Ok, everyone. This is my attempt to write a fiction about "Shadow of Destiny" which is one of my favorite video games. Also, I couldn't find a name for this story, so I think the name is pretty lame (rhyme not intended)
Summary: Seventeen years after Eike and Margaret's marriage pass. Elaina Kusch, their daughter, discovers the horrors of her father's past. Slightly EikeMarg and another pairing I'm not ready to release yet. Please R&R
Dedication: this is dedicated to my one and only hubby in the world, FREDDY! –Jumps around happily- Yeah, ahem, that's about it. Thanks for being supportive and patient with my idiotic attitude xD
…The Shadow behind my Destiny…
-Chapter 1-
Eike's Destiny: fulfilled.
"Mom, I'm going now!" Elaina Kusch, the daughter of Margaret and Eike Kusch, picked up her bag and readied herself to walk out of her home in one of the small German towns, Lebensbaum. Elaina was a brilliant and talented girl, blessed with her mother's looks, father's eyes, height and personality; she was one special child around the block.
"Ok, sweetheart, have fun at school" Margaret said, smiling and waving back at her daughter. Elaina didn't reply, instead, she walked out of the door with no words to be said.
Once the door was closed, Margaret sighed. "I should take a break!" she said, walking towards the living room and sitting down. She glanced to the right at the photo of the family; Eike, Elaina and herself. She smiled sadly, touching her husband's figure.
"Oh, How I miss you, Eike" she said, tears forming in her eyes.
It was a shocking event that happened to the Kusch family a decade ago. It was a normal day like always when Margaret and seven-year-old Elaina got the bad news. She closed her eyes, remembering it as if it was yesterday.
Flashback:
"Mommy, Can I have another bagel and some orange juice?" little Elaina said, looking innocent at her mother. Margaret, who was picking a plate from the top shelve of the cabinet, looked at her daughter and smiled.
"What do we say?" Margaret asked, crossing her arms. "PLEASE!" she exclaimed, grinning brightly. Margaret laughed, putting a random plate she took on the counter before walking towards her daughter, taking the plate from her. Margaret walked back to the counter and put the plate on it before turning around to get a bagel for her child.
"There you go, Lay" she said, nicknaming her daughter. She walked towards her daughter and placed the plate on the glass table in the middle of the room. Elaina took a bite while her mother walked back towards the counter. "Thank you, mother!" she happily said.
Margaret chuckled and turned towards the cooker to make lunch when the plate crashed to the ground. She looked at the plate to see that it was one of the china plates that Eike has brought home after their marriage.
"Mommy, are you ok?" Elaina asked, looking worriedly at her mother. Margaret held her hand against her chest. Her heart was pounding so fast. "Eike…" she mumbled, having a very bad feeling about it.
The girl repeated the same question, this time getting an answer from her mother.
"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Why don't you go do your homework?" she said, putting a smile on her face. Elaina complied with her mother's words and ran towards her room.
Margaret cleaned up the mess then ran towards the phone, picking it up and dialing her husband's cell number,
"The number you have dialed is not available at the moment, please try later, thank you" the voice on the other line said, causing her to worry.
"Why? Damn….phone lady" she cursed, hanging up before dialing her husband's number again.
"The number you have dialed is not available at the moment, please try later, thank you"
Margaret slammed the phone down and sat on the couch. "Eike, please be alright" she said, burying her face in her hands.
A couple of hours have passed. Margaret looked at the grandfather clock that stood in one of the corners.
"You were supposed to call an hour ago" she said, narrowing her eyes as tears filled in them. He always called her on 3:30pm, but that day was a different day because no call has been received.
Ding Dong
Margaret's head shot up as the doorbell rang. She got up and ran towards the door, jerking it open. There stood two men in a uniform, police uniform.
"Mrs. Kusch?" the tall man with a mustache asked, giving Margaret the feeling that his eyes were hiding something. Margaret nodded slowly. The other man, who was wearing a hat, took it off and held it in his hands.
"May we come in, please?" the chubby police officer asked, causing Margaret to take a step to the side, letting them in.
"Please sit down, Mrs. Kusch" When the man said those words, Margaret knew something was wrong. As she sat down, the taller man spoke up.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news…" he started, noticing the horrified expression on her face. "…Your husband was hit by a car this morning…" he said, looking right into her eyes. "…the doctors tried their best to save his life but…"
Margaret felt time freeze; her brain stopped functioning and her breath was caught in her throat. She felt a sharp pain in her chest. She knew it, she knew that Eike has left this life, has left her and her child, alone with no support from him.
