Chapter One : A Dark Beauty Alone
She was utterly alone and this was how she liked it. Once, when she was younger, it was an unbearable loneliness, but she had grown to almost enjoy it. She commonly referred to herself as being strange and unusual, and she was not wrong. Once, years ago, she had a friend who matched her strangeness and made her feel like she had a place that she belonged, but for some reason she could not remember anything about them. Not their face, their name nor anything they had done together. She could only recall that that person meant a lot to her once, and possibly they still did. She couldn't even remember why they stopped talking; only that she wished she could take it all back. It was a nagging thought that troubled her late at night and made her wonder if she would ever recall that person again.
During the weekdays, she would come home from work and pursue her favorite hobby, photography, in the dark room she had set up in the basement and on the weekends she liked to go out to Eclipse, a gothic club downtown. This weekend would be no different, except this time she would be on a mission.
She sat at her vanity, applying burgundy lipstick, wondering what the night would bring. Her eyes were dark with purple eye shadow accented with heavy black eyeliner that flared out a bit in the corners. Her skin was naturally fair, like porcelain, which added to her look. Her black knee high boots and black jeans matched up almost seamlessly and paired with her red corset-like top with silver chain accents across the front, this was one of her favorite looks. Long, black, fishnet arm warmers, a red spider web choker, and matching web earring completed the look.
A quick flash of something streaking across her mirror made her jump. She let out a startled scream and nearly fell backwards onto the floor. Once she gained her composure, she glanced quickly around the room.
"Who's there?!" She shouted, her voice shook with fright.
She lived alone in the huge house since her parents moved out. Something made her want to stay. Her parents had decided to leave six years ago for various reasons. Her mother needed more space to work on her sculptures. Her father was convinced there was something wrong with the house and wanted to demolish it. Since she was set on staying even after they had told her of their plans and it would have cost more to tear it down or try and sell it, they just gave the house to her and moved to a larger house in the town nearby.
"Damnit, I said who's there!" she demanded, more annoyed than frightened now.
She never had visitors, except for her parents on occasion, but they would always call ahead to let her know if they were coming for a visit. She sat in silence. There was no response. No creek. No footsteps. Not a sound. She groaned at the thought of being spooked so easily. It used to be a lot harder to scare her, but living alone had made her a bit more wary than she used to be.
She turned back to the mirror and ran a brush through her hair, allowing a large chunk to purposely fall over one eye. Once she was satisfied with how she looked, she headed down stairs. The experience with the mirror left her felling confused, upset and somehow empty. She wanted someone to be there when she called out. She felt that if someone had answered when she asked who was there she would not be frightened at all. Somehow, she felt that instead of fear, she would be overcome with joy, absolute joy that someone had come to visit unannounced. She shook her head, trying to dislodge such strange thoughts. Why would she be happy that someone came over without telling her? Still, she wished she knew what it was about this meaningless event was making her feel so incomplete. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her trench coat from the closet and walked to the front door. She gave the house one last listen, secretly hoping that someone would call out to her from upstairs or run in from another room acting like they just pulled the best prank ever. Absolute silence was the house's persisting answer.
"What's wrong with me," she said, holding her head in her hand. She quickly dismissed her thoughts as the results of becoming reclusive and hastily left for the club. Not once did it cross her mind that what she saw was not in the house at all or that her strange feeling were not just the side effects of too many years alone.