Chapter 33
The shower was what the doctor ordered. I felt refreshed. I left the shower feeling like a new woman. Cassie entered the bathroom, placed clothes on the floor, and left me to finish. I didn’t even hear her come into the room. Once dressed, I stepped out to find Cassie sitting on the bed with her leg over the other. She was looking at something on her phone. But as I came out, she looked up and smiled. “Hey,” she said. “Do you feel better?” I smiled and nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “Thank you.” Cassie grinned. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “You’ve missed breakfast. But the chef will make you something if you like.” I was glancing at the clock; midday. My eyes widened. I heard movement and looked at Cassie, who held out her hand to me. “Come on,” she said. “We will have some food, and I will show you around. Maybe you would like to meet my brother and thank him.” I nodded. “That sounds like a plan,” I said, but before I could ask any other question, she pulls me to the door, and we head out of the room. We walk down four flights of stairs. Part of me wondered how I got to the bedroom, but the other part was afraid to ask. I could hear Tala giggle in my head, but I ignored her. As we reached the bottom, quite a few people were around talking, but as soon as I stepped onto the ground floor, the talking stopped. I felt all eyes on me, but I kept my eyes to the ground as Cassie dragged me towards what was like a large hall. I stood in the doorway like a lemon as I took in the hall. It reminds me of a castle from a fairytale, which I blurted out, which only made Cassie laugh slightly. There were tables darted everywhere around the hall, and people were at them, talking. As soon as I walked further in, the same thing happened again. All the talking stopped. I looked around and realised that everyone was staring at me, making me wonder what was happening. Did I have something on me? Or in my teeth? I was feeling self-conscious about it. Cassie motioned me to follow her, which I did. I have never felt so out of place. Well, except at my mum’s house. We headed toward the kitchen, where only two people stood facing us; a man and a woman. As we walked in, the man spun around and opened his mouth, but as soon as his eyes landed on me, he closed it, but Cassie spoke instead. “Hey, Sid,” she said, making the man look at her. “This is Leah. She will be staying here for a while. She not long woke up. Is there any food left?” Sid looked at her and then at me. I felt his eyes rack over my entire body, and a growl erupted, making me look around to see where the animal who made it came from, but there was no one. My eyes landed on Cassie, who glared at Sid, but she turned and smiled at me after a few seconds. “We will be in my room,” she said. “Send Becky up with the food, please.” With that, Cassie placed her hand in mine, dragged me out of the corridor, and headed down until we came to a door. “Cassie?” I asked as I pulled my arm from her grasp. “What animal made that sound back there?” Cassie looked up at me with wide eyes but quickly recovered. “Oh, we have a few dogs around here,” she muttered. “Some are friendly, and others need to be taught a few manners.” I stared at her, confused, wondering how you could train a dog to have manners. Cassie cleared her throat and opened the door. “Come on in,” she said as she stepped inside. “This is my room.” I followed her inside, and my eyes widened. Her room looked like her brothers, massive but very purple. My eyes scanned around, taking everything in that I could until I walked over to a sitting area. I sat down on the couch and met her eyes. “What do you think?” she asked, smiling. Looking around her room, I nodded. “It is lovely,” I said with a smile and looked back at her. “Very purple.” Cassie laughed. “I know,” she said, looking around again. “I love the colour. There are many shades of it, did you know?” I nodded and looked around but noticed something on the side of her bedside table. Moving up from the couch without saying a word, I walked over to her bedside table and picked up what I saw. A photo. A young girl with an older man and a younger one. “Who are these?” I asked, as my eyes skimmed over the photo but lingered on the young boy. The eyes are familiar, but I can’t place them where I have seen them before. I heard movement behind me, and Cassie came beside me. “That’s me, my father, and brother,” she said, making me look at her. A lone tear escapes. “Our father passed away,” she said, making my heart clench slightly as an image of my father appeared. Cassie looked at me and gave me a small smile. I was about to open my mouth to ask her something, but there was a slight tap on the door. We both looked at the door opened, and in