The shack

The nerves she has". He muttered under his breath shaking his head in disapproval because of what he had just seen.

He placed his sable brushes and tripod by the corner of the room, the unfinished painting on the canvas stared back at him. A reminder that he had to finish what he had started a few days back before procrastination and distraction settled in. But that wasn't the case, it wasn't distraction , at least that wouldn't be the way he would've put it. The right terms was 'busy'.

Ignoring the creature that was resting peacefully on the floor, he walked over to the huge drapes which prevented the other side from being seen, push them to the side and Alas! the ray of sun light came in through the wide window.

" Hmmmmm".

He heard the creature groan and complain inaudibly. He went back to where he placed his tripod.

"What? What are you doing here? This isn't your room." Isabelle sat upright on the floor, the sun in her eye and her hair a mess.

"And why am I on the floor?" She asked herself and then gasped "Did I fall from the bed?". She turned her head to the right looking for her bed. " What is going on?".

"This isn't your room. Its my workspace" He said placing the canvas on the tripod looking at the unfinished parts.

"Work..s.space?" The voice, it sounded so familiar. She's heard it somewhere, from someone , someone annoying and

"Jia!" She exclaimed, the sleep that was still hanging around her eyes vanished the moment she realised who she was talking to. Her mouth agape.

"Yes that's my name and close your mouth before a fly gets in there." He said staring at her while making a slip knot with the hands of the apron he had just put on.

'A white apron used by a painter that hadn't been stained? How's that possible?' Isabelle thought. ' or maybe he was just very good at washing his clothes?'

Isabelle gathered her thoughts. She came here with kia , they spoke a little, watched the night sky glow because of those creatures, Kia left to go to bed,she layed on the floor to stare at the creatures and apparently dozed off. She realised that she had slept here last night.

was she supposed to apologize for accusing him of being in her room or she should

"Run!" Her insides screamed.

She scrambled and made her way down the stairs feeling awkward leaving Jia to process what had just happened. she looked horrible in the mornings and she was quite aware of that, it explained the feeling of awkwardness.

The horrible bird's nest of a hair fought tooth and nail with the brush. Scared that she might pull all her hair out, she heaved a heavy sigh staring at the comb whose job was to detangle but wasn't doing its job properly. she searched for a scarf to cover her hair with. Her scalp was already aching.

"Oh yes I forgot to tell you" Kia scratched the back of his head smiling. She just had to ask Kia because what happened was embarrassing, she hated people seeing her face when she wakes up in the morning especially her hair, heaven knows what happens to her hair at night when she had fallen asleep that makes it look the way it does in the morning.

"Its his workspace, he paints a lot and makes miniature sculptures when he's less busy". Kia said.

" So he doesn't just paint, he also makes miniature sculptures?" She was surprised to hear and wondered why she hadn't seen the sculptures when they were up in the room, maybe because it was alright night time.

"Can we check it later?" She asked Kia who was about to put a boiled potato in his mouth.

"Sure, of course we can. Let's eat I'm hungry". There they were, alone and sitting on the dinning table. Nia had gone out earlier " To run some errands" She said.

'She was always running errands. One day, I'm going to ask her about these errands she so devotedly run' thought Isabelle to herself.

"Is it me or the butter tastes sweeter than usual?" She couldn't help but comment when she had noticed.

"Its sweeter than the one I'm used to" Isabelle said smearing some butter on a slice of bread.

"I bet the cow's been eating healthy" kia responded and smiled at the thought of healthy cows.

"Yeah, they've been feeding them with a lot of greens lately"

"Green's good for people as well as animals so yes"

"What a pathetic conversation" Jia said descending from the stairs, in his usual cloak which made Isabelle wonder if he had any other form of clothing apart from the cloak he usually wore.

The night before, he had put on a different color of cloak. Isabelle thought it was his pajamas.

He didn't get a reply from either of them, he grabbed an apple and turned.

"Talking about cows and milk and butter". He took a big bite out of the apple.

" Its not like you have anything better to say " Isabelle muttered under her breath.

"I heard that" He spoke out that and left the house.

"He's gone." Isabelle said looking at kia who was drinking water so he could push down whatever was stuck in his chest. Finally able to breathe properly, he said "Let's go". He said placing the napkin that was sitting on his laps with some crumbs of food on it, on the table.

They didn't bother cleaning after themselves. Isabelle had a smile on her face because of their mischievous act.

"Welcome to Jia's art studio. This is where he gets his alone time, he locks himself up here everyday to keep people away." Kia said .

"Wow." Isabelle released her breath. There were paintings everywhere and sculpted works. why didn't she see this before when she was up here this morning? Canvas of different sizes hunged on the walls of each sides, while the huge ones were placed on the floor. Isabelle eyes rested on his brushes and with her hands she felt them, the tips and then said to herself

"He does know quality brushes. Feels like the hair of an Australian squirrel"

She walked further noticing his work area.

"Not a messy artist also. "

She saw a crate on the floor which was filled with transparent plastic bottles that held liquid in them, she assumed they were the chemical all artists have. " Linseed oil" She said after noticing that 80 percent of his work were made out of oil paints and a few , water colors.

"He is amazing" She hasn't seen so much art work in one room by one person. He made a painting of the 'Mona Lisa' by Leonardo da Vinci It was perfect.

"Of course he is. The amazing part was that he never attended art classes. Nya would have to drag him all the way home to art class. Because of his lack of interest in art classes, we thought it was because he was terrible at art. But the truth be told, he didn't want so much attention on him when people discover that he was really good" Kia said following Isabelle's gaze which landed on the 3 dimensional art works.

He even made a 3 dimensional version of the Mona Lisa in form of sculpting that is. His thirst for details is seen in this art work and every of his works screamed how much he loved to detail his works.

"You couldn't clean the mess you made down stairs and not only that you are also nosy" Jia reappeared staring at the two.

"Coming from the guy who looks like a grim reaper. You have a terrible taste in fashion" Isabelle retorted, she just had to comment on the way he dressed.

