Epigraph
“Through me the way is to the city dolent;
Through me the way is to eternal dole;
Through me the way among the people lost.
Justice incited my sublime Creator;
Created me divine Omnipotence,
The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.
Before me there were no created things,
Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter in!”
Dante Alighieri, Inferno
❛•☠︎•❜
Chapter One
“Keep the Door Closed on Halloween”
There was nothing else in the entire universe but her, for she was the universe. Her dark brown hair had highlights like Jupiter, her hands were cold like Neptune, her body curvy and mesmerising like Saturn’s rings, and her eyes were whole galaxies of brown and yellow shining brightly of their own accord. Sophie Riviere pressed her hand against her cheek, feeling the heat of her lover as she smiled.
“What are you thinking about so profoundly?” she mocked, pinching Sophie’s nose. “We should get back to cooking. At this rate, we will be dining past midnight.”
Sophie did not answer but moved out of the way so Aramina could get down from the counter she was previously sitting on. She carefully observed as Aramina put her pink apron back on and tied her dark hair in a sloppy ponytail. Then she took the green apron sitting on a dining chair and extended it in Sophie’s direction. Their fingers brushed slightly as Sophie grabbed it off her hand, ready to mimic her actions.
Before they could even change their attention to the tagliatelle boiling in the pan, Aramina’s phone rang. She quickly reached for the dining table and put it on speakerphone. First, the other person was silent, probably waiting for Aramina to say something, but she just sighed.
“Don’t forget to close the doors and the windows and don’t even think about going out tonight,” her mother’s voice was sharp but quickly softened. “Please, Ara.”
“It’s Rina, Mom,” she corrected. “But you don’t have to worry, I won’t go out. Soph’s here to keep an eye on me.”
Aramina giggles as she notices Sophie’s flustered face and winks extravagantly, making Sophie even more nervous.
“Don’t give Sophie too much work, I know you can be pushy when you want to. I still can’t believe that blessing of a child ended up falling in your love trap—”
“Okay, Mom, I’m hanging up,” Aramina tried to interrupt her mother before she could say something even worse, turning to Sophie immediately after. “Sorry you had to hear that.”
Sophie just shrugged, adding the beef to the sauce. Aramina pressed her lips together before struggling to transfer the pasta to a different recipient. Cooking pasta is not necessarily a tough task, but anything remotely related to food has been difficult for Aramina since she almost burned the house down to make scrambled eggs. At least she has not had a reason to take care of any cooking since she moved out of her mother’s house to live with Sophie, who is known for her perfect pasta alla carbonara.
“You will burn yourself. Let me handle it, my love,” said Sophie, taking the recipient out of Aramina’s hands. “Why don’t you see if Saskia and Winnie need help decorating the cakes or setting the dining table?”
“Something that is not staying here, I got it.”
After Aramina’s reaction, Sophie could not help but feel bad about how she acted. It was not because she did not enjoy her company. In fact, it was the opposite. Sophie kept getting distracted by her hypnotic figure and could barely take her eyes off her, let alone cook with her by her side. She watched like an eagle as Aramina walked out of the kitchen, probably heading to the dining room, her hips seductively disappearing in the darkness of the corridor.
She turned around, feeling strangely drawn to the only window not covered by a beautiful green curtain. Those curtains were the first thing they bought for their new house so they had a special place in Sophie’s heart. She thought she had to cover the window, but she did not do it immediately. Instead, she extended her hand to feel its coldness and looked at the outside.
From afar, she could see the moon was full and the streets were incredibly dark, not a single street light lit and no children outside to celebrate Halloween. That was not really something to worry about since the neighbourhood had very few children, but she could not help but feel uneasy staring into the night completely alone. When she finally started to cover the window, she noticed one of the street lights was flickering and stopped herself. For a moment she held her breath, thinking about Aramina and their future together.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Sophie blinked and the window was opened, her body moving before she could think, as if in a trance. It was not even close to Aramina so there was no problem, nothing would happen to her. She stayed there for a couple of seconds, the cold breeze of Autumn gracing her in the face. Suddenly, she regained control of her body and hurriedly closed the window, turning her back to it. Her heart was beating fast and some tears ran down her cheeks.
Before her heartbeat and breathing could steady, she felt a hand pressed against her neck. However, in front of her was only an empty kitchen illuminated by a faint yellow light Aramina had said it was better to create a cosy environment, but she could still feel that hand firmly holding onto her neck. It was strong, but it clearly did not seek to kill her because she could breathe without much effort, and if she wanted to, she could speak.
“P-Please,” she said with difficulty. “Tell me what you want.”
“I smell her on you,” she heard a male voice speaking close to her. “But you are not her.”
“W-Who?” Sophie managed to ask, feeling his fingers squeezing harder.
Abruptly, she could feel the walls trembling as something continuously hit them, making a dreadful sound that penetrated her ears.
“Cecil.”
