The Queen of New Orleans

Chapter 5

Hope couldn't sleep that night. She was tossing and turning in bed unwanted images and thoughts invading her mind. She thought about Scarlett, how she turned out to be without her. She thought about Landon who was so close by. Landon for sure would hate her if he knew about Scarlett he would never forgive her, he would never understand what she was going through. The thoughts made her anxious. She was sweating, breathing heavy. She needed to calm down. She got out of bed to take a shower. The warm water always calmed her nerves. She stood under the water for a while feeling her pulse returning to its normal rate. She got out of the shower, dried herself then got dressed in her paint stained shirt and shorts. It was still the middle of the night, but she didn't feel like going back to bed, she knew she would end up in the same state alone in the dark room. So she entered the art room, put on the light jazz music and lost in her work. This was the best way not to think, to let every unwanted emotion out through her paintings. It was her therapy.

She finished painting in the morning after the sunrise. She had a blood bag for breakfast. She still felt somewhat uneasy, she didn't think she could keep any normal food down. Hope landed on the living room couch to watch some tv.

She woke up to a knock at the living room door. She didn't know when she fell asleep, she had no idea what time it was. She looked at Scarlett, she was already inside the living room, she wondered how long she had been standing there before deciding to wake her with the knock.

"Hi. Sorry to wake you, didn't think it was that early." Scarlett muttered.

"Hey" Hope was greeting her in a tired voice. "What time is it?"

"Eleven." She said.

"Sorry I fell asleep on Cutthroat Kitchen." Hope yawned.

"I practiced all evening. I can do it. Wanna see?" She asked with excitement.

"Sure" Hope smiled.

Scarlett took her bracelet off and placed it on the coffee table then sat on the floor and started chanting. She did the spell perfectly. She was so proud of herself. It reminded Hope of herself when her Aunt Freya taught Hope the same spell. Hope was in her thoughts when she noticed Scarlett staring at her. She was waiting for Hope's approval.

"Great job." Hope smiled. Scarlett was still looking, Hope didn't really know what else to say. Hope still felt a little edgy after the night she had but tried to maintain her cool. They were silent for minutes now. It started to feel uncomfortable. Hope could see the unease on the girl.

"You are always in dirty clothes."

"What?" Hope didn't know how to react to that.

"Your shirt." Scarlett was pointing at Hope's shirt.

"Amm. It's paint."

"Do you paint?" She asked her.

"Yes." She replied plainly.

"Like actual paintings?" she seemed interested.

"Yeah."

"Can I see them?" The girl asked with curiosity in her eyes.

"No." Hope snapped at her.

It's not like she didn't want Scarlett to see her paintings. She never showed it to anyone. It was her private escape. Sharing them with anyone would be very personal to Hope. She didn't want to hurt the girl, but she saw sadness in her eyes. She was trying to get to know Hope, she can feel that because deep down she wanted to know about her too. They never talked to each other before the past few days. Hope knew nothing about this girl. She should be the adult about this and apologize. It's not Scarlett's fault that she was having a shitty day. When she was about to apologize Scarlett started to speak.