Chapter 2
Amelia's mother rejoined her in the living room, with another large candle in her hand, burning brightly. Shadows danced on the walls and beams of light reflected from off of the windows.
Nine candles were now aligned around the living room, and the flames on each of them bounced, as if they would hop right off of their wicks and set the home aflame. Amelia's mother sat on the couch, at Amelia's side, and they didn't make eye contact with each other for a long time. They were both concentrated on the storm outside. The howling winds were so fierce, they feared that their haven would blow over like the a straw home. Lightning flashed outside continuously, and the house kept trembling at the mercy of the thunder.
"When do you think it will stop?" Her mother asked.
"Not sure, but I hope soon. There's going to be some big problems tomorrow for lines being down, fallen trees, floods.."
"We can only hope for the best." Amelia's mother looked to her, and smiled, trying to lighten the moment. "And maybe you'll get out of school tomorrow."
"Wouldn't doubt it, if it does this all night."
Amelia stood, and departed to her room, leading herself upstairs in the dimness. She returned to take a candle from off of a table, and proceeded back upstairs. She placed it on her bedside table, and slipped under her warm covers to conceal the chills that ran through her. She wasn't sure if she shook because of the coolness of the air, or because of the so many possible deaths that would take place.
She pulled her blankets under her chin, rolled on her side, and fell asleep within moments.
Amelia opened her eyes to the dim light that shone through her window. The candle at her bedside at burnt itself out, and the morning light had awoken her, though it provided little. Since the clocks had been stopped due to no power, she knew not of what time it was, but assumed it was very early because the sun had only appeared to recently rise into the sky. Lavender clouds tried to hide behind the scarlet sun, but clouds in
dark shades of gray concealed the bright colors.
Amelia slipped out of her bed, still in her clothes from the day before, and walked out of her room, feeling for recognizable objects, seeing the sunlight could not shine in all of the house just yet.
She still had not looked out the window when she descended the stairs into the living room, where her mother sat in the recliner, leaned forward, a coffee mug in her hand. The television was on, but it wasn't producing a very clear image. Her mother's hand was shaking.
Amelia stood at her side, and looked to the television. She could not well make out everything, but she first noticed the long list of school
closures. She hadn't even seen a list that long for school closures during the blizzard.
Images flashed in between the static of homes, barns, buildings, and anything you can think of had been washed away by the raging floods. Bodies of people were being discovered in towns where the flooding had persisted because they were dragged so far. Telephone poles had been snapped in two, and hung in the wet roads. Some people had stopped in the roads to avoid them, and were shocked to death when they touched the electrified water. Businesses had sunken like toy ships in a bathtub.
Amelia noticed tears coming to her mother's eyes, and looked to the screen once more; a pair of quadruplet infants had drowned and were found along the bank shore, the mother crying over their small bodies.
The television blacked out, and all returned to silence again. Her mother had dropped her mug, and began bawling. She felt guilty that they lived upon a hill and away from the threat of floods, and was so overwhelmed by grief.
The dark coffee was being soaked in the Persian rug at her feet, but she cared not for it. Amelia looked at the stained rug, her mother, the rug again, and returned upstairs to the darkness. She draped her curtains shut tightly, and wrapped into a cocoon in her blankets, and quietly cried for the tragedies.
(Yes, dramatic. It won't sound like it's a Resident Evil story for a long time. It'll take a few chapters, but just stay hooked on it, and I'll get around to the good parts)