Fallen one

by Ayu16

Story about two siblings who are on their way to their uncles;s house at Ditchfork, to meet cousin Lola who is newly adopted. Things start taking a twist in the enigmatic Gothic background as the monks predict a war that'll be more perilous than anything ever

The morning was cloudy and gloomy as the mists had veiled the whole town like a thick cloth. The trees seemed lifeless as very few of them had leaves and the chill in the atmosphere had given shivers to every person living in Norfolk, Alaska.
As the city bus arrived with a distinct screechy horn, two teenagers jumped aboard with their heavy bags making a clanking noise.
"Here's our tickets" said the blonde haired boy with a sharp tone. The driver accepted it and asked, "so you'll headed to Ditchfork, hope you'll have carried enough warm clothes".
Anastasia Dale and Jack Dale were brother and sister. Ana was sixteen while her brother was seventeen. Both of them had no similarity except for their smile which they had inherited from their mother.
Jack was a head-strong and compliant boy who was the most popular boy in his school. His blonde locks covered his forehead in an elegant way. He had pale blue eyes compared to his family who had brown eyes.
Anastasia, compared to his brother was calm and cool-headed. She was intelligent in her own mysterious way as her classmates called her "mysterious beauty". But if anything strange happens, she suddenly gets curious and acts like an erudite. Her blonde hair was tied in one long pony up to her knees in blue ribbons.
That day the bus did not contain many passengers, approximately five to four including them. Ana looked out of the window and said, "do you remember Ditchfork, Jack?". Jack didn't answer.
"Fragments of it" he replied, a little later. It was hard to remember a place where you had gone some eleven years back.
Ditchfork was a small village situated beside Past Creek, one of the coldest places in Alaska. Ditchfork was famous for its fresh raspberries and beautiful hand-work sweaters. Ana and Jack's Uncle Charlie (whom they were going to visit) gifted them those ravish sweaters each year during Christmas.
"Ana, I think it was the best decision to visit Uncle this year" said Jack, looking at his sister who gazed outside the window with morbid eyes.
"Yeah, I am excited to meet our cousin!" exclaimed Anna, suddenly become animated with an air of thrill.
But Ana's excitement didn't linger there for even a second, she turned herself back into that same stolid appearance with a glacial expression gazing outside the window. There was an unnatural chill in the breeze that blew as if it was bitten by frost although Norfolk hadn't received snow for months!
"Ana, you okay?" asked Jack, still worried about her sister's motionless behavior.
"I've had those strange visions again, last night" she said, her eyes were red and swollen.
"What was it this time?" asked Jack, with keenness as he got closer to see her face.
"Nothing much" she said, in a low tune, "that same dreary scene beside a lake where there was no one and I was standing there facing a sort of a creature with majestic wings and it had a small knife…"
Ana couldn't speak any further as a mild headache prevented her speech, she caught hold of her brother's arms and her head and tried to remember as much as possible but Jack couldn't bear to see her sister torturing herself.
"Stop it!" he exclaimed, horrified, "you don't have to pressurize your brain…I'm sorry".
"It's okay" she replied, "I am perplexed at those visions I receive. I couldn't fathom it out why do I see that same vision every time? Do you think that's my future?". Jack remained silent for some time, he never read anything about visions or such stuff, and at some point he felt guilty for not having been able to answer her sepulchral question.
"Jack, I've read in some books that demon can affect these visions" said Anna, looking at him.
"I think those are just surmises of some priests of churches" explained Jack, "and demons and angels don't exist, you know that?"
"Who said that?"suddenly Ana's voice got stronger and deeper and acrimonious. "I've read in the holy Bible, and one of the priests who is a friend of father said me about all these".
"That's nonsense" argued Jack, "and you know, that you get easily influenced by people that it makes easier for them to trick you".
"How dare you say that?" she argued back. And like this they started to argue again like they always do. But again that's the best part of being a brother and a sister. They argue and fight over petty issues and again become best friends.
"Okay! That's enough" said Jack, at last who was exhausted after yelling at her. "It's pretty surprising at the way you bicker with me, although I'm elder than you".
"You're ELDER than me?" expressed Ana, "uh! we're born at the same time, except that you came out three minutes before me and that doesn't make any sense".
"But…still I am…" Jack said and he pushed her sister of the seat, and peeped outside the window.
"What the heck?" said Ana, as she managed to get up.
Jack was enthralled at what he saw outside the window. There was snow everywhere, like he'd never seen before.
"Look, there's snow" he exclaimed, bewitched by the white beauty.
"Yeah, so what?" asked Ana, thinking as if he'd never seen snow.