"We're not living in the medieval times" She rolled her eyes.

Sensing a silly argument was about to start Kia said "Uh sorry Jia its my fault, I brought her here, only because the both of you have similar interests that's all" Kia was quick to apologize.

"Similar interests that made you bring up things that happened in the past?" Jia had heard when Kia told Isabelle about his nonchalant

attitude towards going to school.

"Don't be sorry Kia, we were just looking around. Its not a crime to

look around is it?"

Isabelle placed her hands on kia's shoulder.

"You weren't just looking around, you were also not minding your business, and yes it is a crime to invade someone's privacy. My privacy". Jia walked into the room with his cloak dragging on the floor which made Isabelle almost laugh, she just had to get a grip of herself because she had seen the glare kia receives from Jia.

" You said it was your workspace" Isabelle reminded him.

"Work and personal space which you evaded not only once but twice now. You are meant to be punished" Jia said placing his chisel on the table.

"Excuse me? "

"You heard me" Jia smiled.

"No but seriously someone needs to speak to you about fashion, have you heard of something they call dress sense?. You seem to be lacking that".

This statement earned Isabelle a glare from Jia which made her almost jump. Her heart skipped a bit.

" Uh... we'll be going now". Kia pulled Isabelle whose face held that of triumph..

As they descended down the stairs, Nya could be seen pacing back and forth. With a worried look on Ber face.

"Is there something wrong?" Isabelle asked Nia who seemed worried.

At the sight of Isabelle, Nya hid the scroll behind her as quickly as possible which was a wrong move cause it made Isabelle only curious.

"No! Nothing's wrong. where is Jia?"

"In his workspace. Should I go fetch him for you?"

"No! don't worry."Nya said and ran hastily up the stairs with kia following from behind.

Isabelle felt the need to stay behind.

Few minutes later, they all came rushing down the stairs. " Where are you all going?" Isabelle asked, stand up from the chair.

"Uh, stay here Isabelle and don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.". Nya said with the same scroll in her hand.

Could it be what was written in the scroll that made them all worked up?. She asked herself.

Isabelle heaved a sigh. She was alone again. She went

to the small room she was provided with and sat on the bed with. The book, she pulled out from the drawer rested between her palm.

She observed the book a little reading out the Author's name

" Everlakcartoniss" before opening.

" The rickety old chair. " She read out the first words that were written on the first part after the book covers had been flipped. "Might not be so bad". She flipped a page.

"Find that wood cutter and bring him to me! It is the one who cut the tree that made the chair" Mrs wooven puff yelled at Sir Wingmire.

Sir Wingmire assembled all the guards in the royal palace and one by one they marched out of the palace into the village to find the mysterious wood cutter whose name they do not know and whose face they had not seen but rumors they have heard that he carved a chair and whoever sat in it had the power to rule all.

"Maybe he's a magician. No! He carved the wood out of his bare hands, a magician has a wand to do that" Mrs wooven puff paced back and forth with her Royal adviser writing down some of her guesses. "Maybe he made a deal with the witch and...and..., I'm clueless. Ugh!!". Mrs wooven puff grabbed her fan and sat on her chair. " I just hope the guards finds him "

"But your highness, how are you sure that its a 'he', what if its a 'she'." Sir Geeble her royal advisor said.

Mrs Wooven Puff eyes widen in sudden realisation.

"Maybe we've been looking at it all wrong. Maybe we've been searching for the wrong gender, maybe that's why we haven't found the wood cutter yet because the person we are looking for is not a 'he' but rather a 'she'"

"I'll have to invite all the Medians to the palace" Sir Geeble said and rushed out of her chamber.

Isabelle closed the book. "Now to make some hot cocoa"

She looked around before climbing down from the bed.

The shoes she had pushed off of her legs before claiming the bed remained in their position quietly, Her bare feet padded the wooden floor. She made her way into the kitchen.

"How to do that....". She opened the kitchen cabinet and saw a lot of jars which had labels on them. Pepper. leaves, milk sugar cubes. She grabbed the one labeled cocoa..

She put two and two together and added no sugar.

The steam didn't bother to cloud her eyes as she looked into the cup to take a sip. " Hmmm, I think sugar had already been mixed in this". She said making her way back to Jia's work space.

"I'm such a trouble maker" she whispered to herself.

"He did say I shouldn't be up here though. But he isn't here so he'll never know or have to shout at me" Isabelle said to herself smiling as she walked back into Jia's workspace.

The spirit of painting had possessed her once more. She placed the half full and half empty cup on a hard surface, her palm feeling the surface of a plain canvas.

She removed Jia's yet to dry painting from the tripod and placed it in a place where it would dry faster. Beside the window.

After a while of being indecisive on which paint brush to use, she eventually decided and spent the rest of the afternoon painting her heart away humming one of the musical notes she had written and not forgetting to take a sip of course every now and then from her cup of cocoa.

The hours have passed by quickly and Isabelle have fallen asleep on the couch at the corner of Jia's workspace.

The tip of the brush was at the edge of the table with wet paint slowly dripping onto the small puddle of paint that have formed over the few hours she had been asleep. The empty cup that once held sweet liquid was half empty sitting close to the window, the liquid swaying back and forth lightly in respect to the breeze.

"Wake up! Wake up you stupid creature. Wake up!!" It screamed at Isabelle's face.

Isabelle still didn't respond, groaning impatiently it used it's claw to scratch a metal surface. The effect it had on Isabelle jerked her awake.

A very strong aura began choking her, she held her neck gasping for air, feeling light headed , her vision becoming blur.

"Ugh...." The creature rolled it eyes.

"Humans are so weak" It reduced it size but still looked intimidating.

Isabelle heaved a heavy sigh, finally she was able to breathe, she looked around.

"Where is this? What? How? When?.. uhn?" She was confused. She was in a graveyard, its eerie sounds sent shivers down her spine. Her hands shook as she looked around, a Crow sat on a crooked tree branch staring at her.

