Kelly's past is dark, something happened back when she was young...something she can't remember, but others around her seem to know. And when her mother mysteriously dies and her father disappears soon after, she is sent to her only remaining close relative Aunt Carol. Now in a big city living in a huge mansion, Kelly is broken. But then she meets mysterious Shade who has as many secrets as she has hairs on her head. Just when Kelly thinks things might turn out all right...her father is found and suspected of the murder of her mother death. Kelly is forced to face her past once more to solve the puzzle to her mothers mysterious death.
Can Kelly solve the mystery, or will the puzzle remain un solved forever?
And why does Shades secrets seem to mingle with her own, and is Shade possibly intertwined with her fate?
Find out in Dark Memories by Beauty Whispers.

Chapter 1: Prologue: It's Ok.

Prologue: It's Ok.

 

I leaned back against the wooden bridge rail,  the same bridge I went to every night I could and most mornings. The night was as dark as ever and the only light that was visible, was the stars and the moon which shown like diamonds in the sky. I breathed in the fresh air, and tried to relax and just let the night sounds take me away. But everything that had happened in the past few days came flooding back to me, each second a new memory surfaced, each second unbearable. I saw my mothers pale face and heard her last words, " Be safe, stay away, be good. " Her words were every teenage girls nightmare, words one would never understand, yet felt no rest until they did. I saw my best friends hurt expression and my fathers red truck driving down the driveway for the last time. So many things had happened in the past month, and it had all started with my mothers death...and of course the boy.
My legs wobbled and I let my back slide down to the wooden floor of the bridge. My brown hair a mangled mess sticking to my forehead and cheeks from the sweat of the run, and the tears which streamed down as if I gave them permission, and I hadn't. I never used to cry, not until now, until that day... I could hear the water rushing against the river rocks just below the bridge, running away from the past like I wish so badly I could do. But I can't.
I heard fast footsteps, racing towards me. I choked back a sob but failed, a moan escaped my lips and I shuttered. Trying desperately to get to my feet, to run away from this place I used to call home, away from whoever was trying to hold me prisoner here. But as I got to my feet I felt warm arms around my shoulders, caressing and spreading warmth. I turned and buried my face into his shoulder and wept onto his shirt, he was the only one who new what happened, and the only one who cared. " It's ok, it's ok, it's ok. " he murmured quietly, repeating it over and over as if to drive it into my mind forever. It's ok.
I looked up into his blue eyes, wanting to look into them forever. His dark hair blended into the night and his tall masculine figure was outlined against the full moon which hung in the air behind him. He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and smiled, and leaned in and kissed me softly. The sound of the crickets and the owls was like a music within itself, making the night seem almost magical. He pulled back his eyes sparkling with concern and passion, he rapped me in his arms and held me there for several seconds before whispering, " I love you. " My breath caught in my throat and the whole world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for me to answer. But what could I say? I'd lost everything in a matter of days, and now was I to give my love away too?
He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes, his own sincere and honest.
" You don't have to answer, it's ok. " But I saw the hurt hidden behind his concern and sincerity, and it felt like a punch to the ribs. How was it that no matter what I did I was always hurting someone and disappointing another. But his words echoed in my mind, It's ok, it's ok, it's ok.
....but was it?

Chapter Notes:

Please comment and let me know what you think, any suggestions or questions are totally welcome. Thank you so much to all those who cared enough to read this!:)

