Endless Descent [Part1]

Don't critique me! I'm being edited. If you want to read then ask my author to PM you when the updated version is up. Thankyou =]

In his mind he looked like a model, with the authentic, rugged, careless appearance. In truth his ruffled blonde hair was too thick and too puffy. He stood in his shorts against the doorway, his bony ribs showing through his skin and the joints of his shoulders and elbows too big for his scrawny, prepubescent muscles.

His uncle, Lan, was the tall, pale man walking down the pathway towards the road, which chubby hamster cheeks and large hands. He was smiling- he was almost always smiling, even when he was sad, but now he was smiling because his old friend had finally arrived in a slick red automobile. The sharp indents and slick frame made it more of a statement than an automobile.

It came to a slow, silent halt and from the front seat climbed a woman whose scarlet lipstick told more stories than she did. He greeted her with a tight hug and planted a firm kiss on her cheek. 'I can't thank you enough,' she said breathlessly. Up close he could see the lines in her forehead and circles around her eyes where the years hadn't been so kind to her as to him. 'I hope this won't be too much trouble.'

'Listen, listen to me.' He held his hands on her cheeks. 'There hasn't been a lady in this house in seven years. I practically had to remodel! You can't imagine how much trouble this is causing me. But you know what, I don't care, because you are my oldest friend and she is your daughter, and I will love her like she was my own.'

She laughed quietly to herself. Behind her- at some distance- stood Mele, the girl with short, bright red hair, a heavy rucksack over one shoulder and a travel bag in the other hand.

'Forgive my manners, let me help you with the luggage.'

'That's all there is.' Viola shook her head. 'It's called minimalistic, apparently. The fire didn't leave much to rescue. She has money in an account to buy new things but... people grief in different ways, I guess.'

'I know. You're staying for a few days, right? I'll show you around the house. Mele, come on!'

Mele started up the path with slow steps. The house looked like a cosy cottage version of Frankenstein- a collection of rooms put together piece by piece from abandoned houses. Windows jutted out in odd directions, like maybe it was once a tiny house that just kept growing on its own accord. Night flowers broke through cracks in the walls, and in the auburn, fading sunlight they had just begun to glow.

'We cleared out the storage. Luci and I painted the whole thing, we put a new floor down and everything. Luci! Come over here! You remember Mele, right!'

'No!' Luci shouted from the door. He ruffled his hair and hobbled barefoot down the path to meet them. 'Not at all.'

'You kids played together. Anyway, come, come! Wait until you see it!'

'Give me a second,' Viola said. 'I just need to get something from the car.'

Mele wandered up the steps and into the shadow of the hallway. Coats, shoes, bags cluttered what little space their was, along with folded up shopping cart that had been patched up with tape.

Behind them the automobile purred back into life. Lan flinched and turned back just in time to see its rear disappear behind the hedges. Luci looked at him expectantly, but the oddest thing was the silent girl standing in the hallway, who hadn't turned back at all.

'She wasn't intending on saying goodbye,' Mele said, as if stating the time.

There was something cold and bitter in the statement that he couldn't figure out, but for a short while longer he stared at the pathway as if the care might just re-appear and reverse to park properly.

'She said that?'

'It was implied.'

'Maybe she'll be back soon... Shall we move on with the tour anyway? I can always give it twice.'

To the left were a set of broad wooden stairs and to the right a narrow hallway that went to the kitchen, and a door to a large through-room. Behind the two large arches were stacked a hoard of boxes that must have come out of the store room.

They had to go through the cold kitchen to get to the left side of the house, part of which was taken up by an indoor workshop. He'd said that a woman hadn't been in the house for seven years and it was clear. It was homely, but functional.

Upstairs was open plan along the right side, with three doors down the left side and two on the right. The one on the right was Luci's room, which opened up onto the balcony. It was a mash up of modern, boyish life- with book shelves and a neat bed, a computer in the corner sat on a battered old desk, with a leather desk chair.

On the furthest left, a door that looked like it had been kicked in a time or two, was Lan's room. He opened it only briefly enough for her to glance in. Clothes were scattered across the floor, the curtains looked like they hadn't been opened in a while and there was the distinct smell of sweat and stale air that seems to linger in the vicinity of bachelors bedrooms.

The door on the furthest right was the bathroom. It looked like it had once been pretty, but after years of neglect the tiles had faded to the same yellowed colour of the wooden floor, and damp mould crept across and around all the corners. There was another door in the corner that opened to a room stacked high with old blankets towels, and a bag full of empty toilet roll holders.

The last room, the one on the right side, was a small one- but it was to be expected of a small room. The bed had been built in at the other end, with shelves build up from the bottom, connected to the base and the wardrobe in one continuous piece of fitted furniture.

'I wanted to put a bunk bed in so you'd have the floor space, but Luci suggested the wall of shelves and cupboards things. He said you'd probably prefer something modern. What do you think?'

She put her bags down onto the floor and turned around. There was a mirror on the wall near the bed, and the pale wallpaper with a design of red flowers painted across looked grand. If she stayed in here she could pretend she was in a hotel somewhere closer to home, but only if she stayed in here. Already she was starting to feel claustrophobic, but didn't want to leave.

'It looks good.'

'Good! Well, you get yourself settled and freshen up. There is food downstairs, just let me know when you're hungry and I'll heat it up for you.'

She nodded and with a faint smile he left and closed the door behind him.

Eventually the lights started to fade. The sun had almost crashed into the cornfields on the horizon. She swore that she wouldn't sleep, but it had been three days and she could already feel myself swaying in the sweet, intoxicating aromas of the warm April winds.

Sleep wouldn't be easy. Every time she closed her eyes she imagined the thick, black smoke filling the air, and the deeper she sunk, the closer to death she felt.

When the house had burned down she left some part of herself inside it, some part that was still frightened and confused and searching through the smoke. She could feel it, separate from herself and still feeding poison into her thoughts.

She curled up on the edge of the bed, and the moment her head hit the pillow exhaustion dragged her down into a heavy, dreamless sleep.