The creature cleared its throat to get her attention, she looked up.

"Holy shit" she whispered under her breath. It was an undescribable creature, its distorted face and two horns with tips were undeniably sharp.

who knew? it could be described.

She was contemplating whether she should run or stay. Battling with her limbs that had already failed her, she gave up and stared.

"You might be wondering why you are here" Its deep voice forced their way into her her ears and she was forced to listen.

"You've always hated this world the day your mother left, You disliked everything, including waking up. You are all alone, sad and depressed. You know? all that can change. There's a way to end all your pain and suffering"

Isabelle's eyes widened, every part of her eager to know what was the way out.

It stretched forth its hands "By Joining your mother, since you hate this world, why not join your mother in the next and you'll be at peace........forever"

The creature lips curved into a smile . Isabelle's limb got its strength back and she started running , running into the thick darkness not knowing where she was going.

"Well that was a flop." The creature remarked. " was it my face? Ugh!!! I knew I should've gone for her mother's face instead, but i haven't perfected it yet. It isn't easy to just morph into different beings. that's what they don't know".

Isabelle woke up with a high pitched scream and she bumped her head against something hard.

"ouch!" She touched her forehead looking at what she hit her head against "Jia? what are you.......

" Bad dream?" Jia asked, swiftly changing his position.

"Yeah! um where are Nya and Kia?" She asked noticing their absence.

"They're on their way, just finishing up one or two things. Mind telling me what you dreamt of?"

" Wait! H.h..how.. Did I get here?. I was on the couch in your..... " she trailed off

"In my work studio even when I told you not to be there, you still went there" Jia said his voice always calm.

"S..s..so h. How did I get here?" She wanted to be sure is she was imagining things or he had carried her here because, no one was in the house except hem both.

" Do you always stammer this much?" Jia ignored the question.

Isabelle moved to the edge of her bed. Sitting beside Jia, she placed her sweaty palms in between her legs, the top of her silk dress were soaked with sweat, the sweat screams fear. Which Jia didn't fail to notice and her heart beat had increased.

"I was at this place and there was coffins everywhere, it was creepy and this monster kept saying things about my mom"

"What did it say about your mother?"

"It was directed at me though. Said that if I wanted eternal peace and I wanted to see my mother again that I could j...j..Joi...Joi...join her" She dried to get her words out but her mouth quivered which made her stammer a little.

"You need to let go". Came the instant response from Jia. Isabelle looked at him, her eyes asking a question of what do you mean?

" Its difficult I know, but in other for you to move on, you have to forget about the past" He instantly felt like a hypocrite , why? Because he once loved someone and things didn't go well but forgetting her was an issue, so he finding himself telling someone to let go when he himself hadn't was outright hypocrisy.

'But, Isabelle's case was different' he told himself.

Yes, her case was different but yet similar to his. Loosing the one you love to the whirling wind of life and expectant to move on was hard enough on anybody.

"What if I don't want to forget." She replied but the words came out as a whisper which Jia was still able to hear, she continued "How'd you expect me to forget about my own mother, like she doesn't exist or she isn't important? Don't you have a mother too?" She whispered the last sentence near tear again. Her eyes already getting clouded with salty water.

"You letting your mother's death prevent you from doing the things you love or being happy or achieving whatever you wish to, is just as silly as waiting for a coconut tree to grow." He answered ignoring the question curious Isabella asked.

"That's going to take forever to grow" she commented.

"Exactly, Do you want to be like this forever? or you want to be happy. Be free, try out new things. I do agree that this world is filled with a lot of liars and pretenders and back stabbers, but there are still people who deeply care about you okay?"

"That was the most things you've ever said"

"I could say more. But I choose to keep things at the bare minimum"

Isabelle she stared at Jia with quivering lips. She closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around him. Jia stared at her back shocked, he didn't know what to do until she started sobbing. He did expect her to

cry but not in his arms.

How many times has she been in his arms now?

"There there" He patted her head softly. Such soft and silky hair. He thought. He let her stay a little bit longer till she hiccupped and sobbed no more. He held her face

"Stop crying Izzy and wipe your tears, they're annoying"

"Don't be a tease" She said using her palm to wipe her face.

Jia had something in mind for her, but he wanted to wait till the next day before telling her.

"Now go back to sleep" He said softly.

"B.But what if.....

" Shush, you're not going to have any bad dreams, now go back to sleep"

Isabelle nodded in obedience and covered herself with the sheets. Jia stood up about to leave,

"Read me a bed time story".

" You're not a child" Jia said not turning back.

"Just do it will you?"

"No! Good night"

"Please. Jia please read me a bed time story" Isabelle whined.

"Fine." Jia groaned and sat back on he edge of Isabelle's bed.

"Once upon a time, there was this annoying fly with blue eyes, her name was Isabelle. The most annoying fly in the world. The end. Now SLEEP!" He said and walked out of her room.

Isabelle giggled till she closed her eyes and slept with a happy and lighter heart. Jia came back 30minutes later after he had his bath to check on her.

'She was less annoying while she was asleep' He thought

Jia gazed upon her face and watched her chest rise and fall.

.....

Jia was an early riser. He had woken up before the sun could say hello to the world.

In his studio, staring at Isabelle's painting. It was filled with so much pain that one could sense it. Jia of course knew the reason behind this pain. Well detailed, every stroke having something to say about her past.

''If only her dad knew what she was going through now". Jia said to himself.

He went back downstairs to make hot cocoa, placed two slices of cake on a small plate, set them both on a tray heading towards her room.

"I'm so exhausted" Kia yawned raising his arms in the air stretching.

"Nya is still out there?" Jia asked.

"Yes. She's a great friend, filling in for Isabelle isn't all that easy". Staring at the tray in Jia's hand " You're going to eat that?" He asked.

"No! They're for Isabelle"

"Since when did you start making hot cocoa for Isabelle? I thought she was too rude for your liking" Jia glared at him realising he used his own words against him.

