Leon held open the door as Cara made her way inside. God, I bruised my rib bad she thought to herself. Her hair was matted in one spot and she turned back to look at the handsome lad that had brought her home.
"Well, I'll be on my way now. Off to my duties in the castle," he said with a grin that seemed to never fade away.
The castle? she thought. In a moment reevaluated his whole look, demeanor, and obvious wealth. "You're a noblemen?" she said, exasperated with herself that she didn't figure this out sooner. "By Raza, I'm so sorry for burdening you, sir. Let me see if there's anything I can reimburse you with-"
"Please, call me Leon. And I promise, it was no burden for me."
Cara rummaged through her pockets as she looked for any spare coins, faltering when she realized she had given it all to the alley beggar God... or whoever he was.
"I don't want your money either," Leon added with a hint of humor. "Really, that I was able to get you home safe is enough for me."
Cara let out a slight chuckle. "Well, thank you again." Not knowing what to say next, she smiled awkwardly. "May Raza bless your path... Leon."
Leon nodded briskly and waved as he closed the door shut behind her, his smile never waning. "And you as well."
**********
When Cara got cleaned up, she found that she had a large purple bruise on the left side of her rib cage along with a couple minor cuts. Luckily she hadn't broken anything, but it would still hurt for a while.
She recalled her encounter Leon, grimacing at how she must have looked to him, all beaten up and messy. Her thoughts then went back to the conversation she had with the mysterious man in the Alley of Beggars. "Orb of chaos..." she mumbled to herself, sitting on the floor with her back rested against the side of her bed. "Ilana can't be a witch" She looked up to the ceiling.
Curiosity got the best of her, and she began to make her way down the stairs to the kitchen where the entrance to Ilana's trinkets and toys awaited. She hesitated at the door. It stood out from the rest of the doors in the house. Where the doors and windows of the house were old, they were still smooth and industrial-looking. This one looked like someone had cut a chunk out of an ancient tree and stuck it into the wall It was more of a dome shape too than a regular rectangular one.
She pushed the door open. She knew Ilana was out with Aidan and Jean, getting groceries or trying to spread the word about Ilana's work. Knowing them, they would be a while. With a loud creak the ancient-tree-door swung open, revealing a complete mess of a room. Piles of books lay around the perimeter room, and dust had accumulated in certain areas, revealing what Ilana - or the twins - hadn't seemed to have touched in ages. The middle of the room was open, with a wide, low table that seemed to have been cut out of the same ancient tree as the door. There were more trinkets on there, cluttering the top of the space. However, there was enough space on top for clients to get their fortune told by Ilana, or do rituals to contact loved ones.
Cara traced her hands along the edges of the table, wondering why the wood hadn't rotted already. There seemed to be a faint humming in the room, but so faint that she couldn't pin point it's exact location. It was more like a sense, an instinct.
As she moved around the table her eyes spotted a closet of some sorts, with an oddly shaped carved out hole in its center. It looked like... a teardrop. Where had she seen this before? There was no door knob or handle, it was just there. As she approached it, the sensation she felt, the humming, seemed to get stronger. She could hear it - no feel it, it's vibrations sending her mind into a mesmerized state. She inched closer to the closet space.
"Cara!" Ilana called out, her back leaning against the entrance of the room. An eyebrow was raised as she eyed the unexpected intruder.
Cara instantly snapped out of whatever held her, wide eyed and shocked. "You're home already? I thought you'd be out longer." Her breath was caught in her throat.
"Guess we got back a little quicker today." she said shortly. "Thought I just had to worry about the twins rummaging through my belongings, but I guess I have to keep an eye on you too!"
Cara began to exit the room, too embarrassed to find any words to explain herself. "I'm sorry, I just got curious." As she strode out of the room, passing Ilana leaning against the door frame, Cara looked up into her eyes and opened her mouth as if to say something, but slowly closed it again as her eyes moved down to her neckline. A necklace, one that seemed to always have been a part of Ilana's image, hang around her neck. It's gemstone - the shape of a teardrop. That's where I've seen it before. Nodding apologetically, Cara moved past her.
Ilana's gaze, neither angry or happy, followed her as she made her way back up the stairs to her room. Cara saw the twins huddling around a corner on the right side up the stairs, eyes wide with their usual mischief.
"Oooo, Cara got caught" teased Aidan.
Jean then waddled over and tugged at Cara's arm, urging her to bend down so she could whisper in her ear.
"Every time we go in there, me and Aidan, we always go searching for the magical key!" Jean whispered with a little too much enthusiasm. "We haven't found it though" she added with a slight loss of enthusiasm, but still too much nonetheless. Aidan nodded in agreement, which showed that Jean didn't do that great of a job at whispering.
"Well guys," Cara said, stealing a quick glance down the stairs to make sure Ilana wasn't nearby, "I think I've found your key."
YOU ARE READING
Manipulators
Fantezie"The devastation left by man-kind's greed and anger was so tremendous that the amount of energy it took for Raza to restore what was broken while at the same time keeping us humans apart was too much for his physical form, leading him to implode upo...
