The Hunting Of Locksworth Tower

Chapter 12 : Under The Spell of The Puppy

For the next couple of weeks, Stephen and I had studied nearly everyday. I eventually found myself falling asleep during his lessons. All the large, difficult to understand, English Slanged, words he was saying started to make my head hurt, but I still tried my best to keep my head up.

"Stephen,"I finally said.

"Yes, Victoria?" Stephen replied, raising an eyebrow.

" Can we please call it a day?" I continued to say, in my English accent renewed voice.

"Why?"

"I am exhausted! You have been teaching me the way to nobility for nearly a whole month. Didn't your father ever allow you to take a brake every once in a while?" I sounded like a preppy fifteen year old girl trying to get out of doing her math homework.

Stephen looked kind of hurt, but shook his head to shake the feeling away,"Not really, No."

I didn't really know what to say after that. I just kept quiet and listened to Stephen. I didn't want to say anything farther, knowing that me mentioning Stephen's father, hurt him. Even the dead can feel living emotions, apparently.
When Alicja opened the library door, I looked up. She looked like a puzzled, lost, child, separated from her mother.
She was holding a wooden tray with hot tea and a plate with "biscuits". She walked over to me and placed the tray beside me and walked away shaking her head.

" What just happened?" Said I " Alicja looked so confused and troubled."
I looked at him with concern for the girl, knitting my brow.

" Alicja is alright, Victoria. She just needs to rest. She has so much on her plate, that she keeps forgetting to do things. It is quite saddening."

I sat there silently sipping my tea. I looked out the large window of the library in my thought filled moment to see that it was evening and walked over to the window.

Stephen walked over to me and looked at me with a concerned gaze. "Are you alright, Victoria?"

Without turning to look at him, I replied, nearly whispering," Yes, I'm fine."

" You look pale," Stephen pressed on," You should take a break. Before you get worse."

" There is still so much to do, but I will take up the gesture." I began to walk out of the library, when I herd Stephen speak to me from behind me.

" You act a lot like Madeline. Other than the fact that you are her living double, of course."

I turned to look at him and he walked past me and opened the library door, gentlemanly, for me.

" Was that a complement, Stephen?"
I asked, seriously.

" Yes, Yes it was." Hey replied with a, gentle, smile.

I stepped through the threshold and thanked him for holding the door.
I continued down the hall until I came upon a strangely familiar room.
It was a room of windows.
Even the ceiling was glass.
I assumed it was the old green house that led out into the garden.
There were plants everywhere.
I could barely see through the windows, through all the rose vines that climbed up to touch the ceiling. But, alas, I looked up, through the windowed roof and I saw the sky.
The sun was beginning to set, making an array of colors fill the sky.
Then I was under the most beautiful sight in the world and it only lasted three minutes. The sky to the south was yellow; fading into orange; fading into dark orange; fading into purple, and finally faded into black and blue.
The stars were out and the crescent moon lay perch among them.
Then, everything went black.
I herd a melody playing in the background as I laid limp on the floor.
I do not remember what it was, but it was almost like a lullaby. The song kept me from panicking as I lay motionless upon the floor.
The melody began to fade away as I, myself, faded into sleep.