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Greg took a bite in one of the green apples he had stolen. It had finally stopped raining, and he felt it made his food taste that much more delicious. Thomas and Benjamin hadn’t showed up yet even though it was almost noon, and he was enjoying his day alone so far.

On the other side of the street he saw Life and Charlotte walking around and searching aimlessly for something. Again? He sighed, feeling like his breakfast was ruined now. He jumped off from the wooden box he was sitting on and slowly made his way to them.

-Hey, brats! I wouldn’t hang around this part of town if I were you.

-Why not?

It was the boy who had replied. For a moment, Greg thought about hitting his own forehead. How could he be so dense?

-How old are you, gosh? Both of you are stupid. What do you think people think of, seein’ two nice White-Ears hanging around here, looking utterly lost? It almost screams “kidnap me!”

He took another bite of his apple, frustrated. He didn’t feel like dealing with kids today. The girl looked at him with tired eyes, but he didn’t care.

-You both run back to your families where it’s nice and warm and there’s a lot of money. Now shoo, get out of my sight before I lose my temper and force you out of here.

-Greg, please. Tell me, have you seen Rosa?

-Nope. Now get out of my sight.

-Just tell me when’s the last time you saw her!

His ear twitched in annoyance. What, was she giving him orders now? He wanted to give her some smug remark, but her eyes were pleading and he ended up looking away, scratching his head.

-Look, I haven’t seen her. Now just go away. No one else’s gonna ask you nicely.

They looked at each other and finally seemed to get his point. About freakin’ time. He looked at them go, biting once more into his apple and throwing the remains away in a garbage can nearby. Once they were out of sight, he made his way towards the wooden box he had been sitting on earlier. He jumped on it and looked down behind it to the girl hiding there.

-Don’t you think it’s time you go home now? They even came all the way down here, though it wasn’t very smart if you ask me.

The girl glared at him from the shadows. You almost look menacing like this, oh I’m scared. He returned an expressionless stare at her, unimpressed.

-I thought you cared about them. If you do, why do you go on and vanish for days to search for you? I told you, White-Ears in the area is bad. Some thugs will jump on the occasion and rape ‘em.

-Shut up.

He felt frustration grow back into him.

-Hey, I feel like I care more about them than you do. Now that’s nothing normal, you hear me? I don’t care about anyone. I don’t care what you have in mind, but next time I see ‘em, I’m telling them you’re here.

He grabbed a piece of wheat that was laying around and bit hard into it, letting himself fall on his back. Ah, now his good mood was ruined. The girl sitting on the ground didn’t say a word. She hadn’t said more than two words at once ever since he had come upon her. She hadn’t been distributing letters, which was suspicious to begin with. He had planned on scaring her a bit as usual, but this time she hadn’t moved.

She had stood there, glaring at him, and though he didn’t care which way she usually looked at him, there was something creepy about her this time. Her eyes betrayed some strange emotion, as if her mind had been somewhere else. He had quickly realized that stuff the red-haired guy had given her didn’t work anymore, and she was going nuts from the pain. She looked completely lost.

He didn’t know why he helped her; usually he’d only care about himself, or better even, he’d be the one hurting her. But he had been the one bullying her for years. He felt a certain possessiveness; no one was allowed to hurt her except him. He was like a brother annoying his sister everyday, yet if someone else did, they’d have to hear from him. The boys hadn’t understood his actions either. They had looked at him wide-eyed, asking him if he was alright, to which Greg hadn’t replied because he really had no answer.

All he knew is that he felt pity for her. When he had seen her run after that noble kid in the most dangerous area of town a few days back, the first thoughts that had come to him were that this girl was crazy. Then some kind of respect had settled in. He had followed that girl’s request really out of curiosity more than anything else.

He glanced once more towards Rosa. Her clothes were messy and her hair was slightly curvy from the rain that hadn’t stopped since today. He couldn’t seen her eyes from this angle, but judging from her respiration she was sleeping. He had already concluded that she had either quit her job or never planned to go back, but she had barely ate or drank since. He wondered if she’d even have the strength to stand up. Just looking at her made him look dizzy. He heard her cough.

