M
Miss Murder
Guest
uh
so
__
Chapter One
Part One
Smoke
__
Once Upon a Time ...
No, this is no fairytale, and does not call for such a traditional fairytale introduction.
This is the story of a once happy family, the Burkes, specifically the youngest child of three siblings, a girl, named Alexandria, her older brother and the oldest of the siblings, Benjamin, and their father Nicholas.
They lived as a joyful and loving family with their mother and wife, Lucinda, and their sister and daughter, the middle child of the family, Emilia. The family lived in London, during the year 1881.
Nicholas worked as an artist, drawing the portraits of passerby and costumers in one of the city’s main market squares. He was well-loved by his costumers, who were mainly the more sane pedestrians of London, not only because of his undeniable talent but the fact that he would talk to and get to know the citizens he was drawing as he drew their portraits. He was considered quite the intelligent, kind, and respectable man. His wife, Lucinda, was astonishingly beautiful, and her daughters had inherited her beauty, and Benjamin his father’s handsomeness.
And thus, Nicholas made a living quite happily as his daughters and wife tended to the household; the growing sisters, ( Emilia, at the time, twelve , and Alexandria ten ), would often go on adventures of sorts together and with their older brother. Benjamin sometimes also worked as the local priest’s assistant, helping clean up around the Church’s premises and such, at the age of fifteen.
Absolutely everything seemed perfect, and the whole family was perfectly happy.
...
If only perfection were true.
If only happiness could last.
If only ...
______
“Mother, Benjamin’s being annoying again!” Alexandria’s youthful voice rang through the Burkes’ Victorian house.
Lucinda sat in the living room, amongst cabinets full of dishes and relatively fine china, sewing and cross-stitching patterns to later sell at the farmer’s market that regularly stopped at one of London’s three major marketplaces. She sighed lightly, but it was an amused and loving sigh. Her youngest daughter was simply looking for attention, considering Benjamin got most of the attention, being the eldest child and the one making a profit for the family. Naturally, little Alexandria wanted the attention he received.
Normally, she would receive that attention, though certainly not by means of insulting or unjustly accusing her older brother of seemingly “heinous” acts that he would commit.
In the family room, where Benjamin, Alexandria, and Emilia currently were, Emilia said, “Oh, don’t whine so, Alexa,” ( for that was what her close family called her ), “you’ll never get your way like that.”
Alexandria merely made her face into a stubborn pout, but didn’t argue. She had fair skin and golden brown hair. These, combined with her gray blue eyes that shined with childhood innocence, guaranteed beauty later in her life. This beauty her mother and sister also held, though they had wheat blonde hair. But Alexandria had inherited her mother’s eyes. Benjamin, however, received their father’s dark brown hair, and Alexandria a mixture of the two, creating a golden halo effect surrounding her features whenever the sun chose to shine on her.
“Your sister’s right,” called Lucinda from her chair in the living room. “You’ll never get anywhere by being stubborn.”
“Oh, fine then!” Alexandria called, but wished she hadn’t. She normally was never rude to her mother, no matter how annoying her constant giving advice could be. Advice that Alexandria frankly didn’t want. At least in her mother’s presence, she would take the advice given to her.
Later in life, however, Alexandria regretted her choice in shrugging off her mother’s later extremely helpful advice, and wished that she could remember more of it.
Lucinda said nothing, but the corners of her lips threatened to twitch upwards in a smile that she refused to let grace her lips when her children might see. She had heard the remorseful and youthful shock in her Alexandria’s voice. But Lucinda couldn’t let them see her joyful when she was trying to be strict.
__
Now, I know that at this point you probably highly doubt my advice and warnings of this being a sad and terrible story.
But misfortunes and tragedies come when you least expect them to. If you have a craving for death, loss of childhood innocence, and sadness, then I suppose you should read on, though it’s against my better judgement that you do so ...
__
Benjamin leaned down in front of Alexandria. He hadn’t done anything to upset the little girl in the first place, though he knew about her moods. Besides, she was only a child after all; unaccustomed to the ways of the world.
He dearly hoped that she wouldn’t have to find out about the harsh realities of life too soon, nor that any of them really would have to, but sadly, fate and future events would even deny Benjamin’s hopes that relief. He had only been exposed to a small amount of cruel events in his life, but it was still enough to let him know that the world was not always a happy place, and that evil people existed around every corner of every street.
