Part I Chapter 2: Elise's Fear

PART I: PURPLE EYED AND RED EYE TRIBES

Chapter 2: Elise's Fear

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When the sun was getting higher, Malinda woke up. When she opened the door to her room he looked around, wanting to see if anyone was there. After she realized there was none, Malinda went to the kitchen. She already knew that her husband left without her knowing. With a gloomy face she cooks. Yes, her days are always gloomy, ever since Aletta became part of them. Malinda sometimes daydreams to the point of injuring her own hand with a knife. Her fingers were always wrapped in bandages. After cooking, Malinda took a small portion of her food into her room and shut herself up all day except when it was time for lunch and dinner.

If possible, Malinda actually wanted to lock herself up from morning to night. But she couldn't avoid her duty as a mother to cook for her child. She is very aware that she is very irresponsible as a mother, why is she so afraid of Aletta's existence? So far, Malinda has not dared to share what she knows about Aletta. Sometimes staying silent is the best option.

When Alain and Aletta finished their breakfast, there was a knock on the door. Alain asked Aletta to stay seated, he would open the door. As soon as the door opened, there was a man standing in front of him. The man was wearing quite luxurious clothes. From Alain's expression, it seemed he knew the man. The surprised look in Alain's eyes also indicated that the man was no ordinary person.

"Mr. Rold Grosvener?! W-what's your need for coming here?" Alain stammered.

"Ah, I just wanted to ask you something," he said, smiling a little nervously.

"Then please come in first." Alain welcomes. Rold entered happily and sat on a chair in the living room.

Rold Grosvener was one of the once famous rich men in the capital. But he also has a large, multi-storey house in the village of Ireth. He used to live here with his wife and child, but his wife died when his daughter was only 5 years old. Now he only lives with his daughter, Elise.

Alain nervously returned to the kitchen and told Aletta that Mr. Rold Grosvener was coming. Alain and Aletta returned to the living room to serve Rold.

"Should I call my mother? My father just left this morning," Alain asked maybe his parents needed to know.

"No need." he said trying to calm down, but the restless look on his face was still there.

"I'd like to ask you two a favor." Rold was getting serious. Aletta and Alain listened intently.

"I have a daughter, her name is Elise. Now she is 11 years old. Elise ... she always stays at home and is afraid to go out." First Rold told about his daughter. Alain and Aletta still didn't understand.

"Why is your daughter afraid to come out?" Alain asked.

"Elise is very afraid of black spirits. It's very difficult to get her out of the house." Rold complained. He paused for Aletta and Alain to understand.

"So I'm begging you guys to persuade him to try playing outside. She's never in her life known nature firsthand." Rold ended his explanation. He thought Aletta and Alain could understand it.

"Sure, I don't mind helping. Aletta doesn't mind either, right?" Alain tapped Aletta's shoulder. Aletta agreed with a nod.

"I'm very grateful. Can you see Elise directly now?" Rold asked, offering them to start persuading Elise right now.

"Yes, we are very free, don't worry, Master." Alain said and smiled kindly.

The three of them got up and were about to leave together. But Alain just remembered that he needed to tell his mother that he and Aletta needed to go to Mr. Grosvener's residence. Aletta and Mr. Rold patiently waited for Alain to inform his mother first.

Knock knock.

....

Knock knock.

...

No response.

Alain brought his face closer to the door, "Aletta and I went to Mr. Grosvener's house. I didn't lock the door."

...

Still no response. Alain gave up and headed back towards Aletta and Rold. Alain just closed the door. Then the three of them started walking towards the Grosvener residence. Aletta walked using her cane, also assisted by Alain maybe she would stumble. Rold's house was not far. The village of Ireth is not so full of houses, mostly plains with green grass and plantations. From the front of Alain's house, you can already see the big house belonging to the Grosvener family.

The gates were already open when they came, just keep walking towards the entrance. There are several stairs that need to be passed to get to the entrance. Rold knocked five knocks on the door. A servant opened the door and ushered them in. Rold coded Aletta and Alain to enter first. Rold remained silent on the spot, seemingly wanting to ask his maid.

"Where's Elise?" Rold asked, not showing the friendly face he had previously shown to Aletta and Alain.

"Young Lady is reading as usual…." The maid said while looking down.

