Flames of Solitude - Volume 1

Jessica woke up to find herself surrounded by absolute darkness. She couldn’t see a thing. Adding to her discomfort was the chilling sensation on her skin; the floor was cold, not to an unbearable degree, but far from comfortable. Jessica stood up cautiously, trying to inspect her surroundings by stretching her arms into the darkness. Fear gripped her as she wondered where she was.

“Mom!” she called out desperately.

“Melody?” Her sister’s name echoed in the void, but there was no response.

She was alone, engulfed by the shadows of this mysterious place. Hugging herself, tears welled up in her eyes. The only sound she could hear was her own sniffling. After a while, she took her first tentative step, wary of stepping into the abyss and disappearing forever. What if she stood on the edge of an endless cliff? But the solid feedback from beneath her foot reassured her, and she cautiously began to walk, her hands outstretched to avoid collisions.

Jessica took a few steps before bumping into something, emitting a startled yelp that almost sent her tumbling. Her outstretched hands were of little help against an obstacle that didn’t reach the height of her arms. She crouched down and felt the object’s surface. It was rough with a slightly grainy texture, featuring corners and edges. An image formed in her mind — a box. Her hands explored the top surface, and she detected a gap running through the middle. Gently pushing her finger through, she opened the box and tried to discern its contents.

Jessica grabbed whatever her small hands could find. It was a smooth, rectangular object — light and papery. She recognized it as a book. There were several of them inside the box. Instinctively, she knew where she was. A box filled with books like this could only be found in the cellar of her house. This realization meant she was still at home, not trapped in some horrific nightmare.

The cellar wasn’t large, as far as she remembered. This box should be situated on the opposite side of the stairs. All she needed to do was turn around and walk straight ahead. Jessica promptly shifted to face the other side, only to be greeted by an endless void of darkness.

Darkness was every child’s nemesis, and Jessica was no exception. Goosebumps formed on her skin, and a cold shiver ran down her spine.

“Mom?” she called out once more, now that she knew she was in her own cellar. Wouldn’t her mother hear her?

But the cellar remained silent, the only sound breaking the stillness being her own breathing. She took one step at a time, though for Jessica, it felt like an eternity before she bumped into the familiar stairs, almost stumbling on them. Finally, she would ascend and leave the cellar behind. She reached for the doorknob, pressed it down, and pushed. Nothing happened. Again, the door didn’t budge an inch. She let go.

Meren always kept the cellar door locked, fearing that Melody or Jessica would do something reckless and hurt themselves. But why was the door locked when Jessica was inside? And why was she there in the first place?

Jessica didn’t know and was too stressed to think about it. She just wanted to get out, immediately. Knocking sounds echoed in the cellar, soon escalating into desperate banging, accompanied by the sniffling of a crying girl. Was no one here? Couldn’t they hear her?

She didn’t want to remain trapped there forever; the thought was terrifying. What was even more frightening was the idea of looking back down the stairs. The longer she pounded on the door, the more fear and anxiety filled her mind, toying with it. What if she looked back, and the darkness reached out for her, grabbing her legs, and pulling her back?

“Mom!” she cried out.

Bang. Bang.

The door remained unyielding, as though it were the gate between heaven and hell, refusing to let the condemned ascend.

“Open the doooor!”

What came out of Jessica were high-pitched screeches, but still, there was no reaction. The door seemed unfazed by the young girl’s pleas, and the shadows embraced their newfound companion. They wanted her, and Jessica knew it. They would not let her go. She felt the cold creeping up her body. Her eyelids were squeezed shut, as if the familiar blackness behind them was safer than the one looming outside.

And then, like light shining through closed curtains, her eyes registered the faint glow outside her closed eyelids. She opened her eyes, only to be momentarily blinded by the sudden illumination, although the light was weak. For the time she spent in the cellar, any light before her was akin to staring at the sun in the sky.

It wasn’t just the shadows that receded before the light, but also the fear that had clouded her mind, dissipating like a storm yielding to the first rays of dawn.

Jessica’s small hands shielded her eyes from the onslaught of light. Her eyes were as wide as slits, and she almost turned her head away as a reflex but stopped herself. Her fear of the dark was stronger than her fear of the light.

“Have you calmed down?” Finally, the voice she had been so desperate to hear appeared.

“Mom,” instead of answering, Jessica began to cry. She took a step, about to leave the cellar, but the door was only slightly open, enough for her to see outside but not to walk through.

“Jessica, have you calmed down?”

This time, Jessica noticed the strange tone in her mother’s voice. But still, what did she mean? The young girl was more than confused. She just wanted nothing more than to get out.

“Let me… out,” was all Jessica could manage to say between her sniffling.

For a while, the world seemed to freeze. Her mother was silent, the door stood unmoving, and Jessica’s crying continued.

Then came a creaking sound, and the door opened before Jessica. Without wasting another second, she ran out into her mother’s embrace, not noticing the slight jerk. She cried until her tears dried out. It was too much for her.

A sigh escaped Meren, her bandaged hands were about to touch Jessica’s head, but they began to shiver and tremble as if full of fear. Instead, she let them stay at her side.

The young girl hugged her mother one-sidedly.