CHAPTER ONE
In Flagrante
"Your house is really huge! Kahit ilang beses mo pa 'kong ilibot dito ay talagang mawawala parin ako sa sobrang laki."
Ingrid stared at the window, clutching a wooden brush on her hand, she nearly sighed out of vexation for the piece she was doing. Time began to dissolve itself, and with each passing second she could only dream of seeing drops of rain trickling down moist glass panes.
Sadly to Ingrid's liking, the flaxen sun greeted her with its bright light, no hint of gray clouds in the near horizon. Today was an ideal sunny weather with the free azure sky above. The gleaming sunlight radiated upon her, tickling the pale skin it planted on top of. The civilians traversing below perhaps enjoyed the comfortable warmth but it only made her furrow her brows in irk.
The sun absolutely disgusted her.
Maybe if the huge ball of hydrogen came crashing down on Earth one day, only then would she put her distaste into consideration. She paused and kept the blissful thought of human decimation at the back of her head, she had more important things to tend to.
She focused back unto the canvas that settled in front of her with little enthusiasm, muttering incoherent motivations to keep her working. Empty sentences brimming with faux positivity did nothing to boost her will.
"Kapag maglaro siguro tayo ng tagu-taguan dito baka bangkay na kita na mahanap kung ako ang taya." Her friend continued on spewing random statements and whatnots.
"That sounds nice." Ingrid commented, finally interacting with the newcomer.
"Huh? Maglaro ng tagu-taguan?"
She shook her head and threw her friend a look. They quickly met gazes, enthusiastic irises rivaled with emotionless orbs before Ingrid swiftly looked away, "Ang maging bangkay."
Eloise Lidea whipped her strawberry blonde hair to the side, rolling her orange eyes at the blunt joke.
"There you go again with that humor," The youth chirped before heading to her friend. With every step the ginger head took, the more Ingrid could feel her radiating aura waft off. Her friend, as always, was beaming in happiness and overflowing with positivity.
Eloise comfortably lied down on the woodboard, facing the stool on which her cold classmate was on, before she gave a warm smile.
Ingrid's dark brown eyes, abysses that seemed to have no ending, scanned the room. Purposely avoiding to look at her friend. The lodging parted in the middle, one with fine carpet, and the other was a wooden dais. The elevated space was a mess occupied by gray sketches laying still, cans of paint with labels torn off, racks filled with unfinished projects, and drying pieces on scattered easels, with a huge window pane offering natural light, completing the artistic ambience.
The other half of the room stayed serene, proper, and breezed of elegance. A grand piano with a peculiar engraving rested on the center of the gray carpet lining the floor. Not far from the striped walls, a classical vinaceous viola basked under the luminance of the pristine chandelier above. Gingerly put-together music sheets propped on aligned stands. This side held a formal atmosphere, one that Ingrid always took in as cold rather than lovely.
Her recreational room, as what her mother liked to call it.
If someone were to ask about an item in the vicinity, she'd be able to answer back its accurate spot and the shades enveloping the inanimate object in a heartbeat. She already had the room engraved at the back of her mind, well, wouldn't you after a whole week?
