Chapter 3

Amelia pushed open the front door of the old mansion easily. Nobody had said anything on the way up the hill to the mansion. It had been an eerie silence, that made everyone feel uncomfortable. But when they had finally reached the house Amelia had let Michelle's hand go. Amelia quickly ran from the foyer to the back of the house, where she got out the back door, picked up a bucket from beside the old wooden door and walked down a series of steps to the old well across the overgrown, unkempt lawn.

She brought up the pale, now full to the rim with water, unhooked it from the rope and carried it back across the lawn, where the water continuously sloshed over the rim. She did all this with only her right hand, for her left hand was still placed in her pocket.

Amelia came back into the house, placed down the pale of water, closed the door behind her, picked up the pale again and brought it upstairs into the bathing room, where she emptied the water into a wide glass bowl with a chipped rim. She stared down into the water. She saw her reflection. She was so pale. Her eyes wider than usual. She could hear Michelle and Catherine talking downstairs, clearly confused about what Amelia had said in the bar, about them being ready to leave in the morning. But that didn't matter to Amelia right now.

She pulled her left hand, her sword fighting hand, from her pocket. It was stained in blood. There was a wound on her wrist, from which the blood was pouring out. It made her gasp to look at it. She started to cry above the bowl, adding more water to it. A tear fell on the wound, making it sting. To stop it she dropped her hand into the water, submerging it. The water quickly turned red. It stung like hell. She bit her lip to stop her from screaming out. But it didn't help. Her lip began to bleed, so she let it go. Her hand was shaking badly, more than any other wound had ever made it shake. But this was not a normal wound. The bowl flipped over the counter. Glass shattered all over the stone floor, making a crashing noise. Blood stained water spilled everywhere.

Amelia heard hurried footsteps climbing the stairs. She wanted to yell at them to leave her alone but she couldn't get the words out, she was choking on her own tears. The door flung open and Michelle came in, Catherine close behind. They saw their sister, standing in a puddle of red water. Michelle gasped, in unison with Catherine. They stood there staring at their sister, who was standing, clutching her hand, her hand with a wound on it's wrist, a wound that could of only gotten there one way.

Catherine grabbed Michelle's shoulders and pulled her behind her.

"What's wrong with her? What's happening to Amelia?" Michelle was peeking around her sister. To see Amelia look at them, with eyes wider than they usually seemed. Eyes that were full of fear. This scared Michelle, and she hid her face behind Catherine's maroon nightgown, the one she had been wearing all this time. Amelia opened her mouth. This seemed hard for her. She attempted speaking several times but without success. But she finally got her words out. They were slow, and stuttered.

"C-c-catherine. Please. Get M-m-michelle out." It took her a while to say this. But Catherine understood and obeyed without question. She backed out of the room, pushing Michelle out first. She closed the door and turned around and bent down to look into her little sister's face. It was white with shock. Michelle had seen too much this night. Catherine picked her up and carried her downstairs, onto the main landing. She turned left down a hallway, where there were several doors leading into bedrooms. The mansion wasn't all that big, but it had many rooms, 14 to be exact. She carried Michelle to the last one on the left. She opened the door with her free hand, the other one was holding up a crying Michelle. She hurried into the room and closed the door behind her. She ran and almost tumbled down to the other side of the room where she placed Michelle on a double bed. Michelle didn't let go of Catherine easily, but Catherine finally pried her little sister's hands opened.

Michelle sat there on the bed, weeping. Catherine jumped the bed to the other side where the window was. The moon, which was full, was almost disappearing over the mountains. Morning was coming in about an hour, not even. This meant they were safe, for now.

Catherine looked back to her sister. She was still sitting on the bed, wiping away the tears that seemed to come out and never stop. Catherine walked back over to Michelle and sat down beside her. She placed her arm around Michelle and held her tight. Sobbing ceased, and then stopped altogether. Catherine loosened her grip and held Michelle out in front of her, so she could see her face. The dim light that could make it into the room from the window didn't help much at all. But Catherine could see the puffy sapphire eyes.

She regretted yelling at Michelle earlier. Catherine promised to herself that whatever Michelle had to say, she would listen.

Michelle fell asleep soon after. Catherine was still wide awake though. She couldn't hear anything from upstairs. Perhaps Amelia had fell asleep or dropped unconscious. Catherine got up from the bed, laying Michelle's head on a pillow. She walked toward the bedroom door, making the floor creak. She opened the door slowly and poked her head outside. The front door was open, making a faint creaking noise. Catherine left the room and wandered down the hall. She reached the stairs and looked up at the head of the stairs. There was nobody there. She climbed the stairs, keeping close to the edge near the banister so that she wouldn't make any of the stairs creak.

When she reached the top she looked back and forth through the hall. It was deserted. She walked along the hall toward Amelia's bedroom, but she stopped in front of the bathroom. She saw Amelia laying in a puddle of blood. She was twitching in a way that looked painful. But she was unconscious. Was Amelia having a dream? Or was this her body having to adapt to soon coming changes. Catherine couldn't watch any longer. She continued down the hall to Amelia's room. She was searching for something. She felt around the armoire and nightstand, finding every type of weapon, even some that Catherine had never heard of. At last when she felt around under the mattress, she found it. She grasped the handle and pulled it out. A silver stake. She felt a bit guilty as she held it, but she knew that it was for hers' and Michelle protection. She held it at her side as she left the room.