Chereads / Anathema: Memory of Ice / Chapter 2 - Chapter 1: Departure

Chapter 2 - Chapter 1: Departure

The room was completely dark. The only door was closed and locked, and a piece of cloth was placed at its base so as to not let any light in under it. The window blinds were closed, and a cover had been placed over them so that not even small streams of light could seep through. The room was completely devoid of light and had been set up so that no outside light could enter. This was all set up this way by a small lump that could be seen, had there been any light, under the covers of a bed. It slowly rose and fell, as if it was breathing.

The small mass seemed peaceful, only letting out a soft noise every now and then. This peace was soon broken, though, by the sound of an alarm. The noise sounded to most like an emergency alert when they first heard it, but the lump simply scooted to the side of the bed, stuck an arm out, and turned the obnoxious sound off. With the alarm successfully shut off, the lump quickly reformed in the center of the bed and a light snoring could be heard. It was once again at peace.

This was only allowed to last for a few minutes, as the sound of a key entering the door's lock could be heard. The door slowly creaked open, the intruder making sure to not alert the mass to their presence. Only a small stream of light was allowed to enter the room, as the door was only opened wide enough for an arm to make its way through.

A small hand reached into the room and began to search the wall. After a few seconds of blind searching, it eventually found its goal, and the room was filled with light. This caused the mass to recoil, drawing the covers closed around its form. The intruder wouldn't allow for this and quickly yanked the covers from the bed, revealing the lump's true form.

Laying on the bed, covering their eyes, looked to be a young girl. She looked to be about high school age at most, with a head full of unkempt, long black hair. She was short, most definitely shorter than average, and her skin was paler than what was normal. This was presumably due to the low amounts of sunlight she saw. At first glance, many would have assumed she was a sweet young freshman.

However, once she opened her mouth, it was clear she was anything but sweet. "What the hell, Nat?" Her voice was lower than most would expect, but nothing unnatural. It only showed that she was more mature than her figure let on. "Can't I get some decent sleep for once in my life?"

The intruder, named Nat, or Natalie, gave her friend a stern look. She was much taller than her friend, by at least a foot, and had a much more matured body. A wall of golden blonde cascaded down her back, reaching just above her waist. Her skin was white but seemed almost tan when compared to the figure on the bed. Many were surprised by the stark contrast between the two.

She quickly countered her friend's lament with, "And who's fault is it that you went to sleep at three in the morning, Em?"

Em, or Emily, didn't have a witty comeback for something that was obviously the truth, so she simply came back with, "Five more minutes," quickly pulling a large pillow over her head and tried her best to return to sleep.

Natalie chuckled at this, knowing this was exactly what her friend would have said. She sat on the edge of the bed and began to shake Emily, not violently, but enough to keep her awake. "Come on, we don't have time for that. Now hurry up and finish packing so we can leave at a decent time." She then got up and walked out the door, trusting Emily to actually get out of bed and get ready.

Emily laid there for a minute before letting out a loud groan. She removed the pillow, realizing Natalie hadn't turned the light off when she left, and began checking her phone. Seeing it was just before eight, she cursed her friend for getting her up this early on the weekend. However, realizing she wouldn't be able to fall asleep at this point, she sat up in her bed and took a good look around her room.

It could almost be compared to a barren wasteland. There were only two pieces of furniture in the room, being a bed with black sheets and a small wooden nightstand where her phone and an alarm clock were taking residence. On one side of the room was a small walk-in closet. It was by no means a typical walk-in closet. If she was to take one step into it, her face would already be against the wall. It was filled with a minimal amount of clothes, only what could be considered fully necessary, all dark gray or black. The only other thing in the room was a small black suitcase in the corner.

Emily finally decided it was time to get to work and got off of the bed. She quickly placed all her belongings into the case. First were the clothes, which she folded before placing them in the bottom. She then dragged the case over to her nightstand, where she took out the drawer and proceeded to dump its contents into the suitcase. A few wires, pens, and trinkets fell out into it. Lastly, she took the alarm clock, making sure it was turned off, and gently placed it on top of everything. She then zipped the case closed and left the room, only giving it one last look before shutting the door behind her.