"I mean, it didn't snow in Norfolk" he explained, "but it snows here in Haylard although we're just 1 Km apart". That was indeed befuddling and that struck Ana like lightning cleaving the storm clouds.
"Maybe it's because of the weather disturbances" she remarked, although she wasn't sure.
"No...it's because of strange weather patterns" suddenly the bus driver said. Ana heard his voice for the first time, he was an old man. His hairs had been streaked with silver and his eyes were glacial and standoffish like those of a specter.
"Patters?" asked Ana, getting up from her seat. "From what I know weather at the equator is hot and rainy and it changes time to time, so there nothing's worry about".
"Anna, maybe you should listen to the man" whispered Jack. The old man's face was morbid and he narrowed her eyes at Ana like some sort of wanted criminal.
"Like what I was saying, weather is affected by the gods above" he continued his orthodox speech. "And the snow here is different from Ditchfork because Ditchfork is much cooler than Haylard which is bizarre".
"I don't find anything bizarre" Ana whispered to Jack who was least interested in the old man's plain and dull speech.
He stopped talking after some time and concentrated in his driving.
"And there was something weird I noticed in Haylard" Jack said, as they sat down, trying to keep his voice down. "I saw a man and a child, they weren't exactly human-like they had dull and awkward expressions".
"That's your imagination" replied Ana, "now you know who's a staunch believer in those stuff?".
"I'm not a loon" he strongly protested.
"Why don't you ask that crazy old man?"
Jack didn't want to talk with him but there wasn't any other option.
"Excuse me, sir" he asked, coyly trying to avoid eye-contact, "do you anything about the inhabitants of Haylard…I mean they kind of looked scary"
Pause. Silence.
"There was this strange disease that spread like a wild fire among every people, one month back" he said, his voice as surprisingly young. "That made them all look very pale and weak. Some people were able to get rid of this sickness but some never changed".
"That honestly strange" said Anna, after hearing his explanation. "I've never heard any such disease. I guess it's endemic"
"I guess you haven't read each and every book" teased Jack and suppressed his laughter.
Their journey was long and tedious. There weren't many people present on the bus that day which made the journey even more boring.
"I wonder when we'll reach Ditchfork?" asked Anna, impatiently. Jack didn't answer he was busy playing games on his phone.
"Uh! you have your own phone?" suddenly Anna asked with curiosity. .
Jack gave a sneer seeing her envious expression and he grabbed this opportunity to show-off and blow his trumpet.
"Mom gave me last month on our birthday" he said, "it's an android isn't it cool?"
Anna was a smart girl, he knew his brother was bragging his own merits and she wouldn't fall in his trap.
"It is" she said, "but I've got a more cool gift". She looked at Jack, he became deeply interested and inquisitive.
"WHAT did she give you?"
"It's a super cool EXP, there are a thousand games in it" she said, pumping her chest nonchalantly.
"I can't believe it" said Jack, "I wanted it".
"Maybe next time".
Suddenly the bus came to a halt, near a meadow.
"Have we arrived?" asked Anna, looking outside. But it didn't seem like Ditchfork, there was just nothing expect a dense meadow stretching as far as the sky.
"We aren't there yet" said the driver, getting off the bus and checking the fuel. "We're out of fuel".
"WHAT!" yelled Jack, terrified, "this is just horrible". Ana wasn't shocked, she stayed pacified unlike her brother who panicked like a sheep as though a wolf had attacked him.
"Calm down" she assured him, "I'm sure there's a fuel shop nearby".
"I'll go and get some people, you'll wait here" the man said, apprehensively, "don't go anywhere". Saying this he scuttled as fast as possible.
There was a shop at the edge of the road although it was closed Anna could feel someone peeping through the broken windows. It gave jitters to her skin, congealing her blood to ice.
"Jack…Jack" she said grasping his hand, "there's someone staring at us through that window". Jack turned back but the window was clearly shut and it didn't seem like anyone lived there.
"It's your imagination" he said to Anna who was terribly scared. That place didn't look like it was friendly. The sun had hidden himself behind the silver clouds as if he were scared, and the mist constantly drifting among the pine tree tops, filtering all the sunlight to a pearly sheen and brushing every pine cone with moisture that glistened when the haze lifted. Sometimes the clouds condensed into tiny droplets of ice that didn't fell rather it floated downwards making a pattering sound on the leaflets like rain.
"But I had that feeling like there's a person" thought Anna, and so she made an attempt to go near the shanty.
"Anna, where are you going?" Jack hollered and followed her trying to secure her.
"Is there anyone?" she yelled, no one was there. The metal shed was broken and the shanty was small made of broken bricks as though it were constructed years back.
