ch.2

Chapter 2

"Pheonix feathers," was the first thing Mrs. Cor said after Vayl showed her the feathers.
"Pheonix feathers? But, that's impossible!"
"I think as the owner of Pheonix Manor, I am able to distinguish the feathers of a pheonix!"
"But...but they're just a myth!" Vayl exclaimed.
" Hmph, myth! Well don't worry your pretty head about it then. Ah, anyway you've got school starting tomorrow, all ready?"
"About," Vayl replied, feeling she wouldn't get any answers from her mother just now.
The next morning Vayl awoke rather abruptly, still tired she rubbed her eyes and pulled her blanket back over her head. She could not rest long however, for her mother bustled into her room and shook her lightly.
She went on with her morning as usual but made sure to tidy up her hair, after all today was her first day of school. She was genuinely excited to go back to Green's Peak Preparotory School, she hadn't realized how much she missed it and her friends until this very morning. She quickly slipped on her uniform and stockings and tied her long black her into braids, the hurried down the steps.
Something felt wrong as she entered the kitchen, the air was stiff and the breeze from the window sent chills down her spine. Her brothers' faces were solemn and her mother's distraught. And was sitting at the table looking uncomfortably at his hands. Vayl ran to her mother's side at once.
"Mother, what's happened?" Vayl questioned.
Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but only an inaudible sound escaped it before she let out a long heart-wrenching sob.
She looked at her brothers for help but no one spoke. For the first time in years, Vayl's dislike for her twin disappated into gratitude. For, after a few more pleading glances, Adam spoke.
"Ana Abbott died last night, Vay," his voice was shakey as he answered and his cheeks were tear stained.
Saddness filled Vayl's entire body and she could not hold back her tears. Pity leaked into her heart for the Abbott family's loss and for her twin's. Adam had always favored Ana above all the other girls, she had, had beautiful green eyes and auburn hair. Vayl did not know what came over he but she ran to her brother and hugged him. She had spent so much time being angry at him that she had nearly forgotten how much she loved him.
"I'm s-so s-s-sorry Adam!" Vayl stammered into her brother's shoulder, " You must be heart-broken!"
Adam answered her by squeezing her a bit more tightly.
By the time they were all sobered up they were already an hour late for school and Mrs. Cor would not dare to think of sending them on a day like today. Vayl walked up the stairs and put on her favorite yellow sundress. She hurried, for she wanted to go and see char and discuss the death of their friend. Something felt wrong but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.
"How had they said she died?" She muttered to herself as she closed the door to her room.
"Ow!" cried Vayl, she was so deep in thought, that she had ran straight into Andrew.
"Oh dear goodness! I'm so sorry I wasn't watching where i was walking," she had started speaking so feverishly that her words came out as more of a jumble and less of a sentence. Crew smiled and spoke with the utmost nonchalance.
"It's fine, I wasn't really looking either..Vayl I couldn't help but hear you muttering and i can help answer that question, if you want?"
"Oh?"
"Well," started Andy, "This morning I was in the kitchen when Mrs. Pearse, your nana, walked in. I overheard her informing your mom of Ana Abbotts death. Mrs. Pearse said Ana never came home last night, the last time they saw her was at dinner."
"That's around the time I saw her," interrupted Vayl, " She gave me these red-orange feathers..."
Andy stared inquiringly but she gestured for him to go on.
"Okay, well they also said she had been looking sickly all week and she hadn't been talking much. Anyways her parents got worried when she never came home so, they called the cops and went out looking for her. Around seven this morning James found her when he went for his swim at the beach. At first, he thought she was asleep so he walked over to wake her but as he got closer he realized that her eyes were staring blankly and she was so pale and stiff.."
Andy stopped for a minute, letting his words linger, while the image set into both of their minds.
"He ran to get Mr. and Mrs. Abbott immediately and as far as anyone can tell she wasn't harmed at all, she seems to have died naturally."
Vayl looked away from Andy and watched as a leaf floated down the small river. She was so entranced by his story that she barely realized that they had ventured through the meadow, past char's, and were now sitting on a large rock by the river, which was unusually quiet today. In fact, everything was unusually quiet, there were no little animals playing or birds chirping, it was as if the entire forest were morning the death of a friend.
Vayl was having a difficult time believing what she had just heard, " This was not right, what had happened to poor Ana last night? And why was she so desperate to rid herself of those feathers, could they actually be from a pheonix? She thought to herself.
"What do you think Andy?" Asked Vayl, not daring to look into his eyes.
"What do you mean, What do I think?" he questioned, bewildered.
"About Ana, do you think.." Vayl stopped short, tyring to choose her words carefully then, raising her eyes to meet his, she said, "Do you think, is it possible that Ana was murdered?"

