-||Truth Behind the Mask||-

[- symphonic disaster -]

"Since I was born," Alex responded lightly. "I haven't been out much either, except around the forest. My parents wanted to keep me safe here." He didn't mention a few of the times he'd been visited by princesses but his parents and himself hadn't like them. Their family was a little different and Alex had never figured out how they were different.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven smiled and said, "That's nice. There must be so many different rooms here. My mother's house is quite small but I like it." She nodded a little to justify the fact. "Though, you should have been able to go out more. That's just my opinion. I always got to go explore... though I did have a tendency to sneak out and got in trouble a lot for that." She smiled then looked over at him.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

"There were more wolves in the area back then and it was actually dangerous," Alex explained. "My father was a hunter so he'd observe this but I never really saw much of my father. It was my mother that raised me." In fact Alex didn't even know whether his father was alive or dead, he'd just disappeared one day and had never come back. There was too much mystery surrounding this that he didn't even question his mother's excuses for why he hadn't seen his mother.

He was looking at the paintings that lined the main hall way now, mainly his ancestors going back five or six generations or so. He studied them and he could see certain attributes passed down from father to son and then later on.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven nodded a bit and said, "That makes sense. I use to go out there but nothing ever happened to me. I guess I was just lucky. I never really knew my father for too long. He died when I was eight... so I guess we have that in common." She smiled a bit then looked at the paintings he was looking at.

She sighed a bit as she started to think about her mother. She would be there soon and that made her happy. She then looked back at him and silently admired his beauty as well as the paintings on the otherside of him.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

The paintings were of his forefathers when they had first taken up rule of the castle. The castle was reign over only the forested area and there were not many people to rule. The few folk that were part of this region basically worked for whoever ruled but most of them had moved on to more prosperous areas. it was silent in these parts and almost no one knew about it now.

"Some of them were young," he responded after he'd gone by all of them. "It's a shame they had to be pressed into that position so early. I don't know what I am among them though." He wouldn't admit to her that he didn't know where his father was, or if he was alive or not. He sighed as they reached the first door, the large room that contained a meeting area and a desk that his father had worked at to write letters and do business.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven merely nodded, not knowing what to say exactly. Though she did say, "I would imagine it would force you to grow up too soon." She then looked away from him and to the first door.

She wondered if he knew what was in there or not. She knew her curiousity was getting the better of her already.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex opened the door slowly and walked in. It was shrouded in darkness and he could barely see much. The windows on the opposite side had their curtains closed with only small slivers of light slipping in through the cracks. He glanced at Haven before walking over to the window and slowly drawing the curtains. He had no reason to be silent but he gave him a rush.

The light revealed the office that was surrounded by numerous books. The multitude shocked him so that he staggered backward slightly. While observing this however he noticed one book that wasn't aligned straight out of all of them that were aligned almost perfectly.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven walked in and looked around. It was amazing! She had never seen so many books in her entire life. She blinked a little then smiled widely. She loved to read, it was one of her favorite passtimes.

She looked over at Alex then raised an eyebrow at what he was looking at. The book seemed to be out of place compared to the other books. She wondered if it was a secret pasage or something. She read about them in books all the time.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex walked over to where the book was and picked it up. There was no secret passage as one might expect, but rather another book was lying behind it covered in dust. Alex slowly and gently took the book out from behind. When he got it held in front of him he began to brush the dust off.

What he discovered was that it was some notes or rather a diary like thing that was his father's. It would probably contain family secrets that Alex wanted and thought he needed to know. He was hesitant though in opening but when he did more dust just arose from it, apparently his father had not used it in a long time.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven watched him curiously then looked at the two books. That wasn't what she had expected but it was still just as intriguing. She walked over to him but didn't try to look at it while he was. That would have been rude of her.

She cast a glance around the room again as she looked at the other books. She then looked back at him and watched as he opened the book now. She wondered what the book was and what was written inside. She had always been curious.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex began to read the book in silence, his mouthing moving as his eyes scanned the page. He froze suddenly after his eyes had scanned over the right words. What he had read was this:

31st of October, My son's birthday is approaching soon but I am to leave before then. I have important business to take up with the south but I fear I will never return. I have heard rumors of a witch that can cast a curse on someone to benefit them and I fear that this may be the what has been after me for so long, it seems to want to be at this very castle but I cannot understand why. My son, who can seem to do anything but play music, will not be my heir--I must find another.

Alex shook his head slightly, his shoulders shaking as he did so. The reason his father had left when he was younger was because he wasn't living up to his standards, he hadn't been good enough. He dropped the book, it falling to land face down. He'd seen his father once after that but it was three years after this that his father had completely disappeared.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven looked around the room again but snapped her head back in the direction of him when she heard the book fall. "Alexander?!?" She asked worriedly then put her hand softly on his trembling shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asked curiously.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex stalked out of the room without responding, his father had hated him because he wasn't good enough in subjects other than music. The pain ripped through his mind at this realization and stalked off further down the north wing. The more information he found the more he would be able to do. He wanted to know about his mother, not his father.

The book had laid on the ground still, almost beckoning Haven to open it. The book that Alex had removed from the shelf was about witches and curses. If Alex had looked longer at the area behind these books he would have found a lever that opened a secret door.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven blinked as she watched him leave then looked to the book on the floor. It seemed as if it was a journal or possibly a diary. She was about to open it when another book caught her eye. It was about witches and curses and she felt drawn to looking at it. She picked it up, reocognizing it as the book that was in front of the one Alex dropped.

She opened it and started to flip through the pages then stopped when she found a picture. It looked an awful lot like her grandmother. Why would her grandmother be in a book about witches? She moved her eyes then to look at the words written next to it. Agatha Marie Dawson, one of the most famed witches for her acts of kindness, is most famous for her curses on those who need to be taught a lesson. Haven stopped reading there, she wouldn't let herself go farther. That wasn't possible, her grandmother couldn't have been a witch! But that was her and her name... she'd have to ask her mother about this when she came. She left the room and went off to search for Alexander.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex had stopped a ways down the hall way and entered the next room. This one was much more simple and obviously it hadn't been used that much when his parents had been around. The furniture was covered in large pieces of white fabric and the curtains were opened. He had changed into his wolf form already and was stalking around the room, sniffing to see if he could find anything more about his father.

He wanted to know if his father was still alive and what he could do to hunt him down and kill him. There was a likelihood that people quick coming because he'd convinced them there was no reason to live in the forest anymore. There would be nothing for Alex to actually do here and the maids seemed to have kept this secret well.