Darling Devils

Chapter 1 ~ I Hate Surprises

My mother is a beautiful woman, with glossy black hair, dark obsidian eyes, and a lean and slender figure. My father, a tall and astute man, has dark, sandy blonde hair, and blue eyes. You could say that my parents ccouldn't be any more different, from different sides of the world, and contrasting dark and light appearances, but they couldn't be more in love. They met in college, but started dating shortly after. Apparently, it was love at first sight, but they kept their priorities straight---graduate, then think about relationships. Before the first year of dating each other was over, Dad had proposed, and they married on April Fools’ Day---jokingly referring to themselves as fools in love.

Two years into the marriage, I enter the picture. Staring into the mirror, I look at my small, lean figure I have my father’s heart-shaped face, and my mother’s full lips, but that’s as simple as it gets. My eyes are a strange piercing blue, with strands of midnight black swirling around the pupil, and my hair is jet black with natural blonde streaks through it. Overall, I look like some weird hybrid, but like I give a crap.

My eyes wander away from the family picture, and gaze at a photo booth picture-strip near the base of the mirror. I swallow and close my eyes in regret. A single name passes my lips. "Nathan." As I whisper his name, anguish pierces through my heart. It's as though my heart is one of those dalmation puppies, and Cruella de Vil has skinned me alive, and then stuck me in a deep fryer. Weird analogy, I know, but it describes the way my heart is being torn apart in my chest.

The picture's from one year ago, in February, when it was my birthday, and he took me to Six Flags for my birthday, and we went into one of those photo booths. I had so much fun with him that day, like I did every day we were next-door neighbors, since 2nd grade, to be exact, and my best friend since then too.

Fast-forward just a month later, and goodbye best friend, hello empty house.

~

We were playing softball in my backyard, me winning 4-3, when he suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Trice," Nathan had called, throwing the softball back and forth in his hands.

"What?" I had been collecting the bats and shoving them all in our equipment bag, when I turned around to face him. It's strange how a person changes. Subconsciously, I was staring at my best friend, admiring the way his dark black hair fell on his face, how his cheekbones were sculpted in just the right place, how his eyes radiated a fierce masculine strength with a chartreuse shade of piercing green, and how his lips, full and crimsoned, tied together his beautiful face. Wait, what was I thinking? This was my best friend I was talking about, not a prospective crush or anything... I think.

"I'mmovingnextweek," Nathan muttered in a rushed manner, acting as if he was on a sugar high.

Jolted from my daydream, I furiously yelled, "WHAT?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I knew you would freak out. I'm moving to Massachusetts."

"How can I not," I had shouted, "when my best friend waits until the last minute to tell me that I'll never see him again?!"

"I can visit---"

"You know it's not the same! It'll never be the same." As much as I wanted to act tough, I couldn't. Tears rolled down my cheeks one by one, and I screamed through my tears, "I guess you didn't trust me enough to tell me that you were moving to the other side of the country."

Nathan wrapped his arms around me and murmured softly, "Don't cry. I'm not worth your tears." He started stroking my long hair, and it was strangely comforting, but I wouldn't take the bait.

"Don't try that crap on me!" I cried, shaking him off. "I hate you, and I'm glad you're moving away. We were never friends anyway. You're nothing to me anymore. I'm just someone to keep secrets from."

A grimace materialized on his flawless face, masking his undeniable beauty. "Beatrice---"

"Don't." Those were the last words I said to him before running home. I never saw him again.

~

Out of habit, I glance out of my bedroom window, expecting to see Nathan's smiling face, peeking through the shades of his room's window. Instead, I see an empty house with white walls, white carpet, nothing else. It's been a year and two months, and I haven't seen him since. It hurts my heart to think about it, how my best friend, who had aspired to be a magician when he was younger, had done a vanishing act on me.

It's as though the Darling Devils have come to replace Nathan, filling the void in my heart where Nathan's friendship used to be, with an evil so malevolent, that it would change our lives forever.