Being watched (2)

The next day, Aurora went out to her special spot in the garden to clear her mind after breakfast. Minnie had not mentioned anything about Aurora not being in her room last night, so she took it as her secret trip last night was safe. Aurora disappeared in the garden past the rose bushes and large oak trees, to a hidden spot she discovered when she was younger. It was surrounded by large trees and rose bushes, other bushes, and vines so no one could see her on the inside.

Aurora laid on the soft green grass she managed to keep short herself and stared up at the blue sky with birds flying free. They had the ability to go wherever they pleased around the world with no one holding them back.

She wanted to go out and explore more of the world. To see more of the kingdom at least and not be sheltered in the family home. She knew most families kept their children from outside the marriages hidden but as Regina said, the circumstances of her birth weren't her fault.

Aurora was thankful she would be able to attend the harvest moon festival but on that unfortunate night, she would have to come across the alpha again. Couldn't he just disappear before he tries to come for her and leave her alone? Her one special night would be ruined by her having to worry about the werewolf.

"Who could it be?" She questioned, trying to unveil who was the werewolf. She went through a list of men in her life who could be the werewolf but she ended up with nothing. Nothing seemed odd about any of the people in her life which meant she hadn't met the wolf.  The way the wolf talked about Minnie, she figured he had met her grandmother or the wolf was simply watching her.

Aurora did not like feeling like she was being watched. Sometimes the house already felt like a prison when everyone went on their way and left her home alone. The last thing she needed was for someone else to be added to the list of people who were watching her.

Rachel had paid some of the maids to watch Aurora and bring any news back to her. Minnie had started watching her since the incident in the bathroom or had she always been watching and Aurora never noticed?

Aurora placed her hands over her eyes feeling conflicted about what to think about what was happening in her life recently. A werewolf claiming it would protect her from her family and Minnie suddenly acting weird.

"Why can't time reverse and everything just goes back to normal?"

Aurora put a lot of trust in her family that they would never hurt her but with Minnie's current actions, they were definitely hiding something from her. This felt similar to how they wouldn't speak of her mother and kept her a secret from Aurora.

"Is my mother somehow connected to the wolf?" Aurora wondered softly. She would like the truth from Minnie and her parents. She knew they must be keeping secrets in order to protect her but they should tell her things that she wanted to know.

As Aurora lay peacefully, the sound of a twig snapping nearby was heard. Someone else was in the garden but today wasn't the day for the gardener to visit this side of the garden. Aurora knew his pattern and it never once changed. It had to be someone else in the garden but most of her family had left him and Minnie did not like the workers being in the garden if their job was not to do gardening. Was it Minnie again?

Aurora didn't move just in case she would make a sound and allow the visitor to know where she was. The sound of more twigs snapping became louder alerting her it was more than one person.

'Could it possibly be the wolf again just like in my dream? Has he come for me earlier than I expected? But the book says they prefer nighttime,' she thought whilst waiting to see if the person or creature would find her. She was hoping for anyone other than the wolf. Aurora wouldn't mind it being Minnie and her finding this hiding spot.

"Are you sure she's here?"

"Minnie said she would be in the garden. The young miss always comes this way," a voice spoke in a shushed tone so no one else would hear them. "We followed her here but now she's gone. Minnie will be upset we didn't watch her properly."

Aurora knew who these voices came from right away. They were both young maids who tended to Minnie. She wasn't sure of their names but she remembered their faces and voices. She didn't know Minnie had maids watching her. Aurora always believed Rachel did this. Was this a new thing or was she always being watched?

"Do you think she's a ghost? Her hair is as white as a ghost. Maybe this is her haunting place and that's how she disappeared. Shouldn't we leave?"

"I rather not get in trouble with Minnie for not doing the job she gave us. It took so long for us to get noticed by her or Rachel, and I do not plan to mess up this money. We have to find the young miss and keep an eye on her. You saw how Minnie looked today. She seemed worried about keeping Aurora here."

"It's not like Aurora ever leaves the property. She's too obedient and listens to every word Minnie says. All this worrying is for nothing but at least we get paid well. Let's try the garden on the other side. There's a path connecting the two gardens which she could've taken."

Aurora listened to their footsteps getting further away as they hadn't found her hiding spot. It was a shock for her to hear Minnie had been paying them to watch her. It was something she never expected Minnie would do because what could Aurora be doing at home which required monitoring?

Deep down, Aurora didn't like noticing these things about Minnie, one of the people whom she trusted the most in this world besides Regina and Sam.

"What does Minnie want to hide or more importantly, why does she want to keep me hidden?"