-Oh, great. Don’t tell me you’re sick on top of it! I’m not nursing you back to health! You hear me?

-I hear you. You’re loud. You’re an idiot.

Her voice sounded horrible and though she glared at him he wondered if she could even see him. Her right eye was annoyingly unfocused.

-You blind in that eye or something?

A flash of surprise appeared for merely a second and was gone. He didn’t really care much about her, but now he was curious.

-What happened?

-Nothing.

-Can you get any more annoying?

-Fine. My head got smashed into a wall. Twice.

For a moment he started laughing, but then he realized her expression hadn’t changed.

-Holy shit, you’re serious.

-Yes, I’m serious.

She grabbed her head as her face twisted in pain. That migraine must have been back. She was breathing pretty loudly too. He grabbed a bottle of water that was laying next to him and threw it at her. He had filled it at the fountain a few hours earlier.

-Drink.

-I thought you didn’t care.

-Drink, or I’ll force you to.

She glared at him and drank, chocking on the water. His ear twitched.

-Take your time, stupid.

Normally she would have thrown the bottle in his face, but this time she obeyed and drank some more. His tail twitched back and forth to go along with his ear. What a frustrating day. If this went on like this, he’d get a migraine himself. And he hated migraines, specially the ones caused by other people.

-Greg!

That was Benjamin’s voice. He glanced towards him and noticed the thin and tall boy running towards him. His hair was short and curvy and if he had been wearing nice clothes, anyone would have believe he was a bookworm. Behind him Thomas was running, a short fat guy. Both of them had been his followers for years now, ever since they were kids. He didn’t exactly trust them, he didn’t trust anyone, but he did rely on them. He jumped on the ground and walked towards them.

-You’re late!

-Sorry, man. Why you such in a bad mood?

-Frustrating morning.

-The nobles are coming.

-Are you serious?

-Yeah, from what I heard their son had gone missing and now Mr. Wilkes is going crazy.

He hit his forehead with his palm. Great! This was stupid. He rushed back towards the boxes.

-Hey, you idiot.

-What?

-The nobles are here and they’re tryin’ to catch your boyfriend. What are you going to do?

-Which boyfriend?

-You stupid? I’m talking about that boy with the stupid nickname.

She glared at him for a moment and seemed to realize what he had said.

-Wait, what?

-Didn’t you work for them or something? You’ll look awfully suspicious if they can put their hand on you. And I’m not sayin’ what they’ll do to your lover.

-He’s not my lover, cut the crap.

-Either way, he’s in deep shit if you don’t do anything.

-What do you expect me to do?

-Go warn him, for starters! I’m sick of you moping around, ya hear me?

-Why do you care?

-I do, and it’s bothering me more than it’s bothering you, so shut up and get moving.

She curled up in her corner and pulled on her ears tightly. Was she shaking? She had to be kidding him. He took a sip of water.

-I can’t go back!

-Sure you can,

-You don’t understand! I raped Charlotte!

Greg coughed on his water upon hearing that. It took him a minute to come back to his senses, making sure he had really hear the right thing.

-You what?

The girl didn’t say anything else, instead she curled up even more like a rat seeing danger. He felt frustration build up inside him and jumped down in front of her. He grabbed her by the collar and pushed her out of her hiding hole.

-Get the fuck out there.

-But…

-You’re getting on my nerves! Go back there now and warn them, or else I’ll make sure you have a good reason for not doing it.

She seemed about reading to go back into hiding, but he had heard enough. He kicked her hard in her sides and was motivated to keep on doing it until she ran out of his sight, which she did surprisingly faster than he expected. She gave him a glance, stopping midway.

-What are you waiting for? If I see your face for another second, I’m fucking sending you rocks until you collapse and can’t get up anymore, ya hear me?!

She seemed to understand the warning and ran off. Once she was out of sight, Greg sighed, grabbing his forehead. Now he wished he had kicked her ten times more to get rid of this frustration. His two followers joined him.

-She’s the reason you’re so worked up?

-Shut up or I’m giving you the kicks I should have given her!

Thomas obviously knew better, and he didn’t add any comment. Greg walked back towards the place he’d been staying at all day, gave it a good kick and plugged his hands in his pockets, watching as the pile of boxes crumbled down. He frowned and fumed, more angry than he’d ever been at Rosa. He promised himself to beat her up even more than he had in the past to make up for it.

