Desperate to stop the events of a recurring nightmare, Leora is forced into a world that wants nothing more than to see her dead.
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After being plagued with nightmares of the murders taking place in t...
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AETOS MANOR
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OFFICER WEST OR SHOULD I SAY DAME CASSANDRA led me towards a large building that resembled a castle, it spanned across the same length as the gate - it was endless, as endless as the green that surrounded it.
When I saw the guards stationed around the building entrance I became docile, there were large men dressed in long red robes holding large spears that had blades at their tip instead of arrows.
She nodded at the guards before leading me through the small door on the side of the building into a narrow passageway, she closed the door behind her and let go of my wrist.
"Okay, the vague 'we're in the outskirts of the city' doesn't explain the shift in centuries and people have driven to the outskirts of city, there's nothing there but dust. There's literally fresh grass everywhere here," I ranted. "So Officer West, where are we?"
"We're in the outskirts of town, "she repeated, the look on my face encouraged her to continue. "There's a thin veil between where we are and the city, what you see on maps and on TV is what the veil wants you to see. Imagine it as a one way mirror, where we can see the city and the city can't see us. They are displaced when they meet the veil and relocated to the other side of the veil, it's seamless really. They barely feel the shift in realities for that split second. "
I looked at her, wrapping my head around the explanation. "Right... moving on. Why didn't you defend Aunt Edna?"I asked.
She sighed. "It wouldn't do anything but put me on their bad side, they've spent twenty years believing that she killed you out of jealousy and she did some things during the years they were growing up that don't help her case. Defending her would be as good as defending Valentine,"- she saw the look on my face -"the real Valentine, it would cost me my livelihood. "
I looked at her, the sweat dripping down her face, her hair curling up from the excess moisture, she was breathing hard, clutching her stomach. She was stressed.
"How does a human end up in Aetos Manor?"I inquired, I needed to ask as many questions as possible. She couldn't be a monster, it was hard to imagine my family shaking hands with one.
"Humans end up here when they're a victim of circumstance, all the workers you'll see here are orphans who were raised on manor grounds. It's easier to grasp the concept of magic when you are raised in it. "
"Orphans? Who raises children here and for what?" My heart went out to her, I understood why she wouldn't want to argue against the only family she knew of.
