Please be as harsh as you like. I want this to be perfect.
This is only in case you want to skim over Chapter 1. Totally unncecessary, of course.
Spoiler
Why was I in the portrait room? It was the coldest, strangest room in the whole mansion. And it was so dark here right now. I was terrified. I had no idea how I got here in the first place. I shivered in my nightgown, a reflection of both the fear and sudden coldness that had engulfed me. Noticing an eerie glow, I looked up at the source. It was at the very end of the long corridor like room I was in. My curiosity got the best of me, even though my whole being was revolting against my every movement towards the intruding glow. What was that? What was it doing there, in this world perfectly devout of the unusual?
As I approached the figure, it appeared to be that of a young girl. A girl that was familiar from the many portraits in this room, in fact. Was that not Adelaide Cot? The woman who first moved on Cot Island all these years ago? But she did not look like the proud woman from the portrait, instead she looked…fragile. As she turned to face me, I was taken aback by the frightening resemblance between the two of us. We both had the same thick brown hair and piercing blue eyes, coupled by skin which was much too pale to be considered beautiful, with plump lips devout of almost any color, save for a light shade of pink. She looked tired, though, like she’d waited for a long time. But as soon as she fixed her eyes on me, she smiled.
‘This belongs to you.’ She said, as she undid the necklace around her tiny neck. It was a beautiful jewel- an Alexandrite stone bound in a silver chain. One of the rarest gem stones in the world, with the extraordinary ability to change its colors. Green, the color that it was now, represented good luck, which prompted me to reach out and take it. The moment that I took it, it changed to red! I dropped it immediately. Adelaide looked at me and said encouragingly:
‘Do not be afraid, Cordelia. This belongs to you.’
But red! Red means misfortune, trouble! I thought as my heart beat wildly in my chest. Then, a man appeared. He looked pained, as he took his seat next to Adelaide. They were both so young and beautiful with their snow white skin and thick brown locks of hair that fell long behind both their backs.
The man’s eyes were transfixed on the stone. It was as though he could not notice anything else, but it.
‘She… is the seed.’ He whispered and looked at me. His eyes were the most peculiar shade of emerald green. He glared at me with such hate, that he seemed to pierce me with his eyes. And then I started screaming, because all of a sudden, I felt the most agonizing, burning pain shoot through my body.
It was then that I woke up, covered in cold sweat.
…
The nightmares had begun at about the same time as the disappearances. I was sure it was the stress that made me suddenly lapse into a sort of insomniac state, where the only time I slept, I had these elaborate nightmares that woke me up soon enough. As a result, I had permanent dark circles under my eyes, and always had the appearance of one of the walking dead. I don’t mean those beautiful vampires either, more like those hideous zombies you see in really bad movies.
If only Harper was here. She would understand. I could call Harper at the wee hours of the night and she’d know what’s going on. But Harper was gone. So were Amy, Rita, Gemma and June. All girls and all of them stunningly beautiful barely sixteen year olds disappeared within a fortnight. I knew I had to accept that they would probably never been found. A year of constant nightmares and insomnia, a year where I was not certain whether I would rather be trapped in reality or trapped in a nightmare had followed. And no trace of them. I knew, I had been in many of those search parties. It was like they had vanished from the island.
I reluctantly remembered the last time I spoke to Harper. It had been so normal. A normal that was now completely alien to me. She was gushing over the fact that Seamus Catarcht had actually talked to her.
‘And you won’t believe it, Cordelia, he just turns around and goes ‘Harper. You look nice today. I like your hair.’ I died.’
‘I’m happy for you.’ I said, preoccupied with an assignment, not realizing this insignificant phone call would be the last conversation I would have with my best friend.
‘Ugh, God, Cordelia I can’t believe you’re doing homework while I’m trying to share something of such significance. Anyway, I was thinking, since Lee is bound to ask me out, why don’t you and I and Seamus and Taylor go on a double date this weekend?’
‘You know I don’t date, Harp.’
‘Whatever. I have to go. I’ll just convince you at school tomorrow, you know that, right?’
And then she hung up.
Except she didn’t convince me at school the next day. Because Harper was gone. She was gone and she wasn’t coming back. At first I thought it might be a trick she was playing, pretending she wasn’t around, playing the fool- that was so Harper. But then, she was gone overnight. That wasn’t like Harper. She wouldn’t worry her parents like that. I refused to admit that she was gone. Even when a year had passed, I refused to see that Harper was never coming back. She was my best friend, she was the only person who understood me so well. How could she be taken away from me? We could not survive apart. We were one, and we were invincible. Nothing could hurt us two when we were apart.
