🪻《Book of Golden Roses》🪻

🥀6 months after Claude's Arrival

Claude was awakened from his dream engulfed with sweat and he felt parched. He slowly even his breathing and quickly came down from the bed and curled on the floor. The floor was hard but it was comfortable, he had lain on a damp wet floor all his life so this is not something new to him, being in a new environment felt strange and unfamiliar which shaken him.

He woke up with the sunlight shining down on his face. he stretched his arms and quickly went to the bed to fold the white sheets and place the pillows properly. he had stayed in this mansion for several months but he still couldn't get accustomed to the soft bed. he hurriedly went to the bathroom where he found a basin filled with warm water. "Evangeline might have placed it here"

While he was washing his face, a cheerful loud voice spoke "Pull them out and place them there!"

He looked out the window and saw Evangeline instructing the gardeners about the roses.

Hmm.. maybe Clodette wants to pull them out again I thought.

He had been living in the Monique Mansion for nearly six months and he found out that the people in the mansion were gentle and kind. They always wanted to chat him up and gave him lots of treats such as chocolate and caramel pops which became his favorite dessert.

Evangeline wasted no time in teaching him about manners. She hated the fact that he used his hands to eat the soup. He needed to use the spoon, Ugh! She always made sure that he was at his best.

She also taught him how to become more literate that includes reading, writing, and learning languages. He loved playing chess with Louis because he always won! Whenever Louis lost he would threw his hands over his head and scratched his hair until it became messy which made him looked really funny.

But the most important part of his day was listening to Clodette play the harp. He would sneak outside the mansion and sat down beneath her window where a big oak tree stood, he would sit down under the oak tree and listened for hours. He also played the piano for Clodette, she seemed uninterested but Claude knew that it was only pretense for she would smile secretly while listening.

Clodette rarely leave her room and when she did, She would sit down in the garden for hours and stared at the roses. They had yellow roses in the garden but no red ones, Claude wondered if she hated the red roses.

"Claude, where are you?" Evangeline cried out. He quickly ran outside to find her. Evangeline was standing beside Steven the gardener. She looked at him and smiled;

"Well, look at you. You are properly dressed!"

He wore his white shirt and black pants, he tied his hair back but there were still some black locks of hair falling down on his forehead. Evangeline stretched her hand toward him and he took it on his, They walked toward the garden hand in hand where the new gardeners were planting some new flowers.

"This is Siovan and he is our new gardener." Evangeline nodded her head toward him.

"What is he doing?" Claude asked.

"He is planting some magnolias around the pond" Evangeline answered.

Magnolias? Does Clodette likes magnolias now? Claude thought deeply.

"Anyway, what are you doing today?" she asked him. She looked at him with expectant eyes, he jerked his head toward the mansion and said;

"I want to go to the library and read."

Evangeline smiled, "off you go then!"

Claude ran hurriedly to the mansion with the cold wind touched his cheeks as he ran faster. Evangeline was like a mother he never had and he loved her dearly!

He reached the library, it was enormous. The door was painted in emerald green with vines of roses drawn on it. He pushed it gently and went inside.

His eyes widened from the number of books all lined up neatly on the shelves. It had different kinds of books about science, history, geography, and chemistry but he liked reading about history. He was curious about people who fought in wars and gallant warriors making a name for themselves in the world. He wandered deeper into the library and looked for a book to read.

The library was very wide with several shelves piled up until it reached the ceiling. Sometimes, he needed to climb up the staircase to get a book.

The ceiling had a huge painting of Roman soldiers preparing for battle. Clodette has weird tastes, he shook his head.

In the middle of the library, there was a big book where he could see pictures of all the different countries. He told himself that he would travel the world. He was fascinated about other cultures and languages, Clodette could speak several languages but she was more comfortable in speaking Latin and English.

He sat down near the window and stretched his legs, he read a book about adventures and pirates until it was dusk, he stifled a yawn and closed the book.

When he suddenly heard a sound. It wasn't unpleasant rather it was smooth and soft like tiny voices, echoing on the walls.

"Claude, come here." it said. Claude looked around and saw nothing "Claude!" he quickly straightened up. His heart beating fast.

"Claude come here quickly." he stood up and contemplated if he should follow the voice but curiosity won.  The voice led him to a seemingly long hallway  where he found a small door. The door was made of bronze and the lock was unbolted.

"open the door!" The voice commanded.

Claude opened the door and went inside.

The room was small, the walls were painted in white and yellow roses. "Come here!" he looked around the room and saw a bronze covered book-stand standing in the middle.

He moved closer to it and tiptoed to see what it was. "'Finally you are here Claude." The voice was coming from the golden book.

