Ashes and Embers

08. Childhood

At that, the girl laughed.

"I'm sorry," I said, turning back to her as I unwrapped a chocolate bar. "I don't know who you are."

The girl blushed and looked apologetic. "I'm Julienne Lanster. I'm new here - I've only arrived two weeks ago. I'm the new cook," her face fell then. "I'm not from around here, but Mrs. Darcy reached out to me when my mother was arrested for an attempted robbery. She was friends with my father, but he died when I was very young," she blinked, her long lashes practically scraping against her cheekbones.

Well, this is awkward.

I swallowed the mouthful of chocolate I was eating and cleared my throat. "It's very nice to meet you, Julienne. I'm Kriss. Kriss Darcy," I set down the chocolate bar and moved to the fridge, hoping I'd find a bagel. Bingo. I cut the bagel in half and shoved it into the toaster.

"I know who you are," Julienne said softly, and as I glanced over my shoulder to look at her, she was blushing again. "I mean, there's photographs of you everywhere, especially in the library, and I've never seen you before, so I assumed you were Mrs. Darcy's daughter... and I'll shut up now, I can see I'm making you uncomfortable," she cast her eyes down to her omelet and took a bite.

I tried to focus on my chocolate bar, but the silence was clearly an awkward one. "Where are you from?"

Julienne swallowed her omelet. "Oregon," she said. "Portland. I wasn't looking forwards to moving here, I mean, Plattsburgh is so different from Portland. I dropped out of high school a few months ago, my girlfriend dumped me, and ultimately, my entire life was falling apart," she took a sip of coffee. "Things have been better since I started working here. I've always been a decent cook."

Wow, she's very... open, isn't she?

The toaster popped and I used the awkward silence to grab them and put them onto a plate, burning my fingertips in the process. I opened the fridge again and took out the cream cheese, taking another bite of my chocolate bar. I froze then, looking in the fridge with surprise.

"Why is my refrigerated chocolate supply so low?" I asked in shock, slowly turning to face Julienne.

The other girl stood up and came over to the fridge, scanning the shelves, her expression suddenly darkening to one of confusion. She tends to be confused a lot.

"Other things are missing too, if you look closely enough," she said. "Food tends to disappear from the kitchen a lot, about once a week," she closed the fridge with a shrug. "With all the talk of the manor being haunted, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the ghosts stealing food."

I rolled my eyes as I spread the cream cheese onto my bagel. "Ghosts can't eat," I said, taking a bite as the creamy deliciousness spread across my taste buds. "Haven't you ever read Harry Potter?"

Julienne shook her head. "I don't read," she mumbled, going back to her seat to finish her omelet. "Books bore me."

"And here I thought we could be good friends," I said with mock sadness, chugging down a glass of water and leaving the room.

That was weird, I thought as I made my way towards the library, bagel in hand. Why are people stealing food from the fridge? I wouldn't care much if they didn't steal from my chocolate supply.

Now it's personal.

Food disappearing from the fridge, without a trace? It's the same kind of weird as a piano collapsing on its own. I have to ask the Ghost about this.

I ate more of my bagel as I stepped into the library, my thoughts vanishing as I took in my favorite room in the manor. Three of the walls were lined with shelves, filled to the brim with stacks upon stacks of books. A catwalk ran along those three walls as well, giving you better access to the books higher up on the shelves. A large window stood on the fourth wall, allowing natural light to shine into the room, and a spiral staircase wound its way up to the catwalk. In one corner, the Reading Nook, there sat three reading chairs, each with a small table beside it, holding a lamp and a coaster. There was a large table in the middle of the room, with six chairs surrounding it, and a glorious rug underneath of it. A small chandelier dangled from the ceiling - nowhere near as grand as the one in the great hall, but it was still beautiful.