BOOK THREE - promised series
Espheros is inhabited by more than just the human species. Shifters and Immortals walk the earth amongst them, hiding in the shadows.
There are some humans, however, who are very much aware of what moves through the dar...
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A light brown, messy mane of hair bounced around in a small kitchen, a wooden bench shoved against the wall with a small table in front of it and a few chairs scattered around.
The little boy was joyous and in good spirits for no apparent reason. Maybe it was because his sister finally took him out into the forest earlier. He was four years old and had never seen the trees up close before. His mother did not like for them to be outside, so he and his older siblings tended to stay inside or outside on the porch.
Emmet was about to look at the book his mother had brought him the other day again, when she joined him in the kitchen. "Mommy, I saw the trees up close this morning!" Emmet said excitedly.
When she did not answer, he stared up at her with big eyes for a moment and turned back his attention to his book. There was a large tree on the front page and it didn't look at all like those trees he'd just seen this morning. He wrinkled his brows and wondered if there were different kind of trees and what they were called.
His mother kneeled beside him suddenly and stroked through his hair. "You look just like my brother did," she said and Emmet wondered who that was.
He did not say anything, however, and instead enjoyed the warmth of her touch and the look in her eyes. She wasn't often in such a good mood.
Without saying much else, Iliria picked up her son and Emmet wrapped his thin legs around her waist. He played with her red-glowing hair with his fingers, a smile covering his young face. Iliria smiled back at him.
"You know, Iridos, your uncle, was my favourite. You have the same, brown eyes and the same light brown hair. Even your little dimple is the same," she whispered, making Emmet laugh when she poked a finger playfully into his cheek.
Iliria left the kitchen and the little book behind. Emmet looked over her shoulder when she crossed the living room and wished he could have brought his book along.
He wondered where his mother would take him. He also wondered where Catherine and Reece were, they didn't normally leave him alone. He felt strangely afraid all alone, but that quickly disappeared when his mom planted a kiss on his cheek and another giggle escaped him.
"Like my uncle, you're my favourite," Iliria whispered so quietly, Emmet almost didn't hear.
Pleased, his smile grew even wider. "You're my favourite too, mommy!"he exclaimed sweetly and earned another soft kiss from his mother.
Iliria's mood quickly changed, however, as soon as Reece and Catherine came down the stairs and entered the kitchen.
Emmet could hear Reece open the fridge and grab something. When he looked at his mother, there was a scowl on her face and her smile from before had vanished.
"I'll make you some lunch," Reece said, his voice travelling through the kitchen all the way to the living room, where Iliria had stopped, still holding her youngest son in her arms.
She carefully put him down and walked into the kitchen. Little Emmet followed silently.
"Do you know where Emm-" Catherine did not finish her sentence as soon as she saw her mother enter the kitchen.
Emmet sensed the tension and scurried over to his sister, hugging her leg firmly. Catherine put an arm around his shoulders.
"I told you not to go outside," Iliria said, her voice void of any warmth she'd had before. She was a changed person, as if there were two people living inside of her.
Emmet noticed that she was never nice to his older siblings. And she barely acknowledged him whenever the other two were around. He wondered why, but quickly steered his attention back to the book that was still laying on the table.
He stretched out his arms, up towards his sister. Without many words, she picked him up and placed him on one of the two chairs. She glanced at the book, probably wondering what it was, and pushed the book closer to Emmet so he could look at it.
"If you are spoken to, you answer."
Emmet did not listen to anything his mother said that followed. Instead, he thought about all the trees in the world and if they were connected in some way, because they looked similar but not always exactly the same.
As the book showed drawings of flowers and plants, he wondered and thought more about them as well. Why were they violet? Why did some petals have a heart-shape?
Emmet thought and thought as the voices around him faded into nothingness. When the noise got louder again, he grabbed the book and headed upstairs without his family noticing his absence.
Emmet never figured out where his mother was going to take him, had his siblings not come downstairs.
And his mother never spoke about her brother again.
