The Sound Of Madness Chapter 1 Snip-it Enjoy ^_^
A black Suzuki GSX750F Katana sports bike roared down a back road just off of Route 12 in a small town that hadn’t changed much in the past one hundred years; heading North towards Watertown, New York. Only the loud hum of the engine and the surrounding trees were her only company, as she barreled down the poorly paved road. You would come across the stray raccoon or skunk toddling along the road at this hour of night and if luck was not on your side, a large male deer might decide he would try to commit suicide; your vehicle being the source of its demise. She had passed through this area many times before, never staying in the same area for more than six months at a time. The term for it now in the 21st century would be a runaway or renegade but, those who came from the old world, you were still called a traitor. The woman punched the gas to get to the town just outside Watertown before daylight, Eagle Valley.
The pounding water of the dam falls from the old paper mill sent mist across the road. When she drove through the visor of her helmet caught the moisture, clinging to the plastic. She glanced over towards the falls admiring its beauty. Even the crumbling building had its own beauty to it. Learning from the nearly two centuries that she had lived in the United States; even the buildings human’s created were just as mortal as they were. The structures would eventually outlive their usefulness, be abandoned or eventually be torn down; soon a new building would be placed on the land where the last one stood. The mortality of things around her made them seem more precious; something that should not be overlooked.
Scarlett came to the end of the back road before she would have to switch to the main highway to continue her journey north. Checking for traffic, she pulled out onto Route 12N towards Watertown. She’d mind her speed on these roads, she’d have to pass the State Police station going this way; wanting to draw as little attention to her as possible. Traveling during the late hours of the night, was enough to get you noticed in this rural area.
After what seemed like hours, she finally had made it to the suburbs of Watertown. Putting her way through the narrow roads, she admired the houses that she passed on the way into the heart of the city. There were a few of the large Victorian houses that reminded her of home, bringing the feeling of homesickness along with them. If her search this time was unfruitful, she had thought about returning home. The dreadful Watertown Square suddenly crept up into site; she hated this part of the city. There are no guidelines to separate straight from turn lanes and nobody knew where the hell they were going. You would usually see a car or two here and there in the middle of the road waiting to get into their desired lane; it was just a huge mess.
Crawling through the crowded roads, you would think that there wouldn’t be anyone up at this hour; she wasn’t that lucky. Neon lights advertised the latest gay and straight clubs, bars and restaurants still open as she continued down the road. She was almost out of the worst of traffic, the side road she had to take to reach her destination was just beyond the Salmonrun mall.
The traffic seemed to start breaking up after most cars turned into movies theatres, mall and the interstate; she was home free after passing the last light before hitting the side road. Kicking the bike into gear, she sped down the road away from the rush of the large city. The honks and sirens slowly faded behind her as she disappeared into the shelter of the woods again. Eagle Valley was about ten miles away from Watertown; the small city was surrounded by the woods, secluding them from most threw traffic. If you had never been there or didn’t live there, you wouldn’t know where to look. The town was rather large about the size of a small city, but geographically it was well hidden. She would be there well before sunrise; she was pleased, having time to stop at her place for a while to rest before venturing back into the heart of Eagle Valley.
The last time she had been to Eagle Valley had been almost fifty years ago; she wondered if there were any new businesses that had come in, if anyone had moved their recently. The town had suffered disaster during a period where she was residing elsewhere. No one in town spoke of the events that left the town in ruins. Only parts of the town were fully functional, most of it was still under development. She had always known that she belonged in the town after Rose had appeared to her back in London so many years ago. There had always been that longing to find what she had been searching for and hadn‘t found yet. Whatever it was, it resided in the town somewhere.
She passed by the “Welcome to Eagle Valley” sign, smiling as she crossed the border between places. Her rest stop was just a little ways further. Slowing down, she shut off the bike about ten yards away from the small house where she stayed for only short periods of time; they were still looking for her. It was extremely wise to stay cautious. Flicking the kickstand out with the toe of her boot, she steadied the bike and began to listen to the sounds around her. She took off her helmet; long wavy red hair cascaded down her shoulders, crystalline blue eyes scanned the surrounding area.
