a Tulip burned to Ash / chapter 2

2.

The gardens where laid out like a huge green rose, with painted red benches every now and then. It smelled like lavender and roses and a distinct hint of something Timothé couldn’t exactly pin down.

He stepped down the few stairs that led him out the door, and strolled into the middle, the heart, of the rose, where a lovely fountain was. Other than him he couldn’t see anyone else, wich was a pleasure, he had it all to himself like this.

Timothé laid down on a bench and looked into the sky, it was almost completely blue, there was only one little white cloud, it looked lonely and searching, as If it was originally meant to be somewhere else.

And like that he let the time pass until his eyes eventually started to hurt from staring into the sun. When he decided to leave it was late afternoon already, but he didn’t want to go inside just yet. There was still so much to explore, behind the gardens started a field, softly going down ending into the forest wich surrounded the entire terrain.

There was a small trail on his right, leading into the cool shadows of the oak trees, it looked welcoming, after he laid in the bright sun for so long. He made his way there, not even giving one look back to the bench he laid on. If he would have done that, he would have seen the spot of black left one there and maybe he would have wondered where it came from, maybe he wouldn’t have gone into the forest like that, maybe he would have been more careful, but as is, he didn’t have a reason to be alarmed.

Once he stepped into the forest the smell he noticed earlier amplified, it crept into his nose until he couldn’t smell the fresh air, the roses and the forest anymore, but he still couldn’t figure out what it was, it started to bug him.

He followed the path into the forest, still thinking about what could smell like that when he heard voices on his left.

He turned to look and saw a man, with a funny looking hat, and a woman, wearing a dress that definitely didn’t look like it belonged in this world, standing in, what seemed like, the middle of the undergrowth. He held his breath and stood still, something about the scenario seemed just… off.

“You shouldn’t have done that!”, the woman said, sounding hurt, like she was about to cry.

“Oh well, then maybe you could have told me about it, maybe I shouldn’t have had to find it out myself, maybe I could have helped- maybe we could have stopped them…”, the man now, his voice sounded angry at first, but slowly got weaker.

Timothé swore he was able to make out the glitter of a year on the man’s cheek.

“I couldn’t, he-“

“I don’t want to hear it, what excuse could there be, there’s nothing you could say.”, the man turned around, as he walked away it seemed like he didn’t even touch the bushes.

The woman fell in her knees, not giving a shit about her dress, and pulled out a knife.

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Ash left their hotel room immediately after they brought their stuff there. After that they decided to go and search the cafeteria. Their so called Mother had dragged them right out the bed and directly in the car, so they had to skip breakfast.

What a bitch.

They came out back in the lobby, unintended, but found a map there and were able to find the way without getting lost.

The cafeteria was a big hall and even though there where quite a lot of people, it seemed somehow empty, like it had to be filled with music and dances, instead of simple tables, and stiff looking humans, dressed in shorts and tank tops.

After they finished eating, they started to look out for people they might gonna like, they wouldn’t rot here alone for two solid weeks, not with Ash!

They were about to stand up and go to a group nice looking teenager, seemingly about their age, when they noticed a dark shadow in a small door they didn’t even notice before, maybe it was originally for servants designed, they’d heard that was a thing, and, god, this hotel was build who knows when!

They followed the shadow into a narrow corridor, it was so dark, they couldn’t even make it out anymore, until they saw it, blocking the light out of a doorway, they followed in there, it seemed to be a library of some sorts, they looked around, could only make out a blurred movement in the corner of their eyes.

They ran left, fuck it who cares about being noisy, and followed it.

But they didn’t expect what they found in the end.

-------- It's me. I care about people being noisy in a fucking library.