Chapter 3: (The Red Door)

Present



Lying on her side, her body jostled with the whir and hum of an engine as it came to a stop. As the doors flew open, Larcia woke up with a throbbing pain in her head as two men in suits hurried outside from a limousine to hold the door open for her.



She realized that she was completely passed out during the entire return journey from the award ceremony. She was already home! The look of the huge mansion, where she resided, on almost the outskirts of civilization, was more than enough to bring peace to her mind.



She always wanted to live in a place, not too crowded nor too quiet so, through her connections she got to know about this huge mansion in Lancaster, where the commute to the nearest supermarket was around 10 minutes as well as the distance to the nearest forest which was sparsely inhabited.



The mansion was so huge that it's almost foolish to live alone.



After everything that she's been through, for a while Larcia struggled to entrust herself to someone else. But as if through a clash of fate, she met Roseanne Valley, a person no less than her own mother. Roseanne was introduced to Larcia during her harshest of times, when she had none to rely upon, it was her who lend Larcia her support and care.



Two men in their late 30s, one of them held the door open as another held his hand in a gesture of respect and protection.



Larcia took his hand and stepped out of the car, her hair all tousled up and almost looked like a coyote's nest after her long nap. Her sweet home looked, so huge, so magnificent, yet.......so lonely without her.



The mansion was completely surrounded by trees and well- trimmed bushes, the stone walkway with flagstone, gravel, and pavers, to the entrance of the house was completely decorated with palm trees in a row on both sides of the walkway, which was lit up with yellow lightings.



At the entrance of the house, stood a woman wearing an apron with flour dust all over her front. A ladle sticking out of her pocket. She seemed like a woman in her mid 40s, rather pudgy. Her auburn hair tied up in a loose bun as strands of hair plastered over her face. The crow's feet under her eyes deepened as their eyes met and Larcia made a run for her with a bunch of dress in her hand.



She threw her arms around the lady's neck and embraced her in an everlasting hug.



"Oh my, sweetpea! You'll get all the flour on your pretty dress!"



"I don't care, you don't know how much I missed you, Aunt Rose!"



"Aw, but it hasn't been that long since we last met, am I right? I remember this morning making breakfast for you...."



"Come on, for once just say that you missed me too....you don't know how hard it is, even after all these years I still feel like I could pass out in front of those cameras "



A huge smile spread over aunt rose's face, as she whispered,"I missed you too, sweetpea!". With an arm around each other, they walked inside as two furballs, almost jumping, made their way towards the ladies.



Larcia bent down to pick both of em in her arms, as one licked her face out of excitement while the other was too busy playing with the glitter all over her dress. She was too accustomed to this life, that if she could, she would love to live this for the eternity.



Neither the past nor the future eagered her. The past scared her, while the future's......unknown.



The two little furballs food bowls were clear and almost shining, as if they just had two ravaging beasts feed on them.



"Aunt Rose, have you fed George and Genova?"



"About them..."



"What? Don't tell me they haven't eaten yet again, I swear..."



"I was about to tell you the minute Gabe came from the backyard, I knew that you would get stressed so I thought that maybe it could wait......I'm sorry "



"Ugh, not again! It's not your fault but please refrain from stalling these informations from me in the future. Ultimately, their still in my care and if this continues I don't know how long I can keep those two together "



Larcia heaved a heavy sigh and made her way towards the backyard, she opened a huge sliding glass door leading to the backside as a strong wind blew across her face, sending chills all over her body.



"Wait! You shouldn't go there alone during the night hon, it's dangerous! They can wait for tomorrow, please come inside, I know your exhausted too, so take rest, eat your fill and then confront them, it's the weekend anyhow. What do you say?"



At the mention of food, her stomach grumbled as if in agreement, as realization hit her that she hadn't eaten anything since her breakfast in the morning!



As if through telepathy or more out of habit, Aunt Rose beamed at her and rushed towards the kitchen and after a while, she started humming while setting up plates on the dinner table.



A delish aroma of fresh grated cheese and bacon filled the foyer, as Rose carried a cloche and set it on the dinner table. Salivating, Larcia ran to her room, threw the dress over her head and got into a huge Pink Floyd t-shirt and ran downstairs at full speed as her stomach grumbled ardently.



As she sat down, Rose lifted the cloche and revealed a freshly made carbonara, decorated with dollops of cheese and bacon. After a long day of schedules, Rose was the only person who knew how to satisfy her.....and nothing else can do a better job than some good homemade food!



"How does it taste? Even though it's unhealthy, I thought you deserved a break...". A look of concern hinted her speech.



The creaminess of the pasta and cheese was enough to form the gates of heaven for Larcia. The crispy bacon was just the cherry on top. "Thank you so much! This is the best thing I've tasted in the entire day and if this continues I don't think I can let you go to your kids ever again". As mischief drooled onto her face, she thought of Benjamin and Mikela, the children of Aunt Rose and massively felt envious of them.



Rose pulled out a chair in front of her, sat herself down and looked at the girl in front of her with utter adoration.

"You see, I wanted to talk about this .....issue of yours. I know you asked me not to dig around, though I can't help but feel anxious everytime the topic arises - "



"Aunt Rose, I know what your getting at but I swear I've never been more okay than this, George and Genova are someone I care about deeply and it's already been a year since we all have been together, I just can't turn my back on them now."



Aside from herself, the only person that was aware of Larcia's curse in disguise was none other than Aunt Rose. George and Genova, the two snakes that resided with Larcia as pets, were the only snakes in more than over a decade that actually responded to her speech.