"Hey kia you're back" Isabelle came out of her room still in her night dress, she made sure she had combed her hair before leaving her room.

"Yes. Did you miss me?" Kia smiled.

"Hmmmm just your hot cocoa"

"Which I made for you" Jia said catching Isabelle's attention. She was surprised at what she heard and what she saw, then she remembered how she cried and hugged him last night. Her face turned red in embarrassment.

"Um... No thank you" She said quickly and hurried to the bathroom.

Jia wasn't surprised but something pinch his heart.

"She rejected your cocoa!" Kia laughed at Jia's face while picking up a slice of cake from the tray .

"Guess she didn't like you that much. Ouch!" Kia kept laughing till he could laugh no more.

If only kia knew the way she had looked at him the night before, he would've chosen a wiser thing to say.

Isabelle came out of the bathroom, all dressed up. She was tired of staying inside all day long, she decided to adhere to Jia's advice.

"So I've decided to go out today. To explore this strange mysterious world of yours" She said, hoping for a reply, but they said nothing. She turned to Kia,

"would you like to show me around?" Jia's eyes shot at him sending him a warning glare.

"uh. Umm. I'm exhausted. Really exhausted, sorry I wouldn't be able to fulfil your wishes"

She sat beside kia still looking at him "What were you doing all night?"

"Uh.. I've been uh. . . . ..... Reading. Yes! I was reading" Kia was terrible at lying, but for some reason Isabelle bought it.

"I'll show you around" Jia eventually volunteered and she accepted.

They left the house. Starting off their journey on the rocky path.

"Sooooo where are we going now? Nya took me to amazing places, like the ginger bread ville and the market"

"Oh did she now?"

"I just said what she did and you're still asking me if she did?"

..silence...

She heaved a sigh. She was hoping he would say something but he just kept mute throughout.

"Where are we going ?"

She asked eventually.

"Somewhere". He said

" Well, we're here"

It was a shack.

They both stood at the entrance of the shack .

" Well go in " Jia said while putting his hands forward so Isabelle could walk through the door.

"No! It looks strange and awfully quiet, I don't think its a safe place to be"

She said eyeing the shack.

"Don't let me push you in there"

"Maybe I should've stayed back with Kia instead" Isabelle mumbled to herself.

On hearing Kia's name, Jia grabbed Isabelle's hand and pulled her in along with him.

"Ah!" She yelped. It was all too sudden.

As they walked into the shack, they were first welcomed by darkness and then Isabelle started to hear an inaudible but yet audible music coming from ahead.

The closer they stepped into the darkness, the louder the music became. A red curtain came into view with two bouncers by the side. These bouncers were the humanoid versions of triceratops. An extinct herbivorous dinosaur that existed during the Cretaceous time period.

Jia made some eye contact with them and they both let themselves through..

"What did you do?" Isabelle turned to ask Jia.

"Keep moving" Jia said ignoring her question.

They got in the place eventually and the look on Isabelle's face was that of shock and confusion. She was trying to understand what she was looking at. Jia moved in front of her and moved to his usual spot where he get served drinks. Isabelle followed him squeezing her way through the dancing creatures. Her squeezing got the attention of some and they couldn't help but gossip about what they had just seen, 'a human', while the rest kept swaying their hips to the music. Isabelle sat on the wooden stool close to Jia staring at the creatures trying to make out what exactly they were. Some of the creatures had a different skin color while some were mundane like skin color, Some had horns on their fore heads, a lot of them had webbed fingers and toes and a whole lot more. Isabelle noticed some pair of eyes staring at her and she instantly felt uncomfortable where she sat, she wrapped her hands around herself.

"What would you like to drink?" She turned to look at a pair of multicolored eyes staring at her. She looked at the name tag 'Gavin'. He was what they called a fairy.

Jia noticed the way Isabelle was staring at Gavin

"Order something will you?" He yelled into her ear. Isabelle looked at him confused and then he remembered. She was only fifteen, never tasted alcohol in her life and shouldn't be drinking these things.

Isabelle turned to Gavin " Give me anything!"

After a lot of mixing and shaking, pouring the mixture in a thin glass cup. He gave Isabelle the cup with the blue drink which was emitting a cloud of white smoke.

She wanted to know what it tasted like, it smelt like citric fruits. As she was about to place the cup in between her palm, Jia slapped her hand and grabbed the cup.

"You can't drink that".

" And why is that?" Jia wasn't in the mood for explanations, he ignored her question and continued sipping his drink happy with every sip he took.

Angry Isabelle stood up and grabbed the cup quickly placing it on her lips and drank the content. Jia stood there utterly shocked.

"Holy shit! what have you don't Isabelle". He held her in his arms before she could fall on the floor. Her whole body was shaking, she was cold, her eyes grey and her lips quivering.

There were some gasps heard while Some of the creatures there starting laughing.

" It was a dumb idea to bring a human here Jia thought you knew better". Some of them couldn't help but worry about what would happen to the mare human while the others laughed.

They were right, he should've known better than to bring her here. The drinks here aren't human friendly. Jia took off her cloak and wrapped Isabelle in it. Isabelle's hair had already changed to the color grey. She looked like a different creature now.

He paid for their drink and left the place.

..

"You what?" Kia shouted. This was the third time he'd be shouting because of what Jia did, it was already getting on his nerves.

"I took her to the shack!" Jia said yet again placing Isabelle on her bed.

"You know that place isn't for people like her. I mean look at her, her hair is grey and she looks pale like she's going to die "

"She isn't going to the effect would wear off"

"The problem is when, because it differs between humans" Kia said taking a look at Jia, wasn't the type to be this irresponsible. There have been some changes in him lately.

First, he left them at the library without finishing the research they were all doing to come check up on Isabelle. Then, he's making breakfast for her? And now this?

Kia kept staring at him.

"stop it!" Jia said walking out of Isabelle's room.

"I'm just glad that Nya isn't around because things would get messy.

