Duplicity » h.s. au

one

I crouched behind a large dumpster that smelled so rank I had to pinch my nose with my fingers just to keep the smell from entering my nostrils. I waited for the boy, who looked to be around the same age as me, to drop his bike on his lawn, so I could come out from my hiding place and snatch it. Finally he set the bike down and ran inside his little house. I slowly emerged from behind the dumpster and grabbed the bike, and ran away as fast as I could with it, but not before placing a small token of appreciation on his lawn, where the boy would soon come to look for his bike, only to come to the realization that it was missing.
Crossing the border came with much ease, seeing as I had my whole life to practice, and I carried with me, a bag that looked small, but was yards deep on the inside. The entrance to Limbo was quite stunning. It was a wooden door, rich in color, with glass panes that revealed the astonishing lights that were just behind it. To the ordinary eye, this would appear to be just a simple wooden door bolted onto the side of a concrete building for no reason. There were doors like this scattered around the whole world, serving no purpose to the human world.
~
"Penthesilea Elpída!" My Grandmother scolded.
"you've got to be careful next time you go and take someone's belongings!"
"There's already an article written about that bike you stole from that human!" She hissed the word as if it tasted putrid.
"See for yourself," She held the article up to my face; I took one glance at the article before I began feeling bad for the boy that I had taken the bike from. I shook it off. I told myself there was no reason to feel empathy towards those evil creatures, known for death and destruction.
"You know what could happen if a human saw what you were doing with these things."
"Yes, I'm very sorry," I looked down at my fidgeting hands, not wanting to look up to see those flaxen, cat-like eyes scorching disappointment into my flesh, feeling the glare was enough.
"Look at me Pen," she sighed, noticing my discomfort. She placed her index finger beneath my chin to force eye contact.
"I'm sorry I yelled, I really am just looking out for you." Her soft features settled, showing her years. Her skin was slightly wrinkled and worn, almost leathery, like the stories I had found bound in chimera hide. Her pointed ears out on full display, with her vermillion hair tucked behind them.
"I know, I know, thank you," I nodded and gently smiled. She placed a slender hand on my upper back and began to lead me somewhere I was very familiar with. We walked along the small gravel road, lined with stacks upon stacks of brown buildings, the colors ranging between almost black to a light beige, each level getting smaller as the buildings got higher. I gazed up at the sky, it was orange, indicating that the soil was rich in iron, and the trees were almost finished molting their leaves. The old leaves that sat melting into a puddle of green, were being replaced by new, honey yellow ones on a few of the large lengths of wooden branches, and on others, a pink so pale, I sometimes forgot they weren't white.
~
"Thank you for the tea Granny, but I really must be going," I peered at her while I set the ceramic mug back onto her kitchen table. I began to sit up, before she roughly grabbed me by the arm.
"Pen, be careful out there, I'm tellin' ya, those horrible people are merciless when they find out you're different, don't let them find out you're different." After she let go, she let out a large sigh and shooed me out the door.
~
I thought about what my Grandmother said while I walked back to my apartment, which was much larger than the houses back in Limbo. My eyes were watching my feet walk along the cobblestone path, and before I had any time to move out of the way, I ran straight into a wall, that wasn't a wall, because it was a man. Of course I decided to fall flat on my arse, the one time I would be embarrassed about it the most. I scolded myself before looking up, only to find myself gazing into the prettiest pair of green eyes I had ever seen.
The man held his hand out to me, helping me off the damp, muddy ground, a look of concern plastered across his face as the beautiful words came spilling out of his mouth. A noise so sweet, not even the taste of honeydew in the spring could compare. The words bounced around my ear canals, licking every corner of my brain leaving me wondering why this boy, out of so many others, was the one I would begin to love the most.
"I am so sorry love, are you hurt!?"

A/N Hope you all are enjoying so far. Everyone meet Harry, Harry, meet everyone.
xoxo ~ izzy