Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
"Get down!" I yelled to Felix, but it was already too late. The tree had shriveled up and died and the branches became too weak to hold our weights. The sound of breaking echoed, and I felt myself tumbling down. I landed slightly on top of Felix and scrambled away from him at once.
"Are you alright?" I asked and looked him up and down.
"I'm fine," he said and sat up, rubbing the back of his head. His eyes fell on the tree and they widened. "What the hell happened?"
Some of the ice in my body melted as a shaky breath left me. I hadn't touched him. Felix was alive, he wasn't hurt. I hadn't killed him.
"Are you alright?" he asked then and turned to me. He got up from the ground to walk over to me, but I pushed myself backwards. Hurried to put a bigger distance between us.
My glove had a hole in it somewhere. The tree was dead. Felix could easily be next. If he reached me... If he tried to take my hand...
He stopped in his tracks. Bewilderment was written all over his face.
"Are you hurt?" he asked and tried to move forward again.
I shook my head and backed some more.
"What's wrong then? Why are you backing away from me?"
I opened my mouth, but no explanation came out. He kept looking all over me, searched for signs of what was wrong. And then finally his eyes landed on something. I followed his gaze, looked down, and saw that my left glove had more than just a small hole. The entire tip of my ring finger was visible. And what was more, there were several small patches of dead grass where I had touched the ground.
His eyes moved from my hand and to the tree and then back again. He looked at the grass and me, my finger, and I could see the puzzle pieces falling into place. How the bewilderment became disbelief. And how he seemed to fight the realization that hit him.
"No," he mumbled and started shaking his head. "No, that can't be true."
"Felix, please..." I started and moved to stand up to get closer to him. I had to convince him I wasn't dangerous, to just say anything to make sure I didn't lose him right then and there.
But that was the dumbest thing I could have done. I stupidly didn't think about my exposed skin and Felix's eyes were on it as I put my hand towards healthy grass. He saw with his own eyes how it withered in a second.
That made him become the one to back away as I got closer.
"Who the hell are you?" His voice was low and shaky, and his eyes did not leave my exposed finger. His vigilance against it was as if he looked at a bomb that might go off any second.
"Please, calm down. I'll explain. I'll tell you everything. Just don't be afraid," I begged. I now stayed in a kneeling position on the ground and desperately tried to figure out what the right thing to say was.
His eyes shot to mine and they felt like knives.
"Afraid?" he laughed coldly. "And calm down? What, should I lower my guard so you can get close enough to touch and kill me, witch?"
The ice within me started to make me tremble. His words were like poison. Like thick, black tar slowly filling my body.
"I would never hurt you. Never! Please, trust me! Felix, I lo..."
"Love me? Your kind isn't capable of such emotions."
My mouth fell slightly open. I couldn't believe it, no I refused to believe what I saw and heard. That hardness and viciousness. He glared at me with his arms crossed, saying hateful words.
That... It wasn't him. It just wasn't my Felix. He was scared, I told myself, and probably hurt because he was realizing all the lies I had told. He didn't actually believe that.
But maybe, a small part of me thought, maybe that is exactly what he thinks.
"You know me, Felix," I whispered, my sight had started to turn misty. "You know me and you should know that's not true."
He shook his head, and a smile that did nothing to soften his eyes appeared on his face.
"Know you?" he snorted. "Now we both know that's a lie. Has anything you've told me actually been true? Doubt that."
"Everything has been true!"
"Right. Like how you have a disease that will make anyone that touches your skin sick? And that I didn't see it! Dad even warned me about you. Hell, he's been warning me about your kind my whole life! And you really are the worst of them all."
At that, he turned to leave, and I quickly scrambled to catch hold of him.
"Please, just listen!" I begged as my hand tried to take his hand, but he pulled away.
"Don't you ever touch me!" he yelled back. "You've been after my dad this whole time, haven't you? Waited for me to introduce you to him? To think that I thought you needed saving when really you're nothing but a monster and a murderer!"
"You told me my heart is good and that no matter what, that wouldn't change," I finally said in a desperate attempt to make him listen. But he laughed an icy laugh.
"That just shows how bad you are. You're a horrible witch that lies and manipulates. A monster and a murderer that deserves to die."
The tears I had suppressed finally broke through, but I also backed off. He was right. I was a monster and a murderer. I was born to kill, that was all I was good at. Wasn't it me that had wanted him to realize that he needed to stay away from me? Why was I fighting it now that I had gotten my wish?
My whole body felt filled by the thick, black tar, and the coldness in my body slowly made it freeze.
"Just... Just stay away from me and my dad, okay?" he said. I looked down at the ground, unable to meet his eyes. "If I ever see you again, I'll have to... Dad wants you dead, so stay away."
I nodded to the ground. He let out a heavy sigh and then came the sound of running footsteps on grass. The coldness within me froze the tar into place, and I doubted that even the brightest summer sun could thaw it.
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