"You have good eyes on you, and a fairly good head on your shoulders. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. He picked you for a reason," she says.
Donning an all-black, knee length vicuña skirt suit; the only two other colors visible on her are the white blouse visible underneath her jacket and an oddly familiar, golden brooch pinned to it. I am pretty sure I've seen this same brooch on someone else very recently. If I am not mistaken, it was…, "Cat got your tongue?" she puts a stop to my train of thoughts.
"Sorry… I… Are you one of Nathanael's relatives?" I ask. Although judging by those obsidian black eyes and brilliant black hair on her… I believe I already know the answer to that question.
"I won't take much of your time. I hear you're a very busy girl," she rips her eyes away from me to throw a bit of a sneering glance around the shop, making it seem like she doesn't believe in the words that just came out of her mouth.
"It's fine. You don't seem to care about my time all that much. So, … What did I do to piss the shifter's community off this time?"
She seemed taken aback for a moment, but her smile comes back like nothing had disrupted it, "Nothing!" she advances towards me which makes the difference in our heights even more striking, "In fact, I merely came here to apologize for everything you were put through because of my kind. I assure you, that I, personally, will do everything in my power to ensure that the culprits are found and dealt with," she must stand, at least, at six foot two without those heels she has. The confidence she exudes almost made me step back.
"You're one of the law upholders in your community?" I ask, trying my best to seem unphased, "Also, if you're going to spill any major secrets, I should let you know we're not completely alone in the shop," I really don't want Mr. Griffin to be involved in this by my fault.
"Don't worry. Good old Zephyr can't hear us," she mentions Mr. Griffin by his first name and chooses words that can only lead me to believe that the two of them go way back. Now that I think about it, she does look familiar. Distracted by her appearance here, I'd completely forgotten that I'd seen her face before. Erolina Ferwulf, the first daughter of the Ferwulfs. All I'd gathered about her was that she'd gotten married and had left Grimesbrook, "But yes, you can say that I am responsible for holding my kind accountable,"
Well, I haven't seen her resumé, but she's been doing a shit job lately. Holding them accountable my ass… But I bite my tongue and keep those words to myself. The last thing I need right now is to piss off an alpha of all werewolves or shifters or… Whatever. Besides, something tells me she's not here to answer any questions I have, so, wasting energy trying to befriend her goes out the window. Just a hunch, but based on her stance and her timber alone, this woman is used to leading the dance. She seems confident and elegant enough but the way she has her hands on her elbows may mean that she's uneasy with something. So, antagonizing her would also be stupid, "Right. Well... Apology accepted. Thank you," I want to end the conversation, see her leave, so that I can think things over, but I don't want to offend her either. My back is against the wall here and the pure silence in the room doesn't help my anxiety.
"Frankly, Apologizing was not the only motive of my visit," she admits. And here it is… Of course, an alpha shifter wouldn't give the time out of their day to someone like me without a valid reason. She…, "I came here to see that you receive this,"
She fumbles for something in her little handbag before pulling her hand out of it. She holds a small, red envelope that she extends to me. I take it and look back at her, "Please, tell me this isn't some fee I have to pay in order to stay alive,"
She lets out a chuckle, "It's an invitation. In it, you'll have all the answers to the questions you're about to ask me," she holds her hands together and stares me down one last time before speaking again, "Good day to you, Rosemary,"
She walks towards the door, and finally after exits the shop, Erolina heads towards a black vehicle that is parked at the entrance. I take a look around myself, holding my breath until the car leaves. If she's a high society wolf shifter then this automatically means she has a shadow of her own, which also means that beside Mr. Griffin, there was someone else in the shop with us. Not to mention the way she was sure that he couldn't hear our conversation. This has the word witchcraft written all over it.
At the thought of witchcraft, Avery's name comes to my mind. I remember where I saw that brooch she had on her chest. Avery wore it too. A streak of gold laid out like a slithering snake. Is it supposed to mean something other than a vain decoration? I didn't see one on Nathanael, nor did I on Ava for that matter but… Well, this question in particular will have to wait. My complete attention falls on the piece of paper material between my fingers. I lift it up to my eye level and instantly reconsider my previous thought. Maybe that question won't have to wait that long after all. The wax seal keeping the envelope shut bears a brand that's very closely similar to the shape of the brooch. The family emblem perhaps?
I break the seal and pick the white invitation paper out of it. The black ink of the writing is perfectly encased within a golden, embossed frame. The content of the invitation reads as follow:
Dear Rosemary Reed;
You are hereby invited to attend the great ball that shall be held on Saturday night, the 25th of January, at the Ferwulf mansion.
We sincerely hope you will honor us with your presence.
Cordially, the head of the house.
Ps: This invitation extends to your friend Isabelle Hawthorne as well.
The invitation is oddly specific in its wording, it breeds a tingling sensation in my stomach. Why is Izzy invited? I know for a fact that the Ferwulfs hold multiple parties yearly, but only for a closed circle of people. I, myself, was never invited to one of them. Well, at least not before becoming aware of their true nature, so, again, why is Izzy invited?
She doesn't know about them, and just like me, she's never been invited either. So, why now? The answer that immediately comes to my mind is that Nathanael had something to do with it. But, somehow, I doubt that… I don't think he'd want to see me in a setting where his entire family and others of his kind will be present.
I push my contemplations to the side when the next customer comes into the shop. The rest of the day goes by smoothly. No more odd visits from odd people. I keep jumping between tasks just to soothe my restless mind until the sun draws nearer to the western horizon. I peek at my watch to find that it's already 5 in the afternoon. I go behind the counter where I usually set my coat and put it on. But instead of heading upstairs to let Mr. Griffin know that I am done for the day, I just sit on the stool behind me and start fiddling with my new phone before igniting the screen and swiping across purposelessly.
Should I call him? No, I shouldn't… He's probably busy… But I really need to know what's going on from his side and… If I have his number, it's not for me to let it rot endlessly in my repertory, right? Or am I just coping?
Never have I thought that I'd ever struggle with the task of… Calling someone.
"This is ridiculous…" I comment to myself as I shove my phone back in my bag.
"What's so ridiculous?" Mr. Griffin catches me right as I am about to stand up.
"Nothing. Um… I was about to come up and let you know that…," he cuts me off.
"I know, I know. It's time for you to leave," he says.
"Right. I'm off then,"
I start walking towards the door, but he stops me, "Did you take care of it?"
He is no doubt referring to the vintage clock that Mary brought in this morning, "Yes, I… Am working on it," I lie.
"I hope you are. Don't lock the door behind yourself," he doesn't say more than that.
I exit the store, remembering to do as he said. I hear the sound of my footsteps along with my bustling mind. The neighborhood is fairly quiet, except for the few cars that go by me sometimes. I again, sink so deep into my own ruminations that I block out everything else around me. Lucky me, Grimesbrook is a pretty safe town to walk in daylight. A little less so at night but still.
My pace quickens as the volume of my own thoughts rises and increases until… Everything ceases at once. I am forced to take a few steps backwards after my body collides into someone else's, "Oh god!" I hold my nose hoping it'll help the flash of pain I got subside faster, "I am sorry. It's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was…," I start.
"Are you alright?" I'd recognize that voice asking me that same question from miles away.
"Nathanael?" my mouth opens then closes again, before finally adding, "What are you doing here?"
"I actually came to see you. I heard my mother paid you a visit this morning,"