Spoiler
Some say that freedom comes after graduating High School – that wasn’t the case for Kristabel Westchester, who spent her entire life waiting for the day when she would be handed the key to unlock her chains. Growing up in a controlling family wasn’t her cup of tea. However, her wishes for freedom are granted when she meets an escaped convict – from Hell, a demon named Crosse. He hands over the key to her chains all right, but at the price of her mortal life. Well, there’s no greater freedom than death, right?
Chapter One
Sleeping Potion
The hooves beat against the ground as Kristabel moved the horse into a gallop. Her horse’s breathing increased as they made their way across the dirt track. Adrenaline coursed up her veins and quickened her breath. She saw the first hurdle she had put up approaching in twenty feet.
“Faster, Pacific,” she urged the horse. Feeling the morning wind blow into her face and tangle into her hair, she tightened her grip on the reins and squeezed her legs together to put slight pressure on Pacific’s sides. Pacific’s front hooves took off and Kris’s heart nearly stopped as she went midair. Everything went quiet for those mere seconds besides the breath she sucked in.
Pacific touched down on the other side of the hurdle and the shock of grounding pulled Kris back into reality, forcing her held breath out her lips. A grin extended over her face as she continued to gallop slowly.
“Nice jump, Pacific,” Kris complimented, “good girl.” She walked Pacific to the gate. With her foot she opened the lock after three failed attempts and pushed it open, allowing Pacific to walk onto the grass field. She sighed, petting the horse’s mane as she looked around the ranch. The Westchester family had a large home and that land that went on for acres. However, in that home of riches and light, she preferred her horse and her field where things were that much simpler.
The morning was a bit foggy but it wasn’t anything bad that Pacific would have a hard time walking in. She would have hated it if it drizzled though. The sky wasn’t exactly clear; the sun rays still had a difficult time penetrating the thick clouds above. A frown played over her lips as she realized it was going to rain today. The clouds had been sniffing all week and it was about time they cried some tears.
This means no riding until the grass dries, she thought.
Tucking her strands of loose hair back into her helmet, she turned to look at the woods behind her house. From the corner of her eye she made out a figure standing next to one of the trees.
“Whoa.” She halted the horse. Looking over her shoulders she pressed her lips together, and then jumped down. With a tilted head she made her way back to the where she saw the figure. Putting her hands on the fence that separated her home from the woods, her eyes roamed the area.
Pacific nuzzled her nose against Kris’s shoulder. “I swear I saw someone here,” she said to the horse. “Hello is anyone there?” she called.
No answer.
“That’s weird…maybe I’m just seeing things. I blame having to wake up this early, you know. My head isn’t fully functional right now.” Kris smiled at her Dunalino colored horse. Pacific’s color reminded her of the soft sand when she went to the coast of California when she was twelve. So like the ocean, she named her horse Pacific because Sand or Sandy just didn’t cut it.
Petting her long nose, she leaned in and rubbed her cheek against Pacific’s warm head while holding her gaze on the trees.
---
“Darling, you weren’t kidding when you said you’d wake up early to jump with Pacific, did you?” Henry set his newspaper on the table and looked up. Lifting his mug, he took a drink from his coffee.
“No, I wasn’t kidding,” she answered, walking into the kitchen and sitting down on the chair across from him. Her hand reached over and she began to butter her toast. “I wanted to see how Pacific would do with morning training. You know I don’t have time to ride anymore since exams have started this week and with mom being in the hospital.” She took a bite.
Henry forced a smile, setting his cup down. “Don’t work yourself too hard. Take a break from your equitation hobbies and focus more on your school work or you’ll be too burned out to do either of them correctly.” Henry picked at his rectangular glasses and showed her a warm smile.
Suddenly the bread tasted sour in her mouth. She knew her father didn’t mean her harm and that he was just thinking about her overall well-being and future but at times, that’s all he ever seemed to pay attention to. “I think I’ll be able to manage myself just fine.” She did her best to keep herself from making it sound impolite.
