Down To Darkness(Watty 2014)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Okay, Sodium is Na and has a charge of positive one; Chlorine is Cl and has a charge of negative one. Together, they make NaCl, which is Sodium Chloride," Nina said to herself as she sat at Tim Hortons and read over her books while holding a warm cup of coffee.

Nina checked her cell phone. "Dammit, two more hours to waste... Ahhh, I can't study anymore. Stupid house, stupid dad. I can't go home even if I wanted to," she said, frustrated.

She brought the coffee to her lips and took a sip while her other hand played with a strand of her long, wavy, blue hair. Ever since she was little, she had been born with it. She didn't know where she had gotten that color because her mother's hair was purple, and her father's was a dark, blondish brown. She thought she would have plum-colored hair, but she ended up with blue, which she adores. Luckily, Nina got her mother's eyes, violet with a tint of green from her father's eyes.

Her mother was pretty, thin, and short. She looked like a model through Nina's eyes, and her father was handsome too, thin, tall, but muscular at the same time. Nina herself wasn't as pretty as her mom but cute—well, that's what everyone else said to her, but she never believed it because she'd never had her first boyfriend, and she was already eighteen. Nina began to look through her science book again. As she flipped through the pages without a glance, she thought about how just a month ago, she had had a great life: a mother and a father who loved and cherished her, two best friends, Aria and Andrew, who would always be there for her, and she could tell them anything too. And now she had lost everything on her sweet eighteenth—well, a nightmare of a sweet birthday.

As she came back to reality, she noticed that she had stopped playing with a strand of her blue hair and started to play with her mom's pendant, which her mom had given to her the day before her accident. Nina continued to play with it as she wanted to cry. "Oh, Mom, why did you have to go? Why did the stupid driver just leave you there to die? I wish that person would get what he deserves and not run away like a coward," Nina whispered as she remembered the day when the police came to her house.

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She was surprised to see a police car parked in her driveway as she walked closer to her house. She had just hung out with Aria and Andrew; they had celebrated her sweet eighteenth birthday together. As Nina climbed the stairs to her patio, she felt that something was wrong, and when she opened the door, hell would break loose.
"Hi... Is anyone home?" She called as she closed the door, unbuttoned her jacket, and walked to the living room. "Dad... Mom!"
Nina peeked her head inside and saw the look on her father's face. She knew the feeling she felt before was about to come true. The shocked look on her father's pale face told her otherwise. A female officer turned around to face Nina while her partner continued to watch her dad.
"Oh you must be Jack's daughter." She said as she walked closer to Nina. "I heard it's your birthday today, Happy Birthday! My name is Lucy and..."

Nina spoke before Lucy could finish her sentence. "Dad, what's going on? Why are the police here? Is mom here... Mom!"

She looked at her dad for answers but received silence instead. "I'm sorry, but there was a hit-and-run accident," the male officer said as he gave his partner a stern look. "Your mom was crossing the street when a silver van ran past the red light and hit her. She died on the spot."

As the male officer spoke, all Nina could think of was her mother. She felt numb all over her body, and her legs felt like ice cream that slowly melted into liquid. Nina saw a hand guiding her to the couch but felt nothing. "No, she can't be gone," Nina said as she ran from the officers' grip and toward the kitchen.

"Mom! Mom! Where are you? You can come out now; this has to be a joke." She called through her tears.

Nina left the kitchen and ran up the stairs and into each room as she called out for her mom.

"Honey, come here." Her father called with a cracked voice.

He wiped away his tears as he emerged from the living room with open arms. Nina slowly descended the stairs, finally surrendering and running to her father. They both wept through the night as they sat in the living room.

Her father planned his wife's funeral three days after the accident, and since then, two weeks had passed. She withdrew from her social life and felt the need not to care about her appearance, as she wore baggy clothes. Since she excluded herself from any activities, she decided it would be better to go from home to school and school to home. When she got home, she would stay cooped up in her room, listening to loud, depressing music as she felt sad about her mom and cried herself to sleep.

One day, on a Thursday, Nina walked into her room and threw her messenger bag against her jade-colored wall. She had a horrible day at school, as everyone kept bugging her with the news of her mother. She plugged her iPod Touch 4 into her speaker and played her playlist. "Mom, if you could hear me, I don't want to live here without you. You are the only thing I care about, and God decided to take you away from me. I hate him, Mom." She cried as she heard "I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever" by Cyndi Lauper. She only came out of her room when she took a bath or ate a meal. When she came out to eat a meal, she would slowly starve herself by eating too little food or no food at all. There were a few times when she sat with her father at the dinner table, and she would use her spoon or fork to play around with her food. That would annoy her father, and he would either yell at her or leave the table. Nina's two best friends slowly tried to pull her out of her depressed state, and slowly it worked for a couple of days, but whenever she thought of her mom, she went back into her shell. Since Nina became depressed and stayed in her room, her father became frustrated with the situation and started to drink.

One day, when Nina was in her room, she noticed her dad wasn't home, so she decided to wait for him. As she waited for him, she fell asleep and was woken by a loud bang. She called for her father but only heard silence, so she went downstairs.
"Dad!!"

"What the hell? Shut the damn lights off," Jack yelled as he lay on the couch.

"Dad, are you ok?" she asked as she walked closer to him.

When she touched her father's shoulder, he grabbed her arm and twisted it hard as he got up slowly. Nina was shocked by her dad and screamed out for him to let her go. He only let her go as he threw her into the wooden bookshelf. She landed on the bookshelf so hard that the books came down, and she cried out in pain. Her father told her to shut up, but when she didn't, he grabbed her injured shoulder and shook her hard. Nina bit her lip to keep the pain in until she tasted blood in her mouth. Jack only stopped after he fell asleep. Nina silently cried in the corner as her pain slowly went away. This was only the first time it happened, but as days passed, it started to get worse, and she had to visit two different hospitals for sprains.
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Nina felt a cold breeze as the door opened. She noticed her teardrops starting to fall, and when she realized it, she used her sleeve to wipe them away. She felt the pain of the bruises left by her father, and after a moment, she noticed someone beside her.

"Hi, I know it's probably none of my business, but I couldn't help but notice that a beautiful young lady like you is crying," said the young man.

"Huh? What? Oh, it's nothing, but thanks for worrying... and yes, it's none of your business."

"I know, but I've always seen you here, usually sitting by yourself or with your two friends. Sometimes you look sad.
"Oh really?"

"Yes, by the way, I'm River."
Nina tried to ignore River nicely, but he wouldn't leave her alone. So, she gave up and asked him to sit with her. They started talking and got to know more about each other. Every day, they would meet at "Timmies" and hang out for a while. They hung out for hours after school or on the weekends so she wouldn't have to go home. Nina made every excuse to stay outside, where she knew she couldn't be harmed. Since they hung out more, she started to trust him, but she still kept her father a secret. She wasn't sure if she could trust him yet, but she planned to tell him soon when she was ready.