A/N: Reason #1 why Hidden Magic hasn't been updated in forever. Thought I would share. :) This is a short story I wrote for my intermediate creative writing class... and I don't want to give too much away, but it will be incorporated into the Hidden Magic story eventually (see, I haven't been slacking too much!). Our professor gave us a prompt to write about a neighborhood we grew up in and said we could "tweak it a bit" if we wanted. I, uh... did that. Liberally. As always, reviews are much appreciated!

3 Emily.

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The small town of Kaesering wound around the Black River like a shadowy reflection of the equally shady stream that disconnected one warring country from the other. Each wave that lapped at the river’s edge had a story to tell – stories filled with monsters, demons, curses, and deaths of curious children. No one went near the river except the red-uniformed guards ordered to watch the opposite bank, and even they sometimes returned to the fort with dazed expressions and the shakes. No one knew much about the people across the river, but everyone agreed: something was odd about old Blackie, make no mistake.

Kaesering itself was a quiet military town stationed on the middle of the coast. Modest shops and humble inns lined its streets, enticing travelers from all over the country who longed to get a peek at the infamous river or the historic battle sites of centuries past. Some were ambassadors come to stay with the duke and his wife, who lorded over the place. Their home was the grandest thing in the city, all whitewashed stone towers and plush carpets and meals fit for the distant king. Not that many of the townspeople had ever been in the place – mostly it was just gossip.

It was gossip that filled the town with such stories and curiosities. Things were made to be real that weren’t, people were made to be famous who didn’t deserve it, and victims of sharp tongues wound up laying quite low for a while until the next scandal marched into old wives’ mouths. Things like that came and went quite frequently – everything besides the Moore children, who had been the subject of much controversy ever since they’d arrived one sleepy Sunday afternoon.

No one knew where they came from or how they came into possession of the old Marsh house on the south side of town. Their sudden appearance baffled everyone who knew about it, because while the eldest was naught but ten and the youngest barely five, neither was seen in the accompaniment of a parent. The children shopped in the marketplace on Wednesdays, purses full to brimming with gold pieces, and walked off towards home without ever saying a word, arms full of food and clothes and a toy for the little one.

“They think we’re odd,” Silas noted, holding on to his older sister’s hand as he skipped down the winding path that led to their house. “They think you should talk more. Why don’t you talk to anyone?”

“I talk to you, isn’t that enough, runt?” Breena asked affectionately, hitching a bag up on her hip. “Besides, they think you’re cute. So long as they’re occupied with your baby face they don’t need to notice me.”

The truth was, Bree wasn’t sure she trusted herself talking to other people, not any more. Silas was irritating sometimes, but he never angered her like other people did. Last time she’d gotten into a quarrel bad things had happened, and that was why they were here now, and their grandmother’s old residence. The woman had long since died, but Bree knew where the old keys had been hidden, and how to unlock things when a key wouldn’t suffice. Her skills had gotten them this far, and they wanted nothing – they had food and shelter, and while playmates were scarce, that was probably better for the general populace, anyway.

The Marsh house sat beyond the usual hustle and bustle of city life. Secluded in the middle of a lightly forested area, the small dirt path that led to its doorway was bordered by pines and oaks and berry bushes. Silas lingered around these until his hands and cheeks were sticky with purple juices; his sister rolled her eyes and stomped up three steps to unlock the front door, and threw it open to reveal a quaint little kitchen with a fire burning half heartedly in its hearth. It wasn’t a house built for a princess by any means, but it would do for a merchant or a soldier’s family, and it served their purposes quite well.

Bree placed the bag on the table and bent to stoke the fire, flames nipping at her fingertips. Cursing, she called out, “Silas! Come help put things away, please. I’m going to start dinner.”

“But I don’t want to!” the boy complained, spinning around the kitchen table, smudging the chairs with blueberry goop. “I want to go ‘sploring! Heyyyy,” he added, placing sticky fingertips one of the windowsills that framed the front door. “Is that Lady Caderine again?”

The second log Breena had been about to place in the fire fell to the floor with a resounding thud and rolled away into the next room. She took two quick steps over to her brother and pulled him out of sight, twisted the lock on the door with her other hand, and muttered things under her breath that made sparks form at her fingertips. A quick peek out the dusty window told her it was, indeed, the duke’s wife making her away to the porch steps. Bree knelt to Silas’s level and said kindly, “Do you want to play hide-and-seek?” Eagerly, the boy nodded. “Okay – go hide and don’t come out until I find you. Don’t make any noise or I’ll be able to find you sooner, remember?”

Silas nodded and sped off to the back of the house, out of sight. Bree sat with her back to the door, gripping the floor boards as she waited for the light, careful steps that signified the duchess’s approach. One, two, three… followed by three soft knocks on the door. “Breena? Silas? It’s Cady,” she called, as though that would make them open the door. They’d never opened the door, not since the first time when the silly, ignorant little boy decided talking to strangers in this new town was something that ought to be done. Breena just sat, hoping Silas didn’t get bored of his game. She heard the lady sigh and place something on the porch before she called, “If you’re listening, I can help you. I know what’s wrong – I can make you safe. Think about it, please. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Bree waited a moment after she heard the receding clunks that meant Lady Caderine had descended the stairs before she chanced another peek out the window. The woman was gone, the surrounding forestry blocking her from view. The girl breathed a sigh of relief that momentarily fogged the window pane, but relief soon turned to anger. Caderine must not think much of their intelligence if she thought they would turn themselves into her so easily! Who was she to come knocking on their door when they were doing perfectly fine by themselves? It wasn’t any of her business if they needed help, they would figure it out. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had to do just that before now.