Rold understood, he didn't answer anything else and walked over to Aletta and Alain. Alain was looking at the items on the shelves and on the walls of this mansion, while Aletta just stood still and warned Alain to be careful not to break anything. Rold smiled before coming over to them.

"Alain just take a look first. I'll be waiting," Rold kindly invited Alain to satisfy his curiosity about the things in this house.

"Thank you Mr. Gross-"

"We've seen enough of it, thank you very much. In order to shorten the time we better need to get acquainted with Elise as soon as possible." Aletta interrupted. Alain pouted. Their desires are not healthy.

"Ah, well then my maid will take you to our home library, it looks like Elise is reading there," Rold patted his maid's shoulder. Telling that Rold entrusted the two children to her.

"I have business outside. Is it okay for you guys to be with my maids?" Rold asked, feeling it would be rude to leave his guest.

"Sure, me and Alain are fine." said Aletta. Her body was facing Rold, she could tell by the source of the voice.

Rold smiled. The maid took a hat and Rold put it on. Rold left the two of them with his maid in this mansion.

"Come on, I'll take you to our home library." said the maid would escort Aletta and Aletta.

The three of them headed for the stairs and up the stairs to the second floor. When they got to the right. Aletta and Alain followed the maid who escorted them in front. As soon as the maids stopped, the two of them also stopped. A pair of large doors were tightly shut, the maid opened the unlocked door. He stood by the door and stood facing the two of them.

"Persuade Young Miss. Nor can I do anything more to persuade her. So I politely request that you two can get Miss Elise to play outside." said the maid, bowing her head. Alain felt bad and was at a loss as to what he should do, he felt it was rude to let an elder give him respect.

"Eh? We'll persuade him anyway! You don't need this!" said Alain confused. While Aletta remained calm. The maid stood straight again.

"Thank you." she said briefly. The maid invited the two of them to enter.

When Aletta and Alain entered, the maid closed the door. Alain could see there was a girl his age reading in the corner of the room. Alain took Aletta to help him walk, because here were bookshelves and Aletta had never been here before. Aletta obediently wanted to be led by Alain.

"Father brought another child...." the girl mumbled. He noticed the presence of Aletta and Alain. But the gaze turned back down and Elise looked gloomy.

"I know you don't like it. But we will still persuade you," explained Aletta. She removed her hand from Alain.

"Em... how is this... Your name is Elise, right? I'm Alain, nice to meet you," said Alain smiling awkwardly. He seemed surprised to hear Elise's complaint which indicated that she didn't like the presence of the two of them. Alain stuck out his right hand.

"I'm scared ... so scared ...." Elise whimpered as she wrung her own clothes and trembled.

Aletta approached while groping for the objects around her. She approached the source of Elise's voice and touched her shoulder. Elise was confused, then suddenly Aletta hugged her. Elise a few seconds later cried in Aletta's arms.

"I-I'm afraid… I-My mother was killed by Father… because a black spirit possessed her…." continued Elise, still crying in Aletta's arms.

Alain was previously quite surprised by Elise crying in Aletta's arms. Finally Alain understood what had happened, he came closer and together with Aletta hugged Elise who was crying.

After a while, Elise had started to calm down. Aletta and Alain let go of their embrace and sat down beside Elise. Aletta's right hand slightly lifted and fumbled around until Aletta found Elise's hand for her to hold.

Elise slowly pulled her hand away from Aleta and wiped her remaining tears, "I'm fine… don't worry." she said trying to convince Aletta and Alain.

"Sorry, I wasn't told about that by your father," said Alain. He felt bad.

"I see… I shouldn't have told you about my mother either." said Elise in a voice full of guilt. For a moment the atmosphere became silent. Alain seemed to want to say something but he remained silent.

"Elise, here it is. If you don't want to leave the house forever, it's going to be troublesome for you," Aletta paused.

"Also troublesome for your father." Aletta said more quietly at this point. It might sound unpleasant to Elise, so Aletta reduced the pressure in saying this part.

"I'm scared, I don't know what to do-"

Aletta suddenly rose to her feet. Elise and Alain of course were shocked and surprised why Aletta stood up all of a sudden. Then Aletta stretched out her hand towards Elise. Elise was getting more and more confused, she didn't know what to do with Aletta's outstretched hand, reach it or not.

