Lavender opened her eyes to see a dark moving landscape. No... The landscape wasn't moving. She was. The sound of the river was much further than before as well. The trees, they seemed familiar. She lifts her head only to see the back of one all too familiar. Hierance... It didn't take long before she realized she was draped over his back, piggyback style. She frowns, wriggling away from him.
"Hey! Hey, stop!" She exclaims. He jumps, clearly startled. Just as quick as she spoke he lurches to a halt, briskly lowering her. Once her feet touched the ground she backs up, glancing down at herself. Hierance turns to face her.
"Are you okay?" He asks in a concerned tone. She glances up at him and then around at the surrounding trees. He widens his eyes, leaning in closer to her face.
"Woah...." He says before she could even answer. Lavender frowns in confusion. She pulls away.
"What? What are you..." She starts. He shakes his head and blinks as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He then looks around nervously, drawing away.
"Nothing... It must just be a trick of the eye yeah?" He states. It seemed however that he was more so trying to convince himself. She hugs her arm a bit insecurely, shivering from the cold.
"Okay?" She states confused. He then looks towards the sky, and then behind himself.
"I think you best head home. I don't know what happened there but... I don't think it's safe for you out here. If you're so weak that you just... randomly collapse then I see why your father keeps you indoors." He says critically. He quickly glances elsewhere, almost as if he was avoiding eye contact. She scoffs.
"Listen, that... I don't know what happened but It's never been like that before. I'm fine." She states. Though Lavender was nervous. She did indeed pass out. But it was strange. She had never felt like that before. Even now she felt peculiar, almost split in two. It wasn't something she had ever felt before. Lavender brushes off the thought. Hierance shakes his head.
"Well, it'll be dawn soon anyways. You should drop it for now." He states before turning. She frowns further, reaching out and grasping his shoulder. She tugs him back.
"Hey! You're acting weird. What's going on?" She questions. He glances at her and scowls, jerking his shoulder out of her grasp.
"You don't know me. How would you know how I act?" He states defensively. She steps back a bit, eyeing him curiously. Hierance sighs heavily before glancing down at his feet.
"It's just been a strange night okay? The temple... I don't know there was a weird light. It made me nervous." He admits, scuffling his feet in the dirt. Lavender glances towards the direction they came.
"Well, you can't see it now. We're much too far away." He states. Lavender tucks a loose strand of hair into her bonnet. She turns her attention back to Hierance.
"What kind of light?" She questions flatly. He shrugs.
"I don't know... It was purple. I couldn't get a very good look. Then you dropped." He mutters. Lavender opens her mouth to speak, but he interrupts.
"We can investigate it tomorrow. Just go home."
"My brother can't go home. There's not much time."
"Lavender, we won't be able to cross that river. You need to find out more about it from your father or something..."
"But-"
"PLEASE! I'm exhausted. And my feet hurt... I wanna go to bed." He whines. Lavender frowns.
Hierance was quite known for complaining. Many saw him beg to his father at the town market for something better, or of higher quality. It was no secret however that even the Lord's family was struggling in resource. All of the money they had accumulated was from the people of Thornwood after all, but Thornwood had absolutely nothing to give anymore. Lavender shakes her head.
"Whatever... Go home to your daddy then." She states with resentment. She folds her arms. He again sighs.
"Go home, Lavender... The totem clearing is just ahead. Follow the path and you'll be back in Thornwood. When I see you tomorrow, you better have what I asked for." He says plainly before turning and walking off on his own. Lavender grimaces. He was right, however, and she knew it. With another sigh she starts down the trail again, trying to wrap her head around what had happened before at the river.
Lavender walked towards the shabby wooden door of her home defeated. She couldn't shake the strange feeling still, moreover, she was exhausted. Never in her life had she walked so far, seen so much, or been so frustrated. Once reaching the door, the blonde girl grasps onto its handle, careful turning and then opening it. She peeks her head inside. The hut was dark with only embers faintly burning within the hearth that sat at the back of the room. She listens to hear the sound of heavy breathing and an occasional snore from her father.