"Now you've got it, no one's there" said Jack grabbing her arm and taking her towards the bus. "The man said us to wait near the bus". Anna wasn't sure, her mind was clouded with that daunting feeling that came every time like a primitive impulse when the pine cones made a soft rustle as the chilly wind blew past them.
"Where's the driver?" she asked, stomping her feet on the ground.
"Are you scared?" asked Jack, mocking at her.
"No! I'm not" she replied, "it's just that I want to return Ditchfork as soon as possible. Why don't you try to call Mum, she must be worrying".
"I tried, but there's no connection it seems this place is remote" said Jack looking everywhere.
Suddenly they saw a man cycling towards them. They couldn't make out who was that, but as it slowly and gradually approached towards them. The silhouette appeared to be the driver and another man, about fifty-two.
"Thank god, we were worrying about you" said Jack as he went close to them. The driver didn't say anything nor did the stranger.
"I need to get out of this place as soon as possible" gibbered the stranger and he urged the driver to pour the fuel as soon as possible. When it was over, he took the huge green colored plastic bottle and hurried away with his cycle disappearing into the darkness of the road.
"What's with him?" asked Jack.
"Nothing…he's just scared of the vicinity" the driver replied ignoring him. After he was finished with all the necessary works, both of them climbed up the bus as the bus stole into motion.
"Did you see the man's expressions?" asked Anna, gazing at Jack who was very much disturbed as much as she was.
"Yeah…I did, he looked pale as he came here and the very mention of 'place' made his blood run cold" said Jack. A frisson of alarm ran down Anna's spine.
"I want to reach Ditchfork" she cried, "this place creeps me out". Jack gave a chuckle observing her frightened face, but he consoled her.

A new cousin

There was a small tunnel that they had to pass through in order to reach Ditchfork.
"We'll be there in five more minutes" the driver announced. Hearing that Anna's nerves soothed down and she felt relieved.
"Finally there!" she exclaimed with joy. Jack gave a sneer to see her sister's sudden caprice of behavior. She was still a kid.
Ditchfork was a beautiful place compared to Haylard and the meadow they stopped by. It was a sunny and bright place where people didn't look pale or like zombies. They were real humans.
"Here's the stoppage" said the driver as he waved them bye when they clambered down the stairs of the bus.
"It's been an interesting journey" he said to Anna.
"It' s been the most nerve-wracking journey I've ever had" she replied, giving a frown. The two siblings had to wait for another half an hour to get a cab.
"Damm it!" exclaimed Anna, looking at her blue watch, "it's almost ten 'o' clock and we left at seven".
Jack didn't heed to her, he was peering intently over the road trying to find a cab but all that passed through the stop were people on cycles, animal carriages and sometimes cars.
"Look! There's a cab" yelled Jack, pointing towards a moving vehicle that approached towards them from out of the blue.
"Hop in!" said the driver, without asking them where they were headed and opened the door.
"Thank god, we found one" said Anna.
"Umm…we're headed to towards the Stellar Abbey" Jack explained to the driver who was a pale, thin and bald man whose age might have been thirty or forty.
"Stellar Abbey?" said the driver, keeping his black beady eyes on the road, "that's those monks residence. You'll have relatives there?"
"We have our uncle who lives some miles from Stellar Abbey and more accurately his name is Charlie Flitzerland, he owns a shipping company named 'Charlie and Ships'".
"OH! It's Sir Charlie" the man said, as if he knew him, "everyone knows him. He's rich and he was once a monk who worked at the Stellar Abbey. Then he gave up his reclusive life and now he owns a company! Lucky him".
"He's definitely lucky" repeated Jack, trying to keep company with the driver. The weather was warm and cold, not humid. There were valleys everywhere covered with snow and little creeks were frozen which shone like glass as the sun's sheen rays hit them.
Pines, firs and coniferous trees dominated the whole town.
After some time the driver left them near the Stellar Abbey, it was a huge area of some four to five sq feet with mostly barren vegetation and wild flowers. But the monks worked very hard trying to grow vegetables to keep themselves from starving during this harsh winter when most of the land remained frozen with blankets of ice.
"So…what did mum sent for them?" asked Jack as they headed towards the Abbey. Stellar Abbey was old and huge, but strong enough to stand for years. It was built by Bishop Yelem, a priest of the church in Scotland for all those monks who had lost their houses during the flood.
Anna and Jack's family had a strong relationship with the monks, since Anna's mother grew up in that place and her childhood memories consisted mainly of stealing food from their kitchen. There were huge lampposts that stood at the porch of the abbey. The walls were broken and covered with cobwebs. The snow had covered the pointed ends of the brick ceilings.
"Mum sent some groceries and clothing" she replied back.
