice to know she's well taken care of. No wonder Kilian has always acted so spoiled.