The world is not what you think. Love isn't what it seems to be. Life is a cycle of magic. And Scarlet is the girl who has that magic. Once they called her a halfling, an aberration that shouldn't have existed but now others say she's special.
In a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
There was no furniture inside the room she led me in except for the few cushions piled on the floor and the small cabinet in the corner. A single window looked at the woods behind the house. A candlestick burned on the window sill.
It was because of that candle and the shy moonlight that seeped through the glass that I could see the inside of the place.
Slowly walking towards the pile of cushions on the floor, the woman bent her spine and picked up one.
"Sit down, child," she said, shoving that same cushion into my hands before indicating toward a spot in the middle for me to sit on.
Following her command, I made a seat for myself on the floor, then positioned my rear on the cushion. Looking around the desolate place, I could notice sheets of paper stuck on the white walls.
"Charms," the woman said, sitting in front of me with a grace that seemed unbecoming for her age. "Ward the ill-spirits away."
Trying to keep my face blank, I glanced at her. She looked odd with the white robe she wore and the ghostly appearance she had, however, that didn't automatically turn her into a basket case. Then again, judging by her words as well as the interior of her home looks sure could be deceiving.
"Good Lord, child. It's just a few spells so don't you look at me like I have rats in the attic!" she reprimanded without even glancing my way to confirm her claim.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." I trailed off.
This was just so awkward.
"Never mind. We have more important matters to attend to," she cut off before I could think up something even more genius to include in my apology.
She rolled up her sleeve and a moment later, offered me her palm.
What did she want me to do?
"What are you doing?" I asked, raising a brow at her.
"Come on, child. I'd rather get a proper read on you and get back to bed than waste my time having a pointless chit-chat," she said, leaning closer to me, then grabbed my hand with both of hers.
"Relax now so I can do my thing. We'll talk more in the morrow."
Stifling back a sigh, I obliged to her demands and let her 'get a proper read on me', whatever that meant.
Keeping my eyes on her for minutes long, her own closed with brows furrowed and forehead wrinkled in concentration, I watched her facial muscles slip in and out of different expressions - thoughtfulness, wonder, surprise...
"It has begun," she then whispered through clattering teeth. Her lips took a sudden blue tint like she had been standing outside in the cold for too long.
"What did?"
Lids rising, arctic eyes piercing right through the girl sitting in front of her, the woman looked like a person dying to tell the secrets she'd just discovered; her lips were sealed shut.
"It has begun," she repeated softly, moving her gaze off of me and shading the truths it hid so I couldn't see.
"You're finally changing into what you were meant to be, moon-kissed. You must learn now before..." Shivering in her skin, abruptly she cut off the string of words as if catching herself before she said something she didn't mean to. She shuffled on her spot on the floor, her hands going to her lap almost like she was trying to hide the slight tremors of her flesh.
'Learn what? What am I turning into? Is it that horrible that it's making her tremble like a leaf in front of me?' Palms forming fists, nails piercing the tender skin, I wanted to scream at her, make her tell me everything she knew, everything she saw when she didn't look.
"You must master your gift before you choose," she said and stood up to her feet, the trembling suddenly gone.
"What's your name, moon-kissed?" Motioning for me to rise without even looking at me, she walked to that same door she welcomed me through.
"Scarlet," I answered, standing up then following her.
"Like the color?"
"Exactly."
Turning toward me, those eyes were reflecting the light inside the scarcely illuminated room like two small mirrors made of ice.
"Like the rivers of scarlet that will swamp the earth if you choose wrong, child," she said and opened the door for me.
"What?"
She shook her head then gestured toward the lone figure waiting in the darkness of the garden outside the house. "He's waiting for you."
"He can wait a few more minutes. Now, you tell me what you meant by that instead of feeding me those crumbs of truth."
"Scarlet," she began, her voice turning firmer than it had been a moment ago. "I already said more than I should have, so stop arguing and go before I send you back to your pack."
"I..." I don't have any intention to stay here. "I'm not planning to--"
"Oh, but don't you think that I know what you're here for, Scarlet? Do you think that I know nothing of your intentions? I know all about the choice you already made as well as the choice you'll have to make in the future.
"My eyes, those same eyes that haven't seen the light of the day for thirty years see more of what's in your heart than you can see yourself. I know you better than you know yourself and I know that you need a place to stay now more than ever. A place to hide for the time being and become stronger than the monsters you're going to stand against and fight."
Like a little girl who'd been crying and stomping her feet for the new toy she wanted, it was how I felt in front of this statue of a woman who just wouldn't budge an inch.
"Go with him. Rest and wake up stronger and wiser on the morrow. Trust him to guide you on the next. And trust me to teach you how to use your gift on the next after... It's what you must do now."
Her hand sneaking around me, she gently shoved me out of her place. "Go."
"But I need to--"
"Go. I'll see you on the morrow, moon-kissed!" she snapped at me before closing the door in my face.
"Well, that didn't go as well as expected." A familiar voice sounded from behind me.
Fighting against the sudden urge to turn back and smack him instead I turned and sidestepped him, muttering a soft, "Shut up!" before getting the heck away from the cranky old lady's house.
Without bothering to check if he was following, I knew that he was because, for better or worse, a girl could never escape all the crazy in her life.
