Scarlet and the Blade of Light

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Chapter 6: Lovely flowers

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As soon as Demonia opened the door, a rush of cold wind blew out from inside, chilling the three of them down to the bone. It was the coldest they ever felt in their lives. The three…tentatively stepped inside. Looking around carefully for any predatory dangers, seeing nothing but this one room that only had a table and several broken chairs, they stepped in slowly one by one, first Demonia, then Edlyn, then Ariadne with the now…for the first time, very silent Dimble that tightened it's arms around Ariadne in fear. When the three were inside, very well on their guard, the wind stop blowing outwards towards them, causing the door to slam shut, for the wind…stopped very abruptly. Then…there was a sound in the distance, obviously coming from outside, it was the bell, it rang…and rang…the ringing throbbed in their heads till suddenly, there was no sound at all. And Demonia also realized…there was not a single fly in this room. Where did they go?

Edlyn looked around, searching every nook and cranny around this…somewhat bare room. She looked at one of the broken chairs, she didn't know why, but she bent down and touched the leg of it that was ripped off. For some reason…she had a flash of a room, with a rocking chair and a bunk bed. She shook the thought out of her head and decided to be more careful about the things she touched. She decided not to tell her friends about it, as they were psyched out enough. The only thing that was significant and frightening to them now was the door that lead to who knows where…Demonia stepped forward slowly, followed by Edlyn then Ariadne like before. Demonia slowly opened the door, the three not saying a word. Demonia walked down slowly like the others. They were walking down a somewhat narrow hallway, they took their time walking down this hallway, for it had some pictures aligned on the wall. There was nothing frightening about these pictures…in fact, they looked rather heartwarming. One of the pictures had a picture of the entire family of the Saint Autumns. The three surveyed it for a moment. The father who was obviously Saint Autumn had a warm smile, and was holding his wife lovingly. His children were all smiling as well, he had 3 boys, and 2 girls. One of the girls was one that Edlyn recognized; it was the girl that stared at her from the window not so long ago. Her face was thin and pale, with pitch black hair that fell elegantly around her shoulders, she was shyly peeking her head out from behind her mother, her fingers clutched on her dress. Her eyes dazzled with lights and her lips curved into a half grin. The other girl was being held by one of her brother's, who seemed to have held her in a strong protective embrace. Even if they appeared to be of the same height and age. The oldest son was almost as tall as his father, and his face was dark and his eyes beamed with intelligence and happiness. He looked more serious then anyone else of the family, but if you looked long enough, a small smile seemed to appear on his face. The last boy, the youngest of all of the Autumn's family, looked around the age of 3. He could only be described as adorable. His eyes were a deep blue and his cheeks were slightly chubby and very rosy. His smile was wide and meant for everyone it seemed, his arm wrapped around his father's leg. His father, with his one hand holding his wife, also had his other hand on top of his youngest son's head. The picture of this family was beautiful, and how this house ever became haunted by this family…still remained a mystery.

When they reached the end of the short hallway, there was a couple ways they could have turned, one was to the right, that seemed to lead to another room. There was another door to their left. They decided to save the door for later, and just turn to their right, they walked slowly and tentatively and found themselves in the Autumn's kitchen. It was a very large kitchen, with many cabinets, it smelled of earth, for there was a table in the middle. They could see some signs of dried blood, and growing from all of it together was just mounds of mold and fungi. A couple flies hovered over the fungus as the three of them looked at it in mild disgust. Edlyn walked inside and started to search the cabinets, the other two started to do the same. They searched everything, even the ovens. No one found anything, save for Demonia.

"You guy's…I found something. Come here." She beckoned.

"'Bout time." Edlyn muttered under her breath.

Demonia unfolded the scroll as the other two looked over her shoulder, it was a letter in untidy handwriting that read,

Hi Mommy!

I bet you can't find me! Come and find me Mommy! Bet you can't find me! I love you!

Molly

Edlyn breathed sharply, "That's her."

"Who?" Demonia asked.

"The girl…the girl in the window, that's Molly." Edlyn said quickly.

"How do you know that?" Demonia asked as she rolled back the letter and put it back in it's original spot.

"Because, when I saw her, it was like she was trying to say something to me, she mouthed the words, 'Come and find me'…so that had to be her." Edlyn put in.

The other two were convinced and nodded slowly. So far everything was okay, and they were actually starting to feel a little better. They saw nothing else of importance in that kitchen, except another door, a screen door that clearly lead to their backyard. The three decided to search there first before heading back to the other door on the left, once they were in the backyard, they could see that they were clearly on the right side of the Autumn's house, so it would be strange to call it a backyard. It was more like a tiny garden. But the most significant thing about this particular garden was that it was a graveyard. 7 headstones, all aligned next to one another. All 7 of the headstones had no name on them, saying when that person died…or even who. All 7 of the headstones were uncovered, as if someone meant to bury someone, but never put the body in nor covered it back up for that matter. Ariadne started to get the funny feeling that maybe that all seven were buried once, but just risen out. The one headstone all the way to the right however had flowers on the top of the headstone. They were fresh flowers and were identical to the ones surrounding them in the garden. Obviously, someone had recently put them there. But who?

I told you not to come here. Ariadne heard a familiar voice in her head. She turned as the other two turned as well to see what she was looking at. It was the raven, perched on one of the headstones.

Is there anything you can tell me about this house…what happened? Ariadne communicated back, ignoring it's warning.

Something terrible happened here…I do not wish to talk about it. Leave now. The raven took off without a response from Ariadne. She told the other two what they talked about. Demonia nodded, but Edlyn wasn't even listening, her head was turned and her eyes grew wide as she looked up, yet again at another window. The last window she looked at was obviously connected to this one. Meaning the room with the girl had not one, but two windows. The other two looked up, and this time all three of them were able to see that Edlyn was speaking the truth. The girl, the same as the one before was looking down at them from the window. This time she was not smiling, nor waving at them in a friendly manner. This time her eyes were locked with permanent fear and her tiny body seemed to whiplash itself against the window. Her tiny hands banging against the window…but there was no sound. Blood trickled down her face and she looked as if she was screaming, consumed with fear she finally seemed to see the three travelers down below, she looked directly at Edlyn, probably recognizing her from their first encounter. She started to beat her fists against the windows more rapidly, mouthing the words, Help me! Help me!. The girl disappeared and the three started to get nauseated feelings. Edlyn looked back at the fresh flowers...knowing who must have put them there.