It was difficult to walk on the snow but somehow they managed to walk as fast as possible through the thick forest.
"Who are you'll" a person asked, coming from behind the yard. He was a monk with a bald head, his red cloak was covered with mud and dirt. He was an old man whose skin was all crinkled and folded up to his blue eyes.
"Umm…we're Anna and Jack Dale" said Anna, fumbling to see the monk's imposing structure.
"Dale?" he said, "Oh! My God! You're the children of Gabrielle Dale, isn't it?"
"Y…yeah" said Jack, still unable to remember him.
"Don't you remember me?" he asked, "I am brother Abel, you kids used to come and help me with the plants and sometimes you broke them and in order to get scolded by Brother Harry I lied to them".
After saying so much, Jack and Anna were able to recall everything. Brother Abel were their favorite monk because he was so carefree and children loving that he forgave all the mistakes they did. Although he was eighty he still remembered them. It touched their hearts and Anna's eyes streamed with small rivulets and both of them embraced the old monk like an old friend.
"I missed you!" cried Anna, looking up at his Brother Abel's face. He smiled at both of them and stroked her hair like a father.
"Brother Abel, it's been a while" said Jack, "and mum has sent these to you" he handed a bag to him.
"What's in there?" the monk asked.
"Grocery and clothing for winter" replied Anna.
"That's very considerate of your mother" he replied back. "Why don't you'll come inside while I tempt you with tea and cookies".
"We'd love to" said Jack, "but we need to hurry towards Uncle Charlie's house. He's been worried sick of our delay. We'll come back later. We promise". Saying this they hugged the old monk once again and rushed towards their uncle's house.
The forest was thick and dense fogs veiled the tree tops.
"I wonder why would someone build their home in the forest?" asked Anna.
"It's because Uncle Charlie's been a faithful servant of the monks. So as to help them at any time he build his home here".
Shortly they arrived at Charlie's house. It wasn't appropriately to be called a house, it was more than a house. It was a mansion! Gigantic and beautiful. It was white in color with silver borders. There were honey dukes that clung onto the pillars at the portico.
"There you are?" said Uncle Charlie as he rushed outside, with ecstasy to see the children. "What took you so long?"
"The bus needed to re-fuel so we had to wait near a meadow in Haylard" explained Jack with sincerity.
"Oh…come inside, you'll must be freezing" said Uncle Charlie and took them inside.
"Umm…where's our new cousin?" asked Anna with a brimming curiosity. Her blue eyes looked around like a hawk.
"She's coming" said Charlie, "she's a bit shy and timid".
"Don't worry, even Anna's shy in front of our other uncles" teased Jack.
"As if you're not" she argued back, "last time you even spilled tea over Aunt Keira". Looking them squabble over something so childish Charlie couldn't suppress his laughter and he burst out.
"She's here" said Anna, as a small figure approached towards them from the darkness.
She stood there with her head lowered down. No doubt she was shy.
"She's my adopted daughter, Lola" Charlie explained. Lola was small but she was beautiful, more that Anna. Her beauty was ethereal like the clouds, her face was like some sort of princess-fair and rosy cheeked. Lola's eyes were brown and her dark eyelashes were long and her Grecian nose completed her feature like she was a painting.
Her brown curly locks curled down to the ends and over her forehead.
"She's pretty" said Anna, gazing at her. Jack was even more stupefied to see her. He'd never met someone so charming like her.
"I am Lola, nice to meet you" she introduced herself, her voice was as soft and calm like the snow. It was delicate and subtle like frost.
"I am Anna and this is my brother Jack" Anna introduced themselves.
"Lola, why don't you sit together and get to know each other" said Charlie, taking the tray from her hand and placing on the table.
"Sure". Shortly after that Charlie left the room to bring some more firewood for the furnace.
No one spoke, there was total silence except the crackling sound of the fire burning in the furnace and its flames rose higher.
"So…let's start with…what's your favorite color" asked Jack, who tried to break the uneasy silence that prevailed in the room.
"It's black" said Lola, frankly.
"Black?" said Anna, "that's a scary color. Mine is indigo and Jack's is green".
"You don't have to say for me" said Jack, wryly.
"What's your favorite food?" asked Anna, ignoring Jack.
"I love meatloaf and salads" she replied, pushing herself out of her coy shell.
"I love meatloaf's too!" exclaimed Anna, joyfully, "and salmons".
"And I love burgers" said Jack, who joined the conversation.
There was silence again.
"Umm…it must be nice to have a brother, isn't it?" asked Lola, shyly.
"Yeah…except the fights" Anna said, smiling at her trying to comfort her, "but now you have a brother and sister, too?"
Hearing that Lola's glacial eyes thawed and sparkled like diamonds with elation and assurance. She gave a long beam towards both of them.