"Instead of wasting time putting together words to make your fear disappear, I should just ask you out." take Aletta. She was still holding out his hand, waiting for Elise.

"Great idea! Come on Elise, Aletta and I will always be near you, don't be afraid!" cried Alain excitedly and stood up too. He looked at Elise with sparkling eyes.

Elise who was still sitting looked at Alain. But suddenly she became gloomy and looked down again. Alain's face looked disappointed at not being able to persuade Elise. Apparently not, Elise suddenly lifted her head, grabbed the hand that Aletta almost pulled and stood up too. Alain's face that had been gloomy for a moment was now shining again. Aletta also smiled after feeling Elise's warm hand gripping hers.

***

The three of them went towards the edge of the forest which was near from behind Elise's house. Alain was on Elise's left and Aletta on her right, the three of them together walked hand in hand. Aletta carried her walking stick, even though she should be the more worthy one in the middle—but for Elise's sake she would be more careful with her steps. Alain put on a happy and proud face for succeeding in persuading Elise. Meanwhile Elise herself became frightened again and stopped suddenly before entering the tree area. Aletta noticed it, then she tightened her grip on her hand.

"We're going in." Aletta informed. Elise agreed with a nod.

The three of them stepped back. Entering the area of ​​​​high trees so the atmosphere becomes darker. Elise's eyes were constantly looking here and there to make sure what she was afraid of didn't show up. Meanwhile, Aletta had a hard time walking even though she was using a walking stick and holding hands with Elise. The road is uneven and there are many roots of large trees that rise to the ground.

The sound of birds began to be heard. Elise became calmer, apparently she was admiring the sound of birds. All her life she was afraid to go out of the house, once out Elise realized that the forest was not as scary as she thought. Alain was so happy to see Elise. Aletta couldn't see it, but she could feel it from Elise's hand which was no longer shaking.

Up ahead, you can see a wide area without trees. Once they arrived, they encountered a waterfall. Elise gaped. Elise subconsciously let go of Aletta and Alain's hands, then stepped on her own, wanting to see the waterfall more clearly. As soon as she was about to enter the water, Elise suddenly stopped. She still hesitated to touch the water with his feet.

Alain enthusiastically ran over to Elise. Alain took off his footwear and immediately plunged his feet into the water. He turned around and gave a helping hand to Elise. Although hesitating, Elise grabbed Alain's hand. Elise took off her shoes too. Slowly she began to dip his right foot into the water, Elise was surprised and pulled his leg. But in the end she put his feet in the water.

"See? This if fun!" Alain asked loudly so that his voice would not be muffled by the sound of the waterfall. Elise just smiled and nodded.

Aletta remained silent on the spot. She knew if he took a few more steps she would be walking on rocks. Of course Aletta still hesitated to walk without looking. Finally she just kept quiet with a calm face. Even though she couldn't see the two of them, from Alain's enthusiastic exclamation, Aletta could tell that they were having fun there.

"Elise!!!"

Pyur!

Elise tripped, lost her balance, and fell into the water. Alain panicked and immediately approached Elise. His face was very worried, it was as if his face was saying: even though this is Elise's first time going here, but she actually had an unpleasant experience.

As soon as Alain arrived in front of her, Elise was already in a sitting position holding her knee which was blistered from rubbing against the rock. Elise suddenly fell silent while looking at her reddened knees.

Oh, she's definitely going to cry.

"Hahahahaha!" Elise laughed. Totally unexpected.

"Elise?" Alain tilted his head slightly, confused by Elise laughing.

Elise started to stop laughing "I just knew this is what it feels like to fall outside. It does hurt, but this pain goes away because the beauty of the waterfall pays off!"

Alain didn't seem to really understand what Elise was saying. But Alain understood that it was a good thing. Alain tried to smile and help Elise get up. After that, Alain and Elise approached Aletta and led her to sit on a large rock, so that Aletta could play in the water with her feet. After that the three of them started chatting with each other.

"Elise, black spirits can come anywhere and anytime. Therefore you must enjoy everything before the black spirit seizes your consciousness. I'm sorry if I scared you." said Aletta. It might sound scary enough to Elise, but Aletta felt compelled to say it.

Elise looked down at the water, "No, you don't need to apologize, Aletta. What you said is true…."

Aletta looked for Elise's hand and held it, "I wish we never had to deal with a black spirit."

***