In Wondrance Chapter One.

The earlier memories of my parents are good ones, filled with the normal stuff you would think to find in any girls' past. I can remember so vividly my mother's kind face when she laughs, and my dad's stern eyes as he tried to hold it back, but never really succeeding, he always laughed the loudest in the end. I don't really remember me ever laughing that loud, though, I was a quiet girl to say the least, even around my own parents I would hold myself back from ever showing too much emotion, and even though I never really said it, they knew how much I loved them.
But my fondest memories are the stories they used to tell, explaining things from why the sky is blue, to how the universe was created. I guess I was just at that age where I questioned every little thing, and, looking back on it now, my parents never had the real answers, so they just made something up. One time, they even made me a book with their own two hands. I had asked them "Where does the Sun go at night?" And this is the story they told me.

"A long time ago, The Sun Goddess, Sol, and the Ocean God, Lowell, were
the best of friends, every day they would meet and play together.
They quickly became more then just friends, and as time passed
they grew to love one another.
But being who they were, with Sol's shining light and burning desire,
and Lowell's calm exterior and tempestuous nature,
they could never touch each other, because
if they did...
Sol's light would be extinguished
and Lowell would disappear into steam.
This never stopped them, though, they would see
each other, and they would laugh and play.
Until one day, they couldn't take it anymore, they yearned to feel
each others' embrace, and in a moment of passion, they hugged.
When the Sun met the Ocean, strange things began to happen,
the world grew dark, and Sol's light turned into a pale white radiance.
And Lowell's waters boiled and turned into clouds to create rain.
The fear they had all these years proved false, instead of being gone, they had created
something together that would bring they both great joy.
Life.
With the rain, came plants, and with the plants came animals to eat the plants.
Every twelve hours, Sol's fire would return, bringing light back to the world,
and every twelve hours after that she would meet Lowell, and be extinguished again,
bringing darkness to all that need sleep.
And the two lived like that, happy and free to this day."

Of course now I know that isn't how things work, but I always awaited the day that I would find love. Awaited the day that I would find MY Lowell. That seems like such a distant and silly memory now, though. It's been years since my parents were alive, I don't remember much about the accident, just the sound of shattering glass, and the feeling of something warm running down face. It seemed like moments after that, but when I awoke the doctor told me I had been out for days. He also told me, very matter-of-factually, that my parents were gone, and I was all alone. His voice seemed so calm and collective as he told me my life had been destroyed, like it didn't matter. It's been six long years since then, and I moved from place to place, from foster home to foster home, no one wanted me. But it's alright, because at the age of 16, I found out two very important things about life. One, that no one cares about me, and two, I don't need anyone.

Cielestene's scarlet hair made a stark contrast against her pitch-black hoodie as she walked nonchalantly through the freezing rain. The sounds of droplets hitting the ceramic road calmed her tumultuous soul. It was really pouring down this night, and the moon's glow dimly lit her way  to her large estate. For the past 4 years, she had been the legal daughter of one of the richest families in all of Watercress Hills, and for 4 years she was drenched in misery. She often thought of other children that would be jealous of her; being adopted by a rich family was something the other kids at the orphanage dreamed about after all. To be taken away from the crowded rooms and the constant crying to a staff of waiters seemed like paradise. But this was far from paradise, because behind the English charms and dinner parties lied two scowling, evil, abusive souls of the people she's forced to call her parents.
She was close now, the expansive mansion loomed over her intimidatingly, she hesitated at the gate and looked back one last time, the same she always does when she returns home from school, she looks back and ponders. If she could just leave, if she could just run away and never look back, she might be able to find a better place, away from the pain and sorrow, but then the guard's gravelly voice rings out and snaps her back to the cold reality. Just as he always does.
"Welcome home, Little Miss, I hope you had a good day." He grinned at her and slightly bowed his head.
"Ok." She would reply, her face masking the pain.
And with that, the gates squeaked open, and Cielestene continued on her way. Just as she reached the front step, her pant leg ensnared itself on the sharp edges of the concrete steps, and she tumbled just as soon as the butler opened the door to welcome her home. She quickly stood up and felt a pain in her leg as she limped in without ever uttering a word.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" The shrill voice of her mother made Cielestene's heartbeat quicken.
"Well?" She approached her daughter with a piercing look of disapproval.
"I fell." Cielestene responded as she looked to the ground.
"You're getting mud all over my expensive Persian carpet! Manuel, can you do something with this unruly creature?"
Manuel the butler placed a kind hand on her shoulder and led her to her room where he placed a bandage on her wound, and bowed to her gently.
"Your father is going to be angry." He said to her.
"No more angrier than usual." She scoffed, took off her damp hoodie and threw it to the ground and watched as Manuel calmly walked over to it, picked it up and neatly folded it and placed it inside her hamper.
"I know what he does to you." Manuel spoke up again.
"Shut up, you don't know anything." She stuttered.
"You don't deserve any of this, Ciel, you've suffered too much pain in life to be abused like that from that man." As the closest thing she ever had to a friend, Manuel called her Ciel, but in his accent, it sounded like "Shell".
"I said, 'shut up', old man!" She screamed.
"You're old enough, now." He said quietly as to not be heard, "When I leave the room, check under your bed, happy 17th birthday, Ciel." He hugged her and left the room.
Alone now, she looked around, "Some birthday this is." and began to undress. As she removed her wet shirt, the bruises around her neck was vividly visible, she touched it and winced, the pain hadn't yet diminished.
Even though she was alone now, she was hesitant to remove her pants, she didn't wish to see what sort of palette of colors her father had painted on her skin down there. She sighed and ran her hand underneath her bed, she felt something strange, and pulled it up and examined it. It was a small bag, and sticking out of the bag was a scrap of paper. "Whatever happens, happens, take control of your life, Ciel." it read. It was Manuel's handwriting, she could tell from anywhere.
She opened the main pouch, and what she saw startled her. Gleaming in the light was the blade of a knife.
"What the hell?" She said aloud. As she dumped the contents of the bag on her bed, the knife and two small bags of gold coins fell out

Reviews

[Anonymous]

I look forward to reading more of this someday! Very interesting so far