Born in Flames / / C. Volturi

{5 A Town's suspicions}

Adela Gascoigne

Although Mr Smith was not the most welcoming of men, he was rather harsh and quick with collecting his order today. His deeply wrinkled face seemed even tenser as of late and it was beginning to worry me that something was going on in town that I wasn't aware of, and the last thing that we need is another plague of sickness infecting the town during the winter again. We were badly hit last year unfortunately losing a fair few of the much younger and much older members of the community as their bodies could not withstand the harsh cold. I wanted to avoid that as much as possible this coming year, in the hopes that we might have some luck.

But I had to brush off Mr Smith's attitude and carry on working with the twins, as the cold began creeping in through the months it was more important now more than ever that we stay on top of orders and try and keep everyone in good health. Due to the ever-busy time of preparing for the harsh winter the entire village seemed to be working overtime, Mable had less time to visit now as well leaving the days to be more serious and lacklustre.

I even found myself missing the presence of Caius, as I found myself short on time. But I also couldn't help but feel guilt at the notion too. Although John hadn't been around too much as of late I couldn't help but feel like I was betraying him in some way. No, we never married out of love, but still, I couldn't help but feel bad even if I hadn't been romantic with Caius yet. It seemed wrong to be pining for another man.

But where had John been? He rarely seemed to be around the shop when he wasn't out working which was slightly strange, he also seemed to come to bed in the latest hours of the night. I liked to think of John and I as good friends at least and that after all this time that he could at least tell me if something was worrying him. Or maybe I just wasn't as reassuring as I thought. But before I could let the self-doubt sink any further into my bones I was interrupted by the Goldes.

Even stranger than before they too seemed in a hurry, their normally welcoming and friendly attitude had suddenly become distant and cold. No more idle chat and friendly smiles. They simply came to collect their order and left, and I couldn't shake the awful feeling that something bad was going to happen.

The Town

No one had been expecting the arrival of the strange pale men, and nobody could say they were all too thrilled, apart from Mable. People were suspicious and paranoid, old town folktales and superstitions began to rear their ugly heads. It wasn't bad enough that they were plagued by the twins, but now they had these men, who acted like they were kings walking around as if they were so much better than the inhabitants living in the village.

Although Aro tried to be civil when it came to interacting with the villagers, he was still off-putting to most. Either the mortals could not understand why such a well put together and otherworldly man was choosing to live near here of all places, or they were scared by his inquisitive and rather curious nature. He held a childlike glee at times and the town did not like it, the old churchgoers and older men began fearmongering to the others in town, ready to drive the men away.

Caius on the other hand made absolutely no effort at all to interact with or acknowledge the townspeople par for one particular apothecary and a small set of twins. This alone was causing trouble as the other unmarried woman began to look on in envy. None could grab the attention of the married Aro so decided to try to pursue the blonde stranger, with too little success. When in the presence of Adela he could show to be charismatic and witty, with grand stories and handsome smiles. But the second she left he became cruel and judgemental, looking upon the rest of the villagers with disdain and disgust, like they weren't worth a penny.

This didn't help with the ever-present rumours that surrounded the twins, especially seeing Jane and Caius interact pleasantly, like the younger Lowthe seemingly being taught more confidence by the mysterious man. The vicious words that surrounded the twins only seemed to get worse, breeding in the shadows of unspoken thoughts and festering feelings.

Fortunately for Adela, the business of the apothecary had not been affected however, the once pleasant and kind words spoken of the local healer began to wilt under the harsh critique of the paranoid elders. Her reputation had never been pure at any point, the churchgoers believing her to be either hopelessly and pathetically clueless for looking after the twins, and that they had simply manipulated the woman into caring for them. Or they believed that she too was walking a darker path of faith, and that no good and sane woman would harbour such sinister children.

But now after being seen with Caius regularly people began to fear for the worst. That their small village was cursed by the witch twins and that it was only a matter of time before everything would come crashing down around them.

Thank you for reading~

Guess whos laptop blue screened, 'twas mine, yay~

Thank you for having patience with me~