Hearing only the natural sounds of the area, Scarlett deemed it safe to use magic. Closing her eyes Scarlett willed energy into her hands then to the helmet; when reopening her eyes the helmet had dematerialized. Putting her hands on the handles, she flipped the kickstand back up and started pushing it down the remainder of the road, until she came to a hidden driveway. Pushing it carefully down the way, a small log cabin house came into site; the house looked more like a camp than a house. The grass had overgrown since she was hardly there to tend to it, some of the boards to the porch had finally caved in but, she did not intend to fix it. The worse the outside looked the better, it would make it seem like no one had lived there in a while.
She parked the bike by the small rap-around porch Scarlett went to the door listening inside for anything unusual. Pulling out a key from her jeans pocket, she slowly slid it into the lock, turning it to the right to unlock it. She pushed the door carefully open peering through the crack; this way she’d have time to run if she needed to. Nothing seemed to move in the shadows; allowing herself to open the door wider, now in the middle of the doorway totally exposed to an attack. Scarlett flicked on the light switch, the entire first floor lit up instantly revealing nothing, but an empty house. She shut the door and locked it behind her, relieved that she was safe for the time being.
When walking into the large living room it broke off into a descent size kitchen on the right, separated by a long counter with just enough space to walk through. Stairs in the middle of the room led to a small loft where there was a bed and a couple of dressers to keep things in. The outside deceived what was actually inside the small cabin and that was how she liked it. She bent down untying her boots, kicking them off to the side and wandered onto the soft burgundy carpet to a small black leather couch. Scarlett plopped down onto it, glancing to the side table where the answering machine set, the little red light blinking the number five furiously. Lofting a brow, Scarlett reached over pressing the play button. The small cassette tape rewound loudly before clicking over to the messages.
“You have five new messages.” The mechanical voice sounded. “First message.”
“Hello, Miss. Summer we’re calling on behalf of our company to congratulate you…”
Summers was an alias to keep others from finding out she was of the undead, she rolled her eyes and pressed another button bringing the message to a halt switching it back over to the machines voice, “Message deleted.”
“Not interested you telemarketing bastards.”
“Message Two.”
“You’ve been chosen to receive two complementary…”
“Message Deleted. Message Three.”
“Scarlett…” A voice spoke with a thick British accent.
She froze instantly when she heard her actual name being repeated from the machine, by none other than Dorian Calloway. Her surrogate father she had left in London over one hundred and fifty years ago under bad circumstances.
“I know it has been many of years since we’ve spoken but, I could not hold my silence when I caught word of this situation. I’m calling to warn you that it isn’t safe where you are. You need to leave now; they’ve been watching the house for some time now. Please get into the city as quickly as you can, hopefully you’ve already left. I will meet you at Spencer Mansion to fill you in on the whole situation. I hope I have called in time.”
Letting the other messages play, without listening to them, she hurried up the stairs into the loft to grab the few possessions that were in the dressers throwing them into a duffle bag. She didn’t dare use magic now knowing that they were watching the house. They’d already be able to figure out she was in the area from her use earlier. Using magic, was much like leaving a fingerprint at a crime scene. Each person using magic leaves a small trace of energy behind that is specific to the user. Undetectable to the naked eye but, if you had the resources to find the trace energy that was left, along with another sample to compare it to, you could narrow you’re search down to a city or town. If that person were careless, you’d have that person’s exact location. It was one of the reasons why Scarlett jumped from place to place every three months or so; depending of the population of the area, magic is harder to track in heavily populated areas. Eagle Valley wasn’t one of them.
Tossing the duffle bag by the door, she flicked off the lights and listened carefully. Scarlett pressed herself against the wall, reaching her hand for the doorknob turning the lock; the clicking noise echoed loudly in the thick silence. She could hear sticks snapping from the back of the house; someone was there. How am I going to get out of here without being caught? Scarlett thought. The footsteps Scarlett had determined belonged to only a single person. She waited patiently for them to circle around to the front. The sound of heavy boots hit the wooden stairs that led onto the deck signaled Scarlett to move in front of the door. The footsteps slowly came to the door and stopped.
