Darkness To Consume

Prologue

"Come back soon, okay?" said Vixen as she hugged her mom and dad one last time.

Her parents are flying to California to take care of her aunt Vanellope who is bedridden with illness. Vixen will miss them so much because they will stay there for a long time.

Aunt Arina has no family, she is her mother's aunt on the mother's side and she is very old at the age of seventy-three. She prefers to call the old woman 'aunt' instead of 'grandma'.

Their other relatives in California also don't care about it so only his mom and dad will go there to take care of it. Rowena smiled at her daughter warmly and gently touches her face.

"Take care, sweetie. We will make sure to call you every day," she told Vixen. There was sadness in his eyes.

"I'm a grown up now, Mom. No need to worry," Vixen assured her mother with a warm smile of her own.

"Goodbye, sweetheart. Don't forget our instructions to you. And don't worry yourself about the company, there are people who will take care of it." Arnold reminded.

Vixen rolled her eyes at this. Her parents still don't want to allow her to help their company, saying that she's still too young for this kind of stuff. Even if she is the only one who will inherit everything. They told her that she still had to reach her twenty-first birthday and finish her business course before she would be allowed to assist them in running the company.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady," her father said in mocked disapproval.

"Fine, Dad," she answered while smiling.

"Take care, please hug me Aunt Arina."

"Sure, sweetie." Vixen watched as their driver, Manong Pedro, put her parents' suitcases inside the trunk of the car.

Arnold helped Rowena get into the car holding her waist and arm. And Vixen missed how her mother glared at her father with disdain.

"I will miss you both," she said with a smile, waving her hand in farewell.

"Goodbye." They both waved back as she continued to watch them get inside the car.

Vixen sadly stood there in front of their tall gates while the car left through the winding road, until they were out of her sight. Vixen let out a sigh. She felt very sorry for her Aunt Arina, and she wanted to visit her too. But because she still has to finish her studies, she can't be with her yet. Especially since the requirements are coming up and he will graduate from college in a few months.

She glanced up at the clear blue sky, which reminds her of the ocean. She was slightly blinded by the direct sunlight, a sign of beautiful but warm weather. She could no longer bear the heat that was burning on her skin because she was used to it.

She heard the closing of the high gates pushed by their two security guards. That delivered a slight noise due to the grunt of the heavy steel on which they were made.

"Miss?" Vixen turned to call her attention, and she saw the butler of their housemates.

“Genesis is ready,” it said.

She smiled at the kind face of the small, plump woman.

"Okay. Thank you, Mang Rina."

Manang Rina is one of their most trusted maids in the mansion. She was also old, because she had taken care of her mother when she was young. Its entire family also works with them in the mansion and on the rancho.

She walked on their perfectly trimmed lawn towards the back of their mansion, where Genesis is waiting for her.

The weeds slightly tickled the side of his feet with the only sole being a pair of red slippers.

Genesis is the name of her horse. It was a white stallion that was shorter than her. Vixen saw her horse being fed by their caretaker, named Goryo. The horse let out a whine when it saw Vixen approaching, slowly tugging away from Manong Goryo's hold, clearly wanting to finally stretch out its long legs. Vixen chuckled in amusement.

"I miss you, too," she said as she approached the horse and gently stroked its head. She could smell the fragrant shampoo used by Manong Goryo.

Her favorite pet looks like a new bath. They still have other animals to take care of on their ranch, but this was the gift her father gave her when she made her debut. She smiled.

She could almost taste the sweet scent of the strawberry-scented shampoo that was used on Genesis. Her horse even beat her and was even more fragrant than her.

"I'm just going to the creek, Manong Goryo," she informed the middle-aged caretaker.

"Be careful, señorita," Goryo replied smiling as he helped her ride behind Genesis.

"I can do this," she told him and clutched on the reins around Genesis's neck. She lightly caressed the horse's mane as the horse began to walk on the rough road going to their ranch.

