The Haunting: Destiny (FF)

Chapter 32

Armen's POV:

'It's just up the road'; it's been hours. We're in darkness whilst the bare moon shines down on us, honestly, I can't believe those two are still talking, who could talk for three hours without running out of words? The elf's nice, very chirpy and upbeat, unlike the other two, I wonder how she ended up travelling with them. I turn back to Drake, yet again, mumbling to himself whilst keeping an iron grip on his palm. I've tried to talk to him, to have a 'normal' conversation, but it's all in vein as nothing ever comes of it. It hasn't rained since we left, the wind has picked up but it's nothing drastic. There's plenty of puddles that I splash through, cleaning the mud off my shoes every now and then, it's still weird seeing water, life, greenery around me. Sometimes it feels like it's the first time I've ever seen them. It's refreshing and gives me a slice of fresh thoughts before I head back into the present. With the moment of relief gone I gaze back at the two upfront, Grayson's checking his map again whilst Mia's approaching me. 

"Hey! We'll be reaching the village in a couple of minutes, you alright?" she asks.

"Cool... and yeah, I'm fine, at least we'll get some rest soon." I comment.

"Yeah... I know you're tired and I asked a lot of questions earlier but can I ask some more? 'Bout Drake, he didn't tell me much about his childhood and I was just wondering if you could shed some light on it?" she asks in one breath. Geez-

"Sure, but as I said earlier I may not remember any of it..." she nods in understanding.

"Has he always been tall? I know kids grow but he's inhumanly tall." 

"I would think so, he'd always be scared of the house despite being the tallest thing there." I chuckle.

"Ooo, man, if I was that tall as a kid I'd be nicking apples left right and centre- wait, he was scared of the house? Aww!" each sentence is quickly spoken with intent and purpose. 

"Yeah, though I think he was more scared of the his repairs going to waist than the actual demons living there."

"Damn, I could see that though. Oh! Is Drake a lot like Collin? I know he was created by him but are they similar or different people?" What?

Drake was created by Collin? I feel like I know that but it feels like such a shock to hear it. Where else could I have heard it? Closing my eyes to remember I can see a blue sky with a spiralling twist of grass, everything is falling down. Was that a dream? When and were was that? Opening my eyes I respond, "I don't know... I... I do and don't remember Collin, it's... complicated..." 

Her eyes show her worry even if her words won't convey it. She hesitates before opening her mouth to ask another question, although, before a word could come out Grayson stops us, pointing in the distance at a dirt path to the left of the boring road, behind some trees there's a hue of yellow tinted light that protruding the darkness.

"We're here, let's hope there's still a place to stay." he claims.

Thankful for the discovery we speedily walk along the man-made path. Heading bellow weeping trees we get to a rickety bridge which lets us cross over the clean river and into a brightly lit village, there's hundreds of bushes littered around whilst yellow, white and red flowers are smothered in every spot available. There's a lot of lights, too much to be honest, they shine and blind my eye, making me a bit dizzy. At a small cross section, the left heads towards a set of houses and what seems to be a market whilst to the right there's a large building with a picture of a bed hanging on a sign. Without hesitation we make our way over, past a weeping willow and into the inn. 
Inside we're greeted with tall bushes with apples barely handing on, in the middle there's a fireplace that warmly lights up the surroundings. To the right there is a desk where a lady sits, she's looking at us in shock. She places her book down and gives us an unsure smile.

"Hello? Are you four looking for a room?" she asks, eyes seemingly locked on Mia.

I look at her but she looks at Grayson who's standing still in silence, hand grasped around his wrist as his eyes glare in confusion towards the woman and his surroundings. Seeing how Grayson won't respond Mia turns back and awkwardly nods her head.

"Okay... we only have two rooms available, both double rooms." she claims, opening a draw beneath the desk and pulling out two keys, both held by a leather tag, "Go up the stairs, one room's on the far right, the other is on the far left. Nothing's open as of now, but it should re-open after eight."

"Thank you." Mia says as she takes the keys before turning towards us, "Armen? Will you be fine with Drake?" I nod and she hands me a key with the label 'R2' on it.

Although I'm a bit uneasy with being alone with Drake, I doubt what happened in the forest will happen again... it'll be fine, it's an public area and a small one at that, if Hero wants to do some damaged he'd be betting a lot doing it here. It'll be fine. I reassure myself. Tightly grasping the key I look at Mia who's patting Grayson on his back, slightly snapping him back into reality.

"Alright, I'm taking this dazed idiot so he can get some sleep." she jokes, "You two should do the same, you deserve actual rest." 

I say okay as she drags him away, I've never seen someone with so much energy before, I doubt anyone would be able to top her. With slight hesitation we head up the stairs then turn right before getting to a door with a similar label to the key. Unlocking the wooden door it reveals a small room, two single beds leaning against either wall whilst a table separates the two. In a pot there's a yellow flower with six petals, just like the ones outside. Besides it is a paper indicating simple rules in maintenance and shopping hours. Taking the left bed, I finally sit down, lowering my bag besides the table I rest against the wall where as Drake flumps down on the sheet, bag barely off his back as he seamlessly falls to sleep despite having the most rest out of all of us. I turn my attention towards the walls as I observe the painting that dangles from a worn thread, looking for other things to distract my mind with I fail to find anything, it's a pretty plain and boring room. 
I may as well sleep, carefully and slowly removing my sash I gently lower my hand to the pillow, contact is harsh but I quickly adjust, taking off my shoes I rest upon the sheets, surprisingly, it's uncomfortable. I struggled to find a comfortable position whilst also resisting the urge to wince at the slightest of movements. Eventually, I'm fine. Curled up, protected, and comfortable. My eyes feel heavy... maybe... hopefully I'll sleep... yeah, that sounds nice...

. . .

Creak

My eyes shoot open as I find myself facing the wall, my heart is racing as I have to stop myself from making any sound. What was that? Is someone in here? What time is it? It looks like nothing has changed but I know I'm in a different position that earlier. What or who woke me up? Everyone should be asleep. I decide not to move as I spot a faint light bounce off the walls from where I know to be the door... footsteps, they're slow and careful as they probably approach. I remain still and silent as I hope for the best. Then they stop. A less powerful creak is made as slight ruffling fills my ears. Is someone going through my bag? Should I confront them? No, I can't risk it, if they attack me I doubt I'd win. So I continue to wait. The ruffles stop as the footsteps start again, this time heading away... another noisy creak sends a chill down my spine before the slamming of wood promises me it's alright... letting out a long held sigh I quickly get up, instantly regretting it as pain shoots down my arm. I bite through it as I sit upon my bed. Across from me Drake is still sound asleep, his bag is untouched where as mine seems to be same, apart from the top being open. Leaning over the solid bed, I start to look through it, carefully taking out limited contents of it... oh no- my eyes shoot open as a painful chill stabs down my back.

The book is gone.