The gentle canary light from the lamps on the sides of the door only lit the nearby space. The rest of the room was dyed with ebony except for the long table at the middle of the shelves where Lothar's eyes were glued on a book. Five books placed one after another were next to his arm.
I grabbed and turned the knob opening the other side of the door. I stepped out and closed the door behind me. I was accompanying Lothar after supper in the library and earlier the twenty-first bell rang. I was told to leave and have sleep.
I treaded through the lamps attached to the walls in the corridor. Raine refused to accompany me when Lothar asked her before the meal. It seemed the silence in and out of the House during the night creeps her. As I passed before a window, I saw a sliver of the moon and few stars camping together. Far across was the tower and a small house attached to it.
As I heard steps nearby, I glanced to the corridor expecting someone to pass. However, while I wait for several moments, no one came and the steps continued. I continued to walk and the steps grew louder. I went to where the steps came from.
Glowing in pitch black were silky snow hair strands cascading down to a stair. While the hair bounced up and down the stairs, I heard a humming. Arriving on the top of the stairs, it turned to face me.
The freezing night wind slips in from the windows raising my skin. Her lashes and wrapper were as white as her hair. Her silver brows raised while she put her pale hands on her waist. She jumped from one stair to another and ran to my face. She bends her body with her nose barely touching mine. Gazing before me was a couple of frosty eyes.
"You are like me," she spoke with such a sharp voice. "I have never seen other people like me." She stood properly still looking puzzled. She stared. A few moments later, she circled around me without leaving her gaze. She returned before me, saying, "However, I guess, we are quite different." She stared again. "Can you not speak?"
Silence filled as the wind stopped coming. "I can."
"Oh, I thought you cannot." The ghost of the attic which Olivier had mentioned before laughed. "Is Lothar still in the library?" As I nodded, she grabbed my wrist ran dragging me behind.
Our steps echoed in the corridor. We went downstairs and passed several paintings on the wall. As she reached for the knob, she opened the door and closed it. She loosened her hand on mine and sat on the couch.
"Sit."
I looked around. Only four lamps on the walls dimly lit the room and the curtains were hanging down. The room was quite similar to Lothar's chamber except it only has half of the shelves. I walked and sat across her. I felt a sort of déjà vu going on.
"Are you Lothar's new aide?" she asked. I nodded. "So, they had disposed Matias." She squinted. "You are too young to be one, though. Why would you be still awake at this hour? Kids are supposed to be sleeping already."
Look who is talking here. "I should ask you the same." With her height and appearance, there is no doubt she is younger or we are the same age.
"I am an exception. I sleep on days and awake on nights."
"Why?"
"It is because of how I appear. I cannot be exposed to light. We might be similar, however if you are fine with light, I am not." Her expression looked more confused and she crosses her arms. "Are you?"
Silence filled as I thought of her question. "I often wear hats and look downward on days. I do not try to intercept light directly too for it gives me unnecessary pain."
"I figured so." Hearing the twenty-second bell, she smiled ear to ear. "Do you think Lothar is back in his chamber?"
"Might be."
She stood, saying, "Follow me." She walked to the knob and ushered me to follow her. We stepped out.
We treaded through the corridors and went downstairs. As we arrived in the foyer, she glanced at our sides and ran to a door in the corner. I followed her to another corridor that only had a dimly lit lamp. Opening another door at the end of the corridor, a breeze cold as ice rushed in.
I wrapped and rubbed my arms with my hands feeling warmer. She gestured me to come as she stepped out. I closed the door and found myself beside the patio and before the forest which stood next to the estate.
She looked at the windows above finding that there was no lamp lit in all of them. She walked into the trees. I noticed on each tree she touched was a branch attached with a rope around. I jumped over a root on the path while the leaves dance with the breeze. A few moments later, we arrived out from the forest. Beside us was the lofty wall surrounding the estate.
Are they not allowed to build walls within a forest? Or are they so confident to leave the opening in the forest? I wore the hood. We went to the nearest pavement and walked opposite the estate.
