Chapter One.

I awoke on a hard wooden floor. The light streamed through the window of my small room. My eyes peeled open slowly, and I noted a small pain in my head. My neck was stiff, annoyingly so, and when I tried to sit up, it cramped, forcing me to lie still for a moment until it vanished.

What had happened last night?

I must have rolled out of bed and hit the floor. I couldn't remember it.

I tentatively sat up and touched my forehead. It ached. I had a small bruise on the right of my forehead. Clearly I hit the floor quite hard last night. Why didn't I wake up? Maybe I knocked myself out. I should get Amelia to check I don't have a concussion.

I placed my arm on the bed and pushed myself up to standing. I glanced to my bed. It was in a pitiful state. The sheets were wrinkled and covered in what I guessed was sweat.

What had I done? Maybe I had a nightmare. That must be it. There wasn't another explanation for it. I hadn't had one this violent since I was a child.

I sighed. At least I couldn't remember what exactly had plagued my dreams.

'Amelia?' I shouted through the wall.

A grunt was the only response I got.

I reached up and gently touched the bruise on my head. There was a slight bump as well, and it still felt tender; it must have happened in the early hours of the morning.

'Can you come in here?' I asked her.

I heard another grunt and then slow footsteps.

Amelia was not an early riser.

She really wasn't.

In fact, I don't think I'd ever seen her get out of bed early, out of choice. There were several days when we had been working when I had to physically drag her out of bed.

My door creaked open, and Amelia gave me a sort of death glare; for daring to wake her up.

'Can you check this? I fell out of bed last night.' I said, still with my fingers to my forehead.

She seemed to wake up a little when I revealed the bruise. I couldn't see it, but I guessed it looked a delightful shade of purple.

Amelia walked over to me and gently inspected the bump, feeling it and pressing on it lightly. The she looked at my eyes and told me to look from one side to the other.

'Do you feel ill at all?'

I shook my head.

'No, just this.'

'You'll be fine. What did you do last night? You must have hit your head pretty hard to do this!' She asked.

'I don't know; I woke up like this. I think I had a nightmare, and I knocked myself out.'

'Fair enough. Now, if that's all, I'm going back to sleep. I have today off.'

And with that, she turned on her heel and practically ran back to her nice and warm bed.

I sighed. Typical Amelia.

It was Sunday, but I was still working. My family needed the extra money. I didn't mind working extra days for them, I would do anything to make sure they didn't starve. Especially now that Alexander and Father had no work.

My father lived in Rault, the village I had grown up in, with my five brothers and two sisters. After the hard winter, the work that they used to do had dried up, and we were now penniless. My wage from being a seamstress was supporting all of them.

My childhood friend Ella was giving them a little money to help them as well. After all, she was married to a Lord, and was going to be the next Duchess of the county when her husband inherited his title. They had plenty of money to spare. Ella was such a kind hearted angel, always looking out for me. And feeding my family, it was such a huge thing to me. It might only be a small and simple thing for her; but to me, it meant the world.

They were also getting help from another, unlikely source. Blanche, the outlaw lady of the forest had agreed to give my family aid from anything she could steal. She also promised me she'd use her special talents to keep an eye on my brothers.

Blanche was a very interesting person indeed. She had been born a noble, but been accused of murdering her father, a crime she didn't commit, and been on the run ever since. She'd also been blessed, or cursed, with a faerie's gift of the ability to speak to animals. So far, she'd used it to evade capture from those who still sought her out, even after three years of hiding.

We'd slowly learned to trust each other, after not exactly the best start. She did attack me after all. But we'd become friends in the two years I'd been living here in Milton.

I walked out into the main room of our little apartment, and glanced at the time on the clock.

Half past eight.

I was going to be late.

I sprinted back into my room and got changed as quickly as possible. I grabbed a little piece of bread from the table top and raced down the rickety old stairs into the workroom of Madam Cartwright's Dress Emporium. Thankfully, Madam Cartwright wasn't there yet, so she couldn't tell I was late. I ate the bread quickly before she could come in and see I was eating in the workroom (a big no).

I noticed a small vase of flowers placed on a side table in the corner. I hadn't seen it before. It was full of lot of different wildflowers, some of which looked several days old. Next to it was a small piece of paper and a pencil with a list of flower names on it.

The flowers that looked the freshest were a small bunch of blue forget-me-nots, positioned at the front of the vase.

They looked oddly familiar.

No, they couldn't be. I'd seen forget-me-nots a lot of times. That was hardly surprising.

Maybe they were Amelia's? I'd asked her about it later.

The bell at the front of the shop rang quietly and I could hear Madam Cartwright's heeled boots make their way across the wooden floor of the shop.

I quickly sat at the table and looked for something to sew. I found a sleeve of a day dress that needed hemming, and picked it up to look closely at the area that needed fixing.

Madam Cartwright peered in the room, saw I was doing some work, and left again without saying a word.

That was also normal.

I leaned back in my chair, slumping into it a little. I was tired and drained. I was not quite sure why exactly. I felt exhausted, like I had been overworked for the past few days. But I hadn't been. It had just been a normal week here, only sewing our usual orders.

But last night.

For some reason, flashes of night danced across my memory. Maybe I had woken up last night.

Oh well, there was no point debating it. I just had to get on with the task at hand. There was no use staring at the dress before me. With a sigh, I picked up my needle, and began to sew.


The rest of the day passed in its usual monotonous way. I spent all morning sewing, followed by a short break around noon to grab some more bread, and then went back downstairs to spend all afternoon sewing again.

