Below is my first attempt at writing a story. I started out with a writing prompt which was, “She approached the unfamiliar door and nervously took the key from her pocket. She took a deep breath, unlocked the door, paused, then opened it.”

Give it a read and feel free to comment.

Yesterday They Smiled

Part 1

She approached the unfamiliar door and nervously took the key from her pocket. She took a deep breath, unlocked the door, paused, then opened it.

To her horror she saw the large circular room, its high dome roof suffocating the room of any form of light save for the murky candle light throwing itself across the room in what seemed like a desperate attempt to get as far away from the centre of that room as possible, where a small congregation kneeled, under hooded cloaks, faces obscured in shadow.

Each breath out swept an oppressive wave across her, raising in intensity and velocity in a percussion that matched her increasingly rapid heart beat.

Part 2

“Life really begins at 18” Mia said out loud to herself as she drove her little ladybug like vehicle packed to near bulging with what little she could call her own. She had just enough money saved in her account to buy her a week or two while she figured out what comes next.

“Hello Duskhaven. New town, a new start and opportunities to grow into a new me!”

Seeing a sleepy little coffee shop, awash in the amber glow of the setting sun which generously blanketed the beach before it, she decided to take one final rest stop. I could do with a caffeine boost and a bite to eat! After all, it is going to be a long night of unpacking and settling in, she justified to herself.

“One large coffee and burger please”

“That will be 10.50, take a seat wherever you like and I will bring it out shortly”

Mia sat watching the waves rolling in, cathartic and reassuring as white noise played the perfect soundtrack to the beautiful landscape that lay before her.

“Here you go”, with a startle the voice pulled her back from her daydreaming.

“One large coffee and burger” Alex smiled reassuringly at her.

“So are you new in town?”

Mia could feel her cheeks flush, am I really being so awkward that he can tell that I am out of place here?

“Yeah, I am, how did you know?” she said, consciously making eye contact with him

Now is not the time to be shy, new town, new me remember.

“I saw your car as you came in, can’t imagine you could get too much packed in there but you sure packed as much as you could” He said with a playful smile.

“I hope you enjoy your meal, it would be great to have you come back for another once you have found yourself packed and settled.”

It had been a slow week but she had taken her time with the home. The studio apartment was small but it was cozy and it was nearly all she needed. She had made the decision to leave the timid girl back in her home town and challenge herself in a new setting and Duskhaven seemed to be a stunning start to this new chapter.

She had felt a warmth in her short interaction with Alex and had decided she would start there, making a new friend and, with a bit of luck, a new colleague as she was going to need a job.

A job in hospitality seemed to Mia to be the perfect way to challenge herself and get to know some of the locals.

Part 3

It had been a quick first month in her new job, hospitality had it challenges but Alex’s guidance was reassuring. “I release the chains of doubt, for the fire within me knows no fear.” and “Doubt dissolves in the fire of my destiny” being just some of the strange affirmations she had heard him repeat from time to time.

As the summer slowly receded to Autumn and the hazy shadow of dusk slowly seeped in, earlier and earlier each day, in an effort to reclaim some of its own time and space, which it had relented earlier in the year, Mia’s apartment grew colder, lonelier, the shine of her new start beginning to fade. Work had become her only real place of interaction, she had thought about joining the local gym, perhaps a local running club, but decided she needed more time to feel settled before she would be comfortable enough to do that.

Part 4

“I know that after a long day at work you probably cannot wait to get home”

Kind of Alex to pretend he believes that to be true, Mia thought.

“but a few of us are headed down to the beach this evening and watch the sunset and have a few drinks around the fire. You are welcome to join?”

“Ummm, it sounds like it could be fun…” ,there it was again, that akward pause, the interal war of self doubt that felt like an eternity condensed into a few miliseconds before she commited to anything, “I mean, I dunno, maybe?”

Alex just smiled at her, “I will see you there!”

The mirror presented it best arguments in favour of Mia staying in. What do you even wear to a sunset beach get together? You won’t even know anybody there!

She decided to just go with it, shorts and a hoody will do, no more overthinking.

She reminded herself about the promise she had made when she first arrived in Duskhaven.

“New town, new me, or what was it Alex always says?, something about a fire and destiny?

Who knows exactly? All I know is that there will be a bonfire and an opportunity to meet new people tonight and that’s a destiny I guess I need right now.”

Part 5

It was a brisk evening, the sun still clung faintly to the horizon, doing it’s best to provide whatever fading light it could still muster.

She approached the group. Alex came over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he introduced her. “Mia these two lovely ladies are Sienna, Mariana and the thorns amoung these roses are Jesse, Jonah and Kai.”

“Guys, this is Mia. You know we always say that friends are just the family we chose, so please make her feel at home amoung our family, another chosen one”, and then there was that smile again, warm and welcoming.

Her rapid heart found it’s way to resting as the night went on.

Jesse and Kai were bullish and energetic, laughing as they remeniced to Mia how they had met Alex freshly out of thier teenage years, Alex offering them older brotherly like reassurance as their compotence on their boards grew to match the growing waves.

“Alex and I are the original two” Mariana said, as she stared, through the flames, at Alex who was deep in discussion with the guys. “We had both started at this new high school, I was terrified but Alex seemed unphased and something about that became a guide post for me.”

“As the girl relatively new to town, I can relate, Alex has really helped me settle in at work.”

“We are glad to have met you Mia, cheers to new family members!” Sienna said, handing Mia and Mariana another drink, fresh from her return trip to the “car bar” as they had refered to it earlier.

A trip that requires going to the parking lot, a trip outside the reassuring glow and warm of the fire. I’m glad there is someone else willing to make that trip, Mia thought to herself more than once that night.

Jonah seemed to be the more silent and brooding, glancing at Mia dubiously, not giving away too much about himself or how he came to be a part of the group. Mia could understand that, after all, they were all clearly very close and it cant be easy when new people join the group.

She nestled further into the driftwood log that reassuringly cradled her back, feeling the warm caress of the fire and a sleepy sensatoin setting in, she watched the group and smiled to herself.

Finally, somewhere I might belong.

Part 6

Mia woke the next morning with a headache and an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Memories from the night before a blur, her mind to afraid to slow down long enough to hold one firmly in frame.

I didn’t even drink much did I? Was it 2, maybe 3 at most?

What happened after Sienna brought that drink over? I remember feeling the warmth of the fire, lethargic and then a blur.

As she looked down at herself she realised that she was still in last nights clothes yet somehow they sat a little differently this morning, Uncomfortable somehow as if she hadn’t dressed into them herself.

She remembered Alex, getting up from his discussion with the guys. His smile, from across the fire, except this smile was different… menacing.

A smile concealing a secret.

She could vaguely remember being driven home in her trusty lady bug, Alex insisting she was not in any state to drive.

Had one of them drugged her? Had Alex carried her to bed?

No, stop being silly, Alex wouldn’t take advantage of me, of my insecurities and vulnerabilities.

Those people all clearly trusted him, held him in high regard. Almost….Idolised him?

As she moved through to the kitchen she saw it there, a note on the counter top.

“You no longer have to feel alone, No longer have to feel self doubt. The fire within me will release the chains of doubt in you. Last night I initiated you, welcome to my family.”

She went down to her car to see if anything there would allow her to recapture a memory but what she found there was no further clarity. Only a key with a keyring containing an address.

That night, trembling as she took the key from her pocket, paused and opened that unfamiliar door.

Her racing heart raising in pace to match her racing thoughts.

How did I end up here and who are these people? What did they do to me? What will they do to me if I turn away and run now? Do I go along with all of this until I have my answer?

What do I do?

What would you do?!