The cold ones. Part 1, In two worlds

Chapter 22 - Emma and I.

Ellie's POV:

I sat comfortably on the window shelf with the cushions tucked behind my back. This spot right here in the library window, was now my favourite place to be in this castle. I had a beautiful view of the snowy garden and the treetops. I could watch the birds hopping about just outside on the window ledge and the sun shone through the glass every time it managed to find a gap in between the murky clouds.

Flipping another page on Emma’s journal, I was intrigued to know what else she had said about Maggie, I just had this sense of wanting to get to know her and the rest of them through Emma’s eyes. The first human to be their guest here.

“Day 29,

Dearest journal, I come with more unexpected news. I have spent the day under Maggie’s care and care for me she did, just so. I have eaten, I have bathed, I have seen more of this incredible place. The sheer size of it is rather impressive, the halls and pathways seem endless and yet, I know the doors in which I can open and leave from. Maggie has promised I am safe from any harm here and that I must simply explore their home on my own free will. I must say, I am beginning to feel as though I am being awakened to something I had never deemed possible. But I must also confess, the fear in which still seems to linger inside every part of me, it keeps me on edge still and I know I mustn’t be too hasty in whom I trust”.

“Day 32,

Dear journal, forgive me, I have neglected to write for two days. Fear not, I am still alive, and I am well. I have dined with their kind again for the last two days and the food has been delightful. To my surprise, I have spoken with more of them. Apart from their obvious cold skin and slightly sharpened fangs, they would seem like normal people. I am waiting… I am keeping myself prepared for one of them to falter, out of anger or hunger perhaps, I know an attack will come just as I know it is imbedded in them, a part of who they are and cannot keep hidden for long”.

“Day 33,

I had time alone today, enough to have a little stroll of my own. To my surprise, a notion I still don’t quite understand… The doors were right in front of me. The doors in which I could leave this place. I stood in front of them for the longest time, yet here I am. I didn’t leave”.

“Oh, I didn’t think anyone else would be in here!” A deep voice suddenly snapped me out of Emma’s story.

I looked up to see Kyan pulling out one of the leather chairs from the table, whilst resting some sort of velvet cloth on top of it.

“Oh hi, sorry I was just reading something”.

He eyed up the book, looking curious as he sat down. “Looks old, what is it?” he asked, whilst unravelling the cloth.

“It’s a journal… a journal by Emma, actually. Your father gave it to me”.

“Ah, Emma. Didn’t know she kept a journal”.

“She was the first human to live here, right?”

“That’s right”.

“You remember her?”

“I remember her, she was around for quite some time”.

“You mean she stayed here? She didn’t leave?”

“She stayed. But if that’s her journal, perhaps you should find out for yourself”.

“What’s that?” I asked as I saw something metal in view from underneath the cloth. Kyan took it out and held it firmly in his hand, whilst the blade sat on his forefingers.

“It’s just something that was found”.

“Where?”

“You’re rather nosey!” He shot at me, but there was a softness in his eyes today and his lips looked as though they were tugging to smile.

“I just want to know, I guess I can be quite curious”. I shrugged.

He sighed, whilst trying not to grin. “My father found it not far from the border of Bluebay town”.

“It looks… unique”. I observed as I shimmed to the edge of the window shelf towards him to get a better look. “It looks as though it’s been hand crafted, and the carvings look new”.

“How can you tell?”

I stood up and moved closer, until I was stood right beside him, examining the knife in his hand. “Because the ridges in the design they’re deep, but there’s no split in the wood along the lines. If it was fairly old, trust me, it would look it. Just from force of use, the wood would have started to separate in its weaker spots, which would be…”

“Along the carving!” He said, finishing my sentence.

“Exactly. Whoever made this has done it recently. I’d say its possibly no more than a year old”.

“How do you know all this?”

