Burned at the Cross

Burned at the Cross ~ Ch. 3

        The masses of bodies surrounded me, engulfing me in the smell of perspiration and the stench of waste that seemed to be everywhere. I didn't even know if Ashmont even had a herbs shoppe. But sure enough, I saw it and walked in. Not only did the place smelled of fresh earth, it had the slight tint of witch in the air.

        I instantly relaxed, knowing that I was somewhere with my own kind made me feel better.

        "Can I help you?" a young woman emerged from the storage room, carrying a bowl of rosemary. Her brown hair was pulled away from her heart-shaped face with a bandana, giving the impression of a gypsy. Warm brown eyes stared at me, recognizing me as the same species.

        "Do you have any sage?" I asked, smiling.

        "Of course! I just got some fresh sage today." she said, "I haven't seen you around before. New?"

        "Yes. Just got here today."

        "Did you get driven away?" she asked gently.

        I paused, and felt a brief pang of homesickness. I nodded.

        She nodded, also, feeling the same. "There's been more trials," she whispered. "It's getting worse, the burnings -they're aweful here." There was a pained look on her face, she was young, I realized -and scared. I patted her hand in reassurance.

        "It'll be alright, as long as we keep a low profile, we'll be fine." I said.

        The girl knelt behind the counter, searching. "But they aren't killing us, they're killing innocents." she said, and placed the sage on the counter.

        I fell silent, not knowing what to say. She was right of course; mortals couldn't tell the difference between our two races and many suffered for it. I paid her, and left in silence, keeping to myself as I always did. Loui barked at me, trying to get my spirits up. I smiled. "That's right, I'm not completely alone."

        {[Eamon]}

        I watched her exit the house, her expression full of wonder as light shone onto her face, like she's never seen the sun. Well, considering her pale skin, it could be true. The girl hadn't made any sense at all and just escalated my confusion. Shifter? What in devil's name was she talking about?

        Stalking down the hall, I passed many servants and thought about questioning them but decided that they, probably wouldn't know. Walking seemed to calm me but still didn't stop me from looking back at the conversation.

        "Why the hell are you here?" he had asked.

        "Because I'm supposed to protect you." she stated.

        The thought riveted me back to laughing hysterically. How on earth, could a small girl like her, protect my Father and I? Plus, I could defend myself pretty well -what was a man without a thorough fist fight every now and then?

        Then I had an idea. If Alyssa wouldn't give me the answers I wanted, then I'll get them myself. I strode to her room, not fearing to be spotted by the staff -they, obviously, didn't like her- and pushing open the door. The room was empty besides the dark hood that she had worn when I first saw her and a worn out, brown suitcase.

        Curiously, I opened her bag, not feeling guilty. There wasn't much in it except a worn out book, some pictures and a ring. I picked up the ring and saw a single stone on it, a polished kunzite. It wasn't even a valuable rock, and it puzzled me why Alyssa would keep something so worthless. It was useless.

        I never understood why people kept stuff that wasn't worth lots of money. It just didn't make sense.

        I put down the ring, and picked up the scrapbook that held some kid's drawings and I quickly moved on towards the book, feeling nostalgic at the happy pictures of the family drawn. Just as I was about to open the worn out book, there was a bunch of footsteps running down the hallway.

        Quickly, the book was placed back where it was and the suitcase shut, like no one was ever snooping through it. I ran outside to see what the commotion was. I ran into Greg, the butler. "What's going on?" I asked him. I've been asking that all day and I planned that someone would answer.

        "That wi- er, Ms. Bell, the new guest, has started a fire outside." Greg replied, irritably.

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Here's the third chapter for you! Stay tuned for more and I might ask for some help in the next chapter (and I fully well expect you to answer ;). ) But vote and comment!!!