Chapter 2: Alone Thunder shook the house, and I covered my ears and groaned. I hated thunder and it wasn't because I was afraid of it, it's because the sound reminds me so much her. My mother. She used to sit in the rocking chair during thunder storms and sing the same song over and over again. She'd comb her hand through my hair and whisper the song when my father went off to bed. She would even hum it in the grocery store or on the way to school. So much so that I got sick of the song and I remember once I told her to stop singing it, my voice raised louder than normal. She had looked at me sadly and said softly, " You need to remember, Kelly. Don't let them catch you, your stronger than them. " I had rolled my eyes at her strange remark and turned away to look out the window. " But her words echoed in my mind the whole day.
I had come back from school that day, planning on asking her about what she had meant. But when I got home...she was on the floor...dead. Everything happened in a blur after that, I remember screaming and shouting for my mother to wake up and calling the police tears streaming down my cheeks.
The police sirens wailed in the twilight, and they pulled up in the driveway fifteen minutes later. I had sat their next to my mother, crying softly. When the police arrived they took the body and covered it in a plastic sheet and hauled her into their car and straight to the hospital. But not a half an hour later, one of the police arrived and told me the news her face a mask of pity and sorrow. I only nodded, I had no more tears.
As another blast of thunder shakes the house, I let out a sob. I find myself singing the same song she would always sing, the same song I used to hate...but now it was the only thing I could hang onto. " You can run and hide from them, but nothing will ever stop them. Until you find the last memory in the darkness hidden in the sea. So farther run and scurry you say, except one two three and now it's to late. I can't sing this song forever my darling, so listen closely and listen far, because you won't have forever to chase down the memory. "
The song played over and over in my mind, and the thunder seemed to be a natural background to the tune, swaying and blurring together into one melody. I copied the way she used to wave her hand in the air like a wave as she sung, and the way she sang it softly and sadly like she was telling a sad sad story.
I heard fast footsteps banging down the stairs and I was flung out of my trance, the thunder seemed to book even louder now, angrily. I shot out of the rocking chair as my father stormed down the stairs and into the kitchen. His brown curly hair looked like he had just got out of bed, but his eyes were swollen and faintly red as if from crying. He never cried, never. He looked at me and I caught the glint and the sparkle of a tear on his right cheek, but he turned away to quickly for me to be sure. He mumbled something under his breath, to faint for me to hear.
" What? " I asked quietly. He turned his face a mask of sorrow and rage, " I'm leaving! " he shouted. Thunder shook the house as if empathizing his point, causing the house the squeak in protest. I shook my head, not understanding his statement. My father looked at me and then grabbed a brown duffle back in the corner of the kitchen and headed towards the door. " No! " I screamed. " Please don't leave! Don't leave me! " But my father slowed just by the door and turned to look at me. His lower lip trembled and I saw a tear trickle down his cheek and onto the floor. I stared at the dew drop on the floor, sparkling in the kitchen light. Then my head shot up again as the door opened with a creak, and my father turned and walked out, slamming it shut behind him.
I watched him drive down the driveway for the last time, in his black work truck...for the last time. I screamed until my throat went dry and cracked, I cried until I threw up. I was completely alone in this sad excuse for a house. The window was cracked and leaking in water from the rainstorm, cracked by my fathers rage. That night I slept on the living room floor, listening to the thunder shaking the house and the accessional flash of lightening.
The next day I called the police, and reported my missing father. Two police officers drove up the driveway to our little shack of a house. " Kelly, we found out where your Aunt Carol lives and you will be staying with her until we find your father and things straighten out. " I frowned, I didn't even know I had an Aunt Carol. One of the policemen, a big muscular looking guy with dark hair and bright green eyes, seemed to understand my confusion and hesitation. " She's from your fathers side, and it looks to me as if you didn't know much about your fathers relatives? " I nodded and said quietly, " Yes, I didn't know anything about his side of the family. " The other policeman frowned and turned to speak into his walkie talkie, I heard part of his conversation b not much. " She doesn't know...yes...get his records...now. " But the other policeman interrupted my concentration and I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. " Everything will turn out just fine, you'll see. " He tried for a friendly smile, trying to lighten the somber mood. But his lighthearted effort only angered me and I snapped, " Ya, of course it'll be alright. My mothers dead and I have no father! " I saw the policeman's shocked face and I couldn't stand it any longer, I turned and ran back to the house slamming the door shut behind me. I needed to be alone, even if it was just for a second.