Our second world- Book two: War is coming

Chapter 5

~Mary~

I sat quietly on the bench hugging the doll, my doll, to my chest while Haren and I watched the other two girls, Himira and Nonaka run around a large metal contraption. After a couple minutes, he called them back over and we walked back to the house.

"So," He asked," Did you three have fun today?"

"Yeah!" The girls giggled.

I nodded and grabbed his free hand while they ran ahead.

"Careful you two!" Haren called to them as they skipped down the road.

"We know!" They groaned, slowing down.

The sky started to get dark by the time we got back to the house. When I walked into the living room I saw a tall black haired man and a pink haired woman standing in the attatched kitchen.

"Hey Haren. Welcome home." The man smiled as Haren tossed his bag on the couch.

"Hey bro. It's been a while," Haren replied, giving both people a quick hug," Sorry we can't stay for dinner tonight."

"Oh it's fine," said the woman.

"Um..." I walked over to them and grabbed Harens hand.

"We're leaving in a minute," He said, messing up my hair.

"Now wait just a minute," Said the woman," I have something for you dear."

She pulled a large white leather bag from the stool under the counter and retrieved a small gray box from inside. She handed it to me and I opened it. Inside were three pairs of stud earings. One silver, one black, and one gold. The gold ones had bright, crimson colores stones, the silver ones, blue, and the black a dark, shimmery purple. 

"Thank you."

"Wow mom. Those are really nice," Haren said, turning to me, he added," Do you even have your ears pierced?"

"Yes," I nodded," Three on each ear."

"Well, I'm glad you like them," The woman smiled," And Haren, You're coming back home for the holidays, right?"

"Yeah. Well... Christmas for sure, but I don't know about any others."

"Good enough for me," She said, giving him another hug," Tell Grace I miss her. August too."

"I know, I know." He grumbled," Ready to go, Mary?"

I nodded and we headed back to the dark room. The next time I opened my eyes, we were standing in the study again. 

I ran down the hall to my room and put my present on the vanity. Setting the rabbit doll down on the chair, I pulled my hair back and carefully put the black earings in. On a seperate layer in the box, there were two more pairs of each color so I put the black ones in my other two holes before storing the box in one of the drawers. Grabbing the rabbit doll, I headed back down to the dining room where dinner was already being set out by Elizzabeth.

Grace and August were already sitting and Haren walked in right after I did.

"Hey Mary, Happy birthday," Grace smiled when I sat down.

"Thanks," I replied, spooning a few vegietables onto my plate. I wasn't very hungry as always, so I passed on everything else. When I was done I asked," May I be excused," out of habit more than anything else.

"Actually, I'd like you to wait for a few minutes. There's something I- We want to give you," Haren said," And I've told you before, you don't have to ask to be excused."

"I'm sorry, I know." I mumbled.

"It's fine."

I waited for about 20 minutes for everyone else to finish eating. When they were done, the maids cleared off the table and Grace dissapeared. Returning a few minutes lated with a large box closed with a black bow and set it in front of me on the table.

"This is from everyone, but August was the one who actually went out to buy it." She said," It should fit since it's custom made, but we hope you like it."

"Thanks." I untied the ribbon and lifted the cover off the box.

Inside was a glittery ballgown the length of my knees. It was a midnight blue with violet sparkles sewn into the skirt and bodice, which had a high collar. There was even a ribbon tied as a belt around the waist. Something white was tied to the end of the ribbon. Looking at it, I realized it was a piece of paper.

--- Happy ninth birthday to our precious daughter, Mary.   Haren and August---

A sob caught in my throat as I burried my face in my hands to hide the tears that freely flowed down my cheeks. I'd never felt this happy before and I didn't know what to do.

"No-one's ever done something like this for me before," I mumbled," So thank you. All of you."

"Of course. After all, you're our precious little girl." August said as he and Haren walked over to give me a hug.

~A week later~

After waking up from yet another nightmare, I quietly walked over to the wardrobe and pulled on a thin shawl over my nightgown before making my way down the halls to Harens room.

Slowly, I opened the door to avoid making any noise that would wake them. Walking over to the bed, I found that August wasn't sleeping with Haren, but there was still space for me so I quietly crawled into the bed and nestled down under the covers. He wasn't awake, but Haren somehow felt my movement and threw his arm around my shoulder.

Ever since I'd woken up from a particularly bad nightmare, screaming, I had started sleeping by the others. At first I had done it with only Grace, but she moved around a lot in her sleep so now I went to Haren or August.

I've been doing it for a few days now, so it was normal for the others to let me whenever I needed.

Not even an hour after I'd fallen asleep again, I woke up to a noise. At first, I'd thought I'd imagined it. that is... until I heard the door creak open. 

Using my hand, I blocked the arm of one of the shadowed figures and jumped out of the bed. Two people, a tall man and a shorter girl stood outlined against the light of the hall. The man had a long dagger and the girl looked to be un-armed, but she had a metal collar around her neck with a short chain hanging from it. She was a slave! Probably under the service of the man with her.

"Move child. I have buisness with that man." Hissed the shadow.

"No," I said firmly.

"Then perish."

He lunged forward. I avoided his blade, but didn't see Honey on the floor behind me. I tripped over her and fell backwards into the bedside table. Knocking the lantern over with a loud crash. Instead of feeling pain from an attack, a loud clang echoed through the room. I looked up to see the rough outline of Haren standing over me. His sword blocking the mans dagger. While his expression was calm, his eyes flarred with a crimson red.

"Would one of you mind explaining to me why you're trying to kill my daughter?" He spat bitterly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"She was in the way, but you are our target tonight." The man said," Number 3, you will kill him."

The girl didn't move. It was too dark in the room to see clearly, but I could tell she was afraid of something. She took a few steps back.

"Tch. defective little- fine I'll do it myself." The man grumbled, raising his sword to strike.

He wasn't prepared for what happened next. Distracted by the girl, Haren was able to end the fight before anyone could blink. Thought the girl was untouched, both her body and the one of the mans fell to the floor.

"Damn, so he was her master," Haren muttered, lifting the thin girl onto the bed," Mary, can you watch her incase she wakes up while I'm gone?"

I nodded and August appeared at my side as Haren disapeared with the other body.