It was while I was thinking this that I heard a knock on my door.
‘Come in.’ I said, softly. I did not like to speak any louder when I thought of Harper, or speak at all. Because when I spoke, I could not hold back the tears. And it had been a year, I was meant to be moving on. Everyone else was moving on, right?
My mother entered in her nightgown, with a crazed look in her eyes:
‘We haven’t much time, Cordelia. Pack your things.’
I looked at her slightly annoyed.
‘Mom, go back to bed.’
‘Cordelia, you must get off this island. You must, you must! It isn’t safe for you here! They’ll come! They’ll take you away to that demonic place and you’ll be lost, love. You’ll be lost like the rest. But you’ll suffer most! Because of Adelaide. Oh Adelaide thought she had it all planned out, sure, here comes the seed and she’ll save us all from… But how could she think that I would let my precious, my love, my only-‘
My father walked in and grabbed my mother then.
‘That’s enough, Magnolia.’
My mother instantly shut up and looked at me pleadingly as my father escorted her to her room. He came back later, my dad. He sat on the edge of my bed and looked at me intently:
‘Did you have another nightmare?’ He asked.
‘Yes father.’
‘Those pills aren’t working, are they?’
‘No father.’
‘Go back to sleep, love. Your mother is sick. Very sick. I’m sorry she disturbed you and possibly spooked you with her crazy talk. But always remember that you have nothing to fear. I will always be here to protect you.’
‘Sure father.’ I said, as I pulled my quilt over my head.
Cot Island- The island that my ancestors discovered and inhabited centuries ago. I had every right to be here. I was a member of what was pretty much left of the first family to settle here. Allegedly, the Cots feared religious prosecution of some sort and therefore Kieran Cot, Adelaide’s brother, who was an experienced sailor picked up his sister, her husband and a few other people seeking refuge and made their way to this island on a stolen ship. Nobody found this island in Adelaide’s time and by the time they did, the world had become a more accepting place which had no intention of bothering this tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And thus we existed, undisrupted by anyone but the occasional tourist, happily going about our own business.
Until people started going missing, of course. When you live on an island, how hard is it to find a missing person, or even body? And then, my mother had a nervous breakdown, always with this crazy talk, and the nightmares and insomnia had begun. And suddenly my life did not seem so perfect anymore. But that was just the beginning. I thought that was bad? Well, it only went downhill from there.
As I approached the figure, it appeared to be that of a young girl. A girl that was familiar from the many portraits in this room, in fact. Was that not Adelaide Cot? The woman who first moved on Cot Island all these years ago? But she did not look like the proud woman from the portrait, instead she looked…fragile. As she turned to face me, I was taken aback by the frightening resemblance between the two of us. We both had the same thick brown hair and piercing blue eyes, coupled by skin which was much too pale to be considered beautiful, with plump lips devout of almost any color, save for a light shade of pink. She looked tired, though, like she’d waited for a long time. But as soon as she fixed her eyes on me, she smiled.
‘This belongs to you.’ She said, as she undid the necklace around her tiny neck. It was a beautiful jewel- an Alexandrite stone bound in a silver chain. One of the rarest gem stones in the world, with the extraordinary ability to change its colors. Green, the color that it was now, represented good luck, which prompted me to reach out and take it. The moment that I took it, it changed to red! I dropped it immediately. Adelaide looked at me and said encouragingly:
‘Do not be afraid, Cordelia. This belongs to you.’
But red! Red means misfortune, trouble! I thought as my heart beat wildly in my chest. Then, a man appeared. He looked pained, as he took his seat next to Adelaide. They were both so young and beautiful with their snow white skin and thick brown locks of hair that fell long behind both their backs.
The man’s eyes were transfixed on the stone. It was as though he could not notice anything else, but it.
‘She… is the seed.’ He whispered and looked at me. His eyes were the most peculiar shade of emerald green. He glared at me with such hate, that he seemed to pierce me with his eyes. And then I started screaming, because all of a sudden, I felt the most agonizing, burning pain shoot through my body.
It was then that I woke up, covered in cold sweat.
