-Sorry it took so long to write!! I feel so bad!! It took me about like... what... a month?? Gomen. Well, let's get started....
Sunlight filtered through the shutters as Rosette stretched luxuriously in the cot. It was quite uncomfortable, and her body was riddled with ache. She slowly got out of the bed, and she opened the shutters, realizing that the sun had still not risen. It was that magical time just before the sun began its long trip across the sky. A golden light was oozing slowly into the sky, bright and robust, in colors of orange, gold, and rust. The moon still lingered in the sky, very close to the horizon, and very pale. Everyone was still asleep, and the church was eerily quiet.
It was an odd feeing, Rosette soon realized, that feeling of the want of sleep, but the inability to receive it. She sighed, she was the only awake in this entire church, save for maybe a few bats and mice. Throwing her legs over the side of the horrid cot, she pulled herself up, slipping on her boots. Azmaria slumbered quietly in her bed, curled under the rough wool blankets. She smiled, and tucked the blankets around her form gently.
"Rosette...." Rosette spun around. Someone had whispered her voice. It was soft, and feminine, and curled around her form like smoke from a blown out candle. She lit the small crystal oil lamp, and used the dim light to walk out the room, following the whispering voice, that called her name. She realized that the voice was coming from the entry way, just outside the decaying doors. She pushed them open, but was not greeted with the sight of lush green hills still coated in dew and rain.
No, the bright sun was shining across the livid green grass, and a pasture was just across the road. She saw a young man run to the steps, now newly revived, with no chips, and small pieces of tile shaped like crosses embedding into its granite surface. He took his cap off and shook it vigorously, freeing blades of grass and dirt from its tweedy grasp.
"Brian!!!" a voice shrieked, Rosette saw a small form run to the steps, her skirt hiked up well above her knees, her brown boots and cream stocking exposed.
"Marie, c'mon!!" he yelled back, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Y...You cheater! You cut across Higgins' field!!" she screamed, her face flushed from a mixture of excitement, rage, and exhaustion. She skidded to a stop just before she reached the steps.
"Marie..."
"Don't you dare 'Marie' me! What if Higgins find out?!?" she demanded, stomping her foot indignantly.
"He won't find out, trust me! But look..." he pointed up at the roof of the church. Rosette leaned out cautiously, praying she wouldn't disrupt whatever magic was happening.
She didn't disturb whatever was going on. The pair of siblings were staring at the gargoyles that adorned the roof's edge. They were fearsome, and eight of them glowered down at them. Their carved stone eyes seemed to be filled with malice, and their large teeth were barred menacingly.
Marie cringed in fear, pulling her form closer to the safety of her brother's.
"Don't be afraid, their the guardians," he replied, patting his sister's cobalt blue hair (hint hint nudge nudge)
"What??" she asked looking up at her brother's light grey eyes.
"They protect holy grounds from demons and evil who would want to corrupt it," he replied, in a soothing voice, smoothing her softly curling hair, as it cascaded down one shoulder casually.
"Now smile," Brian then captured her hair back in a very large silk ribbon. It was colored the luxurious shade of blue of the sea just after a storm. He tied it back in a gentle bow, and smiled at her tanned face. She smiled back at him sweetly, with every bit the innocence of newborn babe.
"Come one," he weaved his fingers with hers as they walked through the doors, passing straight through Rosette.
It was an odd sensation, being walked through by some specters of a brother and sister who she guessed where long gone.
But the moment the two phantoms walked into the entry way, light disappeared from the hills, the dew fading back into the dawn colored sky. She stared in wonder, as she could now see the car, broken down on the gravel road. She sighed, and pulled the doors closed, the stair now battered and beaten. She sighed. She didn't know what she had seen, it filled her with sadness. Marie and Brian reminded her so much of her brother and her, when they were younger. She sighed, and rested her forehead against the rotten wood of the door, sadness filling her soul, and leaving her felling like damp cloth left to dry...
-This chapter is so short for one reason!!! It's just half of a long description on the history of The Church of Lost Hope. So enjoy, and the next one is even better!! Tell me what you think though?? BTW, in the next chapter, you find out who the cross is meant for! See ya until the next chapter!! - so thanks, and please review!!