Ruined

Chapter 4

 this is Chapter 4. I love getting comments, so please comment/ vote/ fan!

 Ruined

Chapter 4

Small beads were scattered throughout its flaming red hair. A small wrinkled hand reached over and grasped one of the many orbs. Placing it on the table in its dainty stand she stared down it to it. Fog whirled around, forming symmetrical shapes every so often. The creature sitting across from Alethia was indeed a gypsy.

*

Clara strode across the square. As she reached the center she noticed a small fountain. Quickly she walked towards it, desperate to escape the crowd. Clara sat upon the edge of the fountains basin, resting her feet out in front of her.

A load gasp escaped the crowd, and a shrill scream resulted. Clara glanced around uneasily. The attention seemed to be focused on her. To her dismay someone stepped forward and confronted her.

A large copper cross encrusted with stones hung by a thin chain, low around his neck. White robes billowed out around him as he approached Clara. A grim expression clung to his face, and it was short lived as it changed into disgust.

He made an attempt to smile at her before he spoke, “Do you know where you are Miss?”

“Yes, I’m in Acasa,” Clara replied calmly.

“No, I mean where you are sitting Miss,” he said, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Would you care to enlighten me on that issue?” she snapped back at him.

“Miss, you are sitting on an unholy place,” he told her.

“What?” she asked.

“This is the place where a person is placed who is suspected to be non-human. If they drown then they are innocent Miss, if not, then they are burned at the cross,” he stated.

Clara’s eyes widened as shock spread across her face; followed by a questioning look from the man. ‘He is a priest’, Clara thought in her head, ‘this is bad’ was next to follow.

*

“Would you like your fortune read?” the gypsy asked Ali. Slowly she nodded, and the gypsy proceeded.

Several minutes later, after watching the fortune teller stare into the crystal ball she finally spoke, “What do you see?” she asked.

“Danger,” murmured the gypsy. “Death, pain,” it continued. “But in the end,” it paused before continuing.

*

A small child ran past Clara, fleeing its sibling who was close behind. As the second child ran past, it stumbled over Clara’s outstretched legs. It landed with a thud on the ground, a short whimper left it mouth as its knees and elbows acquired several scrapes.

Clara slipped on the smooth stone wall, and fell over the edge, into the unholy water. As she emerged, spluttering, loud screams hurtled through the air towards her. Most of them were things like “She’s a non-human!” or “Burn her until her blood boils!”

“Silence!” the priests voice boomed over the rest, who fell quiet immediately. “What are you girl?” he snarled at Clara, all of the respect in his voice from earlier had vanished. Clara ignored his question. She stood up in the pool of water, and stepped over the wall. She landed gracefully on the other side, and then turned to the priest. “I said, what are you?” he demanded again.

“Something you honour above all else,” she replied, then turned on her heel and walked off to find Ali.

A firm hand gripped her dainty shoulder and restrained from moving. She spun around, only to see the priest standing there. “You have the scars,” he whispered in Clara’s ear. She shrugged out of his grasp, and stared him in the eye.

“Yes, I have the scars,” she muttered back before stepping away and disappearing into the crowd.

Clara reached the center of the square where Ali had told her to wait. She sat down on a straw bale that was by the large double doors of the sable. The old barn had peeling red paint with white trim. It reminded her of a barn you might find in a fairy tale. She sat there twiddling her thumbs as she waited for Ali to return.