Omen of War

Chapter 10

Vivien Heartstring (P.O.V)

"Here's your clothes. Try them on. Don't take the tags off in case they don't fit so we can return them and get you new ones." Kane said as he handed me a shirt and a pair of pants.

I took the shirt and pants from him and raised a brow. Was he expecting me to change in front of them? I needed somewhere more private than an alleyway to change my clothes. As if they could read my mind, Kane led me towards the store next door. Inside, the smell of food hit my nose. It smelled like pizza. I hadn't had pizza in so long and I haven't spoken Italian in so long.

Kane gestured to a door just off the main door. He leaned against the window near the door, staring at the menu high above the countertop. Kyrillos stood by the countertop, seeming to flirt with the young woman who was at the counter. She looked like she was being bashful. Adrien and Dwyn were outside leaning against the wall talking to each other.

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. The interior decor of the bathroom was bland. White-tiled floors and muddy-red paint that covered half the wall where the white tiles didn't cover. The floor tiles were a dirty tan and there were pieces of toilet paper lying about on the floor. There was a pungent smell in the bathroom that made my nose wrinkle up in disgust. The toilet was clogged with hopefully just toilet paper. Thankfully, I wasn't here to eat and use the bathroom.

I quickly stripped down and changed into the clothes that I had been given and looked at the mirror to see if it worked for me. The mirror was cracked, disorientating my view of myself in it. The woman standing in the mirror that reflected my movements was older-looking with thin silver strands in her black hair. Her green eyes looked as if they lacked the fire that once sat in them, and her skin was covered in wrinkles and many scars.

The shirt she wore looked unnatural on her as if a young woman was wearing them. The fabric was burgundy and went down to the wrists. The top itself was not V-shaped or u-shaped. It was just a simple circle cut out of the fabric for the head to go through. It sat just along where her collar bone should be.

The pants she wore were slim at the top and widened out towards the bottom. The color itself was a dark shade of blue that matched the burgundy just right. Her shoes were hidden from sight, but I could guess that they were battered and broken from decades of use.

As I went, running my fingers through my hair, the old woman in the mirror moved to run her fingers through her hair. I looked down at the strands in my hair, the elderly woman in the mirror mimicking my every move. Among the black strands in my hair were silver strands. With a frown, I realized the woman I was looking at through the broken mirror was me and that perhaps the mirror wasn't truly broken but instead the perception of what I believed myself to look like.

With a deep breath, I turned my back on the mirror and stepped out of the bathroom, my old worn-down clothes in hand. Kane immediately took the old clothes from me and stepped outside. Kyrillos waved me over and the young woman looked relieved for the young man's attention to be somewhere else for a change.

"Miss, this is my grandma. We're traveling to get her to my aunt and my cousins a few towns over. Do you think perhaps you could help us find a map or something to get to the town we're looking for?" Kyrillos asked as he reached across the countertop and placed his hand on the young woman's hand.

The young woman looked between us uncertainly as she moved her hand out from under Kyrillos's callus hand. She looked nervous and unsettled by how flirtatious Kyrillos was trying to be. Based on this lie of Kyrillos's, I needed to play the part of the grandmother to a flirtatious young man.

"Now Kyrillos, has your mother and father not taught you any manners? That is not the way to speak to any young woman, especially one unnerved by your actions and motives. Be a good boy and apologize to her, will you?" I spoke up, giving the young lady a warm and apologetic smile.