She studied the door and listened to the movements of the person standing just outside. Scarlett couldn’t tell what her attacker was; the trespassers smell was dulled, leaving her to judge an approximate weight by the sound of their footsteps. She was determined that if she was to be captured again that she was going to go down fighting. She squatted down, crouching close to the floor to give her momentum. After a moment, she waited for the person to get just close enough and lunged through the door causing the wood to splinter with the force of it. The person behind the door fell onto their back with Scarlett on top of their chest, snarling at with fangs protruding and with blazing crystalline blue eyes staring down at him. Startled brown eyes stared back at her as she tightened her grip around his shoulders digging through the cotton shirt the trespasser was wearing.
“Who are you?” Scarlett demanded.
Wide eyes turned to a glare, the man tried to bring up his legs to push the woman off him. Feeling the shift in his weight, she shifted her own weight so that the large man would be immobile for the time being. Scarlett pinned the intruder’s legs down with her own; one of her knees close to his groin. Scarlett tightened her grip around his shoulders, tearing more into the shirt and into his flesh.
“Who sent you?”
“Who do you think traitor?” The man spat.
Scarlett leaned down sniffing along his neck much like a predator would right before a kill. She brought her head back up staring down at the man confused.
“You’re a human. What would Fatum Somnium want with you?”
“They promised to turn me if I were to successfully locate and destroy you.”
“I’m sorry that you were miss inform. They‘d never turn someone who has nothing to offer them except fresh blood.”
“You lying bitch!” The man growled; managing to get an arm free from her grasp, grabbing a sharp board that had once been part of the door.
Before he could even take action Scarlett moved her hands from his shoulders with inhuman speed and grasped both sides of his head. With one swift motion to the side, she broke his neck, the hand that held the piece of wood went limp and dropped to the ground. Scarlett stood slowly and scanned the area, knowing that if they had sent a human first that the Fatum Somnium were near by watching, listening. She bent down gripping one of the dead mans legs, and dragged the body inside onto the living room floor. She went to the kitchen and turned all the knobs to the gas stove on, then moved to the liquor cabinet pulling out a couple of bottles. Retrieving a washcloth from the drawer, Scarlett stuffed it inside one of the bottles. Then she poured the others over the body and on the carpet before shattering the bottle against a wall. Grabbing the duffle at the front door, she walked out of the house. Once she started the bike, she headed up the driveway a ways to be at a safe distance before lighting the rag. Watching it burn down a bit, she looked back to the house and threw the bottle. One of the front windows shattered with the impacted of the bottle and then the rest of the house exploded into a mass of flames. The force was enough to blow Scarletts hair behind her. She watched for a moment as the house burned with the body inside it. After making sure the house would burn to the ground before the fire department would arrive, she left.
On her way into the small city, she passed the fire trucks from the local fire department, the smoke and flames could still be seen even from the edge of the town. The Fatum Somnium would have to retreat for the time being, but they’d still be watching. Slowing down to the inner city speed limit, she headed towards the entertainment part of town for a quick meal. She was safer here in the midst of other people; there were other vampires out on the prowl for their meal as well. The Fatum Somnium would need to fallback knowing that they were discovered; the clan would have to wait until the next nightfall or later to plan another attack on her now. The Fatum Somnium had become stealthier in this new age, not wanting to risk their exposure to lesser vampires or worse. Humans.
Scarlett watched the area for foul souls, stopping at a convenience store to fill her gas tank. Her attention fell on a group of men that stood around a truck, two of them terrorized a young woman trying to get to her car. She was a petite girl with long legs and long blonde hair. Why is it blonde-haired women were the ones who always got harassed? Scarlett thought; leaving the bike running, she watched the events as the girl tried to ignore the men’s pursuit. They wouldn’t give up that easily. The taller of the two blocked her from getting to her car door by leaning against it. Streetlights showed that the man was of darker skin but, was too light to be African American, the other man was Caucasian. He was attempting to look up the girls skirt while the other blocked her way. No one had even noticed she was watching, taking the opportunity she forgot about filling up and pulled into the alleyway just across the street. There was a large dumpster for the local business to dispose of their trash a few feet into the alley. It was far enough away from streetlights that the narrow area was blanketed in rich darkness. She stashed her bike on the opposite side so it was hidden from view of the street she came from. Getting off, she slipped the keys into her pocket and wandered out of the alleyway back towards the group of guys.
