~ Welcome Back

# These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

" To all passengers, please fasten your seat belt. The plane will start landing manoeuvres shortly " A girl lightly gasped when the speaker spread the high-pitched voice of the fligh attendant. Still half asleep, she fastened her seat belt and looked out of the window. Under her, Domino city was getting bigger as the plane descended. She closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. Finally back at home.

Those business trips had made her exhausted. If it was up only to her, everything would go in a different way but, due to reasons far from her will, she had to go as well and...
" Excuse me, miss " she opened immediately her eyes, finding the flight attendant beside her. " We have arrived. Are you alright? "
The girl saw only in that moment that the plane was almost empty. How could she not notice that the plane landed? Blinking, a bit disoriented, she took her bag and stood up. " Yes, I'm fine. Thank you " she dimly whispered, following the other passengers to the exit.

Once out of the plane, she stirred lazily, now completely awake, and enjoyed the sun heat for a while. Reaching the arrival's gate, she found herself lost in the crowd: people about to leave, people that were waiting for someone to arrive, various school groups and many, many, many tourists. Looking around herself, she didn't manage to see a familiar face, so she moved to the main exit. At a certain point, though, a middle-aged man in a black suit came out from the crowd, waving a hand with a smile. The girl sighed in relief and gently smiled back. " Welcome back to Domino, miss Arrow "

Back at home, the girl didn't allow herself to have a break and dedicated all the afternoon to reorganize documents. She needed to have her hands and mind full, in order to not think about anything else. A light knocking at the door made her look up from the umpteenth document that she was checking out.

" Excuse me, miss Arrow " Molly, housemaid in her home for over ten years, got in the room. " The secretary called a while ago. The business meeting planned for tomorrow has been delayed to Monday " The girl huffed. " For what reason this time? " " Something about business issues and urgent staff meetings, as I recall " the old woman answered quickly. The young girl moved a raven lock of hair from her face.
" So am I supposed to believe that? " she said in a snarky manner. " I wonder which excuse he's going to use next time. Perhaps a unicorns riding session? " Molly chuckled. " Probably " and then she took the papers that the girl was handing to her. " Now have some rest, miss Arrow. I'll cook something good as soon as possible! "

Once alone again, the girl allowed herself to have finally some rest. Travelling tiredness, together with that intense afternoon of hard work, was starting to burden on her shoulders. There was silence all around her. Nothing but silence. And it annoyed her more than any other noise. She stood up abruptly, her body craving for fresh air and to be in any place but not there.

'You can't do this way forever' a voice, terribly similar to Molly, whispered in her mind. Once she reached the door, she took her jacket and put her phone in her pocket. " I'm going out for a walk! " she exclaimed so has to be heard. Alfred, the butler of the house, appeared from the living room.
" Are you going out now, miss? Dinner's going to be served in a matter of minutes " he said.
She made a step to the door, looking down. " I'm sorry, Alfred, but I need some fresh air before dinner... " He smiled symphatetically. " I can understand. May you have a good walk, miss Arrow "

She sat better on the bench. She had arrived only a while ago in a little above-ground square over the bay. Under her, the waves lapped gently against the rocks.
She breathed deeply the salt air smell and admired the skyline, fascinated by the view of the sunset reflected on the water. Three sudden beeps ruined that peaceful quietness. She huffed, seeing the name of who was calling her. " Arrow "

" Have you received the comunication? " a male voice asked straight away from the other side.
" Of course I have " she rolled her eyes. " What about you? Having enough fun in riding unicorns? " On the other side, a seat was moved.
" What nonsense are you saying? " he asked.
She changed position on the bench. " The same that YOU are using each time to delay the meeting "
" They're not... "
" Which will be the next? " she interrupted him. " An acupuncture to a hedgehog? ". 100% Arrow sarcasm, ladies and gentlemen.
He changed his strategy. " So do you speak this way to the person you will have to sign a deal with? " The girl smirked. 'Now I'll show who I really am'
" Who says that I'll do that? ". A baffled silence on the other side repayed her more than a thousand words.
" You're not going to... ". She enjoyed hearing a sign of dismay in his voice.
Then she stood up. " You better not underestimate me, you know? Have a good evening ". And she hanged up.

Looking one last time at the beatiful sunset, the raven-haired girl started heading back home: Molly would endlessly lectured her if she came late for dinner. A buzz from her phone informed her that there was a new message to read. She checked out. Him again.

From xxxx: Should I think that there won't be a deal anymore?

