Hold On | R. Hale

001

CHAPTER ONE
Monster

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-Rochester, New York-
-1932-
-Aurelia-

Aurelia hadn't wanted to move to such a small city, but when her father lost everything in a robbery after the crash of the stock market, her parents decided it would be better to move out of New York City. She knew the danger terrified her mother and that was ultimately why her father agreed to move to Rochester, but Aurelia still hated the idea. How was she supposed to meet someone? How was she supposed to sneak out to a speakeasy to drink and dance the night away? How was she supposed to walk through the streets and get lost in the crowds of people?

The house that the Bailey family bought was nice, nicer than Aurelia expected them to be able to afford, but being Rochester and not the city, she supposed it made sense. And despite her reservations, the house was adorable. White brick with a nice sized front porch, two stories and an attic, and a small backyard that would be perfect for a little garden of vegetables.

The sight of it brought her hopes up and she grinned as she climbed from the town car her father had driven the few hours between the two cities. She could tell her smile took the tension off her mother's shoulders and she squeezed her into a hug.

"I'm going to go find my room!" she exclaimed as she ran up the front steps, hearing her father chuckle behind her.

The bedroom sat at the end of the hallway with her parents' room at the top of the stairs. She would have her own bathroom as her parents had one inside their room, which was new for her. Whoever heard of a bathroom inside a bedroom! The movers had already brought their furniture so her bed, armoire, desk, and dresser were already inside. She would want to rearrange, but the room was nice and looked over the backyard, which she loved.

Satisfied, she made her way back down, her shoes clicking on the wooden floors, and found her parents talking to another couple and their daughter. She stepped up next to her father and he turned to her with a smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Ah, here she is," he said. "This is my daughter, Aurelia. Aurelia, these are the Hales from down the road. Michael, Jennifer, and their daughter, Rosalie."

Aurelia smiled at each in turn, but when they landed on the young, blonde, beautiful Rosalie, her breath hitched silently in her throat. For a long time, Aurelia knew she was broken. The men she met weren't handsome to her, weren't attractive. But the women made her heart beat harder, her mouth water, her hands sweat, her stomach tighten. Everything she found told her she was wrong, she was an abomination, she was going to hell for feeling the way she did.

But as Rosalie shook her hand, her beautiful smile quirking slightly higher as if she heard Aurelia's thoughts, it didn't feel wrong. In fact, it felt like the rest of the world faded away and it was just the two of them, and everything finally made sense.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

-One Year Later-

Aurelia had lost her shoes a couple blocks back, but she was too terrified to go back for them, even though her feet screamed at her as they got cut on the debris in the streets. Whoever was pursuing her wasn't part of Royce's group of friends, though she was just as terrified of them. Rosalie had sent her away when they came across them, gentle but firm, because she couldn't allow Royce to find out about them.