It's been a while, I know but I wanted to post another little piece of this novel just to get it out of my notebook and onto a board where hopefully I have some friends who are checking this out and will tell me if I suck or not :) Anyway, to sum up what has happened so far is, there are two children who are born of this other worldly creature who was cast away from her world because her sister is a maniacal being who will inevitably let her jealousy take over her magical ability and drive her to become this tyrannical evil witch. This was in the last post about the novel but I am not going to post the whole novel on here because it will get long so I have decided to post bit by bit little pieces of the story. The children's mother has disappeared and is presumed dead. After her funeral service, her father has people over his house to mourn her passing and a stranger comes and claims that she is his wife's sister. She is very similar to the wife and mother they knew but different in a darker way. Their father invites her to spend the night so she will not have to travel late and this is what the children wake up to the next morning.....
The house seemed oddly quiet and cold when the children woke. There were no birds chirping outside their window, no familiar sounds of clanging pots and pans in the kitchen, which normally, would be followed by the aroma of a savory breakfast. Their mother had been gone for only a few days but their father was determined to keep tradition and make breakfast for them every morning as his wife had. Today was not a normal day. Then they heard a sound, faint at first. Adelle got out of bed and slowly walked to the door. She opened it and peeked out. There was a bitter chill in the air, so cold that Adelle could see her breath in puffy white clouds that floated eerily in the dead air. It felt as if nothing was alive. By this time, Colin had emerged from his bed and stood behind his sister. The music was so familiar. As they slowly walked down the hallway and reached the top of the staircase they recognized the song. Yes, it was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Their mother loved to play her Beethoven records. Would their father play her music so soon after she had gone? The children wondered this as they walked down the stairs and into the front parlor. The dark figure stood by the front window. She was staring out at the sea just as their mother used to. Celine brought a warm glow into any one's heart that she met. It was an ethereal gift that she possessed. Rowena, on the other hand, was nothing like their mother in this way. The children felt an empty, cold feeling come over them and they instantly knew that this feeling was Rowena. The music stopped and the dark figure spoke in a raspy voice.
"I would have loved to live in this castle by the sea like something out of a fairy tale." She turned around and faced the children. "Damn those fairies and their foolish tales." Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. She lifted her bony hand out toward Adelle. "Give me that necklace Adelle. I can make all of your pain go away sweet child." She stepped closer toward the children. "I can make everything wonderful and happy again. What you desire most, I can give back to you."
A wonderful aroma slowly found its way to the children. It was breakfast. The sound of pans hitting the stove came from the kitchen solidifying the assumption of breakfast being cooked. Only their mother made what they smelled. It was the sweet scent of her blueberry oatmeal brulee. It could not be real, their mother was gone. Wasn't she?
"You smell that? It's so sweet, so familiar to you. A mother's meal is always prepared with love for her family. I can make it so that she will be standing by that stove in the kitchen my dears. Waiting to serve you. All you have to do is give me that necklace."
Colin looked beyond Rowena and out the front window. A small robin was frantically fluttering his wings. Colin heard something he could not ignore. He heard the Robin's words, he felt the frantic anxiety ridden feeling that the Robin felt.
"Get away from her", said the Robin, "she will kill you! Run away, she killed your mother"!
His mother had told him to listen to the Robin. Colin pulled Adelle's arm and ran with her into the kitchen.
"She's lying Adelle, she killed Mom"! Colin cried. Rowena was suddenly stood behind the children.
"Now, now Colin, is this any way to speak to your Auntie? I am after all your mother's only sister".
With the wave of her hand a swift wind blew little Colin over and across the kitchen floor. Adelle ran to his side.
"Give me that necklace", her eyes turned black, or you will end up just like your mother"!
Adelle stood up and faced this evil woman.
"Why can't you just take it?" she questioned. Her little voice was very stern. Colin could not believe his sister, what was she doing? Rowena stared at the little girl dressed in her long white nightgown with long flowing curls and large green eyes that seemed to stare right into her soul. What Rowena did not prepare for was that Adelle had remembered a story her mother told her about an evil witch who liked to steal magical things from other magical creatures. The catch was, she could not simply take what she wanted from them. Whatever she desired had to be either gifted, found, or stolen by a non magical being. Adelle hoped that her mother's story was relevant here. Rowena glared back at the child with her ferocious black eyes.
"Give it to me or you will never hear your mother's voice or feel the warmth of your father's love ever again", she snarled.