The name sounded like a cold whisper being imprinted directly in her brain. Suddenly, the tight feeling around her neck disappeared and she was left on her knees, rubbing the now bruised area and unable to control her breathing for some time. The moment she was able to walk, she ran to the dining room to inform the others there was something non-human in the house.
❛•☠︎•❜
Winnie Fusari, one of her best friends, had just left to go to the bathroom, leaving her alone with the cupcakes they were supposed to decorate for their private Halloween party. A party was a good excuse to “bring the band back together” as they had not seen each other since she and Winnie went to University in Rome, leaving Sophie and Aramina alone in Rimini, their hometown four hours away.
Saskia Ozanna stared at the blackberries and tiny skull heads made of chocolate thinking of a beautiful way to put them on top of the red frosting of the cupcakes. First, she pressed a blackberry against her lips, then she savoured it without thinking about not having enough of them to decorate. After all, decorating was not as important as her hunger but it was not long before she was finished with the spooky skeleton cupcakes and changed her attention to the special party cake.
It was a chocolate cake decorated with cute little pumpkins and bones on top of a layer of chocolate powder, making it look like dirt. There were only a few details left she wanted to do with Winnie, but she was taking a bit longer than expected in the bathroom. Saskia thought to herself: ‘I’m not a baby, I can do it alone!’
Her blonde hair fell on her face as she cut a big cookie to place on a cake as a tombstone, using icing to write “Rina”. She then cut a different cookie, and was ready to write another name: “Sophie”. Yet, when the first letter was about to be completed, she noticed two amber marbles under the dining table, floating.
At the same time, loud noises were heard outside, like someone was hitting the walls fiercely. She covered her ears to protect them from the tremendous sound, but it did not make any difference. Then, as if connected to the excruciating sound, the marbles also moved. It was bad enough that they existed, so she covered her mouth so as not to scream, afraid of something much worse than just a simple sound. Fear took over her body making it shiver, her face was red, and tears rolled down her eyes. That might have been the closest Saskia had ever been to “something out of this world”, and she did not like it.
Although afraid, she was curious. They were glossy and small so she attempted to move closer to them. However, the lights started to flicker, and they did so for a couple of seconds before letting the room fall into complete darkness, the only thing illuminating it being the devil’s marbles.
Saskia let a small grasp out of her mouth as she watched the amber marbles aggressively crashing against the ground and slowly rolling in the direction of her feet, stopping right in front of her. She was decorating the sweets on the counter on the opposite side of the marbles so she thought she would be safe for longer than that. While one amber marble was immobilised, the other quickly touched her right foot.
The place the marble touched started to burn up, and that same heat started to expand itself all over her thin body. Before she realised it, her body was burning up from the tip of her toe to the top of her head, and she was unable to move. She felt a hand grab her wrist and make her body hit something from behind, cornering her.
This time she screamed, all rationality leaving her body.
❛•☠︎•❜
She had just finished washing her hands when the noise started. Suddenly, she lost control of her body and fell to her knees in front of the sink. Because of the sound, she felt close to having an episode like those Aramina used to have. She did not know the exact name of it, but she could understand how painful it was. In her mind, she wished for Sophie Riviere to magically materialise in that silent bathroom, as she was always the one to help Aramina out when those occurred.
Winnie tried to test the strength of her knees and get back up, but the silence in the bathroom was interrupted by the lights flickering and the sound of whispers, so she stayed in the same position. Those whispers felt like they were inside Winnie’s brain, causing her unbearable pain.
Then the sound of dripping water started. She closed her eyes as if it would change anything, and gave up the futile thought of getting off the floor. She thought about her friends that were outside, about her dead parents, about the University course that was not going so well, about working as a waitress and enduring terrible situations as one, about the insignificance of life, and how death would feel comfortable at that situation.
For a brief moment, she felt a warm hand on top of her own but she was still completely alone in the bathroom when she checked. Although terrifying, it made her feel less depressed: that gentle gesture she thought was imaginary somewhat improved her breathing.
“God—”
“Help me,” she heard a male voice whispering in her ear, in an authoritarian tone.
Winnie thought she was going crazy, talking to herself and hearing things, but the warm hand she felt was so real. She sighed.
“How?” she dared to ask after a short silence where there were no whispers or dripping water.
“I can feel her here,” the voice murmured again.
Suddenly, a golden shadow in the form of an arm reached Winnie’s face. She instinctively moved her body away from it, afraid she would burn at its touch but the shadow did not stop. It slightly touched her cheek and she instantly felt its hotness. It could only be the same hand that warmed her earlier. In her head, she knew she should fear that being but not in her heart.
“W-Who?” she said in a hot breath. “Who are you looking for?”
“Cecil.”
That word was whispered so close to her mouth, that she felt a breeze blowing in it. Now she wondered why that being mumbled such a name in a way that one would think that person was so cherished. A rotten sensation covered her heart as if she was jealous of the love of a supernatural being, and she almost slapped herself for it.
Winnie felt the hand caressing her cheek one last time before disappearing like it was never there, and she stayed in the same position for another minute just thinking about its warmth. It was not long before she finally had the strength to get up and leave the bathroom.