(Previous chapters 1-19 are available here.)
Beatrix screamed, and the cavern echoed around her. The shadowy creature walked away slowly as he said “till we meet again, Miss Percival.” With a flash of light, he vanished.
Beatrix screamed, as tears rushed down her face. Bodies lay motionless on the ground ahead of her. She slowly got up, and walked over. Her body trembled as she got nearer to them. Her mother slowly sat up. “MOM!” Beatrix screamed. Her mother burst into tears. Beatrix made her way across the cavern, stumbling on the debris that covered the floor. She ran up to her mother, and gave her a big hug. Beatrix turned to see Arthur and Maxwell lying feet away from her. “Beatrix?” said a week voice. She scrambled over to see who it was. Arthur’s eyes slowly opened. He turned, and looked next to him at Maxwell. There, lie Beatrix’s father. She rushed over to him, and knelt beside him.
“Dad?” she said hopefully. “Dad?...Daddy? She began to panic. Her father lay there, lifeless on the cavern floor beside her. She burst into tears once more. Arthur sat next to her, and embraced her. She screamed and screamed, as she sobbed into Arthur’s shoulder.
Her mother Ella, came over to Maxwell, and collapsed beside him in tears. Arthur got up, and walked over to his backpack. He reached inside, and took out a scurtlekwib. He slowly walked back to Ella and Beatrix, who sat beside Maxwell in tears.
He held out the scurtlekwib, and looked at Beatrix. She nodded her head. Arthur set the scurtlekwib beside them, and it opened. Light cast into the air, and the world around them began to spin.
The world came to a halt. They were sitting on the floor in their living room. Beatrix and her mother continued to sob lightly. Arthur sat next to her, and gave her a hug. She gazed around her. The living room walls were covered in gashes. Decorations lay busted across the floor. Beatrix stood up, and walked over to a picture that had been knocked to the ground. As she lifted it, shattered glass fell from it to the floor. She looked at the picture. It was a picture of a family vacation they had all gone on together. She must have been four or five. Her mother and father stood on either side of her, swinging her into the air between them. Beatrix got lost in the happiness of the photograph for a second.
Another piece of glass fell from the frame to the floor. She looked up at the room around her. The devastation that filled her heart slowly began to change into a new feeling. A feeling of rage…and revenge.
- 6 months later -
Beatrix stared down at the letter she had written, and read it once more before she dropped it into the mail box:
Dear Mom,
Arthur and I have been traveling all across the country in search of the portal to the world of shadows. I would tell you where we are, but I can’t; in case this letter ever fell into the wrong hands. Arthur is waiting for me eagerly in the car, so I will have to cut this short.
Be safe mom. I love you.
Sincerely, Beatrix
I am using the tag "beatrix-percival", so you can easily read all the previous chapters!