Charlotte was staring at the rain falling on the windows, resisting sleep with little success. It was night already, but Rosa hadn’t come back yet. She wasn’t surprised she hadn’t; she had got in later, but still had the same number of letters. And she suspected she might still be feeling bad from the night before.

But all of this wasn’t the reason she was still awake, alone in the dark, curled up in a blanket, looking through the bakery’s front windows. She was thinking about what had happened earlier, and every time she did, she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment, though she made no effort to hide it, or even move. She remembered Rosa apologizing so much to her afterwards that it would have been impossible to count how many ‘sorry’ she did. The rain went on outside, unaffected by her thoughts.

She wondered if she was more upset because Rosa had touched her, or because she had apologized so much afterwards. She blushed again, but it faded slowly as she thought about nothing again, her mind unable to focus. She barely felt the hand on her shoulders and she turned her head slowly, not understanding what was going on. Mallory looked at her, his eyes serious.

-You need to get some sleep.

-What about you?

-I already slept plenty. You’ve been up for two whole days and you look awful.

-But I’m waiting for Rosa…

-I’ll wait for her.

Charlotte looked at him, confused, blinking away sleep. She didn’t really know what he had just said, but somewhere in her sleepy brain it made sense that if he stood here in her place, it would be just the same as if she waited herself for her friend to come back. She nodded and got up slowly, walking towards the back, leaving the man to sit at the table she had been sitting at.

The fat woman had complained that the bakery wasn’t an inn, but with the rain that kept on going on and didn’t look like it’d stop anytime soon, not to mention that two of them had been sleeping without any way to wake them up, she had finally agreed to let them stay the night. She had made sure to let them know that they’d have to leave first thing in the morning; no doubt would the authorities be looking for them, and she didn’t want trouble, to which the man had completely understood. She was running a business here, not some kind of clandestine hide away.

The door to Martha’s room was closed as usual, and her room had Life and Split sleeping together in the bed, curled up in the covers. She frowned a little, bothered that they would be in the place she shared with Rosa, but once she noticed how peaceful they looked, she couldn’t help but sigh and smile a little. The bed was big, because the woman had exchanged her own bed with theirs a long time ago, telling them she didn’t need such a huge bed for herself, while they were going to be sleeping in the same one.

The two of them barely took up half the place and since she was so tired and wanted the most effortless solution possible, she let her blanket fall on the ground and slipped under the bedsheets, snuggling shamelessly against Life’s back. The boy mumbled something in his sleep, and placed himself comfortable again.

It didn’t take long for her to fall into an empty, dreamless night. Not once did she wake up during the night, and when she did she realized she had drooled all over the pillow. Feeling ashamed, she tried to rub it off, only to notice she was now alone and, judging from the light outside, the afternoon was already pretty well started. She rubbed her eyes and got up, slowly making her way downstairs.

-You look like a princess who just woke up!

-Princess!!

-…Huh?

Life and Split ran towards her to hug her. They were both covered with flour and she wondered what was going on. Martha appeared from the back.

-Hey, you two! Come back here, we’re not… Oh. Good morning, dear!

-Don’t you think she looks like a sleepy princess?

-Princess! Charlie the princess!

Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh. Charlie? Was that her new nickname? She vaguely remembering Rosa telling her something similar. I’d like to call you Charlie, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. She had found it kind of funny, assuming she was too shy to say it, judging from the face she had. For a moment she wondered if the two of them hadn’t talked, or if they really had a similar mind.

The two of them went back to helping the woman and she walked towards her and pat her head. The expression on her face betrayed worry.

-What time is it?

-Almost three.

-Where’s Rosa?

Her expression darkened and Charlotte felt her throat tighten.

-Are you hungry?

-Martha, where’s Rosa?

She looked down for a moment and she spotted her two friends looking at each other with worried glances. She ran towards the entrance to find Mallory where she had left him the night before, sleeping on the table. No trace of her friend.

-She didn’t come back home.

