Cypress Cove

Chapter Nine

Mrs. Branch brings me to The Hollow Inn where I will be staying while I phase through the trials. The Hollow Inn is outstanding. It is a miniature castle on the outside and the inside is beyond anything humanity could create. In the middle of room stands a statue of Dagon with his children. Dagon is holding a chalice that runs over with a liquid that looks like purple mercury. It's truly mesmerizing. The ceiling looks as if we are standing outside on an autumn day. The stairs are made of the same wood as the bridges and seem to work like an escalator, but the slabs of wood disappear at the top of the stairs, then reappear at the bottom, only to start their levitation back up with a new companion. Mrs. Branch has to push me along as we step on to one of these levitating stairs. I don't think she minds though, she is getting plenty entertainment from watching me act like a child in a candy store. She smiles and laughs innocently at me. In a way, Mrs. Branch reminds me of Aunt Ethel. So purely delighted by other people's excitement, but she looks nothing like my dear aunt. She has a very intriguing style. She wears a formfitting long sleeve crimson shirt with black pants and crimson heels to match. Her hair sits on her head in a tight bun, which points out the fact her ears look like they belong on a Doberman, although they blend in nicely with her dark brown skin and her almost entirely black eyes, which brings an unanswered question to mind.

"Mrs. Branch," I inquire.

"Yes child," she says, even though I am not a child. I don't correct her.

"Can I ask you something personal? I'm not trying to be a pain, I'm just very curious."

"You go right ahead. Ask away! Nothing you ask will bother me."

I work up the nerve to ask. "How come yours and all the others ears and eyes resemble animals?"

"Oh child, I bet you have been wondering about that this entire time. I figured someone would have at least mentioned it by now," she shakes her head and tssk as she indicates to get off the stairs. "Well, when you find a familiar and complete the bonding, not only will they take a part of your soul, you will take on part of theirs' and some of their characteristics with it."

My eyes give away my unease.

She continues, "You do learn to control it. You can hide it if you want. Most people here are very proud of their bond with their familiar. The stronger the bond, the more you can draw from them. For instance, my familiar is fury hound. It is a lower form of a hell hound. It is very fast and can fade in and out of view. Once, I was trained I could use its abilities at my will. I can also do this." she says as she smiles broadly at me and her teeth change and give the appearance of shark teeth, but then fade away back into her teeth. "Also, most people have their familiar's eyes because you can use them to see what they see, which can come in handy." She winks at me, then adds, "Plus, it's the trend here, almost everyone sports their familiar's eyes."

We walk up to a hallway full of wooden doors encased in stone walls. We walk past a few others my age that are openly staring me down. Among them is the boy who gave me the death stare at the cypress temple, Tye. We stop halfway down the hallway at one of the doors.

"Oh, you will use these to get in and out." she says as she hands me a very antique looking key. "Lilith, it was lovely to meet you my dear." She gives me a little squeeze. "Also, the rooms here are very temperamental. The Hollow Inn itself can be very animated." She warns before turning and strutting off, leaving me there, stupefied.

Is she saying this building is alive? Are the rooms alive? IS MY ROOM ALIVE? I notice Tye and the others glaring at me. I momentarily pull myself together, then take the large key and put it in the key hole, trying not to look like an idiot, and I turn. Instead of the door swinging open, it drops down in the ground and disappears from site. I wander inside, holding an expression as if I'm unimpressed. As soon as I hear the door slide back up, I drop to the floor and just breathe and reflect on everything that has happened in the last 24 hours.

I finally decide to look up and study the extraordinary room I am sitting in. Unexpectedly, I find it makes me feel like royalty. I make my way onto my feet and explore the room. The walls keep changing from royal blue to deep purple, continuously. The bed is huge, even bigger than a king size bed, and has the most elegant ivory canopy draping it. After taking in all the wondrous things in my new room, I decide to get a shower. It takes me a bit to figure out how to work the absurd thing and just when I am about to give up, I plead aloud, "All I want is a nice hot shower!" Abruptly, hot water is showering from the top. I yell, "Warm water! Warm water, please!" The water cools a bit. I wash up as quick as I can, ready to free myself from the shower. I grab the luxurious, oversized towel hanging just outside the shower and wrap myself up. I grab a smaller towel and absent mindedly dab at my hair. Knock, knock, knock. Seriously will I ever know peace again?

< Hello everyone! After facing many tough changes in life I am back and with it I bring the return of Cypress Cove! Be watching for my new short story Significant Suspension coming Feb 28th. Chapter 10 of cypress cove is to be posted March 11th!>