Behind the sheet of thick clouds, beyond the eyes of mortals and immortals, there was the scenery. Clifftop whose boundaries were guarded by a row of rich green leaves of trees lined up in a semi-circle, the front side, however, didn't have any trees to bound the lookout. The sight would limitlessly wander in the clouds, restful and placid atmosphere, serenity enrooted intensely into the core of the hidden place. Only top-notch immortals had access to the place. The drawing was exemplifying a detailed work of an artist.
By looking at it, Ellen could tell that wherever the place was, it was far to be touched by humans since they would've inhabited there and tarnished the natural essence of the place. She put the drawing on the study table in her room and changed into a night outfit before switching off the lights in the room. Sinking into the soft mattress, she brought the blanket up to her neck and closed her eyes.
Outside the house, when grim saw the lights switching off, he started the engine of his car and drove to the new house. When he entered the house, Jeremy was nowhere to be found, as if he cared. He took all of the clothes off and had a quick shower. Putting on a black silk vintage robe, he tied its belt around his waist in a loose knot. Engrossed in thoughts of the time which had been slipped off his hands, he made steps towards the pool on the second floor. He slouched into one of the chairs by the poolside.
The second floor had an iconic view of the city lights that looked like tiny dots from afar. Grey clouds had started gathering over the clear night sky. In the clean, crystal water of the pool, there produced a reflection of two large wings. When grim unfolded his wings, the silk material fell off his shoulders, pooling around his legs since he was standing now. Purple lightning flashed with so much intensity that the whole place lit up, and shortly afterwards the crash of thunder echoed in the vacant floor. The clouds lightning made his reflection brighten up in the pool. He stood there, sharply looking at his reflection in the clear water, his real self.
An embodiment of a proud, dignified, arrogant, dark self. Anyone crossing his territories would be scorched into ashes.
When the clouds thunder, Ellen's eyes shot open. She saw vertical blinds swaying. The purple lightning entered the room through glass windows and brighten the darkroom for a blink. She pushed the blanket off her body and sat up, legs dangling over the side of the bed. Getting to her feet, she walked up to the staircase and pushed the door open by the end of them. The moment she stepped on the open roof, the whole sky aglow with pink colour, a purple string of lightning fused in the sky. A strong gush of wind hit her face, her hair swaying in the direction of air flowing. She strode over to the edge of the roof. Laying her arms on the fence wall in such a way that both hands were positioned over each other, she placed her chin on the top of them.
"Beautiful", with another flash of pink lightning, she breathed the moment. She loved it. How grey clouds would gather all over the sky that once was glowing with moons and stars shining in it. How the light would replace by the dark dense clouds. And how lightning would illuminate the dark sky. Light and dark. Fire and ice. Sun and moon. The perfect imperfect matches in this world. How perfectly they fit together. The whole scene was worth witnessing than sleeping in the bed.
She wasn't afraid of darkness. If anything, she always felt herself falling for the darkness. Not because she was a pessimistic person, losing everything in the dark and blame the dark for making her stumble and lost everything. If it weren't for the dark, stars and moon could never be found shining. The darker the night, the more the stars shine. She was a shining star. A star that was shining bright with the darkness around it. Instead of moaning and whining for not having desired results, she learnt how to light up that darkness and use the light to find her way.
Of course, she would also shake and fall and hurt her knees and cry and whimper in pain. She was a human after all. But she would rise and fight again. Until she made it, she would keep trying. When her parents died, she would've long run walks every night by the sidewalks. She would run and run until she was out of breath. Then, she would fall onto her knees. The concrete hit would injure her knees and then she would let the tears streaming down her face. To passersby, the seventeen-year-old was crying because she hurt her knees but she was crying because it was her heart that was hurting not the knees.
Her bleeding skin wouldn't hurt her. It was her bleeding heart. After some time of sitting there, she would get back to her feet and lumped to her house with ripped jeans from the knees, messed up hair and tears stained face. Getting herself under a warm shower, she would hiss when the water made contact with bruised knees. Sitting by the bedside, she would apply antiseptic with help of a cotton stick. This continued happening until she was devastated down to hell.
She adapted to all this because a week after her parents passed, she started getting into depression. Loneliness was her only companion in the midst of cold nights. Raw. There were days when she would feel neither pain nor happiness. She didn't want to end up raw and emotionless. Thus, she submitted herself to this...activity, where she would get hurt, feel the pain and cry her heart out daily.
When she turned eighteen and got a job where she met Chloe, everything changed after that. Chloe brought her back to the colourful life. She learnt how to smile again. That was how little things became her optimum source of happiness. She became grateful for the things she had in her life.
In the darkest of times, she found her true self. She once was depressed, unhappy, discouraged and rolling like a rolling stone in the emptiness. She fought with everything and stood up, stronger than before, braver than ever. She embraced her flaws as they made her what she became. She learnt that everything happened for a reason. She wouldn't have turned into a strong personality if she didn't go through such a hard time. She met new people and she was happy because she made it through. She didn't give in to numbness and arouse like a morning ray of sun breaking through the twilight.
She was never and would never be afraid of the dark. She learnt that it was okay to stumble and fall. As long as you wouldn't give up, it was okay.
After a few minutes of standing there, she felt a pang in her heart after stepping back. Clutching the heart, she turned around. A cliff, exactly in the drawing, flashed before her eyes. When she shook her head and blinked her eyes fast, she felt another pang. Her chest tightened, making it hard for oxygen not reaching the lungs. She felt her heart squeezing in pain with every breath she would inhale, the shirt fisted tightly under her grip.
Gasping for the air, she fell to the floor. Her other hand gripped tightly onto her pajamas. When clouds flickered lightning followed by a clap of loud thunder, her eyes caught sight of two large black wings before the vision got blurry. She blinked as much as she could to clear the line of sight but in vain. Squirming in pain, she saw a vague image of a dark figure approaching her. The figure bent down before her. Just as a blurred hand reached out to touch her face, her eyes fell shut. It went all black. The only thing she saw before her head hit the floor was a tattoo, a blurred sight of a tattoo.