10.
This is a backstory for one of my current projects, Emerald; it's not really necessary until the sequel, but I wanted to post something here...
Scarlett Crimson walked slowly down the leave-scattered path, following the familiar way back to her home, high in the red mountains of Pouverà. Right now, her home was full of hundreds of people who were milling around the Crimson's All Hollow's Eve gala, which was an annual bash that everyone in Pouverà fought to attend. This year Scarlett was finally old enough to attend the gala, even though she had already turned seventeen a few months ago. Her parents were very strict about their guests, even if the girl in question was their own daughter.
The mask she wore along with it was simple in comparison, a simple black one with a red string hanging off the right side. It might be simple, but its symbol wasn't simple to her: it symbolized her entrance into the grown up world of her family and fellow high society, a world Scarlett had been born into but had yet to fully enter.
Her many critics could have a point, though: Scarlett often snuck out of her home at night to go to extravagant parties hosted by other elite teenagers, and she had been rumored to kiss many eligible bachelors and a few boys considered beneath her. Though Scarlett had never confirmed that all the rumors were true, she had never taken the time to deny them - mostly because she hated lying, and many stories whispered behind hands were true. Though it was a lie that Scarlett had ever been found in the arms of the neighborhood Casanova on his bed, it was true that she had kissed him a couple of times. And she had never touched a single drug in her life, but she had been known to drink too much.
These were the thoughts streaming through her mind as she walked towards the mansion that she had called home for over seventeen years. But something was different this time: everything was dark.
Dropping her mask on the ground, Scarlett grabbed her dress with both fists and started running to the front door, which was open, as if a great force had thrown it open. Hurrying into the front room, Scarlett's breath began to rush from her open mouth, and her bare arms were suddenly covered in goose bumps. She rushed to the ballroom, which should be full of people, partying and gossiping. Instead, it was empty, looking as if no one had been in the room in years, maybe even decades. No living soul was there, or so Scarlett believed.
"Who are you?" Scarlett gasped out, finding breath hard to find.
Scarlett opened her mouth to answer, to ask her for a true answer, but she was unable to do so, for at that very second the creature moved, and suddenly everything was going dark, as Scarlett fell to the ground.
The Crimson family was never found; all the party guests who arrived at their mansion that night woke up the next morning, believing they had attended the best All Hollow's Eve gala ever thrown. It wasn't until the Crimsons were discovered missing that some recalled strange memories, memories of a different ending to the night, one where a woman appeared, some where a girl appeared, and they all ended the same way: the Crimsons were taken, and the oldest girl, Scarlett Crimson, never showed up, not before their memories ended suddenly. Some wondered if she were still out there, but no one could find her, or any trace of her family.
As the people who attended the party died, some of normal accidents and some merely of old age, a new sorceress appeared in Pouverà, a young woman named Rhianna. Perhaps, if the guests had lived to see her, they might have recalled how eerily similar she was to the creature who graced the Crimson home that fateful night. And some who had the rare chance of visiting her home, and there were very few indeed, might recognize the simple black mask with a red ribbon attached to the right side, which hung above her huge fireplace, as a mask found in the front of the Crimson home on All Saints' Day, which was rumored to belong to Scarlett Crimson. Perhaps, if they had been at that gala, they might remember. And perhaps one of the world's oldest and greatest families might have been found.
But fate was not meant to be that way, and so for more than a century they remained hidden, stolen, waiting for the girl who could save them. But the question was: were they to be rescued by the summer light or the winter darkness? Or were they to be discovered by someone else entirely?
Scarlett Crimson walked slowly down the leave-scattered path, following the familiar way back to her home, high in the red mountains of Pouverà. Right now, her home was full of hundreds of people who were milling around the Crimson's All Hollow's Eve gala, which was an annual bash that everyone in Pouverà fought to attend. This year Scarlett was finally old enough to attend the gala, even though she had already turned seventeen a few months ago. Her parents were very strict about their guests, even if the girl in question was their own daughter.
The mask she wore along with it was simple in comparison, a simple black one with a red string hanging off the right side. It might be simple, but its symbol wasn't simple to her: it symbolized her entrance into the grown up world of her family and fellow high society, a world Scarlett had been born into but had yet to fully enter.
Her many critics could have a point, though: Scarlett often snuck out of her home at night to go to extravagant parties hosted by other elite teenagers, and she had been rumored to kiss many eligible bachelors and a few boys considered beneath her. Though Scarlett had never confirmed that all the rumors were true, she had never taken the time to deny them - mostly because she hated lying, and many stories whispered behind hands were true. Though it was a lie that Scarlett had ever been found in the arms of the neighborhood Casanova on his bed, it was true that she had kissed him a couple of times. And she had never touched a single drug in her life, but she had been known to drink too much.
These were the thoughts streaming through her mind as she walked towards the mansion that she had called home for over seventeen years. But something was different this time: everything was dark.
Dropping her mask on the ground, Scarlett grabbed her dress with both fists and started running to the front door, which was open, as if a great force had thrown it open. Hurrying into the front room, Scarlett's breath began to rush from her open mouth, and her bare arms were suddenly covered in goose bumps. She rushed to the ballroom, which should be full of people, partying and gossiping. Instead, it was empty, looking as if no one had been in the room in years, maybe even decades. No living soul was there, or so Scarlett believed.
"Who are you?" Scarlett gasped out, finding breath hard to find.
Scarlett opened her mouth to answer, to ask her for a true answer, but she was unable to do so, for at that very second the creature moved, and suddenly everything was going dark, as Scarlett fell to the ground.
The Crimson family was never found; all the party guests who arrived at their mansion that night woke up the next morning, believing they had attended the best All Hollow's Eve gala ever thrown. It wasn't until the Crimsons were discovered missing that some recalled strange memories, memories of a different ending to the night, one where a woman appeared, some where a girl appeared, and they all ended the same way: the Crimsons were taken, and the oldest girl, Scarlett Crimson, never showed up, not before their memories ended suddenly. Some wondered if she were still out there, but no one could find her, or any trace of her family.
As the people who attended the party died, some of normal accidents and some merely of old age, a new sorceress appeared in Pouverà, a young woman named Rhianna. Perhaps, if the guests had lived to see her, they might have recalled how eerily similar she was to the creature who graced the Crimson home that fateful night. And some who had the rare chance of visiting her home, and there were very few indeed, might recognize the simple black mask with a red ribbon attached to the right side, which hung above her huge fireplace, as a mask found in the front of the Crimson home on All Saints' Day, which was rumored to belong to Scarlett Crimson. Perhaps, if they had been at that gala, they might remember. And perhaps one of the world's oldest and greatest families might have been found.
But fate was not meant to be that way, and so for more than a century they remained hidden, stolen, waiting for the girl who could save them. But the question was: were they to be rescued by the summer light or the winter darkness? Or were they to be discovered by someone else entirely?