A strange night

It was lively at the dinner table. For the first time, Athena really enjoyed eating dinner. Lady Alisha's family was a middle class family. Back at her old home, it had never been so peaceful and lively at the dinner table because of Viola. Although she missed her old home, she was glad to spend some months without seeing Viola's face.

"Can you pass me the salt Sophia?" said Trisha.

Trisha was rather tall and tough for her age. She liked to bully weaklings. She had a bubbly personality but was unreasonable and childish sometimes. Her eyes always shone with mischief. She was more of a troublemaker.

Sophia was just a five year old child but acted mature for her age. She was reasonable unlike Trisha and was calm and always quiet. The look in her eyes was of someone who had lived long to see the whole world. She exuded a cold and calm aura.

Athena kept on casting sneaky glances at her. There was something odd about her.

Lady Alisha was a widow. She was a gentle and kind woman. Her eyes shone with wisdom and kindness. She reminded her of Rebecca.

There was one person left. Lady Alisha's nephew. Lady Alisha said earlier that her nephew lived with them but he had currently gone out to work.

She wondered what kind of person he was...

"My nephew will arrive soon," Lady Alisha said and began to talk about him. "He is a kind and hardworking boy." Lady Alisha continued to say good things about him.

'He does not seem to be bad,' Athena thought to herself.

The door was opened at that moment and someone entered. Athena felt the temperature drop and she shivered. She subconsciously rubbed her arms.

"What is she still doing here?" a cold voice rang.

"Cousin!" Trisha said.

The young man just gave her a curt nod before greeting Lady Alisha. His voice was as cold as ice and his expression was frosty.

Was this the kind and warm hearted boy Lady Alisha was talking about? He was more of a cold and ruthless man!

His gaze landed on her pitiful looking figure that was wearing Trisha's big clothes.

Athena fidgeted nervously under his frosty gaze. Her words that she wanted to say earlier were now stuck in her throat.

Her eyes turned watery involuntarily.

"Cousin Trevor stop staring at her like that! You are scaring the kiddo!" Trisha yelled at the cold young man.

Athena blinked and a single tear fell.

Athena, "..." When did she become a crybaby?

She quickly wiped the tear away with her sleeve, feeling embarrassed.

"Um... Thank ...yy you fo... for saving me," she stammered as she forced out a smile. Her smile was worse than crying!

Trevor's gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before he looked away indifferently without replying.

"Trevor, you must be famished. Come and eat with us," Lady Alisha beckoned at him. Athena bit her lip. She had already lost her appetite. Now she needed to get away!

Trevor walked towards the table and took a chair that was opposite hers.

"So how was work today?" Lady Alisha asked with a smile.

"It was good," he answered shortly. She could feel his gaze on her. Athena lowered her head, trying to avoid making eye contact with him.

"Did you finally find a suitable maiden to marry?" Lady Alisha asked.

Athena choked on her own food.

Everyone turned to look at her strangely. Trisha handed her a glass of water and she drank with one gulp.

"Are you okay?" Trisha asked worriedly.

She nodded quickly.

Everyone resumed back to eating.

"Not yet," he answered curtly.

"Oh," Lady Alisha muttered with a disappointed expression. "Are you seriously not going to consider Mr Home's daughter? She is well behaved and beautiful."

"No," he deadpanned.

An awkward silence then followed. Athena played with her spoon absent-mindedly.

"Is the food not to your liking?" Lady Alisha asked. She shook her head.

"No, I love the food. It's really delicious..." Athena continued with her flattery making Lady Alisha look pleased and grow fonder of her. Trisha's lips twitched. This girl really is a bootlicker!

After she was done, she quickly changed the topic and said seriously," Thank you for your hospitality. I am now indebted to you. I hope that one day I will manage to return the favour."

"What are you talking about? You are part of the family," Trisha said. "Am I right mother? Can we keep this kiddo?"

Lady Alisha glanced at her and nodded.

Her mind went blank as she stared at their friendly expressions. Family?

"We have been looking for your parents when you were unconscious and couldn't find them. Trevor here managed to find out that you were lodging a room in Moonlight Inn. Are you a traveller?"

