Gathered in the Pert's study were the man himself, his wife, Damian and me. We had just finished relaying the news of what we had just found inside the warehouse in town. The image of the mangled corpses still hung fresh in my mind, but I was able to push them down and focus on the situation at hand. It was gruesome, but nothing that I haven't dealt with before.

"This is unsettling." Pert spoke, his eyes narrow. "Did you find any evidence of who or what was in there?"

"That's what I was about to explain." I stated. "We found someone who had witnessed the entire thing."

"Why aren't they here?"

"They are." I answered. "He's currently in our quarters. He seems to be traumatized beyond compare. The slightest noise sends him into a panic."

"Could you get anything from him?"

"He was in a panic, but he did give a description of what he'd seen." I sat down on a nearby stool. "He said that he was in the back when it started. Men screaming and the crunching of bodies being eaten. While others had grabbed weapons to fight, he alone decided to hide and watch. It was a little girl suspended in the air. She hung limp like she was dead. He nearly joined the fight, but stopped when he noticed the shadows moving around her. A monster came out of her body and started to tear apart those that were fighting. The monster had no form and looked like a giant lump of black jelly. He said that it started laughing in a distorted voice and that the voice stayed close for the entire time that he was hidden."

Pale, Pert asked, "Did he give a description of the girl?"

"That's the most troubling." I spoke, unsure. "He gave a near perfect description of Jaime."

"Jaime." Licilia spoke up. "She's been here all week. I made sure to keep her close to make sure that her cold would not resurface. She hasn't left since you two took her to town."

"That's another thing." Damian spoke, his voice was unsure and nervous. "Judging from the man's condition as well as the condition of everything else there, this all happened several days ago. And…" He paused, worried just as I was what the repercussions would be. "While we were out, we lost track of Jaime for nearly half an hour. We eventually found her, and everything seemed fine, but I'm not sure what to think."

"From what we've heard, it sounds like something that looks like her did this. I don't think that it was her." Pert concluded. "However… I want you two to stay close to Jaime any time that she leaves these grounds. If this creature has taken her form, then it must know her enough to be able to copy her appearance that well. Report any suspicious events to me immediately."

"I-I understand." Damian and I both spoke.

"Keep that man under close supervision and bring him to me the moment that he seems even remotely capable of explaining."

╚╩╩╩╝ Jaime ╚╩╩╩╝

I stood just outside of the mansion, waiting in anticipation. Licilia had refused to allow me out of her sight, even after coming off of the cold. Today, however, was different. Charlotte had invited Veria and me to the party she was having today and Licilia had given me permission to go. Ham was already there. He seemed to be spending even more time with Charlotte, though he never said why.

The door to the mansion opened up and Veria stepped outside with Astrid and Damian close behind her. Like any time that the two of us had gone anywhere together, Veria and I wore matching outfits: a long, pale yellow skirt with green accents near the hem with a plain, dark green shirt. We were in the latter half of the Spring season, so the temperature had started growing warmer. After suffering from the cold, I welcomed the warmth.

"Let's go!" Veria spoke. She was very excited to go out. Maybe more than I was. "We don't want to be late."

After nearly dragging me to the carriage, Damian opened the door to let the rest of us get in. Just before he closed it, I met his eyes and felt like something was off. I didn't think much of it and turned to Veria who was rambling about what we were going to do and who we were going to talk to. This was the third time she'd gone to one of Charlotte's gatherings.

It was hard at first, but I managed to eventually follow what Veria was trying to tell me, but by that time we had already arrived at the Renae's estate. It was several times the size of our home, both house and the grounds. Stopping just inside of a path crowded by several other carriages. I counted at least a dozen carriages in our way and several more parked a short distance away.

Stopping in front of a stone path, Damian opened the door to let us out and closed it behind us to drive it to where the rest were parked.

Seeing the crowd a short walk away, Astrid led us forward. She was dressed in her usual uniform. A part of me wondered if she had wanted to come dressed more formally and how she would look dressed that way. I'd seen her in something more dressy at Veria's birthday party, but it was still a kind of uniform provided by Pert.

There were many faces and people that I did not recognize. Some were my and Veria's ages, but some were even older and younger. Searching through the crowd, Veria narrowed her eyes and pointed in one direction. Unfortunately, I was too short to see through the crowd, so I followed close behind her. Astrid didn't follow us, though. Apparently, guards and escorts and people like that were supposed to stay in a circle around the party and watch to make sure that nothing bad happened.

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"Veria, how lovely it is to see you." I heard Charlotte's voice. I managed to break through the crowd to stand next to Veria. Sitting at a very fancy looking table were Ham and Charlotte. There was a pot on the table as well as several cups sitting readily beside empty seats. "And Jaime too. Please take a seat, both of you."

The etiquette classes were the ones I disliked the most, so I often forgot what I learned from them, but I remembered that it was very rude to sit at a table with a person of higher rank without their invitation.

Doing my best to curtsy, I spoke. "Thank you."

Sitting down beside Ham, I had to hide a frown as my feet dangled in the air.

