CHAPTER 7
War is Among Us
Sophie woke up, a tear puddle at her and Howl's head. Oddly enough, Howl was still there. It wasn't like him to sleep in like this.
"Howl?" Sophie asked softly, "spooning" his back. Her worry increased when he didn't answer.
Sophie looked over him. She gasped, and cupped her hand over her mouth.
Scales covered Howl's arm, and blood dripped from it onto the bed sheets and onto the floor.
"Howl!" Sophie gasped, trying to keep quiet. "You must've gone out to fight at late night..." Sophie said, still quiet. She tiptoed outside of the room, and searched for a dry rag.
"Morning, Sophie!" Markl, Calcifer, the Witch and Heen (who just wheezed) all said in unison.
"Mmh...Morning..." Sophie said, not paying attention to them, still running around worried, still looking for a towel. "Mmh...Got to find a towel..." Sophie murmured to herself.
"Here, Sophie!" Markl said, still brimming, handing her the towel.
"Mmh...Thanks..." Sophie said, rushing upstairs.
"What's wrong with her?" Calcifer asked Markl. "Doesn't she even realize it his her six month anniversary being at the castle?" Calcifer asked.
"I don't know...Maybe she is just playing with us..." Markl suggested, somewhat losing his hope of a big party.
"That's not like her, though..." The Witch said, mumbling to herself something about a late night disturbance.
"What?" Markl asked the Witch, snapping his head in her direction.
"Oh...Nothing..." The Witch said, acting like she'd said nothing at all.
"Tell me!" Markl insisted, stomping his foot on the floor. "I want to know what has happened to Sophie!"
The Witch looked taken aback.
"Okay, okay..." She reluctantly agreed. "Last night, I heard Sophie get up, at about two and go into Howl's room. I ignored it, but when I went to go to ask Sophie if she could fix me some warm milk, I heard she wasn't in her room yet, so I listened at the door, and-''
"That's horrible! You shouldn't do that!" Markl interrupted.
"Hush up, boy, I had my reasons!" The Witch said, snapping back at the young boy, whose eyes were so wide now, he was sure to listen.
"ANYway...I heard voices...TWO...Coming from Howl's room. I heard sobbing, both from a male and from a female, so both of them were crying. They said something about a dream, and losing each other. I wanted to barge in, but then I just heard them say something else about how much they love each other, and then they cried some more, and it lasted a long, long time. After that, I went back to bed when all I heard was constant sniveling and gasping cries."
"Is that all?" Markl asked the Witch.
"No, there's more." The Witch answered, clearing her throat.
"Okay, go on, then..." Calcifer and Markl said quite interested, but softly.
"Well, at about 3:30ish, maybe 4:00...I saw a figure come down from the stairs...It looked like Howl. He turned the door knob, and from the door, a red and black void opened. A war zone. About 6:00 a.m., just before we all woke up, Howl returned, as a horrible bird creature. Blood dripped from him. He slouched upstairs, and that's all I know." The Witch ended, folding her hands in her lap.
"Wow!" Markl said. "The war is becoming SERIOUS!"
"Yes, it is..." Calcifer said very soft.
Just then, right at that moment, they all turned their heads towards the staircase, as they heard a piercing scream break the sound barrier.