"N-No…" she mumbled, shaking her head slowly at first. "…H-he's not dead…" she continued, gasping for breath. "NO!" she yelled, breaking in tears. The tall policeman looked away, feeling sorry for her. The chubby man walked towards her and patted her on the shoulder.
"We are very sorry, Mrs. Kusch" he said, and with that, they both walked out of the door.
Margaret sobbed and cried alone in the living room. Little footsteps were heard behind her, before small arms encircled her neck.
"Mommy…" Elaina said, "…Where's daddy?" she asked, looking innocently at her mother. Margaret turned around and looked at her daughter. "Sweetie, Daddy is…" she said, sobbing lightly. Elaina narrowed her eyes, "Mom, where's dad?" the girl repeated the question. Margaret sobbed and held her daughter close.
"…Daddy's gone"
End flashback
Now, 10 years later, Margaret couldn't forget that event. She couldn't forget how her daughter reacted. Ever since she's heard the news, she went quiet. She didn't cry like most children would do if they lost a parent. Instead, she moved on, living each day like nothing happened. Margaret knew that her daughter had her own way of dealing with the pain of losing him.
She wished she knew how Elaina did it. Margaret knew that she never managed to get over the pain of losing her husband.
Once Elaina turned eleven years old, she started distancing herself from her mother. As the years passed, Margaret started feeling that she was losing her daughter. She tried so hard to keep her relationship strong with her child, but every time she got close to her daughter, the latter shut her out, blocked her from her life.
Margaret sighed, realizing that the house was all hers. She got up and looked at the same clock she looked at, ten years ago. It was 7:30am and it was still too early to do anything.
"I need to relax" she said, getting up, walking up the stairs and into the master bedroom.
Elaina reached her school. It was her last day in the last year of high school. She was in the school uniform which consisted of dark blue skirt which was a bit above the knee and a white dress shirt with a dark blue scarf around the collar that matched. She wore her mid-back-long hair in a low braid.
"So, this is how it feels to be in the last day of senior high" she mumbled, looking around at the guys and girls her age, high-fiving, talking around or pull pranks on others. She smiled and walked towards the main door of her the campus.
"Elaina!" she heard a voice call her. She turned around, grinning at who she saw. A 167cm tall girl with black hair and blue eyes was running at her happily. Elaina recognized the girl at once.
"Hilda!" she replied, greeting her friend. Hilda Schmitt was her best friend. They've known each other ever since they were in kindergarten together and nothing tore them apart. Hilda was one of the dearest friends to her heart for she had stood by her side after her father's death.
"I can't believe that it's the last day of school, can you believe it?!" Elaina said, putting her hands behind her back.
"Yeah, I can't believe it. I can see my name in the newspapers…" she said, putting her hands in the air, separating between them as an indication. "…Hilda Schmitt, first on her graduate class of 2007 from Lebensbaum High" she said, grinning. Elaina laughed at her friend's attitude.
"Yeah, we might actually see that" Elaina said, laughing as she headed towards the campus while Hilda followed.
"No way!" Hilda exclaimed, "You're always the top student in our class. You're like…pure genius!" she continued, smiling at her friend who shook her head.
"That's a bit too much of a description, Hill, I'm really not that bright" Elaina said, smiling. Hilda laughed.
"Oh my god, Lay, you're always so humble. Everyone acknowledges your talent and brains in here. And I mean EVERYONE, even the cute guys around here" she said, waving to one of the guys passing by.
"You're unbelievably weird!" Elaina exclaimed, laughing. The girls reached their lockers which were side by side. Elaina opened her locker and picked one of the notebooks that were inside before closing it, leaning her left side on it.
She listened to her friend as she started talking about the summer vacation, until she felt like she's been watched. Elaina turned around to notice someone standing in the end of the hallway, around the corner, looking at her with big red eyes.
Elaina narrowed her eyes as the dark figure stood still, not moving a muscle.
"Yo, Elaina, are you there?"
The voice of Hilda broke her gaze, making her look at her friend. "Are you ok?" she asked, noticing that Elaina was spaced out. She shook her head before looking back where the figure stood.
