Chapter 2

            They had an extraordinary birthday.

            When they had entered the house again, just before noon, Faith and Grace were both plenty ripe and hot and sweaty from the morning in the sun. Much to their astonishment, they were surprised by an exuberant greeting from the entire household. Translucent colorful balloons, knotted onto shimmering ribbons, bobbed gaily overhead. Long, colorful ribbons and strings of balloons banked the walls, and streamers stretched across the ceiling in lazy arcs.

            From that point on, they’d had a traditional Mayberry birthday; a massive celebration of everyone on the manor - ostlers and kitchen maids included. It was a merry party: cake, candies, and decadent fruits, mounds of presents all over the floor, banners and singing and dancing. It was magnificent.

            And so it was that Faith managed to forget about the mysterious morning glory for the rest of the day, until that night when she crawled at last, exhausted by the eventful day, into her bed.

            Then, when all the house was quiet, and darkness wrapped its fingers around every room, Faith remembered the flower. There was something unnervingly supernatural about it that refused to pass through her mind. Grace must know something about it, Faith thought suddenly. Why else would she have been so joyous over one blossom when the garden was full of many more exotic ones? Grace must have known something, or felt something. Faith had to know - she had to have some peace of mind.

            Only one way to find out.

            Faith lay in her bed a while, quilt tucked up to her chin, staring up at the high peaked ceiling. She was ever… so… tired… but she couldn’t sleep. Mustn't. She had to find out about that flower.

            Ask Grace, a tiny voice persisted in her mind. Ask Grace.

            I’ll do it in a few minutes…

            And then she was sound asleep, oblivious to the entire world around her, save the warmth and comfort of her cozy little bed.

            And entirely unaware of a young girl with auburn hair and a pale face in the next room, slipping out from under her covers and running lightly down the hall.

            Grace’s feet pattered mutedly on the plush carpet. Seeing was difficult in the dim light, so she relied on her sense of touch, augmented by her memory of the house’s layout, to find her way to the stairs. Hands splayed out in front of her to prevent bumping into anything, she inched forward with agonizing slowness, for fear of making some unintended noise that might wake the housekeepers. That wouldn't do at all - what she was about to do involved her and her alone, and no one else. That was one thing that she was absolutely sure of. 

            Down the hall - a few more feet - past the door -

            The door. Faith’s bedroom door.

            Grace hesitated. She knew that Faith felt strangely about the flower, just as she did. That morning, she had been drawn to the flower, and was awestruck by its vitality and beauty. From the moment she laid eyes on it, she knew that it was nothing ordinary. And when she'd shown Faith, she knew she had done the right thing, because Faith felt just the same as she did. It really truly was an eerie flower. 

            Faith ought to know what was going on…

            But Grace turned away, drawn by the pull of the morning glory at her heart. It seemed to be tugging at her soul strings, drawing her by an unseen power. She continued down the spiraling cedar steps, nearly slipping on the smoothly polished wood in her haste. Down the slippery marble-floored entry hall, then to the front door. It was a massive door, tremendously tall and quite thick. Grace had some trouble getting it open.

            Hurry, hurry, her heart thudded in her throat. She didn't know what she was hurrying for, but she obliged to the little voice in her head anyways. She fumbled half-blindly with the clasp that held the door shut, and had almost given up all hope of getting it open, when - click - done. With a strenuous heave she shoved the door open, just wide enough to allow her slim form to slip through. Out she slid, into the pure silver light of the moon, into the night. The door clicked shut behind her with a ring of decided finality. 

            The evening watering of the lawn had left the walkway that led from the house to the garden slick and glossy with water. Treading lightly over the cement, barely audible in her bare feet, Grace flew down the path, hardly slowing at all at the corners and at times cutting across the neat, trim lawn to save time. Finally she turned onto the cobblestone path. And stopped.

            The garden looked so magical there in the moonlight. The greenery was bathed in silver and gold, looking for all the world like a glimpse of heaven’s garden. It was calling to her, drawing her heart to its very center, where the morning glory lay.

            The night breeze whispering high in the trees, the rustling of the bushes, the pureness of it all, washed in silver light - it beckoned her irresistibly. Grace took a step forward, and checked herself. 

What was she doing here? What exactly did she expect to happen? It was only a flower, after all. And why on earth did she feel such an urgent compulsion to get to the flower?

            It was a matter that Grace would never understand.

            Without further hesitation, without stopping to think once more about what she was doing, what she might be getting herself into, without a single backwards glance - Grace ran into the garden and vanished among the rosebushes.

Reviews

[Artiste de Mots]

Ooooh! Beautiful descriptive words, and you've got me hooked. Now I'm super curious! Time for the next chapter!

[JadeForever]

I think near the end..you shouldnt start two sentences in a row with "And" But, I loved this chapter a lot because it was spooky like Jasmine said.

Once again, I enjoyed your descriptions. In the last chapter, your descriptions were quite overpowering and became boring. But, now you have the perfect amount of description. Not too much..not to little. Just right. The ending has got me hooked. Cant wait to read more. Two thumbs up. :)

[Jasmine Thousand]

Okay. This gave me the creeps. Only note is I'd prefer a vision of Grace's face at the end. Was she scared? Deliriously happy?

Otherwise I loved this chapter. Amazing description and it flows effortlessly.

~*Jasmine Thousand~*