New Beginnings

        Sigh.

I drearily watched the soft, fuzzy gray clouds roll one after another across the cerulean blue sky. 

I sighed again.

The weather lately seemed to be contrary of itself constantly. One day, it would be pouring rain that soaked you to the bone, chilling cold, yet the sun would be smiling down at you in the exact same instant. Today was no exception. Low, heavy clouds forecasting almost certain showers, ice cold breezes that slithered into your sweaters, and cheerful, laughing bright skies with flowers and trees in full blossom. Fall, winter, summer and spring, all into one. Contrary. Just like me.

Sigh.

It seemed like so long ago that everything was perfect, or at least close enough to perfect. My friends were all together, all of us close as could be. No backstabbing. no drama, no me being the third wheel. And when we still talked. Unlike now.

Nope. Now, it's like I've been sucked into a parallel universe. One that made me feel vulnerable, psychotic, and ever so lost.

Now, I have no idea what I say, do, or not do. Now, I spend my nights awake, staring into the darkness, hearing words and thoughts echo over and over and over again, keeping me up even as I was asleep. I doubt every single thing I do. Every. Single. Thing. 

Sigh.

Brrrriiiiiinnnnng

Heaving out another silent sigh, I slowly bent down to pick up my overused, frayed, dusty old white and black checkered backpack, and slowly and steadily stood up from my seat and wandered out the classroom door. I barely registered the noise that whirred all around me, like bees in a hive. Three-hundred sixty degrees, I could here "Bye!", "Hey, wait up!", "Oh, my, GOSH!!! You will NOT believe what happened!", and "See you at the mall later!".

Foreign words that I used to remember.

Slinking down the hall against the wall, I moved toward the front doors at a snails pace. It was like I was in slow motion, watching everyone around me vanish, disappear, and leave as if watching a television program. One by one, people left, excited for the long week off right around the corner, only an hour or two away. Soon, I was the only one left.

It felt so alien to me, yet so familiar, this feeling of being alone. Hearing my own footsteps frightened me, but still sent pleasurable chills down my back. Home. Yet not home.

Contrary.

Why was it me who had to go relatively insane?

**Flashback**

"Hey! Arianne! Wait up!"

Grinning, I turned around to face my best friend in the entire world. But something stroke me as off. 

"'Sup girl! What's up?"

Another strike. Why was her face so different to me today?

"Well, actually, I came to say goodbye."

I was lost. She lived right next door to me? Why would she need to say goodbye? We saw each other every single day.

"What? Are you alright? We 're neighbors remember? You don't need to say bye to me. Did you hit your head or something?"

Another strike. Something was wrong today. Something was very wrong.

"Arianne. I'm not your neighbor anymore. I'm moving. Out of the country. For good."

Moving. Out of the country. For good. Those words echoed in my mind like the sound of gongs.

"W-what? Today? Now? Why? Huh???"

"I'm sorry. Goodbye Arianne. I'll miss you!"

With that, she turned and ran off, leaving me there frozen. Lost.

Pity. That's what had been off about her face today. She pitied me. She knew I would be lost without her. She knew. Yet she still left without hesitation.

**End Flashback**

That day had turned out to be the first of many that I despised. It had been the beginning to my downfall.

Following her move, my other friends soon began to exclude me, leaving me alone, in the bitter cold, friendless. All of my other classmates had been extremely nice to me, but it was always out of pity. I could hear there conversations about me. How poor and sad I was. 

It was what made me decide I didn't need them.

Afterwards, everything just fell apart even more. My best guy friend who I had known since childhood, probably the only one who I was just as close to as my friend who had moved away, began to distant himself from me. He stopped conversing with me, and after a month or two, we stopped talking all together. He began to hang out with his new, cooler friends, and seemingly forgot about me.

And I won't lie. It hurt. I felt even more lost after that.

Sighing again, I pushed open the heavy, freezing metal doors and flinched as a mix of warm and ice cold air was blasted into my face. Stopping, I took in my surroundings. Barely anyone was left in the school parking lot, and the few who were were all chatting casually with their friends, making plans for break no doubt. Occasionally, a car would rumble by with a happy whirring noise.

Once more, I felt lost. I didn't belong here. Not in this world. Not now, not e-

"Arianne."

His voice.

Turning slowly, I gazed at him. He'd grown taller than me now, but it was the same face from before we stopped talking. Hesitating, I opened my mouth gradually, but no sounds came out. 

Blinking, we just stared at each other.  Wind blew and clouds danced across the sky, but it was silent.

"Hey."

With that one word, it held in it a million emotions.

But most of all, it held light. Light that promised to lead me, begging me to forgive. Light for my darkness.

I smiled softly.

Maybe I did belong. And if I don't now, then I'll make myself belong.

This was a new beginning.

Nighten Mansion

Hey guys! So, I got this new idea for a series of short stories. Basically, it's about this strange mansion deep in the woods, called Nighten Mansion. It's abandoned, but at the same time, it's not. Very peculiar things happen in this mansion, but what exactly is going on? Read to find out!
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The Living Room Spirit(s)

             A living room. The place where most families use to relax. But not in Nighten Mansion. No, here, it was considered the elite room. The place where only the best could enter, and where the best happened. 