"From which orphanage did Charlie take you?" asked Anna, edgily.
"He didn't take me from an orphanage" she said, "he said that he found me in his yard last December covered with a huge patch of snow and my shoulder's were bleeding". Hearing that Anna and Jack's heart thumped, they were awe-struck.
"Why were you're shoulder's bleeding?" asked Jack.
"I don't know" she said, "but father said that I was hit by an accident and for that I lost all of my memories but I still…"
She didn't finished her sentence as Charlie entered carrying the piece of logs.
"Have you talked?" he asked Lola.
"Yes"
"I hope you'll get along" he said, "I'll make some soup for you'll" Saying this he disappeared into the kitchen and Lola followed him to help her father.
"It's weird, don't you think?" asked Anna, "she says that she was found at the back of this house and her shoulder's were bleeding but even if she got hit by an accident and got thrown. She mustn't have come here, Uncle's house is pretty far from the road and if that was the case then because of the snow she must have had a frostbite and probably dies due to numbness I her nerves".
"I see, you're getting all logical again" said Jack, "it must been someone who carried her here. A deer or a person and then without heralding any trouble her runs away".
"That makes sense" said Anna, after some time, "but my mind says that's not the case".
"Maybe you should stop being paranoid" Jack said, "it'll worsen your mental stability".
Anna kept silence after that and didn't speak a word. For she was very much puzzled at what she was thinking herself!
A little later, there was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. It smelled of roasted meat and grilled fish.
"YUM! That's so delicious" Jack exclaimed, his mouth was already salivating.
"That smells like roast meat" replied Anna, peering at the kitchen door, like a hungry cat.
After some time the smoke and smell disappeared and Charlie and Lola came out from the kitchen with a huge cloche and a casserole at hand.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" said Charlie, almost like a polite waiter.
"The meat was difficult to cook" Lola added, placing the plates on the table with the help of Anna.
"Did you cook all of these?" asked Jack, as he opened the casserole and a beautiful, scrumptious smell floated with the ambience.
"Lola helped me" replied Charlie, sitting down next to his nephew and placing the napkin on his table. "Let me know how it tastes".
After taking a load full bites of the meat, Jack struggled to say, "it's so awesome" but instead he picked out his thumb up.
"He means it delicious" Anna interpreted for his hungry brother.
"Mum talks about you almost every day. She says us about her childhood and her school and the time you'd spend together. She really misses you and she looks forwards for your visit".
"I miss her too" Charlie said, becoming emotional, "but this work it keeps me away from everyone I love. But I promise next summer I and Lola would definitely visit you'll in Norfolk".
"Well then, you better keep your promise" said Anna, who was excited and happy.
Lola kept quiet and ate her dinner after a thanks prayer.
"Lola, do you love here?" asked Jack, a little later after he finished his meat.
"Umm…yeah I do" Lola replied, coyly, "father treats me really like his daughter and the monks are very good and I guess Ditchfork is a nice place".
"That's a relief" said Charlie as he burst into laughter knowing that he had been able to be a loving father.
"Uncle Charlie?" asked Anna, "I've heard that Brother Jeremiah had died last month?"
Charlie kept quiet and his eyes became dewy. He loved that old monk and he surely missed him.
"Yes, it's been a month" he said, "and I miss him so much. He died of a heart-attack, that's what everyone says. I wonder what might have happened. He was just forty!".
Anna and Jack kept silent for a few moments when Anna said, "and what about their building? Wasn't it supposed to get re-constructed with the help and support of the bishop of Peru?"
"That's been cancelled since Brother Jeremiah was their only beacon in the darkness and without him the monks rebelled against the harshness that were hurled upon them by the bishop of Peru. Due to this the bishop got angry and made one thing clear that they'll no longer help them".
"That's unfair!" yelled Jack, banging his fist on the table, "that's not their religion teaches them".
"Yeah, Jack's right" added Lola, with a strange enthusiasm that burned inside her like an inferno which made her burst forth through her shyness. "These monks are very good. They've helped me a lot during the time of my accident, they even made hand-made ointments and stayed beside Charlie all the time".
But Anna didn't speak, she had a stolid expression on her face. Her mind was deeply sunken into some other world, in a world where she often visited at times of doubt and dilemma.
"Anna, you alright" said Jack and shook her. Anna's profound trance got broken and she looked up at Jack and asked, "yes, Jack?"
Uncle Charlie was pretty surprised at her pernickety behavior.
"Is she always like this?" asked Charlie taking Jack away from them, so as to talk alone.
"You mean, Anna" said Jack, "yeah, since she was in kindergarten. She used to get fascinated in anything that seemed mysterious to her".