Ch. 1

Pheonix Manor, any of the neighbors would testify, was an odd place. It remained steadfast in it's inability to change. Mrs. Cor, the current owner, was quite an odd woman herself, as all the proprietors had been thus far. She had four sons and one daughter. Her husband had been lost at sea not long after her daughter, Vayl, and the twin she despised, Adam, were born. Vayl therefore remembered nothing of her father. People thought it odd, too, that Mrs. Cor did not discourage her children from going to the sea. In fact she encouraged it, for how else would they bath? There was, of course, no plumbing at Phoenix Manor. Much too new-fashioned.
All those who stayed at Phoenix Manor had an appreciation for nature, but none quite so much as Vayl. She longed to fly in the air as she had seen the birds and planes do. The sea was always calling to her and the forest enchanting her.
"Nan, don't you think the earth is just too beautiful sometimes?" Vayl remarked rather whistfully to Nana Hana in her cottage, Nana Hana was the housekeeper of Phoenix Manor, she practically raised Vayl and her brothers, and Vayl loved her dearly. They were always welcome in her home.
"Oh, how I hope you've never a reason to change that outlook of the world, deary."
There were not many children surrounding Phoenix Manor, but Vayl was content with the company of Char, Nan's son, and her brothers.
James, her eldest brother, was a tad serious, but was also quite witty. Nicholas and Matthew were as inseparable as they were mischievous.

It was a particularly sunny morning and Vayl yearned to stretch her legs and run amongst the creatures in the manor's meadows. However, a very important gentlemen was coming to stay at Phoenix Manor that evening and her mother had her preparing his room. Vayl, being a 16 year old girl, had no interest in dong housework and could not keep her mind set on the task. At one point she found herself peering absentmindedly out the window. It wasn't until she heard a high pitched screech erupt from beside her that she awoke from her daze and realized she had trimmed the curtains, dusted the pillows, and was now watering her beloved and very large cat, Ginger. Minerva Cor, Vayl's mother, ran to her daughter and ripped the flower vase, that she evidently had been sprinkling on Ginger for quite some time, from her grasp. Apparently Mrs. Cor was the source of the screech and from the ravage look in her eyes and her scarlet face; she was not happy. Vayl was sent from the room at once and was put in a very sour mood herself. But no matter how ashamed she felt for giving her mother extra work, she could not help but feel her heart burst with glee at the thought of spending another fine summer's day in the meadow basking in the sun's warmth, ridding herself of such confinements as ceilings and walls.
Vayl unbuckled her shoes and was twirling down the once visible path, now overgrown with flowers, be it from lack of disciple or from the liking Nana Hana had taken to the flowers. Vayl assumed the latter. She was nearly to her beloved housekeeper's front gate when her two older brothers, Nick and Matt, side swept her and she was pummeled to the ground. She had become quite used to those little meetings and found herself rather fond of her free spirited brothers. It was the one who came rounding the corner, stumbling and swearing, that she couldn't bare the site of. Her twin brother, Adam, had leaped the last hill, tripped, and rolled to the feet of his siblings, now covered in mud.
"They're going to pay!" Adam muttered angrily to himself. "And what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping mum prepare for what's his name, Crew?"
"Mr. Crew!" Vayl retorted then promptly stormed off, flicking her long black hair back.
She headed in the direction of the beach, catching site of Char in the distance.
"Hey, Char!" Vayl called out.
"Oh, hello, Vay, " Char grinned, " I hear you're having a very important guest coming to stay?"
"Oh, yes, a Mr. Andrew Crew. To be honest, I don't know quite who he is or why he's come. Nor do I much care. Probably just some old professor wanting to see a 'glimpse of the past'. I'll try to stay as far out of the way as possible.
"Charles!" Nan called," Charles, come here please!"
Char and Vayl both trudged up to the cottage.
"Vay! What are you doing here? Mr. Crew has come early!" Nan was in quite a tither.
Vayl quickly ran home, tripping in a puddle of mud on the way.
"Oh, what am I going to do with you all!" Mrs. Cor implored when Vayl got home, "You and Adam with mud all over, and Nick and Matt who knows where, getting into who knows what mischief! Well go wash up then come straight to the parlor."
But Vayl did not wash up, because what did she care if Mr. Crew saw a bit of mud? For her mother had exaggerated. Instead she headed for the parlor, and upon meeting Mr. Crew, regretted her decision a bit. Mr. crew was not the old professor she had imagined, but was a rather handsome young man.

