The Rose That Wilted - The Grace Grincen Series (Already Published on Amazon)

Chapter Two: What is Spinning? The World or My Head?

The last thing Grace could recollect through a trip down her memory lane was that she collapsed right when she saw an enormous figure in front of her. When she opened her eyes after what felt like hours, she saw a girl sitting next to her bed, who was intently checking Grace's pulse. 

Grace took a moment to realize where she was and why she was lying in the bed in such an awkward position with her right hand in the girl's lap.

Her hand was numb.

Her lip was bleeding.

Her head was spinning.

She was trying to wrap around the idea that she was in a completely different place than where she had started. Flashes of images came to her head about the boy who had escorted her here. She wasn't able to fully take in what had happened in the past hour.

It was an ice-cold place and the surroundings seemed to discourage high spirits. Grace's nose tingled with the smell of damp soil and mud. Her ears discerned some kind of silent vibrations in the air and her mouth tasted like slaked lime. 

Grace made a minimal movement without hurting her hand to catch the engrossed girl's attention.

The girl jerked up when she saw that Grace was awake.
She wore an overlarge jacket which came to her knees, a top which was torn and jiggered and plain blue jeans. 

Her hairs were a gradient shade of soil, untidy and messy and she wore a unique-rather-complicated hairstyle. Her bright grey eyes perfected her face and intensified her looks. His eyes and body conveyed weakness as though she had been skipping meals and sleeping.

"W...were you attacked by the N.S.?" The girl asked, her voice trembling and her lips pressed together.

Grace managed to croak through her paining teeth. "W... what?"

"Oh. Sorry. I'm Estella. Are you alright?" She asked with wide eyes.

Grace tried to figure out if it was her head that was dizzy or the room. She looked at the girl lost and confused, who looked back at her, apprehensive and worried. 

Grace turned to see the door close, and she suddenly remembered about Mrs. Eleanor. 

"Wait...wait. Where are Mrs. Eleanor and Daniel?"

Estella did not seem to understand a single word of it. "Mrs. Elean...what?" Estella blurted.

"Mrs. Eleanor! And Daniel!" Grace said urgently. "They're...they were..." 

"Um. I don't know about whom you are talking," Estella said swinging her hand, her expression blank.

"How...how did you..." Grace pointed at Estella's hands which were now glowing a green mist.

"Oh dear...!" Estella said reverse-swinging her hand which made the mist vanish. "They would be safe...whoever you are talking about. You can write to them tomorrow."

Grace still felt like she had landed in some strange land and flashes of her journey were adding up to her tension and insecurity. Her eyelids were heavy, she was feeling weak; and her legs felt wobbly as though they were not strong enough to take her weight.

"And exactly, who are you?" Grace asked again hoping to extract some information to all her mind's workings.

"Estella. Like I told you."

Grace shook her head...trying to find the exact words to frame her question. "I mean...can I know something more than your name?"

Estella seemed to consider the question for a moment. "I'm an Enchantress at Geventen. But you know all about it, don't you?"