Crossing the road, she walked over into the stores parking lot right past the truck. As Scarlett passed by she heard the others call over the two from across the lot. The groups’ attention had shifted to her, giving the other girl time to escape. A sharp high pitch whistle stopped Scarlett in mid stride; the high pitch sound hurt her ears. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the group of men coming her way; the two who were pestering the other girl were in front of the group.
“Hey good looking! Need any help?” The darker skinned man yelled to her, as he jogged closer.
Scarlett gave him her best smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, turning completely around so she was facing the man.
“Yes, you might be able to.”
“How can I service you?” He smiled; a couple of his teeth were gold plated, his breath smelt of cheep beer and cigarettes. A blue bandana covered the top of his head while the hood of his baggy long sleeved sweatshirt that had band logo on the front shielded much of anything else. His jeans hung down enough that you would see exactly what kind of boxers he was wearing. Mentally rolling her eyes Scarlett never understood why some men thought it was attractive to have their underwear out for the public to view.
Broadening her smile, she chuckled innocently, “My bike broke down in the alley way over there. I can’t seem to get it started.”
“Well I’m your man then.”
“Oh would you see what might be wrong with it?” She played along excitedly; inside she was ready to gag.
“Of course.” Looking over to the others, he gestured to them with a couple of hand motions and they started to herd back towards the truck. “Okay Miss. Thing. Lets go see what’s up with your ride.”
Scarlett looked passed the man watching the group piled into the truck and leave. Turning her attention back to the man in front of her, she nodded and showed him the way. As they walked towards the narrow alley, she looked into what would be his past crimes. She saw a young woman nearly identical to the one that he had been harassing just a moment ago. The only difference was that she had long curly brown hair and dark eyes. He had convinced her to come with him and the others to a party only to find that there was no party. This deception had lead up to her rape and death. They had dumped her body into the sewage treatment plant downtown; she hadn’t been found. The list of woman went on and on with this one. Humans were so easy to see through, there history so tightly mingled with their emotions.
They came up to the dumpster Scarlett showed the man her bike, receiving endless compliments on the model, style and brand. While he bent over the gas tank to look over the spark plugs on the battery, to see if there was any corrosion, puttering with it for a few minutes before looking over his shoulder.
“You got the keys?”
“Oh how silly of me. Here they are.” She reached into her pocket and handed him the keys.
He fumbled around with the bike and started it up. When the bike roared to life, he dusted his hands on his jeans displaying a wide smile of arrogance.
Scarlett then slowly crept up behind him a ravishing grin displayed across her features.
“Well I fixed your beast lady, now maybe we can…” As he turned around, his arrogant smile still in place, he cut off his sentence abruptly. His arrogance disappearing when he saw what was coming but, there was no time for him to react.
Scarlett launched at him grabbing a hold of the baggy sweatshirt ripping the hood down to expose his neck. Detaching her jaw, she bit hard into his neck as she began to feed. The man struggled, ripping and tearing at her hair and clothes. As she fed longer, the weaker he became. In a final act of desperation, the man pulled a gun from small of his back and pulled the trigger. Scarlett’s body jerked with the impact but, she refused to let go of her meal. After the one shot the gun fell to the alley floor with a soft clank against the pavement and he struggled no more as he lay limp in her arms. The frantic flutter of his heart slowed until there wasn’t enough blood to sustain the man any longer. He’d fade into mortal death in minutes. Dropping the body to the ground, she was satisfied with her kill; one more tainted soul sent into nonexistence. Scarlett bathed in the aftermath of her meal for only a moment and examined her wound. Luckily, the bullet had only grazed her side; the injury would heal in minutes. She went to the dumpster and flipped open one of the covers before picking up the body. Hefting it over her shoulder, she lifted the corpse up slowly to the rim of the metal box until gravity took care of the rest. She moved back to where the gun had been dropped, picking it up with the sleeve of her jacket, she tossed it in with body. Scarlett moved some of the garbage around so that the corpse would be well hidden before she closed the lid, the loud bang of it hitting the metal rim echoed loudly against the narrow walls.
