Gone to the Winds

The wild winds.

They burn so bright.

''Lighting up the sky tonight. ''

Flashing, flashing lights

Come closer, they burn so bright

Gone to the winds, I am,

Gone to the wild winds.

~Prologue~
"Find your business elsewhere!" She screamed.

With a bow of my head and a tip of my hat, I entered center stage and began the first show.

And the last.

For after that glorious moment, it would be over. All over. Gone. The Wild was an intriguing play I got to partake in, but that didn't matter.

It didn't matter because this was the end of my work. My last show.

But my legacy still lived on. And of course, it would always.

Chapter One
FROM THE DIARY OF ANGEL BEAREN

Oh, Diary!

I am so glad I have convinced my step-mother to buy my this journal! I am truly consumed with delight at the thought of having my own place to write in.

It has been two weeks since we left Argan. It was quite enough for me and my twin sister, Ariel. We'd especially had enough of the travelers. Oh, how they crowded the roads and kissed our hands as we walked by! The fury that filled us to have those filthy boys out to get us was undescribable!

Rumors have said that before our father went mad, he dreamed of us marrying a nice, cool boy with his hair all swept back revealing a shiny forehead that was coated in hard-working sweat from the mines in which he worked in. Oh, how father would be disappointed to know we'd not even discovered one worthy of our hand!

We owned fortunes and the title from our father. He was supposedly driven mad. He was a fascinating actor, always stunning the crowds every time he stepped onstage! Then, he married our mother and had us. Ever since his retirement, the acting world shriveled up and died right along with the famous name of Damon Bearen.

But still he lived on. It was said that our mother died at child-birth, but our father still studied everything he could, mostly science and humans. Body parts, mostly, that is, but that was alright with me. Our father's studies apparently only led to his madness.

Nobody knew what happened. One day he just went completely crazy with an experiment: trying to recreate our mother.

Eventually it got so bad his own friend betrayed him and killed him!

Can you imagine? I surely can't!

Chapter Two
FROM THE DIARY OF ARIEL BEAREN

The ferry arrived at the dock at about noon.

I stepped out of the boat and helped my twin sister, Angel, also step out of the boat. Our uncle that had graciously made the trip with us paid the driver and we walked along the shores, our dresses blowing in the increasing wind.

I laughed, feeling the wind sting my cheeks and relieve my stress. Sand blew up into our faces but still we laughed on. Our toes felt like something totally undescribable as we stepped into the amazing, roaring sea. Just as we jumped back to avoid a wave from sweeping up to our knees, Angel fell.

I helped her up and we both attempted to brush the sand from our dresses. It was impossible to shake off, so we trudged over to our uncle, filled with delight.

"Girls," He scolded, but it was obvious he was radiating from our joy. He hadn't seen us smile in forever, as we'd been gloomy and irritated back home at Argan. I was excited to leave, but now I felt more elated than ever to see what we'd been gifted: a castle!

I don't know why I expected it to be well-tended, with roses blooming in ever-growth on the lawn gardens, freshly-watered, the roof perfectly fitted and the walls ripe with new renovation. But no, it was mostly the opposite.

Gazing out past the sea, I noticed a distant person swimming in the water, their mouth open. They ducked under again. When they came back up, I turned for a second to my uncle. He didn't seem bothered but instead was checking out a map.

"Sister!" I cried, and Angel turned. But the surf no longer revealed the man I'd thought I'd seen on the water. I assured Angel that I had seen it, but she didn't believe me.

We didn't linger much longer. When we arrived at the castle, I found out exactly what I'd said above- it was horribly rigid and unsteady. It was clear it was rotting in age.

"How are we meant to live here?" I cried with an uncertain tone to my voice.

"That's very unlike you to be so incredibly rude, Ariel," Our uncle scolded me. I slunk back but my thoughts didn't drift away as I hoped; instead they plopped themselves in the middle of my brain and were very defiant and unwilling to move. So I let them rest there.

"I must get started on renovating!" I exclaimed at once. It must be done in order for me to feel like a true princess, and if I were to be true to my name, I must hurry and get it done quickly. Afterwards, we could celebrate!

"I'm glad you're excited," Uncle Frank soothed, "But we must be careful what we say."

"It looks haunted," Angel said, and I noticed her shoulders shaking. I put my arm around her. "Sister, I notice you're trembling."

She didn't reply but instead took a breathy step forward as if she were on a diving board, preparing herself to plunge deep into the water from an extremely high height, which even if it felt so, it was not, and without lack of courage, I exhaled coolly and walked up to the front door.

I used the knocker to knock on the door, even though I knew there would be no answer.

"I've gotten myself a key," Uncle said skeptically, as if he himself were having doubts that it would open the rickety, broken-in frame of a door. Still, it did not collapse at the knocker and so Uncle gave it a try, inhaling sharply as the door creaked open.

It did seem on the spooky side, and it did seem as if it were not laid a finger on in years. I gazed up to see a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Most of the glass was shattered and the light bulbs flickered with dim lights that were unable to be shut off.

It wasn't remotely as I'd hoped. How could we possibly live here this summer?

I guess we'd have to figure it out.