Footsteps behind her alerted her to her brother’s presence, and she turned with a smile on her face. “I couldn’t find you anywhere!” she exclaimed, ruffling his hair. “You’re just such a great hider.”

“It’s okay, Lorna found me instead!” Silas said, pointing behind him. From the room beyond approached a small red fox who paused and stretched, bushy tail licking the doorframe, before pouncing on to the kitchen table to sniff the contents of their shopping bag.

The small stinky one woke me up, the fox explained. I do not appreciate this. I wouldn’t call it finding as much as tackling to get my revenge. Why is there a piece of wood in the sitting room?

“Can I go ‘sploring now? Can I can I can I?”

The girl bit her lip, considering. It wasn’t until the fox noted, The crazy noble woman is gone. No danger for him then, is there? that she nodded and unlocked the door. “Be back by dinnertime, alright? And don’t go near that river!”

Gleefully, Silas bolted out the door and into the forest without noticing the package Caderine had left for them. Rolling her eyes, Breena had half a mind to chuck that into the river. She didn’t need charity. But when she saw it was filled with children’s games and a stuffed animal or two, she dragged it inside and set it beside the table for Silas to shuffle through later. When she looked up she stared straight into the dark eyes of the fox who sat with her tail curled about her.

“What?” Bree demanded.

Well, if you’re going to be like that, Lorna answered, and stalked off to find a new place to nap. Sighing, the girl put a black pot over the fire and set about making dinner.

• • •

It wasn’t long after the soup was done that Bree began to feel as though something was very, very wrong, and only moments later she and the fox could be found trekking through the forest. It was silent in the twilight, save for intermittent calls of “Silas! Silas, where are you?” that punctuated the peace. Lorna sniffed the ground, looking for some trace of “that stinky one” and Bree used her own means to attempt to find her brother, but it was as though he’d fallen off the face of the earth. That was what worried her even more – usually her connection was so strong with her brother she could find him almost anywhere he went. That she couldn’t sense him anywhere, with magic or otherwise, was certainly cause for concern.

This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t left home, Lorna told her.

“No, then we just would’ve been plucked out of our beds and sent who knows where,” Bree snapped. “Magic isn’t allowed in this country. They’ll take us away and we won’t be allowed back until we’re powerful enough that the king is satisfied with us, and then only if we work for him. What kind of life is that? I won’t let them take Silas.”

Unless they already have, the fox said cynically, bounding ahead of her.

They’d reached the dreaded Black River. This particular area had a sandy bank, and Breena made sure she took only one step onto the sand and refused to get any closer. Lorna didn’t stop until she’d reached the water and lapped at it, quenching her thirst. Bree studied the sand instead and was happy not to see any childish footprints marring its surface. But that didn’t mean something equally as terrible hadn’t happened to her brother.

As if reading her thoughts, Lorna cried, Watch out!

Bree turned; standing only a few feet from her was a man dressed all in black that she hadn’t heard approaching. She stumbled a step back, eyes wide, and Lorna darted in front of her with teeth bared and hackles raised. They shared the thought that this was one of the king’s men – and that he’d probably heard at least half of their conversation as they walked through the woods, and if Silas had been doing anything at all suspicious the man would already have him.

“Where’s my brother?” Breena demanded.

“I don’t know that you ought to be so close to the river, missy,” the man said, paying no attention to the fox or the question. “Don’t you know what happens to naughty children who fall in?” Bree shook her head and the man leaned down, shadows crossing over his face. “They’re dragged down to the bottom where the monsters make their homes, to be eaten or made into monsters themselves. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“Maybe I would,” Breena answered, jutting her chin. “Maybe then I could convince you to tell me where my brother is. I’m not afraid of monsters, but you seem to be. I can turn into a monster if you’d like, quite easily. Ma always said I was troublesome enough to be one.”

“And where’s Ma now?”

Bree didn’t like his tone, so she pinned him with her fiercest glare and answered, “Not important, I don’t think. Where’s Silas? You’ve done something with him, haven’t you? I’m warning you, there are lots of important people who know we’re out here – the duchess herself just come calling on our door! So give me my brother back.”

“The boy’s fine,” he said offhandedly, tilting his head. “What’s your name?”

“Breena,” she answered, staring at him out of distrusting blue eyes. “What’s yours?”

He laughed, and the noise echoed across the water. The trees ate it up as it bounced back, swallowing any chance she had of someone else hearing them. Not that anyone would have helped her, anyway. “Going to turn me in to the authorities, Breena? I don’t think so, not when they’d lock you up soon as me. Isn’t that right?” Bree bit her lip and didn’t answer. He quirked an eyebrow at her. “My name is Saxen. Come with me – I’ll show you where your brother is.”

The man named Saxen held out a calloused hand, and dubiously Breena took it. The second their skin touched, she fell into darkness.