Chapter 1

The whirring sound went on and on. I felt it could be from the next chamber. I always thought so but when I saw Marcus ascending the stairs into the long dimly lit passage, I doubted my intuition.

"You weren't in?"

"Does it look like I was?

What's the matter with you?"he asked, standing few feet away as I clung to the door of my room.

"Nothing. Just been hearing sounds from your room and thought it was you."

"You heard nothing, Olivia. Get a grip."

I don't know if it was something he said but I was stunned and his words kept echoing in my ears and just as he was about leaving, I drew him back.

"You sound as though it isn't the first time I have said such to you, could it be?"

"Could what be?"he asked, amused. His laughter made me question my sanity for a moment.

"I'm sorry,go on ahead."

As he left, I felt disturbed. Brushing off my silver strands, I took the long passage.

I should have come to the staircase he had taken but it seemed to go further away. Looking back, I couldn't see my chambers and all that remained were but an empty way and no matter how I tried to halt my steps, something seemed to constantly pull me forward with no end in sight.

Suddenly,out of nowhere, Marcus pulled me back.

"What's wrong with you?"

Looking around, there was no passage anymore. I was fully drenched with the waters below my bosom and away from the bank of the River of Faded Time in the cover of night. Suddenly, I felt a hand around my legs from below,in the water.

Gasping, I looked up at him as I got pulled in, with my hands lifted up, hoping he would grab it but the last of him that I saw was a formless face with a deep hollow and jerking, I found myself on a bed. I didn't remember getting on the bed but it looked familiar.

" Hate nightmares...but..."

Something hit home. It wasn't every scene of the dream. It was the last one. 

" How could I see such a clear vision of the face in a night as dark as that?" I thought, combing through my disheveled hair with my hands.

It was as though at that moment, someone had pointed a flashlight directly to his face.

And as much as it troubled me, I was comforted by the thought of Marcus as one who would never hurt me. 

It's just a nightmare.

"What exactly is wrong with you today? Never been in such a mess before," I whispered to my silver strands and then I remembered that it wasn't always so.

"I don't let my hair loose. It's always braided." So who loosed it overnight.

Piqued by that, I galloped downstairs and met the entire family at the dinning.

"Was about coming up to call you... hope you slept well?" Marcus asked with his usual teasing smile.

"Yeah...if not for the nightmare..."

"Another one?"

"What?"

I observed how his father, my stepdad glared at him and almost immediately,he called me closer," it's just nightmares... what,are you still a kid?"

We laughed for sometime,it was hearty for me, so others didn't come through to me as dry.

"Come, sit beside me," Mom called to me, beaming.

But just as I reached out to her, an older woman I hadn't noticed in the room with similar hair colour to mine, wedged my hand.

"Sorry ma'am Winter, she will eat with me... I need her to help out with the dishes before then."

I went mute for a moment," what's with that sound?"

I didn't have a problem helping the woman but Mom had a cold look on. I knew at once she was annoyed at the older woman. At that moment,it didn't sink in that she had called her Winter. My Mom's name is Elizabeth.

"Don't worry, I won't be long,"I comforted her, messaging her shoulders for a moment and when she finally smiled, I took the woman's hand and went into the kitchen just a door some foot away.

"Thank God it stopped!" I thought out loud and sighed.

"You mean the whirring..."

"Yes, the whirring sound... wait a moment. I didn't tell say what it sounded like. How could you tell? Do you hear it as well..."I went on and on.

"It's fine, moon ball... just stick close to me and it will be far from you."

The smile on her face was soothing. I got drained in it for a while before I realized what she had called me.

"What am I worried about? She must have heard it from my Mom."I reassured myself as I was almost creeping out.

Working on the sink, she told me a story.

It was interesting and we laughed often until Mom came in and interrupted us.

"Still not done?"

"No Mom, just a little while longer."

"Let her do the rest,"she said and took a towel and wiped my hands.

The faux smile didn't pass my notice and when she observed how sad I was about leaving the chores for the older woman to do, she grabbed my shoulders and reassured me, " don't worry my dearest, Elizabeth can take care of the rest."

"Elizabeth?"I nearly thought out.

I spent some days thinking about why my mom and the older woman chose each other's name.

A lot just didn't fit together.

A part of me wanted to believe they just swapped names but going by her coldness which I don't really remember, it isn't possible. They would need a lot of bonding to get there.

Elizabeth was right anyway. The sound returned immediately I left her presence. But this time, it was so strong it got me down with migraine and spent the entire evening trying to fix the scattered pieces. I only remember and feel a fragment of my Mom but not like I felt the older woman.