"The Last Petal Falls" (Twisted Pages: Story #1) (COMPLETED)

TLPF. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The witch gave me very little details about the man who had stolen the sacred rose from her that allowed her to use magic and help others. I'm still hesitating about accepting this role to fetch this object for her, when she hasn't even told me her name. She knows my name, my full name, the name we stopped using the minute we arrived in the little village. Father didn't want others to know that we were once royalty, that he was once Duke Monte of the Castle Farms, and I his beloved heiress. Father had lost the rights to the house once we filed bankrupt and had to move far away deep into the withering farmlands of England.

The witch allowed me to stay the night to rest and refresh before leaving at dawn's light to head to the supposed place where the evil man was. I rise from the straw pallet and find the hut empty. The embers of the fire burning low in the hearth gave me a sign that the witch hadn't been in the shack for quite a while now. Standing up, I find a wooden platter of food on the table and I walk over, grabbing a slice of hard cheese and sour dough bread that tasted divine.

Once I eat my fill, I move towards the creaky door that swings on its hinges and grab my flimsy blue shawl off the coat rack and head out into the brisk morning. 

***

"You are not going to steal back my magical rose with no shoes." The witch scowls as we stand near the river. When I turned back around to face her, she is wearing a beautiful corset dress of a deep rich green that has little woven beads sewn into the seams, making them dangle and giving off the illusion that she's like the rippling tide. Her hair is braided down her back and her violet eyes are glancing at my ripped stockings.

My cheeks warm and I bite my lower lip. "I didn't have time to grab my slippers."

"Well, you won't need slippers for where you are going and you won't need a dress either." The witch beckons me back to her hut and I reluctantly follow her back inside.

***

"This is ridiculous! I look like a man." I groan as I stomp through the woods, doing my best not to trip in the heels of boots that men have been accustomed to wearing for a long while. The witch had lent me the boots along with a pair of black trousers that reach to my knees and a white blouse that is tucked securely beneath the trousers. My black hair is braided back so that the one braid flops across my shoulders as I keep glancing around nervously as I move farther into the trees. She'd given me instructions about the whereabouts but never exactly specified as to where I had to go.

I'd been walking all day and I knew I would no doubt have blisters on my heels once I took these awful boots off of my feet. The sun was beginning to set and dark clouds rumbled in the distance, drawing closer and bringing rain I wasn't exactly thrilled about being poured on for. Lightning lights up the sky in a beautiful white arc and I hurry forward, stopping once I reach a clearing.

The sky has grown dark, the sun no longer giving me the light I so desperately seek. Lightning strikes the ground nearby and I holler at the top of my lungs, stumbling backwards to avoid getting struck. The downpour commences and soon I'm drenched from head to toe and I have to stop myself from shouting at the top of my lungs once I have to squint through the downpour to see what is right in front of me.

A large castle rests atop a hill, menacing black iron gates loom in front of me, a good few yards away. The castle has two towers one on each side, with a small section of stone in the center. The gargoyles do not appear friendly when I spy the stone demons perched on the towers, watching over the castle as if they could protect the intruders from lurking within.