Hidden World

Chapter I - Back home

A sweet and soft melody filled the surroundings as the air caried the smell of recently roasted coffee along with that of the burning wood from the chimney. The small coffee shop was rather empty, but it was expected as it was past 10 in the morning.

She was staying next to the window, watching the snow gently fall outside. It was a peaceful and magical sight as all the shops in town were already decorated for Christmas. She did not miss living in a small town but there she was, already bored out of her mind. Anyone would be charmed by the view outside, but not her as she saw it countless times.

Vivid memories were circling her mind about a time she nearly forgot. It felt like they were part of someone else's life.

"May I sit?" a voice interrupted her line of thought. She looked up at a man standing beside her table. He was tall with short black hair and deep blue eyes.

"Sure" she said and gestured towards the chair in front of her, moving her eyes back towards the snowflakes that gently danced through the air. Maybe if she started counting them, he would vanish and leave her be, in her own world.

"It's been a while" he spoke again after a few moments of silence. "You can't still be mad at me... it's been two years." He added with a sigh.

"I can" she said a little annoyed that her counting trick did not work. "And I will keep being mad until you apologize." She added before she took a sip of coffee. "Why did you call me back here?" she asked and looked directly at him.

"Why did you come if you are still mad?" he asked knowing that this will push some buttons. He knew that it was not the best approach. "I think you miiiiiiiissed me." He continued with a teasing tone.

"You might be my brother, but I will pour this coffee on your head if you keep it up." She said and grinned knowing that he would take her seriously.

His name was Leopold Treneer and around two years back they had a major fight which resulted in her leaving the town for good, or so her thought at the time. There was always a difference between the two. Leo enjoyed the silence and charms of a small town while she loved the chaos and the way she could just blend in the crowds that formed in big cities.

"Rose, can you just put aside whatever anger you have towards me and focus on the task we have?" he asked knowing that she could not argue a rational thought. Since their parents went missing a few months ago he was left alone to deal with both family businesses.

While their father followed his dream to own a hotel in town, their mother kept on with the small antique bookshop that was in their family for more than 100 years, or so they were saying whenever someone asked about the reasoning behind keeping it open for so long.

Rose shook her head and tried to argue but she did not find anything to throw into her brother's face, well except for the coffee but that was another story. "I am not saying you are right but why not hire someone to deal with the bookstore? I mean I was perfectly fine with my life..."

"Stuck working in retail on minimum wage?" he asked with a grin knowing how his sister liked the finer side of life and working on little money made her miserable, but her ego was too big to admit.

Rose rolled her eyes and leaned on the back of the chair before crossing her arms over her chest. She knew well that he could read any amount of annoyance on her face. The fact that this kind of reactions from her brought him joy did not help at all. The tension between them could be felt, but it was more one sided. She did not want to cave in and let the small little voice in her head win, or Leo. She was bored of the life here but at the same time, she did miss it, just a little bit.

"Alright" she said after a silence that was as heavy as a boulder. "I'll take care of the store." She mumbled and let her body relax a little bit before looking back outside. "I haven't seen snow in two years." She added before drinking again from her coffee, that was now cold.

"I am tired of it already." Leo said and smiled while picking up the marshmallows left on top of his hot chocolate. "But it has its charms, cannot imagine living in a mountain area and having no snow. Oh no that would be a complete disaster." He started rambling and kept on for a while which made Rose laugh a bit. She forgot how passionate her brother got when he started to talk about various subjects.

"I almost forgot!" he said and smacked himself in the face slowly. "Brought you the keys for the shop and the old house." he took them out of his jacket pocket and put them in front of her. "Heard you are staying at the inn for some time." Of course, he did, there is nothing like small town gossip. "At this point I live full time at the hotel. I swear it takes 24/7 presence there. I need a day off." he started rambling again not noticing that Rose was already up on her feet, jacket on, keys in hand and walking towards the door.

She stopped for a second, turned around to look at her brother then at the girl behind the cash register. "He's covering the check" she said with a smile before walking off to avoid any attempt to protest coming from Leo.

Once outside she started laughing feeling like she lost her mind. She looked up at the sky and felt the snowflakes melt once hitting the skin on her face. Her laughter turned into a soft smile. She looked back at the cafe. "Misty Dream Café" she read the name aloud before she made her way through the freshly fallen show that covered the cobblestone walkways. It was more slippery than she initially thought it would be when she left in the morning, but she managed to focus on not falling, while walking around without aim. She knew the place well, but she felt like a lot had changed. She did not know if it was the town or herself. Maybe being back was the reason. A sense of nostalgia and dread you feel after you've been gone from a place for a century, not 2 years. Even the air smelled the same as she remembered and for some reason, she felt like a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders. She never realized how the chaos that she loved so much made her entire body feel so tensed all the time. She was never truly relaxed, but here it felt like she was at peace.

When she reached the main square, she looked up at the building with the tower clock. The old building was in a state of slow decay as the white pain was slowly peeling off, exposing the red bricks underneath. The wall to the north was almost completely covered in poison ivy, only the big window from the ground floor still being visible. The entrance doors had the "Closed" sign on them and a schedule underneath that has not been respected in a while. She could see that nobody has been there since winter began to make its presence in mid-November as a snow pile blocked the doors from opening. The only area not covered in snow was the path made by the humans that walked by to get to their daily lives.

She took one of the keys out of her pocked and crossed the road. She moved the snow as much as she could with her foot before unlocking the door. Unlocking it was easy but opening the door itself was the challenge as some of the snow melted and froze over time. She struggled for a few minutes, but in the end, she was successful.

She smiled proudly before going inside, and as she entered the first thing that hit her was the dust combined with the smell of old books. She started to sneeze and promised herself that she will open the window as soon as possible. She closed the door trying to preserve the little heat that was inside before turning on the light.

Piles and piles of books covered the floor and cluttered the shelves with no order while being combined with different objects. From underneath all that she could see pieces of furniture that won the battle with the challenge of time. She walked to the window and cracked it a little bit letting the cold December air fill the room slowly. She looked around trying to take some mental notes in order to figure out where to start attempting to make some sense in that chaos.

"I left the chaotic city to deal with chaotic books". She said with a chuckle not believing the situation she got herself into.

The night slowly approached as she lost the sense of time. She did not hesitate, and she started moving things out of the way. She needed access to the bathroom and technical room, and everything around was blocking those two paths. Once she reached the technical room, she turned on the heating and just like magic, the central heating unit started right away. She turned it off once she made a mental note to turn it back on first thing in the morning. Slowly she retraced her steps, closing the window, turning of the light, and locking the door behind herself once she was out. The streets were already lively with people filling the coffee shops and restaurants nearby as the workday was over.

It was no longer snowing and the lights that were decorating the streets seemed to shine brighter than ever. With the noises of the lively town in her ears, she began to walk to the Inn that provided her shelter for one more night before she went back to her family's home.