A/N- I'm glad that everyone enjoyed that first chapter. Now, Sophy, although the story did start with her, is not the main character. Now you get to meet the main character. Enjoy!
Chapter 1- Words Long Forgotten
Adriana Smith climbed down from the passenger's seat side of a large moving truck. This fifteen year old girl removed her black sunglasses to stare up at what was to become her home. Her blue eyes were cold as she put the glasses back on. It was chilly where they, her and her mother, were now. This made her regret the fact that she had cut her blonde hair so short. They had moved from their suburban home in America to this small, isolated corner of Romania.
It had been a bad, bad last few weeks for the Smith Family. Two weeks ago, Adriana had suffered the death of her father, Jared. Her mother, Sophy, had been a wreck. A day later, a telephone call would change everything for her. Adriana still remembered how her mother had picked up the phone with such fear. It was as if she feared the destruction of another part of her world. The phone call had been a lawyer of some sort, calling to tell Sophy that her parents had passed on and that their family residence had fallen to her. Funnily enough, Adriana's mother had not taken this news so badly. She had simply made the decision that they were going to leave to live in this new home. What she had neglected to tell her daughter at the time was that it was out-of-country.
Of course, she had also neglected to tell her that the "family home" was a freakin' mansion! Approaching a sign at the end of the long walkway, Adriana mentally corrected herself. It was not a mansion. It was a manor. The young girl wiped some dirt off the little worn wood sign that called Adriana's new home "Belmont Manor." She then turned to stare at her mother, who was pulling some large boxes out of the moving van.
"So, Mom," Adriana called, "how come you never told me that you were Romanian? Come to think of it, you never told me much about your family."
Her mother walked up the walkway, throwing her long, braided blonde hair over her shoulder.
"I guess it was need-to-know. I didn't know you needed-to-know. Besides, it's not like I have any of the features of any normal Romanians." she smiled. Sighing, she added, "Yeah. I grew up here. Do you like it? I know you miss our home back in America, but I think it'll do us good to start a new life. You know, not cling to old, sad memories."
Adriana huffed in reply. Her mother sighed again. She had been doing this a lot lately. Especially in regards with her daughter.
"Whatever. Look, I have already picked out my bedroom. I did that last week. It's the one with the cross carved on the door. Why don't you go explore the house and pick yours out? Then, you can come back and help me unpack," she said.
"You know, we could've gotten moved in faster had you let me come with you last week and pick my room," Adriana pointed out.
At this, her mother grew dark. Pushing her daughter a bit into the entrance hall of the house, she said firmly, "Just go pick your room."
Adriana sighed and went further into the house. She looked quickly about. Apparently, her grandparents had been art lovers because the every wall as far as she could see was covered in art of some sort. Paintings, sculptures, everything. As she approached one of the paintings, she saw that that particular one, and the others as far as she could tell, were nothing too special. They were well done, yes, but they were of general things like landscapes and fruit.
"Oh, and, Ria!" her mother called for her, "don't go into the attic. The floors look pretty old. I don't know if they could support a person!"
"Okay!" she shouted back.
She took the sturdy staircase two steps at a time. Upon arriving on the second floor, she quickly chose the room at the end of the hall as hers. She liked it because of the window seat it had that overlooked the forest beside their house. It already had a bed and such in it. In fact, most of the house was already furnished. They had really only had to bring a few appliances and their personal items with them.
She then left her room behind. Her next destination…the attic. Her mother seemed very up-tight about this place, and she was going to find out why. Making sure her mother could not see her from the bottom of the stairs, Adriana bounded up, not stopping until she was inside the musty old attic. Once there, she had to stoop to fit. A cobweb fell, and she quickly brushed it off of her blue jeans. A few more steps in, her peasant blouse sleeve caught on a nail. She got herself free and felt herself stumble backwards. She took off the backpack she had carried some of her more personally valuable items in and sat it on the floor. Then, she began her scan of the attic.
There was nothing too out of the ordinary up there. Some old dresses hanging on display dummies, and it looked as though her mother had moved some of the house's furniture up there. However, an old trunk soon caught Adriana's eye. Leaving a trail in the thick dust and dirt, she made her way over to it. It was locked, but the lock itself was rusty. Taking a quick look over her shoulder, she brought up her foot and used the heel of her shoe to break the lock. It did so easily. She opened it eagerly.
It was clothing. Old clothing. She sighed. But then, a thought hit her. Who locks a trunk with just old clothes in it? Especially when it wasn't going to be traveling? Adriana gave a silent prayer against encountering spiders and began feeling around the clothing. Soon enough, her fingers hit something hard that wasn't the bottom of the trunk. She found the edges of the thing and pulled. In her hands now was what appeared to be a very old book. Flipping through it, she found it to be a diary or journal of sorts. However, from what she could see in the dim lighting of the attic, the writing was small and varied in style. The book was thick as well.
"Adriana! Ria! Are you ever coming back to help me?" her mother's voice called.
Adriana shut the trunk quickly and did not dare call back to her mother until she was out of the attic.
"I'm coming!" she replied. "Give me a minute!"
"Okay!"
Adriana rushed into the room she had chosen for herself and slid the book and her backpack under the bed. Then, composing herself, she walked downstairs to help her mother.
End Notes: Adriana, funny family name, huh? Anyway, what was that mysterious book in the attic? Will Adriana ever get to read it? Find out next time! Please review!