Scarlett dusted her hands clean against her jeans then she pulled her bike out from beside the dumpster. It had stalled when she had attacked the man. She slid onto it and went to start it back up but, she looked up to find someone crouching down at the entrance of the narrow road.
“I saw what you did.” The person sang to Scarlett.
Shocked, she only stared at person as they stood up straight and started walking towards her.
“Who are you?” Scarlett asked cautiously.
“You threw away such a nice toy. Why?” The person sounded saddened that she had disposed of the body.
Without realizing it, Scarlett had materialized a 9mm pistil into her right hand. When she flexed her hand in impulse, the solidness of the metal against her hand brought her out of her shock. Raising her arm, aiming the gun towards the approaching person, she pulled the trigger. The gun fired but, the bullet ricocheted off the wall. The person was close enough now to be more visible instead of being only a shadow. He wore a pair of black dress slacks, a green button up shirt and black dress shoes. The buttons on the shirt had been stuck into the wrong holes, causing the shirt to be crooked and sloppy. His eyes glowed green underneath long black hair that hung down over his face as he smiled widely at Scarlett.
She had no idea how to react to the strange man who was steadily coming closer to her; he was a vampire that at least she could smell. She wouldn’t have to worry about the police if she got out of there quickly enough. With two shots fired, someone had probably called them. A familiar childish chuckle echoed around her, the other seeming to be completely oblivious to the sound; Scarlett listened to the soft whisper. When she returned her attention back to the man, he stood still his head tilted slightly to the left as if he was listening to something too. She still had no idea how to answer the strange question so she opted for the truth.
“He was a poor excuse for a mortal. He was only good for a meal.”
Scarlett watched as his head tilted back into a normal position but, he still stared intently at her.
“Oh.”
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Cause you’re pretty.” The man chimed, grinning widely.
Blinking at him, now completely confused finding she did not want to talk to the strange man anymore. It seemed that any answer she had received from the man was a response of a child. She thought about it for a moment and remembered when her identical purple-eyed girl first appeared to her. Rose’s answers were exactly the same, childish and in riddles. The stranger thing was if Rose were corporeal, Scarlett thought from first appearances of the odd man, they’d be perfect for each other.
“I don’t mean to be rude but, I am supposed to be meeting with someone. Excuse me.” Scarlett slowly nodded, her eyes never leaving the man as she went to start her bike again.
“I know who you’re supposed to meet.” He cooed.
Stopping in mid-turn of her bike key, the strange man had her full attention.
“You know who I‘m suppose to go meet?” Scarlett asked hesitant.
“Yep, Dorian Calloway. The funny talking British guy.” He replied.
Scarlett couldn’t help the smile that came, though she was surprised that he hadn’t thought her British accent was funny as well. “I wouldn’t call him funny. Then again… maybe things have changed in two hundred years but, I doubt it.”
A shrug was her only reply.
“What did he tell you anyway?”
“Nothing but, we were told to find a pretty lady with hair the color of blood and eyes that shimmered like the most precious crystals. And you‘re suppose to come with us. Yep. Yep. Yep.”
He was squatting down on the ground now, bouncing up and down while swaying back and forth. She didn’t know weather to believe him or not, but what other choice did she have? Scarlett had no idea where Spencer Mansion was in this town; she’d never heard of it up until Calloway’s urgent message back at her hide out. She took a minute to study the man who now was jabbering to himself while he swayed on the tips of his toes. She didn’t pick up any type of malice from him, except for the usual when it came to vampires but, nothing that said danger. Going against her better judgment Scarlett slid from her bike; leaving one her hands on the handlebars as she repeated what she had done with her helmet earlier. She forced energy into the bike, until it disappeared. The gun still in her hand she decided it was best to leave it out, tucking it carefully in the waste of her pants against her lower back.
“Lead the way.” She said reluctantly.
The green-eyed man hopped up from his crouching position, grabbing Scarletts arm, dragging her from the alley out into the streets. He skipped down the road as he pulled her with him as he led her towards the Black Forest. The forest could be seen at any spot in town; it was one of the wonders that kept Eagle Valley so secluded. She had heard rumors of the forest being haunted and over run with werewolves; nobody in their right mind wandered into those woods alone. It was no surprise to her that she hadn’t heard of Spencer Mansion, especially if it was located in that part of town.
