Prologue pt. 1

7-year-old Aiden Andrews was walking slowly down the corridor of the old, creepy mansion he lived in. He heard a creak and spun around, sighing in relief as he saw that it was only his older sister.

"Ariel? What are you doing?"

"Me?" Ariel stared at Aiden with her eyebrows raised. "I'm not the one creeping around in the middle of the night! What's going on little bro?"

"Nothing! I just-I thought I heard a noise."

Ariel sighed as she walked towards him and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Alright then, let's go see what the noise was. But seriously, Aid, I told you! If you hear anything that scares you, come and tell me. I can help. It could be something dangerous, and god forbid anything happened to you, no-one would know where you were."

"I know." Aiden said sheepishly, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Little bro, but seriously, next time tell me. This will always be our home, and this place comes with a lot of spooky things. But you'll always have me, and I can help you. I know you get scared easily."

"I-I do n-not!" Aiden stuttered. He groaned As he realised how it's sounded. "Fuck it-"

"Oi! Language!"

"Sorry. Alright fine, maybe I do get a little scared sometimes."

Ariel laughed and raised her eyebrows again.

"A little. Remember that time a spider ran across your foot in the shower. You didn't shower for two months! And the time you found a bat in your room. You didn't go in your room for six months and you slept on the floor in my room every night!"

The two of them laughed and April put her arm over Aiden's shoulders. Then they walked slowly down the corridor together. Aiden suddenly sighed and Ariel stopped.

"Sometimes I hate this house, don't you?" He said quietly. She gasped.

"Are you kidding?! I love it here, besides, it's basically just us since Dad's always either at the pub or work. We have the whole house to ourselves."

"Don't you miss Dad though?" Aiden stopped walking and clenched his fists, looking down sadly at the floor. Ariel sighed and looked down as well.

"Me and Dad . . . We were never that close-"

"Don't lie!" Aiden interrupted, his voice breaking slightly as he fought back tears. Ariel looked up at him in surprise.

"I've seen the photos you've tried so hard to hide, I found them when I was sleeping in your room last month, before I moved back to my own room. You and Dad were so close! And then I was born and mom died! Dad couldn't look at me, whereas you dedicated your life to helping me live mine! A few months after I was born, when you turned four, you started taking care of me instead of yourself! So, Dad started drinking, and working more and ignoring you after you turned five! It's all my fault! It's my fault mom died! It's my fault Dad's ignored you for five years!! Everything is my fault!"

"NO!" Ariel screamed, grabbing Aiden by the shoulders. Aiden stepped back, scared, and Ariel sighed. "Sorry. I know you don't like shouting. But listen to me, it is not your fault. I know Dad made you feel like it was, but it wasn't your fault mother died. She was still weak after being ill after having me! She shouldn't have even got pregnant so soon, plus you came a month early, and she had a cold at the time, which did not help because she was coughing while giving birth-okay, not the time. Anyways, not your fault. Plus, Dad was starting to ignore me anyway, and after you got ill and the doctors thought you were going to die, I had to help you. You're my brother, I wasn't going to let you die. Besides, you're my last link to mother."

"Oh."

"And he has spoken to me occasionally, sometimes when we meet in the hall he'll nod and say 'daughter'. So, I guess it's not all bad."

Just then their father walked around the corner. Ariel froze and reached out to stop her brother, who had started walking again. Meanwhile, their father was staring at the two of them in shock. He quickly gathered himself and, sure enough, gave them a slight nod.

"Daughter, son."

"Father." Ariel responded, nodding back at him. Aiden stared at him in surprise, this was the first time he'd been called 'son' by his father.

Ariel nudged him and he quickly stood up straight and smiled slightly.

"Father."

Their father looked like he was going to say something else, however his eyes rested on the portrait of their mother that was behind them. After that, he swept past them without even acknowledging they were there.

Aiden sighed.

"So close." Ariel muttered to herself. She walked forwards and tilted her mother's portrait slightly to the right.

"Nothing's perfect, especially not pictures." She whispered, quoting her mother. She smiled tearily up at the portrait.

"I'm sorry mother. I'm sure that Father will speak to us eventually, but until then, I'll look after Aiden, just like I promised-"

"Hold up!"

Ariel turned around nervously, having forgotten her brother was there.

"What is it Aid?!"

Aiden was staring at her, confused. Ariel groaned as he paused and started thinking.

"Mother died when you were three and I was born, so how did you promise her that you would look after me?"

"Errr-" Ariel groaned again and turned to look at her mother. She then turned to look at her brother, the way he was staring so innocently up at her, so confused and hopeful. Ariel sighed as she turned and looked at her mother once again. She then got down on both knees and held her hands to her heart.