Another nightmare Isabelle had, quite similar to the first but this time it asked her to choose between " The pain of being alive and he peacefulness of death". It kept mentioning her mother and showing her a place of rest (coffin).

This time was different. She saw her mother in the coffin dressed in white.

"Mom!" Isabelle screamed and jerked awake. Pulling her knees close to her chest, she began to cry.

"She hasn't healed yet?" Kia whispered to Jia.

Jia walked into her room closed the door at Kia's face.

He walked slowly to her bed side.

"Another bad dream?" Jia asked with a soft voice. "It may be because of the drink you took. You're so stubborn"

"I've never had such dreams back home".

When she made mention of home, Jia was hoping she wasn't thinking of going back.

She raised her head from Cap of her knee. She kept mute and then she had a flash back to the very beginning when she met Nya. The creature she met at the gates had the same symbolic features with that of the demon she had an encounter with in her dream.

Gavin also had the same symbolic feature. She gasped internally and turned to Jia.

" Is there a library around?"

He could've chosen to read her mind but decided to give her space and blocked every connection.

"A library? What do you need a library for? You just woke up from a nightmare, the library is the last place to be right now"

"Get your hands off me please, I need to get to a library"

"Well, we do have a library here round the back" Jia said standing up from her bed. Isabelle followed him.

Jia took a bunch of keys from a shelve leading Isabelle down the passage way which had a wooden door at the very end which had some carvings on it. Putting in the right key, Jia opened the door to the room that held shelves of books placed in an alphabetical order.

Sensing Isabelle wanted to be alone he said,

"Whatever you need to find lies within one of these books. I'll head back, if you need me you know my name"

Isabelle nodded and walked into the library. Jia closed the door with the keys in his hands he walked back to his Work space.

Isabelle soaked in the appearance of the library, it was like a different place entirely on its own. She walked down the stair case wondering what shelve she should start from , the fact that it was placed in an alphabetical order from A-Z didn't make things easier because she was indecisive and she had to choose.

" Ennie Minnie Mannie F!". She

concluded as her feet carried her to the shelve.

What exactly was she looking for ? That was a question that couldn't be answered. All she knew was that the existence of any creature in any form were recorded in books and where do you get books to read? A library..

According to what she had noticed, she would implement that to her research.

"Demon, Exsnifigon and fairy all had the same letter imprinted on the same place. Their forehead" She said to herself as she picked up a book that talked about Fairies. She flipped through countless pages and non of the pages wrote about fairies having certain letters imprinted on their forehead.

"Or was it a mark that was given to Gavin when he was a child , supposively by his parents?". She placed the book down and walked a few shelves forward to the letter D. Picked up a book that talked about Demons. As she read, she had her hopes up because the book was well detailed. Talking about the high ranked demons, low ranked and the highest or the high , the pure blooded demons. But yet again, non of them wrote about demons having certain letters imprinted on their forehead.

Was there something she was missing? All of this wasn't adding up and to sum it all up, there were no books about The Exsnifigon and it made her even more curious.

As she placed the books in her hand back on the shelves, her eyes caught hold of something. It was growl and throw books on the floor which startled Isabelle. She hadn't noticed it before because her undivided attention was on the book she was reading but now that she's no longer reading the book, the creature's behavior kept Isabelle on the alert.

She quietly tip toed towards it to know what exactly it was that was making all this mess 'Disrespecting the books' she would call it.

Isabelle leaned on a ladder that had heaps of books that was threatening to fall but this went unnoticed by Isabelle as she focused on the number of books that the growling creature had thrown on the floor. She squinted her eyes hoping to get a better view of the creature but her eye sight failed her making her push forward to see more which made the threatening books fall to the ground making a loud noise in the library.

"Shit!" Isabelle cursed under her breath because the creature had stopped growling, stopped throwing books on the floor and stopped moving..

It raised it head

"Isabelle?" The female voice asked.

Recognizing the voice, Isabelle sighed. A sigh of relief. She smiled awkwardly because she had just made a mess in the library that wasn't hers. She bent picking up the books that was all over the floor.

"You don't need to pick them up, just leave them of the floor. " Nya said.

Isabelle placed the few she had in her arms back on the shelve then walking towards Nya.

"Wh..what happened to your hair? " Isabelle asked looking at Nya's hair which was no different from hers when she had woken up in the morning.

"I could ask you the same thing. I didn't know you fancied dying your hair" Nya said noticing the change in color of her hair.

" oh.. I saw it this way when I woke up. It must've been that blue drink I drank"

" what blue drink?" Nya asked after noticing the change in color of her eyes. She immediately knew the drink Isabelle was talking about but its better to hear it from the horses mouth to confirm things.

"I don't know Nya. Its blue and steamy and minty and cold. Something I havnt tasted before"

"So how'd you get the drink because I don't remember having that stored here. Did you buy it at the market?" Nya knew what she was doing by asking her these questions, she wanted to know how exactly Isabelle got her hands on the drink and or who gave it to her.

"I didn't go to the market today. Its someplace Jia took me to called the Shark or something". Isabelle small eyes closed for a few seconds and opened again. " Shark. Yes its The shark"

"No. Its called The Shack". Nya laughed trying to lush aside the anger bubbling up. How could Jia have taken her to The shack and to make it worse , let her drink what she wasn't suppose to.

" oh. Yes that. Nya why are you here? Its obvious to read books.. Sigh. I don't know why I asked" Isabelle smiled.

" I'm about to leave, whatever you're looking for you might find it here" Nya said stretching her arms in the air yawning which made Isabelle question if she had any sleep at all.

"Yes I did. Just a little. Bye Isabelle".

Nya said closing the door to the library shut and the smile on her face fell as she walked up the spiral stairs to Jia's workspace.

" You took Isabelle to the shack?" She half yelled at him making him paint the blue sky red.

"I don't like being interrupted while I'm painting. You of all people know that Nya and yes I took Isabelle to the shack" Jia said placing his paintbrush down staring at Nya who looked undeniably angry.

