Satiness

Chapter 8: Satiness

Chapter 8: Satiness

When the light disappeared, I found myself standing inside a room. Ally and Minah weren't there. The room was dimly lit, the only light source a large candle, sitting - no floating - above a table in the middle of the room, its light reflected by the multiple mirrors covering all the walls. The candlelight flickered between different colours. I tried to look around the room as well as I could, with my eyes still adjusting to the lighting. The room was bare but for the round table over which the candle floated and all the mirrors around the room. The table was old fashioned. It had markings carved into its wooden legs. The mirrors were all shaped differently; there were round mirrors, square mirrors, and even a heart shaped one. No two mirrors were the same. All the mirrors had one thing in common though - they were all large enough to reflect the image of one whole human body.

Suddenly, the candlelight started flickering very fast, changing colour rapidly. As a result, the shadows flickered too, making the room appear even more eerie than before.

I started as a booming voice rang through the room.

"WHO DARES ENTER MY HOME?"

Shivers ran down my spine. I went absolutely still, hoping the voice wouldn't spot me. No such luck. The voice bellowed again.

"WHO DARES ENTER MY HOME?"

The candle began to flicker even more rapidly, then went out. There was a sound like something shattering, followed by a loud bang. The mirror to my left had shattered, its shards scattering over the floor. I jumped, ran towards the table, and took cover underneath it. Another mirror shattered. The room started to shake. Banging noises came from the walls, as though something was trying to break its way through. Bang! Bang! Bang!

Again, the voice boomed the same inquiry, sounding even more angered this time.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. Everything stilled. Everything froze. I didn't know whether I myself was free or not. After what felt like an hour, I slowly moved from under the table. The moment I moved my head slightly to the right, the candle blew back on, and I startled at what I saw right in front of me. Bright green eyes were staring at me as though they could see straight through to my soul. The face was framed by wild red hair, and wore a look that made me want to run away in fear. Suddenly, her cherry lips moved, and she demanded, "who dares enter my home?"

The girl grabbed me by my upper arms, lifted me high off the ground, and repeated the same question, this time louder.

I was frozen in fear, but somehow, I manayed to squeak, "I- I'm Lulu."

She glared at me. And then she did something unexpected. She laughed. She barked a loud and amused laugh. She put down onto the floor.

"You," she said, trying to catch her breath, "you should have seen the look on your face!" Apparently not being able to control herself, she clutched her sides and fell to her knees, shaking with laughter.

I heard running footsteps heralding Ally and Minah, who burst through the door a moment later, wearing worried expressions on their faces. For a moment they stared dumbly at the scene in front of them.

Minah spoke first. "What happened?" she asked, "we heard noises."

"I- I am sorry. I was just pulling a prank," the girl on the floor huffed out.

"Ah," Ally said. "What did you do, Satiness?"

So this was Satiness! I had to admit, she wasn't quite what I had expected.

"I'm sorry," Satiness said again, "it was too tempting. I hardly get to scare people anymore - it's been so long!"

She straightened up, and held out a hand towards me, smiling. "I'm Satiness. Nice to meet you. And sorry about all that. I haven't done something like it in a while"

I took her hand after just a moment of hesitation. "I'm Lulu," I said,"and that's alright, but may I ask why?"

"You see, I'm a witch. In all the stories of Farleyca, there are tales about me being scary, so I have to live up to the reputation," she replied with a wink. "Now come on, let's go to the kitchen, and I'll cook you up for lunch."
I gulped and took a step back, my eyes widening a bit. Satiness laughed and put her hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm kidding," she said. "Just kidding. Come on."

We followed her through the house. I took advantage of not having her gaze pinned at me to take a better look at her.

Satiness wore long, dark jeans with a green shirt that matched her eyes. A strip of white ran through her wild red hair. When we got to the kitchen, she asked us to make ouselves seated around the table. We did as she had asked, and Satiness placed a plate full of sandwiches in front of us. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until I began to eat. After a while Satiness dusted off her hand, turned to look at the other girls, and asked, "So, what brought you here today? I mean, I am not complaining; I love you both. But, all the same, why?"

Minah spoke first. "Ally asked me to bring her here. She said it was important," she told Satiness. Both of them turned to Ally.

"Well?" asked Satiness.

"Breeze told me to come to you," explained Ally. "She said you are the only one who knows how to send Lulu back."

All three heads turned in my direction. There was silence. I began to feel uncomfortable under their gazes. Finally, Satiness sighed, and said, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to help."

At that, I found my voice again. "But why?" I more or less screamed in her face.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "but I can't."

"But why?" I repeated, frustrated by the lack of explanation.

"I just can't, okay?" Satiness snapped. "And that's final."

"But, what happened, Satiness?" this time it was Minah who spoke. "You are never so unwilling to help. Just tell us what happened."

"I-," Satiness sighed, looking defeated now. "I've lost my powers."

Ally's jaw dropped open. "Wh-what? How?"

"The queen," Satiness explained.

"She sent her army this morning. They came bursting through my front doors. They surrounded me. I had no time to flee, and no place to run to," Satiness explained. She looked crestfallen. "The last thing I remember before blacking out is one of the men casting a sleep spell over me. When I woke up I felt funny, like I was missing something. I tried a spell, and found that I couldn't. I tested my magic for a long time, reluctant to believe it was gone. It didn't work." She shrugged at the last words, like she had resigned herself to it.

"But that's terrible!" Minah cried. She patted Satiness' hand in a soothing gesture. "But, don't worry. We will get your powers back," she added, with a determined look on her face.

"No matter what it takes," Ally said, taking Satiness' other hand in her own and offering her a slight nod of determination.

Satiness smiled, and gave her head a little shake. She said, "what would I ever do without you two?"

"Crash and burn," Ally said at once. All three of them laughed, then hugged.

"I'm sorry to ruin the moment, but, what about me?" I blurted

"She's right," Satiness said, nodding to the other two, her face serious again. "What about her? Also, how are we meant to find my powers? We don't have much to lead us on."

Ally grinned. "First, we find Breeze"