The House In The Forest

Chapter IX

Chapter Nine

He was waiting with dinner, quite the meal too. I'd say he was excited to feed more than two mouths for a change. Giselle seemed to like it as well, so I was glad he had made such a feast. It was like a celebration, for what, I wasn't certain.

After we ate, Giselle was quick to offer to clean up, and just as quickly sent my grandfather to the living room. I wanted to help her, but she was quite adamant about not letting me. Instead, she asked me to fix hot drinks for myself and grandfather, and sent me away just like she had him. She certainly was stubborn about the strangest of things, I wonder if that was her rather than Beatrice. Somehow I got the feeling it was.

"You know, I don't know how you found a girl like that in the city your parents raised you in, didn't think they made them that way," grandfather spoke, sipping at his coffee as I sat down on the couch.

"Maybe you shouldn't be stereotyping city girls," I spoke, staring at the mug of coffee. That fat cat had found its spot under the coffee table, staring up at me with a look I didn't like.

Grandfather just chuckled. "I'm a doctor, I would never."

I had no idea what being a doctor had to do with that, but he just smiled at his joke. "You're sure she's a city girl though? She sure seems like a Rubin girl to me."

"Wouldn't you know her if she was?"

He stared at the mug of coffee in his hands, before glancing at me. "Who said I don't?"

I had a short moment of panic, before Giselle walked in the room, sitting down beside me on the couch. That cat jumped out from under the coffee table quickly to make its way onto the couch and on her lap. She smiled, stroking its head as it purred. "I got the kitchen and dining room cleaned up, neither of you needed a refill, did you?" she asked politely, glancing up at me.

Grandfather just smiled though, despite the strangeness of his comment just a moment prior. "Thank you Miss Wren, you didn't have to do all that, but I appreciate it."

"Oh you're welcome, my mother would never forgive me if I wasn't a good house guest you see," she spoke with a chuckle, staring down at the fluffy cat.

"You're a lovely house guest, much better behaved than some guests I have around here," grandfather laughed and glanced at me with a smirk.

"Hey."

Giselle laughed as well, and then I couldn't say anything. She seemed younger when she laughed, more like the teenager she looks like.

"Right, well I'm going to head upstairs and get some reading in before bed, make sure the front door is locked Al," he spoke, standing up from his chair.

"Oh, I can get your mug," Giselle spoke, but he just shook his head.

"No, that's quite alright, goodnight."

He brought the mug to the kitchen before disappearing upstairs. I appreciated his trust in me, all things considered, even when he was clearly suspicious about something. Giselle just stared at the cat on her lap for a moment, before glancing at me.

"I've been thinking," she spoke, "About Sasha, I told you he was my childhood friend right?"

"Yeah."

She sighed but didn't look away from me. "I still want to save him, I really do, but I'm starting to think I'm not actually accomplishing anything with what I've been doing, I need to find something that's actually going to work."

I was glad she was at least realizing there was no reason to stay in that house. But yet, I knew if that was the only way, she'd likely stay there forever. If she didn't find another method that way, I could only hope she knew something. I'd help of course, but I don't even know what she wants to save him from.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to look into it," she told me. And that was that, she didn't say what she was going to look into, or where, or in what way. Just that she was going to look into it. It was a sort of answer, I suppose.

"I hope you find what you're looking for," I told her, it was the only thing I could say with what little information I had.

She smiled though. "Thank you."

We talked a while longer, mainly she asked me about what clubs I was going to join. I hadn't spent any time thinking about it though, so I didn't have many answers. Which she wasn't happy with, and so she made me talk over the ones I was interested in. It was fun though, almost like she was my senior helping me with my plans from her year of extra experience.

Then we cleaned up the living room, said our goodnights, and went to our separate rooms. I couldn't sleep though, no, for some reason, my dreams weren't mine. No, instead it was a girl. It wasn't Giselle though, it was a girl with blonde hair. She didn't show me her face, she was just walking down an abandoned road. The smoke, or fog maybe, seemed like it was going to overtake her, but it never did. She never turned around either, just kept walking away from me. I tried to call out to her, but my throat was hoarse, and I couldn't get a single word out.

Then, she started to turn around, only for dread to shoot down my back and my eyes jolted awake. I could feel cold sweat drip down my forehead, and my heart was beating a mile an hour. But I didn't know why, or who she even was. I understood when Giselle was the one I saw, she was real, she was just waiting on me. But who was that?