She quietly tiptoes in, turning and shutting the door behind herself. Once inside she removes the cloak that draped over her shoulder, hanging it beside the door. Next, she slips off her shoes, and then her bonnet. The girl heaves a heavy sigh of relief, leaning her back against the door. Her feet ached, and her legs felt worn out. She turns her attention towards her bedding, almost expecting to see a lump under its covers. But there was none. Ferrin was gone. And her father had his own bed of course. She hobbles towards the empty bed, crawling onto it. She didn't bother to fully undress. She was simply too exhausted. Once pulling the wool and cotton blankets over herself, she collapses. Never had her limbs felt so heavy. Lavender takes a deep breath in, closing her eyes before finally drifting off into sleep.
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It was late morning when Lavender again woke. But even as she did it was as if her body was refusing. Her eyes still dropped and her head felt anything but light against the light wool stuffed pillow. What was it exactly that had woken her after all?
"Lavender!" The grey-haired man booms, again giving her shoulder a firm shake. Ah... So that was what it was. She groans, turning onto her belly in protest.
"Lavender, did you go out again last night? Why is their mud on your boots?" He asks. Lavender stays silent, not wanting to lie to her father, but also refusing to tell him. Lavender after all was a terrible liar.
She tucks her face under the cover of her blankets. Alfred was most certainly displeased. He grunts irritably before grabbing onto the bedding and tugging it away from his daughter. He throws it to the end of the bed before again grabbing her shoulder.
"Lavender, UP! Answer me now! It's not safe for you out there! Were you in the woods?"
Lavender groans again in agitation, resentfully lifting her head. She sits up, turning to her father.
"And so what if I did?" she exclaims angrily. And just as soon as she made eye contact with her father, he stumbles back, grabbing his chest. Alfred plummets onto his backside, the dirt ground flurrying up as he did. His eyes were wide and full of fear. He extends his finger out, pointing at her with a shaking hand.
"What have you done!?" He exclaims. Lavender pulls back in surprise and confusion. she frowns, studying her father. Never had she seen him act so strange.
"Father what are you..." She starts, bewildered. He shakes his head, quickly tearing up.
"Not you too... Why would you do such a thing? You're all I have left Lavender!" He bellows from the ground, interrupting her. He then slowly adjusts, lifting himself from the ground, his old bones cracking in protest.
Alfred starts towards her, however, suddenly full of life as she'd never seen him. He cups her face in his hands, his cloudy eyes searching hers.
"She'll take you too..." He mutters under his breath. Lavender stares at him in utter confusion for a moment before tugging away from him. She scoots away, ducking under his arm and sliding off the bed. She stumbles away from the greying man.
"What in the depths has gotten into you, Father? What are you talking about?" She says as she turns to him. He swirls around to face her. He then glances around at the shelves and surfaces in the room. He quickly spots what he was looking for, seeing a shining knife on the table. He grabs it, holding it out to her.
"Check your reflection then! And tell me again that you don't understand!" He demands. She glances up at him, and then down at the knife. Her reflection? Lavender hesitantly reaches out, taking the knives hilt. She brings it to her face, staring back at herself through the thin reflection of the shiny blade. Her eyes widen as she spots it. She drops the knife, backing up with a gasp. What Lavender saw she couldn't believe. Her left eye; It was a deep, unnatural shade of purple. She brings her fingertips to her cheek, trying to process what might have happened. Alfred watches, his eyes still full of tears.
"Nothing good comes of it, Lavender! When your mother came home looking like that she disappeared only days later!" He exclaims. Lavender lifts her gaze to him, her jaw-dropping. Lavender's skull swirled with unanswered questions.
"My Mother? Father, I don't understand how this happened!" She whines, her voice cracking. He frowns.
"Did you not go to that blasted temple then? Pledge your soul to her!?" He shouts, believing her to be playing dumb. Lavender raises her eyebrows in shock. Did he know of the temple? Yet still, there was much she didn't know.
"I didn't even see it. I couldn't get past the river!" She shouts back truthfully. He takes a step towards her.
"Oh bull! I know how these things work! You assume me an idiot? I've been there too! Who told you how to cross!?" He growls, stomping closer to her. Lavender backs up further but stops as she meets the table that sat close to the hearth. She grasps its edge, shaking her head.
"I'm telling the truth! I arrived at the river and passed out! then I came home... There was..." She starts. She shakes her head.