Without a word, Charlotte ran upstairs and grabbed the first clothes she found, putting them on and grabbed a piece of string to attach her hair. She then dashed outside, ignoring the cries calling her back inside. The only place she had in mind that could have any sort of clue about Rosa’s whereabouts was the post office.

-Hang on!

She turned to see Life running after her. She looked at him, vaguely surprised, before remembering that he too cared about her friend. She felt a wave of sadness and almost ran off alone, like a possessive child who refuses to share their friends, but decided it would be wiser to wait for him.

-Let me come with you.

She didn’t say a word, marching onward without really checking if he was following or not. She wondered if he would be in trouble for walking around the city like this, with everyone knowing what he looked like, but nobody seemed to pay any attention to them.

She walked inside, determined. The man at the counter looked at her with mean eyes.

-What do you want?

-I was looking for Rosa and was wondering if you’d seen her…

-Who?

-Rosaria. She works here.

-What does she look like?

She frowned, annoyed. How could he not know who worked here? Life stepped forward.

-She’s about this tall, brown hair with a white streak in it, wears a hat and a long coat and she’s pretty shy.

-Oh, you mean that girl. She came in late yesterday, but I haven’t seen her since.

-Could you tell us if she came in at all this morning?

-I just told you, I haven’t seen her.

-Thanks, sir.

Life smiled at her, but she couldn’t help and feel annoyed. She sighed and they walked outside. Where could she be? She couldn’t have just vanished…

-Hey, Charlie… Where do you think she could be?

-You’re calling me like that too…?

-Why not?

He seemed like he was about to smile at her, but she could see from his expression that he was just as worried as she was. She tried to think for a second, trying to remember her favourite spots. For some reason, she was confident nothing had happened to her, and that she had simply ran away. She certainly hoped so, even though she had never done that before. Had she fled because of her?

-Back when she worked for my family, she’d often be around the fountain. Isn’t there one, in the middle of town? Why don’t we go check there next?

-That sounds like a plan…

Alexander frowned while looking at the result of his research. So many sheets of paper were covering the desk of his temporary house that he didn’t know where to put down his coffee. He had placed them in a way he could see them all, at least the best he could, and kept his mug in his hands. The lamp’s holder was barely visible.

Yet all of this were merely copies of what he had noted in his journal. To make sure he had missed no detail, he had rewritten everything himself, by hand. He had been done for a few minutes now, and stared at them all and he could still find no certain proof. Life’s brother certainly was a mystery. His journal, which he had read over a hundred times by now, was laying under a pile of sheets. He sighed, massaging his forehead.

He knew for sure that this man was an alchemist. He had heard a lot about it in the past, back when he didn’t pay any attention to anything. Yet no matter where he dug, there was no proof.

He had gone everywhere he had been. He didn’t seem to have any sort of lab in their winter manor. He had found a torture chamber, but nothing interesting. Same for the mansion. Where could he be keeping his potions? The only clue he had that proved he hadn’t imagined all of this was a news article about his death. He had been found dead with a test tube containing poison in his hand. Traces of the same poison had been found in his body, and it was said to have killed him.

They had found him in the middle of his summer room, which made absolutely no sense considering there weren’t any other substances around. If he had a test tube in his hands, that meant he was either testing theories and mixing things, or he tried out a potion he had already done.

A potion he had already done… Why would he drink poison? For a moment, Alexander had suspected someone might have changed some of the things he had. What is two liquids looked exactly the same and one was a poison and the other, let’s say, something that heals injuries. Neither of them smelled anything, and someone changed the labels. He would then mistake the second for the former, thus killing himself in the process.

It was the gentleman’s theory, but so far he had no luck in testing it out. Then something caught his attention, something he had never noticed before. He dug in his pile of papers and grabbed the journal. On the back of it was a thin, clean cut that ran across it. The journal had been so old and scratched that Alexander hadn’t seen that before. He ran a finger on it and realized it was a pocket. In it was a small paper, thoroughly folded and yellow, showing that it was old.

Alexander felt a shiver of excitement at this new discovery. He carefully opened it up and read it. On it was the strangest excerpt of what looked like a letter. The date was smudged and impossible to read.

