Stay True

Chapter 13

She stepped out of the bath, wrapped herself in a towel, and went to the pitcher for a drink of water. She took a sip, then a huge gulp, freezing cold water trickling down her chin and onto her chest. She laughed and wiped it away.

"Oh, I do believe that was the best water I have ever had the pleasure to drink!" she said.

Eve looked at her strangely. Something seemed off about the way she was talking, and she decided to put Clara to the test. Eve could not be too careful.

"You like that better than cranberries?" Eve asked suspiciously.

Clara nodded vehemently. "Oh yes! Far better than the delicious tang of cranberries."

Eve started to raise one eyebrow, but thought better of it. If her suspicions were correct...

She had one more question. "Better than the scent of lilacs?" Eve knew lilacs made Clara cough, so if it were truly Clara then she would say something along the lines of "of course".

Clara paused in thought for a moment, then said, "Who can truly compare a scent and a taste? But yes, this water is even better than the lovely scent of lilacs." She paused, suddenly suspicious. "Why so many questions, Eve? You're never usually so...curious." With that, she dismissed the thought and started towards the wardrobe.

Eve took a step away from her. "You're not Clara."

"Aren't I?" she questioned.

Eve shook her head and moved back a few more steps. "No. Clara hates cranberries, but who loves them? Melanie. Lilacs make Clara cough. But who likes a pot of them in her room? Melanie. Welcome home," Eve sneered. "I thought you would have done more thorough research."

"Very astute!" Melanie said. "You always were a smart little maid."

Eve narrowed her eyes at Melanie. "How dare you! I thought maybe Clara was feeling odd, or had consumed a potion she should not have. Mark my words," she continued. "No matter what it is you've done with her, I'll find her. I will find her, and you will pay if you have hurt my friend!"

"Hm," Melanie said. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but – elewcá!" she screamed.

Eve moved out of the way, and just in time, too, because a giant fireball flew past her and left a starburst of soot on the stone wall. She jumped and checked her skirts for any sign of flame.

It was highly disconcerting to see the face of a friend become this nightmare. Eve managed to dodge all the fireballs Melanie threw her way, and eventually she gave up on trying to char her to bits.

Melanie tried a different tactic. "Gnuteas!" she cried.

Eve backed up until she hit something hard. She looked to her left to see if she could escape that way, when she realized she had not hit a wall. Eve was frozen in midair. That was Melanie's plan. Get Eve so that she could not move and then kill her.

If Eve had not met Clara, she probably would have fainted dead away (pardon the pun) and not even noticed when Melanie set her on fire, or asphyxiated her, or did something else equally horrific.

As it was, however, she had met Clara, and as a result, Eve had become stronger and more confident of herself. She began struggling, but that soon proved to be futile. She was definitely stuck.

Eve tried taunting Melanie. Since she was looking for something to wear (do not think to ever fully understand Melanie's motives) she did not look up.

"Why did you freeze me?" Eve shouted. "Were you just too cowardly to face me without it? Are you really that scared of me, Melanie?"

Once Melanie was dressed, she began to respond. "I'm not afraid." She started strongly, but that was what betrayed her. The way Melanie operated was that she would try to manipulate someone in order to get what she wanted. If she was afraid of something, she would attempt to claim the opposite of that so that the people would doubt themselves, as she did with Eve. If she were not afraid, she would pretend to be because the other person in this situation would doubt her and she would gain the upper hand.