            The room itself was large and elegant. Not at all family friendly. In fact, it could be considered as a ball room instead of a living room. Pure cream and light, cloud gray swirls painted in the marble floor reflected images from the ceiling, and a glimmering 10 feet wide chandelier with glittering crystals that threw sparkles in every direction took up the bottom and the top of the room. Looking from the doorway coming in, a cozy, flickering red fireplace was snug in the far corner to the left, while an infinite number of mahogany wooden stairs spiraled up, up, up on the right. A light colored oak bookcase towered above the ground in the middle of the left wall. And, to top it off, a majestic, 42 feet long redwood table stretched across the center of the room. Real gold embellished it's edges, and fingerprint-less glass acting like mirror was pressed into the center of the wooden table top. A single, lone, velvet covered chair was seated at the far end of that table, giving the room a beautiful, but melancholic look.

            So what was so special about this room, besides its fancy furniture? Well, to know that, we would have to wait until the unseen grandfather clock strikes twelve.

         Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong!

And there it chimes. Twelve. Midnight. Time for magic to begin.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwww..." 

A petite girl yawned. She came out of seemingly nowhere, simple rising out on the marble tiles as if she was emerging from the water in a pool. 

"Well? When are you all coming out?" she asked to the empty room. 

She was, as mentioned before, a petite girl, only about 5 feet in height at most. She had long, sleek black hair that tumbled down past her waist, and sleepy light gray eyes, much like the gray in the marble. Her skin was pale and creamy, her lips a delicate pink. Yawning again, she arched her back and pulled back her arms, stretching out in a cat-like way.

Suddenly, bubbly giggles floated down from above. Glancing up, a skinny body was slowly being built by the many sparkles from the diamond chandelier.

"Always the subtle one, huh Maybelle?" sharp, but soft voice penetrated through the sparkles.
The pale girl smiled and mocked, "Always the giggly one, huh Chrys?"
A full figure had now emerged from the chandelier, and it certainly was a stunning one. It was a skinny, average height girl with glowing golden skin, pearly white teeth, cutting sky blue eyes, and golden strands of hair that floated around in waves down her back. She was perched delicately on the rim of the chandelier, grinning happily as she looked down to meet the marble like girl's eyes.
"Hey, are you really going to party without me?" a loud voice shouted.
Suddenly, a blur of brown slid down the stairway banister and landed on the marble floor with a satisfying thump.
"Stan! Took you long enough! Catch me!" Chrys yelled down, and promptly leaped down from the chandelier. Fortunately, she was caught by the arms of none other than the boy that was a blur before.
           The boy was tall and muscular, but not so much that he looked bulky. Messy, tousled, caramel hair and dark chocolate brown eyes were alive with mirth. A light brown tan dusted his skin, and smooth dark red lips were twisted into a smirk.
           "Good thing I caught, huh Chrys!" the boy laughed. She giggled as she delicately stepped toe first onto the ground, graceful as a swan. Leaning on one leg, the marble girl grinned along with them.
           "Yup! You're my own, personal Superman, Stan!" Chrys exclaimed. Her replies were loud guffaws from her two person audience.
           "Hyper, over-energetic people," a resonating, clear, loud, but at the same time, soft, rounded, and a little hoarse, slightly deep voice scoffed. The other three whirled around to see a dark, shadowy girl lazily lounging, with arms folded behind her head, on the magnificent redwood table. She had long legs and arms, and a tall, skinny, but not as skinny as the other two girls', figure. Shining red-brown hair was loosely twisted up and clipped with a large black clip, and one pitch black eyes was cracked open to gaze sharply at the three excited spirits. Her dark colored lips were expressionless, but if one looked closer, the right corner of her mouth was slightly twitched up. Her skin gleamed like the table, a pale golden color, tan but not tan. She was clad in a deep maroon button up with the long sleeves rolled up, black denim skinny jeans, and sleek umber, knee-high boots.
            Fully smirking now, she taunted, "What? Shocked to hear negativity, or just shocked by my entrance? I thought you knew I loved dramatic entrances!"
Finishing with a loud cackle, she leapt off the table and stalked over to the towering cream-yellow bookcase and gave it a light kick.
"Come on Bookworm, time to wake up and actually enjoy yourself!" she snapped, accenting each word with a slight slap. Soon, a coughing, dust covered boy stumbled and tripped out of the books face first, and landed at her feet.
"Finally, took you long enough," she muttered, spinning around to face the shadows dancing along the walls.
Still coughing, the skinny, pale boy picked himself up while mumbling, "Sorry, I was reading about Shakespeare and I lost track of time."
The girl just scoffed in reply.
Chrys giggled lightly, whispering, "Looks like Leanna missed Aden!"
The girl dressed in darkness, now named as Leanna, whirled around to sharply glare at the bubbly girl as the boy fumbled and toyed with the edge of his honey colored button up shirt. His light umber eyes were cast downward and his pale pink lips kept moving, but no sound came out.
"Please, as if I would miss him. He's nothing but a bookworm."
She promptly slid her gaze over Aden, and pretended not to notice his hurt expression.
Opening her mouth for a retort, Maybelle got cut off by Stan, who quickly interrupted to oncoming mini World War.
"Okay! So, what's up guys? Anything new?" he asked in a panicky voice.
Beaming, Aden opened his mouth and began saying, "Well, actually I just read about this really cool story about-"
"Next topic, bookworm!" Leanna cut in.
Pouting, Aden trudged over to the gleaming redwood table, and sat down next to Leanna.
The girl promptly slid her glance to the opposite direction, causing hushed giggles from Maybelle and Chrys.
Stan chuckled at the two spirits' typical antiques, and commented, "Well, what else is there to talk about? That I got a new coat of polish? Because I did, if you're wondering why I look so good."
He jokingly slicked back his hair and winked at the others.
"Oh please, like you could ever look as good as me, you set of logs. And no, nobody cares if you got a polish, because you look and stupid as ever," Leanna teased, and smirked widely, eliciting a chuckle from Stan, and a soft, unseen smile from Aden.