The cold wind blew the last of the autumn leaves for the trees, making the pattern of the leaves already on the ground, complete. The bright moon reflected clearly in the puddles of rain, all the stars twinkling in delight in the sky; the sounds of the rain still falling and the thunderclaps sounded through the night sky. With some flowers still blooming at the middle of April, the start of the winter, it all sounded peaceful, but there was 1 person who didn’t welcome this scene.
She ran to find silence, away from all the cheerful people and feasts and the place she found out will now be home. How could anyone be partying after this? Her life has just been torn to pieces and some people were partying, at her place. Her face was dripping wet of tears and still becoming wetter; her eyes were red and throat sore.
“Whoa now; tears aren’t appropriate” a voice spoke out of the dark. The girl’s face went from pain and misery to shock and pure fury.
“Leave!” she yelled, crying even harder, and threw a rock to where the voice came from.
At first everything was quiet, no trace of the person who spoke, but then she felt someone breathe in her ear; there was a tight grip around her right wrist and something pulled her chin upwards.
“Tut, tut. You never learn, do you?” the same person said; she couldn’t see him, except for 2 angry green eyes staring at her out of the darkness above her.
“What are you talking about?” she asked
“Have I ever told you why you are named Emerald?”
“No. You prefer to terrorise me”
The rain started pouring down again, harder and harder, the pitter-patter of the drops falling on the ground creating silence between the 2. All the leaves swirled through the air, creating a small show; this was mesmerising for Emerald. The smell of the wet ground filled her nostrils, one of her favourite smells, and the faraway smell of toast also hung in the air. For a moment she thought she could just stand there for the rain to wash away all her troubles, but then a reflex kicked in and she just ran; not to a certain point but just to escape.
Finally, after 15 minutes of running, Emerald reached a smell café; with no hesitation she entered, the smell of freshly made coffee pulling her closer. There were only 2 other people there: 1 customer and a waiting, preparing the food and coffee. The place was brightly lit and very welcome after soaking in the rain, but the place’s smells was the extraordinary part; chocolate, cream, coffee, toast, beans cheese; all mixed together.
“Oh, look at you! You’re soaking wet. Let me get you some fresh coffee on the house and then I’ll go get you some towels” the waiter said when Emerald entered. The man spoke with a French accent and had a small moustache but smell even sweeter than the café; he looked more like a butler than a waiter.
“Thank you” Emerald said, sitting at a table as he handed her a cup of coffee and then disappeared to find some towels.
The other customer was an old man, glasses on his nose and a walking stick next to his wheelchair. He had a cup of coffee on his left and was working on his laptop for a long time but then just stared at Emerald.
“What is it?” Emerald asked after being stared at for 3 minutes.
“Aren’t you Elizabeth Mariletta Emilia Ruby Amethyst Liané Diamond?” the old man asked her.
“No, just Emerald”
“The first letters of those names spell ‘Emerald’”
“I’m sure my parents would’ve told me if that was the case.”
He motioned for her to come look at his laptop and so she did, her own face, though 3 years younger, staring back at her from the computer screen. There was a whole article written about her and the man read it out loud:
“‘Elizabeth Mariletta Emilia Ruby Amethyst Liané Diamond, also known as Emerald, graduated from middle school today. There is a lot of mystery regarding this 13 year old girl. Her parents, Queen Eliza and King Renaldo, have never told anyone except dear friends and family about their daughter.’”
“‘They kept the fact that they’re royalty from her. After much investigation we could gather this information.’”
“Wait, I’m not a princess” Emerald said
“If you follow all these links at the bottom of the page you won’t be able to deny it. They have great proof” he replied.
There was silence; Emerald thought about everything, considering it all but then suddenly just jumped up.
“No! This is nonsense! My parents would’ve told me!” Emerald yelled, running out of the café, making her way back to her mansion; when she entered everyone went silent, the party dying down as the guests spotted her one by one.
She started crying again after going through the unfamiliar faces, feeling empty without her parents.
“What? Am I a party killer!? My parents were just murdered a few hours ago and you guys are partying! None of you care! All of you still don’t care!” Emerald yelled at the group, finally letting her anger and frustration flow.
She looked through the group one more time before running up the stairs, feeling all eyes on her.
She ran to her dad’s study, letting the tears flow, and took a deep breath as she opened the door. Everything was like he left it, as if he was still there, working on his latest book. Emerald pictured him walking through the room, pacing, going through the thousands of books in the countless bookshelves. So many of her life’s best moments happened in this room, even her birth, and it only seemed logical that she would seek isolation here.
Emerald sat down on the imported rug in the middle of the room, sitting at the edge of the rug and resting her head on the sofa; she dragged her old teddy, one her dad made himself, onto her lap and clutched her tightly. She cried so much she finally dozed off, her face soaking and the pillows stained of the mascara that smeared from her eyes.
Hours later, not much, she awoke, finding the clock above her dad’s desk stating it to be a minute past midnight. Her eyelids still felt heavy, the sound of the whistling wind outside almost making her fall asleep again. A whispering however made Emerald sit up straight, concentrating on all sounds around her.
Then she heard it; a soft whispering coming from the hall. It was her name that was being whispered.
“Amethyst…Amethyst. Emerald, I need you” the very soft whisper came again.
Instinctively Emerald became scared, pulling her bear closer to her. After a lot more watching and listening she got up, her teddy still tightly against her body.
Slowly she moved closer to the door, one small step after another, and when she reached it she stood there for a while more, stroking the gently carved wood. There was no other light except the light flowing out from the study, and noticing this Emerald grabbed a flashlight.
“Elizabeth
Emerald followed the sound of the whisper, trembling and her face unusually pale; the steps creaked under her feet, the old rotten wood capable of giving way any second. The attic wasn’t much safer than the steps, also made of wood just as old and rotten. The walls were made of stone and one of them collapsed as there was something breathing at the spot. Light streamed in from the opening but where the wall collapsed the floor fell the distance to the first floor, 9 floors away. Emerald peaked into the room; maybe this is what she has been searching for, all her answers. Behind her she heard something lurk, trouble nearing.
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