#cassandra the gothielle

[ask-lavender-inn-blog]

Cassandra listened to the statement. She was sitting on the top rail, leaning against the thin column to her left. For all the years she had lived at the inn, working alongside her grandmother, sheltered away from the iniquity of modernity, the complicated history that colored the warped floorboards of her house perplexed her. Daphne had not shared everything with her, and while she was cognizant of the general nature of the inn, certain details remained just out of her grasp. She hardly asked about it anymore, though, resorting to scavenging tattered diaries and newspaper clippings from the attic. 

As much as she desired to understand the inn she had learned to accept her grandmother’s limitations. She was old, and after a lifetime of struggles, Cassandra resigned herself to the role not of detective but of dutiful descendent. 

“We would all like to know more about this inn,” she responded, rolling her head and shutting her eyes. The winter air felt cool on her skin, but the heavy fabric of her outfit kept her warm. The house seemed to creak and sway whenever the breeze shifted directions, but she knew well enough that it was structurally sound. When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer thinking of the stranger who had stoked a long-buried curiosity. She was, instead, struck by a large form in the distance.

A hulking figure was making its way over the hills and meadows that separated the Lavender Inn from the main road to town. Each movement seemed leaden and heavy. Everything about the creature was cumbersome. As it continued its approach, Cassandra could soon delineate the form of an arcanine. How strange, she thought to herself. Arcanines are relatively hard to come by, and yet one was staggering ever closer to the inn. He was still hundreds of yards away, but Cassandra quickly rose to her feet. Turning dismissively to Lost, she gathered up her skirts, and rolled over the top rail that had just moments prior served as her seat. “I hate to leave you, but I must be going. I have to find my grandmother.” With that, she disappeared inside, the old door slammed shut with an eerie groan. 

[to be continued]