Young Writers Society

Jenna Train

The outside door was pushed open. The doctor had asked for cold water and rags, perhaps because the girl had a fever, and Jenna was on her way to find some. She could feel the sweet Charlie had given her bouncing in her pocket as she walked. She would have to think about that later. But as for now… Where had they left the blasted bucket?

It took a few minutes and several interrogations to locate the bucket for the well, but Jenna eventually returned to the sick room, with some clean linins in one hand, and a jug of cold well water in the other.

“There you are, sirs,” she said, carefully maneuvering around the occupants of the room and placing the objects on the night stand. This wasn’t as easy as one might think, but Jenna managed it. It always amazed her how loud people were when they breathed. From there, it was a simple matter of not running into them.

She ended up standing by the bedside with Dr. Larkin, whom she could hear fiddling with various instruments.

“Is she going to be alright?” asked Jenna.

The doctor paused. “I think so,” he said. “Sancho will help.”

Jenna paused, cocking her head to one side. “Sancho…” She said thoughtfully. “Yes, I expect that he will.” She had decided long ago not to question the eccentric doctor.

Her hand strayed to her pocket and the sweet there. Lemon… she sighed. Sugar was one thing she loved and one thing she didn’t often get, for one reason or another. And now, a lemon candy seemed like the most wonderful idea in the world.

With a twang of regret, she placed it gently on the bedside table. “Here,” she whispered to the sleeping girl, “You need it more than I do.” She stepped back, into a corner, and waited to be called on.

Dailia

It was too noisy, how were people supposed to sleep when it was noisy? I held back a yawn and curled up tighter, trying to remember when I fell asleep, and why I fell asleep. People continued to move around in a rude and noisy fashion. Mommy always said that if you wanted people to let you sleep, you had to be quiet while they slept. I had been nothing but quiet since mommy brought me here.

Wait, mommy. That's why I fell asleep. I had helped mommy feel better and now I was tired. That always happened, so it was no surprise or worry to me. But wait, where was mommy now? my eyes shot open and I shot up in the bed. My eyes traced the walls for her, but she was no where to be found. Just the weird people from earlier. Even my friend wasn't here any more.

"Mommy? Mommy? Mommy where are you? Where's my mommy?" I was beginning to panic, and that wasn't good. My mommy always told me panicking wasn't good.

"Dailia, Dailia, it's alright she's just in another room." did I even know this guy? I don't think I did.

Tears were beginning to flood my eyes, and they stung. I didn't like that feeling, so I just let them. I wanted my mommy, they weren't mommy. Oh god, where was mommy?

Jenna Train

“Mommy?” Said the little voice. “Mommy? Mommy where are you? Where’s my Mommy?”

Jenna took a step further back. Oh, God. She could hear it in the girl’s voice. The quaver, the little gasps. She sounded like she was going to cry. Poor little thing. Poor, noisy, absolutely pitiful little thing.

“Shall I fetch the guest?” Jenna asked Alexander.

“Go,” he said. Jenna nodded before ducking outside, closing the door behind her.

In the quiet hallway, Jenna paused, shaking her head. She had been the youngest child in her family, and wasn’t used to crying. It tended to drown out everything else, and when one depended on hearing… well, it made things a little difficult, and so far, Jenna hadn’t worked out a system to cope.

She was walking down the hall, when she heard a muffled cough from the bedroom she had passed two doors ago. It was right next to the sick girl’s room. Suppose Thomas had moved their guest to somewhere more convenient?

She went back to the door, knocked, and opened it before anyone had a chance to reply.

“Hello?” she whispered into the room. She could hear two sets of lungs working. Two people.

“Jenna, what-?” said Thomas’s voice.

“The young lady in the next room would like to see her mother,” Jenna explained, opening the door wider.

*Maybe we should jump forward a couple of hours in the story. It might help this thing take off.*

Reseph:

Reseph shivered under the blankets and opened feverish eyes to see Lidz and Lyric peering out into the hallway. He had finally slipped into oblivious slumber. What had woken him?

Then he heard it again. The high strident sound of a child calling for it's mother. Small wonder the girl's call had woken him. Reseph hadn't been the only one in that hellhole. Some of the other prisoners had been children as well. He hadn't been able to help them but maybe he could help this child.

The change from human to wolf was effortless and instantaneous. The black wolf slipped off the bed and trotted out the door between the girls before they could stop him. His claws clicked on the hardwood floor as he nosed open the door to the room across the hall.

He walked over to the little girl and placed his head on her bed. Watching her with the saddest eyes he could muster.

Okay, fastforwarding even more...

Jenna Train

A few days went by. The household, although still slightly shaken from recent events, returned to some semblance of normality. The two guests rested: Elodie recovered some of her shaken nerves, and Daila grew healthier with every passing day. Perhaps the two weren’t completely up to snuff, but they were well on their way.
The Half-Sights, too, seemed to be getting better. There had been no attacks for almost a week, and people were becoming cautiously optimistic. Perhaps the spell had passed.

Or – perhaps not.

Jenna was just entering Miss Elodie’s room with a breakfast tray from the kitchen. The maple aroma of the dish swirled up and tickled her nose. It only reminded her that she’d skipped breakfast that morning.

“Hello, Miss Lestair ,” she said, placing the tray carefully on the nightstand. “Feeling alright this morning?”

Jenna heard the bedsprings creak as the other woman sat up, and shifted her weight on the mattress.

“Yes, thank you. How is Daila?” Elodie asked. Her daughter was always the first thing on her mind.

Jenna smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure she’s fine, Miss. You can see her once you’ve dressed and eaten.”

“Thank you,” repeated Elodie. “But I wonder-”

Elodie didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence, because suddenly, from somewhere outside, someone started screaming.

“The back garden!” Jenna said, swiveling to face the noise. “Miss Lestair, stay here, please.” Jenna was already out the door, rushing, with most of the household, towards the sound.

Through the commotion, Jenna could hear other cries ringing out, clamoring against her ears, all wanting to be heard and understood. But one word was discernable, and that was all she needed to hear.

“Attack!”