The Heart Darkens

Prologue

1997, West Berlin, NJ

It had been a gloomy day. Clouds spurred over the suburban landscape like a blanket. It made the overall mood feel depressing, even though there was no reason to feel depressed at all. The town itself was still growing, and was rather content with the area. It was still the time where the people could innovate, and with the amount of resources from the stores and markets that were abundant, it only made sense for people to settle, and build. 

Of course, not many people were sad in the town. West Berlin had lovingly crafted houses for large families. Interior architecture made sure citizens were satisfied. Children of all ages loved the plains that surrounded the town, that the system was working towards to industrialize. The plains were windy, on top of large hills that were satisfying to climb over. On top, there was a set of vibrant grasslands that wildlife sometimes chose to frolic in. A couple of parks were built in already, along with electrical towers. 

A family who had lived in West Berlin for all their lives were making their daily morning routine. They were known simply as the Cade family, and they were probably the simplest in town. Hard working, they showed a good role model for the rest of the town. They were but 3. Angel and Deacon Cade, and their 5 year old son, Matthew. 

Deacon was preparing their food for breakfast, while Angel was cleaning the dishes. But Matthew was nowhere to be seen, and it was starting to concern Angel. 

"Hey, have you seen Matt? He should be here.. On his Gameboy.." She murmured, finding Matthew's absence to be odd. 

She looked over to her lover, who was setting out plates on the table.

"Uh, he's in his room. I'll go get him, hold on.." He replied, giving a thumbs up towards Matthew's room. 

"Can't believe he's not out here already, but thanks." Once Deacon had set down the final fork, he set his attention over to the room with the brownish red door. The interior of the house was always clean, and always had some sort of shade of red in every room. Decorative pictures were hung up, clocks in every other room, and in the living room, there were medals put up of Deacon's service in the Army. 

He walked past a table in the kitchen, and moved down the hallway to the brownish red door. He placed his hand on the golden doorknob and opened it slowly. He peeked inside of the room, and saw toys laying out upon the floor, a bunk bed even though he was the only child, a couple of seats and of course, Matthew, looking outside a window on a cloudy day. 

Matthew always chose to wear something on his head. A hat, a stuffed animal, you name it, but he never took the headwear off around others. It was a quirk, alright. Because of this quirk, he had longish hair. He wore a pair of sweatpants and a thermal, because it was early in the year and not that warm out. Deacon smiled at him warmly when Matthew looked at who was entering the room. 

"Daddy? Where do clouds come from?" Matthew innocently asked him, looking back up at the clouds.

"Well..some say, it's just life that makes them." He explained, kneeling down on his two knees next to his child. "I like to believe that clouds hide something.. That people need."

"The sun?" He questioned, tilting his head. 

 "Well, yeah, we need the sun but.. Behind the clouds lies hope. Hope that you might see blue skies again." Deacon and Matthew looked at each other, and Matthew smiled. He somewhat knew already what hope was. He was actually kind of a nerd for his age.  "We can look at clouds later. How about some breakfast?"

 "Mmhm!"

Deacon chuckled, and stood up, towering over the 5 year old, and escorted him out as he ran into the hallway, nearly slipping on the polished wooden plank floor and dashing into the next room, making his seat down on the table.