Vayl’s cheeks burned and she fidgeted uncomfortably in front of him. They stood for a couple of moments; an air of awkwardness seemed to enclose them. Vayl was horribly embarrassed at the impression she must be making upon him and she knew Mr. Crew must have sensed it because his face, instead of being scarlet like hers, was displaying a slight but definite grin. Crew opened his mouth as if to say something but was interrupted my Mrs. Cor’s sudden presence followed by her three youngest sons.
Mrs. Cor bustled over to where her guest was standing and flourished him with greetings. Her short, squat stature was quite an oddity next to Crew’s tall, muscular build. Vayl could not help but stare, he was indeed very handsome. His curly, unkept hair was dark brown and suited his tan, olive complexion and brilliantly vibrant dark eyes very well.
Vayl broke from her thoughts and in very good time too, for her mother had just begun introducing the others.
“This is Nicholas and Matthew. Nicholas is in his last year, as I hear you are as well?” Crew nodded, “And Matthew is in his second to last.”
Mrs. Cor moved to Adam next, shook her head in distaste, for he was quite a site, still drenched in with tiny red scratches from his endeavors in the forest earlier that day.
“This one here is Adam; he’ll be a sophomore along with his twin, my youngest, Vayl.” She quickly moved to her daughter and was delighted to see that Vayl was not nearly as dirty as her brothers, relieving her of her prior embarrassments.
Mr. Crew studied Vayl for what seemed like forever, causing color to rise on her cheeks, and then spoke very casually as if no time of awkwardness had just elapsed.
“I’m assuming you all attend Green’s Peak, the prep school just around the corner, from what your mother told me.”
They all nodded including Vayl, having no idea why he would be so interested in their education. She pondered this for a moment but her question was quickly answered.
“I don’t know if your mother has told you but I’ll be going there this year to finish up school. My dad’s away on business and things didn’t go over to well at last school so he thought it’d be a nice change to start over new. And since your mother so graciously agreed to let me stay here for the summer and holidays, he thought Green’s Peak was the perfect opportunity. I personally am enjoying myself already,” Andrew finished with a subtle but very handsome grin at Vayl.
A slight look of shock had passed over Vayl’s face but was almost immediately replaced with an embarrassed grin at Crew. A moment later she broke their gaze and glanced sideways at the window, catching Char’s eye as he passed by turning into he house. Nana Hana and he bustled into the room. Vay greeted them both very warmly and was about to fall into conversation with Char when her mother interrupted.
“Vayl, would you mind showing Mr. Crew to his room, I’m sure he would like to get settled in.”
Wanting to spend time with Char, but not being able to refuse her mother’s request, Vayl agreed reluctantly. Char looked slightly crestfallen but did not say a word.
Vayl led Crew upstairs and through the halls. She felt incredibly awkward. Although she always felt a little awkward around people she wasn’t familiar with, after being brought up so remotely. The previous year was the first time she had even gone to school, since before that her mother and Nana Hana had taught her. Crew, though, appeared quite as at ease.
“I heard Phoenix Manor was big, but this is practically a castle!” Crew exclaimed.
“Oh, yes, there are nearly sixty rooms, Mr. Crew.”
He laughed, “You’re making me feel old! Please, call me Andy.”
“Alright… Andy. Here’s your room,” Vayl pointed to the room opposite of them, then turned quickly towards her own room.
“I almost wish our guest had been an old professor,” Vayl thought to herself the next morning while walking through the woods. She wasn’t sure if she liked how she felt when Andy’s dark-eyed glance pierced her own.
Vayl noticed a figure running towards her. As it got closer she recognized it as Ana, one of her neighbors. Ana’s eyes appeared vague and unfocused, her face was ghostly pale. She stopped, panting, in front of Vayl.
“Take them! Please take them away from me!” Ana cried, dropping two red-gold bird feathers into Vayl’s hands.
“What? Wait--!” But it was too late; Ana had already started running again.

A little introduction!

Rk and I have decided to right a novel. It pretty amazing soo far and we'll type it chapter by chapter as we write..then you can follow along! Right now its untitled or as we like to call it The Book of Tales. If you have any ideas or imput then comment! We want to know what you think!

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