Once in the hallway, the first thing that hit her was the noise. She had spent so much time within the confines of her room that she had nearly forgotten the sound. The loud, shrill shouts of young children pierced her ears from nearly every direction. Within minutes, the noise would settle into the background as Emily continued to walk down the hall, dragging her suitcase behind her.

She eventually reached the warzone, or what would soon turn into a warzone. Walking into the bathroom, she knew she needed to be fast. Within the hour, she knew that many of the younger girls would be storming this room, coming to make themselves 'beautiful.' Emily never understood the appeal of plastering her face with powders and paints. She didn't think she ever would.

Looking in the mirror, she didn't think she looked unattractive. The only feature she saw as repugnant was the dark circles underneath her blue eyes. Many might have thought her hair was too messy or that her skin was too pale, but she couldn't see the problem with them. She did everything necessary to keep herself healthy, except sleeping enough, and didn't see the reason to do anything extra. Not feeling too terrible about herself, she grabbed her toiletries and left before the war could start.

Continuing down to the other end of the hall, she saw something unsurprising. The door to the room was wide open, revealing the atmosphere inside. It was bright and cheerful with the soft hum of upbeat music adding to the happy atmosphere. It was the complete opposite of Emily's room, which was made more apparent by how much stuff cluttered the room. It was by no means messy but compared to Emily's barren wasteland it was a complete wreck.

There was a single figure sitting on the well-made bed. She was brushing her long blonde hair, oblivious to Emily standing in the doorway. The woman wore a bright blue shirt and a pair of tan khaki capris. She was glaring at her friend, eventually saying, "I thought we were trying to leave here at a reasonable time?" She was speaking in a mocking tone, not hostile, but definitely not happy. "Look at your room. It doesn't look like you've packed anything yet."

Natalie was surprised to see Emily awake, her hazel eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. It took her a moment to comprehend what had been said to her. After giving her friend an inquisitive look, she pointed to a corner of the room and said, "But I am packed." In the corner was a pair of large red suitcases, each of which was larger than Emily's black one. The only question this put into Emily's mind was what Natalie planned to do with all the other items around the room.

After being asked the question, Natalie became a bit nervous, responding with, "I'm just going to leave it all here for someone else. I don't need any of it, and Ms. Miller already started auctioning some of it off." She weakly laughed at herself.

Emily knew there had to be an ulterior motive for this. Most of the items left in the room were non-essential, some even considered luxury items. Natalie was by no means a pampered person, but Emily also knew that her friend enjoyed the few luxuries she could get in life. There had to be a good reason for her to leave all these delights behind.

Unable to think about that reason though, Emily decided it'd be better to not question it. She then began to walk out of the room, saying, "I'll be waiting downstairs. If you take too long, I might fall asleep again." She gave Natalie a devilish grin as she exited the room, dragging the black suitcase behind her.

Natalie sat on her bed, listening to the sound of the stairs outside her room creaking. She was waiting, making sure that Emily was downstairs before she got up. She didn't enjoy lying to her friend, and it definitely wasn't easy. Emily, to her credit, could be quite perceptive, if she wanted to be. Her tendency to be apathetic had saved Natalie more times than she can remember.

Hearing the noise on the stairs disappear, she quickly got to work. Moving around her room, she first grabbed a cardboard box out of her closet with a large 'For Sale' written on it in black marker. It was currently empty, but it wouldn't be for long. Within minutes, all the accessories that lined the room were stuffed into the box, and it was carefully closed and slid back into the closet. It was much heavier than Natalie thought it'd be.

Natalie had to reassure herself that she hadn't fully lied to Emily. The items within the box were being auctioned off, just not to anyone else in the house. Using online auctioning, Natalie hoped to earn some extra money for the trip she and Emily were about to embark on. She was extremely thankful that Ms. Miller agreed to her plan.