…
The nightmares had begun at about the same time as the disappearances. I was sure it was the stress that made me suddenly lapse into a sort of insomniac state, where the only time I slept, I had these elaborate nightmares that woke me up soon enough. As a result, I had permanent dark circles under my eyes, and always had the appearance of one of the walking dead. I don’t mean those beautiful vampires either, more like those hideous zombies you see in really bad movies.
If only Harper was here. She would understand. I could call Harper at the wee hours of the night and she’d know what’s going on. But Harper was gone. So were Amy, Rita, Gemma and June. All girls and all of them stunningly beautiful barely sixteen year olds disappeared within a fortnight. I knew I had to accept that they would probably never been found. A year of constant nightmares and insomnia, a year where I was not certain whether I would rather be trapped in reality or trapped in a nightmare had followed. And no trace of them. I knew, I had been in many of those search parties. It was like they had vanished from the island.
I reluctantly remembered the last time I spoke to Harper. It had been so normal. A normal that was now completely alien to me. She was gushing over the fact that Seamus Catarcht had actually talked to her.
‘And you won’t believe it, Cordelia, he just turns around and goes ‘Harper. You look nice today. I like your hair.’ I died.’
‘I’m happy for you.’ I said, preoccupied with an assignment, not realizing this insignificant phone call would be the last conversation I would have with my best friend.
‘Ugh, God, Cordelia I can’t believe you’re doing homework while I’m trying to share something of such significance. Anyway, I was thinking, since Lee is bound to ask me out, why don’t you and I and Seamus and Taylor go on a double date this weekend?’
‘You know I don’t date, Harp.’
‘Whatever. I have to go. I’ll just convince you at school tomorrow, you know that, right?’
And then she hung up.
Except she didn’t convince me at school the next day. Because Harper was gone. She was gone and she wasn’t coming back. At first I thought it might be a trick she was playing, pretending she wasn’t around, playing the fool- that was so Harper. But then, she was gone overnight. That wasn’t like Harper. She wouldn’t worry her parents like that. I refused to admit that she was gone. Even when a year had passed, I refused to see that Harper was never coming back. She was my best friend, she was the only person who understood me so well. How could she be taken away from me? We could not survive apart. We were one, and we were invincible. Nothing could hurt us two when we were apart.
It was while I was thinking this that I heard a knock on my door.
‘Come in.’ I said, softly. I did not like to speak any louder when I thought of Harper, or speak at all. Because when I spoke, I could not hold back the tears. And it had been a year, I was meant to be moving on. Everyone else was moving on, right?
My mother entered in her nightgown, with a crazed look in her eyes:
‘We haven’t much time, Cordelia. Pack your things.’
I looked at her slightly annoyed.
‘Mom, go back to bed.’
‘Cordelia, you must get off this island. You must, you must! It isn’t safe for you here! They’ll come! They’ll take you away to that demonic place and you’ll be lost, love. You’ll be lost like the rest. But you’ll suffer most! Because of Adelaide. Oh Adelaide thought she had it all planned out, sure, here comes the seed and she’ll save us all from… But how could she think that I would let my precious, my love, my only-‘
My father walked in and grabbed my mother then.
‘That’s enough, Magnolia.’
My mother instantly shut up and looked at me pleadingly as my father escorted her to her room. He came back later, my dad. He sat on the edge of my bed and looked at me intently:
‘Did you have another nightmare?’ He asked.
‘Yes father.’
‘Those pills aren’t working, are they?’
‘No father.’
‘Go back to sleep, love. Your mother is sick. Very sick. I’m sorry she disturbed you and possibly spooked you with her crazy talk. But always remember that you have nothing to fear. I will always be here to protect you.’
‘Sure father.’ I said, as I pulled my quilt over my head.
Cot Island- The island that my ancestors discovered and inhabited centuries ago. I had every right to be here. I was a member of what was pretty much left of the first family to settle here. Allegedly, the Cots feared religious prosecution of some sort and therefore Kieran Cot, Adelaide’s brother, who was an experienced sailor picked up his sister, her husband and a few other people seeking refuge and made their way to this island on a stolen ship. Nobody found this island in Adelaide’s time and by the time they did, the world had become a more accepting place which had no intention of bothering this tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And thus we existed, undisrupted by anyone but the occasional tourist, happily going about our own business.
Until people started going missing, of course. When you live on an island, how hard is it to find a missing person, or even body? And then, my mother had a nervous breakdown, always with this crazy talk, and the nightmares and insomnia had begun. And suddenly my life did not seem so perfect anymore. But that was just the beginning. I thought that was bad? Well, it only went downhill from there.
