A Curse Of Goodness

The Reunion

        Bron carried me down the hallway for a long time. At one point, I remember laying my head down on his shoulder, wondering how much long we'd be going for. I had given up on asking him any more questions. He either didn't reply or would respond with something cruel or harsh.

         But I did like the feeling of being carried by him. I was quickly beginning to prefer his arms over walking.

         After what felt like 15 minutes, he slowed at another door. I turned my gaze to his face, watching for his next move. Bron pulled out a key and opened the wooden door, revealing a large library.

        I sat up in his arms. "Wow..." I said, leaning in.

         He adjusted me in his hold as he pocketed the key. We entered, and I craned my neck to look around the massive room.

          Similar to the office, the beautiful decorations seemed historic and aged. Every wooden railing and shelf was polished and shining. A fire was lit in the grand fireplace, and green lounge chairs were spread throughout the room. Massive shelves lined the walls, displaying the endless books.

           What caught my attention the most, was the wall towards the back of the room. Well, it wasn't really a wall, but a massive window. The entire plane of the wall had been replaced with glass, revealing the outside woods.

            Finally, I looked back to Bron who still held me in his arms. His blue eyes were already on me when I met his stare. His gaze on me was soft and gentle as it darted all over my face. But immediately after making eye contact, he looked away and suddenly set me on my feet. I stumbled a bit, and frowned at him.

            Bron walked off somewhere and I ran to the window. A smile crept onto my lips at the sight. I missed the outside, it felt like I'd been indoors for several days now. The trees were dark and bare due to the bitter temperature. Yet it all still looked so beautiful.

           I looked back at Bron from over my shoulder. He was sitting in one of the chairs facing my direction, with a thoughtful finger over his lips as he watched me.

           "Can I go outside?" I asked.

           "No."

"Well, what if you were with me?"

He blinked for a moment, "No, Annabella."

            I sighed and turned back to the window. I suppose that was a stretch. I don't think I had expected him to let me anyways.

            After several minutes of looking out the massive window, I backed away from it. I turned to the bookshelves, craning my neck to see how high up they went. It was only then that I realized there was a staircase, leading to another floor. I lowered my head to look back at Bron. He simply stared at me from his seat, with no expression. As usual.

            I went up the stairs with a skip in my step. It felt wonderful to be out of that room. I felt as though I had been sleeping far too much, and was now anxious to do something. Like explore this gigantic library.

I quickly found a pale pink lounge chair, and smiled to myself. A small part of me found it a little funny, that someone like Bron had a pink chair in his library. Selecting a random small novel, I curled up into the chair and began to read. I had felt so bored lately, someone could hand me a receipt and I would read it. Front and back.

An hour later, my stomach growled. Loudly. A sudden wave of hunger hit me and I realized I hadn't eaten since... Since before I got sick. Yesterday.