Scarlett had been through the woods many times; she found that the rumors of the forest being haunted were true, so true that it even sent chills down her spine. Werewolves she had found were also true; she had met a loyal werewolf named Lillian. They had made an arrangement after Scarlett had accidentally killed one of the wolves in self-defense, on one of her adventures out into the unknown. She would fund Lillian if it she needed it, in return for killing the wolf. Scarlett thought it was a fair trade under the circumstances. The deal also gained her safe passage from the werewolves for eternity, as well as Lillian aiding her, when she needed her help. Scarlett wondered if the vampire who was leading her to where she needed to be knew of Lillian, especially if they were going through the forest.
People stared at the odd couple as they passed through town. Scarlett could almost hear what they were saying with the strange man dressed the way he was. She had spent all her life trying to be as inconspicuous as possible; being dragged around town with someone who looked like they had just crawled out of bed was just the opposite. As if the man felt her discomfort, they sped up to the point that they’d just appear if they were to stop in front of someone. Scarlett relaxed visibly her movements became more fluid as they ran. The man slowly released Scarletts arm peeking over his shoulder.
“Don’t fall behind.”
“I won’t.” She reassured him.
Smiling wickedly, the man sped ahead leaving Scarlett confused, she rolled her eyes she picked up speed. Why was everything a game? Scarlett struggled to keep up with the man, since she could barely make out his movements. It seemed to her that the man belonged in a circus; the agility Scarlett observed was unbelievable; she hadn’t seen anything like this before. By the time she had finally caught up to him, he had stopped at the boundary of the forest. She came up beside him and stared into it; energy pulsed off these woods like a steady current of electricity. Scarlett couldn’t remember if the forest held such power the last time she was in it.
Then the whispers started in her ears, the coaxing warning to stay away. The strange man was smiling as he stared off into the thick trees. The howls of wolves echoed off in the distance adding to the general uneasiness of the area. Scarlett found herself taking a deep breath even when she didn’t need to breathe; something about the forest seemed oddly familiar, like she had been here years before she had met up with Lillian. Centuries of bouncing from one place to another made it extremely hard to keep track of places that she had only been to a few times. Swallowing hard, Scarlett glanced back to the odd man.
Head tilted he stared at her intently, “We have to get going. The bright light will be out soon.”
Scarlett looked up towards the sky it was beginning to brighten slightly with the coming dawn; the safe haven of night was nearly gone. Scarlett turned her eyes back to the forest and forced herself to venture into it; the man who had brought her this far was close by her side.
Walking into the Black Forest was like walking into a mental institution in complete darkness, especially if you were sensitive to the otherworldly. Thousands of voices were all screaming in agony, for help or warning those who could listen, to leave. Never before had the voices of the dead been this loud. Scarlett found herself wavering from the small beaten path that they were taking, unable to drown out the screams. One voice among the many others stood out, taunting her. The voice was vaguely familiar and the feeling of dread came with it. Spencer Mansion was the place where she was supposes to meet up with Calloway. Spencer Mansion? She fought for the thought through the desperate cries of the dead.
Without knowing, Scarlett found that she had fallen by a large maple tree, leaning her back against it she stared out into nothing. She continued to fight for the piece of memory she had long since forgotten but, the harder she tried the louder the cries grew. Then the headaches Scarlett had to endure all her life began to surface with the strain on her mind. Even after being turned, she retained headaches that crippled her if they weren’t treated. Something warm began to trickle down her lips reaching up Scarlett hesitated to touch it. Her hand shaking uncontrollably she was unaware that the strange man was kneeling beside her. Green eyes watched concerned, reaching for her hand he took it and gently set it on the ground. Patting her on the shoulder, he reached up and carefully wiped his thumb across Scarlett’s lips. Scarlett briefly saw blood come away from where he had touched her. Pained blue eyes stared into concerned green as he stared at his thumb.
“We’ll make it better.” The man whispered.
He placed a delicate pale hand on top of her head gently. The small touch made her head protest with waves of pain. Closing her eyes from it, she fought not to whimper.
“Open your eyes pretty lady.”