walked a slender woman holding a tray of food. My stomach growled as the smell of food floated my way. Cassie giggled. “Hungry?” she asked, motioning to the table area. The woman placed the tray on the table and looked up at us, but her eyes went to mine and bowed. “I hope you like it,” she said, moving up and giving Cassie a slight nod. Confusion hit me. Why would she do that? Glancing at Cassie, who had started to eat her food. “Why did she bow to me?” I blurt out. Cassie looked up and frowned. “I didn’t notice,” she murmured and carried on eating. I stared at her for a few moments, but my eyes went to the stew that was in front of me. It smelled delicious, and I picked up my fork. I placed it into some meat and moved it to my mouth. The meat was out of this world, and I let out a slight moan as I chewed. The food was the best I have ever had in a while. As I ate, I could hear a sigh in my head. “Tala,” I murmured. “You there?” “Yeah,” she said. “You okay?” I asked. “I mean, I should have spoken to you when I woke up. How are you?” I still felt slightly weird talking to myself in my head. I guess it was something because if anyone heard me talk aloud, I might be sent to the looney hospital. “I’m fine,” she said with a sigh. “Just a little frustrated.” “You still can’t tell me anything about why I hear you,” I said. “Or what you are?” I knew the answer before she answered. “No, I can’t,” she grunted. “That’s what is frustrating. You should talk to your mum and ask her. Then I can—” “I will soon,” I said, cutting her off. The mere mention of my mother made my stomach drop. I didn’t want to see her just yet. I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened last night. Tala was silent, but I felt a hand on my arm, which brought me back, and looked at Cassie, who has a worried expression. “Hey, you okay?” she asked. “You seem to be with the fairies.” “I’m okay,” I murmured. “Just thinking about what happened last night. Who found me?” Cassie’s eyes brightened slightly. “My brother,” she said. I stared at her, then an image of the large black wolf that appeared out of nowhere with blue eyes. “How did he get to me?” I blurt out, making Cassie look at me, confused. “What do you mean?” Staring at her as I continued. “There was a huge wolf staring at me before I passed out,” I muttered. “He would have gotten hurt.” Cassie’s eyes widened. “You saw a wolf?” she asked, making me nod. Cassie stared at me for a while but cleared her throat. “I think we should eat,” she murmured. “I think you might want to see the house.” I nodded. I knew she was ignoring my question, but why? I ate again, but my mind was swirling around with loads of questions but no answers. Tala was quiet in my head, and Cassie was miles away. After a little while, I leaned back, placed my cutlery in the bowl, and smiled. “That was the best food I have ever had in a long time,” I said. Cassie smiled and moved up but looked at me. “Come on,” she said. “I might only show you a few places of the house as I have to be somewhere.” I nodded and moved up from my chair. Stepping away from the table, I followed Cassie out of her room as she guided me out of the corridor. She showed me the hall and kitchen again, mainly as we had to walk back through them. Cassie took me around the bottom level, where there were three lounge areas and a games room. As I entered the rooms, people who were in the rooms stared at me again, but some bowed to me like the woman did when she brought our food to us. Anxiety was kicking in as I stepped away from the games room, as Cassie took me toward another room. She opened it, and we walked in. “I will have to leave you in here for now,” she said. “I have to do my thing, but my brother will be here soon.” I nodded as I walked into the office and sat in front of a large desk. “Cas–” I said, but when I looked to where she was, she had vanished. Odd. Saying that everyone here is odd. Why stare at someone as they did? And don’t get me started on the bowing. What was all that about? My eyes wandered over the office. It was like the bedroom I woke up in, all masculine and dark. My eyes took in everything, but I heard the door open, and someone walks in. “Leah,” someone rasped. I knew that voice. Moving my head to see where he was, my mouth went dry as I took him in his appearance. He was in sports shorts and a tank top with running trainers. He must have been working out or something. “Leah,” he called again as my eyes met his. They were full of mischief as a smirk appeared. “Carson,” I whispered as he moved into the office, making my mouth water slightly. Carson is Cassie’s brother, right? “Yep,” was all I heard in my head from Tala, who sounded amused. My eyes followed him as he pulled the chair next to me and smiled as his eyes never left mine.