A Compilation of Short Stories

The beginning

The grandfather clock's ticking bounces off the walls in the mansion sitting area. Making the headache worsen on the only person in the room, a young man nearing his late twenties with shoulder-length fluffy blond hair and a loose shirt with only a few buttons closed. Wearing black trousers with no shoes on.

'Damn it,' He thought as he rubbed his temple again, hearing the grandfather clock's ticking echoing in his mind like hammers. He stared at the wooden carving of a sword that lays hung above the large fireplace. "Maybe I should put the wood to good use," he mumbled, leaning back onto the large sofa that faced the fireplace illuminating the room, closing his eyes, and refocusing his brain on the task before him. "Papers, papers, papers, meeting with the knights next month, the new shipment coming," he groans, feeling a surge of pain in his head again.

'This headache is too much. I need a break,' he thought to himself. Getting up to move about the room, perhaps he might dismantle a specific clock.

The clock was spared however. As in the hallway by the large windows. He spots his newly bought carnations buds in a small pot beside the larger green plants on a small table. Light pink was his favorite; he liked how they made the mansion brighten up from the brown tones wall color his known since childhood. The young man lightly touched the flower bud giving a small smile as he thought about what it would look like once it blooms. He wondered if some of the staff would want any bouquets in the coming months, spring is just around the corner after all.

BANG!! BANG!! The young man snapped out of his thoughts as the loud knocks boomed through the mansion. He took a quick look at the grandfather clock that marked 1:00 am the sight making his brows furrow. Moving forward his heart began to race with thoughts running through many possibilities about the guest behind the door. "Kal!!, open the door!!, please I need help!!" yelled a voice behind the door that made the young man, Kal paused then air left his lungs as the voice registered in his mind. He quickly ran to the mansion's front door, opening it so abruptly that the person before him tumbled inside, and the usual creaking sound of the door rang throughout the home, making a person hunched over by the entrance wince and hold their head.

"What happened? what's wrong? where are you hurt? why are you here at this hour? Myl-" A hand on his shoulder stopped Kal making him look at his older brother, Mylan now up from the ground.

"Slow down; the answers to your questions are sitting over there by the entrance, my knight needs some medical treatment NOW!!".

She first sees the brown wooden ceiling. Then her sight catches the white nearly transparent curtains that covered the sides of the bed. Her fingers brush the soft, glamorous sheets making the young woman in the bed look down at the edge of the bed, noticing its massiveness as she sketches her arms on either side, neither reaching the edges of the bed. She moved to pat the mattress and pillows around her before jumping up from the bed. Quickly moving aside the curtains and stepping onto the cold wood floor, ignoring the rest of the room's decor as she moves about the room, looking for a mirror. Till she turns around to find a vanity with a mirror staring back at her. Reflecting an image that made her gasp as she walked closer, her long brown curly hair had been released from its usual half-up style. On her olive-toned face, a couple of bandages rested there as well as around her neck area. 'Well, thats gonna add more scars' thought the girl before looking down, noticing her clothes were replaced with a long nightgown. Her forearms and most of her legs were wrapped in bandages and some possible signs of either broken bones or simple sprains; her right leg wasn't moving properly, and something felt off around her rib area.

However, none of these stopped her from grabbing a robe and opening the room's door. Leaving the room entirely with a robe and golden hairbrush from the vanity table into the vast dark hallway. It didn't take long for her to realize where she was as memories of the hours before flooded her mind bit by bit, she heard the captain's voice and remembered the porch she sat on. She stopped for a moment her mind brought back into the present as she found herself staring at an old family portrait in the distance. On it was a young couple with their two boys, two boys she recognized. The older one is her captain the other is his younger brother Kal. She walked closer mainly eyeing the fireplace that is underneath the portrait she really needed to sit down for a moment. However, as she made her way over her mind became silently distorted blurring her vision, leading to her side knocking into a potted plant making an individual jump up from the sofa in front of the fire. She felt herself falling, the world nearly going black before stopping abruptly feeling a pair of hands lifting her by her biceps "Diantha, hey can you hear me are you ok?" the voice sounded muffled through her ears. She looked up her vision clearing fully noticing the disheveled, wide-eyed stare of Kal's face. ' Woah, when did this happen' she thought to herself. Slowly getting up taking a few deep breaths as she calmed herself looking at the young man before her who had his head tilted concern written all over his face as he silently looked her over.