His voice held power to it that pulled at her attention. Opening her eyes, she found his were glowing softly, burning with his energy. Staring widely into them, the screams eased away to a gentle whisper and the torturous headache vanished. Blinking quickly, she looked up to him confused, she watched him rise up to his feet. Surprised by what had just happened, she wiped the remaining blood away from her nose with the bottom on her jacket. When her attention was brought back to the man, he was offering her a hand. She took it as he pulled Scarlett up to her feet and grinned happily at her.
“Feel better?” He asked.
“Yes, much better. Thank you.”
The man chuckled as he returned to skipping down the path again and she followed. The memory that was trapped under many others, nagged Scarlett continually as she walked. She didn’t pry too hard to remember not knowing if the affects of the amazing power the strange man possessed would last. She didn’t want that headache or the intense voices to return. Maybe it would come to her if she didn’t think about it anymore, like when you’re trying to find something that you’ve lost. If you stop looking for it, you‘ll find it.
She focused her attention on the path that had suddenly changed to a large grass covered clearing. Ahead was a large mansion sitting on top of a small hill? It looked as if it had been carved out of stone right in the exact spot where it stood. The mansion wasn’t any specific style but, a mixture of several. The first floor had a rap around porch that circled the entire diameter of the mansion, Greek pillars held the second floor balcony that extended the entire length of the first floor, stopping just at the roof above the front porch. Numerous sets of French doors were placed strategically allowing access to the balcony. Twin Victorian towers stood proud at the top of the third floor of the West and East side of the mansion. The main entrance had a small piece of the porch enclosed with stone railings, the roof overhanging to keep it shaded during the day. There was a decent size gap between where the porch ended and the other part of the porch began on both sides, someone had planted some foliage between them so it wouldn’t just look like a gaping hole on both sides. Looking around, Scarlett found that her escort was nowhere to in site.
“This must be the place.” Scarlett said aloud to herself.
Even the old mansion looked oddly familiar and with that, the feel of dread that came with the forest. Swallowing what felt like a golf ball in her throat, she forced herself to trudge towards the mansion. It didn’t take long for her to come onto the large porch of the mansion; she looked up at the large double doors that were at least four times her height. Reaching out with one hand, she took the large doorknocker and knocked. The hollow sound of metal hitting wood was much louder than Scarlett had thought; a tall man opened the door and stared down at her.
“May I help you?” He asked in a voice of a librarian.
“Yes, I’m supposed to meet Dorian Calloway.” Scarlett replied.
“He hasn’t arrived yet but, please come in.” He pulled the door further open so that Scarlett could walk by without brushing him. “This way please.”
The man who opened the door looked normal enough and smelt normal too. He was human that was for sure, Scarlett could hear the rhythmic beat of his heart. He wore thin framed glasses that hid beautiful purple eyes, though his were much paler than Roses. Long white blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail by an elastic band; a few strands from his bangs had escaped and hung in his face. He wore a violet tailored suit with a white button up shirt underneath the jacket and a lilac tie. His waste was slender and shoulders were narrow; he must not go to the gym much, Scarlett thought. He led her down the hall to another set of double doors that were already open, leading into a large library. Scarlett awed at the amount of books in the room; every wall was a bookshelf, every shelf was full with no duplicates. Groups of chairs were placed sporadically around a large cherry table that sat in the middle of the room. The length of the table with the amount of chairs that sat around it reminded Scarlett of the old castle tables at Buckingham Palace. Her eyes found another person leaning over the end of the table flipping through a book. He looked just like that strange man that had found her in town, except his hair was pulled back into a smooth ponytail and he was dressed properly.
The white haired man wandered over and whispered into his ear, which brought his attention to her. Now Scarlett could see that he had blue eyes, not like the sapphires of Calloways or the crystalline of her own. They were the color of clear blue winter skies. A second before his features returned to a serious expression there was a look of surprise.
“Thank you Alec.” Shutting the book he was reading, he stepped away from the table taking a few footsteps away from it to look directly at Scarlett. “You must be Scarlett. Calloway won’t arrive until tomorrow night. Until he does, please make yourself at home.”
“Thank you Mr.?”
“No Mr., Simon is fine.”
“Okay. Thank you Simon.”
