Chapter 1
"Happy birthday to youuuu, happy birthday to youuuu,” Mom sang, the light from the candles lit up her face in the darkness of the room around us. Her smile was bright and held excitement, which made me want to do the same, but something held me back, a terrible feeling.
"Happy birthday to youuuu, my deeeeaaaaarrrrr Popppyyy...”Suddenly, my mother’s sweet voice started to fade away, and so did the light from the candles. The room around me started to get darker. I started to hyperventilate. The darkness was my worst enemy.
I tried to keep my eyes on my mother, hoping that just looking at her, my worst nightmare won’t come true, but as I stare at my mother’s dark eyes that were vanishing and her blinding smile, I knew I was a goner.
“Wait, don’t go!” I tried to yell at her, but it only came out in a whisper. The light from the candles got dimmer and dimmer, and before I knew it, I was submerged in darkness. My breath hitched in the back of mythroat, mysenses heightened. Listening, feeling, smelling, just waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.
I relaxed my shoulders a little bit and I let out a tiny breath that I didn’t know I was holding, but then a touch, no a hand rested on my shoulder and I jumped and was about to scream, but a voice whispers, “When the full red blood moon comes,you. are. mine."It hissed.
I suddenly jump awake from the slamming of a door that came from downstairs. I noticed once I woke up, my breathing was heavy, my heart was pounding and I was sweating like a pig.Gross. I scrunch my nose up at that and smelt my clothes. I fucking smelled like stinky ass pork rinds.I need to take a shower.
I hop up from my bed that was soaking wet from my pig sweat and immediately walked towards the bathroom. Once in, I set the shower to a warm temperature and strip of my clothes as I wait for it to warm up, and with the crappy water heater we have, it was going to take a little time. I walked over to the sink and grabbed one of my hair bows that were on the counter near the sink, and tied my blonde hair up in a messy bun, staring at myself in the mirror as I did so. Once done, I push some of the fly-aways behind my ear and that’s when I notice something on my shoulder.
Moving closer to the mirror, leaning in where my pelvis meets the counter, I look closer at the mark on my shoulder and froze, my breath instantly leaving my body.It can not be! How is this real?!
The mark was a handprint. It was so clear and easy to see. How did it get there? My mind instantly went back to my dream.’When the full red blood moon comes,you. are. mine.′The words that the voice whispered in my ear rushes back to me, sending shivers down my spine and they were not the good ones. I look back at the mark, brushing my hand against it and when I did, tingles erupted through my shoulder, making me gasp.What was that?
As I continue to stare at it cautiously, I notice that the corners of the mirror were starting to fog up and saw that the bathroom was as well filled with mist from the shower. Glancing one more time at the mark on my shoulder, deciding it was probably myself who did this, I let go of the sink and turn to the shower and step in.
“So, what are you doing today?” My mother asked, a light warm smile present on her face and the corner of her eyes wrinkled as she did so, showing her age. Even though my mother was in her late forties, she looks good for her age and I hope I will look good as she does when I’m at that age.
I shrug my shoulders. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll visit dad, I want to do it before tomorrow.” I paused and looked down at the bowl of cereal that was in front of me. “Want to go with me?” I slowly asked, peeking up at her through my lashes. Her eyes were cast down, looking at her hands that rest on the counter, a blank expression covered her face.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think that would be a good idea for me or your father, but you can go...I can’t,” she muttered and reached for her coffee cup. She cupped it in her hands and brought it to her lips, taking a sip.
I bit the inside of my cheek and swirled the spoon around in the bowl of cereal. “Do you hate him that much for what he did?”
She paused and looked me dead in the eyes. “Do I have to even answer that. It’s because of him we live the way we do now, why we have no privacy, or respect anymore.” She looked down at her coffee. “I’m embarrassed to even be called his wife now. He betrayed our family, and I’ll never forgive him for that.” After she said that, silence filled the air. I raise a spoon full of cereal to my mouth and slowly chewed, taking in everything my mother had said about my father.
I kind of agree with her. It is his fault that we live the way we do now, in a tiny little two-bedroom apartment on the bad side of town somewhere in Connecticut. We used to live differently, in a nice sized house in Calabasas, California, the house may have not been a mansion but we did have money, the kind of money was you didn’t have to worry about bills or could go on family vacation twice a year to nice exotic places.
Well, that’s not going to happen anymore,I thought. Our lives have changed in the blink of an eye. Who knew your life could change for the worst in a matter of seconds? I surely didn’t.