“Alexa,” he said in his maturing voice. “You have to know when to take advice from people and when to leave it, and when to trust a person and when not to.”
Alexandria looked at him with her large eyes, listening and understanding what he said in a childish interpretation. This advice she immediately and instinctively knew to take, and she always knew that she could trust her elder brother, and knew she should listen to him. And this advice Alexandria would keep with her and remember as long as she lived, for it was the last bit of advice she would receive before her life turned to hell.
*
The horror wouldn’t begin until much later that same day. Everything would seem absolutely perfect; a happy evening and day in which Benjamin and Alexandria would head over to the local market, whilst Emilia would stay at home and help their mother. This small factor would change so much in their futures ... if only they had known. And their father and husband, Nicholas, would simply be caught at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
But what a fine noontime Sunday it was to begin with. How the birds chipped so happily, so joyful, and so ignorant to the evils and darkness lurking in the world, in the streets and homes of London. How could the little birds possibly be aware that with every baby being born, not only in London, but throughout the entire known and unknown world, there was a man or a woman dying, or another body being placed six feet underground? The only thing that the soon - to - be - dead would have to hope for is the relief that death brings, as they lay dying; though as they were living, the only factor that may have kept them hopeful was the idea of a blissful afterlife, a paradise.
If only the dead could speak ... what tales would they have to tell of what lies beyond the grave, if there’s anything at all, or if it is something not yet dreamt about by even the most insane or ingenious ( for what is the difference ) of men and women alike?
But for now, all would remain ignorant in this simple family’s life.
All would remain happy, the most coveted of emotions.
All would remain perfect, in its finest form.
Yet, perfection does not last, as mere children would soon find out; and would soon become not children anymore, but adults, differed from children simply by a lack of innocence, or possibly a lack of knowledge or understanding of the ways of the world.
They would soon find out that Benjamin’s greatest wishes would not befall any of them, and all was not well in their wonderland, for they would soon discover that their wonderland was not, in fact, a wonderland, but a monstrosity covered up by now with childhood innocence and wonder ... and what awaited them in their wonderland, was death.
*
“What all did mother want us to get?” asked Alexandria as she and Benjamin walked through the cobblestone - laid streets of the inner city London marketplace, surrounded by fellow shoppers and shopkeepers and salesmen alike.
The noise of the city seemed to blend around them, becoming useless jabber to all the ears but those who were intended to ear the sensible bits in the first place. Only as they were passing by shoppers and shopkeepers could they really hear what was being said. One pair of shoppers were discussing something related to tomatoes, and a salesman was talking about some supposed miracle elixir. Benjamin’s and Alexandria’s parents had always warned them to be wise when shopping and listening to salesman, for they could be “conniving scum”. But then again, they were only trying to make a living. Of course, little of this mattered to the youthful and wonder-filled eyes of Alexandria, for she only saw the innocence of the world and the opportunities and adventures waiting to happen. Later in her life, however, she would only see the darkness and the evil of mankind. Opportunities could come and go, and adventures were dreams of the past.
But who was really wisest in a situation like that? An adult pessimist, or a child optimist, on a basic level? Who was right, and who was wrong? Who would last longer in a world of deception and insanity? The one who was always overly-cautious and prone to pre-assumptions, or the one who wouldn’t give up hope in the darkest of situation; if any at all? A naive adult, or a naive child? All are human; all make mistakes. The answers make you wise, but the questions of humanity give you exactly that - humanity.
Everyone was on equal level in the child Alexandria’s eyes. Everyone had some level of innocence about them, strangers and family alike, and Alexandria would have never assumed any of the people around her capable of deceit or lying; much less committing a crime against her or her family. It was this that possibly makes her story even harder to tell; this story of how a little child had to face reality far too soon, and how her hopes for humanity were crushed in a single evening on Earth, in this town of liars and the deceitful murderers she would soon become aware of. How a little child, a little girl, was manipulated at birth to believe all was well in her world and nothing unfortunate would ever befall her.