“It’s a pleasure. On the second floor, there is a room for you and a bathroom. Please clean up and get some rest. There are clothes in the closet if you haven’t brought anything with you. Alec will show you where to go.”
“No need for the cloths sir. Oh, who was it who came to me in town?” She had somehow lost her duffle bag along the way but, there wasn’t much of anything in it. Scarlett could materialize a few things to wear until she knew more about the situation Calloway had spoken about.
Sighing slightly Simon rubbed at his temple, “That would be Aubrey. You’ll see him again to thank him.”
Scarlett nodded another thank you before Alec ushered her up the grand staircase to the second floor. She was a bit nervous sleeping in this house. The walls whispered to her and it wasn’t a nice feeling. She’d never had walls speak to her only the actual dead, it almost seemed like the house was alive. Alec led her down a small hallway and to the left; her room she’d be staying in was the first door on the left. Opening it for her, Alec showed her in; the room had an odd sense of peace in the walls. There wasn’t the whispering that came from the walls downstairs, only a portrait hung above the fireplace of an old British woman. Scarlett felt comforted by this unknown woman staring back at her from the painting. Alec opened another door that was on the far side of the room to reveal a large bathroom. She looked to Alec who only shrugged.
“Don’t ask questions. I don‘t know why the master of the house is being kind to you.”
Scarlett nodded.
“Rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yes, rules. You are not to go into the first floor of the West Wing of the house, it is not allowed. West Wing starts off the living room which is just past the library In addition, you are not allowed on the third floor. Anywhere else you are free to go.” Alec explained as he pushed his glasses up with his index finger.
“What’s in the West Wing?”
“We don’t speak of it. Just leave it alone.”
“What’s on the third floor?”
“There’s dangerous things up there you don’t need to be medaling with. You’ll be gone by this time tomorrow, don’t worry your pretty little head over it.” He replied becoming more annoyed.
“Thank you, sir.” Scarlett smiled at nodded before turning her back to him.
“If you are hungry the kitchen is on the first floor down the main hall off the staircase. Please help yourself to anything you might want.”
Alec exited bowing his head slightly while he closed the door behind him. Now alone Scarlett sat on the edge of the bed exhausted. Falling backwards, she stared up at the ceiling and let the events of the evening play through her mind. Since she arrived in Eagle Valley things seemed strange. She had been through the small city numerous times but, never had Calloway called her to warn her of danger from the Fatum Somnium. Just that one incident bothered her more than anything else did at the moment. There had to be more to Calloways call.
Groaning, she pushed herself off the bed she wandered into the bathroom and started the bath. She still smelt like rotting food from rooting around in the dumpster. Scarlett glanced at the counter at the arrangement of different bath oils. Going through them she found every scent a person could imagine, finally she decided on the rose and jasmine oil. Scarlett sat on the edge of the tub, opening the small vile of oil and poured a small amount into the running water. Soon the bathroom filled with the gentle aroma of roses and the faintest hint of perfect jasmine. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she let the soft smell tease her but; the comfort it offered was short lived. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, turning to find Rose perched on the edge of the sinks counter. Piercing purple eyes dazzled while she watched Scarlett, her legs gently swinging. Scarlett smiled at Rose; she hadn’t seen her companion in a couple decades, and thought that she had gone.
“Hello Rose.” Scarlett greeted with a smile.
“Hello Lady.” Rose giggled.
“I thought you had left me. It’s been a while since you’ve appeared.”
“Never lady. I’ve been sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” Scarlett questioned as she turned the water off.
“Yep. The pretty smell woke me up and…” Rose leaned forward and whispered like she didn‘t want anyone else to hear her secret, “This place is where we’re suppose to be.”
“What do you mean Rose?” Scarlett asked as checked the temperature of the water.
When Rose didn’t reply, she sat up to find the bathroom empty.
“Rose?” She called out, but she was alone in the room.
Standing up from the tub, she peered out into the bedroom area to see if she had wandered out there. Rose was very hyperactive and often used to bounce between rooms during her long visits during the first ten or so years. Most of the time Scarlett had to repeat her questions because Rose hadn’t heard her. After giving the room a good once over, Scarlett didn’t find Rose anywhere. Shaking her head, she went back to preparing for her bath, knowing they’d meet again when she least expected it.