Today is such a cold, lonely day. Everything I have tried has failed miserably. Father does not look at me anymore, busy with his new favourite. I hate it. Just because of how he looks, I go forgotten, as if thrown into the abyss. I wonder if he even remembers he ever had two sons.

Mother died when giving birth. I have been having a harsh time ever since. As stupid as it sounds, I miss her. You probably think I am sounding like a hypocrite, do you not? While she was alive, I could not stand to look at her, yet now I feel empty without her. She gave birth to a devil, and it had eaten her from the insides. Yet my newborn brother looks at me with eyes full of hope and love. I fear of taking him in my arms, in fear of crushing his neck. He has taken everything from me, yet he does not know about it.

Father left earlier, just like every week. If I ever fail, then this letter would prove that I am nothing but a murderer. I would send it to you, but just in case, I’ll keep it safe. Hidden. Nobody needs to know what I am about to do. I want to crush my father. I want to make him miserable, ruin his life. What kind of son wishes such? Mother would be quite ashamed. But mother is not around any longer to stop me.

I have already tested a few things on him. The results were not what I expected. He cried with every sting. What an annoying being. He makes me sick. Just looking at him makes me want to crush his head into my hands. But I do not. My plan is better. I wonder if that man will ever realize I’ve done anything before it is too late.

My experiments might not be working right now, but they will. This kid will be cursed. I have cursed him the moment I have set my eyes on him. Everyone shall look upon him and see hope, until they realize how rotten he really is. He will not even see it coming himself.

Last time I noticed something odd. I found feathers. Strange, small, ugly feathers. They were coming out of his flesh, as if wings had try to grow without success. I have never seen a side effect like this. It is disgusting. I ripped them off, but every time I looked, new ones had grown. I wonder what it means. I’ll have to look into it.

As for you, my friend, I have done like you suggested. I am very saddened to hear about your loss. Do you think ghosts can read letters? I hope not. I’ll keep it hidden in the place only you know of, just in case. If anything were to go wrong, I’ll burn the house.

Until then,

-A. Wilkes.

Alexander stared at the paper for a long moment. This letter wasn’t addressed to anyone. How odd.

He thought for a moment about the content of what he had just read. If he was right, then the young boy that was described in the letter was Life. But what was that about feathers? None of this made much sense, even if it had been coded, which didn’t sound like it. What was the ‘place only you know of’? And what about burning the house?

He rubbed his forehead, feeling like the clue he had found gave him more questions than answers. He didn’t know Life’s mother had died while giving birth. It’s true he had never seen her during all his visits, nor did he hear her name a single time. And now that he thought about it, he had never seen any picture of her either.

A knock on the door.

-Yes, what is it?

-Sir, there is a letter for you. From the Queen.

-Please come in.

When she came to, it was already night. She painfully opened her eyes to ink-coloured clouds on an even darker sky. Her head was aching and simply breathing was painful. She stayed like this a moment, trying to remember just why she was laying down in the first place. It was silent.

She suddenly sat up in panic, remembering all about what had happened, hurting her head even more. She pulled her hand to her head and realized she touched cloth. She looked around and realized that she was alone. Fear gripped her as she wondered just what in the world had happened.

She got up, ignoring the pain, and noticed a path of small blood droplets on the ground. She slowly walked towards the direction it was heading. Soon crimson footsteps appeared, as someone had probably stepped in it before continuing their path, making it easier to follow. They soon faded away, which reassured Rosa, because it meant that the injury wasn’t all that bad. She allowed herself to sigh in relief, which soon ended in her flinching, remembering the state she was in. Soon, she heard voices and a fire.

-Do you think she…

-Sh, I hear something!

She limped towards the light of the fire and for a second she thought she was dreaming. Then she wondered just what had happened while she was out of it.

-Rosa! You’re awake!!

Life rushed to hug her and she let out a whine of pain when he did. He apologized and hugged her more carefully; behind him were a group of people, people Rosa never thought she would one day be looking at and see them all sitting around a fire while talking like buddies.

Greg and his gang were there, their leader looking at Rosa with an expression she could not identify. On their left, sitting on a log, was a man with bright red hair half hidden under a hat and wearing a cape. The young girl who was sitting next to him got up and ran towards her just as Life had done a few moments earlier, a bright smile on her face. Behind everyone was the man who had attacked earlier, the one who had seemed so intimidating. He was severely injured and tied up, his back to the wall, as he glared to the small group.

