Dagger

Chapter 14

Forest walked into the library early the next day. To his convenience, Julianne was situating books on the shelves behind the desk. Forest approached her as she stacked the last book in her hand. As she turned to walk away, she ran hard into Forest's chest.

"Oh! Sorry about...oh, hi Forest," she said as she looked up into his face with recognition.

"Yeah, uh, hi Julianne," he said slowly, as if he were beating around the bush. Then he exhaled and continued. "Look, we need to talk."

A sweet smile spread across her face. "How about we walk and talk, I have some things I need to take care of."

Forest scratched the back of his neck. "Well if you have stuff to do, this can wait..." His heart seem to sink, he really just wanted to get this over with.

Julianne shook her head. "Oh no no no, it's probably best if you come along anyways," she said, waving away his concerns. He didn't know why, but he felt relief wash over him. It might've been the fact that she might've refused to talk to him, or say she wouldn't help with the mission. He desperately needed this to go well if he were to get Melody to trust him.

"Alright." Julianne brushed passed him.

Julianne walked briskly down the halls, Forest almost struggling to keep up. They walked in silence, Forest was worried that they wouldn't talk at all. Once they had stopped walking and entered the elevator, Forest couldn't help but wonder where they were going as Julianne hit the button that would take them to the main floor.

Forest looked confused as he asked, "Where are we going?"

Julianne stepped back from the panel of buttons. "The gardens, they're actually quite gorgeous, if I do say so myself."

Forest leaned back against the elevator. "Huh." This was news to him, he had no idea Proelia had a garden. Then again he didn't know a lot about the city. This just proved that Proelia was way bigger than he thought. He guessed he had only seen a little part of it.

The doors opened and revealed the large main floor entryway. There was a large semi circular desk at the back wall, right next to a large hallway. On the other side of the hallway was a large T.V, displaying the news. In front of the desk there was a large area, the main entrance, which had the entire wall made up of tinted lined glass. A few chairs and potted plants lined the glass walls, but Julianne paid no attention to any of this and she guided him to the large hallway.

The large hallway had stark white walls, and the only thing down it other than bathrooms and offices, was a white glass door at the end of it. As Julianne opened the door, a wonderful scent drifted in his direction and filled his nostrils. It smelled quite similar to Herb's, except with more of a sappy scent.

It was larger than he expected, as there was a large pond in the center of the garden. Trees hung over the quiet waters and flowers and shrubbery hugged the trunks. The greenery looked as if it stretched on for a little while. To him it seemed more like woodlands than a garden.

Julianne began walking toward the left of the pond, as she did she motioned for him to follow her. This confused him more, what did she have to do here? Didn't  she work at the library? He stared at the pond for a moment longer, his eyes taking in the sight. His thoughts quieted as he watched the slight ripple in the pond as a leaf disturbed the calm waters. He pulled his gaze away and then hurried to catch up to her.

They walked in silence for a while as Forest trailed a few paces behind, admiring the looming trees. In fact, he was so occupied by the view, that when he finally turned to look back at Julianne, he almost had a heart attack. A grey and white wolf lay on the ground as Julianne gently brushed its fur. The wolf had stark blue eyes that lingered on him for a moment, before it turned away. His heart pounded, the sight of the beast had startled him. He took a cautious step backwards.