The Passing Hour

Chapter 4

          I left the boy with Grandmother, barely introducing them before I left back to the mortal world again. She had him caught up in a really big hug, so I took the opportunity to escape before I had to endure one myself. It was going to be an absolute chore to locate all these Grims, but I need to do it. The faster it gets done, the faster I can finally get some godforsaken rest. I had the option of turning into an owl and flying myself, but I figured it would be best to just stick with the carriage from now on. Using other forms in this realm was exhausting, and wasn't really necessary now that I had found the mystery boy. I closed my eyes and prepared for the work I would have to do, letting myself drift off into a dreamless sleep. 

          Stefan was overwhelmed with welcome when Arden dropped him off at his new home. The grandmother was very scary to look at up close, but it didn't take long to feel completely comfortable around her. She seemed like the embodiment of what everyone imagines the perfect grandma would be, that is, if you can get over her literal skeletal appearance. Just the fact that her eyes weren't.. eyes, was a very unsettling thing all on its own. Furthermore, the granmother was not alone in this place, as I saw different things roaming around the grounds outside and in the halls of the building. I saw some faeries, what I assumed to be goblins or something similar, and I still could not discern what the big black mass was that I first saw when we had arrived from the air. I liked the faeries the most, watching as they brought life with them whereever they glowed. The plants they revived died within a few minutes of them leaving, but it was still nice while it lasted. They seemed to like me too, probably finding it weird that I'm a kid. 

          That guy who adopted me said it wasn't normal for me to be a kid when I was found, but I didn't think much of it. For all I knew, the universe sent me here because the Death issue is really starting to get out of hand. I had always wondered, along with every other human, why things were this way, and now I finally knew. Well, sort of. Apparently, the real cause of what happened was still a mystery, but that's ok. I was on the right track to be able to help do something about it, which is something I had always secretly wished for. While I knew now it really WAS impossible, I still regretted not trying to bring my friend along. He was the one who deserved to get adopted, even if I for some reason was born into this. I still felt like it wasn't fair to him. I would make it up to him someday I made the promise to myself.

          The grandmother didn't speak much, but she did introduce herself as Cynthia, which I thought was an odd but interesting name. She left to grab us snacks, beaming at the chance to finally be hostess to someone other than her brat of a grandson. I took that moment to look out the windows, to try to get a better look of the layout of the land. Something abut this place seemed extremely familiar, and I was trying to pinpoint it when I got a seering pain in my head. It was like nothing I had ever felt, but I didn't cry out. Along with the pain, I was getting images of a place. A building, or a tower? It was hard to concentrate, but I could still recognize some things even though nothing was familiar. It was like when you have a dream that you can't remember the exact details, but you still know in your gut what happened. The last image I saw was a beautiful woman being led into the tower. I knew for some reason that this was the last time she went in, despite no evidence of clues saying that. She was beautiful, but desolving into something else. She was being let into the tower by a very tall skeletal figure in a shadowy cloak. I tried to get a better look at it, but I saw the Skull under the hood of that shadowy robe lift it's head, and stare directly into my eyes with red lights in his eye sockets. The image went black, and I opened my eyes to see the ceiling. 

          I had apparently passed out or collapsed or something, but Cynthia was back already, and fussing over me. She asked what happened, and I felt like I could be completely honest with her. I described what I saw, and she looked shocked. She gave me a cup of water and put something under my head so I could stop feeling dizzy before she spoke again. "Could you.. avoid telling Arden this? I do not know why you were shown this, but no one can know who let me into the tower. That is forbidden knowledge, and I was only permitted to safeguard that knowledge, in case something destroyed it. But Arden can never know. Alright?" She waited for me to confirm that I understood, and while I was confused, I did. I knew something was off about that guy, but if even his Grandmother felt that way, something must really be off about him. 

