A Child Named Loveless Preview (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 - The Tower (Part 1/4)

She'd been worried for a while now. As the minutes had gone by in the flower shop, she'd felt the likelihood of her aunt coming back becoming less and less likely.

Erica sat down across from her in one of the booths by the window.

"Something happen to your aunt?" she asked Rose curiously.

Rose shrugged,

"I don't know. I-I hope not. When I arrived at the shop, she wasn't there and, well, sometimes she needs to run errands and such, so I just start without her. But she never takes this long."

Erica didn't try to reassure her. It was like she understood how peculiar an event like this was. This whole day had been peculiar, really. It hadn't even started out ordinary, what with her meeting Erica, such a familiar stranger who happened to be the granddaughter of the woman who ran The Blue Moon Diner across the street from her aunt's flower shop. How the two of them had walked together from school...

It wasn't Erica's fault, Rose knew that. It just happened to be that today was a peculiar day.

Rose could hear Granny Snow talking in a hushed voice over the phone. Their orders came, carried by the chef who gave Rose a polite nod of greeting, then went back to his duties. Rose poked at her food. Normally she would enjoy any meal from Blue Moon, but now...now it was like everything tasted too strong or too dull. She managed to stomach half of it before pushing it away. Erica seemed to finish about the same amount as Rose, as though her worry was contagious.

It was a little after seven-thirty when Granny Snow decided to close the diner. She looked over at Rose, smiling slightly,

"Would you like to stay with us for the night, Rose?"

Rose felt her insides grow cold.

"I've put the word out for your aunt." Granny Snow reassured her, "I've contacted the Sheriff too. He owes me a small favour." She gave Rose a wink, "So, you know he'll come through. Don't you worry, I'm sure your aunt is fine."

Rose nodded, swallowing back a lump of emotion. If she had gone to Granny sooner, would her aunt have been found quicker? Why hadn't she realized something was wrong?

For a moment, it was like she'd lost sight of the world around her as those sorts of questions filled her mind. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality and nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Hey, it's going to be alright." Erica told her firmly, "She'll be found."

Rose nodded, but a sinking feeling in her gut told her that something had happened.

Granny Snow led them out to her car. It was a small, blue car. Old, but in good shape. Erica had always gotten the sense that Granny Snow wasn't really one to update, despite the changing trends. She was a very practical woman, and this reflected in her decisions. If things worked, then there was no reason to go out of her way and buy something else.

Erica and Rose got in the back. Erica could have gotten into the front, passenger seat, but she'd gotten in beside Rose purposefully, as though hoping that having someone who's face she could see would somehow help.

They drove in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, it just seemed that everyone there was either too worried to speak, or unable to say anything that might make the whole thing better. The further they drove, the more they felt the need to stay silent. The sun was barely up now.

It was strange to see how light it was outside when during the winter, it would already be dark.

The scent of maydays came in through the rolled down window. The wind started to pick up and flower petals came falling down off their trees. It was almost instant.

Some of the petals came flying in through the window, prompting Rose to close it up. It looked a lot like snow. Small flowers filled the sky and for a moment she thought it really must be snow because the temperature had dropped and she could feel goosebumps crawling up her arms.

"Goodness! It's a good thing we decided to leave when we did." Granny Snow said, a worried frown on her face.

Now it wasn't just flowers and flower petals scattered among the streets, but leaves and branches. Most of it was small, but the wind seemed to be getting more and more violent.

For a moment, amidst the chaos, Rose could have sworn that she caught sight of something very peculiar. A large, dark tower jutting up into the sky. At first, she had thought it was a large cloud because of how big and imposing it was. But the shape didn't change, even though the clouds seemed to part around it.

There were no towers in Deer Springs. Nothing passed three stories. It must have been some sort of trick of the light or something. Yet, as they got closer to it, even in the darkness of the world, dulled by the clouds, Rose was starting to make out details. Windows framed in cold stone and a dark, abysmal interior.

"What's that?" Erica whispered breathily.

Rose didn't look away. The only reassurance she had at this point was that she wasn't hallucinating the thing.

"We don't have a tower in Deer Springs." She murmured to Erica. It was just about the only answer she could provide.