“Kris, I really don’t think it’s a good idea. Drop riding for this month and focus on your studies. Junior year is important, remember?”
She bit her lip, her hand clawing the fabric of her vintage skirt. “Okay.” She took in a breath, knowing that if she made a fit about it now, it’d only make a scene in front of the house assistants and maids. “I understand.”
Of course she always seemed to be the one understanding things. The last time she spoke her mind was during her tenth birthday party when she made a fuss over getting a present she didn’t want. The party guest began to talk then, about what kind of spoilt brat Henry had raised. She was just ten but age didn’t matter to those sophisticated people.
In the circle of her family’s friends and relatives, children were raised to obey elders. Her entire life had been controlled by her father. She was pretty sure he had a notebook somewhere which had all the details to her life written down years before she was even born.
“I’m afraid I can’t give you a ride to school today, sweetheart. Do you want to take the truck since your car broke down?” Henry asked, sitting up. One of the house maids came in and cleared away his plates. He straightened his tie and pulled on his overcoat. “I think you should just drive yourself to school with the truck, I know you’re not accustomed to it but tell that Daniel to give you ride if you’re really not up to it.” He picked his briefcase off the counter. “Love you,” he said, kissing her forehead before leaving.
“Love you too.” She straightened her back and continued to eat her breakfast. Everything tasted bad.
---
Kris watched her feet as she walked down the crowed hallway of her private academy for girls. Rich girls such as herself didn’t go to public schools and instead were obligated to wear these ridiculous skirts in the cold and act like total snobs, complaining about little things like how Wallgreens cropped their photos incorrectly and that they should’ve just hired a professional. Were there even professionals for that?
Someone shoved her shoulder and she looked up at tall blonde girl.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice. She ‘sounded’ sincere but her eyes told a different story.
Kris smiled, fighting the urge to narrow her eyes and glare. “It’s alright,” she managed to say. She turned around and continued down the noisy hallway towards her science class. Sometimes she wondered what public schools were like. Were they even louder? Did boys and girls kiss in the hallway like they showed in the movies and was there gum underneath every desk? Did girls in public schools always act like there was some competition going on between all of them based on family income? She groaned silently to herself.
I’m so getting out of this place, she told herself, and graduation equals independence.
She walked into the chemistry class, taking her seat which was on opposite side of room, next to the window. Kris opened her binder, looking up at the tubby teacher as he checked off names every time someone came into the class. The way his nose twitched every few seconds gave her the creeps. She wondered if it was some sort of muscle defect in his nose and wondered why he didn’t get it fixed.
Kris’s gaze turned to the window. Outside, the rain had slowly begun making its way down, forming little bubbles on the glass. Cars made their way down the street and the sidewalks were empty except for one person. Her head slanted as she made out a woman standing across the street with a red umbrella. Her face was hidden but she knew the woman was looking at her.
With a gasp, she pushed her chair back and stood up. It was the same person she saw earlier this morning next to her home.
“Miss Westchester, is something the matter?” Her Chemistry teacher asked, standing up from his seat – his nose twitching more ferociously than before.
Kris looked at him and then back outside but the woman was gone. Was she really just seeing things lately? “I-it’s nothing. I’m sorry,” she muttered, sitting back down. The last time she freaked out like that was when she was ten and swore she saw the boogeyman under her bed.
The other students stared at her but then resumed their chit-chatting.
Rubbing her head, she wondered if it was the fact that she hadn’t been getting enough sleep lately which was causing her to hallucinate about this stalker woman. There was just something about her imaginary friend that sent spiders running up and down her back.
---
Raindrops spattered on the pavement. In a daze, Kris watched the ripples in the puddles while listening to the song of the season. Spring time was one of her favorite times of the year. The countless days of rain felt like the entire world was being cleaned like a muddy child being given a fresh bath.
Inhaling the earthy scent, Kris tightened her hands around her grey umbrella.
She pictured herself throwing away her umbrella and jumping down the steps, immersing herself in the music notes that the rain sang. She’d look at her hands and watch as the droplets splashed against her palms, as the water ran down her hair.
