"I'm fine, Lilly. Life in a forest can't be too bad," I said gently as I trudged through the dense foliage of towering trees. The vaguely familiar environs were scattered around me to explore.
As I trudged, each step heavier than the last, my (dyed)dark-brown hair was speckled with bottle-green leaves that fell from the canopies above. This birthed a mystical tinge to my ambient stride through the dark forest. I think I might have closely resembled a dryad, were it not for the phone I held to my right ear in one, dainty hand.
The sky had been painted a bewitching shade of midnight-blue and black, studded with violet and silver stars. My curious golden eyes rose to study the cold and dark sky above with slightly parted lips. The night sky had never seized to dazzle me. I had always adored the mysterious presence of the white emperor of the night more than the resplendence of the queen of day.
The phone I held at my ear resounded with a worried, feminine voice. "I love your optimism, Ash, but be careful. I don't want to receive a funeral invitation tomorrow," responded the tan, voluptuous woman on the other end of the line. Her name was Lillian Michelson, my best buddy since I was in diapers.
Lillian's short platinum blonde hair was being styled, I imagined from the distant echo of people from my phone. She was a famous supermodel with thousands of fans in Great Britain. Her feet were probably kicked up on a white desk as she spoke to her best friend, me, Aisha Ergot.
I don't know which fat and long straw I pulled to be blessed with such a radiant best friend like her. I hated to worry her though, as I did to many people.
"Hah," I sighed heavily over the line as I gazed up at the breathtaking view around me. Fireflies were only then blinking dazedly out of their slumber. They rose from the damp corners of the foliage to disperse in the sleeping woodlands. It seemed as though golden stars had descended.
"Actually, I wish you were here with me, Lilly. The view here is breathtaking," I said, my breathing growing lighter with the blinking lights, as my golden eyes glittered with wonder. "Running away from home was definitely the right decision," I added, smiling amusedly at the end of my utterance.
My family was a long line of wealthy entrepreneurs that allegedly bathed in cash. I could confirm the allegations as I was the 20-year-old heiress to that multi-million-dollar conglomerate. However, being a fawned-over heiress only made me a walking gold ingot to the bachelors around me.
"Do you even know what's in that forest?" Lillian asked, snapping me out of my momentary daze, her left brow arching as she spoke. Her hair stylist lifted the edges of her lustrous hair into a ponytail. Her lips were silvery and pale, wing-like lashes were lowered slightly.
"No, I don't. I didn't even know there was a forest on this side of town until today," I said as I continued walking while studying my green surroundings. "However, I think I once came here a long time ago with my grandfather when I was a child..." I muttered, reminiscing distant and blurred childhood memories.
The only genuine person in my chaotic life had been my grandfather, Austin Ergot. I had spent more time with him than I had with my constantly-quarrelling parents and my self-absorbed half-brother.
As I walked, I subconsciously captured a fleeting memory and sharpened it. It ran like a film before my golden irises... A gnarled man in scarlet robes was leading a stubby child through a similar forest. His palm held her small hand unflinchingly. The daylight was illuminating everything around them till it blinded her...
"Since no one except me knows of this forest's existence...I don't think my family will find me easily," I concluded and exhaled the breath I was holding as the narrow, winding path I had been following opened up. My sparkling, golden eyes glittered as they widened. My pupils dilated into my beautiful irises at the unexpected scene before me.
"Uh...was there a castle like this before?" I asked myself softly beneath a shuddery breath that tickled my chin. From a distance, the enormous structure before me might have been a uniform grey but from up close it was a mosaic of humble rocks, each of them nobody would think anything of were they loose by the roadside. But together they were a lonely castle in the forest, emanating unmistakable mysticism.
I looked down at my instantly-darkened phone screen, pursing my lips. Dead battery. Knitting my dark brows, my gaze veered to the daunting grey castle surrounded by towering grey walls. The amber hues glowing from the castle's dark corners hinted at life.
If this was someone's home, would they be willing to host me, a runaway girl with nothing but dreams? I knew better than to walk into a stranger's home, and yet my feet knew no fear as they shifted, one by one, to the impenetrable entrance.
My hands unhesitatingly knocked on the hardwood, my face taut yet not devoid of reluctance. Anywhere would be better than my controlling home—a place riddled with landmines. The place I had run away from, without looking back. Wasn't this what I wanted—to begin a new life as someone who wasn't 'Aisha Ergot'?
I knocked again, harder, then my arms fell limply to my sides. My chest rose and fell with each quiet breath. I clenched my perspiring palms, balling them into tight fists. My heart pounded sporadically, each zealous throb threatening to crack open my poor ribcage.
A chill ran down my spine as the huge door began to open. The old wood creaked audibly as it was opened from the other side to finally reveal a stolid elderly man with white hair, donning a crisp black tailcoat and a pair of silver-framed spectacles. My eyes veered hesitantly to his quiet ones and I found his grey pair of oglers to be weak and swimmy and...kind.
My nerves relaxed as he smiled, genuinely compassionate, at me after his eyes wandered over my simple, white dress and cold skin. "Oh my, have you lost your way perhaps, young lady?" He inquired, his palms clasped behind his back as he addressed me. I parted my lips to speak. Now, all that I could rely on was the kindness I had perceived in his gaze.
"Yes... My name is Selena...Fawkner," I paused, my brows creasing as I studied his response. From his appearance, he was a butler who worked for the owner of the castle. I cleared my throat, burying my anxiety, and fixed my quivering gaze on him. "I...I don't have a home to stay in but I can clean floors, wash clothes... I can basically do all sorts of chores," I said, suggesting that he hire me.
The elderly man sighed deeply, his eyes glinting darkly and suspiciously, before shaking his head. "I apologize, Miss Fawkner, but we are not in need of additional personnel at the moment," he said, hammering the final nail onto my coffin.
I flinched slightly and lowered my gaze in disappointment. It would be suspicious for me to continue pressing. With a soft sigh, I lifted my eyes to him and smiled apologetically, "I see. I'm sorry to have taken up your time. I will take my leave now."
He smiled back at me warmly and nodded, already clasping the door to close it behind me. However, just as I turned and was striding away from the elderly butler and the oppressive castle defeatedly, I heard a child's voice echo crisply.
"Wait!" This feminine yet childish voice made me pause my heavy steps. My heart started pounding again as I tilted my head and there, suddenly standing beside the troubled butler, was a girl with wavy yet short mud-brown hair. She was smiling brightly at me, her amiable grey eyes glittering with interest.
"Hey, do you know how to play Fortnite?" She asked, still beaming at me, with her arms clasped behind her.
My lips twitched as I struggled to stifle the giggle at my throat. The girl looked to be around 7 years old, and she was so adorable it made my heart melt just to witness her smile. "I guess I have played it once with my—" I was interjected as the small girl was instantly in front of me and had grabbed my hand. My eyes widened at her phenomenal speed, but she was already leading me past the butler and into the castle with a spring to her step.
"Great. Come play Fortnite with me!" The girl, whose name I did not know yet, exclaimed.
That was how I first met Isolde Sear. The lonely girl in a grey castle.