Alexandria had always been an intelligent girl, as were her parents, brother, and sister, but she was a child. And that was what made her naive, and gave her an immediate disadvantage. For if she was not so naive, if she had been more prone to a questioning and worrisome nature, then perhaps later events could have been averted.
But if she was not of her own personality, then so many other events would not have happened. I suppose that some have to sacrifice their happiness for others to live and prosper in this world ... if only it were different. If only Alexandria hadn’t been a child, hadn’t held innocence within her, hadn’t trusted humanity to always love her and be kind to her. But would that have changed anything, but made her more vulnerable to the blow the fire would give to her? I suppose we will never know ... but for now, it must be told what happened that perfect, beautiful day in London.
Benjamin drew himself away from his own thoughts, and turned his head to face Alexandria as he heard her ask a question. “Mmm ...” he said, remembering what Lucinda had told them to get at the market this day. “Mostly just food groceries, and -“ he noticed the look of wonderment on his little sister’s face at this world around her; the majesty all of it was to her. Despite himself, he uttered a chuckle.
“Right, mother and father don’t take you here often, do they?” he said, and in response, Alexandria nodded. “Well, you’re still little,” he replied. “You’ll get many opportunities later. This is the first of many visits, I suppose.”
They walked through the market, hand-in-hand so as not to lose each other in the crowd of people, and began picking out some not-quite-fresh fruit at one of the market stalls. Times were hard, that much was certain. But at least there was still food to get, if you could find the money to get it with, that is.
It was then that the two siblings, Benjamin and Alexandria, began to pick out some words amongst the useless noise that the conversations of the crowd had soon become. Select few, but key, syllables became fairly clear. Perhaps if they had been noticed earlier ... no. It was near impossible to change the events that took place next. Select few words, jutting out of the sounds of the crowd like a stone pillar. The pair could only make out the cut off words of those nearest to them, but that was quite enough.
“...house?”
“...smoke...”
“I ...”
“What is ...”
“... see it!”
“... smoke!”
“...that?”
“Whose ...”
“... is that a ...
“... house?”
“... fire?”
Then some fingers, pointing back east; the way Benjamin and Alexandria had come from originally today to go shopping at the market, in which some people had fallen silent, some others were talking amongst themselves, and even more were still unaware of a pillar of smoke rising and twisting upwards to the sky like a ghastly hand reaching out of a pit towards the clear blue sky of the heavens.
This smoke, like a death sentence and a condemning sign, originated from the Burkes’ own street, from their own home, though that fact still wasn’t obvious to Alexandria as it was to Benjamin, as Alexandria was still slightly surprised by both the excitement and puzzlement forming around her.
The image of the smoke, however, would stay in Alexandria’s mind for years; maybe even forever. She would remember it as an omen, a beacon for the Angel of Death, and a signature of insanity and of demons themselves. At the same time, it would also serve as a later reminder of her family, her memories, and her brother’s need for vengeance. A sign of humanity, in all its forms, good and bad. Though at the time, it meant little more to her than something that seemed to draw attention to itself.
But as soon as she looked up into her brother’s face, to that look of horror and of shock, suddenly the air tasted as bitter as the ashes of a fire.
“Come on,” said Benjamin in a hoarse voice, grabbing Alexandria’s hand, who dropped the basket of fruit she had been carrying. ( In the initial excitement and mild confusion the sight of the odd and foreign smoke had caused, they had let go of each other’s hands. ) When Alexandria didn’t move, Benjamin looked at her in anger and nearly shouted, “Alexa! Come now!”
Sensing the anger in her fifteen year old brother’s voice, Alexandria got over her shock and thought it wisest to obey, and so she did.
Pushing through both shoppers and salesman who weren’t yet aware of the column of smoke rising in the not-so-far away distance, Benjamin led Alexandria through the crowd in the direction of their home as quickly as he could, which was as quickly as his feet and the mesh of the crowd would allow; he was beginning to panic.
The smell of smoke was now becoming more noticeable and prominent, and more and more people were noticing the column of it, which was growing larger by every precious passing moment; moments that would soon be forgotten, considered the past and thrown into a pit of such its like, however precious it was at the time.
Precious moments, ticking by ...
Precious seconds, ticking by ...
Further and further, more time lost.
More time ...
More moments ...