" Well? Have you noticed the color change in

"Her hair and eyes. Yes I have, i must say, it suits her. Don't you think?" Jia asked hoping it would calm Nya but it didn't .

"Endangering her by taking her to the shack and also letting her consume something that isn't meant for human. You know what happened the last time"

"I know..." Jia quietly said remembering Eve Wilton who used to live with them. Go on adventures with them. She also drank the same liquid , the way it affected her was worse than that of Isabelle.

She had fallen sick two days later, she had the palest skin and her hair was thinning and shedding.

It was one of the most painful experiences for Eve Wilton and the three. They couldn't do anything about it, it was something that had never happened before till the day Lord Cyrene visited. He was told about the condition of Eve Wilt and a small smile fell on his face which confused Nya and Kia, Jia just stared at him waiting for the unexpected but expected twist.

"I have the cure..." He said. "Just a few herbs mixed with black rose, she must bath with the mixture and also drink it for three days straight. Morning afternoon and night" he said.

Jia remembered his words. "If her appearance becomes terrible and sickening, we can use the cure. "

"I know. I just hope it doesn't. She looked normal when I saw her few minutes ago. Her appearance didn't look bad. Just normal Isabelle but with a changed color of hair"

"Then I guess we have nothing to worry about"

"I don't want this to repeat itself Jia, Isabelle is human and she needs protection" Nya said and turned away heading downstairs. She didn't want another human to reach a near death experience again. The last time it happened, she cried for days, it wasn't a pleasant experience. But then..... Nya stopped midway on the stair, Nya couldn't help but think that Isabelle looked like Eve Wilt , such similarities. Eve never had a daughter, she wasn't married. There were thousands of people that would look like Eve wilt also. Nya felt that she had no reason to fret about it.

Nya decided that she would ask Isabelle how she felt about the drink, if she had any difficulty in breathing and just as she was about to continue walking down the stairs , Jia called her name bringing her attention to him.

"Isabelle has been having Nightmares, she's also been disturbed by the thoughts of some signs she has been seeing. I think we should speak to her, ask some questions". Jia said but this time, his apron wasn't on him anymore, it shows that he also wanted to be involved in the conversation , he felt that Isabelle wasn't speaking up so he tapped into her thoughts for the briefest of seconds and found out that she was thinking about some signs. He even searched his memory and couldn't come across the sign she had been thinking about.

As the three of them prepare for the questions they'd ask, Isabelle was already wrapping up her research. Tired of searching for something that did seem to exist yet didn't. She couldn't find a single book on the sign she was looking for. She even saw a section with shelves which held various books that explained how what what certain signs were but not the one she was looking for.

She heaved a heavy sigh, place the books that were out of place in their original position and left he library. She walked down the passage she formally walked through with Jia. She saw the trio sitting, sensing her presence, they looked at her direction.

"Isabelle? Come! We need to ask you a few questions. Please sit" Nya said. A slightly worried look appeared on Isabelle's face as she sat down on a wooden chair.

"What signs have you been seeing?" Nya asked.

Isabelle looked surprised. "How did you know?" She asked.

"I found out" Jia said "and told Nya". He couldn't help but notice how paler she had become.

"But how?. I didn't tell you or anybody"

"Isabelle, it doesn't matter how he found out. Its what you've been seeing that matters. Please tell us" Kia stated urging her to speak.

"Well it isn't a sign. Just the letter C."

"If it's in form of a cryptic message then its a sign. Let's just call it a sign because its a mystery for now" Nya stated.

"Okay.. Its just making me worried that the sign somehow connects to Naraj the Exsnifigon, Gavin and my nightmares." She said staring at the floor board.

"So what did you notice about the sign" Jia asked

"Well it was imprinted on Naraj's forehead. When I first saw Naraj, I thought that the sign was just part of the creature's feature but I took note of it just for research purposes which reminds me, I didn't see a book about Exsnifigon's in the library."

"Well, when a creature goes into extinct there isn't any record of their existence anymore. Every records of them fades away. Naraj's own faded a few days ago that's why you couldn't find them in the library" Jia stated, arms folded.

"Oh.. Then there was Gavin, it was pinned to his breast pocket. And then the demon in my dreams"

Kia's eyes eyes widened when he heard Isabelle say she had dream about a demon. There was a lot he didn't know that was going on, and he was under the same roof as them.

"You kept staring at Gavin, was it the pin on his shirt that made you stare like that or here was something else. Jia dragged the last word.

" His eyes just had a different color." Isabelle said.

"Wait! Naraj had had a C imprinted on it'd forehead? How come I didn't see it?. I always visit Naraj as frequently as I could. But..." Nya asked looking confused trying to figure out why she hadn't see it. She then turn to look at Jia "We move tomorrow"

"Move? To where?" Isabelle asked.

"To a mansion not too far from here. That is basically all I can say now, I have to go start the preparation of who is going to take us there".

Nya who had been silent the whole time the conversation was going on stood up." I'm going to have my bath " . he said and walked out.

Isabelle starred into thin air. She had read so many books and of all the books she had read, she had never seen a creature with that sign, she then remembered a particular creature she met a some weeks back, the one that led her out of the cave. But then she didn't know who the creature was also.

".....sabelle!" Jia half yelled , he's been watching her for a while, calling her name but she wasn't answering. He knew she wasn't ignoring him, her mind was just somewhere else.

Isabelle's thoughts dispersed into thin air as she heard her name been called. Seeing her attention was now on him,

"Follow me upstairs"

"To your workspace?"

"Yes, where else?" He said and went upstairs.

"What is It this time?" Isabelle whined as she walked upstairs. As she placed her foot on the last stair, she looked up to see Jia wearing a conical hat on his head and held a plate with a red velvet cupcake with a serious look on his face.

"Happy birthday Izzy. Nya told me today was your birthday and said I should give this cake to you. She's busy right now"

Isabelle brown eyes widened. With everything that had been going on, she had totally forgotten that her birthday was approaching let alone today being her birthday. She wasn't even expecting it.

