Crimson Angels: Prequel to Cassie (Teen Fiction)

4. Moonlight Rhapsody

The moon was an object that had captured his interest since the day he learned to walk. It was to him, a thing that was etched on the sky to constantly berate him of his existence.
Like the moon, he had no light of his own. They both were an existence that would cease to have value without the master that is the sun. Nathan threw his head back and dragged a breath. He needed to get out. Though doing so would result in an argument with Daniel-the sun that would always catalyze his existence-he couldn't care less at that point. He got out of bed, headed for his drawer, pulled out a pair of pants and a hoody, and then proceeded to exit his room.

Silent footsteps were not needed for him to escape because Daniel was in deep slumber. It would take a miracle for that guy to wake at such a time.

When Nathan found himself outside the house, he tilted his head towards the sky. The moon that just minutes ago shone as if it were not a thief-whose existence merely found value by the grace of the sun-had disappeared, hidden behind a dark cluster of clouds. What difference did the moon and night have from him? Nothing... For he was as worthless as that piece of rock that is suspended in outer space without something to give it value and life. What he and moon were are both a ruse, a petered existence. He bowed his head and gazed at his foot, slowly, he took a step forward, unsure where to go.

The night was calm, and though he had kept his head bowed, adamant in his refusal to let his eyes linger on his surroundings, he knew the blanket of darkness was watching him. He knew its inhabitants like the crickets and owls had their eyes following his every move. What did they think of him? Did they deem him as someone who was meant to dwell in the dark abyss but stubbornly refused to do so? He felt interspersed as his foot took tentative steps, continuing with his head bent, eyes glued on his foot and the rock-littered ground.

He never intended on it, but he eventually found himself in front of the house he and his twin brother grew up in. Marie was right, their previous home was truly a breath away. The house that now, no longer belonged to them stood like a painful lullaby. It was to him, a sanctuary. A place that held memories of who and what he is. He gazed at the window on the second floor, the one closest to the staircase which he knew had missed his footsteps. He could only sigh. If only he and Daniel were older and more mature, they wouldn't need to follow or have had their inheritance handled by their selfish aunt. Their aunt, Marie was their mother's sister. She was a woman who had lived with envy and loath behind the shadows of their mother. She was a woman who once loved their father. She was a woman to whom Nathan held great resentment. She... She was the woman who had caused their parent's accident.

Daniel never believed him, albeit the evidence that he presented to his twin. Daniel's shrugging off of his confessions of the truth felt like a painful betrayal that forced him to do something that to this day, he had to suffer from. He was a child who perpetrated a stupid action. If only he had known better. But perhaps, it was all due to his desperate attempt to steer his twin towards rational thoughts. Yet, it all ended in tragedy.

Nathan stiffened when his mind glid at the memories of that faithful incident. He immediately shook his head and then veered towards the direction of the lake beside the house. There was no point to brood over something irreversible.

There was thick foliage on the path he took. It used to be a clear path. No grass or moss dwelled within the cobbled stones that began from their house down to the lake, but now, it looked discarded and neglected; overlaid with spongy moss and choked by fallen, decaying leaves from the unclothed and withering trees above. Nathan suddenly felt sorry for the path, if it had a mind or if it was alive, it would perhaps mirror an existence similar to his.

When he finally made it near the lake, he couldn't help but smile. The body of water was something that had been a part of their family for generations. He continued walk and stopped only when he reached a familiar spot. He took a breath and basked in the image of the still water as though it never wanted to be disturbed by anything, not even by the soft illumination of the moon above. When looking at it, one might speculate that the lake was a natural occurrence. There was nothing on it which would hint that it was man-made.

Though he doubted the stories, it was said that the lake used to be a pond that was eventually expanded and rehabilitated to become a lake. Why one would do such anything was beyond his comprehension. He had no qualms about it though. The lake has satisfied generations of their family with its calm and quiet disposition. It was a serene place.

When Nathan reached the wooden fence that was erected by his father to surround the bank of the lake that faced their house, he collapsed on the ground below it. But instead of hard rocks, there came a squishy feel as his behind made contact with the damp grass that covered the piece of earth he had chosen to seat on. There used to be a collection of smooth oval rocks that lined the side of the lake, just below the wooden fence. He found it odd that they were no longer there. Perhaps, they were eroded from the storm that hit the place a year ago, Nathan thought in silence. As he angled his body to fully face the lake, he suddenly felt uncomfortable, because the wetness of the ground and grass beneath him had seeped through his pants and onto his briefs. He contemplated whether it was best to extricate himself from there and find a less moist place to seat on.

He let his eyes check his surroundings but found none, but didn't feel dejected, it was after all, impossible to find a decent spot with only a scant illumination from the stars and the house behind him to light the surroundings. Giving up on the thought, he sighed and then rubbed his temple and decided to ignore the irritability he felt. He then pulled a small tuft of grass beside his foot and then gazed at the sky-line silver body of water. Though there was nothing too grand that changed within and around the lake, something to Nathan did not seem right. Perhaps, it was due to their loss of ownership of the body of water. Various things happened and changed in a matter of one year, how unfortunate it was, he thought to himself.

He took a deep breath but immediately regretted doing so because the rotten-egg scent that he had learned to associate with the lake haven't changed. He clamped a hand over his nose and got to his feet. He was too absorbed and deep in thoughts earlier, the pungent smell barely registered in his head. But now that he had relaxed, his senses came alive. The scent was vile. He staggered across the man-made path and moved away from the lake, towards the house, and onto the dimly lit dirt road, never looking back.

***

She had hidden behind the wide trunk of a pine tree, eyes glued to the boy who minutes ago stood like a foreboding shadow below her window.

Earlier, she got out of bed and took another pill from the bottle her mom and Albert had given her. When they found her unconscious on the floor inside her room, they had taken her to the hospital. It was fortunate that the doctor who tended to her was a woman and had known immediately what was wrong with her. "She passed out because of the pain and hunger." That was all the doctor said before she dismissed Cassandra and mom.

Not a word was said between her and the woman who abandoned her as they returned home from the hospital. Cassandra wanted to thank her mom. The worry on her face was genuine, and Cassandra would be a cold-blooded animal if she would deny the obviousness of that. But still, she refused to say those words, simply because she didn't want her so-called mother to reckon that forgiveness was possible.

As she motioned to return to her bed, a gush of wind swept inside her room from the window. Thinking it would be cataclysmic to develop a cold while on her period, she went to close it, but just as she raised her hand to draw the curtain, she caught sight of someone below. Immediately, she veered to her right and hid away from view. There was a boy that stood outside their house-face directed at her window. She felt mystified by how he gazed at their house, so, without so much as a second thought, she scrambled to her feet and went out the front door, but when she got there, the boy was already in motion and had made his way towards the lake at the side of their house.

She followed and silently approached, steering clear of the twigs on the ground which could potentially announce her presence. She watched how he sat down behind the wooden fence near the bank. Though she failed to glimpse his face, she knew he was in pain. Not physically, no. She knew there was suffering hidden within him by his body language, she knew, because she had been that way. Well, she is that way.

The boy had only sat there for a few minutes before he suddenly got to his feet and careened across the cobbled pathway between their house and the lake and then onto the road.

Curious, she murmured as she liberated herself from the protective trunk of the tree. She couldn't help but wonder, who was that boy?