He really seemed to fear such an eventuality. The girl mildly laughed, noticing his veiled attempt to make her desist from what he believed it was her purpose. A second buzz came with another message. Pushy. Pushy and pretty obnoxious too.

From xxxx: Do you really want to undermine all that Brian has done?

At those words, she frozed. Looking through the apps, she found the recorder and turned it on. " Wrong move. Saying his name won't make me more willing towards you " She made a pause. " Go on pushing and the deal will be the last of your problems " Once the voice note was sent, she turn off the phone, not wanting to be contacted by anyone until the next day. She clenched her fists. 'That moron... '

The dinner prepared by Molly had been so abundant that it could feed with no doubt a good part of the inhabitants of Domino. The girl thought so while sitting cross-legged on her bed. She heard a knocking at the door. " Come in "

Alfred came in the room and gave her a piping hot cup. "It's for you, miss. Molly decided to make you an herbal tea" She smiled. " Thank her for me ". She drank a first sip. Her attention was lured for a while by the nightsky, in which stood a tiny, crescent moon. A murmur came to her ears.
" Are you alright, miss Arrow? "
" Oh " she looked a bit disoriented at the butler. " I'm sorry, Alfred, I was distracted. What were you saying? "
He looked at her carefully. " What's troubling you, miss? "
She looked away. Suddenly, the pattern of the wallpaper seemed more and more interesting than looking straight into the man's eyes. Even if she pretended that nothing happened, in those weeks a great burden had weighted on her chest. Day after day.
" It happened all too fast " she managed to whisper. " Do you believe that three months have already passed, Alfred? "
He nodded. " You're right, miss Arrow. Time literally flies sometimes "
Then he looked at her and she felt a hint of concern in his eyes. " Has it been difficult to monitor the trend of the other establishments? " he asked after some moments of pause.
She shrugged. " Not so much. But I had to spend a bit of time to make things clear with the managers "
'They believed they could make demands as they pleased' she thought. 'Fools'

" I understand, miss. Why don't you try to have some rest now? You look exhausted " She glanced him and, at the same time, felt the impulse to yawn. Her butler always managed to understand her, he quite seemed to read her mind.
" You're right, Alfred " she replied. " Sleeping a bit will only be good for me "
Alfred put the mug back on the plate and reached the door, then he turned. " I wish you a good night, miss. Try to get some sleep, all right? "
" I'll surely do that " she said. " Or I'll try, at least. Good night, Alfred "
Once he was gone, the girl put quickly her pyjamas on and turn all the lights off. Walking in the darkness, she finally reached her bed and laid down. From her position, she was able to see a part of the sky out of the window. And it was beautiful. With no clouds and full of stars.

"Sarah, my darling, come here. Tonight the sky is clear" The little girl ran to reach the man and then looked up through the window. Many stars lightened the night, together with a tiny, crescent moon.
" It's beautiful!" her little voice expressed pure amazement. She extended her arms towards the male figure beside her, so to be picked up. Then they admired the stars in silence a little longer. At a certain point, the man looked at her. "Can you still find your star?" The little girl nodded happily.
" Yes! ". Then she indicated a specific point in the sky. "There she is... The brightest" He smiled back at her and looked up to the sky again.
"The brightest" he mumbled to himself. "The brightest..."

The girl closed her eyes and rolled on her side, the burden on her chest had come back, heavy as always. Or maybe more? Feeling her tiredness grow, she drifted off to sleep, not before having looked at the sky one last time. Sometimes she would prefer not to think. And not to remember too.

Author's note:

Heeeeeello, world!

This is the first chapter of the first story that I decided to post on this site. It came to my mind all in a sudden after I saw all YuGiOh episodes and so I asked to myself: why not put all in black and white?It's basically just an introduction and things will be a lot more interesting in the next chapters, but I really hope you will like it as well. Soooo, a new girl has come to Domino and a misterious man has already pissed her off. Any suspects about who he is? The person who guesses his identity will win a cookie! And wait for the next chapter, 'cause the pharaoh and all his friends will make their appearance!
I say 'I'm sorry' from now if you'll find weird my way of writing or even some mistakes that I didn't notice while editing. Actually, I'm Italian, but I'm trying to write in English because I like it a lot more! Anyway, if you find some mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them as soon as possible!
I write in my spare time and for passion and I hope you'll enjoy this story as much as I do.

If you like this chapter, please leave a comment to let me know how you found it, I'll greatly appreciate it.

See you in the next chapter!

Julie R. Black

Song used in this chapter: My Immortal - Evanescence