Inked Sapphire (Dear Dahlia Season 3)

17

CONTENT WARNING: Violence, murder, injury detail

Naima kicked a tiny branch away from her. The quiet of the early evening settled over the village. A little way away was Bilal’s shop, but she hadn’t visited since her confrontation with Laiyana.

The snow crunched beneath Naima’s feet. Little white snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and one of them landed on her palm. Naima scoffed and let it melt on the ground.

Winter was always hard. There was less food to harvest, more time spent gathering firewood whilst the wind bit into her cheeks and made her shiver. Tonight, though, the scene was serene, with no breeze. It felt almost eerie.

Naima pulled her hat over her ears anyway, and continued trudging along the path. She stared at the tree where she’d sat all those months ago, when Laiyana had walked up to her and given her the necklace. On remembering it, Naima fiddled with the emerald pendant and sighed, sitting down next to the tree again and letting the snow seep into her coat. She closed her eyes.

“Naima?” a voice asked, just as she was about to fall asleep. Naima opened her eyes and found Laiyana standing there, dressed in a coat with a wooly hat pulled over her ears.

Naima stood up. “I wanted to visit you,” she said honestly. “To say sorry, for not telling you earlier.”
Laiyana looked confused. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“...I was scared,” Naima confessed. She realised it now, with the snow glittering around her and silence blanketing the village. She had not just feared Laiyana’s reaction, but also her own. How would she deal with meeting new people? Would Ravkans like her? Would they sneer at her every time she stepped out of the house?

Naima shook her head and sighed. Laiyana stepped forward, and before Naima could step away, she slipped her hand into hers.

“I’ll write,” she promised.
“Of course you will,” Naima whispered.

The two girls stared at each other in the silence. This close, Naima could count Laiyana’s eyelashes, watching her best friend’s gaze roam over her face.

They stayed like that, hand in hand, relishing each other’s presence, until the sun began to disappear beneath the horizon.

_

In those lonely winter months in Naima’s absence, Laiyana spent more time with the stranger. The second time they met, Laiyana asked her name.
“Sayah,” the blonde replied. Shadow.

Laiyana thought it odd that a Ravkan held an Arabic name, but no matter. The two sat together and planned.

What activities would Naima like? What gifts?
“Something unforgettable,” Laiyana declared. Her voice then dropped to a whisper, a caress carried away by the wind. “Something like her.”

“A game: Let us see who can give her the best gift. We shall surprise her,” Sayah said one day.
“With what?” Laiyana asked.
“We will surprise her,” Sayah repeated. Her green eyes seemed to shine, and Laiyana almost flinched from how intense her friend’s gaze was.
“With what?” the Suli girl repeated.
“That would ruin it,” Sayah teased, a smile playing on her lips.

Laiyana waited until spring, when the snow melted and the flowers bloomed in quiet harmony. Naima was waiting for her by the tree she’d sat under all those months ago, when Laiyana had first given her the emerald necklace.

Despite the knowledge that her best friend would soon leave, Laiyana found herself excited. She clutched her gifts against her heart, which hammered in her chest. As she came to a stop in front of Naima, she noticed how her dark brown eyes watched her, unilluminated against the brightness of the sun behind her. It was the most beautiful thing Laiyana had ever seen.

“I’ll write,” Naima said before Laiyana could speak. The girl smiled at her best friend.
“I have something for you.” Laiyana first presented a bunch of dahlias. They were fresh, and their petals never seemed to wilt. Naima smiled softly and inhaled the flowers’ scent, closing her eyes. She gently held the delicate stalks, and in that moment, Laiyana wished Naima’s hand would hold hers like this.

The next gift was more personal, and Laiyana was proud of it. Naima took the carefully embroidered jacket, marvelling at the beadwork and colours. She then slipped it on, looked up and smiled brightly at Laiyana. “You are going to be such a great seamstress.”
Laiyana blinked, surprised, before a smile graced her lips. She stepped closer to Naima, who was gazing at her.
“I have a gift for you,” Naima said, not breaking eye contact. Laiyana’s heart thumped as Naima took a step forward, flowers in her hand. Her other one caressed Laiyana’s cheek, and Laiyana closed her eyes.

Suddenly, Naima made an awful sound, and her hand dropped. Laiyana’s eyes flew open, and she froze.

Naima’s eyes were wide. Something white and gleaming protruded through her middle, causing blood to spill. She fell forward, and Laiyana caught her in her arms. Crimson soaked Naima’s new jacket, the dahlias that fell from her hand, and the sapphire and emerald necklaces around the two girls’ necks.

“Naima?” Laiyana whispered.

Her best friend inhaled sharply. Laiyana couldn’t hold her weight, and the two slipped down to the ground, Naima in Laiyana’s arms.

“Naima?” Laiyana repeated, her eyes pooling with tears. Naima did not reply. She breathed once, then stilled.

The birds still tweeted, the trees still bloomed, but time had stopped. Laiyana clutched her friend’s body to her, hands shaking, mind whirring, until she heard footsteps.

Laiyana looked up to see Sayah standing over her. She looked pristine, but crimson splattered her dress.

The black-haired girl scrambled back. Naima slipped from her arms. Harsh gasps erupted from her chest. Something between a wail and a scream came from Laiyana’s mouth, a sound of despair that seemed to shake the ground and cause the birds to quiet their song.

“You said it was a game.” Her voice sounded foreign, as if it belonged to a pitiful creature in the woods, and not her own. Laiyana’s hands could not stop shaking as she curled in on herself, staring at Naima’s body, and then at Sayah.

“Yes. A game,” the Ravkan girl replied. Then, she reached into Naima’s chest, the tips of her white claws glinting in the sunlight.

Laiyana could not look away, even as Sayah took Naima’s heart and bit into it, even as the monster she thought her friend chewed on the vessels and the meat, then placed the uneaten half ever so carefully back into the cavity she had just made in Naima’s body.

Then, she stood, and Naima saw Sayah was not a girl at all.

She stood tall, glowing in the sunlight, her green eyes piercing like blades against her pale skin, her blonde hair too bright.

Laiyana watched the adult standing in front of her, then screamed, a howl that echoed through the village and made Sayah vanish.

The Suli girl crawled towards Naima’s body and cradled her in her arms. She screamed again, so hard that she began to lose her voice, this time for Naima, and for the girl Laiyana used to be.