After the incident during her childhood, she felt betrayed and was deprived of information. She felt used but she just couldn't bring herself to hate them. And all that time later, whenever she tried to search for answers, she was treated with hostility and fear.



She was filled to the brim but craved something sweet and out of nowhere, Rose pulled out her special Tres Leches cake, which was just the best end to the supper. The hint of cinnamon gave a spice to the sweet sponge cake and left her mouth watering for more.



After devouring the entire dinner table, Larcia gave a big kiss on her cheek as a "thank you" and left her all flustered as she made her way up the stairway. Rose stayed with her during the weekends and went to her own home, to her children, during the weekdays or sometimes the other way around. It was a very normal day in that household. Larcia bid her goodnight and made her way towards her bedroom.



It was a big room in the middle of which laid a teak wood grand poster bed, the sheets and the duvets were all very complimentary colours and brought about a harmony of shade. A yin-yang wall hanging decorated one of the beige walls, portraits of daft punk, boomslangs, Guns N' Roses and a bunch of self portraits were splayed on one of the other walls. The bedroom opened into a vast balcony, enclosed with balustrade. The view in front was covered with trees and bushes, in a distance a closed lake flowed and the rippling of water giving it all a very idyllic look.



As she laid on her bed, and stared at the ceiling, she remembered the dream from before. It wasn't a dream, but more like a recollection of the past that she dreaded. Those dreams contained with her only when she slept in her bedroom but now, they followed her everywhere.



Beside her bed layed a couple of books stacked above each other, as the clock struck midnight and sleep paralyzed her, all her thoughts wandered away into the distance and she fell into slumber. A cool breeze crept in through the windows, made the curtains dance around, as if a caress to her cheeks and in an attempt to wipe the sweat of her tranquil face.



A black fog, almost similar to the ones emerging from factories draped the entire sky. It wasn't the nighttime, though everything was pitch dark and unclear. As a figure made it's way through the blanket of Nyx, feeling her way with her hands, there was absolutely nothing that she could grasp onto and inevitably, she stumbled upon a rock and fell face front on the ground.



The ground suddenly sizzled as her bare arms started burning with scratches and cuts. Now, in a distance, ripples of water along with a consistent thud as if a boat moored to the shore, was heared.



Following the noise, she reached the source of the sound. A boat was tied, as if waiting for something or someone. When she thought that it was empty, a hooded figure, as dark as the background stood with an oar facing her. A moment of silence passed as they stood, both unmoving.



As she tried to get into the boat, the shape lifted its oars as if an attempt to stop her. Surprised, she stopped dead in her tracks. After a moment she looked around a bit, and nearby under a stone as big as her fist, something shiny, similar to gold was visible. In the darkness, it emitted a thin ray of gleam.



She picked up the stone and looked underneath, it was a coin, a gold coin, covered in dust the colour of black and brown. She wiped the coin on her dress or more of a rag, the front was completely tattered from falling before and the coin shimmerd as if it found it's owner. She walked towards the hooded figure and waved it in front of him. It raised his hand and took the coin and dropped it under the water.



A black fog, almost similar to the ones emerging from factories draped the entire sky. It wasn't the nighttime, though everything was pitch dark and unclear. As a figure made it's way through the blanket of Nyx, feeling her way with her hands, there was absolutely nothing that she could grasp onto and inevitably, she stumbled upon a rock and fell face front on the ground.



The ground suddenly sizzled as her bare arms started burning with scratches and cuts. Now, in a distance, ripples of water along with a consistent thud as if a boat moored to the shore, was heared.



Following the noise, she reached the source of the sound. A boat was tied, as if waiting for something or someone. When she thought that it was empty, a hooded figure, as dark as the background stood with an oar facing her. A moment of silence passed as they stood, both unmoving.



As she tried to get into the boat, the shape lifted its oars as if an attempt to stop her. Surprised, she stopped dead in her tracks. After a moment she looked around a bit, and nearby under a stone as big as her fist, something shiny, similar to gold was visible. In the darkness, it emitted a thin ray of gleam.



She picked up the stone and looked underneath, it was a coin, a gold coin, covered in dust the colour of black and brown. She wiped the coin on her dress or more of a rag, the front was completely tattered from falling before and the coin shimmerd as if it found it's owner. She walked towards the hooded figure and waved it in front of him. It raised his hand and took the coin and dropped it under the water.



A look of horror struck the girl, as she realized what just happened. When she thought she won't be able to cross the water anymore, the shape hit it's oar softly as if telling her to come on board.



As the boat started rowing, the water turned translucent and almost ......golden! And underneath the water, tiny beings moved, as if.....people. But that's not possible! Is it?



After what felt like an eternity, the ride was over, and by that time she realized that the hooded body, most likely seemed to be an old man with crooked fingers. She wanted to pry around more but felt like there would certainly be no answers.



She got out of the boat and right in front of her was a gigantic door, almost the size of the entire Elizabeth Tower. When she turned around, the hooded man had disappeared as well as the boat. The water was again back to pitch black, almost as treacherous as the door in front.



The massive door was adorned with.......skulls? No, that can't be, it's not possible. Her heart started pounding against her chest as if it could jump out any minute now, the door looked very rusty, almost too bad to even work. A dark red hue covered the entire door, it seemed corroded due to the moistu -



Her mouth hung open as realization dawned on her face as a familiar scent reached her. She started backing away, as she noticed blood dripping from one of the nearby hung skulls onto the 'red door'. Horror struck her as she tried to comprehend, that the door wasn't 'rustic' or covered in rust, but it was literally draped in blood and thus living upto it's name of 'The red door'.



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