Dark things 2

Emmeline turned surprised at her husband's words. How can a sick girl muster such amount of strength to push an elderly man? It wasn't even that Aurora was a vicious child. She darted her eyes to their bedroom before hurrying to get inside it, abandoning her husband who wouldn't stop groaning in pain and frustration, to get up.

She found traces of blood that led out of the room, making her gasp in shock as she enclosed her mouth in her palms. It was not Cyrus as she had seen no bloodstains on him, it had to be Aurora. She thought in realization as anger swelled in her heart. Her husband had injured the little child and kept lying to her.

Without bothering to question him right away, she hurried into the bedroom to face a scattered room, with different things scattered here and there. Did Cyrus combat with a little kid? she sighed in frustration.

She walked out of the bedroom to head toward the kitchen, moving to the fireplace as she kneeled to pull out a sheepskin bag from a covered hole inside the broken blocks of the old wall.

She kept darting her eyes to the door and the sheep clothed bag, making sure her husband was not watching her.

She opened the bag, picking out two clear crystals, a little bottle of rose water, black tourmaline and a betony flower, she had kept inside a little transparent glass filled with water. It was magical to see the flower never die in the enclosed contained.

She pulled out an amulet and hurriedly placed it on her neck, adjusting its chains to fit properly into her dress to avoid suspicion before patting it gently, replacing the old blocks into the wall like there was no hole in it.

"Where are you going to?". Cyrus asked surprised, scrutinizing his wife who had worn a new cloak, carrying a lantern which she was lighting from the candlestick on the floor.

" Are you not listening to me?". Cyrus barked in annoyance when he received no response to his question.

"You can observe already, I am going in search of my granddaughter if you don't mind". Emmeline replied without looking at him, steadying the lantern that she held in her hands.

" What's with the bag then?". Cyrus questioned, suspiciously.

"I am returning it to a friend, she had it delivered with some herbs which she forgot". Emmeline answered back, sending a glare so he could eat up the remaining questions in his mouth.

Cyrus continued to stare at her retreating back as she stormed out of the house before he groaned in anguish, trying to stand up.

Emmeline with the lantern made her way out of the house to the dark forest. She knew it was no fairytale that dark creatures resided in the dark forest and it was not safe to go there, talk more, a little child who would not be able to discern between right and wrong.

She earnestly prayed for her granddaughter's safety. The rain which was falling had stopped as she darted her eyes to the houses, she was making her way past. All windows were latched and it was obvious, that it was late and time to take a nap.

Emmeline continued to walk, only stopping when she had gotten to the pathway, leading into the dark forest. She lowered herself to the ground, searching for footprints, finding none and it was strange. She thought.

She was confused. If Aurora never entered the dark forest, where else would she go?. Emmeline was troubled. She took out the betony flower from the bag, she had hung around her neck, holding it firmly in her hands as she decided to search for her granddaughter in there.

Getting deeper and deeper, she commenced to pluck out the petals of the flower, whispering under her breath as she strode.

She picked out the two crystals, the bottle of rose water and the black tourmaline, as she stopped, surveying the environment.

" Banish the bad energy, ward off unpleasant people, defend my belongings, my spirit and her space". She whispered to the air, raising the two crystals which turned bright, illuminating the forest, scaring the unseen creatures that were about to step out from their forms in concealment as she continued to walk with the glowing crystals, surveying the ground for footprints.

She found no footprints, not even one.

She breathed out a sigh, before squatting and drawing some markings with the black tourmaline as she whispered some words. Staring at the markings for some seconds to see nothing happen, she crumpled her face in confusion, attempting to clean it off to rewrite again, when a faint wind blew the ground, sweeping off the fallen leaves, sands, and whatever was on the ground, lighting the floor with glowing markings that magically showed different footprints. Countless numbers of footprints that she hadn't seen before although she had squatted so close to the ground with her lantern. This forest was certainly alarming.

Countless numbers of footsteps, how on earth was she to decipher her granddaughter's?. Sensing something that was watching her intently, she quickly veered around with her lantern, seeing nothing.

Exhaling a sigh, she held her chest. It was nothing, it was particularly nothing, she convinced her racing heart.