Lighting snapped her out of her daydream. She peered up and down the street, waiting for Daniel. He was the new stable boy her father hired to take care of her horses when she didn’t have the time. It was nice knowing that no matter what, her Pacific had someone to take care of her all day long.
With a tilted head, her eyes wandered up towards the grey sky. The thick clouds squeezed together like a mixture of thick pudding. Kris could hear the far off thunder rolling in the clouds and every time it crackled above, her shoulders cringed together.
Finally, a black truck pulled into the school’s front entrance. Quickly, Kris skipped down the stairs, dodged the puddles and made it to the car. She pulled open the door, closing her umbrella. The leather inside began showing dark spots while she attempted to stuff her backpack, umbrella, binder and herself into the front seat.
“Let me get that for you,” Daniel offered, taking hold of her backpack and setting it in the tiny back seat.
“Thank you,” she replied. With a smack, she closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks for coming, Daniel. I’m sorry but I don’t like riding in the bus.” She strapped on the belt as Daniel rolled out of the entrance and onto the street.
“No, it’s alright.” Dan faced her for a quick second and then shifted back to the road. He wasn’t the best looking chap in the world but he did have his own quirks that made him attractive. He had nice brown hair, whatever he was using, it was working. His nose wasn’t crooked or weird but nice and straight and the way his thick lashes shaped his eyes was the perfect touch. He was wearing some jeans and a white shirt that said “I’m lost, please take me home with you”.
“Say, where are you headed Miss Kristabel?” he asked in his faint country accent.
“You can just call me Kris,” she said, smiling, “I know it’s a bit of boyish name but since we’re around the same age, I don’t think there really is a need for formalities.” She caught herself. “Except for maybe in front of my parents, you know, and other guests,” she stuttered. “Then I think it’s appropriate that you call me Miss Kristabel.”
Daniel laughed and caught her in his green eyes. “Well in that case, you can just call me Dan. Except for when we’re in front of the elders, then I think calling me Mr Daniel is quite appropriate.” A boyish smile showed over his lips.
She smiled at his poor humor. This was much better than the conversation they had this morning when he dropped her off. She was too upset to talk to him properly so the ride was silent and awkward.
The windshield wipers made squeaking sounds as they wiped the rain down the glass. She sat on her hands to keep them warm. Even if the heat was on, it didn’t seem like it was warm enough.
“So um, are you headed home or something?” Dan asked. “I know one of the housemaids mentioned something about you going to the hospital after school or something.”
“Ah, yes. We have to go there…”
“Alright then,” he said with a smile, turning the truck onto the highway.
The rain pounded harder on the windshield making sounds like fists hitting glass doors. She watched herself in the car’s side mirror. Her image wasn’t clear but she could still make out her main points. The mole under the right side of her lip. The grey floral headband that made her look like a child. Honestly she was sure she was the offspring of a cabbage patch doll and Velma from Scooby Doo. Her brown hair was long and straight, no bangs or layers, it was totally even and boring but that was how her father liked it. Unsophisticated, delicate, boring yet beautiful and young, a daughter her family dreamed of. Holding up that dream however, was a tough job.
---
“How are you mom? I’m feeling fine today. A bit of disappoint and a bit of happiness. Sometimes I’m not really sure if I’m really feeling what I’m feeling. I fake so much of my life that I have a hard time knowing what’s real and what’s not.” Kris looked down at her Heather.
Her mother’s brown hair spread over the white hospital pillow. Her face was pale and she looked like she was resting with her eyes closed…for six years. When Kris was eleven her mother got into a car accident on her way back from the clinic. The car that hit her was a truck and since that incident, she became afraid of driving large vehicles.
She took her mother’s hand and squeezed it, intertwining their fingers together. “I miss you mom. I wonder if things would’ve been different if you were around. Maybe you’d understand me more unlike dad. He’s not a bad guy but sometimes he just doesn’t understand me.”
