Lost Child

Being Lost and Confused

            At first, I didn't hear the constant knocking that was happening at the door to the bathroom. My eyes seemed enthralled with the spot the strange creature had once been standing in. It wasn't until Silky came into the bathroom and was tapping my shoulder that I was pulled from my fixation. I whipped my head around quickly to look at the beautiful blonde woman before panicking and attempting to sink as low as I could into the water. She was going to see my inhuman body and tell Mr. Ainsworth. She was going to wish to have me sent away. She would hate me.

I continued to sink as low as I could, hoping that the water and my silvery white hair would cover up the horrible purple splotches that littered me. The deformities that were part of my being. I tried my best to hide them. However, Silky seemed unbothered by my appearance, or my behavior. She merely smiled at me with a quirk of her head, left behind a set of clothes and a towel, and saw herself out of the room.

I stared at the clothes, then down at my own terrible appearance. She had seen me...and she still smiled? Was that normal? Why did she smile? Questions filled my head as I climbed from the bathtub and took the plush green towel into my hands. It was soft to the touch, and gentle on my skin. It was nice to have something softer to dry off with than the towels at the College. Those were always rather itchy and scratchy.

I dried off and went to put on the clothes that Silky had left for me. A pair of dark blue denim capris and a pastel pink shirt with a flower embroidered on it. Where had these come from? Surely, they hadn't been expecting me. I shook my head of the thought and changed into the clothes, realizing only after I had put them on that the capris revealed the purple blotch that was on my right ankle and without my hoodie, the spots all over my arms were visible as well. Such clothes didn't really suit me. But when I looked around for my own clothes, I discovered that they had vanished.

I had no choice. I timidly left the bathroom, treading as lightly as I could to the room that Mr. Ainsworth had given to me in hopes of finding my original clothes there. I was light with my steps, as light as possible without magic, but it seemed my efforts were fruitless as I heard the deep voice of Mr. Ainsworth from down the stairs. "Are you finished Briar? There is much to do before I begin teaching you tomorrow."

There was certainly an audible sigh that left my lips. I didn't mean for it to be, however it happened none the less. To cover it though, I would have to respond to Mr. Ainsworth. I mustered what I could think of to avoid having him come up the stairs. "I'll...be down in a moment. I left something in the room."

No response. Good. I could get to the room I was using, see if my clothes were there, get a pair of socks to cover up my ankles and get my hoodie to cover up my arms and horns, then everything will be fine. Or at least...I had hoped they would be. I heard the creak of steps being walked up as I could only assume Mr. Ainsworth was walking up the stairs to get me.

Nervousness coursed through me. He was going to see me like this and not want to care for me anymore. What normal man like Mr. Ainsworth would want to take care of a monstrous child like me? I was deformed and different. I was a monster. He was going to see that, see the mistake he made in taking me in, and send me back to the College where I probably belonged.

Without thinking, I bolted into the room and slammed the door shut behind me. The bang must have alerted Mr. Ainsworth because not a moment after I had closed the door, there was a knock. "Briar. Are you all right in there?"

What was I to do? Lie? That's right. Lie! I put my back against the door in the hopes of preventing the obviously stronger than me man from getting in. "I'm...getting dressed."

There was a sigh and the sound of someone stepping away from the door. He believed me. "I thought Silky had left your clothes in the bathroom. She usually did that for Chise."

My mother. Right...my mother lived here with him. He was close with her. Silky knew my mother too. I moved away from the door, finally taking in the room I was in only to find that my clothes weren't here either. I opened the dresser drawers and found lots of clothes, but no hoodies, and nothing that would cover up my purple skin. I was defeated. What was I going to do?

I leaned against the door with a thump. Mr. Ainsworth was still there because he responded to the noise. "You're looking for something to hide your horns, aren't you?"

How...? I opened the door a crack to peek one of my weed green eyes out to him. He had a solemn expression. I couldn't read it. "Open the door Briar. You're safe here."

Safe. What did it mean to be safe? He had provided for me this far. In fact, Mr. Ainsworth was very accepting of me...perhaps these clothes were given to me at his request. I opened the door more so that he could see me. There was a gentle smile that graced his features before he nodded. "Silky does fine work. You resemble your mother quite a bit. Silky probably was thinking of clothes she would have liked Chise to wear."

I shifted on my feet, keeping my head down nervously. "Mom...my mom...she liked these types of clothes?"

There was a pause. A pause that gave me enough time to glance up at Mr. Ainsworth as he was thinking. He seemed to be thinking hard about something before he looked back at me. His hazel eyes caught mine before I darted them down once more to staring at my strange purple and white colored feet. "I'm unsure. Chise wore anything that Silky made. She considered Silky family. She considered this place her home." Home? What an interesting thought. What was it like to have a place called home? "And as it was for your mother, this will also become your home."

My...home? I stared up at Mr. Ainsworth confused. "This...could be my home."

He gave a nod, his messy blonde hair shifting with the movement. "Yes."

I had already told Mr. Renfred that I wasn't going to be returning to the College and that I wanted to remain here. I guess with that logic, this was going to be my home. I gave a nod. Simple, but I think what I was trying to convey was received before I felt a hand on the top of my head. It fit perfectly. It was so strange how it knew where to be without touching my horns.

It was a nice feeling; a feeling I wanted to have last for a while, but something stopped that. The sound of a door opening from downstairs. Well...more like a door being slammed open.

I tensed as I started to cower away from Mr. Ainsworth as a voice, the voice of a man, carried up the stairs. "Elias! The Neighbors are saying that you–" A man appeared at the top of the stairs with jet black hair, deep blood red eyes, and an otherworldly complexion. I stared transfixed at him and he did the same to me. He seemed shocked by me before he glared at Mr. Ainsworth. "Why?"

Mr. Ainsworth didn't hesitate, he glared back at the strange man who invaded the house. I was more surprised that Mr. Ainsworth hadn't used magic to send him away, but it seemed his glare was doing the trick. "Because she belongs here."

I was confused by this. I could gather that they were talking about me, but...why? Why was this strange man upset about me being here? "Does she know that you have her?"

There was hesitation. Strange hesitation. I watched them both, confused. Who was this other girl? Was it someone I knew? Obviously, they knew. The hesitation ended before I could answer my thoughts as Mr. Ainsworth spoke with a strain in his voice that was unfamiliar to me. "No. Can we take this discussion elsewhere Ruth?"

The man, Ruth I think is what Mr. Ainsworth called him, continued to stare at Mr. Ainsworth before he looked at me. I thought he was going to glare at me, but there was...a gentleness to his expression. A pained look, but also...happy? It was hard to place. He gave a heavy sigh before he walked back down the stairs.

I watched in disbelief at what had happened before looking up at Mr. Ainsworth. He was staring down the stairs. "Mr. Ainsworth?" He glanced over, his face holding a strange expression of pain. "Is everything...okay?"

He placed a hand on my head comfortingly. "Yes, I need to speak with Ruth in private. Please stay here, I'll come back to introduce you to the Neighbors when I'm finished." With that...Mr. Ainsworth left the doorway and went downstairs, leaving me confused and lost.