The plan, she thought, was perfect. The only part she hadn't accounted for was how she was going to get access to the money. At this point though, she didn't care. She assumed it would find its way to her hands or bank account somehow. This wasn't the most important thing on her mind at the moment

Currently all she could think, or realistically worry, about was if she and Emily would be fine away from the house. For all their lives, all they had known was the confines of these walls. That may have been an over exaggeration, but it's how they felt. They couldn't explain it, but something had always felt off. It wasn't that they weren't grateful for Ms. Miller, she had basically raised them, but they just couldn't bring themselves to stay any longer.

At the house, once you graduated high school, you had two weeks to leave, possibly a bit more if you were on Ms. Miller's good side. It was either that, or you were booted to the streets. Most of those that aged out were already looking for housing arrangements before the second semester, but they still oftentimes decided to stay at least a week. That wouldn't be the case for Natalie and Emily.

They had both graduated the day prior and were about to set the record for how quickly someone left the house. They had been planning this since their first year of high school, a trip around the country to decide what they wanted to do with their lives. They were finally going to put this into action and couldn't wait any longer.

She knew surviving in the 'real world' wasn't an easy thing to do. It would be especially difficult for Emily, who spent more time in her room than anywhere else. But Natalie believed that they would find a way somehow. It wasn't really a question of whether they could, they simply had to. Deciding to take a page out of Emily's book, she put the problem out of her mind for the time being.

Natalie decided to quickly check over her luggage on the off chance that she had forgotten something. Everything in her first case was in order since it was filled with only clothes and a quick look in her closet showed that nothing was left. But there was something missing from her second case, which was mainly filled with random trinkets and desk ornaments. However, the missing object began to put her in a panic. She knew that they couldn't last a day without it.

She began to scour the room, looking through every nook and cranny to find the missing item. The 'For Sale' box was even gone through, each item checked, just to be sure it wasn't accidentally put in there. It wasn't. The entire room was flipped upside down before she found it, hidden in a small tear in her mattress. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about this, assuming the last week of school had completely shot her brain. She carefully pulled out the item, the hole just barely big enough for it to squeeze through.

In her hands was a large stack of hundred-dollar bills, the largest secret she kept from Emily. Another stack came out before she placed them into a secret compartment of her suitcase. She would never be able to tell Emily about this, not anytime soon anyways. Emily would definitely feel guilty about it, especially if she learned how Natalie got the money. These stacks, which would hopefully at least get them by for a few months, were earned through overtime, picking up extra shifts, and saving as much as she could for three whole years. It wasn't an easy task.

Emily may have thought that Natalie lived a life of luxury, but the truth was that most of her high price items were bought before she started her plan of saving money. This of course meant giving up the luxuries that many other students lavished in, even her. This wasn't necessarily a change of heart, but more a change of mindset. She still wished to have a life filled with the pleasantries of modern society but realized what needed to be done. Knowing that Emily would have trouble finding, and keeping, a job, Natalie decided to take on the role of breadwinner for their duo. She didn't really mind though.

Having found and secured their trip's salvation, Natalie picked up her suitcases and began to make her way downstairs. She wasn't surprised to find Emily asleep on a chair when she reached the bottom. She was wearing a dark gray shirt and blue jeans, a typical outfit for her. All it took was some vigorous shaking to finally wake her up. If Emily did one thing extremely well, it was sleep. At least once she fell asleep that was.

Now that they were both ready, they walked into the backyard where they were supposed to meet Ms. Miller for their final send-off. The garage happened to be one of the few quiet places in the house where they could check out. Both girls were surprised to see that Ms. Miller was already waiting for them, leaning on a large object covered in a brown tarp.

Ms. Miller was an elderly woman with graying hair tied into a bun on her head. Her face was wrinkled, but not beyond recognition, her bright green eyes still shining, showing the life she still had. She wore a simple tan outfit with a white apron on top, assumedly having just come from the kitchen where everyone else was eating breakfast. She was a nice person overall, but Natalie and Emily knew that they received the best treatment out of the entire house. This wouldn't be as easy a goodbye as they thought.

"Hello, girls. Nice to see you this morning." Her voice was raspy, but firm. She then turned towards Emily. "I hope the wake up wasn't too bad this morning." She had a smile on her face.