“Your birthday is coming soon,” mom announced after several minutes of silence, even though it felt like hours.
I nodded my head, telling her I know shoveling another spoon full of cereal in my mouth.
“Well...what do you want to do?” She asked, walking towards the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet and rinsed her cup out, setting it in the sink. She turns back to me, leaning against the counter.
I again shrugged my shoulders. I don’t know what I wanted for my birthday. This will be my first birthday without dad, it’s going to be weird and I don’t want that.
Mom sighed and walked around the island and up behind me, wrapping her arms around me. “I know that this is our first time celebrating your birthday without your father, but it will be okay, we’ll celebrate it together, just you and me. I’ll even call in a sick day at work to spend the whole day with you.” When she said this, it brought a smile on my face. She snuggled her head into the crook of my neck and I leaned my head against hers. “So, how ’bout it?”
I nod my head in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll like that.” She smiled. “Good.”
"Ew, what is this?” My friend since ninth grade, Charlotte said to me, holding up a graphic tee with the logo of a band on it. I gasped in shock and held a hand to my chest, mocking fake hurt.
“You don’t know who that is Charlotte?!” She looked at me and grimaced, throwing the shirt back in my closet.
“I love you Poppy-poo, but your taste in music sucks ass.” She stated flopping down on my bed. It has been four hours since that talk with my mom, and I decided to spend the rest of the day in my room by myself, that was until Charlotte texted me asking to hang out a little before my birthday since she won’t be here for it. She has to go back to California.
I was sitting at my desk doing some writing on my computer for college admission to a University here in Connecticut. I wanted to study English literature. I have always loved it and found it to be easier for me, I always found old English and poems to be my favorite thing to do in school, but that dream was put on hold for a bit when my dad was sent to prison. He even ruined it for me also, because I was about to be accepted in one of the finest English literature courses in England, but with the trouble and the debts my father was in, I lost the money that was supposed to pay for it and the courses did not accept scholarships. So I had to figure out a Plan B and fast if I wanted to pursue my career.
I stared at Charlotte in amusement and stuck my tongue out at her playfully. “Don’t talk aboutMy Chemical Romancelike that. That band helps me get through a lot, especially with all those things that had happened this past year.” I said turning back to my computer to continue what I was doing.
Charlotte was quiet for a moment before she said, “Are you going to be okay, you know, about your birthday?” She asked, her voice filled with concern. I stopped typing and slightly turn my head towards her with a small smile on my face.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” she smiled back. “Are you sure? I can always delay my flight and stay with you.” Even though Charlotte lived in California, we still kept in contact and visited each other from time to time.
“Nah, you need to be there for your grandma, especially now that her illness is getting worse,” I said to her, sadness filling my voice. Her grandma was currently in the hospital getting treatment for her lung cancer, but she’s not getting any better and it’s worrying me and stressing out Charlotte and her mother. Charlotte’s grandma is like my own, especially since my grandparents on both sides of my family had passed away.
Charlotte stares blankly at the ceiling. “Yeah, I need to be there for grandma.”
After thirty minutes of Charlotte lying on my bed, talking about a boy who has been driving her crazy at her local coffee shop, her phone rings cutting her off and I silently sighed in relief, thanking for the abrupt interruption. As much as I love Charlotte like a sister, the girl’s ranting and raving just get annoying. I loved my peace and quiet, but when Charlotte’s around, you get none of that.
“Yeah, hello?” She answers and then pauses when someone on the other end spoke, then her eyes lit up in excitement. “Oh hey Julia, how have you been?” Then my eyes widen when I realized who she was talking to. It was Julia Miller, another one of my good friends. She was a year older than us, so she was already in college, this year she would be her junior year when school will start back in August, and it is July right now, so in a couple of weeks and I’ll be starting on a new path in my life and I can’t wait.
I got up from my swivel chair and made my way over to her and sat beside her on my bed. “Let me talk to her,” I said reaching for the phone. She smacked my hand out of the way.
“No, I’m talking to my dear Julia first,” she pouted, holding the phone close to her ear.
I hear Julia laugh loudly on the other side. “Just put me on speaker, I need to talk to both of you anyway.” She says, her voice kind of muffled against Charlotte’s ear. Charlotte did as she said and laid the phone in front of us.
“Hey Julia, I miss you so much,” I said to her once she was on speaker. She let out a little giggle. “I miss you guys too, but I have something important to tell you both, and I don’t know how you’re going to take this but...,” She pauses for a second, taking a deep breath, getting ready to tell us her big news.
“I’m... getting married.”
