DARK DARLING

CHAPTER 3 : Numbskull

The pale red moon was partially covered by the fleecy white clouds. The snowfall hasn't started yet. But the unendurable cold was engulfing the village every night. Wolf's cry accompanied with the cricket's chirp pierced the silence outside. The deserted village road remains empty throughout the night. It was quarter to nine when Beatrix came out of the bathroom after getting fresh. The pink night suit was looking perfect on her. " Dinner is ready ", yelled Mrs. Norris as she settled one big roasted duck, stuffed potatoes, loaves of bread, grilled sweet potatoes, and her daughter's favorite ajiaco on the table. Everyone's eyes gleamed in joy because of the mouth-watering dishes present on the table. " It has been so long that I haven't tasted ajiaco," said Beatrix. One of the students asked, " what kind of dish is that? I have never seen Mrs. Norris preparing it before ". Mrs. Norris said, " ajiaco is a special kind of soup. It's usually made with chicken, three kinds of potatoes, corn and an herb called guascas which gives the soup a wonderful unique flavor. Ajiaco is Bea's favorite. Anyways, kids I don't think that we have had a proper introduction yet, did we? ". " Mrs. Norris we are not kids anymore ", shouted one of the students. " Yeah yeah, it's ok...I got it...anyways this is Beatrix, my only dear little daughter. I and Joe used to call her Bea. Isn't it cute? ...And Bea these kids are more than my students. All these years when you were with Joe, they didn't let me feel alone ever ", Mrs. Norris. " Hey stop calling us kid, and stop calling Beatrix, a little girl, will you? Or else we shall start calling you granny Norris from now onwards ", said the same girl who protested before. Beatrix laughed out and exclaimed, " you guys are really intelligent to point that out ".

" Join us and change our group of four to a group of five...
Don't say no or else you will prove yourself to be naive...
Trust me, believe me, just give us a chance...
We'll keep you happy, for sure, now you may dance...",
said one of the boys.

" You rhymed so well dude... how can I say no to such a proposal... its a big yes guys ", said Bea. " Hi Bea, I am Skyler. I am sixteen. I love all the dishes made by Mrs. Norris. We four became best buddies because we share the same goal... maybe for different reasons... and it is to find out the one who took away the peace from our village, crush him down and restore the peace in the village once and for all ", said the guy who rhymed with a face full of smile. Bea said with a serious face, " I see, even I came to the village for the same reason ". Elsa asked, " are you kidding me? ". Bea, " no I am not, trust me. It's like I was living with my dad since my parents got divorced. I missed my mom a lot. So one of the reasons to come here is to spend the rest of my life with her. The other one is to try bringing peace to the village by gathering as much knowledge as I can by all means. It will even help me in making my presentation of my project on Psychokinesis ". " So, you are doing your higher studies on Pseudoscience. Anyways, I am Elsa White and nice to meet you ", said the girl who was shouting a few minutes back for being called a kid. The other girl with blond hair said, " Hello, I am Rachel Rivera ". Bea, " Hi Rachel...you have a soft and beautiful voice, dear ". The last guy did not introduce himself. He did not show much attention to all these and kept silent. Bea herself forwarded her hand towards him, " hello ". " Yeah, hi ", said the silent one with an ignoring tone. Mrs. Norris, " don't worry my girl, Cedric takes a little time to get along with new people. However, let me tell you some special things about my kids. Skyli is basically a... ". She was interrupted by Elsa, " NUMBSKULL, and sorry to interrupt you, Mrs. Norris ". Skyler, " hey, who are you to decide that, you blackhead mut ". " Its ok kids, calm down, please don't start again with all these. What was I talking about? Yes, I remember ...it's about these kids. So my Skyli is the most naughty among all but he has a wonderful heart indeed. His green eyes are his specialty as its a very rare trait and he is the only one with it in the whole village. Coming to my Cedric he is the most silent one but the wisest among all. Elsa is the one who always remains unsatisfied and irritated for no reason but the coolest among my kids and Rachel remains balanced but she is the softest-hearted and calm amongst all, this I can bet on ", said Mrs. Norris. As she completed, Skyler pulled out a leg of the roasted duck which was lying on the plate, added some chili flakes, took a bowl of ajiaco and started finishing off those as fast as he can so that he can again fill his plate. Elsa shouted, " don't you know table manners?... You idiot... You must wait for others to start ". " Yeah yeah... I have learned a lot of such manners from you in the past few years... but I'm hungry right now... so no rules for me ", Skyler. " You idiot, I am really sorry, Bea ", said Elsa. " Aha... its ok Elsa, I am not used to with so many formalities, you know... so relax, and let's start with our food ", Bea. They were all enjoying their meal and pulling each other's leg for fun when the clock struck eleven. It was still dark, deserted and pin-drop silent outside except the wolf's howl which kept on haunting the village streets. They finished their meal and Mrs. Norris told all her students and Bea to share between the two rooms on the first floor wherein Mrs. Norris decided to sleep on the ground floor. As Bea is new to this place she warned her not to go outside or open windows or main door at night at any cost. Bea and the other two girls settled in one room and two boys managed in the other. They switched off the lights and went off to sleep.