'Where did it go?' she thought, looking at the ground before turning to her friend who was gaping at her. Elaina knotted her eyebrows.
"What?!" she asked, shrugging her shoulders. Hilda chuckled, "Did you see someone special that took your breath away?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows. Elaina shook her head and sighed heavily.
"I don't know how I became friends with you" she said, laughing. Hilda laughed along and playfully punched the taller girl's shoulder.
"It's because you love me" the girl winked at her friend as they both laughed, not noticing the figure that was still watching the blonde.
A couple of hours later, in the last period of the last day in high school, Hilda and Elaina sat, listening to the teacher's lecture.
Hilda sighed in frustration, just like everyone else in the class. "Didn't he know that it's the last day…" she said, looking at Elaina.
"…I mean, No one lectures in the last day. That's why they call it a freakin' LAST DAY…" she said, a bit too loud. Elaina chuckled at her friend's reaction. "…what an old fart!" she continued, resulting in both girls breaking in laughter.
"Ms. Kusch, Ms. Schmitt, do you have something to share with the rest of the class?" he asked, his small round glasses fell down the bridge of his nose, his hair stood from the sides, making him look a bit like Einstein. Hilda tried compressing her laughter but the tears flooded out.
"Ms. Schmitt, DETENTION!" he wrote a note and handed it to Hilda. Elaina laughed, receiving a glare from the teacher.
"Ms. Kusch, I'll be sure you share the detention with your little friend" he said, writing a note and handing it to Elaina. Both girls sighed.
"Mr. Guile, it's the last day of school. I mean, C'mon, you've gotta give 'em a break"
Both girls turned to see one of their classmates, the heartthrob of the school, defending them in his place. The teacher glared at the brown haired, emerald eyed young man.
"Mr. Fortnight, Detention" he said, writing a paper and handing it to the young man who sighed frustratingly. Elaina smiled at him while Hilda waved at him. He nodded, waving the note in the air.
Elaina turned to Hilda who was blushing, "Are you ok? You look kinda red!" the girl exclaimed, receiving a hand wave from her friend.
"He finally noticed me!" she exclaimed, mouthing something to him. He chuckled and shook his head.
"God, he likes me!" she said, laughing. Elaina chuckled and looked at the teacher who was back to his lecturing. She sighed and moved her vision to the outside of the window which was next to her desk. She noticed something standing in the distance.
"What the…" she mumbled, raising herself a bit and focusing her vision at the standing figure. She recognized those eyes from the hallway. Elaina studied his features; dark clothes, very pale face, those red eyes. He stood there for a couple of minutes, it seemed like she was the only one noticing him. Elaina felt shivers go down her spine as he gave her one last look before walking away carelessly.
"Who are you?" she mumbled, narrowing her eyes. Elaina gasped once she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, are you ok? We've been calling your name for the last five minutes" Hilda said, next to her stood the guy with the detention note. Hilda smiled and introduced him.
"Elaina, this is Jake. Jake, this is Elaina, my dear ol' friend I told ya about…" she said, grinning. Jake extended his hand to greet her.
"Nice to meet you, though in a very awkward situation" he said, smiling. Elaina smiled and shook his hand.
"…and who said detention didn't bring people closer to each other?" Hilda exclaimed, laughing along with Jake. Elaina chuckled but stopped, once her eyes moved automatically towards the class's doorway.
The mystery man stood there, looking at her with a sly smile on his face. Elaina got up, deciding to confront him.
As soon as she walked away from her friends, they called her name.
"Elaina…" Hilda asked, "…Where are you going?!" She continued, but the girl didn't listen to her.
Elaina walked towards the man who smirked and walked off, out of her vision. She got out of class and looked to the left where he went.
"Where did he go?" she mumbled, noticing that there was no sign of him in the hallway. Hilda and Jake followed her.
"Elaina, what's going on?" Hilda asked, looking where the girl was looking. "Who are you following?" she asked, knotting her eyebrows.
Elaina didn't know who or what she was following. 'I'm following a ghost, Hilda, I'm following a ghost' she mentally answered her friend's question.
"Hey mom…"
Elaina spoke through Jake's cell phone as they all stayed in the detention room. The time was nearing 5:30pm. She figured it would be the best for her to tell her mother where she was.
"…no, no, mom, don't worry…" she said, listening to her mother's words of anxiety. "…I'm in detention" she continued. Hilda watched as her friend spoke with her mother on the phone.
