A small village close to the deep forest remained almost unchanged for the last 50 years. Old villagers left it long time ago, some earlier, some later. But now only one person remained from the previous habitants, the old lady, who everyone in the village calls Gran. Only she remembers, what it was like five decades ago…
A brown-haired girl with emerald eyes filled with joy skipped through the village's gate. Her short hair were tied with two red ribbons, one on each side. She was wearing a sports suit and comfortable shoes. She ran towards one of the benches and began to stretch herself.
'Sakura-chan' a familiar voice rang in the air. The brown-haired girl lifted up her head and saw her childhood friend approaching her.
'Ah, Tomoyo-chan' the girl smiled. 'You finished your lessons?'
'Yes. So I figured I'd go to see you' answered Tomoyo. She was a nice and serene girl. Her hair were black, long and a little wavy. She usually had them loose, wearing a headband matching the colour of her clothes. 'How is your training?'
'Good, I'm just finishing' Sakura jumped a few times. 'Today I ran 3 kilometres. And I found a perfect place for picnic' she added.
'That's good to hear. Because I was just about to suggest a picnic for the afternoon' said happily Tomoyo, clapping her hands. 'Mother said, she might join us this time'
'I'd love to. Your mother is so nice, Tomoyo-chan' agreed Sakura. Tomoyo smiled.
'Let's go then, I'll prepare some food for the picnic' said the black-haired girl.
'Ah, wait a moment, Tomoyo-chan. I want to visit Gran before we go' remembered Sakura. Her friend smiled and nodded. They left the centre of the town and arrived at the old house, the only one which had its own flower garden. The old lady was just watering the dandelions, when the girls arrived.
'Hello, Gran' greeted her Sakura. The lady turned towards them, smiled and put the watering can on the ground.
'Good day, Sakura, Tomoyo. What are you doing today?' asked the lady.
'We're just about to go prepare some food for the picnic. I found a beautiful clearing with lots of flowers' answered back Sakura.
'That's great, girls. Enjoy your picnic then' the lady smiled and took the watering can.
'Ah, Gran. There's something I wanted to ask you' called Sakura. The old lady gave her a surprized look.
'Oh? What's that, dear?' she asked.
'Could you tell me about the events from 50 years ago?' said brown-haired girl. 'I mean the incident with the royal family'
The old lady went silent for a moment and sighed. 'Well, I knew you would ask about it sooner or later. Very well, what do you want to know?'
'About the incident… why did villagers murdered the family? I heard they were loved by their people, weren't they?' said Sakura.
'That's true, that the people loved the family' agreed Gran. 'But times changed. After the Queen died, rumours spread. Some were saying that the family killed her, as no one knew for sure, what was the reason for Queen's death'
'Couldn't they ask the royal guards?' asked the girl. 'They sure should had known the truth'
'They sure had, but the villagers didn't trust anyone connected with the family' explained Gran. 'In that case, they wouldn't listen to anything they would say. They believed that the family had murdered their Queen. And so they decided to bring the justice upon them' Gran paused for a moment and turned her face towards the forest. It looked like she was replaying the events in her mind before saying them aloud.
'And… what happened next?' asked Sakura. Gran's face darkened a little as she replied.
'They attacked the mansion' the answer ringed in the air. 'The villagers first struck on the guards. But they didn't kill them all'
'Why's that?' Sakura wondered.
'They gave them a choice' Gran's voice was beginning to tremble. 'Either to die, or join the mob… and many of them did. Without guard's protection, the family didn't stand a chance. The floor of the mansion was soaked with royal's blood. The deed was done, no one survived the attack' the old lady went silent for a while and continued. 'But then something unexpected happened. The villagers gathered all bodies in one place, but no matter how they searched, one body was missing. The King and Queen's son was nowhere to be found. They searched for days, months… years have passed but the boy wasn't found' tears were falling from Gran's eyes. 'He never came back… forever lost with unknown fate…'
Both Sakura and Tomoyo stood silently watching as the old lady cried upon boy's fate. Sakura approached her and quietly hugged her. Gran gave few more snobs and finally calmed down.
'I'm sorry, girls. To see me in such a state…' she laughed a little and mopped the tears away.
'It's okay, Gran' Sakura smiled. 'Thank you for telling us the story'
'You're very much welcome, dear' answered the old lady and took the watering can in her hand. 'Now, didn't you say, you have a picnic to prepare? I shouldn't stop you more then'
'Thank you again, Gran' the girls waved goodbye to the lady and left to their house. They were walking silently, rethinking the story they just heard.
'Hey, Tomoyo-chan' said Sakura. 'Do you, by any chance, happen to know what happened after the incident?'
'What do you mean, Sakura-chan?' Tomoyo looked at her friend.
