Chapter 7: An abandoned cottage in the woods ( you should skip this chap if you don't like blood)

 Time flies by like a breeze, before we knew it the rain had already stopped. The sun was shining softly. It was illuminating though the few clouds in the sky, the air was moist and cool. We put our tent back into Lily's pocket, it completely disappeared inside her pocket. The ground was full of muddy puddles and I could hear frogs croaking in the distance. We gathered our things and returned to the main road again, Lily was running and playing happily as we continued on our journey. It was the afternoon already and in a few more hours it will be dark. We still managed to walk for quite a distance with our limited traveling time we had remaining for the day. The road was long and curvy, the sky was now a brilliant orange as the sun set in the far horizon ahead. The Road is now still moist but there was no mud, along the road was a long line of wild flowers growing in full bloom. Then a sweet scent covered the air near us, it smelled like freshly cooked curry.

- Hey Lily, do you smell that? It smells like curry doesn't it? I said sniffing the air.

- You're right I do smell curry. Maybe someone lives around here. Lily said sniffing the air too.

- I think we should drop by and ask if we can have some of it. I'm really hungry now. Lily said, rubbing her stomach.

- Well alright but don't push them, it's their food so you have to be polite. I said, looking at her with skeptical eyes. It was getting dark so I suppose that it would be fine as long as she behaves. 

 After a few minutes we saw a path leading to the house along the road, we followed it. The house was well hidden among the trees, it was a house with gray brick walls and a straw roof. It wasn't big nor was it nice looking but there were lights inside, the house had a warm feeling to it. The owner of this house must be at home since the lights are on and I can smell the curry from outside. The outside of the house has a little garden. One side was for growing vegetables and the other was flowers, daffodils, tulips and bell flowers. We walked up to the doors and when I raised my hand and knocked on the door just slowly swung open, a broken lock lay on the ground. It was broken in the middle, a sign of a violent break in. I and Lily looked at the broken lock and back at each other. We knew something was not right so we pushed the door and went inside. Dinner was still cooking on the stove but there was no one, the entire house was a mess. Furniture was thrown everywhere, blood was splattered across the floor but I can't see a single soul in sight, the smell of blood was all over the place. On the wall hangs a single family photo, two parents and three happy children. They were… beast kind, with the same features as Lily. Ears and tails, traits of wolves with grayish hair. I turned over and Lily was biting her lip, her face was dark and sad. 

- If we had just arrived a bit sooner they- they wouldn't have- Lily said cruching her fist. Her nails left a stream of blood dripping down from her hands. 

- No… we never knew this would happen, it's not your fault. I told her holding back a feeling that can only be described as the regret of not being able to save someone's when you could have. The break in happened only about 15 minutes prior to our arrival. If we hadn't stopped for so long then we could have helped them. Just then Lily started to sniff the air again, this time it was like she had her senses focused on something.

- Someone is still here! she said with her eyes wide open. 

- We should take a look. I said, this could be serious if either one of the family members survived or the people who broke in are still inside of the house.

 We cautiously walked to the direction of the smell trying to not make a single sound. We arrived at an empty bedroom that had been almost completely destroyed and a broken window. There was a corpse of a newborn child lying on the floor next to the bed. The scene we saw suggested that it had been violently torn out of its mother's womb months before it was even supposed to be born. Blood was everywhere, the horrible smell of blood was making me feel sick. I covered Lily's eyes before she could see the horrifying sight and told her to go outside and wait for me. I took one of the clean blankets and put the baby in it, wrapped her body up until I could no longer see blood and brought her outside. Lily was there waiting for me, wanting to know why I had not let her in.

- What's… that? Why are your hands bloody? She asked me, the worried expression on her face was clear as day.

- It's a baby, It's gone. I said holding the blanket tightly.

- She needs a place to rest, could you give me a shovel and some flowers Lily. I said, this child doesn't deserve such a horrible fate. How could they… she was just a child, she hasn't even lived yet. Humans, how can they be so heartless sometimes? The child's funeral was dark and gloomy, it was just us there looking at her grave. A flower crown was placed on top of the grave. I hope you will get to live happily in your next life. Lily started to cry then fell to the ground covering her face with her small hand. This is clearly too much for her to take at once, she was just a child after all.