-Rosaaaaaa!

She hugged her without paying any attention to the girl’s injuries, which cringed once again before patting her head, hand shaking.

-H-Hi…

-Split!

The young girl cheerfully reminded her of her name, before the two of them let her go. Rosa sighed. They walked towards the fire to join the others, and she couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t feel as much pain as she expected to. Sure she had an awful migraine, but she had been crushed against a wall… The red-haired man nodded towards her before speaking, and it took her a moment to recognize him.

-We were a little uneasy with the idea of moving you in the state you were in, I hope you’ll forgive us for leaving you there on your own.

-Mallory? What are you and…

-Split!!

-…Split doing here?

Life was the one to answer her, obviously relieved to see she was doing much better.

-They arrived just after you fainted. She gave that man what he was asking for!

-And what about Greg?…

The man looked down, silent. She had never seen him this close before, because she was always busy running away from him in fear that he might hit her. He was wearing a dirty white shirt with rolled sleeves and suspenders. His light brown hair was hiding some freckles. He looked at her.

-We were just passing by. You’re crazy to have come here alone.

-You’re such a bad liar.

She was looking at him, unimpressed when he said that and both of his friends started laughing. She could have sworn she saw him blush before he got up and yelled at them to shut up. She frowned a bit, really wondering why he was there. He finally cleared his throat after punching his friends.

-That pretty girl was worried about you. I promised her I’d follow you if she didn’t.

-Since when do you do nice things?

-Shut up, alright? It’s a good thing I came, because if she did you might never have seen her again!

She didn’t reply to him, knowing he was right. Just the thought of seeing Charlotte here made her shudder, knowing she would have had a fate much worse than Life. She tried to place the events back together.

So apparently after that man had knocked her out cold, Split and Mallory had come to the rescue. If the girl really was the serial murderer they were looking for on the radio, she suspected the man had refrained her from killing him, but she could see he had both arms broken and felt a pang of sympathy by looking at him.

And afterwards, Greg had arrived with his pals, after listening to Charlotte’s request, from the looks of it. She could imagine them wanting to stir trouble but stopping quickly once they saw the scene. She finally felt like she understood the situation.

She was snapped back to reality by Mallory’s voice.

-I gave you something for the pain. How do you feel?

-Much better, thank you.

He nodded, his face serious. Somehow she felt he knew she wasn’t telling him the whole truth; she was feeling much better, but she still had a pretty bad headache. She wondered just what he had given her, but didn’t ask, unsure if she really wanted to know. She felt Life’s head drop down on hers and realized he was taller than her now. Before, his head would have barely reached her shoulder.

-I was really worried… You weren’t moving.

-Hm…

She looked down and remembered the scene she saw when she arrived.

-What about you? You were injured…

-Mallory checked it after he fixed yours. It doesn’t even hurt anymore!

She grabbed his arm and he flinched, crying in pain and backing away. She glared at him, as if proving he was lying, to which he looked away. Split laughed happily, and Rosa couldn’t help but smile, though she wasn’t certain what she found so funny. Before she knew it, Life was ripped from her and the girl was poking his wound while laughing, while he begged her to stop. The man accompanying her sighed.

-Split, be nice to him. Poking injuries isn’t nice.

-Okaaay!

She obeyed and smiled widely, and after stroking his own injury for a moment, he tackled the young girl who had attacked him before and started tickling her. The two of them started laughing like kids having fun, and mostly everyone couldn’t help but smile.

For a moment, Rosa felt like they were a group of friends, casually enjoying an evening together. She almost forgot that they were in the most dangerous place of town, though she didn’t take long to realize that they were pretty safe; who would attack such a big group to begin with? A big group who had taken a pretty mean-looking man hostage, on top of it.

Life seemed to be having a good time as well, and she decided she’d ask him later about why he had run away and why he had looked so terrified earlier. She hadn’t seen him in so long that she had almost forgotten how great she felt when she was with him. She felt like nothing else mattered.

Greg gave Mallory a harsh glance.