Emily returned it, saying, "Wasn't the worst I've ever had. No loud noises or buckets of water, just a bright light." Ms. Miller glared at Natalie, obviously suspecting her of the pranks Emily was talking about.

Natalie knew about them but was not the perpetrator. "It wasn't me. It must have been some of the younger girls playing pranks on her. You know they don't get along very well." This was the truth, with the younger girls being fully to blame. They simply saw Emily as an easy target since she was a shut-in.

Ms. Miller shook her head in disappointment. "I guess there's no point looking into it then." She quickly became serious as the final check out truly began. "Now, to get onto our main topic. You girls have lived here a long eighteen years. Over those years, you two have given me the least amount of trouble of all those young women that I look after. It's hard to see you go." She then turned her back to them, but still had her head faced forward. "Having said that, I know you plan on leaving the city right away, and while I can't say whether or not that's a good idea, I can make it easier for you.

Natalie watched as Ms. Miller pulled the tarp off of the large object, revealing a shiny red Ford Focus. All she could say when she saw it was, "You can't be serious." The car was the same one she had used for work, but it looked so new. The rust that usually decorated the edges was washed away, the dull paint job had been sprayed over with a new glossy coat, the old worn-out tires were replaced and even had new hubcaps, and most surprisingly, the license plates had been changed. She didn't know if this signified anything, so she could only assume one thing, and it would mean everything to her.

Ms. Miller just gave Natalie a smug look. "Oh, but I am." She then proceeded to walk away from the vehicle, cracking her back and various other joints. "Besides, these old bones shouldn't be behind a wheel anymore." Natalie giggled, but knew not to take it too far, "That, and most of the other girls are nowhere near driving age. And the ones that are can't be trusted with the responsibility. You're the only one I ever trusted with the car, Natalie. Now go show the world what you can do."

Tears began to well up in Natalie's eyes. Hearing that she was trusted, and that Ms. Miller thought she could take on the world had meant so much. "Thank you, Ms. Miller. You have no idea what this means to us." The tears of joy continued to cascade down her face. Emily, on the other hand, simply stood dumbfounded at what was going on. She had never expected this and did not know how to express her gratitude. To her surprise though, the elderly woman gave her a knowing glance, calming down Emily's nerves.

Ms. Miller's smile grew wider as she patted Natalie on the head. "You're welcome, Natalie." Her voice then took on a joking tone. "Now go before I change my mind." The duo chuckled at her and quickly piled everything into the backseat of the vehicle, Emily taking the passenger seat while Natalie took the driver's seat. Making sure everything was in order, she placed the key into the ignition, waved goodbye to Ms. Miller, and started the car that would lead them on their adventure.

Ms. Miller stood in the garage, watching the girls leave. Once they were out of sight, she made her way to the door to leave, a smile plastered on her face. Once she reached the door, however, a cold scowl began to overtake the cheery grin. The woman's age began to show more and more as her frown solidified. She now looked more like a wicked witch than a charming old woman. Feeling something was off, she turned around as fast as possible, which took a few seconds due to her age. What she saw surprised her.

"Where did the car go!?" she shouted at the heavens. "I know they revoked my license, what with my terrible vision and all, but I still have the right to own a car damn it!" Her screaming was raspy as she continued to curse out the people who had taken away her right to drive. After a few minutes of screaming, she finally calmed down. "This is just great. Now I have to file a police report. AGAIN!!!!" She proceeded to stomp out of the garage to call the police, never seeing what was above her.

In the rafters of the two-car garage sat a small figure. She had long light blonde hair that would have reached her knees had she been standing, as well as eyes that looked to be pink. She appeared to be a young girl based on her height and size. Her feet swung back and forth as they dangled out of the rafters. Once the elderly woman was gone, she began to hum a slow tune.

Once she was sure she was alone, she spoke, "I'm so glad this part of the job's finally over." She took this opportunity to stretch her arms above her head, loosening all the muscles in her back. Looking towards where Natalie and Emily had gone, she continued, "Good luck girls. I can't wait to actually meet you." Her face then grew darker, plagued with melancholy. "And I'm really sorry for what is about to happen."

