The Valley

"That is indeed a pretty thing," a man with snake-like eyes told Annie. His name was Aspen, and he seemed incredibly rich and very much interested in the ring Annie was offering. "Where did you get it?"

"A friend promised he would give it to me if I helped him on his journey, and I did," she said. Her jaw was set and her gaze was icy. "Do you have the money to pay for it?"

"Oh, I do, and then some more," Aspen grinned. She didn't like the way he seemed to drag his s' on; it made her grit her teeth.

"Then will you buy it?" she asked. If he wasn't going to purchase it, then she didn't want to waste her time there any longer. She wanted to get back to David as soon as possible.

"Of course, little dear; do not fret," he touched her cheek as he spoke, making her flinch. He was being far too familiar with her, but when he handed her a check with an astounding number of zeros after a one on it she forgot all about the strange behaviour.

"Oh, wow!" she breathed. "It's not even worth that much!" She covered her mouth after uttering those words, hoping he wouldn't change his mind.

Aspen winked at Annie, took the ring from her and said, "For a pretty girl like you... who knows how much it is truly worth?"

"This- this check is valid, right? I'm not going to run into any trouble because of it?" Annie gripped his arm tightly.

"Oh, no," Aspen shook his head, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry one little bit about that. Ciao, beautiful woman!"

The man wandered off, disappearing into the crowd of the black market. Annie's hand flew to her face, touching her scar and accidentally bumping her glasses. Aspen had made her completely forget about the existence of the scar. With David she knew it was there, but she felt like it was alright to have it- he didn't mock her like others did.

David. Annie hurried out of the busy place, making her way over to the hospital.

When she go there she asked to see him and she was given a room number. None of that, "You're not a member of the family, you can't go and see him," bullshit that Annie hated. He must not have been in too critical a condition.

William and another woman were in the room. The woman was holding David's hand, and David looked to be asleep. Annie felt a breath leave her that she didn't know she had been holding.

"You must be Annie," the woman said, looking up at her. She looked very old and very tired. "I'm David's mother, Caroline. I understand the two of you went on some sort of adventure together?"

Annie flushed, hiding the check for the engagement ring behind her back. Did she know that David had been the one to steal it? Did she know that Annie had been given it to sell? Did she even know that it was missing?

"Ah, yes," Annie nodded her head and made her way over to stand next to William. "He- he was the one who convinced me to go. I didn't know that it was going to be so dangerous... Well, I knew that it would be dangerous, but I didn't know that-"

"It's alright, dear," Caroline said. She let go of David's hand and stood up. "He seems to have acquired some money to help us along and pay for his stay here at least, and you brought him back in one piece."

"I... I'm glad he's going to recover," Annie said, glancing at the bandage on David's arm.

"Well, he lost a lot of blood and the wound had become infected, but the doctors were able to help with that," William spoke then. Both Caroline and Annie turned to look at him. "He'll be able to walk about by tomorrow afternoon. He'll just need to take medication every now and again."

"I'm glad," Annie smiled.

"Well, I'm going to go use the toilet and get some caffeine in my system," Caroline said. "It's been a long day of work and then finding out my son could have died."

With that Caroline left the room, and William turned to face Annie. There was a very serious expression on his face.

"Oh, no; I know that look," Annie shook her head, holding her hands up in front of her. "You can't already have another job for us. David's not even fully healed."

"You will have time for that," William smiled warmly at her. "You surely have more faith in me than that. I will tell you of the next task, but trust that I will not require it done immediately. I have waited a long time already; I have the patience to wait forever if necessary."

Annie gave him an odd look, and then she said, "Right. So what is this next task?"

William held up the tome. There was a sort of grim expression on his face.

"This tome is very great indeed; the information stored within it very useful," he said. "It tells me how to use a certain item: a lexicon."

"And my guess is you want us to retrieve it?" Annie raised a questioning eyebrow at the old man.

"Why, yes; such a smart girl, you are," William nodded his head. "It is a very powerful, small cube. Not only does it contain ancient, powerful information, but it is also a key. A key which the tome describes how to use."

"What do you need it for?" Annie asked, pushing her glasses up her nose and then crossing her arms over her chest.

"I will show you when the two of you have brought it back to me," William said. He smiled again, and there was something there in that smile that Annie didn't trust.

"Okay," she said. The weariness would just have to remain left untouched in the bit of her stomach and at the back of her mind.

"Right, I shall be off then. When the two of you are ready, you know when and where to find me," William bowed his head and left.

Annie turned back toward David, who continued to sleep peacefully. How he had slept through the rather loud conversation she would never know. She had to admire him for it. She walked over to him, holding his hand like his mother hand, gently squeezing his fingers. At this he stirred, opening his eyes.

"Annie," he breathed her name like it was the most sacred word in the world. "You came."

"I told you I would," she smiled t him, squeezing his fingers again.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, reaching up to touch her scarred cheek. Annie gasped.

"You're delirious," she said, pulling his hand from her cheek.

"I am not," he said firmly. David gently cupped her cheek again, caressing her skin.

"David," she sighed.

"Did the ring actually find a buyer?" he asked, smiling. He continued to caress her cheek and Annie closed her eyes at how wonderful she thought it felt.

"Yeah," she said and showed him the check.

"That's wonderful," David laughed. It was filled with joy; not the sort of laugh that occurs when a person has been told a joke, but one that happens when a person is incredibly happy. "You can pay off your father's debts."

"Yes, I finally can," Annie opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Thanks to you. Thank you."

"You should- you should probably go and do that," David said. He let his hand drop from her face, holding hers in both of his. "I'll be fine. I'm allowed to leave tomorrow."

"I will," Annie said, still smiling. "Thank you again, David. I'll come back to see you again."

She kissed his cheek and left; David gently touching where she had kissed him. His cheeks were pink for a new reason.

She walked slowly to her aunt's house, taking her time to admire everything. She hadn't been gone for too long, but the experience felt like it had taken years. That wasn't something she was sure she wanted to go through again. Annie sighed.

But she wanted to go on another journey with David. Somewhere where they wouldn't be in danger, at least. She had had fun being around David. Even though she didn't like him at first, he had become her friend- her only friend.

David Andrews. Annie's friend. Annie smiled wide, skipping toward her aunt's house.

She stopped skipping about a block away from the house. Something felt very off, something wasn't right. She ran the rest of the way, hoping that the feeling in her gut was completely wrong. Nothing bad could have happened while she was gone, right?

Picking up the spare key from under the doormat, Annie unlocked and pulled open the door. She stepped carefully inside the quiet house. The place was dark except for a light coming from the kitchen; a storm had rolled in without Annie realizing.

"Auntie?" Annie called out.

"Annie?" her aunt said back. "Annie, is that you?" Her aunt stepped out of the kitchen, turning on the hall light.

"Yes, it's me," Annie smiled. The smile immediately melted away as she saw the look of pure devastation on her aunt's face, the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Annie," her aunt sobbed, rushing over to her. She fell to her knees in front of Annie, crying and holding onto her shirt. Annie leaned over her, holding her close. "They're dead."

"Who's dead?" Annie asked. But the bile rising in her throat told her she already knew, deep down.

"Your mother and father," her aunt sobbed. "They both passed while you were away."

Annie felt her world crash down around her.