CHAPTER 1

Looking back at it getting into a street fight, yet again, was not exactly laying low but if I am being honest I needed something to blow some steam off so whoever thinks that those inebriated fools did not deserve some proper whacks upside the head, and maybe some other places as well, can go to hell. Or maybe they can just sulk a bit and then I can buy them their favourite ravioli and all will be good seeing as Ivy Aerial Storm is not just about anyone and definitely not to me. But in this moment I cannot bring myself to care about much else other than the beauty that is the crystal-clear sky on this particularly chill night. I seems as if all the clouds and mists have gone away to let the wandering souls see the light of those shimmering globes in the sky flocking the moon like some admirers. I cannot blame them for being drawn towards its majestic beauty but it seems like Luna tonight is glimmering a lot more like it knows a little secret no one is aware of, like a smug little cat that has gotten the canary and the stars have somehow been entranced in the web of its wilderness. All I can seem to focus on is the near dead silence, which is not that unusual for the north parts of northern England, but tonight it seems the silence seems to have its own and its own heaviness to it and the most troublesome part of it seems to be the inadequacy of it to make me feel restless. Even when it feels like some things are at play here and that the darkness may come again I find myself mostly at… peace. Maybe it's the alcohol talking. If anyone asked how I feel so calm in a moment where every motion seems to be suspended in time, I will blame it on the alcohol.

A rustling of curtains and then a small squeak of opening a window sounds to my right and I internally sigh at what I am sure is about to be another very long and very boring lecture about how I have disappointed the entire universe. I feel a black form come appear from the window, it seems my lecture of being a disappointment is not here yet, she cocks a brow at me and inclines her head as to ask if she can join me on the small square surface that leads from the window on the lone room on the upper story of our house. I nod a little and she steps out on the flat surface, stepping towards the edge of the side of the makeshift roof with no wall, she comes and sits next to me near silently and I eye Hazel sideways and raise my eyebrow at her but she just takes the bottle of a very cheap rum out of my hand and takes a long swing now that has my entire attention turning to her and both my eyebrows raised. She lowers the bottle, rolling her eyes and lets out a very deep and tired sigh, well that I can agree with, so I just nod a little and take the bottle from her and chug a little rum myself. We sit there is near silence, the only being the bottle clicking on the floor occasionally and the swallowing gulps of our throats.

After sometimes, don't know how much because I cannot be bothered to think about that at the moment, Hazel sets the empty bottle aside and leans back on her hands and I follow her motion, our feet dangling off the edge, she closes her eyes for a moment, lets the wind caress her face, taking a deep breath she says, "You know Ivy means well."

I take a deep breath and start to reply but she beats me to it, "I know what you are going to say so save it, yeah?" She looks at me eyebrow raised and a little smirk playing at her lips and I scoff a little but let her talk. "She means well, she is just trying to look for you, for us, in the way she knows how. But she can be a bit…" She grimaces.

I laugh under my breath and supply, "Over bearing?" cocking an eyebrow and releases a puff of air which by now I know is her version of a laugh so I smile to myself, "I know she is trying to help but sometimes letting things go doesn't really help, H."

"I know, Sol."

And that's that. We three: Ivy, Hazel and I are family, we understand each other but there are some ways that we connect more with one and not the other. The need to let it all out in a fit of rage, a bit of violence, that need is something Hazel understands but sweet little Ivy… she would rather paint rainbows, play in the rain and "talk about feelings".

A little while later the a throat clears and we turn to see Ivy standing by the window with a little sheepish smile on her face and well, I don't think there is anyone in the world could resist the charm that is Ivy Aerial Storm so I just smile and beckon her over and she grins ear to ear and skips over to us, plopping down in between Hazel and I while supporting a shit-eating grin while she looks at me while an eyebrow raised and comically innocent eyes. Hazel just snorts and turn to look ahead at the sky, I surpass an eye roll with great difficulty and mumble a, "Sorry, I guess." At which Ivy's eyes softens dramatically and she just waves me off.

And that's the end of it, we just sit there shoulder to shoulder in the cold winter night with the stars and Luna blanketing us while the darkness hovers over but it's just that; us against it all. I; Soleil Archer White, with the family I have chosen for myself above all else; Ivy Aerial Storm and Hazel William Bechmand.

This utter and complete silences looks to be waiting for a disastrous and tectonic chaos that hovers above them.