STRANGE HAPPENINGS

My reassignment came as a surprise but I quickly got over it. As it was autumn, I decided to get myself some things as winter was fast approaching plus I had outgrown some of my dresses too.

Fortunately, I had a day off work so I headed out of the castle for the market. It did not take long after my arrival at the market to realise how much more expensive things were at the capital than at my hometown.

The cost of dresses were so expensive and although I could afford them, I did not want to spend all my money that way so I instead decided to get some yards of clothes to sew by myself. I also got some of the necessary accessories like needles, threads, ribbons, beads and others. There were so many lovely things in the capital and I had to be careful not to get carried away.

After buying everything I needed, I headed back to the castle but I had not gotten far from the market when it started raining. Everyone around started searching for a place to hide from the rain. I quickly found a place to wait out the rain while making sure that my materials did not get wet. I bounced on my toes anxiously, I needed to get back early enough to get started on my sewing and while I loved the rain, the timing of this one could not be any worse.

Pacing under the small shed, I started considering whether or not to try to run through the rain but my newly bought supplies would get wet and I would be unable to use them as soon as I wanted to.

I was lost in my little world when I felt someone staring at me. Looking around I saw no one but the feeling of being watched did not subside. Fortunately for me the rain soon stopped and I quickly picked up things to leave but just as I raised my head, I saw a pair of eyes that were gone the moment I blinked. Without hesitation I took off with my things running to get on a public carriage.

I kept looking around me in fear but by the time I got to the castle I felt both silly and foolish.

'A pair of eyes without a face or body', what was I, five?.

I swallowed a laugh over the thought that I had scared myself over nothing like a child. Putting my silly antics out of my head, I quickly settled in and started sewing and before I knew it the sun had gone down. I decided to forgo dinner in favor of sewing and drifted off to sleep sometime later.

I jerked awake feeling like my heart was about to pound out of my chest. A nightmare had woken me up but for the life of me, I could not remember a single detail of the dream. Looking around I noted that my roommates were fact asleep. Heaving a sigh of relief at that I went back to sleep.

First thing the following morning, I appeared at the crown princes residence to begin my duties there and by noontime, I saw the advantages working there had over the hallways. First of all, private residence did not host as many guests as the hallways did so they were not as dirty even the crown prince was rarely there. From what I had gathered from some of the maid who were there before me, the crown prince was at the academy most of the time although he was currently around that is not the case must at times.

Secondly my tasks were quite limited as his man servant also performed several chores for him so it was quite easy. This helped me finish my sewing in record time as I had more free time on my hands.

However the maid in charge of the crown prince's residence did not like me. A fact I noticed as soon as I reported the first morning I went there. The way she looked at me was similar to how one would look at a cockroach underneath their shoes. Rather than just say she did not like me it would be more appropriate to say she hated and was disgusted by the very sight of me and I had not the slightest idea why.

Quite sure that I had never met her, I kept wondering what I had done to offend her until some of the other maids told me that she had been trying to fill the position I had taken with her niece, I however had been chosen instead because I was a better choice. This was also why the tasks I had to do were very few.

I also noticed that my roommate Yolanda, became snappy towards me only for Isla to tell me that she had been trying to get reassigned to a private residence and she was simply jealous of me. It was at this point that I realized that there was a fierce competition amongst the maids to work in the private residences in the castle and the opportunity that was arranged for someone else simply landed in my arms without me having to work for it.

Upon knowing the reason for her dislike towards me, I stopped being concerned about it. It was not my fault that her niece was not considered good enough to be positioned at the crown prince's residence so I decided not let it bother me.

Everything was going fine except for the fact that I kept having recurring nightmares that I could not remember once I woke up and after some time, I started to recall the dreams I had. A pair of eyes watching me. It did not sound scary but there was no face or body attached to this pair of eyes. Rather than scary it was better to say that it was disconcerting and disturbing.

Every time I closed my eyes to rest they would always be there, watching, every single time. I soon started to loose sleep, I would be startled awake in the middle of the night and would be unable to fall asleep for the rest of the evening. Soon enough my nightmares followed me in to my daily activities. I would at random times feel like I was being watched by some one. Not that I ever saw who.

By the time spring rolled around, anyone could tell that I was not sleeping. I had permanent dark circles around my eyes, a lackluster compleion, significant weight loss, and a disinterested attitude towards everything around me. I just could not find the strength to be interested in anything and although I tried my best not to let it affect my work and those around me, I could tell that Isla was growing incredibly worried by the day.

*~~~*~~~~*~~~*

The visions kept slamming into me night after night and I was starting to feel sorry for her whoever she was. With how often she snaps out of the dreams I know that she can not be getting enough sleep. The visions keep increasing in length and frequency, mother believes that she close, I do too. I had considered searching for her but she was always in a non descript place. Too vague to search. She feels so close yet so far and it irritates me yet strangely enough, I have been perfectly calm. Ever since I started having the visions, I feel no need for bloodshed. My bloodlust feels sated, my rage quenched. I had never been so calm, I believed that I would find her soon. Everything was going well until.....