"But that's really disturbing. I can't see her worrying about such small details" said Charlie looking at Anna who laughed with Lola.
"But she's like that, and lately she'd been getting these strange visions and dreams. Always the same".
"Visions!" exclaimed Charlie, befuddled but he maintained his voice down.
"Yeah, always the same one and she beliefs that they'll come true one day" explained Jack, with a sad face, "she even beliefs that they're caused by the fallen angels or so what they're called. I've tried telling her so many times that they're just dreams and visions are just subjective the future changes, but she's too stubborn to listen to me. And some few days back she even searched about demons and angels, I guess she's caught up a new thing she fancies".
Charlie's face had turned pale and he trembled with sweat all over his face. His eyes remained constant at something that he was thinking.
"Uncle!" said Jack, "don't tell me that you believe all these, too?"
"Jack…you're sister possesses the power of visions" said Charlie, grabbing his hand, "it's something that very few people possess. What's her zodiac".
"I guess it's Capricorn" Jack replied, unable to understand anything.
"Do you know that her tarot card represents The Tower" he replied, "it represents destruction, chaos and sorrow and devastation. It's an evil card. But if you interpret it alternately then it could be that her life's which is ahead is filled with brimming bad portents".
Jack had his lips pressed together because he really didn't believe all these occult stuff. Once he had been told about these, but he was far off to actually even touch those creepy cards instead he saw them as just poker cards.
"Uncle, Jack" yelled Anna, as she looked at both of them whispering in one dark corner, "what are you'll doing there, Lola's telling us some really good jokes. You better listen".
"Don't tell this to Anna, okay?" said Charlie, and went to join them at the dining sofa. A little later Jack joined them too.

After having a hearty talk and a nice and warm conversation they went to bed.
"Please tell me if you'll need anything else" said Lola, politely as she went to her own room.
"Sure" said Anna and was about to turn off the lights when she saw something outside her window. It was a dark black figure that stared to her room from behind the thick hazel coppice.
Anna was a brave girl instead of yelling like a child, she walked closer towards the casement and drew the curtains aside. It was pitch dark outside but the man was closer enough to be seen.
"Are you a monk?" she asked, peering her head outside to see him clearly.
The man didn't speak, he as quiet as a statue and immobile like a effigy. The trees softly rustled like shivered souls, trembling with the cold north wind as they bit the leaves and set them frozen.
There was a distant smoke that rose from a chimney far away, it's smoke rose higher up to the sky where a single star shone bravely.
Anna didn't do anything so she asked again, vexed, "what you want?". What's with him, can't he speak.
Suddenly a gust of black feather's burst open in the window. She pushed herself away from the windowpane and stared at amazement as the man had disappeared. There were ravens everywhere on the ground, she was terrified and her heart started to beat faster. A little later she saw Charlie out there with a stick at hand and he with frustration drove away the ravens and picked up a little ferret, it seemed dead.
"I guess that's why the ravens came" mused Anna and relaxed on her bed. But something struck her mind and she bolted up from her lying position and sat up straight thinking about something.
"The man disappeared right when the ravens came flocking down" she thought, "I guess the man was just scared that I might go down to see him and he'd be caught for spying, so he gathered a dead ferret from somewhere and threw it on the ground.
Why would he do that? Who was he? Why didn't he want to be seen?".
A little later Charlie came upstairs with an old and antic hurricane lamp that he brought from India during his last trip. The light glowed dimly, and he tottered on the stairs, very slowly to make sure none of us woke up (he just wanted to check whether all of us are asleep or not). Immediately Ana jumped on the bed and covered herself up with the bed sheets and pretended to be fast asleep. A little later, the sound of his walking languished and all that she heard was strong gales outside, the north wind had been released again with blizzards mingled with rain.
Anna and Lola were already awake before time, but Jack was already fast asleep snoring and dreaming of weird possibilities.
"What's behind that pergola?" asked Anna as they both perambulated around the yard.
"There's different kinds of flowers that father grows" replied Lola, "there's periwinkles, cucumber, pumpkins, bluebells, roses and my favorite amaryllis"
"That's a whole bunch of varied flowers" Ana replied, with a sneer. Ana was glad to see Lola open up and it was great to have a female cousin lest all her cousins were boys and she never got the opportunity to have a great time with them as Jack did.
"I am lucky to have you" said Lola, all of a sudden as they stopped by the huge chestnut tree. "I am lucky to have you and Jack as my cousins, and Charlie as my father. I already lost my memories before I got to know who I am and where I came from. But then Charlie took me in and he introduced me to a warm and cozy place 'family'". Saying this she shed tears but she wiped it off immediately so as not appear weak in front of Ana.