-Is it true that she’s…

-Split!

-… the one who murdered all these people in the next city? Why are you here? I find it pretty odd and convenient that you arrived just in time to save these two.

-With the authorities looking all over for us and Split’s face in the newspaper, we didn’t have that much of a choice. We had to change towns, and it just so happen that while we were passing by, we heard a scream.

-That doesn’t actually answer my questions.

Split looked at him innocently and blinked. Looking at her now, it was hard to believe she could hurt a fly. But Greg stared at her gravely.

-I saw you take care of that guy. Just what are you?

-Split is Split!

The young man frowned, obviously annoyed that she would answer questions directed at the red-haired man. A few curious stares could be seen from the shadows. Mallory sighed as he got up.

-If you’re all fit to walk, I think we should get out of here.

Rosa had been gone a long time for someone who was going to pay off part of their debt and come back. Charlotte was really starting to worry and feel something might have happened to her. She voice her fears of someone kidnapping her, beating her up, raping her, and oh what would she do if they found parts of her dead body in multiple areas of town? Her scenarios of disaster even scared Martha, who seemed more terrified by the young girl’s state of mind than the chances of them really happening.

-You’ve heard like me that this murderer was on the loose! Oh, Martha! I have to find Rosa!

No matter how much she tried to calm her down, how she tried to remind her that the murderer was in the next city, that Rosa knew much more than her how to get by on the streets, nothing would work. She tried to distract her by telling her that if the murderer really was Split, then they had nothing to fear since they had been nice to her and had even be called friends. She tried to tell her that criminals usually went against the ones who opposed them and if she didn’t believe her own words, she tried to sound as reassuring as she could and refused to stop talking in fear her adopted daughter would fall back into despair and run off like the wind.

It was when all of this was happening that the door’s bell rang and Martha begged the young girl to get a grip on herself and serve this client properly. Charlotte had apologized and felt ashamed, though her mind was still buzzing with worry and more dreadful thoughts. The woman had even tried to convince her that maybe this was Rosa coming home and a spark of hope had filled her belly, only to disappear when she walked to welcome their client.

It was a boy, about around this age where boys become men. His bright blue eyes seemed terrified, and even though Charlotte knew everyone around here, she had never seen him. He wore a white scarf, a brown hat and some nice clothes.

-Hello! How might I help you?

She tried to smile nicely to him, but he jumped the way a bunny jumps in surprise and fear as soon as you touch its fur. She frowned a bit, wondering what was up with that. He reminded her of Rosa when she had first met her.

-Are you looking for something in particular..?

-Someone… I’m looking for someone.

His voice was coarse and unsteady, as if proving he was in the middle of his growth. Charlotte looked at him a little worried now as she walked to him. He was taller than her, but because of the way he was standing, she felt like she had a little boy in front of her eyes.

-What does this person looks like?

He looked right and left, as if searching for his words. He seemed to be unsure if it was a good idea or not for him to be here. He was holding a paper in his shaking hands, and some scribble on it that she identified as the bakery’s address. She decided to go with simple questions.

-Is that person a boy or a girl?

He looked up at her, and she could tell he would be more responsive now.

-A girl.

-Good. How old is she?

-Maybe a little older than you.

-Can you tell me more? Does she have a name?

-Rosa.

Charlotte nodded at first and stopped cold when she realized the name the boy had spoken. She looked at him more carefully and remembering what Rosa had once told her, she finally recognized this young man.

-Oh my gosh, you’re Life!

She stepped back and bowed some proper greetings. Her heart was racing faster as panic took over, but she couldn’t tell why she was reacting this way. She pulled him a chair by one of the small tables that were there and rushed to the back after telling him to wait a moment. She ran to prepare some coffee, and her strange behaviour didn’t go unnoticed by Martha, who was cooking some bread by the fire.

-What’s going on?

She tried to tell her what was going on, but the words tried to come out all at once, and she had to calm down and take a deep breath before she could go on.

-Rosa’s friend is here.

Martha gave her a confused glance, before putting the buns down, getting up and looking at their customer. He was looking around, a worried look on his face and, spotting his white ear while he faced outside, she recognized him.