"I'm so glad to see that you've recovered, Jaime." Charlotte spoke. Again, the sincerity in her words threw me off. "I had asked my father if he would allow our house physician to come and visit you, but he was busy taking care of my mother."

"Your mother?" I asked.

"Oh, you must not have heard the news." She spoke with a smile. "My mother is pregnant. There were no signs until just over a week ago. My brother and I are elated."

"So here you were, sister." A voice came from behind me. "Why don't you introduce me to your friends."

Rounding the table, a young man, looking to be in his mid to late teens sat down beside Charlotte.

"Everyone, this is my brother, Alastair." Charlotte announced.

At a glace, it was obvious the two were siblings. The boy shared the same bright blond hair and pink eyes. Aside from those, what stuck out to me the most was how handsome he was.

"Brother, you've met Hamil of course, but these are his sisters: Jaime and Veria." Charlotte introduced us. Veria bowed her head when introduced, but I sat frozen.

My cheeks flushed when I realized that I had been staring at the boy and I quickly bowed my head.

"Of House Wark, of course. I have heard great things about your father. I hope I get the chance to meet him someday soon." The boy spoke with a smile. He glanced over at me and I quickly turned away, realizing that I had been staring again. "I hope you'll excuse me. I believe that I hear father calling me."

Alastair stood, bowed and then turned on his heel and stepped into the crowd, quickly disappearing.

"Could I interest you two to some hot chocolate and treats?" Charlotte asked gesturing to the pot. She then waved over one of the servants nearby who then placed a large platter of food on the table.

They looked like simple dinner rolls, but when I took a bite, I found that the center had been filled with some kind of pudding. I had to exercise all the self control I could muster to not pack as many in my mouth as I could.

'Quite good, right?" Charlotte asked, eating one herself. "My father hired a man from the islands to work as head chef and he's come to us with so many different, wonderful foods. He says that he gets the recipes from his friends across the continent."

The next couple hours were passed as the four of us sat at the table. Ham never said more than a couple words the entire time, but the rest of us spoke more than enough for him. Occasionally, others would pass by and Charlotte would invite them to sit and chat for a time before they would excuse themselves. It was strange, but any doubts I'd had toward Charlotte had long since been drowned in a sea of pudding and hot chocolate. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who would provide things as sweet as these couldn't be evil. More than that, it felt like she was honestly and sincerely trying to be friends. The others that had come to the table would often put up a fake smile and act insincerely. I wasn't sure how, but I could just tell that these people were thinking mean thoughts as they spoke kind words.

Sitting with a full stomach, I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes for just a second. In that second, I felt like I was falling, but when I opened my eyes, I was still in my chair. From a short distance away, I heard hushed voices whispering.

"Look at them. They should be embarrassed."

"She brought her pet this time."

I looked around, but I couldn't tell where they were coming from.

"I wouldn't be caught dead in something like that. And they're both wearing it."

"It'll all be done when he arrives."

"You sent the invite, right?"

"Yeah, but he still hasn't shown up."

"He'll definitely come, and then their whole family will be in trouble."

Where were the voices coming from? Everyone was having their own conversation, but nobody looked like they were saying those mean things.

"That stupid girl doesn't know her place. She holds rank, but those two definitely don't."

"Yeah, just look at them. Especially that thug. How dare he get close to the daughter of a duke."

I wanted them to stop. How could nobody else hear this? Did they hear it? Were they letting people say those mean things?

Just then, there was a shriek from behind the crowd of people. Charlotte spoke up and everyone moved out of the way, revealing a small group of people seated at another table nearby. At the table was a girl holding her hand over her mouth. She wore a pale, white glove, now stained red with blood. She moved her hand away from her mouth. Her lips were shredded and bloody and her mouth gaping as her cheeks had been split open. In her hand was a mouthful of teeth.

"Who did this!" A man shouted out over the crowd. It was one of the guards who had been standing outside of the crowd.

Even at this distance I could see the horror in the girl's eyes. Frantically, she stood from her chair and ran towards the man who had shouted.

"I felt a small presence of magic. Someone did this on purpose." Another of the guards spoke up.

The girl started wailing in pain as the man rushed her away.

Standing, I tried to grab Astrid and Damian's attention, but they were already on their way over here.

"Are you four okay?" Damian asked immediately.

"Yes." Veria responded just as quick.

"Could you find out who that girl is and see if we can get her help?" I asked.

Hearing my question, Damian grinned and nodded his head before stepping a short distance away.

After assuring everyone that they would get to the bottom of this, the Renae guards started to gather people who were nearby to question them.

"What's all this fuss about?" An obnoxiously loud voice spoke from behind the crowd.

The mood was already low, but this new appearance somehow dropped the mood even lower.

"Who is that?" I asked, turning to Charlotte who held a very disgusted look in the direction of the voice.

Pushing through the crowd was a man who looked just past his teens. He was large, both in height and in weight and had light brown hair in a sharp widow's peak and blue eyes.

"Don't give me that look, love." The man spoke in a tone that made me want to punch him. "We're engaged after all."