The book was made of pure gold with two silver claws on the left side and two golden roses were drawn on each side of the cover, it was so beautiful. It must've been worth a lot. Jingling golden coins came to his mind but his thoughts were abruptly intercepted by the voice.

"Claude we were waiting for you."

"How do you know my name?" he asked it.

"How can I not?" It answered him! He stepped back with surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

"I am your past, present and future" he looked at it, confused. what does it mean by that?

"Open, Open the pages and you will see!"

He touched the book and as quickly as he opened the cover tiny golden butterflies came out. His mind must've been playing a trick on him! This is like magic! The butterflies flew around but they reduced to dust in a mere second.

He situate all his attention to the golden book. The letters were foreign it was neither English nor French not even Latin! It was composed of shapes, He'd never seen anything like it.

But the strangest thing was— "I could read it"

"The children of the angels have walked the earth even before men, they were once called the moon-eyed tribe, the nephilims. The moon-eyed creatures were men's friends until men had became greedy for power. A moon-eyed creature was killed in a full moon when Ambrogio claimed the life of a moon-child and drank its blood... and thus became a child of the night, A blood-sucking creature, "vampyre" the first of its kind"

vampire.

His eyes widened on the word "vampire" do they really exist? he continued reading:

"After Ambrogio drank the blood he became invincible, immune to death. Whenever he was wounded it will suddenly heal, he never felt tired but he craved for blood–human blood. Abigor, Ambrogio's brother envied him. He sought the moon-eyed tribe for power and attacked them. Outnumbered by the nephilims' friends, the mageia or spell casters. Abigor was imprisoned and cursed by the spell casters to howl every night and every full moon he changed unwillingly into a beast, a beast whose only existence was to kill. Thus became the child of the blood moon, a beast with fangs and fur"

werewolf.

A werewolf and a vampire? Moon-eyed Children? This book is full of fantasy! he thought. Was this a new book Clodette has purchased?

"What are you doing here?" Clodette whispered to his ear enough to make him jump. He didn't even hear her coming in the room.

"I-I was just reading th-this." he stuttered. Showing her the book, when Clodette saw the book her body became tense and alert.

She looked at him with widened eyes. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away from the golden book.

"Ow, please let me go!" he pleaded. "Please!"

"You are not allowed to be here!" she said loudly, She spun and looked at him. "It is no surprise you can read it." she said harshly.

Huh? No surprise? Did she know I could read it?

"Why can I read it?" he asked in curiosity. "Why can I?"

"Leave!" she threw him out of the room. Clodette was a petite woman but her strength was immense, he found himself laying on the cold marble floor.

"Leave now!" she yelled and slammed the door to his face.

What's her problem? It was only a book, an expensive one that is. He collected himself and kneaded his arm, Clodette grabbed him forcefully that he thought it would dislocate his shoulders.

He raised his sleeve a little and saw the black and blue mark appeared around his wrist. How can she be so strong?

Out of anxiety and anger, He kicked the door gently and ran outside. Since she had good hearing she could've heard that. She might yell at him again!

That afternoon, he sat under the oak tree when Julius saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"Clodette kicked me out the library." he said sulkily.

Julius laughed, "What did you do this time? misplaced the books?"

"No, I just read a book, the golden book inside the small room at the back of the library. I just read a few pages–"As soon as, he finished speaking Julius grabbed his shoulders and hoisted him up. He shuddered by the sudden contact.

"You read it?" his hands were shaking, his green eyes were tense.

"Why?" he asked him holding onto his arms to avoid falling. "Put me down." Claude whispered.

He released him and Claude kneaded his shoulders. Man! He's old but he grabs me like a crab. Why do they keep grabbing me!

"What's so special about it?" Claude catechized him.

"Did you read it?" Julius questioned him.

I asked a question and he answered me with another question. Great! An endless loop!

he nodded and rolled his eyes. Julius straightened up and said;

"No one can read the book not even Clodette."

"Why? Is it because of the letters?" Julius casted an inquiring look at him. He was confused!

"For the book has no writing on it —the book's pages are blank."

Claude's eyes widened!

Julius gazed on his shoulder and said, "I will call a doctor to take a look at you."

"Because I'm becoming crazy?" he said, horrified.

"No, for your arm." He pointed at Claude's shoulders.

Claude followed Julius back to the mansion in silence. His mind was tangled with new discoveries and unanswered questions.

🪻《Author's Note》🪻

Hey lovely people🥀

Chapter 4 revealed Claude's prowess, not just an ordinary boy but with new discovered ability.

🍂| Question of the day:
What do you think Claude's identity?

What are your thoughts? Comment below!

Love, Julia🪸