Chapter 2
It was the annual ball celebrating the settling of the first families on Cot Island. Five of the twenty founding families would attend the ball without their young daughters. They had gone missing over a year ago, I would imagine they did not wish to celebrate just now, but would attend nonetheless as it was an official affair where their presence was not requested but required.
I had my dress designed by a local designer and tailored to my specific needs. Not that I’d had a say in what my needs were. My stylist had taken care of all that, making up for my obvious aversion to fashion. The result was a faintly lavender almost white ball gown with a fitted corset top and a full skirt. My thick brown locks were curled in beautiful perfect curls, the result of an afternoon spent in my room with a hairstylist fussing over my disobedient hair. My face too had been caked with make up, my lips rouged, my eyes skillfully shaped with eyeliner. I sat obediently through the ordeal.
At one point my mother walked in, carrying her favorite diamond set. Without uttering a word, she put the diamond necklace around my neck, and then reached out for my hand to place the bracelet. She then put the earrings on my desk table.
‘Thanks Mom.’ I said, and took her hand in mine.
‘You’re welcome, love. ‘ She said softly. It was the kind of soft voice I used when I tried not to cry, a voice almost choking back tears. I looked at her as she stood by the door for a while, and then watched as she lowered her head and exited. My heart tightened in my chest. Magnolia Cot had been such a vibrant woman full of energy! But a horrible nervous disorder had left her confined to her room. She was not attending the ball for the first time ever since she’d turned sixteen and had been allowed to attend. I felt a jab of pain as I once again realized how helpless I was to help my mother get better.
My father called for me at approximately six o’clock. The ball would, as any other year, be held in the Cot mansion. In our house, that is. The ballroom had been prepared and we would not be making our grand entrance until about eight, so I had no idea what he wanted from me.
I knocked on his study’s door and heard a quiet ‘Come in.’
‘You wanted to see me father?’ I said, as I shut the door behind me.
‘Yes. Cordelia, tonight we will be expecting some guests.’
I stared at my dad wondering if he was losing his mind too. Obviously, we were expecting ‘some’ guests, there was ball that we were hosting after all! But then he continued:
‘I am not referring to our esteemed and honorable neighbors. Instead, there is a business associate of mine who will be coming to this ball with his son. He’s not an islander.’
‘I didn’t know you did business with non Cot Islanders, father.’ I said rather surprised.
‘You don’t know many things, that doesn’t mean they’re not true per se.’ He cut me off. ‘Either way, his son Caeden is your age. I would be very much obliged if you were to entertain the young man, introduce him to your friends perhaps. Caeden Valour is his father’s darling. He would do anything for him, so it is of great importance to my business affairs that we have the boy’s approval.’
‘That won’t be a problem, father.’ I said, ready to leave.
‘Oh and Cordelia, try and relax a little. It is a ball after all.’
I left, glad to be gone. I would be lying if I said my father and I had an especially strong connection. He had always been foreign to me, constantly locked in his study, exceptionally old fashioned, insisting that I act prim and proper around him. Nevertheless, he was my father, and for that reason I did not argue much with his often unjust decisions, in my opinion.
It was time for our grand entrance before I knew it. I stood, nervously, in front of the big doors that would soon open for me and my father. We would walk down that magnificent staircase, like royalty. Our ancestors were the reason everyone else had found Cot Island, after all, making us a sort of Royal Family, except we had no titles and Cot Island had its own government with which the Cots had little to do with.
‘You look gorgeous, Cordelia.’ My father said awkwardly as we waited.
Soon, the big doors opened and out we went.
The ball room was large, and seemed to be filled to capacity. It held three hundred people comfortably and seeing as all of Cot Island’s most prominent members of society, along with father’s guests were in attendance, the number of people was hardly a surprise.
‘Mister Jorge Cot and his daughter Miss Cordelia Elise Cot.’ The stuffy announcer said.
As was custom, everyone looked at us in silence as we descended the large staircase. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, beautiful gowns and tuxedos worn by beautiful people as was custom. Except when I caught a glimpse of those piercing eyes. They were not green , like in my dream, but they seemed just as dangerous and just as able to cut through you and see your soul without much help. They were the most piercing gray eyes , I had ever seen. I did not know who they belonged to, for I had noticed them for only a moment, but that was enough to fill my being with the kind of fear foreign to me, apart from in my nightmares.