"Your friend…" Jake started, causing Hilda to look at him. "…Why did she act like that?" he looked at her, knotting his eyebrows. Hilda shrugged.
"I have no idea. She never acted that way before. Maybe she's trying to get over it" she said, looking at her friend who continued to talk to Margaret.
Jake blinked a couple of times, not following Hilda. "Get over what?"
"Her father's death…" she said, nodding. "…his death anniversary is in two days" she said, looking at her friend. "She has weird ways of dealing with it. She never showed any pain or hurt by it. She just, acted normally" she said, looking at Jake who was nodding.
Elaina walked towards the two and handed the cell phone to Jake. "Thanks. I actually managed to convince mom not to worry. She's coming to pick us up in a few"
Hilda nodded in agreement. After a couple of minutes in detention, they all realized that school was empty and no one gave a damn about Mr. Guile's detentions.
"My car is outside, how about I drive you two to your places?" he said, rattling his car key's which were pulled out of his pocket. The girls looked at each other.
"OK!" Hilda exclaimed, walking to his side. They both turned their attention towards Elaina who shook her head.
"Thanks, but no thanks…" she said, "…Mom is still coming to pick us up so I think I'm leaving with her" she said, smiling.
A couple of minutes later, Jake and Hilda took off, leaving Elaina in the classroom, alone.
She shivered, looking around. "I'm such an idiot, staying in this god forsaken school alone. I'm going to be killed, just like in horror movies" she joked to herself, getting up.
Elaina walked out of the classroom and into the hallway. 'Talk about horror movies. I'm living one' she thought as she stood in the wide dark hallway, a breeze came out of nowhere and hit her in the back. She shivered, turning around.
Elaina shook her head and walked towards the exit which was at the end of the extremely long hallway.
She paused once she heard a set of steps behind her, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling it. She turned around sharply, but to her surprise, no one was there.
"Hello?" she called out, waiting for a reply, but there was none. 'It's all in your head, Elaina' she thought, shaking her head.
As she was about to turn around, an eerie voice stopped her in her tracks, the sound of a rusty door being slowly opened. Her breath was caught in her throat as she noticed that someone was walking in her direction from a distance.
Elaina turned around to run towards the exit. The sound of the silence pierced right through her ears; only the sound of her breath and her heartbeats were heard in the silence.
"Where are you running to, Elaina?"
A dreadful voice said, causing her to shiver. Elaina had two options, either A: run towards the exit which was very far away, or B: turn around and confront her stalker.
She knew which one she'd choose.
Elaina slowly turned around, deciding to face whoever called her name. She moved her vision towards the source of the voice, she gasped…
…No one was there.
She narrowed her eyes, 'Great, now I'm a schizophrenic' she thought, turning back around…
…to come face to face with the pale faced, red eyed guy she saw that morning…
Elaina opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She realized that he didn't do anything to her; instead, he stood in front of her, hands in his pockets.
"W-Who are you?!" she asked, her voice was hoarse. She could feel her knees becoming weak from fear. Elaina was so afraid she felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"What do you want from me?!" she asked, trying to maintain her composure. The person opposed to her stood in his place and narrowed his eyes, smirking.
"So, you are Elaina Kusch…" he said, smiling wickedly. Elaina took a couple of steps backwards. "How do you know my name?" she asked, receiving nothing in return.
"Skeptic and scrupulous, just like your father, Eike"
Elaina's eyes widened at the sound of her father's name. "H-how do you know my father? Have you known him before?!" she asked, raising her fist in demand. The man blinked slowly, the sly smile never leaving his features.
"I can't tell you that I haven't encountered him at a time" he vaguely answered, sliding his hands out of his pockets and onto his hips. Elaina narrowed her eyes at him.
"Who are you?" she firmly asked, her hands balling into fists. The young man smirked.
"Names are of no importance, young lady" he said, taking a step closer. "I'm here to ask questions, not answer them" he said, smirking. Elaina gritted her teeth, finally losing her patience.
"Either you tell me who you are, or I scream" she said, breathing shallowly. The man chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the ground. Elaina gulped as he moved his vision from the ground to her.
"What would you say if I told you I could help you see your father again?"
CLIFFHANGER! XP
What do you think of my very first chapter in this story?
Please review :)