Benjamin and Alexandria were now free of the main, compressing throng of the crowd and were moving with slightly more freedom than before, still towards the smoke and their home, despite Alexandria’s minor complaints; complaints about the ash that was stinging her eyes and nostrils now, the smoke that was beginning to sear her throat, and the heat that was starting to make it difficult to breathe.
“Benjamin!” Alexandria called, and coughed after she did so.
But Benjamin did not answer; he was moving forward, ever forward and ever faster towards the smoke and towards the heat billowing out towards himself and his little sister. But he was barely even aware of Alexandria’s presence, of her hand in his, such was his trance-like state and his almost madman-like fury to get to his home and to his mother and sister, possibly trapped inside. Were they even trapped? The fire was clearly at their house; he could almost see it now, and would have been able to, if it weren’t for the damned smoke clouding his vision. Could they have gotten out in time though? And where was their father, Nicholas? He was supposed to have been getting home ... but at what time?
Benjamin had lost all sense of time, even the meaning of the word was lost to his furious, compelled brain and train of thought. All that was evident to him was the smoke, the fire, the smoke, the fire, his family. His family ... he would have to protect them, save them. No matter what, they could not die. Emilia ... his little sister. Lucinda, his mother! Time was passing by. The precious moments they had left were draining out like grains of sand in an hourglass.
They say that before you die, your life flashes before you in front of your eyes.
This was not so, in his case. For Benjamin did not see his own life passing before him as he ran as fast as he could, despite the mounting protests of his pain-filled sibling. She was in no danger, and she would be fine, anyway.
But nay, the memories and thoughts that passed through his mind and into his inner eyesight were not of his own, but of his family’s. Of his mother’s, and of Emilia’s. Not their own memories, but the memories he had of them together, as a family, with both Alexandria and Nicholas. This made his fear even more present and prominent, and drove him on with a new valor.
He saw these memories in the area he passed through now, being choked by smoke and fumes. Scattered trees, along cobblestone streets, now being charred by the heat. Or maybe he was just imaging it. They could not go much further as they were ...
To Be Continued
so chapter was about setting up the characters, and the beginning of a tragedy.
may be changed / remodeled later.
lol CnC
so
__
Chapter One
Part One
Smoke
__
Once Upon a Time ...
No, this is no fairytale, and does not call for such a traditional fairytale introduction.
This is the story of a once happy family, the Burkes, specifically the youngest child of three siblings, a girl, named Alexandria, her older brother and the oldest of the siblings, Benjamin, and their father Nicholas.
They lived as a joyful and loving family with their mother and wife, Lucinda, and their sister and daughter, the middle child of the family, Emilia. The family lived in London, during the year 1881.
Nicholas worked as an artist, drawing the portraits of passerby and costumers in one of the city’s main market squares. He was well-loved by his costumers, who were mainly the more sane pedestrians of London, not only because of his undeniable talent but the fact that he would talk to and get to know the citizens he was drawing as he drew their portraits. He was considered quite the intelligent, kind, and respectable man. His wife, Lucinda, was astonishingly beautiful, and her daughters had inherited her beauty, and Benjamin his father’s handsomeness.
And thus, Nicholas made a living quite happily as his daughters and wife tended to the household; the growing sisters, ( Emilia, at the time, twelve , and Alexandria ten ), would often go on adventures of sorts together and with their older brother. Benjamin sometimes also worked as the local priest’s assistant, helping clean up around the Church’s premises and such, at the age of fifteen.
Absolutely everything seemed perfect, and the whole family was perfectly happy.
...
If only perfection were true.
If only happiness could last.
If only ...
______
“Mother, Benjamin’s being annoying again!” Alexandria’s youthful voice rang through the Burkes’ Victorian house.
Lucinda sat in the living room, amongst cabinets full of dishes and relatively fine china, sewing and cross-stitching patterns to later sell at the farmer’s market that regularly stopped at one of London’s three major marketplaces. She sighed lightly, but it was an amused and loving sigh. Her youngest daughter was simply looking for attention, considering Benjamin got most of the attention, being the eldest child and the one making a profit for the family. Naturally, little Alexandria wanted the attention he received.
Normally, she would receive that attention, though certainly not by means of insulting or unjustly accusing her older brother of seemingly “heinous” acts that he would commit.