She watched her emotionless face. It was hard, knowing that her mother was alive but dead at the same time. If she woke up one day, what would she remember? Would she know that she came to visit her every single day for the past six years? That she combed her hair and cleaned her face, would she remember feeling all of that? They were coming back again, the tears that always came up whenever she visited. She missed her mother’s touch and word and would give anything to bring her back from this vegetative state.
“Please wake up soon,” she said and then stood up and walked out of the room. Her heart was stammering inside her chest. More than a hundred times she told herself to not thinking about these things but she did it anyway. She passed the doctors, nurses and Dan who was holding two cups of coffee in his hand. He didn’t notice her though.
She went downstairs and quickly pushed open the front door, walking out. She breathed in the cool air, lifting her head to the puffy dark clouds which had grown heavier. The raindrops had become thicker. They dropped from the sky like falling glass shards and made sounds like a dozen chimes hitting the ground.
Tears fell from her eyes just like the raindrops. Giving up at holding herself up, she sat down on a ledge. After all these years, she figured it’d be easier seeing her mother and thinking about her but all that came across her mind were what ifs. What if she never woke up? What if she was going to be stuck in this state forever, missing everything and everyone?
A tap on her shoulder pulled Kris’s eyes up towards a woman.
“Have this,” she said, handing over a handkerchief, “wipe your tears.”
Graciously accepting the pink cloth, Kris let her hair fall over her face as she wiped the tears away. Sniffing, she tried to pull her snot back up her nose but it wasn’t going anywhere.
A small chuckle bit at the tip of the woman’s tongue. “It’s alright, you can keep the handkerchief,” the woman replied.
Thankfully, she wiped her nose and once she felt like she was presentable she looked at the woman. She was a very tall lady, like a model and had skin like the sunset on a beach.
“Thank you very much.” Kris showed the upmost gratitude through her words.
The woman took a seat next to her and left only a few inches of space between them. “You’re welcome, dear.” She smiled and met Kris’s eyes.
The woman was utterly gorgeous that even girls would get lost in her deep chocolate eyes. It was like falling into a pit of soft, fat-free fudge. The woman’s nightly hair was wavy and thick, full of lush and shined like silk even in the murky weather. However, there was something odd about her.
“What’s bothering you?” The woman asked. If vanilla had a voice, it would be hers. Kris decided it was her hallucinations at work again and waved it off.
Kris’s hands tightened around the handkerchief. “M-my mom’s in a coma.” It was weird talking about it. Normally she wouldn’t have mentioned anything to a stranger but again, there was just something about her.
The woman put a hand over her mouth. “I’m…I’m so sorry to hear that.” She frowned and folded her hands across her lap and looked across the busy street. “There are times where life seems a bit unfair. Sometimes it snatches away the things you hold so dear even though we’ve never done anything bad, the ill things in life still find us.”
“You’re right…” I know that feeling better than anything else.
“But even if those bad things find you, be thankful that you still have a life to live and air to breath.” She faced Kris and rubbed a hand over her back. Normally, she’d feel weird if a stranger did that but it felt nice that someone, a stranger, cared so much about her troubles. “Your mother is still alive, her time is being cut but if you keep faith, one day she’ll wake up and she’ll be so happy that she still has the time that she has, trust me.”
Kris nodded, wiping her nose with the cloth again. She must have a part time job as a religious figure or something, she thought.
Her eyelid felt heavy. Maybe it was the stress that she just cried off that made her tired all of a sudden.
“Time…that’s the most important thing a person has. Without it, nothing is possible.”
“Yes,” Kris said even though she wasn’t quite sure what the woman had said. “Um, for your words of encouragement,” she said, fighting her drowsiness, “can I have your name so I can thank you?”
The woman showed her extravagant smile. “Lavira.”
“Thank you, Miss Lavira.” Kris tried to stand up but her body felt weak. Finally pushing herself up, she took a step but every muscle screamed in protest. Suddenly her mind went blank, her vision blurred and she fell into what seemed to be a dark endless pit.
Anyway, Shrubs here to review. 
