Chapter 217: 217

Alexcent gestured for the children to come over. They pointed at themselves as if to ask if he was motioning to them. Alexcent nodded, and the kids shuffled over to him nervously.

“Perhaps you can help me. Have you seen a woman, new to this town, with reddish-blonde hair and green eyes?”

“No!” The girl blurted out her answer with no hesitation.

“Really?” Alexcent was suspicious at how quickly the girl answered.

“Yes. There’s no one like that in this town!” The girl assured him. She then grabbed her brother’s hand, and they ran off in fear.

Amethyst was definitely here. The instant the girl blurted out the answer without even thinking gave him certainty that she was lying. His heart began beating quickly with the thought of what he would do when he found her.

***

“Sister!” the boy cried as he was pulled along by the girl. The girl stopped once they were clear of the market and turned to him, out of breath.

“What?” she asked.

“Why did you lie to that man?” the boy enquired. “The green eyes, it was the person who gave us choco….”

The girl hurriedly silenced her brother. “Quiet! What if someone hears!” The boy nodded and she removed her hand from his mouth. “It wasn’t a lie.”

“But the person he was looking for, it was that woman who gave us chocolate, for sure,” the boy insisted.

“We didn’t see her today! Understand? If we admit that, grandpa will find out that we ate chocolate. Then we’ll be scolded. Do you want that to happen?”

“No!” The boy suddenly looked frightened.

“Good. So, let’s go home now.”

“I thought we were going to be waiting in town for mom today?” The boy looked confused again.

“We’ll just wait at home today. I’ll give you some more of the chocolate on our way home.” The girl always knew how to motivate her brother. He smiled at the word chocolate and took hold of her hand once again.

The girl began to forget how scary that man looked. How he seemed to have wanted to hurt the nice woman who had given them chocolate. She hoped, by telling the man that they hadn’t seen the woman, that she wouldn’t get found. After all, she wasn’t a bad person.

***

It was the middle of the night when someone began hammering on the door. A flickering, red light came through the window, casting eerie shadows across the floor. Shouts could be heard from the yard outside.

“What’s going on?” Ancy shouted, as she rose to open the door.

One of the workers stood outside in a panic. “There’s a fire in the mansion! Come help!”

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“Oh my God!” Ancy cried.

Amethyst quickly got dressed, along with Ancy and they rushed out into the chaos of the night. Black smoke was pouring from the windows of the manor as flames licked the night sky.

“What are you doing, just standing there?!” a worker shouted as he ran by. “Bring a bucket of water! We have to calm the fire! Hurry!”

Ancy and Amethyst grabbed buckets and ran to the lake at the back of the property to fill them with water. Workers were running back and forth in fear. Somewhere someone was screaming. As they were hurrying to the house with their full buckets, a maid came hurtling out of the night.

“Help me!” she screamed, at no one in particular. “Please, someone help me find the young master!”

Amethyst looked around but no one else seemed to be paying attention to her. “What’s the matter?” she asked, trying to calm the panicking woman.

“I can’t find the young master. I don’t think he got out! What should I do?”

“Those men over there, they seem to be organizing the rescue. Go tell them!” Amethyst ordered.

The maid ran off towards the men. Amethyst, hearing that it was the young son of the master, decided not to hesitate. She quickly ripped off the edge of her skirt, soaked it with water, and used it to cover her nose and mouth. Then she ran straight into the inferno that used to be a mansion.

The fire seemed to be only on the second floor, so Amethyst was able to make her way through the smoky halls of the first floor. She kept pressed against a wall so that she wouldn’t lose her way, opening every door she came across.

“Young master!” she cried, as she stumbled through the smoke.

There was no sign of the boy on the first floor, so she tentatively headed up the stairs. The smoke was thicker here, but still no actual fire. It must be contained to one of the rooms, or maybe the attic. Like before, she made her way along a wall, testing doors for heat and then opening them to search inside.

As she opened the third door, she fell back, screaming. Lying inside was the body of a woman surrounded by a pool of blood. She had been stabbed in the back, obviously killed by some intruder. Perhaps that was who started the fire.

As Amethyst scurried to leave, she heard voice coming from further down the hall.

“Did you find her?” a man asked.

“Not yet!” another answered.

“We need to hurry before the whole house goes up in flames!” the first man growled angrily.

These men were clearly looking for someone. Amethyst had no idea who they were, but she had a feeling that she’d be in danger if she was discovered. She could hear footsteps approaching, so she quickly smeared blood from the floor over her clothes and lay down beside the dead woman. As the footfalls echoed outside the door of the room, Amethyst closed her eyes and held her breath.

“Damn! We’ve already been in this room.” The man’s voice sounded right beside her. She tried hard not to panic. “She’s not here. Let’s get out before this place burns down.”

As the steps of the men disappeared down the hall, Amethyst carefully got up. She almost threw up from the smell of blood and smoke. She needed to get fresh air before she passed out.

As she made her way back down to the first floor, she heard the voices once again, as well as sobbing. It appeared they had found one more person in the house. Pulling close to the wall she quietly made her way to the entrance of the kitchen, hiding just outside so she could hear the conversation.

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