In the family room, where Benjamin, Alexandria, and Emilia currently were, Emilia said, “Oh, don’t whine so, Alexa,” ( for that was what her close family called her ), “you’ll never get your way like that.”
Alexandria merely made her face into a stubborn pout, but didn’t argue. She had fair skin and golden brown hair. These, combined with her gray blue eyes that shined with childhood innocence, guaranteed beauty later in her life. This beauty her mother and sister also held, though they had wheat blonde hair. But Alexandria had inherited her mother’s eyes. Benjamin, however, received their father’s dark brown hair, and Alexandria a mixture of the two, creating a golden halo effect surrounding her features whenever the sun chose to shine on her.
“Your sister’s right,” called Lucinda from her chair in the living room. “You’ll never get anywhere by being stubborn.”
“Oh, fine then!” Alexandria called, but wished she hadn’t. She normally was never rude to her mother, no matter how annoying her constant giving advice could be. Advice that Alexandria frankly didn’t want. At least in her mother’s presence, she would take the advice given to her.
Later in life, however, Alexandria regretted her choice in shrugging off her mother’s later extremely helpful advice, and wished that she could remember more of it.
Lucinda said nothing, but the corners of her lips threatened to twitch upwards in a smile that she refused to let grace her lips when her children might see. She had heard the remorseful and youthful shock in her Alexandria’s voice. But Lucinda couldn’t let them see her joyful when she was trying to be strict.
__
Now, I know that at this point you probably highly doubt my advice and warnings of this being a sad and terrible story.
But misfortunes and tragedies come when you least expect them to. If you have a craving for death, loss of childhood innocence, and sadness, then I suppose you should read on, though it’s against my better judgement that you do so ...
__
Benjamin leaned down in front of Alexandria. He hadn’t done anything to upset the little girl in the first place, though he knew about her moods. Besides, she was only a child after all; unaccustomed to the ways of the world.
He dearly hoped that she wouldn’t have to find out about the harsh realities of life too soon, nor that any of them really would have to, but sadly, fate and future events would even deny Benjamin’s hopes that relief. He had only been exposed to a small amount of cruel events in his life, but it was still enough to let him know that the world was not always a happy place, and that evil people existed around every corner of every street.
“Alexa,” he said in his maturing voice. “You have to know when to take advice from people and when to leave it, and when to trust a person and when not to.”
Alexandria looked at him with her large eyes, listening and understanding what he said in a childish interpretation. This advice she immediately and instinctively knew to take, and she always knew that she could trust her elder brother, and knew she should listen to him. And this advice Alexandria would keep with her and remember as long as she lived, for it was the last bit of advice she would receive before her life turned to hell.
*
The horror wouldn’t begin until much later that same day. Everything would seem absolutely perfect; a happy evening and day in which Benjamin and Alexandria would head over to the local market, whilst Emilia would stay at home and help their mother. This small factor would change so much in their futures ... if only they had known. And their father and husband, Nicholas, would simply be caught at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
But what a fine noontime Sunday it was to begin with. How the birds chipped so happily, so joyful, and so ignorant to the evils and darkness lurking in the world, in the streets and homes of London. How could the little birds possibly be aware that with every baby being born, not only in London, but throughout the entire known and unknown world, there was a man or a woman dying, or another body being placed six feet underground? The only thing that the soon - to - be - dead would have to hope for is the relief that death brings, as they lay dying; though as they were living, the only factor that may have kept them hopeful was the idea of a blissful afterlife, a paradise.
If only the dead could speak ... what tales would they have to tell of what lies beyond the grave, if there’s anything at all, or if it is something not yet dreamt about by even the most insane or ingenious ( for what is the difference ) of men and women alike?
But for now, all would remain ignorant in this simple family’s life.
All would remain happy, the most coveted of emotions.
All would remain perfect, in its finest form.
Yet, perfection does not last, as mere children would soon find out; and would soon become not children anymore, but adults, differed from children simply by a lack of innocence, or possibly a lack of knowledge or understanding of the ways of the world.
They would soon find out that Benjamin’s greatest wishes would not befall any of them, and all was not well in their wonderland, for they would soon discover that their wonderland was not, in fact, a wonderland, but a monstrosity covered up by now with childhood innocence and wonder ... and what awaited them in their wonderland, was death.