Ana didn't say anything, she simply grabbed her hand and held it until she plucked up her courage to say, "You don't need to figure out who you were, the truth is that you're Lola Fliztewarld, and your father is Charlie Fliztewarld and I Anastasia Dale and Jack Dale are you're cousins".
"I am overwhelmed with emotions" replied Lola, as she tried hard to suppress her briny tears.
"What's up with you two?" suddenly Jack yelled as he came. His hair was untidy perhaps he'd forgotten to comb and he wore that stupid green T-shirt with faded jeans, that Ana unarguably despised.
"N..nothing we're just taking a walk" said Lola, as she dabbed her kerchief to her eyes.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course you sap!" teased Ana, "and what's with that T-shirt, you know I hate it"
"It's mine, so it's my choice whether I wear it or not, dummy" replied Jack and as usual they bickered like little kids over a useless topic.
Lola just watched them smiling and eventually laughing her heart out.
"You look so cute when you'll fight" she said as they went inside.
"Really! But I hate the way we bicker and everyone gets frustrated by our behavior" said Jack, opening his winter boots.
"But again that's the best part of having a sibling, you always get to fight but end up forgetting about it" Lola stated.
They sat down on the sofa and turned the T.V on, there wasn't much going on the T.V.
"Where's uncle?" asked Ana, realizing that Charlie wasn't there.
"He's gone fishing" replied Jack, "to a river nearby-I guess the name was river Frazer".
"River Frazer" said Ana, "I've read in books that that river never freezes during winter".
"That's the specialty of that river" explained Lola, like a guide, "and that makes it easy for the people who thrive on business of fish to live without any worry during winter".
"Why don't we got there after father comes back home" Lola endorsed, happily to show her cousins that amazing river. She felt like she was a guide taking these two on a trip to her land.
They waited for two hours. The bright sun had already sunken down below the dark purpled colored horizon, and twilight kissed the sky with its dark colors. Even though the faint rays of the sun lingered on the sky like a halo glowing dimly over the river.
"He should have come back by now" said Lola, starting to worry about her father as she started to quiver her legs violently against the mat.
"It been two hours" said Ana, "I wonder what's he doing?. But he went there at 11, he should be back by now".
Jack wasn't a man of persistence, he couldn't wait any longer so he yelled out like a leader of a group preparing for a battle, "we mustn't wait any longer, what if he's in danger and he needs us. Let's go and find him!"
"Jack's right" said Lola, getting up, "we shouldn't sit here like dull people, father must be in danger".
Ana simply nodded her head and joined them in their discussion.
After taking all the necessary equipments and locking the house securely they marched outside looking bold despite the cold.
The snow had been falling excessively and the roads were blocked, coldness was replaced by a sensation of numbness. Street lights glowed brightly along the roads, and very few people were present on the streets although it was just six 'o' clock.
The teenagers travelled using a cab that led them to River Frazer in twenty minutes.
"That'll be twenty dollars" said the driver and Jack handed the money to him and immediately rushed towards the sandy shore of the sea.
The incandescent torches shone through the darkness but Charlie was nowhere to be found. The girls searched helplessly on the shore and nearby. There was no one, the calm waves and the gently breeze blew quietly and mysteriously.
"Father! Father!" cried Lola, when they were unable to find him, "where's he gone".
"Don't worry we'll find him" assured Ana, putting her arms around her shoulders.
"He must have returned home, maybe" surmised Jack.
"No! he didn't" Ana hollered all of a sudden. As if she discovered something.
"What you mean?"
"Look, over there" she said pointing towards a small shanty covered by the overgrown bushes, it was difficult to see in the dark but Ana saw it as if she were an owl.
"It's a shanty" said Lola, feeling hopeful.
"Yes! We didn't see it" she explained, "because it's so nicely hidden by nature and if somebody had to hide someone they'd defiantly hide him there".
"You're great, Ana!" praised Jack feeling proud of her little sister. It was indeed a praise-worthy thing.
They didn't wait any longer and panted towards the shanty. It was broken and old. The creepers had well concealed the small congested place.
"Lets' barge inside" said Jack and kicked open the door although it wasn't necessary as it was broken.
"Uncle Charlie, were are you?" he yelled out. The whole place was a mess of bed sheets, drink bottles and card board pieces. There was a hideous rotten smell all around and moss had covered the floor.
"I wonder who had lived here?" said Jack, covering his nose to get rid of that ugly, bad awkward smell like there was a dead body of some animal that rotted for two years. There were different shapes of ampoules that were broken and shattered in pieces . Even though the shanty was small it was congested and that made it onerous for them to find Charlie. There were black moths everywhere that flew from time to time over their faces and Ana had to brush them off using her torch.