          Since that whole thing happened, She thought it would be best if she showed me to my new room, and let me bath and rest for the night. I tried to protest, but she wouldn't have it. I guess that vision really freaked her out. She walked me up a couple flights of stairs, and took me to one of the furthest rooms in the south wing. Some of the faeries seemed to be following us, ans a couple of them came into my room with me. Cynthia told me that she gave them freedom to roam the house as long as they don't disturb anyone (Usually just Arden). I noticed some shriveled house plants scattered throughout the room, and they immediately flocked to those. They seemed to be dancing, like they were happy about something. I thought nothing of it as I looked around my new room. 

         The wardrobe and drawers had clothes in them, but they were mens clothes. I would have to ask for a sewing machine so I could resize all of this, but they were nice clothes. All of them were different shades of black, except for a few things that were red. I grabbed a robe out of the wardrobe so I could put something clean on after bathing. I was stunned when I walked into the bathroom. It was the biggest bathroom I had ever set foot in. The floor was black marble, and everything in this room was black with gold accents. I've also never seen any bathroom so.. nice. I started the bath after I took several minutes to figure out how it worked. I saw a bottle of what I thought would be soap, it smelled very nice, and poured some into the swirling water. The bath looked endlessly deep with it's black color, and I was almost scared to get in. Luckily, that soap was actually bubble solution, and not even normal bubbles! The bubbles forming in the water were magical looking, shining in all different colors like there was dye in the water. 

          I hadn't realized that I didn't close the door, because the faeries had come in and noticed the bubbles. They chimed like bells, seemingly with joy, and started dancing on top of the running water covered in spectacular bubbles, making them glow. They danced more and more, twirling each other and making the whole room light up. I turned the water off to keep the bath from overflowing, but I couldn't make myself get in the water while they were dancing. "They'll dance there all night if you let them, you know." I heard Cynthias voice behind me and I jumped from being startled. "Oh jeez, you scared me" I said with a chuckle. She was holding some clothes, and I nodded at them questioningly. "These are clothes that should fit you, dear. I know everything in this room was intended for a full grown man, so I found something that might be more suitable. Come now, girls, leave him be for now." She set the clothes down on the counter next to the sink before holding out her hand for the faeries. They immediately flew to her and sat in her hand, content with the fun they had in the bubbles. 

          They played with the bubbles so much that the bubbles stayed glowing throughout my whole bath. It didn't take long after I got out of the bath for me to start feeling drowzy. I guess I hadn't actually slept very well sinec I left the orphaanage, and the more I tried to fight it, the heavier my body felt. I trudged to the ornate bed, wondering why it had a canopy, when I drifted off to sleep. My dream was scattered, but I saw that tower again. I did not see Cynthia again, but that shadow figure... no wait, this was not the same one. This guy was different.. he had flesh, and hair, and..... it was Arden! What was he doing? I was far away from him in this dream, but I had a very uneasy feeling in my gut, like I knew he was doing something extremely wrong. He also looked different, like he was from a different time period. This must be one of his past lives, or this was just very very long ago. The image became hazy, rippling into shadow like a misty puddle being disturbed. The scene was gone, and when I woke up, I could taste metal in my mouth.

          I opened my eyes, hoping to see the sunlight, but was surpsied to see the light was not like regular sunlight. It had a weird magenta hue, but it was just as bright as a regular, sunny day. I tried hard to remember the dream I had, knowing it was important, but the harder I thought about it, the more it disappeared and made no sense. I was considering getting up and wandering around the manor to find Cynthia, or something to do, when I heard a light tapping, or scratching, on the door. "Uh... come in?" I said awkwardly, not knowing how to handle having my own room. A creature, probably a goblin if I had to guess, that couldn't be taller than my knees came waddling in holding a tray with what looked like breakfast food. "Mistress wanted boy to be fed. Boy is fed. I leave." The creature stated curtly, set the tray on the little table next to the unused fireplace, and swiftly exited the room. I walked slowly to the table, and inspected the food. While it didn't look unappetizing, I really couldn't tell what any of it was. Once I got over my fears and finished my breakfast, I found my shoes, and went to go explore. This was a whole new world, and I intend to find out everything I can about it.