*
“What all did mother want us to get?” asked Alexandria as she and Benjamin walked through the cobblestone - laid streets of the inner city London marketplace, surrounded by fellow shoppers and shopkeepers and salesmen alike.
The noise of the city seemed to blend around them, becoming useless jabber to all the ears but those who were intended to ear the sensible bits in the first place. Only as they were passing by shoppers and shopkeepers could they really hear what was being said. One pair of shoppers were discussing something related to tomatoes, and a salesman was talking about some supposed miracle elixir. Benjamin’s and Alexandria’s parents had always warned them to be wise when shopping and listening to salesman, for they could be “conniving scum”. But then again, they were only trying to make a living. Of course, little of this mattered to the youthful and wonder-filled eyes of Alexandria, for she only saw the innocence of the world and the opportunities and adventures waiting to happen. Later in her life, however, she would only see the darkness and the evil of mankind. Opportunities could come and go, and adventures were dreams of the past.
But who was really wisest in a situation like that? An adult pessimist, or a child optimist, on a basic level? Who was right, and who was wrong? Who would last longer in a world of deception and insanity? The one who was always overly-cautious and prone to pre-assumptions, or the one who wouldn’t give up hope in the darkest of situation; if any at all? A naive adult, or a naive child? All are human; all make mistakes. The answers make you wise, but the questions of humanity give you exactly that - humanity.
Everyone was on equal level in the child Alexandria’s eyes. Everyone had some level of innocence about them, strangers and family alike, and Alexandria would have never assumed any of the people around her capable of deceit or lying; much less committing a crime against her or her family. It was this that possibly makes her story even harder to tell; this story of how a little child had to face reality far too soon, and how her hopes for humanity were crushed in a single evening on Earth, in this town of liars and the deceitful murderers she would soon become aware of. How a little child, a little girl, was manipulated at birth to believe all was well in her world and nothing unfortunate would ever befall her.
Alexandria had always been an intelligent girl, as were her parents, brother, and sister, but she was a child. And that was what made her naive, and gave her an immediate disadvantage. For if she was not so naive, if she had been more prone to a questioning and worrisome nature, then perhaps later events could have been averted.
But if she was not of her own personality, then so many other events would not have happened. I suppose that some have to sacrifice their happiness for others to live and prosper in this world ... if only it were different. If only Alexandria hadn’t been a child, hadn’t held innocence within her, hadn’t trusted humanity to always love her and be kind to her. But would that have changed anything, but made her more vulnerable to the blow the fire would give to her? I suppose we will never know ... but for now, it must be told what happened that perfect, beautiful day in London.
Benjamin drew himself away from his own thoughts, and turned his head to face Alexandria as he heard her ask a question. “Mmm ...” he said, remembering what Lucinda had told them to get at the market this day. “Mostly just food groceries, and -“ he noticed the look of wonderment on his little sister’s face at this world around her; the majesty all of it was to her. Despite himself, he uttered a chuckle.
“Right, mother and father don’t take you here often, do they?” he said, and in response, Alexandria nodded. “Well, you’re still little,” he replied. “You’ll get many opportunities later. This is the first of many visits, I suppose.”
They walked through the market, hand-in-hand so as not to lose each other in the crowd of people, and began picking out some not-quite-fresh fruit at one of the market stalls. Times were hard, that much was certain. But at least there was still food to get, if you could find the money to get it with, that is.
It was then that the two siblings, Benjamin and Alexandria, began to pick out some words amongst the useless noise that the conversations of the crowd had soon become. Select few, but key, syllables became fairly clear. Perhaps if they had been noticed earlier ... no. It was near impossible to change the events that took place next. Select few words, jutting out of the sounds of the crowd like a stone pillar. The pair could only make out the cut off words of those nearest to them, but that was quite enough.
“...house?”
“...smoke...”
“I ...”
“What is ...”
“... see it!”
“... smoke!”
“...that?”
“Whose ...”
“... is that a ...
“... house?”
“... fire?”
