Mrs. Maelony's Request

After almost 30 minutes, she walked towards the way out of the dark alley.

"Thank goodness" Seira exclaimed the moment she came across the part of the market that sells birds.

Unalike feathers can be found on every nook of the place; some were blown off occasionally by the gust of wind and waste products of the birds dispersed in each stall. Seira roams around while busy searching for a vendor that sells owls.

Mrs. Maelony, the librarian of the athenaeum where Seira is working as an assistant, asked her to buy her a barn owl. She didn't have the slightest idea what the old woman would do on the poor bird. At first, she thought the task was easy, but when the old woman said that it could only be found in Herstings her energy on that day deflated as Herstings is far from her village which is located on the outermost boundary of the kingdom.

Seira's eyebrows creased when she didn't find any owls in the section.

"Ahm… Excuse me, do you perhaps know someone who sells owls?" she asked the vendor on her side.

"Your headman must be a wealthy person for you to buy an owl but unfortunately you will not see owls here, young lady" the middle-aged woman replied.

She wanted to say that Mrs. Maelony is not her headman and as long as she can remember the old woman is not wealthy but she held her tongue, it is not important after all.

"The only store that sells those kinds of birds is in the public square of our town"

Her shoulders sagged upon hearing the vendor. "Uhm…. thank you" she said dispiritedly and left.

After a lot of attempts in asking that mostly gained a scowl instead of an answer from the people, Seira finally found the store that the vendor was talking about, all thanks to the kind little boy that she met a while ago. She blinked several times trying to get rid of her dizziness. Her exposure to the sun for almost 4 hours already while walking is slowly taking a toll on her. She took out the frayed kerchief in her sling bag, wiped her sweats, and raised the cloth that was covering her head and lower part of her face, leaving only her eyes to the view. Then, she pushed the heavy wooden door of the store.

The hanging metals clang, reflecting a repetitive sound inside the eerie store. A big cabinet with various ornaments of all kinds was behind on the narrow island counter. Not far off are stalls placed on each side of the wall with decorative accessories. The dim light of one light bulb in the ceiling of the store barely covered the whole space, leaving the corners in a shady and gloomy state.

Seira shudders on the chilling ambiance of the store. She stayed still near the door, afraid to even take a step forward or call for the presence of anyone in the building.

"How may I help you?"

Seira jumps to her feet with a yelp. Spreading her fingers and placing her hand across her chest; she glanced at the figure in the dark corners.

A young woman in her age, in a bun hairstyle wearing a black dress, is standing in the hallway. Her arms are crossed against her chest adding to her mean-looking demeanor.

"Go—good afternoon, I am here to buy an owl?" Seira greeted shakily, showing a small smile that builds as the surprise sinks in.

The woman raised her eyebrows and assessed her from head to toe. "For whom?"

"F—for Ms—Mrs. Maelony?"

"Father! Mrs. Maelony is looking for an owl!" the woman called, facing the dark hallway. Her eyebrows knitted, confused as to what is the connection of the woman to her employer.

After a few moments, an old man came out dressed also in a black suit. What's with the black? she thought.

"Please follow me," said the old man in a deadpan tone, gesturing to the dark hallway.

Seira clutched the strap of her bag and nodded reluctantly. She walked to the way that the old man went into but she accidentally bumped her right knee on one of the stalls due to the lack of light in the place. "Ouch," she caresses her knee to ease up the pain.

"Miss"

She turned around promptly so that she could feel her neck hurt in the action. The woman was next to her; still displaying the impassive expression on her face with a raised brow, gesturing the hallway. If the store creeps her earlier, the woman scares her even more as she didn't feel her presence or heard a clattering sound of heels that she realized the woman was wearing. Just why does this hallway lack lights?.

"Sorry for that" she managed to say.

As soon as she reached the dark hallway, the woman followed her while the old man was in front of her. She took a deep breath. If something happened to her, she would haunt Mrs. Maelony herself.

The hallway is long and slightly narrowed, unlike what she expected it to be. There are no displays or any decorations on the walls aside from the candles that are placed in the sconce far from each other.

While following the old man to the sky knows where Seira wonders what's with the couple. Their aura is strange and usually cold even the store looks like a front for her. The building has no name on its door, the ornaments are dusty as well as the counter. The ambiance was unwelcoming at all and for her last observation, what in the universe they are doing in a dark hallway which is somewhat weird in any aspect.

The old man suddenly stopped, Seira on the other hand almost hit the gaffer, fortunately, she managed to halt her step. She let out a huge breath. Then, she watched the old man take out a bunch of keys and search for the right key for a while. He unlocked the wooden door with a carved shape of a ten-star fold in the center. Her eyebrows furrowed with the sight of the symbol.

Before she could scrutinize the emblem, a hand roughly pushed her inside the room. Thankfully she didn't trip and if not she will be hugging the floor right now. Pressing her lips in a thin line, she faces the woman who was looking at her manicured nails like it is the most interesting thing in the room.

"Excuse me Miss but—"

Sounds of hoots echoed in her ears; cutting her remark. Shutting her eyes, she takes a deep breath.

'Breath... Breath' she chants to her mind silently. It was not even an hour before she entered the store but the woman was already showing hostile behavior towards her that she had no idea what drove her to do that. She was used to it as her townsfolk made sure to demonstrate it to her almost everyday. But a simple curtsy even only as a customer would do.

Deciding that it is better to let go of the unfriendly behavior of the woman, she takes in the room. Sights of a ton of bird cages piled on the four-sided room came into view.

"That's the barn owls," said the old man hastily pointing to the owls in the far-end corner of the room.

She squinted her eyes, looking for a pale owl with dark eyes that had a mix of buff and gray on the head and its upper wings as per Mrs. Maelony's request. She smiled when she saw one.

"I will get that one"

She patiently waited for the old man to take out of the cage near the door when the birds squealed simultaneously. It is so loud that it rings in her ears. She put her hands to cover her ear hole but it was useless as she could clearly hear the ear-shuttering sounds. Notwithstanding the noise, she ran to the door but suddenly a cold hand touched her arm, stopping her from walking out of the room. As if on cue, the squealing sound stopped.

"What was that?" she muttered baffled.

"What's your name, young lady?" A slow and little shaky voice brings her back from a mix of surprise and panic.