It was dull, but it put food on the table for my family. And that was far more important than my amusement. I truly didn't mind working like this for them. They were my family, I would do anything to help them, in any way I could.

I loved them all, My Father and his loving if not a little overprotective nature. Alexander with his fiercely loyal and paternal instincts. Daniel with his dry sarcasm. Clara with her romantic temperament. Richard, who was always quiet and shy, but was very intelligent in his own way. Tom was friendly and caring to all those he knew. Robbie was the opposite of Richard, even though they looked more alike than the rest of us, always shouting and screaming. And of course there was little Gwen, the baby of the family; she was so sweet and caring, but did not like to get left behind by her older brothers. She would always complain if they ran out ahead of her, or dared climb the tree before her, she was quite like me in that respect.

I would do anything to make sure they didn't starve. I knew my father and the oldest boys were trying their hardest to find some more work so we could get back to supporting themselves, but after the hard and cold winter, work was as scarce as food. I just had to keep on hoping they would find something soon.

The clock struck five, and I was finally free of the day's work. I would have thrown the dress down, but I didn't have the energy. I wanted to crawl back into bed and lay there for the rest of the year.

However, I couldn't.

Amelia had gone to meet her friends in the village, after all it was her day off, and so had left me a few coins to go and grab some vegetables from the market before they closed to make some dinner.

On my own days off, I took myself off to a little secluded place, a beautiful pond hidden in the forest. I'd curl up against a tree and read all day. It was the best day of the week.

I pushed myself out of my chair.

I always went back to the same place, week after week. Why had I never gone and explored anywhere else?

A dizziness came over me, making my head spin a little. I gripped the back of the chair.

It disappeared as quickly as it had come on. I'd clearly just stood up too fast.

I spied the coins Amelia had left for me on the side table, next to the mysterious vase of flowers. I grabbed them quickly as well as the basket, and made for the market square.

The air was crisp and clear, just like a spring afternoon ought to be. There was no trace of the harsh and cold winter that had just been upon us. The sun was beginning to set in the distance and I quickly ran around the market and grabbed the things we needed.

There was one thing that slowed me down a little. Every market stall holder I spoke to seemed a little dazed. Just a fraction. I knew these people. I'd been buying from them for almost two years, and every one of them just looked a little off. It wasn't much, only a small glance over my shoulder, or a loss of following the conversation, or a slow gleam in their eyes.

Why was everyone behaving a little strange?

In my mind, I had to tell myself to stop being so suspicious. There was likely absolutely nothing to it. I was just imagining things. I had hit my head pretty hard last night.

Maybe that was all to it. I'd hit my head and was now seeing things that weren't there. It was me being strange, not them.

Of course it was, how could I have thought it was anything else.

And I was tired, so very tired. My mind was playing tricks on me, seeing things that weren't there, imagining things. I was being stupid.

I tried to banish the thoughts of doubt in my mind as I stood in the Kitchen and cut up the vegetables. There was no point thinking any further into these things.

Amelia arrived a little while later. I was almost done making the soup by that point, and so we sat by the table and waited.

'Good day?' I asked her.

'Yes, just my friend gossiping that's all. You?'

'I was stuck in that room all day. How do you think it went?' I said.

'Fair enough, you had the worse day.' She admitted.

'Out of complete curiosity, have you noticed anything strange about anyone today?' I asked, in a final effort to banish these stupid thoughts from my head.

'No, not really. Although I did hear something about Mrs Hale.' Amelia said excitedly. She did like a good gossip.

'Mrs Hale?' I asked. 'Oh, the widow who lives down the back street.'

I had met her before, a while ago. I met because…. Because…. Actually, I couldn't remember why I had met her. It was a while ago, so I'd probably forgotten with time.

'Yes, I heard that she's been acting strange all day. She went down to the market this morning and was asking everyone she met why she had a second bedroom. Of all the questions to ask about, isn't it ridiculous!'

That was strange. Very strange.

'I mean, she's been on her own for a long time now, it was really only a matter of time before she broke.' Amelia added.

Had she been on her own all that time. She must have. Then why did I think she'd been living with someone else?

Her husband had died years ago, and she had no children. The bump on my head must have been playing tricks on me again.

'I suppose.' I said quietly, and then noticed the soup was beginning to boil through, so it was about ready.

We ate quickly, and both of us still felt a little hungry afterwards, but there wasn't anything we could do. So, we both talked for a little while more, and then turned in early for the night.

I lay in bed, gently touching the bump that had started to recede a little bit. It still hurt when I pressed down, but it was definitely better than it was that morning. I hoped that it would be completely gone in a few days.

Especially by Saturday.

On Saturday, I was-…. I was… What was I doing on Saturday?

The day seemed to be stuck in my head for some reason. I couldn't remember making any plans for Saturday. Why then did I feel like I was forgetting about something happening on Saturday?

It must have just been my head making things up again. I knew people who had hit their head sometimes had hallucinations, or imagined things. Maybe that's where the dizzy spell came from earlier.

Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it. I'd just have to power through it until it went away. It was only a bruise after all, nothing life threatening or serious.

I rolled over in bed, and pulled the sheet up around me. I wasn't feeling great, and I was tired. I was bound to imagine things that weren't there. And so, I closed my eyes and let sleep wash over me.


AN: Hi Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

If your still reading my story, I just want to say thank you! This is my favourite part of the entire series (hopefully, it should become clearer the further through the story we get...) and once again; reviews and comments are much appreciated! I understand if you still hate me for what I'm doing to Marion and Jack, but I'm really wishing that you will come to understand all in the near future.

Thank you all so much!

generic-fangirl.