Celine’s origin

*This story is underneath my folder titled “At the Southwark house”. It’s based off a tale from my story “31 horrific Halloween tales” which is under my folder titled “31 Halloween tales”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum “My character designs<33[2]”. Enjoy!*

Introduction

Celine Southwark spoke up, but still felt so utterly and hopelessly small. Like not a soul was listening to her.

How could that be?

Chapter One

6:00 A.M.

Celine had just been woken up by Mom and was walking to the kitchen.

She could see Mom gently knocking on Johnathan’s door, trying to wake him up.

Celine rolled her eyes. That wouldn’t work.

She walked to Johnathan’s door. She knew what to do.

“WAKE UP, JOHNNY-BOY!” Celine yelled, banging on his door. Mom told her not to do it, but it worked.

Johnathan shot up from bed, startled.

But awake.

“How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t do that. It hurts everybody’s ears.” Mom said.

“It worked.” Celine said, shrugging.

It didn’t matter if she was loud. He woke up. That was something.

Chapter Two

AT SCHOOL

Celine and Johnathan were sent to school. Johnathan went one way and she the other. The elementary school and middle school were connected.

Celine was walking the halls alone. She had not a friend with her, not since fifth grade.

It sometimes made her feel this hollow sense of loneliness, like she was shunned by the whole world.

But it was alright. Celine had no distractions, she was free to do as she pleased.

Chapter Three

IN CLASS

On the contrary, Celine had friends, but they didn’t do much together. They didn’t feel like friends. More like people who hung around Celine.

They did, however, text frequently. Especially in English class.

Celine promised not to text in class anymore, but…

They were waiting for an answer.

Chapter Four

CELINE’S PHONE

Amiria

Are you going to hang out after school?

You

Where is it?

Amiria

At my house. Brienne is coming.

You

I can’t come. Mom won’t let me.

Amiria

Did you ask?

You

Don’t need to. She doesn’t like me hanging out with anyone.

Amiria

At least ask.

“Celine, what are you doing?” Mr. Davies asked, a slight, but still noticeable, note of anger in his voice.

Chapter Five

“Texting my friends. Why do you ask?” Celine said, slipping her phone in her jacket pocket. If he wanted to know so badly what she was doing, then he’d get an answer.

Mr. Davies sighed, his way of showing disappointment. Celine loved english class, but her friends didn’t like being unanswered and if she didn’t answer their texts, she wasn’t a “real friend”.

“Lycia, may you please help Celine with our project?” Mr. Davies asked.

“Certainly!” Lycia said a little too enthusiastically.

Celine’s phone buzzed.

Oh great. More messages. Celine thought mournfully.

Would it ever end?

Chapter Six

“Hold on, I’ve got to answer this.” Celine said, opening her message app.

To her grand horror, Lycia snatched her phone up.

“You will do no such thing. Get to work.”

“Give me my phone back! It’s not your job to take it.”

“Mr. Davies wants this project to be perfect, so get to work.”

Celine muttered words under her breath. Who did Lycia think she was to just take her phone away?

“What did you say?” Lycia asked.

Celine looked straight into her eyes, unfaltering, unblinking. A smile crept to Celine’s lips, but not a happy smile. A bitter smile, full of a bite.

“You’re a teacher’s pet.”

She said every word clearly so that Lycia would hear.

Chapter Seven

Tears brimmed in Lycia’s eyes. Celine braced herself for the horror that was about to come.

Lycia covered her face with her hands, but her strangled sobs could be heard throughout the entire classroom.

She could hear the groans of the other kids, see their eyes roll. Lycia cried a lot and everyone was on their last nerve with it.

Except Mr. Davies. He cared.

Chapter Eight

“Detention, Celine.”

“Why? Because somebody cried?”

“You were provoking her.”

“I was not!”

“Don’t argue with me.”

Celine grabbed her phone, which was resting on Lycia’s lap and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

Another meaningless day in detention.

Chapter Nine

AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE

Detention had been a slog of hours on a chair, but even worst was waiting for Mom to come and pick her up.

Celine could feel Mr. Davies’ glare like a million spiders crawling on her back.

It was uncomfortable.

Chapter Ten

THE WALK TO JOHNATHAN’S SCHOOL

“Were you on your phone again?” Mom asked. She didn’t bother to hide the disapproval and disappointment.

“I was texting my friends!” Celine protested. She didn’t mean to say it in the tone that she did, but it felt Mom was judging her.

“Why can’t you do that after class?”

“They really wanted to talk to me, I can’t ignore them. Besides, Lycia has nothing better to do than boss people around.” Celine said.

Lycia wanted everyone under control, acting as the teacher told. But what was the point of listening if the kids were all going to leave someday? Listening to Mr.Davies wouldn’t help in their future lives.

“Maybe she wouldn’t have to if you weren’t against everybody.” Mom said.

Against everybody? Against? How was Celine against everybody? She was just trying to do her best! It felt like everyone was against her.

Celine didn’t respond. She didn’t want to, not after what her own Mom said. Mom was supposed to be on her side. Mom was supposed to support her.

But she should have known better. Celine wasn’t young like Johnathan. She wasn’t “the baby” like Johnathan. She was just a waste of space, a brainless girl, with only the light of her phone to keep company.

Chapter Eleven

THE WALK HOME

Johnathan was quiet. Of course he was. He didn’t like talking about his day unless it was asked of him multiple times. Mom didn’t like to make him upset, so she never asked him how his day was.

Usually Celine would fill the silence with a spew of words, but she didn’t feel like speaking. No, not at all.

