Dusk

Dusk-Prologue

PROLOGUE 

Death. Something I don't understand. It takes an important key in your life away from you. It destroys a life. It's horrid. 

Sometimes I lay awake at night staring at the ceiling, my breath rapid and heavy. And when I finally drift off the nightmares start. Sometimes I can't get to sleep at night and had to wait until it was day again. But then during the day I couldn't bring myself to doing the things I used to do, and had to wait for night again. 

After a few months of this, I realized something. Letting go of someone wasn't the hardest part. Holding on was. 

After each passing day, every memory of my father was forgotten and gone. I tried to hold onto him, but he was always fading away from me. I missed everything about him: his smile, his laugh, his face, his own soul. I would give up my soul just to spend one more day again.

CHAPTER 1: ARRIVAL 

Portland, Oregon. Population: 566, 143. This is where I'm going. My mother, Elle, wants to leave the sadness from our old place, Laguna Beach, California. Elle thinks running away will soothe our problems of the murder of my dad, Aaron. I wish I could believe that too.  

When we arrive at our new home, it doesn't feel the least bit welcoming. The windows are dark, the door seems to be shut tight and locked, and the paint from the house is peeling off.  

"Elle...Are you sure you have the right address? I don't think this is it...," I tell her as I gawk at the house.  

"Felicity, why would I be wrong? Of course this is the house," she replies. 

I sigh. Everyday she's like this. Always so distant, so unreachable, unbearable. So, so...sad. Sometimes, I just wish I could just turn back the clock and go back to the night of my dad's murder. Make sure that he was upstairs like me and my mom. So that the murderer might not find us, and my dad might have a chance. So that my mom's happiness would be restored. But now it's done, and all I can do is hope she'll find her way back on her own, with a little help from me.  

"Elle, don't you think Felicity is kind of a mouth-full? You know, you could call me Ellice, remember? My nickname?" I tell her slowly. 

"Felicity, Ellice, what should I care? It's just a name. Now come here and help me with our boxes and suitcases." She says walking over to the trunk of her car, and takes out our things.  

I help her and pull most of the stuff into our house. When I'm inside, I'm surprised by how open and clean it looks. Maybe it's not so bad after all.  

"There's three bedrooms upstairs. Pick which one you want and move your things in." Elle tells me when she's inside. 

I grab all of my bags and one box and head up the wooden stairs. All the rooms are all technically the same, except for the closets and the one window are in various spots. I choose the third room, where the window and closet are on the north side. I immediately start to put my clothes in the closet, grateful to see that there are already hangers inside. I've never been one for an interest in fashion. I believe that clothes were just made to keep you comfortable and just to, well, wear. The next thing I do is open up the big box. Inside are all the pieces for my small twin-sized bed, and small night stand. After a couple of false starts, I've managed to put both of them together, when there's a knock on the door. 

"Hey Ellice. I wanted to...Give you something. Aaron made it for you, but...Never had time to give it to you," Elle tells me in the doorway of my new room. Even from here, I can see the shine in her eyes telling me she's on the verge of tears from the mention of my dad. Behind her is a desk and matching chair that is perfect with my bed and night stand. Something I've always wanted so I could do my homework in my room peacefully. But truthfully, because I've always wanted a piece of my father's work. Since I've always loved to watch him work when I was younger. I feel my heart start to race, my palms sweaty. Aaron, I think, thank you. It means the world to me. 

"Elle, we can, um, move it over there, or maybe in the corner," I tell her. 

We both decided that the desk did look best in the corner. By the time we got most of the furniture in our new, but ancient-looking, home, I settle in for bed. My bed. Something that is at least familiar to me here in Oregon. Sometimes during the day I wish that I could just pull down the shutters, shut the door, and crawl in to my cozy bed. It gives me peace; and a good time to think about things.  

The next thing I know is that the soft sunshine is shining gently through the blinds of my window. The rays of the sun are lightly touching my skin, which I find quite comforting. As I swing my legs over my bed and stretch, I realize that I'm nervous to go to my new school. Elle's never told me any details about it, but since I think she's got nothing better to do, she might be able to drive me. I head into the washroom and brush my teeth very slowly, trying to kill time so I can delay as much time until I have to go to school. As soon as I'm finished showering, I head downstairs and find Elle sitting in our old kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. I can tell from the dark circles under her eyes that she hasn't gotten much sleep. 

"Elle?" I ask, "Could you drive me to my new school today?" 

"Ellice. Of course I can, and by the way, it's just plainly called Portland Secondary School," she replies. 

"Wow. Catchy title," I muttered under my breath. I quickly grab an apple from our pantry and go to the den; where my school supplies are. Pencils? Check. Paper? Check. Binder and duo tangs? Check. Erasers? Check. Pens? Check. Backpack? Huh. Where was my backpack? I quickly exit the den and bound up the old, creaky, wooden steps; two at a time. When I get to my room, I swear I searched every square inch for my backpack. It wasn't there. With one glance at my digital clock, I can tell that if I don't find it soon, I can count on being late to school. And maybe even the principal would call me on it.  

"Felicity! What are you doing? You're late for school; get downstairs, I have your backpack ready with your jacket and shoes!" Elle calls from downstairs. 

I sigh. Leave it to Elle to have me ready for school. And it cost me exactly seventeen minutes searching for my backpack. I shake my head and roll my eyes as I trudge down the stairs.  

"Sorry, Elle. Got caught up in brushing my teeth I guess," I tell her. 

"Stop talking and get in the car if you don't want to be late," she replies dismissively.  

I take my backpack from her and slap on my Converse sneakers, fumbling with the laces. When I finally tie them tight, I slip on my button jacket and walk towards Elle's SUV, where I slide into the passenger seat. Elle quickly follows and is in the driver's seat, heading for what's apparently called, "Portland Secondary School." 

"Ellice, what's gotten into you lately? You're acting strange and being disturbingly slow," she says glancing at me. 

Wow. She tells that to me. Shouldn't I be telling her that? She's been acting stricter and maybe a bit ruder than usual ever since my father was killed. I'm just crossing my fingers we can both cool off and everything will be back to normal. 

Except I know it's not.