"How can a fourteen year old kiddo be a traveller? She probably ran away from home," Trisha clicked her tongue.

Athena frowned in annoyance. "For the ninth time I am telling you this, I am not a kid. I am seventeen years old."

Trisha gaped at her. "You are seventeen? I am seventeen too but why are you shorter and smaller than me? You look malnourished!"

"Trisha," Lady Alisha gave her a warning look. "Behave!"

But Trisha continued to ramble. "You are as thin as a stick. Maybe you are an orphan? Do you not get enough food?"

Trisha felt something hard hit her head. She cried in pain and looked up to just find out that Athena had thrown her spoon at her.

"You," Trisha began furiously but her following words were now stuck in her throat.

She seemed to see a strange purple light flicker in Athena's eyes and then disappeared. Trisha rubbed her eyes and looked closely but her eyes looked normal. She blinked. Was she seeing things?

"If you say another word, I will make sure to shut your mouth permanently," Athena threatened, making her close her mouth.

Her voice was cold and Trisha sensed danger coming from her. She felt a chill run down her spine when she stared into those green orbs. She gulped softly. She tried to look away but for some unknown reason she failed to do so.

"You are just a useless piece of trash," Athena sneered.

As if hypnotized she said, "Yes, I am a useless piece of trash... Wait, what?!"

Lady Alisha laughed at her. Trisha glared at her. "You..."

Athena tilted her head innocently. "Why are you calling yourself a useless piece of trash?"

Lady Alisha burst into fits of laughter again. Even the stone cold Trevor smiled faintly. Trisha turned red with embarrassment.

"I don't like you anymore, kiddo!" she blurted out and immediately stormed out of the room.

"You did a great job!" Lady Alisha gave her thumbs up.

Athena smiled shyly. It was really rare for her to get complimented for something. Usually it was Viola who had the limelight and got complimented all the time. She herself was not noticeable as she was overshadowed by Viola.

Her little compliment made Athena like her more.

"For your previous question Lady Alisha, I am not really a traveller. I am searching for my mother."

"Do you know where she could be?" Lady Alisha asked.

Athena lowered her head and answered sadly, "I don't even know if she is alive or not." But I am certain that she is alive, Athena added in her heart.

Lady Alisha shot her a look of sympathy. "I am sure that you will find her. So would you like to stay with us for the meantime whilst you look for your mother? It's not safe for you to stay alone in this town."

Athena was touched by her kind gesture. She wanted to turn down her offer but after staring into Lady Alisha's soft and kind eyes, she couldn't bear to say a no to her.

"I... I would love to."

Lady Alisha smiled brightly. "Trevor will get your things from the inn."

"I can go and get them," Athena said but she shook her head.

"Your body is still weak. You just need to rest. Let us take care of everything else."

In the middle of the night, Athena screamed in her sleep. Her clothes were drenched with sweat and she was frowning. She was muttering incoherent words as she thrashed her legs. Her eyes suddenly shot open and she panted heavily. Her whole body was trembling violently and her eyes shone with some unshed tears. Her hand went to cover her mouth and she let out some muffled cries. She just didn't understand it. Why does she keep on having that dream?

She smiled weakly at Little Snow who was sleeping quietly beside her. How she wished she could sleep through out the night just like other Little Snow. She quietly slipped out of bed and lit up a lantern before walking slowly to the door. She needed a glass of water to quench her thirst.

Everything was so dark and silent. Her soft footsteps echoed as she walked towards the kitchen. She entered and placed the lantern down. She poured herself a glass of water and drank slowly.

Feeling not satisfied, she poured herself another glass. From the corner of her eye, she noticed something move past her swiftly. She turned around but did not see anything at all. Probably she was seeing things. After confirming that there was nothing there she turned to place the glass down. Something moved past her again. Startled, she almost screamed but managed to stop herself.

Feeling a bit frightened, she decided to leave the kitchen so she picked up her lantern. When she stepped out of the room, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew through her hair and a strange cry echoed at the same time. The hairs on her back stood on end at the sound of the strange giggle.

"Who... Who is there?" she stammered.

Something brushed past her again, making her stiffen.

She stood there for a few minutes and nothing else happened. Maybe she was just hallucinating? She shrugged her shoulders rather nonchalantly before heading towards her room.

