Whispers of darkness: Secrets

1. Beginning

Mirya was sitting on the roof of her house, watching the sun rise over the town on the day it all started.

She sighed. Today was going to be like usual, so she thought.

One of the town's cats climbed up the fence beside the house and padded over to Mirya.

"Hi Socks." She said, scoping the grey tabby tom up in her arms and cuddling him for a moment. He purred then jumped out of her arms and meowed.

"Do you want milk?" Mirya asked. Socks purred and wrapped himself around her legs as she stood up. She looked at the forest that streached out as far as she could see and sighed again. She had always dreamed of venturing off into the unknown, and one day, she vowed she would. But it wouldn't be today. "Why do I have to go to school?" She muttered to herself before climbing down from the roof.

When she was on level ground again, she looked at the forest and squinted. There, among the trees was a... cat. There was a cat so white it looked like a splotch of snow in the green grass and brown tree trunks. It had deep blue eyes as it stared at the frozen girl, eyes never wavering. It was like the cat was beckoning her. She took a step forward, but then Socks meowed loudly.

Mirya quickly glanced at him. "Shh." She whispered, turning back to the forest. But the white cat wasn't there anymore! She blinked in confusion. "Wha-"

"Mirya! You're going to be late! You better start walking." It was her mother. "Come get your lunch. I have to go do some shopping in town."

"I'm coming." Mirya ran around to the front of the house and grabbed her lunch bag. "See you." She said to her mother as she started down the path towards school.

"See you." Her mom called after her.

———

At recess, Mirya told her friend, Maisy, about the strange cat she'd seen.

"It had such deep blue eyes!" She exclaimed. "And it's fur was whiter than freshly fallen snow!"

"That sounds cool." Maisy acknowledged. "But are you sure you weren't daydreaming? You do seem to be a bit of a daydreamer."

"I wasn't daydreaming." Mirya confirmed.

"Are you sure? How else could a cat just 'disappear'?"

"It-" She paused. "I don't know. Maybe you're right."

"I'm going to go see what Katy is doing. Do you want to come?"

"Nah." Mirya sighed. "I think I'll just sit here and daydream for a while."

"Suit yourself." Maisy walked away. Lightning flashed in the distence. Mirya turned to the forest to see dark clouds looming over. She was about to head inside, but then... a whisper.

It sang in her ears, calling her forward. She took a few steps forward, lost in her own mind. It kept calling her, towards the forest.

She neared the trees, and was about to step in, but then, the bell rang. Mirya lost the sound of the whispers and shook her head, walking back towards the school.

She'd hoped that Maisy would've believed her, but now she was afraid that her friend thought she was a person who could just make things up. Mirya only just realized that she may've just lost her best friend. She still had a bit of hope that Maisy would forget, but deep down, she already knew that she was alone.

———

Mirya followed her grandparents as they descended the creaky wooden stairs into the musty basement. Her grandma had been the one to come pick her up from school because her parents and baby sister had gone to a wedding. She covered her nose as not to sneeze. She hadn't been down here before and was a little apprehensive. The basement was dark and damp, but there were some windows that let in a little bit of light.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Mirya began to make out the shapes of furniture, boxes, old tools, and rows and rows of old books. She started to get excited.

Her grandparents moved around the basement, looking through old boxes and furniture. Mirya stayed close behind them, her eyes scanning every corner for something special. She found old letters, pictures of her grandparents when they were younger, and a bag of ancient coins. After a few minutes of looking through the bag, her gaze landed on a glimmer of gold at the bottom. She quickly dug to the bottom and saw that it was a golden chain necklace. There was a pearl on it, and a golden vine coiled around the shimmering pearl.

"Grandma, look what I found!" Mirya showed her the necklace and her grandmother's face lit up with joy.

"Oh my goodness, that's beautiful!" She exclaimed. "It must have been here for years. I don't even know where that came from."

"We don't have any use for it." Her grandpa added. "You can have it."

Mirya thanked her grandparents and put it on, then they continued to root through the boxes and boxes of stuff.

When they were done, they headed upstairs.

"Can I go outside for a bit?" She asked.

"Okay." Her grandpa agreed. "But take some food with you." He nodded to her grandma, who headed for the kitchen, coming back out a few minutes later with a basket.

"And make sure you come back once it starts to rain hard."

"I promise." And she headed outside, straight for the forest.

I might edit this a bit more later... :)