"There was a strange light. I don't know what happened, Father! I don't know what you're talking about!" She pleads. He stops in his tracks, looking over her.
Alfred shakes his head.
"She'll take you too... She'll take you away from me..." He chokes out. He had a faraway look in his eyes. His face had become a blotchy red shade at this point as well. Lavender cocks her head, staring over him. There was now a steady stream of tears down his cheeks. She had never seen her father look so broken, nor cry so helplessly. Sure he teared up, but not often would he let them flow. She takes a hesitant step towards him.
"I'm not going to leave you... But first I have to find Ferrin... If you know where the temple is, you know where to find him, right?" She says, regaining her determination.
She couldn't be bothered to concern over her sudden and unexplained change of appearance. Alfred returns his gaze to her.
"I will not deliver you to her." He stubbornly states.
"Who? I don't know who this woman you speak of is..."
"The bloody Goddess of course. Aren't you the one who gave yourself to her? How did you get to the pool?"
"I didn't give myself to anyone! I promise you Father, I do not lie!"
He narrows his eyes are her, looking deeply into hers. Soon he sighs, then shakes his head. he steps back, plopping down onto the bed, distraught.
"I can't see how you could have gone there... No one but me knows the way across... And that dreadful creature guards the place. Did the Goddess simply take what wasn't offered then?" He mutters to himself. The man buries his head into the palms of his hands.
Lavender felt a wave a relief wash over her. He finally believed her. She glances to her feet before sheepishly walking to him again. She sits on the bed beside the old man, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Please... Tell me about the temple. I need to know." She states. Alfred kept his gaze elsewhere. He shakes his head.
"You will go there. And Teres will kill you."
"Teres? Who is Teres?"
"It's the Beast's name.. Dreadful creature from the depths... He too took everything from me."
"It has a name? How do you know it's name?"
Alfred then looks at her. A daunting expression covered his sunken features. One of rage, of anger, and resent.
"Well I am the one that gave it him. Not that he remembers... I knew once he started to grow... He was not holy, nor of the Goddess." The old man states with a trembling voice. Lavender widens her eyes. She gawks, unable to believe what she had just heard.
"You... You named him? Why did you name him? How?" She quivers. Alfred took in a deep breath.
"Your mother... She had a vision. A vision of a babe emerging from a purple pool. She believed it to mean something. And so she sought after it. There were other visions too, and soon she had found the temple." He starts. Lavender leans in, listening. The more he spoke, the more Lavender realized how little she knew.
"She found the babe in the pool, believed it was her Goddess-Given duty to care for it. She brought me to it. It was not human. It was what it is now, some sort of beast. Though I believed her at first. She said he was sweet. But as he grew, I saw his true colors. I did, and I told her. It began to shape shift... It grew razor teeth and strength like none ever knew." He explains. He shakes his head, turning his gaze then to his knees.
"She had you and Ferrin not long after... But while I raised you, she raised a monster. The same monster that condemns Thornwood to death... And the same that killed your brother. It's a terrible creature. And I guarantee you it is aware of what it is doing. He can speak, he can understand. He is not some mindless animal."
Alfred speaks in solemn tone as he fumbled with his old wrinkled fingers. Lavender stares in shock, her jaw agape as she attempts to process everything he had just told her. Did her mother really raise such an awful creature? Was this the reason she was hardly home? Lavender couldn't help but feel resent rise in her. Resent for the woman who was meant to protect her and her brother, but instead protected the monster who now took Ferrin. And she felt resent for her father for never telling her before.
Alfred shakes his head, staring blankly and deeply at his knobly knees again that peecked from beneath his night gown. Lavender glares coldly, fixated on him. He glimpses to her, and then again away.
"I couldn't tell anyone Lavender. They would have us all hung... Or burned. You understand this don't you?" He says, keeping his vision focussed elsewhere. Lavender shakes her head slowly.
"You could have told me and Ferrin. You have failed us by not doing so." She responds cooly. he snaps his attention to her.
"And allow you to suffer for your mother's transgressions? I shouldn't have told you now. It should be my burden to carry, and mine alone."
"But it isn't. Ferrin suffers now. And you refuse to help him. Let me help him father."
"I will not allow you to leave me too." As Alfred says this, he again choked up. He stares at her, reaching out and cupping her face in his large, rough hands. Lavender grimaces again, inhaling deep in discontent.