Words had shriveled into a husk between her teeth.

Chapter Twelve

DINNER WITH THE FAMILY

“So, how was school?” Dad asked. They were all sitting at the dinner table.

Since Johnathan wasn’t going to speak any time soon, it was up to Celine to fill the silence.

“Horrible. The teacher got mad over a phone.” Celine said, poking her pasta with a fork. Teachers chose the stupidest reasons to be upset with their students.

“Well, maybe you should have-“

“Should have done what? I was just texting my friends! I wasn’t hurting anybody.”

“You need to respect your-“

“I don’t need to respect them. Just because Mr. Davies is my teacher doesn’t mean that I have to respect him. He needs to respect me first!”

Why did she have to respect him if he wasn’t going to respect her? Why did she have to listen if it was all pointless? Sure, Celine could do as he asked and be a good student, but what was the point? Did it matter when she grew up?

Dad was silent, glaring. Then, he said:

“Go to your room, Celine.”

“But I-“

“Go!”

Celine turned to Mom. Maybe Mom would come through. Maybe Mom would help, she always had a good use of words.

But Mom only smiled at Celine, grin bigger and more inappropriately enthusiastic than a clown’s, and said brightly:

“You heard what your Dad said. Go to your room and think about what you just said.”

“I-“

“Go.”

Celine pushed back the chair and ran up to her room, fighting back tears. Mom didn’t help.

She was all alone.

Chapter Thirteen

SEPTEMBER THIRTIETH-NIGHT

Every day was the same, every day they all seemed to hate her.

Maybe the month of Halloween would make the days more bearable.

Chapter Fourteen

WALKING TO SCHOOL

Celine usually walked to school with Mom and Johnathan, but at the moment, she was walking with Amiria and Brienne, her friends.

“Why didn’t you hang out with us last month?” Amiria asked.

Celine sighed.

“Dad grounded me. I’m sorry.” Celine said.

She really wanted to have fun with them, but at the same time, when she was with them, she always felt like her whole soul was being judged.

It was still fun, though.

“Alright. Well, can you come to the Halloween party? It’s going to be amazing!” Amiria said excitedly. Brienne nodded in agreement.

“I’ll see.” Celine said.

She wasn’t sure if she’d make it.

Chapter Fifteen

AFTER SCHOOL

The day was unusually peaceful for Celine. No trouble, no getting sent to detention. Perhaps that was because her friends didn’t text her.

When school had ended, the three of them walked on dried leaves, the scent of pumpkins and promise in the air, headed for the Halloween store.

Chapter Sixteen

AT THE STORE

Costumes and decorations littered the walls. Miscellaneous objects of fear were displayed for anyone to buy. The speakers blasted a familiar horror tune.

But only one costume caught Celine’s eyes. It was the costume that she picked off the shelf, the costume that she chose.

It was a crazed cannibal costume. Amiria was a unicorn, Brienne was a cat. Celine herself would have picked a cute costume, but she felt all the ugly, bloody feelings boiling within her, threatening to tear through her skin and infect an unlucky soul that came across.

It was the only costume she could be.

Chapter Seventeen

OCTOBER THIRTY-FIRST-MORNING

The day had arrived.

Finally, it came.

All Hallows’ Eve.

Chapter Eighteen

GOING TO SCHOOL

Celine took one last look at Mom, who was watching her favorite crime show, “Monsters are real”. Celine heard her watching it late at night, but at that time, she was watching it in the morning. It was Celine who had to wake up Johnathan, Celine who had to make breakfast for the both of them.

Mom didn’t even comment on her cannibal costume, which was a bloody white jumpsuit and a muzzle. It was as if she was in another dimension, with that show on.

“Come on, Celine! We have to go!” Johnathan said, tugging on her costume.

“Alright.” Celine said, opening the door.

They had to go to school, after all.

Chapter Nineteen

IN THE SCHOOL HALLWAY

“Are you going to come over? Yes or no?” Amiria asked. She was in her unicorn onesie, Brienne was wearing her glittering black cat jumpsuit and matching ears headband.

Sure, Mom was watching TV, but Celine still felt certain that she would say no.

“I’ll have to ask my Mom.” Celine said.

Chapter Twenty

BACK HOME

“Mom? Mom? Can I ask you something?” Celine asked.

She and Johnathan were back home, the TV blaring with Halloween cartoons. They were in costume, trying to get Mom’s attention. She was locked in an alien state of quietness, far from the world around her.

“Mom?!” Johnathan asked.

Mom blinked back into reality and said:

“Come to the kitchen with me. We’re going to bake Halloween cookies.”

“Okay…” Celine said. They hadn’t baked in a while, but why not?

……………………………………………………

They were in the kitchen, all lights off. Not even the moon shone through the windows.

Celine screamed as someone roughly grabbed her and pushed her on the counter. Then, something sharp dug into her flesh, rearranging her insides.

“Finally, I’m done with you ungrateful kids!” Mom cried out, voice guttural.

“Mom?” Celine asked, teary-eyed.

Was it really Mom giving her pain? Was Mom really the one hurting her?

“Yes, it’s me, sweetie.” Mom said.

A clean, quick slice through Celine’s throat and it all ended.

Epilogue

As if it weren’t enough to watch Mom kill them both, Celine watched Mom eat their flesh, teeth covered in blood.

Dad wasn’t safe either.

So was that what Mom wanted to do? Kill and eat them like some kind of monster? Her whole family? Was that what she really thought of them?

It didn’t matter. They were all lost, all dead, all ghosts.

They were the evidence that people still lived in the Southwark house.