Скарлет

Chapter 1 Scarlet still remembers the day she was taken away from her mother and sent to an orphanage. The distraught mother repeated the same words over and over again. At one point, there was genuine horror in her voice: "Honey, don't you hear?", and the next second she angrily scolded Scarlet: "Oh, you liar! How can you not hear these sounds?!" "I can't hear anything, Mom. Nothing at all," no matter how much her mother pushed her, Scarlet kept her mouth shut and endured rudeness. Little by little, Scarlet managed to calm her mother down. For a while, the delirium let her go. "You're doing great, Scarlet," she leaned over to her daughter, and her fiery red curls fell on her forehead. Her hair color was due to a curse passed down the female line in the Scarlet family. Her mother gently stroked Scarlet's head: there was love in her eyes, and a satisfied smile touched her lips. Perhaps she sensed in Scarlet a power that could rid her of a terrible legacy.… Before she went completely insane, she sincerely wanted to grow a real lady out of Scarlet. The girl was supposed to become as elegant and virtuous as her own mother, Grandmother Scarlet, the best opera singer in all of Quilin. Alas, when Scarlet was only six years old, her mother's dreams came to naught. The girl tore her tight corsets, spitting on the indignation of her elders. She didn't need any of this. Chapter 2 When Scarlet's mother was imprisoned in a madhouse, the girl was taken to the Violet Orphanage. Duchess Georgiana was famous for her philanthropy and a craving for charity. She gave Violets Shelter money, calling it a very worthy institution. On her first night there, Scarlet began planning an escape. She was very uncomfortable in her new place. The governesses seemed insincere, the prayers praising the Duchess during dinner were depressing, and also these strange... "trials". The most successful escape attempt for her ended in a tiny town a hundred miles from the orphanage. She was caught and brought back together with her roommate. This girl was assigned to her by governesses as a "test", her name was simply "Number 095". It was believed that she could communicate with the spirits of the dead. Scarlet was called "Number 063". Rumors of her escapes soon reached the Duchess. She didn't like at all that someone was trying to sneak out of her favorite institution over and over again, because she was trying so hard to do good deeds. The governess took Scarlet away and subjected her to a "test" that was many times more difficult than all the previous ones. The link between her will and her mind was almost severed. In a state of fading consciousness, she finally heard an eerie whisper. Chapter 3 Scarlet suddenly found herself on a stone bridge entangled with purple vines. It was dark all around. Strange shadows scurried among the vines, which merged together and turned into creepy creatures. She couldn't really see them, but Scarlet could sense that they were trying to get into her mind. They glared at her, trying to find out what she was thinking... and what she was afraid of. The scary creatures almost won when suddenly a soft voice came from the other end of the bridge. "Scarlet!" The voice was familiar to her… It was her mother. She stood opposite and stared at her daughter. At the same moment when the mother appeared, the monsters that had grabbed Scarlet's arms and legs disappeared somewhere. Scarlet rushed to her mother. Her gaze was clear but alert, and her bright red hair was gathered into a neat bun. The mother was not at all like the disheveled madwoman she had recently become. She looked the same as when Scarlet was less than six years old. Straightening her daughter's jacket, she took Scarlet by the hand and said: "Scarlet Lawrence. That's your name, and that's your grandmother's name." "The curse of madness haunts the women of our family, like a terrible miasma that nothing can disperse. We don't look like anyone. We feel some things like mediums… Those vile creatures will not leave us alone and will always pester us. Their whispers contain great evil, strange ancient spirits who try to bewitch your soul and confuse your mind. Your grandmother took her own life during the performance, unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. I, too, began to be overcome by shadows and chaos, which deprived me of reason, dragging me into the bonds of deception and despair — you yourself have just experienced this. They drove me crazy. However, in this darkness is our strength. It flows through our veins, causing pain and granting unimaginable power. I've always believed that you can distinguish reality from fantasy. Goodbye, my dear Scarlet. I'm going to my mother." Her mother let go of Scarlet's hand and took a step back. Scarlet rushed forward, wanting to touch her mother, but her hands went through the silhouette as if it was a ghost. With a loud cry, the mother turned into a huge cloud of fireflies: they scattered in different directions and disappeared into the darkness. The bridge, along with Scarlet, was swallowed up by impenetrable darkness. Chapter 4 "Mom!" "Ma-a-a-ma-a-a!" "Are you all right, Number 063?" a thin voice rang in Scarlet's ears. Scarlet woke up. Her neighbor, Number 095, was standing in front of her. There was a completely unknown girl next to her. Number 095 rattled off: "E-this is my sister, Silvina. You were unconscious when they brought you in. I thought maybe, maybe..." Silvina, looking at her sister, exclaimed: "Well, she's fine, which means we can go." Silvina opened the window and pulled her sister after her. Before disappearing outside the window, Isabella turned to Scarlet: "063... I used to see a spirit with red hair next to you all the time, but now... he has disappeared somewhere." Chapter 5 In the dead of night, silence reigns in the Violet Shelter. Under the cover of darkness, two girls, holding hands tightly, try to escape. "Well, well, how many sneaky bunnies we have here tonight," a huge guard with an iron club in his hands blocks the girls' way. He points his club at Sylvina. Her sister is hiding behind her. The guard starts counting: "One." "Two." He nods mockingly at Isabella, who is trembling with fear, trying to hide behind her sister. None of them noticed Scarlet until the last moment, who was quietly walking along the next path. Seeing her, the guard gritted his teeth in anger: he recognized the scoundrel who had run away from him many times before. "Three!" "Well, hello, fellow guardian. The Duchess gave me a great gift… So I want to give her something too!" "Big Sister Number 095, take her away from here. She cries every day from morning to night, and it drives me crazy. Scarlet turned to Isabella. —Crybaby Number 095, I'm Number 063, Scarlet." As soon as the older sister took Isabella away, there was a noise behind them: it looked like other guards were running to the scene. Unable to overcome her curiosity, Isabella turned around, and the picture she saw was forever etched into her memory. A purple-red flame erupted around Number 063, devouring everything in its path, and a black vortex burst out of her body. The elements clashed with a roar, shaking, it seems, the sky itself. A dragon appeared out of the fire, and his terrible roar shook the whole shelter. "Scarlet stood in the middle of all this chaos, like a queen. But her face, that smile... there was something crazy about them." — Isabella