Wasn't her birthday supposed to be in two weeks time?

Then she remembered when Nya said that time worked differently in this place.

"Come and collect the cake, I can't hold this smile for long" Jia said with his face in a strange smile.

She took the plate from him and he released his face from the crooked smile.

"How'd you know its my birthday though?" Isabelle asked.

"Hmmmm." Jia said with the next words coming out his mouth being inaudible.

Isabelle smiled looking at the cupcake. She saw a small written on the cake

'Isabelle is a year older'

"Congratulations, you're a day older to your death day. Isn't that great?"

"No it isn't Jia. Pesky"

"Don't call me pesky, my name isn't Isabelle"

Isabelle didn't understand what he meant at first. Of course his name wasn't Isabelle but Jia. Then she realised that he had just called her pesky. She narrowed her eyes at him when she realised what he had just done.

"So, when is your own birthday? Month? Day?" Isabelle asked.

"Hmm. I don't remember."

She looked at the cake again and asked

"Why do you always wear that black robe? Don't you know it doesn't suit you? Don't you have any fashion taste? And even if you like wearing cloaks, why don't you change the color? And who on earth doesn't know their birthday. Only the dead" . Isabelle gasped when all that came out of her mouth at a fast pace. She quickly covered her mouth. Lately, she noticed that she had been blurting everything she thought out. It worried her to an extent because she couldn't keep her thoughts to herself. At some point, she was angry at herself, wondering why its been having for a while. She tried her best several times to not think at all so she didn't end up speaking.

Expecting a glare from Jia, she received a smile. Thus smile wasn't like the first one that was forced.

"You want to use a knife to slice the cake? You can eat it that way can you?" He asked and she nodded in response and then asked again

"Why did Nya say that we are moving? Did anything happen?"

He didn't know what exactly to tell Isabelle. It was for political reasons, how to put it to her so she would understand was the problem and so he said

"I don't know. She has her reasons. Maybe she doesn't like this house anymore who knows." He said placing a cup between his lips.

"I heard its somebody's birthday........" Kia said entering Jia's workspace.

Isabelle's face lit up on seeing Kya walk towards her. He placed him arm around her shoulder rubbing her arm

"Happy birthday Isabelle"

Kia stared at the cake in Isabelle's hand. "And you got a cake to celebrate it"

"Oh Jia gave them to me but Nya was the one who bought them"

"Did he now?" Kia smiled, looked up at Jia "Hey Jia, remember when it was Cece's birthday and you got her a cake. Red velvet also. It was a very happy d......

" enough!" Jia snapped. "Don't you have something to do Kia?" He dragged Kia's name and he got the message. He had just crossed the line.

Kia realising what he had just did, hurried down the stairs with his heart racing. He didn't think Jia was going to forgive him this time.

Isabelle felt the tension that had just risen. Having lost the appetite for eating the cake, she looked at Jia's face that wasn't smiling anymore. Something told her that he was angry. But why though? Because of the name CeCe? And from the looks of things she wasn't sure Jia was going to tell her even if she asked. Or not, so she doesn't receive a death glare.

Then she realised,

' her thoughts couldn't be heard by anyone else except her. She wasn't blurting out like she was doing s while ago'

The effect of the drink was slowly wearing off. Isabelle hadn't realised that she was suffering from the side effects of the consumption of that drink and nobody told her.

"Eat your cake izzy, I'll be right back" Jia placed the cup he was holding on a table and left. He wasnt happy that Kia had spoiled his mood by bringing up Her name. He knew he wasn't suppose to, but yet he did.

"Why!" He grabbed kia by the collar. "Why kia why! You know the effect that name has on me, why did you still bring it up?" Jia pushed him with force .

Isabelle who had already taken a bit out of the cake heard some noise coming from down stairs. She placed the half eaten cupcake on the plate back and hurried down stairs to know what was going on.

Shocked to see what was going on she screamed "Jia! Get off of him". Rushed down the stairs to push Jia as far as she could away from Kia who was badly bruised laying on the floor, his eyes swollen and red.

Isabelle's eyes widened in disbelief. She never knew Jia was the aggressive type, she always thought he was calm and cool headed but also annoying but not this!

Was this another side of him that she didn't know about? And why did he hit Kia this bad? What exactly did he do?

All these thoughts ran through Isabelle's head and she was trying to wrap her head around what just happened within the space of five minutes.

She got on her knees placing her hands on Kia's arm, her eyes not leaving Jia who seemed to be enraged. He quietly walked out of the house hating the fact that she had seen him hat way.

" Kia!" His name came out of her mouth in a breathy way and one could almost not hear it.

"I'm fine Izzy." Kia said trying to get up.

"You're.. You're fine? No! You're not! Look at yourself?. You are hurt badly."

She held his face.

"Stay here. Don't move! I'm coming". She stood up and ran to her room to get a piece of cloth and then to the kitchen as fast as she could to get a bowl of water with some ice and an extra piece of cloth so she could make an ice pack.

When she got back, she saw Kia had changed his position. His back was now resting on the wall.

" I told you not to move. Stop being stubborn" She said placing the ice pack on his eyes.

"Oww!. It hurts a little. Go easy on the eye will you?" Kia winced in pain.

"Sorry. I haven't dealt with an injured person before. What did you do?" Isabelle asked reducing the pressure she was applying on the swollen parts of his body.

"He's a monster when he's angry." Kia whispered.

Isabelle felt sorry for him "but why is he so angry. He was in a happy state upstairs, why did things just change. Does he always act this way?"

"Its because I mentioned the name Cece"

"Who is CeCe? A friend? Or is there something more to it that I don't know?"

"Look Isabelle, don't take this the wrong way but stay away from Jia's private life I'm in no position to tell you about her"

"Oh so its a girl" she muttered.

She placed the cloth in the bowl of water, squeezing it and then placing it on his head. To clean the smear of blood on his head and also his lips.

"Its okay Isabelle. You've done enough. Can you start preparing? You know that we'll be leaving tonight right?"