“Well, I worked at the library for a long time, and we’d have a lot of random artifacts come in. I’m not a professional by all means, but I do have an eye for it. That symbol though, it looks familiar”. I told him, feeling intrigued as I ran my finger along the carvings of wavy lines that looked to mean ‘fire’ coursing through a skeleton's face.

“My father said he’s sure it belongs to an old clan but he can’t seem to remember who. If you recognise it, do you think it could belong to someone in your hometown?”

I shrugged my shoulders, still staring at the knife, though my body was covered in goosebumps from being so close to Kyan. “Possibly…. I really don’t know, I just feel as though I’ve maybe seen it somewhere in passing”.

“Well, I better dig into the books. We can’t do much until we know where it's from”.

“Do you think it’s a threat? Or could it be just a passer-by?”

“A passer by we’d have known about, they have to make themselves known. Besides, I trust my father's instincts, he feels it’s a threat, so we have to treat it as one”.

“But so far all you have found is a knife, one that was just dropped somewhere, right?”

He sighed as he grabbed a thick brown book that was barely holding itself together before sitting back down at the table. “You remember the first time we met? In the forest and you were by the lake?”

“Yes… I remember”. I replied, feeling a little sheepish, though an excited notion flipped in my gut at the mere thought of him remembering our first encounter.

“You asked why I took you back to Bluebay”.

Yes, I remember you grabbed hold of me and took me straight to the border”.

“Yes well, I did that cause I could sense there was someone else, and whatever or whoever it was, was close to you”.

“I had completely forgotten about that. I think I was so shocked at meeting one of your kind for the first time, I forgot that feeling I had by the lake”.

“What feeling?”

“It was just like a cold shiver came out of nowhere and I felt as though someone was watching me and I could hear something moving around the trees”.

“Did you see anything?”

“No”. I shook my head. “Nothing at all, I didn’t even know where to look to be honest, it just kept moving all around me”.

“Yea well, no matter how many searches we’ve had, apart from this dagger we haven’t found much else”.

“Have you looked by the lake? I mean whatever it was, was moving a lot, maybe they dropped something or left a clue behind?”

“That was one of the first places we looked and there was nothing. Anyway, little detective, it’s not really your concern”.

The room fell silent and I just looked from him down to my fidgeting hands, starting to feel a certain annoyance build up inside me. “You know, you may think I’m like a tiny, small, squeaky joke, and yea maybe I do act afraid but….”

“It was just a joke when I said that!” He interrupted. And as much as he may have just wanted to say his piece, it did just piss me off that he cut in before I had even finished.

“Be that as it may, but how do you think you’d feel?” I asked, shooting him an angry look as I scooped up Emma’s journal and strutted past the table, giving him one last stare. “If it was you surrounded by people that were dangerously stronger and faster than you and It was you alone with them…. Tell me, how big do you think you’d feel?!” I shot at him, before stomping away and out of the room.

I headed straight to Talon’s quarters, to see that he wasn’t there when I got in. I thought, seeing as I now just stormed out of the library like a dramatic teenager, I’d make use of my comfy chair by the window and keep reading Emma’s journal…. Perhaps that would take my mind off of feeling so out of place all of the time.

“Day 34,

Another day I have survived, and I feel as though I am living the life of the more fortunate. Only this morning, sweet Maggie delivered a bundle of beautiful new dresses to my room, ones she informed me were shipped in. I also have two dress hats.. I’ve never owned a hat so expensive looking or fashionable”.

“Day 35,

Maggie took me out for a tour of their gardens. They are truly grand and pretty. Maggie seems to love nature and her flowers. The time I spend with her gives me pause for thought. In such a short amount of time, I feel as though I know Maggie better than the people I have known in my 19 years of life in Bluebay”.

Nineteen!! She was only nineteen! I gasped to myself, but so far I still had no clue as to how Emma found herself in this place and at such a young age too. Seems as though Emma had a better welcome than I did. At least if Maggie wasn’t here like she was with Emma, I was still lucky enough to have Talon.