Stolen Hearts and Damaged Souls: Chapter One

Hello everyone,

This is my story, the story of Sheila Carter. At some point, I may ask the audience to help me out with this story if I ever get writer's block. For this moment, I have a lot of ideas I'm brainstorming to make this the perfect psychopath story ever. Here is Chapter One of my story. Maybe one day it will be a bestseller novel.

Enjoy, F.


Chapter 1

A lonely girl by the age of 20 was standing in the middle of a crowded banquet hall. The room was filled with rowdy teenagers, equally rowdy adults getting drunk from bottles of whiskey and rum with rap music and classical music coming together in the background. It wasn’t a pretty picture, not what the girl was used to at all.
Her name was Sheila Carter. This birthday celebration was for her great-aunt who just turned 90. She hardly knew Joanna Manning. She was in her last year of university, just finishing up her BA degree in English literature and linguistics. Sheila lived a very solitary life and felt like an outcast from her schoolmates. Sadly for her, she felt disconnected from her family. However, she loved all of them with every fibre of her being. She had an incredible void in her life and in her heart, and the loneliness she exhibited had driven her to the cold despair of suicide. Though she didn’t know it at the time, all of that was about to change when a handsome guy said: “Excuse me.”
Sheila turned around, and she saw and felt a sensation that she never thought she would ever feel again. She didn’t want the moment to end. She read about transcendentalism in her 19th century American Literature course the previous year, and she was tired of hearing the word. She felt transcended, as if psychologically, she had an out-of-body experience. She didn’t want the moment to end. In her mind, it would be similar to saying goodbye. She didn’t realize that this would be her chance at happiness.
She seemed unmoved as he politely excused himself. In a matter of seconds, she had an idea: “Get to know this cute guy. You never know”. Her grandmother, who was always a source of inspiration to her, used the “You never know” phrase when she was a child of 10. This inspiration was put to the test. It was time to apply what her grandmother taught her.
Sheila grabbed a glass of red wine, and intentionally collided into the guy she was entranced by, in turn, spilling all the red wine on his pink dress shirt. Sheila quickly apologized, and he said that accidents would happen. To Scott Grainger’s way of thinking, everything happened for a reason.
Scott was a little tipsy after drinking a bottle of vermouth after an elaborate dinner celebration. He saw Sheila Carter, and he was amazed at Sheila’s femininity, innocence, and beauty. Scott appreciated those qualities in a young woman. Suddenly, all of the ghastly background commotion ceased, and the rowdiness came to a screeching halt. Instead, “Save the Best for Last” by Vanessa Williams came on, and the lights dimmed. Sheila hoped that Scott would ask her to dance and luckily for her, he did. Sheila said that she didn’t know how to dance, and all he said was: “Don’t worry. Just follow my lead.”
As Scott and Sheila joined hands, there was an instant attraction to Scott’s tenderness. She was thrilled that she may have found the man of her dreams. As they were dancing, they finally introduced themselves. Scott said that she was an incredible dancer and that Sheila’s eyes twinkled as if they were evening stars in a midnight sky. At the end of the song, they were about to kiss. For Sheila, she always craved the tenderness of a passionate kiss that she saw in the movies she watched time and time again. He stopped himself. He said, “I can’t do this. I just can’t.” He then walked away from the spotlight. Sheila was heartbroken. She felt rejected and undesirable.
When the family returned to the Manning residence two hours later, Sheila met her cousin for the first time in their adult lives. Her name was Lauren Fenmore. From the time their eyes met, Sheila studied her sophisticated beauty and the graceful elegance she possessed. All of the men adored her. Unlike Sheila, Lauren’s life was a perfect one. She lived with her parents who seemed to have the perfect marriage and a beautifully kept 3-storey house. Lauren excelled in school and she had many boyfriends in her young life. Needless to say, Sheila’s life paled in comparison. Lauren gave Sheila a warm hug and welcomed her into her lovely home. Though she knew Lauren for a short time, Sheila wanted to be her best friend. That is until a meeting that was about to take place would change the girls’ lives forever.
Lauren told Sheila she wanted to introduce her to her fiancé. No one was more surprised when Lauren’s fiancé turned out to be Scott, the man Sheila danced with two hours ago. Sheila acted as if she never knew him and that their emotional connection on the dance floor was a distant memory. Inwardly, Sheila was screaming. Sheila left the after-party abruptly, and as she was driving home, she started crying. Her mind was filled with rage at her cousin who stole what she thought was her last chance at happiness and normalcy. She vowed that she would do anything in her power to make Scott hers. She stopped weeping, and she arrived back home. Before she entered, she had a daydream that she was bringing Scott home to Christmas dinner. In her fantasy, she told him that their life is perfect and she wouldn’t have it any other way. They were about to kiss, but he disappeared. She saw Lauren and Lauren was laughing at her, tauntingly telling her that Scott could never love a freak of nature like her. She instantly hated Lauren, but she reasoned that she must pretend to be Lauren’s loyal cousin and best friend in order to get everything that she wanted. “It’s the only way Scott and I can get close, the only way.”, Sheila imagined. She opened the door with confidence that she will conquer her demons and make Scott love her. First, she needed help, but from an unlikely source.