Adelle felt the necklace get very warm against her chest. A bright light formed around her and she pointed her finger at this evil, unnatural thing.
"Get out of our house, leave us alone you witch"! Adelle screamed and that bright light gave her a feeling of great power. She felt a strong wind blow from within. She raised her arms up and pushed the wind out of her. The force was so great that Rowena was knocked down and into the brick wall behind her.
Rowena understood that Adelle was suffering from a bit of a power boost and smiled. "Silly girl", Rowena laughed wickedly, "I have already taken everything away from you. Come find me when you are willing to negotiate little niece. I assure you that you will need something from me soon enough". With that Rowena vanished.
Adelle felt her knees wobble. What was that feeling she had? Colin looked at his sister with a troubled stare. They both felt the bitter cold again and they knew something was terribly wrong. They ran up the stairs to their parent's bedroom and found their father asleep in his bed. The air was so cold that the children shivered. The blankets that covered their father were frozen and bits of frost covered his hair and face.
"Daddy, wake up"! Adelle yelled as she ran to the bed with tears in her eyes.
Colin jumped on the bed and felt the blankets crack under his feet like frozen grass after the first winters frost.
"Be careful, you might break him into a million little pieces and I won't guarantee that I will be willing to put him back together again". Rowena's sinister voice came from across the room. She was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking slowly. A cruel smile crept across her face and only stopped when it reached from ear to ear.
"Stop this", cried Adelle, "what are you doing"?
Rowena drummed her long fingers on the arm of the chair. "Anything I have to my dear". She cackled and stood. "Even if you weak little half breeds tried you cannot break this spell. I have an eternity to wait but you don't and you father sure doesn't. The longer he stays asleep, the more he slips into the arms of death. You can stop this yourself right now by giving me my necklace". Rowena snapped.
Adelle looked back at her brother who sat in tears on the bed. She slipped the gold chain over her head and handed it to Rowena.
"Yes, that's a good girl", Rowena smiled.
As she grabbed the necklace from Adelle a fierce shot of electricity ran through her body and her hand burned with the touch of the chain on her skin. She screamed a high pitched, creature-like screech and sped to the corner of the room, knocking the rocking chair on its side. She held her hand which was smoking, red and burned and winced in pain.
"You tricked me", she yelled at the air. "All right sister, you want to play it this way, fine. I will play". Rowena's eyes darted all over the room and then fixated on the children who were clinging to the bedpost. "You want everything back? No more graciousness from me from now on. If you want something from me, you will have to come find me." Rowena looked around again and exclaimed, "This house is cursed, this house and everything in it, all cursed"! Rowena's mad screams shattered the large bay window. The children dove under the bed as glass fell. When they heard nothing but heavy, empty silence they crawled out only to find the room filled with broken glass and their father still frozen in a deep sleep.
The children cried all morning and into the evening. They felt alone in the world. How were they going to remedy what Rowena had done? Who would believe them? Their sadness so heavily filled the cold air that they did not even feel the robin's presence. Colin finally noticed him as the Robin began pecking at their mother's locked drawer of her writing desk. He pecked until he unlocked and opened the drawer. There was an envelope inside addressed to Adelle and Colin.
The robin chirped, "Read the letter, she wanted you to be prepared".
Colin looked back at Adelle who did not even seem to notice the little bird, let alone hear it speaking.
"Adelle, come look at this," Colin gasped.
His sister walked over to him and stared at the bird and the envelope in Colin's hands. As he opened it, they saw a letter written in a strange and unrecognizable language. The bird flew on Colin's shoulder and chirped,
"It's ancient Fae, look hard and you will be able to read what it says".
Adelle looked puzzled and wrinkled her nose. "It's Mom's handwriting, but what does it say"?
Colin held the letter, "The robin wants us to look hard and he says we will be able to read it".
"Oh, the robin says"! Adelle snapped. "You expect me to believe you can hear a robin talking to you or that animals talk at all"? Adelle flung herself in the rocking chair and wept.
"I am asking you to believe me. Everything that has happened today has been hard to believe but I need to you believe me right now." Colin looked at his sister with complete love and trust.
Adelle knew that he was right. It was all so unimaginable but it was all real. It wasn't a dream. She stood up and held her brothers hand as they both looked at the letter together. They concentrated and, like magic, the alien language suddenly started to make sense to them. They were so surprised that they could read what had been gibberish to them moments earlier but they were even more surprised at what the letter actually said.
