- - grayson and era - -
turn to walk the path in my reflection
but not before the sheep becomes the wolf
Grayson stopped just on the path as it laid open staring down towards the castle as it loomed high over the trees. He didn’t know whether he wanted to smile, cry, laugh, or run away. A flood of emotions busted the doors into his reserved-ness an ripped it open. Era whined beside him sensing the change in her fairies emotions. He patted her head and knelt down looking at her with reassuring eyes. “I can feel it Era, it’s not going to be the same. Something’s different and everything’s changing.” Era would like to admit to her confusion but there was something in Grayson’s tone that persuaded her to believe him.
He found himself walking up the steps, avoiding any and all eye contact with the guards. He had seen the royal barn just a distance off and he almost went there first but something was nagging at him, he needed to get to the room as fast as he could. As he walked through the halls he counted the familiar faces, and noted a variety of new ones and the ones missing. A few tried to stop him as he walked the halls. His old backpack slung over his right shoulder, the clank of tins coming from it as it bounced against the wall as he narrowly missed a few guards that came buzzing around the corner in a hurried fashion. Part of him wanted to stop and chit chat with the yearning faces, the curious faces when they saw him. But he had to get to his room, he needed to get their quickly. Because with every step he took he felt the anxiety rise within him like a hibernating beast attempting to wake up from its long slumber but it was hungry and angry.
He rounded the last corner and came face to face with the door of his room. He stood there for a few long moments. Curiously noting if anything about the appearance of the door seemed out of place, which is didn’t. It looked like the same door he closed months and months ago. Grabbing the handle he heard the click as it unlocked and pushed it open and with a long drawn out creek he looked into his dark room. He hadn’t dared walk in, not yet anyways. The shadows played with what little light flooded from the corridor. But nothing looked different. Things weren’t strewn across the floor as he anticipated, nothing was out of place as far as he could tell. Grayson could feel Era grow restless beside him as footsteps echoed down the halls. Quickly he walked into the room and slung the door closed behind him. But there was never a click and the door creaked back open every slowly, ajar, unbeknownst to him.
He dropped his bag on the floor with a soft clank and picked up a pack of matches and lit a lantern that was on the desk in his room. He coaxed the fire to life and lifted it up getting a better brighter view of the room and yet nothing seemed different. He moved over to the window and threw open the curtains. He glanced out of the window, the sun was setting, hues of purple and gold laced across the sky. Mothers were grabbing their little ones and taking them in for supper. Knights were heading to the royal barn to untack and cool their horses from the day. His heart panged to go down there, to see the horses but instead of continuing to stare out the window he set the lantern down on his desk beside it. He took a finger and rubbed it against the old wood noticing the thick trail of dust that came up. Baffled Grayson could officially say nothing was out of place, nothing looked out of place, the dust had settled and nothing disturbed it.
Everything that happened back at the Cove, it was all a dream then. There was no way any of that was real. The man in the black leather boots was just a figment of his imagination, he was no one, nothing.
Grayson smiled and chuckled at himself. He turned to see Era already on his bed curled up in their favorite blanket. Summer was coming to an end and pretty soon they’d be able to lite the fireplace and read books into the wee hours of the morning. Thinking about the fireplace his eyes jetted towards it and he began to walk over to it. He placed his hands against the cool stone and began counting as his hand began to move away from the fireplace and along the wall. Eventually he stopped counting, his hand resting on the final stone as it wiggled slightly underneath his touch. He pulled a knife out from his pants and stuck it into the edges of the stone and began to wriggle it out. It came out with no much resistance. A puff of dust blew in his face and he began coughing. Era jetted up, her little dark ears perked atop her head. Grayson waved the rest of the dust out of his face before sticking his hand into the hole where the loose stone once was.
And as if his world came crashing down, the pit fell in his stomach as fear rose up into his threat. He could feel the color draining from his face as the world around him began to swirl. At some point Era came to him, resting her body against his trying to assist in holding him upright. But he fell himself falling.
“NO! NO! NO! NO! IT WAS JUST A DREAM!” The words came out hoarse and ragged. He caught himself on the ledge of the fireplace and settled himself down into his chair slinking into himself. How could his wooden sword be gone? No one knew it was behind there, yet it wasn't there.“It’s gone. How can it be gone?” He looked at Era, she felt so helpless, so useless, and yet he continued to ask her how it could be gone, it hadn’t even occurred to her that whatever happened to Grayson had been real, after all to her, it only looked like he was sleep walking.
“He’s going to come for me Era, he’s going to come for me and I don’t know who he is, and I don’t know why.” There was something in the voice of the man that when he said he’d be coming for him, he wasn’t going to be his friend, the words came out dripping with poison, promising sweet dreams but instead giving nightmares.
Grayson sat there for a long time, thinking, and writhing in his fear of this mysterious man. Completely unaware that his door had been cracked open this whole time and the light from his room could be seen from the hall and his voice probably carried down it as well. A sight many in the castle haven’t seen for a while, Grayson home and in his own room.
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