Then some fingers, pointing back east; the way Benjamin and Alexandria had come from originally today to go shopping at the market, in which some people had fallen silent, some others were talking amongst themselves, and even more were still unaware of a pillar of smoke rising and twisting upwards to the sky like a ghastly hand reaching out of a pit towards the clear blue sky of the heavens.
This smoke, like a death sentence and a condemning sign, originated from the Burkes’ own street, from their own home, though that fact still wasn’t obvious to Alexandria as it was to Benjamin, as Alexandria was still slightly surprised by both the excitement and puzzlement forming around her.
The image of the smoke, however, would stay in Alexandria’s mind for years; maybe even forever. She would remember it as an omen, a beacon for the Angel of Death, and a signature of insanity and of demons themselves. At the same time, it would also serve as a later reminder of her family, her memories, and her brother’s need for vengeance. A sign of humanity, in all its forms, good and bad. Though at the time, it meant little more to her than something that seemed to draw attention to itself.
But as soon as she looked up into her brother’s face, to that look of horror and of shock, suddenly the air tasted as bitter as the ashes of a fire.
“Come on,” said Benjamin in a hoarse voice, grabbing Alexandria’s hand, who dropped the basket of fruit she had been carrying. ( In the initial excitement and mild confusion the sight of the odd and foreign smoke had caused, they had let go of each other’s hands. ) When Alexandria didn’t move, Benjamin looked at her in anger and nearly shouted, “Alexa! Come now!”
Sensing the anger in her fifteen year old brother’s voice, Alexandria got over her shock and thought it wisest to obey, and so she did.
Pushing through both shoppers and salesman who weren’t yet aware of the column of smoke rising in the not-so-far away distance, Benjamin led Alexandria through the crowd in the direction of their home as quickly as he could, which was as quickly as his feet and the mesh of the crowd would allow; he was beginning to panic.
The smell of smoke was now becoming more noticeable and prominent, and more and more people were noticing the column of it, which was growing larger by every precious passing moment; moments that would soon be forgotten, considered the past and thrown into a pit of such its like, however precious it was at the time.
Precious moments, ticking by ...
Precious seconds, ticking by ...
Further and further, more time lost.
More time ...
More moments ...
Benjamin and Alexandria were now free of the main, compressing throng of the crowd and were moving with slightly more freedom than before, still towards the smoke and their home, despite Alexandria’s minor complaints; complaints about the ash that was stinging her eyes and nostrils now, the smoke that was beginning to sear her throat, and the heat that was starting to make it difficult to breathe.
“Benjamin!” Alexandria called, and coughed after she did so.
But Benjamin did not answer; he was moving forward, ever forward and ever faster towards the smoke and towards the heat billowing out towards himself and his little sister. But he was barely even aware of Alexandria’s presence, of her hand in his, such was his trance-like state and his almost madman-like fury to get to his home and to his mother and sister, possibly trapped inside. Were they even trapped? The fire was clearly at their house; he could almost see it now, and would have been able to, if it weren’t for the damned smoke clouding his vision. Could they have gotten out in time though? And where was their father, Nicholas? He was supposed to have been getting home ... but at what time?
Benjamin had lost all sense of time, even the meaning of the word was lost to his furious, compelled brain and train of thought. All that was evident to him was the smoke, the fire, the smoke, the fire, his family. His family ... he would have to protect them, save them. No matter what, they could not die. Emilia ... his little sister. Lucinda, his mother! Time was passing by. The precious moments they had left were draining out like grains of sand in an hourglass.
They say that before you die, your life flashes before you in front of your eyes.
This was not so, in his case. For Benjamin did not see his own life passing before him as he ran as fast as he could, despite the mounting protests of his pain-filled sibling. She was in no danger, and she would be fine, anyway.
But nay, the memories and thoughts that passed through his mind and into his inner eyesight were not of his own, but of his family’s. Of his mother’s, and of Emilia’s. Not their own memories, but the memories he had of them together, as a family, with both Alexandria and Nicholas. This made his fear even more present and prominent, and drove him on with a new valor.
He saw these memories in the area he passed through now, being choked by smoke and fumes. Scattered trees, along cobblestone streets, now being charred by the heat. Or maybe he was just imaging it. They could not go much further as they were ...
To Be Continued
so chapter was about setting up the characters, and the beginning of a tragedy.
may be changed / remodeled later.
lol CnC
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