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A/N: Drawing of Bronc (the guard of the Camp) by Parrott !!!

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I looked around the impressive estate. It was breathtaking. It was like I had escaped into a world of stories and fantasy. The worn-down structure stood high above the trees and I wondered how I hadn't seen it before now. We made our way across the bridge. The moat surrounding the castle was dried up with only rainfall puddling in deep groves.

At least there are no alligators like the stories.

We had moved closer to the wooden door that would grant us entrance. I saw some movement between the crack in the door. Narrowing my eyes I watched the wood. Abruptly, Cameron stopped in front of me and smiled over his shoulder before saying "Are you ready to meet everyone?"

I blinked in shock, "Everyone? There are more people?" I asked watching as the corners of his mouth twitched to a small grin. Cameron followed Adriana as she skipped inside. I took this as my queue and hesitantly shadowed the pair.

The door opened up and a young lady, not much older than myself, peered around the door frame with her curious brown eyes. I could see her spindly brown hair as it fell past the door.

"Mistress!" She said with joy as she spotted Adriana. Her accent was that of a cockney brit from Eastern London. Adriana went to the woman and hugged her. As soon as the woman's arms wrapped around the small girl her webbed green fingers caught my eye. I looked on with fascination as she smiled in my direction.

I wonder if she has toes to match.

"Good evening Chloe! I assume everything has been in order?" The woman faced Cameron and departed from Adriana, who skipped inside. Her previously joyous face took on a serious demeanor; her tone grim and even, "I have kept to my duties and I had to take over a few new ones..." She said the last bit with remorse.

"New duties?" Cameron inquired. I hadn't noticed until now, but Cameron had been acting strange since we left. He was like an entirely different person here. He silently urged Chloe to continue. She lowered her head and motioned us through the door.

" Morgan, the gardener, has Faded sir. It happened two days ago."

Cameron gave a solemn nod and continued past her. I followed after him. Before I passed through the doorway I felt cool webbed fingers wrap around my arm. I instinctively tried to tug away and snapped my head to the woman in shock. She didn't bring her eyes to look up at me, but she opened her mouth to say something as a fearful aura almost seemed to cloud her. Her face that was lightly dusted with freckles fell as she failed to speak.

"Em! You coming?" Cameron called from down the hallway without looking back.

" Y-yeah!" I said looking back towards Chloe. She raised her head and smiled a peculiar smile that seemed to hide some kind of deeper meaning. I pulled away from her and she let me. I could feel her eyes on me as I continued after Cameron down a dark and ominous corridor.

The interior of the castle had a medieval air to it but it also felt quite cozy. It was not just a castle, but a home. It had some very obsolete architecture. The walls were made from mud and stone slabs. The slabs were cracked and aching from old age. Although this felt like a home the walls were coated in a dusty film. I assumed it was accounted for by the 'staff'. There were people moving about the building going every which way. Some carried boxes or cutlery. Some had wooden crates of food and vegetables and I could see the occasional child carrying a doll. It was a rather odd mix of people. There were many different races, ages, and sizes. Nobody here was podgy at all though. It almost seemed as if they were starved, but they were all healthy in the face and hair.

Maybe that's just a side effect of being here.

"I know you'll enjoy it here. We will find one of the spare rooms for you to sleep in," Cameron said as we turned to a set of heavy-looking wooden doors. I looked up the intricate designs in the woodwork. It depicted people soaring high above a cowering crowd. The people of the crowd had such real and vivid expressions as if their terror wasn't something engraved in the woodwork.

Cameron pushed open the doors with ease. I stood in awe as they opened up to a beautiful dining hall with an oval-shaped table stretching to the end of the room. There must have been a hundred chairs seated around the table. Each space was decorated with silverware and a plate. I saw people busying themselves with preparing food through a doorway connected to, what I presumed was the kitchen, to the dining room. More people came out placing some bowls of delicious-looking food and steaming meals onto the center of the table in some kind of order only they understood.

In a daze, after seeing the handiwork of the servers I followed Cameron through the dining hall into a more dingy hallway. This corridor wasn't as bright and prestigious as the rest of the castle. It looked to be almost untouched as if people were scared to clean it. It gave me an eerie vibe and I shivered as we stepped through it. Cameron quickened his pace as we went down the long hallway and took a left at the end. He let out a breath and opened up a door on the right wall as soon as we turned the corner.

Without looking at me, the boy walked into the dusty room and wiped a nearby bedpost with his thumb. The gesture left a finger sized spot on the dust-covered wood. "This is where you will be staying. I wish we had closer quarters to the rest of us, but those are all filled out and these are the only guest rooms available."

"What about the gardener's room?" I inquired. Cameron spun around looking mortified.

"If you wish to stay in the room of someone who has recently faded, be my guest, but It's very bad luck. I will not take you into the quarters. You will need to find it yourself if you want to tempt fate," Cameron moved to leave the room. Something had definitely changed from here to Camp.

"Lucky I'm not superstitious then." I snapped at his dark tone. I hated being talked down. Even if it wasn't a wise idea. He had been so charming earlier. Cameron seemed to ignore my reply as he continued walking down the hall and without turning said: "Dinner is in five."

I scoffed at his retreating figure and turned to the dusty and cobweb-infested room that would house me.

Some 'home' I have here.

I sat on the edge of the creaky bed. It was the only piece of furniture in the room other than a chair placed by a stone laden window.

Better than my real home. Too bad I have to wake up one day.

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a/n: As I said in the first chapter, I have been rewriting and editing this. This is how far I got when I wrote this 6 years ago! Luminescent is officially up to date! Everything you will see after this chapter is new. That being said, updates for Luminescent might be slightly slower as I am writing 87 Below right now as well. Thank you for reading!

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