"Mother's journal... I want to see it." She says coldly. Alfred's expression falters, knowing she was unhappy with him. He pulls away, dropping his hands to his sides now. He stares towards his bedside table across the room before sighing deeply, and nodding. He stands, his joints creaking in defiance.
Alfred starts across the hut, Reaching towards a piece of twine around his beck. He pulls it from under his nightgown, exposing a small brass key on it's end. He pulls it over his head. Lavender sits, watching from her bed still as he inserts the key into a lock to a drawer, one she had never seen the contents of. He was always so private about his drawer. The lock clicks, and the old man opens the drawer. He stares into it for a while before finally retrieving a small leather bound book. He turns to Lavender, eyeing her.
"You remember your reading studies?" He asks. She nods silently, focussing now on the book. He nods in return, approaching her. He then holds the journal out for her to take.
"It is a bit advanced. She was well educated. I confess I... I don't understand much of it. ." He says.
Lavender takes the book, staring down at its front. She runs her hand over the leathery cover. Tears begin to fill her eyes as she thinks about the woman that wrote it, the one Lavender so desperately wanted to care for her even before her disappearance. She pulls away the strap that held the book closed and opens it. Lavender stares down at the pages, her brow furrowing as she attempted to read the words. Neither Lavender nor Ferrin were too well educated. They only knew how to read from what their father had once taught them. But that was long ago, and he had learned from their mother. Lavender had quickly realized that much of what was written was almost in an entirely different language. Or it was the same language, but the words and letters were different. She glares down at the pages, flipping through them now. At the end of every page it was written this way. And closer to the end nearly all of them were that way. She snaps her attention back to her father.
"Is it in code?"
"I'm not sure..."
"She didn't tell you?"
"Well of course not. your mother was... mysterious to say the least."
Lavender sighs heavily. Another dead end... She then she had a realization.
"Where did mother learn to read and write?" She asks, her green eyes still trailing over the pages.
"Her family I'm sure... Her father was the advisor for Lord Kade before that... Peter came of age... Her mother was head maid as well." He almost seemed to spit Lord Peter's name. It was clear the opinion of him wasn't a fond one. And Lavender didn't blame him... Not after Ferrin was taken. Not many in the village were fond of him anyways.
"Do you think she learned this from them? Do you think Lord Peter knows it?" Lavender asks curiously. Alfred's expression quickly hardens.
"Why do ask?"
"You think he would help us understand?" She asks. Alfred narrows his eyes.
"I didn't show you this for you to hand it to him. There is a reason I haven't given it to him in the first place." The old man grunts, folding his arms. He was angry now? Lavender glances down at the old worn journal. She closes it and stands, staring at her father.
"It could help me save Ferrin Father. I don't care what it takes... " She responds, shaking her head. He gasps a bit.
"You're still going on about that? After all I told you?"
"Of course. I love him father... I can't just leave him! I felt something last night... He was in danger but... But now he feels different. I know he's alive! Don't you care about him?" She says, raising her voice a bit. The greying man grimaces, stepping towards her. He stares down at his daughter.
"You doubt that I do? All I have done for you two is love and protect you. I love him too Lavender! How dare you question that!" He states, beginning to raise his voice. Lavender clenches her jaw, gritting her teeth.
"Well you failed. Where is he now Father? How well did you protect him?"
"I tried my best! You think I wanted this!?" He shouts, his face now a deep red.
"NO! You didn't do anything! When they came in there all you did was step aside for them! YOU LET THIS HAPPEN! And now you won't let me fix it!? What are you good for anyways, huh?" She suddenly shouts, every dark thought she had about her father at that moment slipping past her tongue. She wanted to upset him. She wanted to make him feel as awful as she could. But as soon as Lavender said it, her eyes widen a bit. and she takes a step back. His broken expression showed it all. Tears again filled his eyes. Alfred was not a sensitive man and yet here he showed an expression she'd never seen before. It however, was but a flash. His features quickly twisted into one of rage. he steps towards her, grasping her upper arm roughly.
"Then I will now. I will not allow you to go get yourself killed Lavender." He grunts aggressively. He then begins to tug her towards the front door. Lavender widens her eyes in surprise as he roughly grasped onto her. She pulls away, but to no avail. He pulled harder.