"To..tonight? I thought Nya said that it was tomorrow we'd be leaving?"

"Yes but she changed her mind and postponed it to to night. So go pack your things" kia said getting up from the floor.

"Should I help you back yours too? considering the state you're in" Isabelle said picking up the bowl of water and the half melted ice pack.

"I'm hurt but not useless. I'll do it myself"

"I didn't say you were useless but okay" Isabelle said walking to the kitchen while wondering why Nya changed her mind all of a sudden. It was as if Nya wanted them to leave here as soon as possible

But why?.

Isabelle then head back to her room to take whatever thing she need to.

In a small box, she placed the book that was given to her and the clothes Nya had bought her and then she wondered.

'What was the means of transportation?. Would they be walking? Or riding horses?'

She thought walking out of her room to see everyone already packed.

"I've spoken to Kale. He has two carriages and was willing to lend me one of his." Nya said, her hair in a messy bun.

"You'll be driving?" Kia asked.

"Of course not. Kale's junior brother Devon will. He knows where we are going to." Her eyes then trailed to Isabelle. "I see we are all ready, okay now let's go"

'A carriage?' Isabelle had only seen what carriages looked like in the books she read. She heard and learnt that the wealthy people's carriages were always grand and well made , materials of gold or silver, flashy and well maintained. But the poor's, that is if they're able to get a carriage, which was impossible only the middle class and wealthy that could and most of the times the middle class rented carriages. Which was okay if one were to describe the look and maintenance.

She was about to know what a real carriage looks like, she was going to ride in one. Isabelle got existed. She was trying something new and she was not alone to do that.

Holding her box tightly by the handle of it, she walked outside and saw the carriage parked.

"Hey Nya! " A male person that held the reins of the horse waved. 'Must be Devon that Nya spoked about'. Isabelle thought.

"Hey.." Nya replied.

"Try to stop changing your mind so abruptly.. I had to leave something really important to come pick you up. Now hurry up, my wife is waiting for me at home"

Devon said.

"I'll try". Nya smiled and they all entered the carriage.

Isabelle was entering a carriage for the first time. It wasn't something grand as that of the one in Cinderella. But it was okay to day the least. The horses trotted.

Nya didn't fail to notice Kia's bleeding arm, it was something she wanted to address later. The seating arrangement was , Kia with Isabelle and Nya with Jia each having a window to themselves.

After they've been on the road for a while. Isabelle gasping in shock at every bump the carriage had come to hit.

'The road wasn't smooth' she said to herself.

No one was willing to bring up a conversation or speak to themselves. They all seemed to be lost in their thoughts and there was Kia who was already sleeping.

She picked up the book she had been given 'The Rickety Old Chair'. She didn't forget to carry it.

'All the maiden arrived at the palace at a confused state. They didn't know why their presence was requested. There wasn't a ball so why was all the maidens in the village's presence needed so badly? They all thought of a plausible reason but non of them could.

"Lock the gates and guard it, nobody leaves this place unless I say so" Mrs Woovenpuff gave the command and sat on her throne.

"Now tell me which of you is the wood cutter? Kindly come out of the crowd. "

The maidens got confused, now they understood why they had been summoned. But non of them were the one she was looking for. They began asking one another, murmurings filled the air.

"Silence! Since you refuse to Cooperate, you all would be thrown into the dungeon till one of you fesses up . Guards!"

Cries filled the air as the guards forcefully grabbed the maidens and dragged them into one of the dungeons below. A few died due to the aggressiveness of the guards and the unwillingness of the maidens of comply.

"Your highness. Kluera is dead" one of the guards came to report.

"I told you to throw them into the dungeon not kill them! If any more maiden di...

" Your highness Elphea is dead!"

"Your highness Mia is dead!"

"Your highness. Plusera is dead"

"Your highness...

" Enough!" Mrs woovenpuff shouted. Feeling stressed she asked her right hand man to count all the dead bodies.

"Your highness 20 has died ".

" Simple instruction neglected. Every guard that killed one of these Maidens would be beheaded tomorrow". She said and left the room."

"Mrs woovenpuff isn't all that smart. Funny how they call her Mrs when she's the Queen." Isabelle said to herself, she got a reply from Nya.

"That's her name Mrs woovenpuff, the Mrs is sometimes mistaken for a tittle that's why many do not

Call her Queen Mrs Wooven puff because two or more titles cannot be used to refer to a person. So the name stuck like that over the years." Nya replied with a smile. Isabelle only nodded and continued her reading.

Nya turned her attention to the moon that had come out. She knew she had an awful lot of work to do. All the effort she had been putting for the past few weeks weren't enough. She had to train and solidify her skills. She had to get her more information, which had had been trying to do for the past few days.

Truth be told, she couldn't do it all alone, she needed people more than Jia and Kia she could work with . Allies. Yes! That was what she needed. A few more people she could trust and rely on.

That's why she had gone to lord Cyrene for help. He had offered to help on one condition, the condition was that they would be living with them for a while as he was helping them.

What was ahead of them could not be handled by a trio, counting Isabelle out. Nya then turned to look at the Naive red headed girl whose eyes held a lot of unanswered questions. Isabelle hadn't got the slightest idea do what was going on or what was going to happen.

Nya had expected her tone going after day three of her stay with them but to her surprise she didn't, of seems like she was enjoying her stay with them. Not complaining about anything, keeping her questions to herself and trying to help out in any possible way she can, not that she could. Nya sighed looking at the window for the second time.

Isabelle didn't know what she was. Her type of creature had no specific name. She had the ability to shape shift and her type of shape shifting of on a whole different level. Something that was yet to be seen by the world.

The carriage stopped at lord Cyrene's mansion.

"We are here" Nya said, the door of the carriage was opened by Devon who repeated what Nya had just said.

"We are here. Now hurry up, this place is giving me the creeps. I don't like the statues and the fact that it is deep in the woods."

With a nudge from Isabelle, Kia woke up from sleep.