"This is nasty!" she yelled loudly and cowered at the back of a huge structure which looked like a table. But there were worse creatures hidden there, it was cockroaches which Ana despised the most. She almost fainted looking at them crawling over her skin but instead while removing them Ana tripped over something that she didn't see, it was a huge thing covered in black shawl.
"Uncle Charlie" she cried, and leant over the immobile body and turned it over.
"Its father" Lola cried out and rushed towards the old man. He was unconscious, his face was pale like the dead but he was steadily breathing.
"Whoever could do this heinous task" said Lola as he hugged him, "shall be punished".
"But now we should take him home and give his some medicine for his injury" said Ana, pointing out to a huge scratch on his shoulder, it was bleeding and it had made a hole and fortunately they had arrived on time to take him home.
"Oh! No" Lola, whined and sobbed to see the deplorable condition of her father.
"The wound is deep" said Ana, "but it'll heal, don't worry". She exchanged smiles with Lola who was reassured to see her smile.
They carried him with much difficulty as he was pretty heavy to carry but somehow they managed a cab and go themselves home before anything fatal could take place.
"Lay him down on the bed" instructed Ana, like a mother, "I and Lola will prepare the medicine from herbal plants and if he wakes up…call us"
Saying this Jack did what her sister had instructed him and he covered him up with warm bed sheets.
Meanwhile Lola and Ana were busy preparing the medicine by grinding the plants in a mortar. Ana didn't have to do anything so she called the medico.
The doctor arrived an hour late because of the thick snow. But he made it on time to give him a drug named Salparigo, a drug that could cure that wound on his shoulder and on his chest. Within a few months it would mend that hole on his shoulder and lessen the pain. Such was its curative power.
"I've given him this medicine" the doctor heavily said, straining his voice, "and this is another medicine he needs to have so as to get rid of the poison in his blood".
"Poison!" exclaimed Ana, surprised.
"Yes, he's been attacked with a venomous weapon" the doctor explained, "here is Jal-ESC. Give him every night before he goes to sleep and also see that he doesn't eat anything oily".
Giving his instructions the doctor walked out from the mansion. But before going out he said, "this is indeed fatal, and it's mind-boggling to see that he actually survived it. It's a miracle".
"I wonder what could have happened?" said Ana as they walked inside.
"You know, it's best if uncle wakes up and we ask him" Jack suggested.
Lola was very much worried about her father. She kept checking on him after every five minutes, checking his breathing, closing the curtains, putting more firewood in the furnace to keep him warm.
"Is he still sleeping?" asked Jack.
"Yeah"
" You're lucky to get him as your father" said Ana, after some time as she sipped on the bowl of soup.
"I don't get it" replied Lola, quietly.
"I mean you get to take care of him when he's sick and then he spends time with you every day" said Ana, her voice was getting heavy and falteringly human. "He's always there when you need him, he loves you unconditionally and…." She didn't finish as her eyes were welled with small tears that flowed down her cheeks, but she wiped them off.
"I don't understand" said Lola, ruefully.
"Our dad is a busy man" explained Jack on behalf of her sister, "he's always hectic with his business of ships and exporting goods that he had never spend time with us since childhood. In other words we have no reminisces with him when we were kids. Mum used to sent us away to our aunts and uncles houses during winter to spend time in fun and frolic because she was a designer herself but she never abandoned us like dad, she loves us".
"I am sorry" said Lola, ruefully and hugged Ana and Jack who tried to suppress their emotions.
The clock ticked away, Jack and Ana were fast asleep on the couches. But Lola kept herself awake by drinking two cups of strong cappuccino, she didn't want to sleep leaving her father in a terrible condition as that.
"I hope his wound gets healed" she thought and looked outside the French window, gazing at the starlight that scintillated everywhere in the night sky.
There were no other sounds except the soft crackling of the wood burning brightly in the furnace, the steady sound of the crickets and an owl somewhere far. It was an overwhelming silence that filled up her heart with a sudden question that never came in her head before.
"Who are my real parent's?" she thought, that was the question that every orphan inquires themselves at some point of their lives. When they realize the depth of love and truth.
Suddenly she saw herself in a crossroad and everyone crossed before her eyes but she stood there unable to move. The people present were all shadows. All of a sudden as the crowd cleared she saw a man, a huge imposing man with a dark skin. There were crows all around him.
"Lola, Lola!" said Ana, as she shook her and therefore Lola was interrupted.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am fine" she replied, trying to set the reset button of her brain.

"You seemed to have like -a vision" said Jack, taking a glance at Lola.
"Vision" she whispered.
"Yes, like the ones Ana has".