A/N: YAY! I found the complete download of Howl's Moving Castle soundtrack:squeals, giggles:
I'm listening to it now. XD
Anywya, thanks to wolfygirl, OliviaVertigo, and everyone else, since I have a notoriously horrible memory for names.
Chapter Seven
Charlie walked out of his house at Number Nine Filbert Street to find a strange thing on his doorstep. There was a storybook there, a king in a red cloak sitting on the front cover. He blinked and walked back inside with it in his hands, trotting up the stairs to his Uncle Paton's room.
He knocked on Paton's door carefully. "Uncle Paton?"
"Come in, Charlie," said Paton's tired voice.
Charlie walked in carefully and held out the book. "Did you drop this, Uncle Paton?"
Paton was sitting at his desk, half awake as he held his head up. "Hmmm?" He took the book and looked over it, waking up a bit more. "No, I've never seen this before," he said, getting very interested in it.
Charlie watched his uncle look through it for a little bit. "It was on the doorstep when I went outside," he said.
Uncle Paton nodded his head as he read through a bit of the book. Charlie would laugh if he didn't find the book so curious himself. He walked out of Paton's room and went back downstairs. He had to go over to the Pets Café to see Runner Bean.
He walked along until he saw Asa standing outside of the Pets Café, head bowed as he leaned against the brick wall of the building beside the café. Charlie blinked at Asa as he went around the boy.
A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Charlie looked up at Asa to see the boy staring at him with those wolfish eyes. Asa shook his head slowly and let go of Charlie, looking back at the ground. Charlie frowned and saw Norton. "Runner Bean is waiting for you," he said with a glare at Asa.
Charlie nodded and walked into the café. He saw Lysander with his parrot and Gabriel with his gerbils, Tancred holding a couple in his hands as Ada Isidore giggled, one on her head. Fidelio was there with his deaf cat and Emma was there as well. The only one missing, once again, was Olivia.
"Charlie! Didn't think you were going to show up!" said Lysander holding up one of the gerbils.
Runner Bean ran out from under the table and tackled Charlie. "ARGH!"
A whole manner of shouts and barks and calls went out. Charlie pulled Runner Bean off of him enough to see the table that his friends had been sitting at was over turned. Tancred and Lysander helped right the table as Ada and Gabriel attempted to gather up the gerbils.
"Sorry," said Charlie as he grabbed a hold of Runner Bean's collar and walked over to the counter. He bought a cookie for both him and Runner Bean and walked over to the table where his friends were getting settled down at once again.
Ada giggled as she let the gerbils crawl on her. "They are adorable! I love them!" Charlie saw Gabriel's cheeks go pink as he tried not to look at Ada.
Charlie told them about the book that he'd found on his doorstep as he munched on the cookie he'd bought and fed Runner Bean the other one. "And you have no idea where it came from?" asked Emma as she reached down and picked up a basket with a little white duck in it. She gave the duck a little bit of her crackers and patted it on the head.
Charlie shook his head. "No, I don't." He looked to the duck and then to Emma. "Is that yours?"
Emma nodded. "Yes, she's pretty isn't she?" she giggled, petting the duck.
The entire room darkened then, like a cloud was going overhead and blotting out the sun. Tancred's hair crackled as he looked around. "I don't like this," he said.
Then, everything seemed to go black, though Charlie could still hear everyone around him. There was a crash as something broke through the window and then the sound of something attacking the thing that broke through the window. There was snarling and growling and then a howl as something was hurt. Charlie found himself on the ground, Runner Bean standing over him growling at the fight that was somewhere in the café.
He heard Mr. Omnimous banging a pot, trying to create enough noise to get the animals out of the café. Then, all at once, the fight was over. Something ran off as something seemed to crawl out and then the light returned.
Charlie looked over to Mr. Omnimous standing on top of the counter with a pan in hand, looking around. There was blood on the ground and a trail of it leading outside. Norton was at the door looking in like he couldn't believe what just happened.
Charlie put a leash on Runner Bean and said good bye to his friends, going out to walk Runner Bean and to think as well. What had happened in that café?
Charlie noticed Asa Pike wasn't where he'd seen him before. Asa hardly ever left when Charlie was there, watching him like some sort of hungry animal. A thought struck Charlie. Could Asa have been the one to attack? If that was true, then how? Did it have anything to do with the entire area going pitch black?
Morgan was watering the flowers in the backyard, trying to get her mind off of what had happened Friday night. Her mother liked to grow things, but Morgan never gained the ability to make things grow like her mother did. She had a peach tree in the corner of the backyard that was just now managing to grow in a somewhat respectful tree. The peaches it grew every year were small, but sweet.
She walked over to the pansies and blinked down at the grass. She knelt down to get a better look and found blood on the grass, as well as glass. She frowned and followed the trail to a row of bushes. She held the watering can in her hand ready to hit whatever was behind the bushes if it attacked her. "Who's there? Come out, or I'll make you come out!"
She heard something rustle weakly and she walked over cautiously. She put the can down beside her feet and pushed the bushes aside to see behind them. She gasped and jumped back, turning white as her blue widened considerably. "Wha…what?"
Morgan ran inside the house to get her mother. Mrs. MacGregor was watering the plants inside the house when Morgan ran over to her and grabbed her hand. "Mum! You have to help me. Come outside!" Then, she ran out with her mother in tow.
"What is going on, Morgan! You've been acting strange since y'father brought you home from school!" Then, all at once, Mrs. MacGregor went quiet.
Morgan looked to her peach tree. It was holding up a mangled and bloody Asa Pike. He had cuts and bite marks all over him, glass glistened on his ripped clothes and in his hair. He panted as he looked to Morgan and Mrs. MacGregor with those yellow eyes.