'Your family lives here longer than me. Maybe you heard something…?' explained her thoughts brown-haired girl.
'Hm… I don't know much but I think I heard something' said Tomoyo. 'Mother said, that after the family was killed, the leader of the mob tried to get the power for himself only. But soon the villagers noticed his actions, and the leader was killed. Since then, the mansion stayed inhabited, and the mystery of boy's disappearance was never solved. Most of the old villagers left and went to live somewhere far away from the mansion. All present habitants of the village are the ones that came here during those 50 years'
'Is that so…' said Sakura and went into thoughts. 'You know, Tomoyo-chan? I feel sorry for that boy'
'Sorry?'
'Yes, it must be sad to be forgotten and never found' explained Sakura. 'He must have been very lonely'
'But, Sakura-chan. He's probably long dead' said Tomoyo. 'Remember? Gran said that no one survived. They just didn't find his body'
'That means, he could have survived the attack' pointed out brown-haired girl, with serious expression. 'Maybe he found some secret passage and escaped that way? Or maybe he hid himself in one of the rooms? Or maybe…'
'You just love to imagine different scenarios, Sakura-chan' the black-haired girl giggled. She turned towards her friend and stopped. 'Let's just leave it, as it is, Sakura-chan. No point in thinking about it too much'
Both girls walked some time in silence and as they approached Tomoyo's family house, Sakura again started the conversation.
'Say, Tomoyo-chan… wouldn't you go to that house with me tomorrow?' she asked. Her friend looked at her puzzled.
'What house?' asked Tomoyo.
'The noble's house. The one in the wood' replied Sakura.
'But wouldn't you be scared, Sakura-chan? It's an abandoned house in the middle of the forest. There can be ghosts in there…' said Tomoyo. Sakura looked a little pale after hearing that but didn't cried like she always did.
'M-maybe there will…' she replied. ' But I just have this feeling that there is something more to this story. And I want to uncover it'
'Well, if you really want to go there, then I'll go with you, Sakura-chan' smiled Tomoyo. 'And I'll make sure to record everything' she added holding up her camera. Sakura giggled nervously, remembering her friend's odd fascination in recording anything Sakura does.
'Then, we should now get prepared for picnic' said Sakura leading Tomoyo's thoughts some other place than the brown-haired girl. Tomoyo nodded and they both entered the house holding hands.
Next day the girls got ready for travel and left the village early morning.
'We'll probably be back in the evening' Sakura said Tomoyo's mother before leaving.
'Have a good day' the woman smiled and waved the girls goodbye.
The girls wandered through the forest for a little while before actually finding what they were searching for.
'It's harder to find than I thought' said Sakura, when they entered the house. 'And really dusty inside too' she added scanning the hallway.
The hallway near the main entrance was in not so good condition but it wasn't really bad. Some parts of the walls were burned or broken but the building was stable. There were some things, such as vases, dried flowers, books, little tables laying here and there under the walls. They probably were turned over during the mob's attack and no one cared to take care of them afterwards. The whole house was covered in thick layer of dust.
'Oh, this place sure needs good cleaning' said Tomoyo looking around the hallway. 'We can do this while looking around, right Sakura-chan?'
'I… I think so…' replied the girl with trembling in her voice. 'Do… do you think there are any g-g-ghosts here, Tomoyo-chan?'
'Who knows?' answered Tomoyo.
Suddenly a loud sound broke the silence of the house. Sakura cried and clung to Tomoyo trembling with fear.
'W-w-w-w-w-what was t-t-t-t-t-that?' she asked shaking.
'It sounded like glass. Maybe some vase fell and broke…?' said Tomoyo. She delicately broke Sakura's hug and turned towards the hallway. 'I'll check this out. Wait here, Sakura-chan'
'But… this can be d-d-d-dangerous' protested Sakura. 'What if it's some g-g-g-g-ghost?'
'I'll be right back, I promise' replied Tomoyo with smile as she stepped into the hallway.
Sakura watched her friend with worry but said nothing. It's just an old, abandoned house. She will be okay she thought trying to calm herself down. It was not a minute later she heard Tomoyo's cry.
'Tomoyo-chan!' she cried and rushed towards the source of the voice. She hurriedly opened the door at the end of a hallway, where Tomoyo disappeared to. She stepped inside… but there was no one inside. 'Tomoyo-chan?' she scanned the room but there were only books scattered around the floor, an old desk and a chair nearby and few old bookcases filled with books. Suddenly something caught the girl's eye, one thing that obviously didn't belong to this room, neither the house. She approached the middle of the room and picked up silverish device. 'That's… Tomoyo's camera' she recognised the device. Once again she looked around the room spotting shoe traces, which came from the door and ended where the camera was laying. Sakura hugged the camera and slowly fell to her knees. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. 'Tomoyo-chan' she whispered in pain.
