Once Upon A Miracle

Chapter 4: The Old Lighthouse Cabin

"Pity those who don't feel anything at all."
~ Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Old Lighthouse Cabin was a small, abandoned cabin that sat at the base of a hill, facing the sea waves crashing into the rocky shore. Its namesake was a ruined lighthouse that stood atop the crest of that same hill.

In olden days, the lighthouse used to look out into the sea, an anchor for ships that used to dock near the harbour and a steady promise of safety during storms. But when the harbour was shifted to a more convenient location, the lighthouse fell into disuse and soon was completely abandoned. With age, it started crumbling under the brutality of the tropical thunderstorms that came from the sea. It was now but a mocking skeleton of its previous splendour.

To Blue, it seemed haunting and bleak. Not somewhere she'd like to be. Ever.

"Why would Sherry call us here?" Blue asked, her voice a mere whisper, perhaps afraid to disturb the eerie stillness of the sea beyond and the lingering quiet that emanated from the lighthouse.

"I'm not sure," Miracle said, his face neutral but his eyes worried. "She had always been weird."

"Where is she?" Blue asked, looking around. A dark night had fallen, the moon appearing in its full silvery brilliance, casting long shadows. And there was no sign of Sherry. Blue was starting to think that she had fooled them, that maybe this was some sort of trap when a familiar voice called, "So, you came. I didn't think you would."

Blue whirled around to find Sherry standing on the sand, her pigtails blowing with the soft breeze.

"When did you come?" Blue asked, alarmed. "I didn't hear your footsteps."

"Who says I walked?" Sherry asked, smirking.

"Oh right." Blue remembered the way she and Warren had vanished into thin air. "Can you do that too?" Blue asked Miracle.

He nodded. "Of course, I can. People like us, we have certain...abilities, you might say. There are some common to all but, most of the time, it varies. Depending on what our job is. For example, those who are having a bad luck, it might be because Sherry is influencing them with her powers. Like, for instance, remember how you kept tripping that day on the alley? That was Sherry's doing. And same goes to Good Luck, me, Unfair, Fair et cetera."

"And we all have counterparts," Sherry supplied, walking past them and towards the cabin. Blue and Miracle followed after her as she easily swung open the door and stepped in. The interior was nearly empty except for some shelves and a bed with a rotting mattress and one single stool. The air inside was stale with confinement and a layer of dirt had settled over everything. But Blue did notice that the dust had been disturbed and recently so.

"Yes, counterparts are very important. It keeps the balance," Miracle explained. "Can you imagine life with only Bad Luck? People wouldn't even want to live. And if it was only Good Luck, people would stop bothering to work."

Blue nodded, thoughtfully chewing on her bottom lip.

Sherry blew the dust of the stool and plopped down in it. "My sister and I used to come here. It was our hideout. But then..."

"She fell sick?" Blue guessed when Sherry left her sentence to hang in the air.

Sherry shook her head. "No, about that...I lied. She isn't sick. I mean, I have no clue what's happening to her. She's...disappeared. I literally woke up one day and she was gone!"

"What?" Miracle asked, concerned.

Blue muttered, "Maybe she just grew tired of you."

Sherry glared at Blue. "No, she wouldn't. She is my sister. I love her. And she isn't the type to run away. I was going absolutely crazy with worry. And that's when I met Warren again, you see. I didn't have anyone else and so I asked him for help. Crazy, I know, but he accepted. But it was then things started to get strange. We realised that it wasn't just my sister who had disappeared. There are others like us who have gone missing. And quite recently too. Did you know that Fair had disappeared? And Hope? We haven't heard anything from Love either! And the worst part is...it's the better ones who are disappearing! I'm still here. Wrath is here. We even had contact with Unfair and Hate."