Mrs. MacGregor looked from her daughter to the boy and seemed to understand what had her daughter in such a mess lately. She walked over toward the boy. "Morgan, you get the guest room ready, cover the bed in plastic. I'll take the lad inside."
Morgan nodded and ran into the house to do as her mother asked. Mrs. MacGregor put an arm around the boy and put the better of the two arms around her shoulder, watching him wince in pain. "Shhh, calm down lad, I'll be helping you, all right?" she said softly and then walked Asa inside the house.
Morgan saw her mother come into the guest room and helped her put the boy on the plastic covered bed. "I'll need to get some first aid things, Morgan. Make sure he stays still." Then, Mrs. MacGregor walked out.
Asa panted heavily as he looked up at the ceiling blearily. Morgan frowned as she looked to Asa, unsure of what to do. "What happened to you," she asked softly as she sat beside the bed.
Asa coughed and turned his head away from her. Morgan frowned at him. He either had blood going into his lungs, making him unable to speak properly, or he was avoiding the question. Either way, there wouldn't be any time for that. Mrs. MacGregor walked in with her arms full of various things.
"Morgan, I'll need your help," she said.
Charlie walked Emma to the bookstore. He patted Emma's pet duck on the head before smiling at Emma. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Em."
She smiled brightly at Charlie and nodded. Then, she kissed his cheek and disappeared into the store. Charlie blinked at the door dumbly, ears heating up. After a moment of staring at the door, Charlie walked home, hands in his pockets as he walked.
When he turned onto Filbert Street, he heard a cry of pain from Number Thirteen. His gaze snapped up to Morgan's house. He heard yelling, a fight of some sort going on in the house.
Mr. MacGregor had a temper, but he wasn't the sort to abuse his family. He frowned and walked over to the house, knocking on the door. The fighting seemed to stop, the sound of heavy footsteps going down the stairs near the door said Mr. MacGregor was coming to the door. "Eh? Charlie, lad, are you all right?"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Mr. MacGregor, what's going on? I heard screaming."
"Nothing you should worry about. M'daughter and I are having a bit of a tiff, but nothing to worry about," he said with a smile.
"AND YOUR WIFE!" growled a woman's voice. Mrs. MacGregor apparently had something to say in whatever matter was going on.
"Dad! You can't just leave a bloke out in the dirt and the sun when he's in this condition!" growled Morgan as she came down the stairs. "He could've bled to death!"
"Not now, Morgan!" growled Mr. MacGregor.
Charlie watched the fight brewing in front of him for a moment. "Who did you find that was bleeding?"
"That bloke Asa Pike. I would've left 'im there to rot, but these two seem to think it's inhumane to do nothing for the ungrateful little whelp," grunted Mr. MacGregor. He gave a sigh and looked to Charlie. "You should go on home, Charlie. Your mum and gran will want you home in time for dinner, right?"
Charlie nodded slowly and walked away, looking over his shoulder at Mr. MacGregor as he waved and closed the door. Charlie walked in and was greeted by Maisie. She sat him down for dinner and he ate his favorite dish of fish and chips. He told her about the strange occurrences at the Pets Café. Then, he told her about what had happened when he went by Morgan's house.
"Oh dear, I do hope that whatever is happening over there, everything will be all right. Mr. and Mrs. MacGregor are such nice people," she said, "But she was right; you can't just leave the boy to bleed to death. That would be going to the level of those awful Bloors."
Charlie frowned and stood up. He walked up the stairs only to find Uncle Paton poking his head out of his door. "I finished the book, Charlie. Thank you for lending it to me," he said as he handed Charlie the book.
Charlie blinked. Had there been nothing of importance in the book? Then, why was it left of their doorstep?
Charlie went into his room and opened the book. He found something interesting between the pages, marking one story in particular. It was a little black pressed flower. It must have been there for a while for it to have lost its color, he thought.
The story it had been marking was one called "The Story of the Tomb of Mahmet". Charlie looked at the picture next to it. It was of a woman sitting on a throne, sleeping; ten knights around her also asleep in one circular chamber.
Charlie read the story. He felt like he was drawn toward it. In the story, a man found the tomb through an opening under a tree. Directly under the tree was one chamber where a large bell hung. There was little space to go around it, so he went around carefully. Then, he found the second chamber, a large circular chamber with ten knights and one woman sitting on a throne. She was dressed lavishly, hair like night pulled over one shoulder, a gold circlet on her head holding a multicolored veil on her head.
Well, the man was so taken by the veil and the woman, the man walked right up to the woman and lifted the veil and circlet off and kissed her. She did not move, nor did she seem alive. He would have thought her to be dead if only she didn't look so alive. So, he took the veil and the circlet and walked out, only, the circlet hit the bell on the way through. The woman woke up and looked to the man. "Is it the day?"
The man blinked. The woman had been alive after all. "What day, madame?" he said as he walked further into the room.
The knights woke up then as the woman stood up. "Seize him, for he steals my veil of dreams!"
The man tried to get away, but the knights grabbed a hold of him and took the veil and circlet away from him and tossed him out. Then, the tree seemed to disappear when he turned back to look at it.
Charlie put the book down and lay back on his bed with the flower in his hand, wondering about the story. The book had what looked to be the Red King on it, or what one might have thought the Red King looked like, but the story confused him. Was Mahmet one of the Red King's children? Why hadn't Paton said anything and just given him the book instead?
It may him sleepy just thinking about it. He looked out his window at Number Thirteen and saw the light in a room on the other side of the house. Was that the room Asa Pike was?
So many questions and so little answers. Charlie was making no sense out of any of it. He side and got ready for school the next day and then went to bed.
