Consuming Darkness, Arising Light

Chapter 15: Controlled

Bebe

"MOM! DAD!"

Immediately after Bebe's frightened exclaim, a door slams open and hurried footsteps follow, but the girl pauses at the top of the staircase. She stares down at the darkness beneath the stairs in horror. All of the lights instantly went out after a close flash of lightning.

"M-mom...?! Dad?!" She calls for them again. She doesn't receive a reply from neither of her parents, instead a booming thunderclap answers her and she screams. Whimpering, she turns around, about to go back to her bedroom but the door is closed. She did not close it. She approaches the door and tries to twist the doorknob...it doesn't budge. Tugging proves pointless after a short while. The door had mysteriously closed and locked itself. "H-how...?" She backs away with her heart pounding against her chest. Her legs give out and she drops onto her knees, breathing heavily with tears in her eyes. "Mom...dad...where are you? I'm scared..."

"Bebe?" The girl gasps after hearing the soft, familiar call of her name. "Bebe, it's okay. Come down into the living room, me and your father are here."

"Mom!" Relief washes over Bebe. She wipes the tears from her eyes using her pajama shirt sleeve, then stands up on her feet, walking towards the staircase once more. Her feelings about descending the stairs haven't changed, it is way too dark for her to even attempt to go down. She hovers a lightly closed fist over her chest.

"Quickly," her mother urges her in a calm tone of voice.

Pressing her lips into a hard line while clenching her fist over her chest, Bebe swallows down her nervousness and reaches for the railing with her other hand. She grips the narrow wooden bar firmly before starting her trek downstairs. She takes each step slowly, being careful since the steps are the only things she's able to make out.

It takes a little over a minute for her to reach the last step. Letting go of the railing, she plants both feet on the floor within the living room and glances around. The curtains are closed, and...there are a pair of vibrant dark green eyes near the sofa. They lack pupils.

"M-mom?" Bebe utters almost quietly.

"Over here." Bebe's breath hitches with a fright. So...those eyes belong to... "Come, sweetie. Me and your father have something to discuss with you." Bebe refuses to move. The glowing eyes narrow a little. "Come here, Bebe," 'her mother' says again, clearly impatient.

Bebe shakes her head. She isn't going anywhere near the woman who claims to be her mother. She soon discovers that her father isn't sitting next to 'her mother', in fact, he isn't even in the living room with them.

"W-where's dad?"

"Do not worry about him, just come here-"

"No!"

The storm decides to fill the quiet house with a rumble of thunder.

"What?" Mrs. Stevens demands.

Bebe lowers her hand from her chest. "I...I said no..."

There is silence between them once again, a fraught silence. Bebe watches her supposed mother narrow her eyes into slits as she stands up from the sofa. "Bebe...are you disobeying me? Your mother?" The woman asks, her tone menacing. She starts walking towards Bebe.

The girl's instincts instantly tell her to run, but fear immobilizes her body. Why is her mother acting like this? But most importantly, where's her father? If she wasn't so scared, she would call out for him. Mrs. Stevens closes the distance between them in almost an instant, standing before Bebe with a vehement glare that strikes terror into her heart.