"N-No! Father, what are you doing!?" She cries out. He forced her closer to the front door of the hut before then opening it, tugging her outside. She strains, defiantly planting her shoeless feet in the ground, but it was no use.
"You aren't going out again. Not tonight." He simply responds, ignoring her pleas. He rips her out of the house. She glances up, noticing a few village people staring and whispering. Kate, the daughter of the seamstress, and Colt, a stable boy stood, watching curiously, whispering amongst themselves. She couldn't care about the gossip however. Alfred didn't seem to either.
Lavender reaches behind her, grasping stubbornly onto the door frame.
"Let go!" Bellowed Alfred. Lavender did not. He sighs heavily, releasing her wrist. Just when Lavender felt relief, her father instead grabbed her by the waist, lifting her and throwing her over his shoulder with a heavy grunt. Lavender squeals in surprise.
"Put me down! RELEASE ME!" She screeches. Alfred shakes his head starting to walk towards the side of the little hut. The girl wasn't all that heavy after all.
"You're right. I haven't protected you as I should. I will now. You have left me no choice in this." He snaps back with no regard to Lavender's fist in which pounded on his back, nor her defiant, kicking feet.
Colt and Kate didn't shy away from being caught staring at the strange situation. Soon they weren't the only ones. There was soon Finnigan the farmer, Killian the shepherd, and even Byrane, the blacksmith, who must have been on an errand. Whispering, pointing... Lavender tried to ignore it. Alfred then starts towards a hatch attached to the side of the worn out hut. He bends down, grabbing it's handle and pulling it open. He then Lowers her, beginning to drop her down into the cellar. She widens her eyes, scratching at his face, his hands, anything she could reach.
"No! No Father don't do this! You can't!" She screams. He had a hurt, pained expression displayed on his features now. It was clear he didn't want to.
"I'm sorry." He mutters, pushing her down into the cellar. Lavender falls down hard, her backside hitting the dirt ground with a thud. She lets the grasp go of her mother's journal. It skids across the floor and out of sight. Lavender yelps out in pain. She stares up at the open hatch, and her father's pained expression.
"Please! FATHER PLEASE!" She cries. but already he was closing the wooden doors. He slams them shut, placing a plank through it's handles. There was almost no light now. All except for a thin stream of sunlight from the crack of the hatch's doors. Lavender scrambles to her feet, reaching up to it, pounding on its wood. But it was no use. She was a prisoner now. She screams out in defiance, her hands shaking in anger.
"TO THE DEPTHS WITH YOU THEN! YOU WORTHLESS MAN! I HATE YOU! FUCKING COWARD!" She screams after her father, but she was unsure if the cruel words even reached him. there would be no way of knowing such a thing after all. She was locked in a cellar, and he walked fine and free above ground.
Lavender takes a defeated step back, still in disbelief of her father's actions. She glances around the dark room, it was nearly pitch black. Only the shelves and wooden crates near the hatch could barely be made into shapes. She huffs, a sense of helplessness befalling her. What could she do? There would be no way to save Ferrin now... And just when she felt like she was getting close to the answers. The information her father had told her, the journal in her grasp. And just then Lavender realized. The journal, It was there with her in the cellar. But where? She could not loose it.
Lavender Frantically glances around in the small stream of light that she had. Nothing. She then crouches down, crawling about the floor and feeling over it. There was no time to worry about the mess she was making of herself. She reaches out, crawling further into the deep cellar. She touched an empty bottle, and then damp and damaged wood. Another bottle... But there... Leather. Lavender grabs into it. No doubt about it it was the journal.
She lets out a sigh of relief. Sitting back on the dirt ground and holding the bound book to her chest. Just before Lavender was again about to stand however, a strange feeling came over her. A sleepy feeling. She felt light headed, and her eyelids began to droop. She frowns. What was this? Why was this happening? And then she lost her balance. Even just sitting. She, without her consent, lays down on her back, staring up at the hatch doors. She was loosing consciousness. And she knew. There was nothing she could do to stop it either, despite her internal fight to. Finally, Lavender gives up, her eyes shutting, and her mind beginning to drift. How could she save her brother now?