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Celeste
Rain pattered against my windshield as I pulled my car up the wet, winding road. Leaning forward, I craned my neck to get a better view of my surroundings, but the heavy fog shielded me from seeing much. With a sigh, I fell back into my seat, my hands tight on the wheel as I kept my gaze on the red taillights in front of me. I followed as they led me on a curvy path up a hill, my windshield wipers pushing heavy raindrops to the sides of my view.
The inside of the car was too quiet. I had no cell phone service, since we seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, and not even satellite radio reached this part of the planet. I pushed every button I could on my car’s stereo, tried closing and restarting Spotify, and even searched around on the local radio stations, but absolutely nothing came through. So, I wallowed in silence, my black dress itching and scratching my thighs, my eyes red and burning from crying these past few days.
At least I had the steady beat of the windshield wipers to keep my sanity at bay.
With the palm of my hand, I wiped away a sudden stray tear, careful not to ruin my carefully applied makeup.
But with the single tear came an ache in my throat, one that I couldn’t simply push away when I thought of the reason why I was even here.
“Celeste, baby girl! The light of my life!”
I could feel the echo of his voice in my heart, beating along with my pulse.
But that’s all his words were anymore. An echo.
I knew this was going to happen. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep it together. Thankfully, I brought along a small package of tissues that were conveniently sitting on the passenger seat. I grabbed the plastic, ripped it open, and pulled one out, dabbing the rush of tears that were coming in by the dozen, careful not to pull my makeup off with it.
The choke in my throat wasn’t going away soon, and I wasn’t sure how much longer we had until we got to the top. Or the end.
I can’t tell because I can’t see a damn thing.
The car in front of me hit the brakes, forcing me to do the same. We came to a short, rolling stop before picking up the drive again. And once we continued on, that’s when the fog lifted away, and I could finally see where I was.
In front of us was a huge set of black iron gates that were propped open against tall, dark stone columns to allow all cars in. I looked up through the raindrops at the gorgeous design. There was dark green ivy twisted around the edges, snaking its way through the bars and reaching the top. The leftover fog settled at the bottom, resting on the damp road as the mysterious location granted us entry.
What kind of place is this?
An older guard stood at the open gates, a clipboard in one hand and an open umbrella in the other. He stopped the car in front of me, nodded at their words, then made his way to my car. I rolled down the window, quickly sniffled up any extra emotion, and painted a polite smile on my lips.
“Good afternoon, Miss. May I have your name?”
“Celeste Castell.”
The man nodded, slowly stepping away. “Thank you.”
And with that, he was gone, already making his way to the car behind me. I rolled up my window.
The short train of cars pulled in and drove higher, until we came to another older man standing on the side of the road. He lifted a hand to signal us to stop and pull over, so we did. There were two cars in front of me and only one behind me, and we all pulled off to the side and turned our engines off.
I took a deep sigh, one that expanded my chest more than what was comfortable. “Here we go,” I said to no one but myself.
Reaching over to the passenger seat, I grabbed my black raincoat and put it on, pulling the hood up and tucking away my dark brown hair.
“Hey, want to go somewhere special?”
“Like where?”
“Oh, I don’t know… Disney World?”
I only eyed the package of tissues for half a second before grabbing it and shoving it into my pocket.
Stepping out of my car, I was met by a tall man with golden hair holding a black umbrella that covered him from the heavy drops. He handed me an umbrella of my own, and I briefly made eye contact with him before taking it.
“Compliments of the Estates.”
His rich voice was smooth on my ears as he stepped aside and made his way to the car behind me, handing the man stepping out an umbrella as well.
