Chapter 2:
Tessa felt something warm padding over her face. Her eyes fluttered open. They focused slowly on a girl with long inky black hair and blue eyes. The blue was not normal though, it was a balance of violet and the sky on a cloudless day. Her lips stretched into a wide grin as she looked down on the now conscious Tessa.
"Oh good you're awake! Are you feeling better?" The girl asked, setting the wash cloth down on the night stand. Tessa took in her surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar room that resembled one from a very well furnished high class inn.
"Where am I?" Tessa staggered out as she sat up slowly. She was no longer wearing the wet dress but a simple white frock. Her hair had been braided loosely away from her face. The girl who was watching Tessa held out a cup full of water. Tessa took it gladly finding that her throat felt like sand paper.
"You're in the Fairchild manor house. I'm Cecily by the way." Cecily held out her hand and Tessa shook it lightly.
"Fairchild manor house? How did I get here?"
"Well it was quite a sight. Some mundanes thought it would be fun to kill a warlock by themselves. Never trust a mundane to do a Shadowhunters job though. They picked you stating you were a warlock of some sort and by the time we got you out of their clutches they had scampered off with their tails between their legs." Cecily huffed.
"How do you know I'm not a warlock though?" Tessa asked innocently.
"We checked you while you were asleep. You don't have a mark so you couldn't be." Cecily stated simply. "Oh I should probably go tell the others you're awake. My brother, Will, carried you back and he feared you had slipped into some sort of coma." Cecily giggled as she stood and left the room. Tessa bit at her lip. What was she to do? They were Shadowhunters. If she told them they would kill her. They'd probably take her skull for a trophy or viles of her blood. She shook knowing that she'd have to get out of here sooner or later before these murderers found out. She stood and sprinted to the window, flinging it wide open. The door creaked open and Tessa turned her stomach sinking.
"Are you okay? You look very pale." A small woman, almost child size asked as she came into the room with three others in tow, all of them males.
"I just needed some fresh air." Tessa sighed and gave a small smile.
"Well it's nice to see you're finally awake." The woman smiled. "I'm Charlotte Branwell. And this is my husband Henry." She pointed to a tall lanky man that stood behind her. He had a shock of red hair and hazel eyes.
"You caught me when I almost fell didn't you?" Tessa looked at the man and he nodded with a sheepish smile.
"I'm James." A man about Tessa's age stepped forward. His hair was bright silver almost like the moon when it shined on the fresh snow. His eyes were a darker color silver but just about the same. He had pale skin and a slightly built frame. To his left stood a boy version of Cecily. His eyes of course were darker, about the same color of the sky right after the sun sets and before the moon rises. He gave her a smirk as his eyes lazily roved over her.
"I'm William. And you are?" His eyebrow quirked up.
"I'm Theresa Gray." Tessa tried to make a showing of giving a curtsey but still wobbled a bit.
"So how are you feeling Miss Gray? I was wondering if you may be up to visiting the drawing room just to meet the rest of the troop." Charlotte gave Tessa a warm smile. Tessa smiled and nodded.
"May I change first?" Tessa asked.
"Of course, one of Cecily's dresses should fit you." Charlotte smiled and left with the others. Only moments after the door shut it was opened again by Cecily.
"This should fit. We are about the same size, but height wise you're taller than me but I grabbed one of my longer dresses. Tessa nodded and took the dress sauntering over to the screen to change. After she heard the click of the door she crept to the small desk in the corner where a piece of parchment sat. Tessa picked up the pen and wrote quickly, she then crumpled the message in her hand and set fire to the note. She sighed in relief and made her way back to the screen to dress.
Sophie sat in the middle of the clearing. Her dark curls unbound and cascading over her shoulders. Her face was turned up to the sky. Her face. Absentmindedly she reached up and felt the scar that disfigured the left side of her face. The flashes came as they always did when Sophie felt the softer jagged skin. She dropped her hand away, shaking her head lightly as if that could clear away the memories.
A twig snapped underfoot behind her.
"Yes Magnus?" Sophie spoke.
"I just came to see if you were still alive out here. You left an hour ago for a 'walk' and never came back. But I being the smart little warlock have tracked you here."
"Don't pretend you didn't know I was here. I've been coming here for years since we moved out here. Everyone knows where I am." Sophie shrugged and patted the soft grass next to her as a gesture for Magnus to join her which he did. They sat there in silence for a while just taking in the warm rays of sun.
"I'm worried about Tessa." Magnus finally admitted.
"Mag, the trip to town is usually a few hours. I'm sure she spent the night with Nate and Jessamine last night and is now trotting down the road on her way here right now."
"I don't know Sophie. I just have this gut feeling that something happened. And we'll all have to pay for it." At this Sophie turned to look into his golden cat eyes.
"I'm sure she's fi-." But before Sophie could finish her sentence Ragnor came bounding into the clearing panting and heaving from sprinting all the way here.
"Ragnor what is it?" Magnus stood up and went to help Ragnor who was practically dying.
"It's Tessa…she's …she's…in trouble." Ragnor gasped out.
Oh boy talk about one busy week! Pep band on Tuesday and Thursday plus work on Wednesday and Friday, and Super Bowl Sunday/babysitting gig...yeah I'm already tired. But hey I still managed to get this chapter up and who knows maybe I'll get lucky with the creative juice and write a few more chapters! After a much needed break which included me and my best friend finishing off the last episodes of American Horror Story: Coven I came home and wrote up this chapter. Okay not really true I started writing this at the beginning of the week but hey high school life is pretty busy so...
Now I want to say as for update dates I am extremely sporadic. I write when my brain is in the writing mood and I have a good chapter event in mind. However, just because I don't like living up to my update schedule does not mean I don't like living up to reviews so if you'd please be so kind as to leave me one. Maybe some instructive criticism. But this is a serene environment so if you don't like it then I wouldn't go off on a rant just tell me what is bugging you(kindly) and I'll see what changes I can make to improve the story.
So bye-bye for now!
-Emma