✓ | Girls of a Feather | #OpenNovellaContest2019

| five |

Aleta

"What?" Aleta said, disbelief making her voice shrill. "What are you saying?"

She took another step backward, widening the distance between her and the creature. Birds couldn't talk. They couldn't. And yet this one was.

Maybe this was all just a nightmare. If she ignored the bird, she could return home and climb back into bed. She would wake up again to find that none of this had happened. Annemie would still be fast asleep, her long blond hair fanned out across her pillow and her face tilted toward the window. Smudges of dirt would mar her skin, the only sign that she had ever been gone.

Aleta shut her eyes tight and turned around, slowly starting to make her way back to her house despite the bird's protests.

This isn't real. This isn't real, she reminded herself, focusing on the steadiness of her footsteps.

"Lieveling, please don't leave," the bird pleaded, its tone softening.

Aleta opened her eyes and spun around. Only one person called her lieveling, but she had been gone from the village for years.

Aleta faced the bird, noticing for the first time the lithe curve of its caramel feathers and the delicate touch of its feet.

"Who are you?" she asked, but deep in her heart she already knew. There was no mistaking the speckles of dusty brown smattered across its face like freckles, the honeyed gleam in its beady eyes. "Elke?"

Elke nodded, folding her wings across her chest.

"It's been a while, lieveling," she said, her frustration melting into a friendly smile. "But I'm afraid we don't have much time to talk. I really do need your help."

Aleta's heart thudded painfully, pressing up against her ribcage.

"What's happened to Annemie?" she asked. "Why isn't she back yet?"

Elke shifted on the branch, looking everywhere but at Aleta.

Anxiety shivered its way into Aleta's heart. Elke would have answered if her sister was alright.

"You remember the story of Antsje Pluk?" the bird began.

"Ja, of course," Aleta frowned. She didn't see how a children's fairytale had anything to do with her sister's disappearance.

"It's not just a story," Elke whispered, watching as understanding sunk into Aleta's face.

"No," Aleta said, shaking her head firmly. "Antsje Pluk can't be real. She can't be!"

But as much as she tried to deny it, Aleta couldn't ignore the truth. Ever since Mam had warned her of the heks haunting the woods, she had always believed the witch was out there, waiting to devour her - or worse, her sister.

Aleta prided herself on having a plan for everything, but she didn't have one for this.

"What do I do?" she whispered, turning her pleading eyes to Elke. "How can I fix this?"

The bird narrowed her eyes and cocked her head, as if she were gauging Aleta's capabilities.

"You need to get her," she said finally. "You need to go into the woods."

"I can't," Aleta balked, her voice rising. "I can't! I'm not brave enough."

"You have to be," Elke said, her tone firm but sympathetic. "You have to do it for Annemie, and for the rest of us."

"I can't," Aleta repeated, but the protest sounded weak, even to herself. She knew she couldn't stay when her sister was in danger.

Only a tip of the sun remained below the horizon. Elke lifted her head, staring into its blazing face.