"I'm sorry mother, but I can't. Not anymore. He doesn't deserve this, he deserves to know the truth. I'm going to tell him, it's the right thing to do!"

"Ari?"

"I'm sorry." Ariel repeated again. She stood up and grabbed her brothers hand.

"I think it's time you know the truth about mother.."

—

Aiden gasped as he looked at the photo he was holding.

"B-But, I don't understand. This is-"

"Me, you, and Mother." Ariel interrupted, sighing again. Aiden looked up at her in shock.

"B-B-But, she died during childbirth, so how-"

"Mom did die in childbirth. . . at first."

"Wha-"

"Don't interrupt!" Ariel yelled. A few tears slipped down her cheek as she saw her brother jump back, scared.

"I'm so sorry, but this is hard to say, and your going to be so mad at me in a few minutes it'll be unbearable, so just let me explain before you say anything."

"Okay." Aiden waited a few minutes before saying. His sister gave him a small smile before looking at the photo in her hands.

"Mom was overjoyed to be getting another kid, she thought she couldn't have one, let alone two. But she'd forgotten a few important details, one; she'd always been weak after having me, and having another child could be extremely dangerous for her. The doctors said she should give you up and let them kill you in the stomach before you grew too large. But mom wouldn't hear of it. She said that if you were born she wouldn't kill you, so she sure as hell wasn't going to kill you before you were born. She also said it was because even though you were basically nothing, she already loved you.

Anyways, two, we'd basically lost all our money. But mom just said 'oh well, I guess we should just appreciate what we've got and make the most of it until things get better.' That was one of her favourite sayings. Anyways, then she had you, and she was so happy. She invited me in before father and said to me, 'listen, Aries, I don't feel well and I'm only just fighting to stay awake, but I needed to talk to you. Listen, If I don't make it, I need you to promise me that you will always stay aware of the world around. Don't shut yourself away and ignore the world happening all around you. Live! Live, and share your pain with those you love. Do not face it alone. And always, always stay aware of everything; global warming, child abuse, suicidal thoughts, murders, everything. I want you to do what you can to acknowledge the worlds pains, and do your best to help anyone you can. And I also need you to promise me that you'll always be there for your brother. If I don't make it, and right now there's a very high chance of that, then your father's probably going to ignore your little brother because it'll help him deal with his grief. Well, you can't do that. You need to look after him like you're his mother, always there for him, and I know that you're only three, but I hope you remember this. Look after your brother, Aiden Aaron Andrews, forever.'

Then she fell asleep, and her heart stopped. I was so scared that I grabbed you and hid under the bed. The doctors didn't even notice me or you were missing, and while we were under there you started crying. I whispered, 'it's gwoing two bwe okway, babwy Aiwen, iw'll lwook Afer you. I wuv you.'

And then you grabbed hold of my hand and held it tight. We hugged until they brought mom back to life. Then I got up and out from under the bed. It was then they told me that mom was in a coma and it could take years for her to recover.

She woke up two years later, and everything was fine for a month. We settled into the family life mom had always wanted, the four of us. Mom made Dad take so many pictures, she said 'she wanted to make more memories since she'd missed out on two years of your life already.'

So, we got lots of family photos and had days out and went on holiday, it was great! By that time we'd already become close and we had a bond. Mom was so pleased. But then, about five weeks after mom woke up, you got sick. Mom was so worried, she isolated herself from everyone else to take care of you. She didn't speak to anyone for three weeks, and she only ate a bowl of cereal a day. She didn't even realise she was sick, and neither did we obviously. But I went to get her, and I sat leaning on the door whispering the same phrase she's told me two years earlier: 'don't shut yourself away and ignore the world around you. Live! Live and share your pain with those you love.' She got up to open the door, but because she hadn't gotten up in three weeks, her legs were stiff, and she fell. When she hit the floor, because of being so weak, she passed out. Luckily, I heard her fall and I was so worried, I somehow found so much strength in me I knocked down the door. When I saw her, I thought she was dead so I called 999, and then I called Father. He stayed with me while you and mom were taken to hospital. You got better, but mom didn't. The doctors said they needed to put her into a coma so that her body could heal, so she called me into her room and asked me to not tell you about all the pain we'd gone through. She said, 'tell him that I died while giving birth to him, but do not make him feel it is his fault, make him see that it is common. You and your father have suffered so much, and I hate that. My little girl has already suffered too much for a girl your age, please don't make my little boy suffer through this too. I love you both all, so, so much.'

And then, she fell asleep again, possibly for good. She still hasn't woken yet, almost five years later."