The figure then looked to a box at her side. The box was filled to bursting with random trinkets and knick-knacks. On the outside, written in black marker, it read 'For Sale.' She then began going through its contents, assumedly trying to see what had value and what did not.

Natalie had been driving down the dark two-lane highway for around three hours. She looked to her side to see Emily asleep in the passenger seat, again. Conversely, she was wide awake. She had always enjoyed driving, especially at night when no one else was around. The lack of light didn't bother her since she had always had good night vision. She blamed this on Emily preferring to keep any room she stayed in darker than dark.

She began to reminisce over what they had done that day. Since they would be leaving for a while, they decided it would be good to do everything they wanted in their hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Both her and Emily suggested completely different ideas, Emily wanting to eat at all her favorite restaurants, while Natalie wanted to visit the museums and parks one last time. They were luckily able to compromise and partake in a bit of both. All in all, it had been a fairly good day.

Currently, she was trying to make it to the next rest stop. While driving was something she enjoyed, over five hours of it, not including driving around the city, had begun to cause her legs to cramp. She would generally just power through it, but because she was the only one driving, she decided it would be better to rest every now and then. The rest stop was currently about an hour away.

After about another thirty minutes, Emily began to wake up. Deciding to neg her a bit, she said. "Welcome to the world of the living, oh Queen of the Night." She had a smile plastered on her face, knowing how Emily would react to the nickname.

Emily just glared at her friend, eventually deadpanning, "Ha ha. Very funny." She then looked out the window.

"I try" The smile never left Natalie's face.

"Well try harder." She gave a smirk back to the taller woman. "Where are we anyways? Looks like the middle of nowhere."

Natalie thought for a minute, trying to find a witty thing to say to her friend. She eventually gave up, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "I guess the middle of Missouri can be described like that." She thought for another moment. "I guess most of the Midwest can be actually." This caused them both to chuckle, loving the joke of the Midwest being a barren wasteland.

Emily looked down at her phone, seeing that it read midnight. She then looked at Natalie, a bit of concern on her face. "How long were you planning on driving? It's getting pretty late."

Natalie just gave her friend a comforting smile. "I'm just driving to the next rest stop. I think it's a bit less than an hour away."

"Well don't strain yourself. We don't want you to blow out on the first day." They then both went silent, Natalie watching the road while Emily scrolled through her phone. Neither of them noticed the sign they passed that read 'Welcome to Anathema.'

Not long after they stopped their conversation, a ringing sound came from the back seat. They both recognized it as Emily's alarm, it's annoying sound could be recognized anywhere. While the noise should have been muffled by the clothes in the suitcase, the noise pierced their ears as if it was right next to their heads. They could only take the noise for so long.

Natalie eventually shouted over the noise. "Emily, reach back there and see if you can turn that damn thing off. My ears are starting to bleed." Her eyes were still on the road, but her face was scrunching up in pain.

Emily unbuckled her seatbelt and tried reaching into the back seat. "I swear I turned this stupid thing off this morning so that this exact thing wouldn't happen." She was confused by the turn of events only concluding, "It must have somehow turned on inside my suitcase." Her arm reached into the back seat, but it was too short to reach the bag.

Natalie noticed this and turned to try and help, pushing Emily further into the back seat. Her eyes were only taken off the road for a few seconds, and they were able to turn off the ear-piercing alarm. She cursed Emily for not being able to wake up without it as she turned her eyes back to the road.

She was surprised to find something within her line of sight that should not have been there. Right in the middle of the road stood a small girl with knee length blonde hair. Natalie didn't have time to hit the brakes, fearing for all three of their lives. In order to not hit the girl, she tried swerving to the side.

In doing this, she lost control of the vehicle. Within seconds, the car was off of the highway, and she was now driving next to the highway on the grass plain. She tried her best to swerve back onto the highway, but the car eventually took a nosedive into a ditch she couldn't have seen. The airbags went off, causing both girls to pass out on the stop. Natalie's last thoughts were, What a start to our new adventure.