- I'm so sorry… Her tears started to fall even more than the beginning.

- It's not your fault, we did all that we could. I said and lifted her up into my arms. We have to leave and get to the borders as fast as possible, it isn't safe to stay here anymore. The people that did this might still be very near, we need to get out of this place before we suffer the same fate. Especially Lily though she is not beast kind she still has ears and a tail the things that enslavers wanted to see the most, if they found us out before we reach Veldora's territory it is going to be game over. There were a few horses in the stable next to the house, I took the strongest one and put Lily on. There's no time to lose, our main priority now is to get the hell out of Platinum's empire's land.

- We have to go, it's not safe. I told Lily as I climbed on. she seems to have understood the danger we are in and nodded. We went on a steady gallop and it slowly became a fast run back on the main road. 

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 We have been riding for a few hours now and Lily has cried herself to sleep. I was going as fast as I could but I have to keep a steady pace or we'll have to stop for the horse to rest. I was way too worried to sleep right now, I can't afford to stop until we reach safety. How did my calm walk in the woods become a chase for my life? If I keep this up we might be able to reach the borders by morning.

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 It was early morning, and the sun had already started to rise. I have finally reached the end of the forest. I can see a big landscape and a metal fence separating Vedora to our country. There was a checkpoint just a few Kilometers ahead. I rode there and saw a line of people waiting to cross the border. There weren't many so I decided to wake Lily up to cross the checkpoint. We were walking to the line when we saw Three grown men and a Young 12 year old boy with blue eyes and short gray hair, he was just like one of the boys from the family picture in the house we went in yesterday. They seem to be selling him, there was a board on his neck saying 30 silvers. I told Lily to make sure none of her ears or tail was showing and that we are going to go and check on the boy, she seems to be more focused this time. We went there and I started to talk to one of them.

- Um sir? Is this boy on offer? I want to buy a playmate for my little sister. I said, giving him a fake smile.

- Oh yes he is miss ! We just caught him yesterday. One of the men said with an evil grin.

- Are there more like him? I asked, this is definitely one of the kids from that cottage.

- Well yes but I'm afraid that they have already been shipped to the capital last night. This kid is the last one we've got. He said, kicking the boy. Lily was trying her best to not hit the guy. 

- We were on the main road to the capital but we didn't see you? I said, Pretending to be curious.

- We used a magic circle. Another man said.

- I see, Alright we'll take the boy. I said as Lily handed the men the silver coins.

 Then they handed us the keys to his locks as we went back to our horse. We unlocked his arms and legs, at first he was frightened but after Lily carefully showed him her ears he was a lot less scared.

- We won't hurt you, we can get you over to veldora's borders. You'll be safe alright? I said.

- We came across your house last night after they had left and we wanted to help you. If you are willing to follow us over to the border. Lily said. 

- You've come over to my house. Is my mother okay? I was taken away before I knew what happened to her! he said desperately, but we couldn't tell him the truth.

- Your mother is fine, she told us to take you to Veldora with us. She was injured so one of our friends is taking care of her back in his house. She will join us after two weeks if she doesn't then we will move you to the safety of the capital. I told him, I was lucky that I barely have any expressions or he would have figured out I was lying. He was so happy when he heard that I can't ever tell him the truth.

 We slowly moved up the line and we gave him a passport to fill out before I signed it. He had to change his last name to Ellis so they wouldn't figure out he was not related to us. We gave him a long hood that covered his entire body and at last we reached the checkpoint. Since we all have blue eyes, they probably won't find out.

- So miss Isabel Eliss you're traveling with your younger siblings? The guard said as he examined our passports. 

-Yes, Lillian Ellis and Edmond Ellis sir. I said carefully, it is important to make this look convincing. He looked at us for a while and let us through.

 Yes! we've made it into Veldora's territory. This is so relieving so hopefully we won't have to go through anything like this ever again. Seeing so much blood Make me sick, but it's unlikely to ever happen ever again so let's not get my hopes up.