Streetlights tailed along the rail tracks. Several structures on each side of the pavements were closed and dim. The tranquility of the road made me feel like I was in an alternate dimension. The last time I was out it was bustling with coaches and feet. Now, it is definitely night.
The snow lass ran laughing before me. "There was a night I wandered here, you see. A couple of days later, I heard from Petra that a white ghost had been wandering in the streets every night. She said it scared the folks making the streets even quieter." She turned to me. "Would it be not interesting if the white ghost is seen with a red one?"
Indeed, it is. She picks a stone on the ground, turns her back, and throws it hitting the nearby streetlight. Upon hearing the high-pitched noise from the impact, a door opened and a lad appeared. His eyes abruptly dilated and he was rooted by the door.
She waves with a big smile to him. As soon as the lad glanced at me, he immediately slammed the door. I walked next to her and we heard someone crying loud from the door. The windows in the house alighted and gradually the cry sobered.
"Now, that did it," she grinned.
We walked further. As we arrived by an intersection, she runs back and forth across the other side. Gradually, she starts jumping on the tracks and runs into the center of the crossing. She circles around and begins to hum. She tiptoed on a side of the tracks while I stayed at the corner of the street.
The twenty-third bell rang. "Shall we race to the clocktower?" Without waiting for my response, she dashed to the street on the right. From where I stood, I saw the corner of the clocktower and a couple of slivers of its faces on each side.
I started to walk. I saw a man in a dark coat and topper approaching me. The first person I saw in the streets this night. He passed on my side gluing his eyes on me. As I looked back, I saw him walking as fast as he could and turned right.
Had he seen that snow lass? The breeze scrubbed past my hair. The waistcoat remains ineffective as I rub my arms and sneezed. Arriving at another crossroad, I crossed the tracks and reached a pavement. I walked further into the left street.
Several minutes later, I arrived before the great structure spanning for several yards. It looked so thin from afar, though. The snow lass was standing by an alley on the side waving at me. I walked to her. We entered the alley and she opened a door. She closed the door behind me while before us were huge sort of containers aligned one after another next to the walls. These vertical containers seemed to stand for more than ten feet.
She rambled in the aisle glancing at her sides mesmerizing by the sight. "Do you know what these thingamabobers are?" She paused. "These are called magic storage medium. This is where magic used for electricity and trains come from. This is the magic used for an entire year. I heard they recycle used magic to make it last for a year. However, every first day of the year people of Leoville with good magic affinity replenish the magic stored." She turned to me. "Quite a sight, is it?"
"Can we destroy them?"
"Are you planning to wreck havoc in Leoville as the red ghost?" She laughed. "Father once told me that destroying a single medium requires too much mana which may give you death. I do not know how many mediums are here. I bet there are hundreds of them."
She ran towards the end of the aisle and stepped on a metallic slab. "Hurry." I followed her. Her palm pushed a platinum button on the counter beside. Gradually, the metal creaks and the platform is elevated.
Looking down below, the mediums seemed like unusual cylindrical stones standing side by side. I turned my eyes upward and saw myriad small and large cogs interlocked to each other. As they turn in their ways, the noise increased. At the midst of the space was an enormous bell, hanging.
A few moments later, the platform stopped. The snow lass walked to the metal floor on the side. I followed her as she walked beside the bell and started on the stairs. After opening a door on the roof, she stepped out and helped me reach the top.
Stars spreading all over the sky twinkled while the moon fragment lied on our south. Surrounding the clocktower were dim structures spanning for as far as my eyes could see deep down. The light from the streetlights was obvious from where we stood.
Her hair brushed from her shoulders while the breeze approached. She smiled, saying, "I found this place on one night. It would be wonderful to witness the sun rise from here however that would harm both of us."
We stayed rooted on the top remaining in captivation. The midnight bell came ringing loudly from my ears. I remembered the bell beneath us. I regret staying here more than necessary. My ears were still ringing. I yawned.
She noticed. "Should we head back?"
Trivia Question:
Why do you think the "snow lass" said that Talia is like her?
(The answer will be in the next chapter)