The land covered by their rancho located in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija is vast. It stretches out for miles to the wild forest and to the edge of a famous lake. Many wanted to buy their land, but her father would not sell it.

Twice a week during weekends she walks here on her horse Genesis. Chatting with their staff, helping to feed domestic pigs, cows, horses and others, or picking fruits and vegetables. A few minutes later and even though she was not very far away she heard someone calling her name.

A little startled by being disturbed, she glanced from where she had come from. She saw Manong Ando a couple of meters away. He is one of their farmers, who is now frantically waving his buri hat at her. She stared at him and tried to comprehend what he was saying, or more like yelling.

"Señorita! Señorita!" Manong Ando called.

"Why?" she yelled back and nudges Genesis to walk back towards him. The horse gave out a low whine of protest but still moved to approach the man.

"You need to go to a nearby town right away. The señor and señora..." She heard his answer hesitantly, traces of intense concern on his face.

Her heart began to pound against her chest when she recognized the fear and panic in his voice. "Why? What happened? " She demanded, nudging her horse to walk faster.

She reached the forty-year old man, whose slightly wrinkled face was contorted with worry as she peered down at him. The man's appearance was obviously awkward to tell. him what's the matter.

"Your parents, rushed them to the hospital," he finally said.

"A-What?" she yelled in bewildered shock. She didn't think any more and immediately ran the horse back of the mansion. There she found their housemates and other staff dressed in intense concern. Her chest was pounding too fast with fear and nervousness.

She jumped off from her horse and ran towards her car, almost stumbling in the process. Not wasting her time to change her clothes that were just a pair of orange blouse and white denim shorts that reached the top of her knees.

She immediately started the car engine and drove to the hospital even though the his hands. It will take more he was a few hours before that arrived because they were far from the private hospital where his parents were rushed.

She was already crying as she drove her gray BMW 7 series car on the road that is void of traffic. Thank goodness. Almost two and a half hours later, she reached the hospital. She immediately parked the car and went to the nurse's station, asking for her mom and dad.

The nurse told her that they are still in the emergency room. She went there with trembling knees and waited outside the door. He could no longer hold back the overwhelming fear and anxiety.

She did not expect this to happen to them. And to think that they have already said their goodbyes. She slowly slumped into the nearest chair and sobbed quietly. "Excuse me, Ma'am," a man called attention.

She looked up to see a young man who seems to be in his mid-twenties. He was wearing a red T-shirt and black pants. His features looked haggard and deeply shaken. He did not notice that someone else was there besides him. "A-Are Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore your relatives?" trembling at this question, traces of nervousness.

"I'm their daughter. Why? Do you know what happened?" she asked him with a tear-stricken face.

She then glanced at his arms which are covered in dry blood, before her gaze went back on his face. She started to get suspicious on why this man looks very shaken while he stared back at her.

"I saw what happened. Your parents' car collided with the delivery truck they met. The car was moving quite fast and the road was winding so they couldn't see the truck. The collision was so strong that the front was crushed. of the car. We rushed them here immediately after the accident," the man quickly told her, obviously rehearsing.

She stared up at him suspiciously, and he was looking at her with a guilty expression on his face. He suddenly looked down at the white-tiled floor, as soon as he noticed her glare. It was swallowed before speaking again.

"We're in the truck." That was all she wanted to hear before she gave him a forceful slap on the face. She knew she shouldn't act like this. But knowing that this man is one of the reasons that her parents' lives are in danger, it made her blood boil in so much anger.

The guy took a step back in surprise, at the same time a male doctor wearing a white lab coat and a face-mask approached them. He came from the emergency room. The man became even paler as Cyan immediately approached the doctor.

"Doc?" was the only thing she managed to say. The doctor pulled his face-mask away. Her heart felt heavy when she saw the mournful look on his face.

He looked at Vixen straight in the eyes, and she had to hold her breath to stop herself from crying more. She knew that very look and it doesn't mean good news.

"Are you related to the patients?" he asked calmly.