Post by Adessa Creed on Aug 22, 2007 16:19:48 GMT -5
Christmas Cheer
There was something about the very smell in the air that symbolized Christmas time. It was many things, really. Feelings, emotions, sights, and sounds, but generally it was always the smell. It was a mix of things, cinnamon and pine, the smell of burning wood and roasting meats. The smells of sweets and even the very distinct and odd smell of people. Familiar people. It was all these things rolled up into sheer perfectional bliss that made Christmas what it was to Adessa Creed.
As it were, the youngest child of the Creed family was currently sitting at the base of a rather large and handsomely decorated pine tree. She was gazing up at the array of bright colors as the lights danced across the branches of the trees, greeting her eyes with different patterns of playful natures. Occasionally she would allow her gaze to fall down to the mound of intricately wrapped gifts below the tree’s base. Each was decorated in it’s own colorful paper, topped with curly ribbon or a colorful bow. The young girl was quite literally chomping at the bit by this point in the day. She had been waiting all of Christmas break to open gifts, and now that the day had come, she had to wait for her siblings to return home before anything could be opened.
So grayish-blue eyes rose back to the tree and all it’s splendor, though they didn’t stay there. Almost immediately she had found a red bulb, though more importantly the reflection in it. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and she shifted herself just enough to peer over her shoulder at the fire place behind her. There sat her father, rocking slowly in his worn wooden chair, gazing into the depths of the fire as if it held all the answers in life. Next to him, asleep, lay a creature who’s age rivaled that of Adessa’s. The old blood-hound had to be at least fourteen, if not her matching fifteen years. Yet there he lay next to her father’s chair, the ever loyal and faithful companion she’d grown up with.
A soft thud sounded from above the girl’s head and her eyes shifted from her father to the ceiling above. Her mother was up there bustling about, and the thought brought a faint frown to the girl’s lips. Her mother, the symbol of strength and compassion Des had always known, was worrying her. She had been muttering something about a Book all day and finally had excused herself earlier that evening and had been scurrying about upstairs since then. This thought made her wonder just where her siblings were. Matty, the oldest of the Creed children, had just finished his Auror training and should have been on his way home, but Sam- her sister- no one had heard from in days.
The frown deepened on Dessy’s lips at the thought of her sister. She’d been acting weird before she’d left for her husband’s house. The older girl had been affectionate and had a look of regret on her face nearly the entire day she’d been there. Goodbyes for that night had been awkward too. All in all, it had been as if Samantha was saying goodbye for good- and that only made Des want to open her gifts all that much more. After all, if Sam wasn’t coming back, Dessy shouldn’t have had to wait on her.
The sound of the front door opening caught the red-head’s ears and a smile lit up the girl’s face. She rose to her feet, squealing something about hearing her brother, though was quickly kept from running for the parlor by her father’s firm arm. He had abruptly risen to his feet and was now pushing Adessa backwards, back towards the tree and yelling something at her that she really didn’t understand. It was only seconds later that men Des didn’t recognize flooded the room, all with wands pointed at her father. Her mother had come to an abrupt halt at the base of the stairs and was screaming now, though the only words Des could distinguish were “Give” and “Book”.
The screaming increased in volume, and now the men were screaming too, though they were screaming words Dessy recognized now. In a flare of color and sound, Des watched in horror as her mouth fell down to the floor, writhing and screaming in pain. Her father had stepped forward, and his companion leapt up, but there was a flash of green light and the dog fell to the floor, soundless and unmoving after all his years of protective loyalty. There were more flashes, more screams of pain, though there was a sound, now, that the mere fifteen year old didn’t recognize at first, until a searing flash of heat shot through her body and dropped her to the floor.
It was pain like she had never felt before, and the more she screamed, the more painful it got. Though it wasn’t just pain of spells and hexes. There were jeers, sneering faces that were far too close, and through it all Des lost nearly all comprehension of what was going on. The pain of her body all seemed to melt together and all the sounds of laughter at her pain and suffering seemed to blur. She could faintly recall being tossed aside carelessly once she was of no further use before the distinct smell of burning pine filled her muddled senses. There was another recollection of bright flashes, infuriated cries, and several calls of the names of her family. The last thing Adessa could remember, however, was the brief image of her older brother’s face before all went black as she succumbed to darkness.
