Hunter or Hunted??

Violet and the Castle

I was drained from all the thinking I done at the memorial and must have passed out because I was still in the same pants from yesterday. I tended to just not wear clothes, other than jeans or shorts anyways. I was more comfortable with no shirt or shoes but I knew I would need to dress nice to go to the library in the castle so I headed off to my dresser to find a nice but comfortable outfit for the day or at least until I got done hanging out with Violet. Figured some jeans, a light blue tank top and some sandles would be good for the day and I could throw them in my backpack later on easily.

Should I take a shower?? Lifted my arm to smell myself and about passed out.... Yep.... that would be an absolute must before I could go anywhere.

I grabbed everything I needed and closed myself in the bathroom. Amora had taught me how to make myself smell amazing in a tight spot so I started prepping everything. I spread salts and herbs all through the bottom of the tub and rubbed oils over my whole body as I undressed. I hadn't noticed how much I had grown until now. My hair needed a cut and the clothes that had been a tad big on me fit perfectly. My muscles were started to be noticeable and I was growing hair on my face. As I got into the bath the aroma filled my nose and made me relax into my thoughts and I imagined walking through Cinders woods with her to Grandmother Whisp and to meet my family for the first time I could remember.

I came to as someone started knocking on the door... "Shane!? Is that you? If it is, your going to be late to your meeting Violet if you don't get done in there. I'm sure you smell like a bundle of roses by now...." laughter burst out from Teddy who I'm guessing had been out there with Jack the whole time.

I had spaced off and now I was going to have to rush getting dressed so I got there before dhe did, I always tried to be early or at least on time.

As I ran through our mock town I noticed small fires throughout the towers that bordered us, this had never been done before and I wasn't sure what to think of it. I was amazed that I had made it to the gates of the castle before Violet as I combed my slick vlack hair back with my fingers trying to catch my breath so she wouldn't notice I had ran all the way.

When she arrived she was wearing blue jeans and her favorite green t-shirt with leather strapped sandles and her hair tied back in a bun. She had her backpack slung over her shoulder and it looked like she was in pain so I took her bag as a helpful gesture and looked at her a bit questioning but didn't say anything.

"I'll be alright, nothing important.... Let's go find the answers to your questions that could help you find your family!" her smile was so beautiful and you could see it reflect into her eyes which made it even better. Violet was always bouncy and energetic but today she moved as if something was wrong. I wanted to ask what happened but I already knew should change the subject or just leave so I left it be for the moment.

We started off just kind of wondering the halls to check out painting that were hung with little plaques saying bits of information on what the portrait stood for.

Our first stop was a beautiful painting of a tree with main beautiful colors and roots rising out of a surrounding pond. It was titled "Grandmother Whisp"....

"Do you think we could figure out where Grandmother Whisp is? We both know that this isn't the original clan build but have you ever heard where we use to live?"

"I think we should stick to investigating within town and the castle for now. There's so much to learn inside the towers we don't need to leave right now." she sounded strange as she said those words, like she had rehearsed them or someone else was talking all together.

"Ok, let's find another painting!" I agreed so that I could dig deeper and see what was going on.

Next we found a painting of a creek that had a bridge which reminded me of the rainbow bridge. You could tell it was two trees connected from opposite sides of the creek but they were intertwined perfectly and the wood was smooth from traffic. I examined this painting closer and found that I recognized the windmill in the distance so maybe I could find this bridge on an adventure soon.

Our exploration was filled with jokes and pokes, giggles and belly laughs. Painting after painting she showed me around the castle hallways and then we came to a painting all the way on the top floor off in a dark corner with fire in the water and trees lit up, animals running for their lives and she started to cry uncontrollably. As I wrapped my arms around she jumped the moment I touched her shoulder so I pulled back. "Show it to me...."

She pulled her t-shirt off carefully, having a tank top under it to show me her shoulder which was swollen and badly out of place.

"Come here, I'll fix it." as she came closer I put my hands on either side of her shoulder and massaged it back into place until I felt like it would heal properly then I opened my backpack to take a blanket out and spread it on the floor so we could sit and talk. The top floor was rarely visited so there wouldn't be much for spys and to be honest even of someone was spying we weren't doing anything wrong.

I had packed chips, juices, waters, sandwiches and cottage cheese incase I ended up making this a day thing. With Violet you really never knew when she would dissappear so anything could happen. As we sat and ate I decided it was time to talk about her strange actions and words throughout the day and what exactly happened to her shoulder.

"A man approached me after the memorial being really rough and asking what you knew about the royal family, he told me not to say anything or he'd come back. He shook me really hard and when he let go I hit the wall. I woke up like this and scared that he may still be watching me. Why would you know anything about the royal family?"

"I'm not sure but there was a great deal about the memorial vision that makes the whole "history" here seem wrong. Rayne is royalty but her "parents".... I think they're imposters.... She looks just like Cinder but her parents don't at all and I've never seen or even heard of them morphing. What did the guy that attacked you look like?"

"He looked insane.... his eyes were red and yellow, he looked to have not had sun light in a very long time. Skinny and very white with almost black hair but it had a brown sheen to it, very scruffy looking and older. Not old, old but older if you get what I mean."

"Do you remember what he smelled like?"

"I think I remember smelling birch and a bonfire. Maybe water but I'm not sure. He for sure smelled like the outdoors, he isn't from here."

"Let me see your shoulder again, I'll rub some ointment on it to make the swelling go down and help it heal faster." I always had shea butter with myrrh, lavender and frankensence in it with me for emergency situations. She looked much better already but the ointment would her back to normal faster. She thanked me and we started out journey down the flights of stairs to the library.