Chapter 1— The START of the NIGHTMARE

A shift in time that steals the light, a quiet turn from wrong to right. A shift aside where shadows fade, and faint gold lingers in what’s made.                Or perhaps people were meant to follow? The darkness that holds the light.                                                        𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥.

𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 

"Ogh."

Now where was I? Oh.. 

𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 

"why are you always wandering the street, kiddo? You'll always get in trouble. I told you many times."       𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘢𝘮. 

"Mom.. I wasn't. It was those teenagers again playing and throwing ball and causing chaos." 𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴. 

"No. Brick. You can't go out, alright? I have to go to work and you should stay here and behave, okay?"

𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘵.

"But Mom-" 𝘉𝘳i𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵

"No buts. I have to go.."

𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥

"You know I'm doing this for you and for your best. We need money right now, okay kiddo? I have to work so we don't starve. I promise I'll buy you the toys, even the train setup you always wanted so you can stay inside to just play."

".. Do you promise to come back as always?"                                                  𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺. 

𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 

"You know I won't leave like your father. I always come back."

𝘈𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳.. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴. 

"Bye kiddo."

The door closed gently.

No sound followed it.

I used to think silence meant peace… until that day proved otherwise. 

I was nine at that time. I understood enough of the world to know it doesn’t always treat kindness fairly.

It was like a memory or was it? It's like a nightmare I can't shake off. 

Day by day, I think of what I could've said to her.. 

I should've said "𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘮" I should've never let her go and told her she needs rest and she shouldn't go to work that day. 

But I didn't even say "Bye"

And that feels like the end of it..