She was about to open the door when she heard a faint cry. She perked her ears up. It seemed like someone was crying...

She listened earnestly. That voice sounded so familiar. "Trisha?" she blurted out.

Before she could even realize it, she had turned around and was heading in the direction of the source of the voice. As she walked further until she stopped at a certain room. Muffled cries came out of the room. She placed her left ear against the door and listened earnestly.

She slowly opened the door and looked around. She then noticed a girl sobbing in a corner. Her back was facing her.

"Trisha?" she called softly as she approached her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Trisha did not respond but kept on sobbing. Athena was puzzled. Why was she crying?

"Leave me alone!" Trisha yelled at her fiercely without turning, making her pause in her tracks looking taken aback. Athena scratched her head. Should she leave her alone?

"Trisha?" her tone became much more softer as she moved towards her. She stretched her hand hesitantly to touch her but then stopped.

She took a deep breath and gathered up some courage. She stretched her hand and placed it on the sobbing girl's shoulder.

"Can you turn around and look at me? What's the wrong..." Athena trailed off. Her eyes widened in terror and she screamed on top of her lungs.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

This person was not Trisha at all! She quickly backed away from the person. Half of her face was rotten. She could see worms crawling out her half decayed face. Yellow pus flowed out of the creature's rotten face. It was a horrifying and somehow nauseating sight. Her whole body shook violently and she dropped the lantern she was holding in sheer terror. The creature stretched out her bony rotten hand towards Athena...

"Aaah!" Athena screamed and decided to save her dear life. The creature gave her an evil crooked smile as it watched her run desperately away from it. With a loud shriek, it began to chase after her.

Where was everyone? Surely they could have heard her screams and that strange shriek!!

"Help!" she screamed. "Can anyone hear me?!"

She did not know what she stumbled into and the hard object fell made a loud crash! However she did not stop running. Why had no one yet come out?

"Lady Alisha! Trisha! Can anyone save me please!" she cried out desperately. Athena ran with the creature following her closely.

Was she really going to die?

She suddenly bumped into something hard and lost her balance. She was about to fall when a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Instinctively she hugged the person tightly in fear.

At that moment heavy and quick footsteps were heard. Lady Alisha rushed in whilst holding a lantern, followed by a sleepy Trisha. She yawned loudly as she rubbed her eyes. "What the heck is going on here?" she mumbled.

Her eyes widened when she saw Athena and Trevor in a rather intimate position. Athena was clinging to Trevor, her face buried in his chest. Trevor's arm was wrapped firmly around Athena's waist. Her ears turned red and she coughed. "You guys... Isn't it too early for this..."

Athena raised her head. Her face was white as if she had seen a ghost. She pointed in a certain direction with a trembling finger. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. "I..." Her lips quivered and she fell silent. Trevor loosened his grip on her waist and tried to push her away but she refused to let go. It was clear that she was scared shitless.

Lady Alisha's eyebrows furrowed as she looked around. What was she pointing at? She could not see anything.

Her eyebrow raised slightly. "Trevor, can you tell me what is going on?"

Trevor opened his mouth and was about to say something when the butler, Mr Harlan rushed towards them. With a quick bow he said anxiously, "Milady, the lounge room is on fire!"

Lady Alisha and Trisha exchanged puzzled glances. "How did this happen..." However they did not waste any time to ponder about it and left hastily with the butler.

"Let go!" Trevor said coldly. Apparently, she still felt scared but when she met those cold and menacing brown eyes, she felt a chill run down her spine and completely forgot about her fright, and moved quickly away from him. After she had let go of him, he gave her a cold stare before walking away and did not bother to look back. She scratched her chin awkwardly. She did not mean to hug him like that. She hugged him out of fear.

She observed her surroundings. It seemed like that scary looking creature had disappeared into thin air. She sighed exasperatedly as she ran a hand through her silky raven hair.

Why was she seeing such strange things? Was she becoming insane? She bit her lip. After running away from that castle, her life seemed to have turned upside down. Her life was a mess. All the things she encountered were complicated... weird...

She shook her head and shrugged her thoughts off before leaving hurriedly for the lounge room.