Darkness in the Memory - Chapter 1

Natasha's P.O.V.

The colour of dusk started prevailing over the sky. Around me I could hear the chirping of birds and the sound of crowd was fading as I was walking down the road. The fact that I may become an orphan haunted me. There is nothing more in my life. Suddenly I heard the sound of the horn and a husky voice, "Down to Earth, Bitch."

I realized that I was walking through the middle of the road. I turned to apologize, but he was gone. He looked like a hormonal teenager who is in a hurry to reach somewhere. I sat down there breaking down, and the events flashed through my eyes.

Flashback:-

"At last our baby graduated 12th grade. What's your plan, Natasha?".
"Dad let me enjoy the vacation we can think about it, there's time right" I pouted.
James sighed at her childishness.

"She is right James, what about hiking?" Emily asked. 

"Ooh... I love you, mom". I got excited.
"Inform your brother too."
This is my little family, my mom, dad, and brother. James is a well-known chef in Los Angeles; he has also been a YouTuber for a while. My stepmom, Emily is an entrepreneur and my overprotective brother Neil, is an Architect.
Although she’s my stepmom, she has always loved me like no one else did. And I’m grateful.

On the day of hiking:-

"Natasha what are you doing? Aren't you ready yet?"

Neil called out. I was standing still in front of my closet. He poked me and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Brother, I'm baffled to choose between these two dresses."
He rolled his eyes

"You silly come on; it's getting late".
After thinking for a couple of seconds, I wore her favorite denim jeans and blue crop top with a shrug. Natasha pulled her hair into a ponytail.
"I'm so excited; it's like after a year I'm going for a trip."
"Well, you are going nowhere near those dangerous mountains and will be staying with me," Neil said firmly.
"Oh! Come on Brother, I'm not a child anymore, I'm 18" I cried.
"But you are still my teeny-weeny baby sis."
"Eww...don't call me that" I scrunched my nose in disgust. He burst into laughter.
At last, we reached Topanga National Park; we'll be hiking to Santa Yanez Falls. I heard it is a 2.5-mile hike and its just 250 feet of high elevation. We stopped our car at Vereda de la Montura gate and htook our backpacks. This view is just awesome. It catches one attention. I felt myself sink into nature. It's all trees and chirping of birds around me.
We strolled and after a couple of miles, we ate our lunch. It was bacon, sandwich, and some energy drinks. It's refreshing to be a part of nature, leaving behind the urban world. We started hearing the trickling of water along with the relaxing fragrance of California bays.
We stayed along the sound of water and at last, we reached our destination. It's an 18-foot tall waterfall, we could continue it by climbing the rope nearby, but as it was almost 5 pm, we thought of returning to our car, also as we were exhausted.

I saw an Iguana on our way back, and as I have a secret wish to be a wildlife photographer, I went behind it. By the time I got the photo, I had realized that I'm lost and to my misfortune phone's battery was dead. All I could hear was the chirping of birds that were going back to their nest and sound of water. It started getting darker, and I was getting scared. Somehow I reached back to the car. There my parents and Neil was waiting anxiously for me.
I got into the car and dad started driving. Everything was fine until something hit our car and I was thrown out of it. Everything went Black.

After a while I woke up, the place was crowded with police officers and people. I was inside of something like an ambulance; I got some scratches here and there. I inquired the officers about my family. He said, "I am so sorry this happened, we are searching for them."
"Searching for them? What happened?"
He told me that a heavy vehicle probably a bus, hit our car and somehow, I was thrown out of it, and the car fell into the trench nearby.
I took a long breath and looked at it, it was very deep, I could even see deep dense forest from here. There is not even a single chance they would be saved. I was broken down, and I gave my details to police, they told me that I should return home as it is dark. They'll inform me, but I was reluctant when they insisted I started walking down.

.........

"Excuse me," I heard a soft voice, and I looked up.



For More....Wait for the Book. :D