Prologue
The year was 2012, Canada…
In a small town known as Arcreal, surrounded by mountains and pine forests, lived a happy populace of one thousand, one hundred and two people.
The town was a fine ground of contrasting elements; old and new buildings, some clustered against each other, and the rest maintaining their personal space, all of which didn't go higher than three British floors, giving a clear view of the snow covered mountain ranges in the horizon.
Residents lived freely and peacefully, knowing each other well, as though they were one big family, and amidst this communal unity, was a smaller nuclear family, the Lincoln family.
Sergeant Noah Lincoln was the head of the Lincoln family. There were about six police officers in town and he was one of them, actively maintaining the peace and order Arcreal already naturally had.
He was an average heighted middle aged man, a bit out of shape, but not out of action. After a day's work at the station, he would come home to his nice one story brick house, where he would swap his police hat for a beanie to cover his low cut, receding blonde hair, but nothing could cover the ridiculous circle goatee he loved so much.
His wife, Wendy, wasn't the most beautiful of women, but she was the one who got Noah's heart and gave him three kids. She being of African descent and he of European, gave their children a mixed look that was unique to only them in the entire town.
She worked at the only one stop shop around, the Northward, owned by old man Garth Northward, who saw her as his own daughter.
Their children were Dominic, Gladys, and Sophie. Dominic was eleven, with long hair that made Noah jealous, they would bond whenever they went to hunt hares and oxen, or gather wood.
He took his father's hair color and blue eyes, but Gladys only took the hair, retaining her mother's brown eyes. She was the most quiet amongst her siblings, mostly because she had been deaf for most of her life and had to communicate with everyone through signs.
But after visiting the big hospital up in the big city multiple times, she was finally able to hear with the help of a hearing aid. And since then, she wouldn't stop playing the piano Noah got for her after she heard it for the first time. At the age of eight, she could already play Beethoven’s Für Eloise, the next neighbor, Mrs. Tremblay who taught her was very impressed with her progress.
Sophie was the littlest amongst the bunch, taking her mother's black hair and father's blue eyes. If the four year old wasn't giggling and filling everyone around with the warmth of her cuteness, then she was crying loudly and relentlessly, causing annoyance and irritation from those around her.
They were a flourishing family, that seemed like nothing could take away the happiness they shared, until Wendy started having her episodes.
One day, she turned from a sweet mother stroking her son's hair to a maniac who would pull it violently, throw him to the floor and yell with both hands to her ears.
Noah ran into the room and asked what was going on, Wendy just replied with; “I can hear them all!”
Over time, the children grew scared of her and always avoided being in the same space. The isolation didn't help her case, not only did she feel the hurt of being a monster to her children, the voices in her head grew from sharp whispers to loud mumbles of incoherent words.
The town folks grew worried and advised Noah to take her to a mental hospital, he couldn't bring himself to it, he hoped desperately whatever voice she was hearing would pass and they could return to their normal lives.
Dominic was sort of a mummy's boy, the dynamic of his father being hard on him and soft on his sisters and vice versa pushed him to be that way, when no one dared approached whenever she screamed or cried locked away in her room, Dominic would occasionally go to see her.
He would often find her crying on the bed, and when she heard his footsteps, she would clean her tears and embrace him in a hug that would make him tear up too.
It happened to be his check up day and he walked into her room to see how she was doing, only to find her wrists slit open, a pool of blood expanding underneath her hand.
Dominic had to run out of the house and make his way to the station with all he had, he got his father's attention and they managed to get Wendy to Arcreal Hospital in time.
When she woke up and looked at her bandaged wrist, she began to sob, whispering to Noah and the doctor, and before they could ask what she said, she aggressively yelled it out for them. “Why wouldn't you let me die!?”
That's when Noah knew he had to take her for some sort of medical treatment, he wasn't ready to lose the love of his life, physically or psychologically.
Weeks turned to months and it seemed Wendy made significant progress and was ready to return home from the asylum fully evaluated.
The family wasn't exactly restored to its previous state but her children missed her and they summoned the courage to come close, things were returning to normal again.
On a stormy day, lightning roared in frightening thunders and the clouds wept hard against their roof. Gladys tried to drown the unpleasant noise with the melodies of her piano.
Noah found peace in reading a book on the sofa, Sophie was fast asleep beside him, unaware of anything going on around her, leaving Dominic in a bored state.
He ventured towards his mother's room hoping to disturb her, as he climbed up the stairs, he could hear Gladys starting the first slow notes of Chopin’s Winter Wind.
He knocked on his parents door, once, twice, thrice, and when he heard no answer, he pushed it open and as Gladys hit the subito allegro of her piece, he beheld the scene that would remain in his head for as long as he lived.
A wooden chair was lying sideways on the floor, above it were the hovering feet of Wendy who hung from a rope tied to the ceiling. The flash of lightning illuminated the dim room and shook the wide-eyed boy, his voice was shrieking, a sound between a cry and a scream.
Gladys high tempo mixed with the thunderstorm and the bliss that was before Dominic came down the stairs and broke the news.