-That’s the boy from the Wilkes family.
-You know him?
-Sure I do. Ah, that’s right. It all happened before you came here.

She came back to check on her oven, gave it a nod and walked back towards Charlotte.

-I’ll tell you about him later. For now, make sure to serve him properly. Give him a nice cup of coffee and a bun or two. On the house.

The young girl gave her a surprised glance, as this was the first time the woman had ever let anyone take anything for free, but didn’t question her. She ran to grab some food, took the coffee and rushed back to the boy who was waiting. He jumped when she put the cup and plates down and gave her a hesitant look. She sat down in front of him, smiling.

-Rosa went on a walk earlier.

She glanced at their clock near the entrance and tried to push away her feelings of worry.

-She should be back any minute now. It’s already been a while.

He looked at her, confused, as he was obviously wondered who she was. She couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked from the black rings under his eyes. They looked like bruises, or even scars, as if they had been there for a very long time and refused to go away.

-You can call me Charlotte. I’ve heard a lot about you.
-Really?…

She started telling him about herself, about how she had arrived to this town three years ago. She left out the part about becoming from another world, as Martha had advised her; not only did it sound incredible, but most people would believe she was lying anyway. She would instead say she came from another town, making sure to stay vague, mentioning the tragic death of her parents so that people would feel uneasy about asking any more detail. She even made sure to look troubled, and those who knew her would sometimes wonder if she didn’t enjoy this act, to which the answer was yes, she did.
Life listened to her, obviously distracted by his own thoughts and, if Charlotte noticed, she paid it no mind. This boy obviously meant no harm, and just by looking at him she knew he had a lot of worries.

-So, what brings you here?
-Huh?
-I mean, how did you know that is where Rosa lived?

He looked down for a moment, seemingly trying to organize his thoughts.

-I asked merchants. I told them what she looked like, and they gave me this address… I did a lot of running around before finding it.

He grabbed a piece of bread and ate it, uneasy. Charlotte smiled at him, trying to make him understand that it was alright to eat more of it. She took a bite in one herself, before drinking from her cup of coffee. She was acting casually, the way one would act were they to take a cup of tea with acquaintances they hadn’t seen in a while.
He smiled faintly, apparently more at ease. He tried to do as she did and grabbed his own mug, but after just the first sip he started coughing, choking on it.

-Are you alright?!
-T-This is bitter…

Charlotte looked at him wide-eyed for a moment, and realizing he must never had drank coffee before, she couldn’t help but laugh. He gave her a questioning look, but seeing that she wasn’t mocking him, he couldn’t help but smile a little as he dried the tear forming in his eyes.

-Should I make you some hot chocolate instead?
-Yes, please…

She got up from her seat, grabbing his mug and walked to the back. Martha was looking at her with a smile, and seemed to have been watching the scene from the shadows. There was some kind of fondness mixed with sadness in her eyes. Charlotte didn’t dare ask any question, as she guessed she must have been reminded of her real daughter again. She simply gave her a hug, before walking to the kitchen.
She was almost done and ready to come back when she hear the door’s bell chime, announcing a new customer. She hurried up to go back to the front of the store.

-Welcome! How may…

She had to stop and take a moment to look at the scene. In the door stood Rosa, followed by some dark clothed tall man, which Charlotte couldn’t see quite well from the angle she was in. Her friend was staring wide-eyed at Life, who was staring back at her with eyes even wider. Or not exactly looking back at her; his target seemed to be the gentleman, rather.

-Life…?

Rosa’s voice was a little shaky when she looked at her friend and her eyes seemed to fill with shock and nostalgia. Charlotte thought she was about to cry and run to his arms, but instead something completely different took place; Life got up, yelled some word, which took a moment for her to analyze as ‘why’, and ran off outside the bakery, pushing his friend out of the way, who in turn fell in the gentleman’s arms. She quickly got up and ran after him, telling him to wait.
The gentleman looked in their direction for a moment, and before he could say a word, Charlotte had ran towards the door as well, shoved the hot chocolate in his hands,

-Please hold this for me for a moment,

and ran off after the two. Alexander sighed, before walking in the bakery and smiled towards Martha.

-Quite a lively morning, wouldn’t you say?