The Enchanted

Chapter-7

"S...Sorry." I stammered. My mind immediately conjured up the hallucination of the hand in his car, and despite myself, I felt afraid.


"It's quite alright." he said, sounding amused.

I smiled at him nervously and tried to edge past him when he caught my wrist.

"Is everything okay? You don't look so good."

"What do you mean?" I asked my voice feeling unnaturally high.

"It's just that- you look scared."

"Oh no, not at all." I laughed nervously. "It's really quite late and I have to..."

"What do we have here?" a voice rang out from behind us, startling me. Ethan let go of my wrist and I slowly turned around. A gorgeous female stood before us- the male counterpart of Ethan. She was really tall with the same midnight hair as Ethan but she lacked the startling icy blue of his eyes. Hers were a pretty shade of blue that was not as breathtaking as Ethan's eyes, but still beautiful. With my dark eyes and brown hair, I began to feel exceedingly plain. I was usually confident about myself but she made me feel a little doubtful. 

"Adriana, meet my sister Elara." said Ethan.

Elara smiled at me brightly.

"Ah, you must be the new girl everyone has been talking about. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I didn't even know Ethan had a sister, but I am still thrilled to meet you." I said, smiling at her.

She laughed and engulfed me in a hug, nearly making me stumble. I was expecting to be choked by a huge cloud of expensive perfume but to my surprise, she didn't seem to be wearing one at all. In fact, she seemed to have no scent of her own. It felt a little weird to me because everyone I met seemed to give off a scent, no matter how faint. 

"Ethan told me all about how your car broke down the other day." said Elara, distracting me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, I was pretty lucky he was there to help..." I started to say when she interrupted me.

"You must simply come visit us someday. We live near the old mill. I will text you the details if you give me your number."

"Um, I don't wish to impose..." I said lamely, trying to think of some excuse. I was pretty sure the hand in the back of his car was a hallucination but for some reason, it had really freaked me out.

"Elara..." Ethan cautioned.

Even though I had no wish to go, it hurt me to see Ethan felt the same way.

"Do you know anyone in town well?" asked Elara, ignoring him.

"I know Sabrina, my neighbour..."

"Oh, Sabrina! She is too sweet. She will direct you to our house. She knows it well."

"But..."

"See you on Wednesday then, at eight."

"But..."

"It was lovely seeing you Adriana but we simply have to rush now. Be there on time!" she said, racing towards Ethan's car and settling in. He hesitated and then looked at me.

"You don't have to come if you don't wish to, you know." he said.

"Oh no, I told your sister I would be there. It's fine if you don't want me to, I can cancel..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"It would be a pleasure if you came. See you there." he smiled a little and just like that, he was gone.

I just stood there and blinked. My phone buzzed in my pocket and saw a text from my mom asking me to call her. I shoved it back in my pocket and hurried inside to find Sabrina. I pushed past the sweaty bodies of people dancing, wincing in disgust. I felt unclean and suffocated and just wanted out of here.

I saw Sabrina and Sharon dancing together and went up to them.

"Sabrina, I am ready to go." I said breathlessly.

"So soon?" said Sharon pouting.

"Please, I just..."

"Stay." she said and continued on dancing.

I took in a deep breath and tried to calm myself. For some reason, I wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible. I don't know whether it was claustrophobia or something else, but visions of the hallucinations of the past few days washed over me with such a force that I bent over gasping for breath.

My skin was crawling with revulsion and with gritted teeth, I forced myself to stay conscious. The hand in Ethan's car, the old woman, the howls, the screams. The thought of the rabbit nearly made me hurl. I gasped for air, trying to regain control of myself. 

Shooting out my arm, I gripped Sabrina's shoulder and locked eyes with her.

"I want out. Now."

It wasn't an order but a request and Sabrina seemed to understand. She started walking towards the front door. Sharon looked dismayed, but it couldn't be helped. So much for first impressions.

We climbed in the car and Sabrina started driving. I lowered the window, feeling the cool air on my face.
It took me some time to calm down and when I did, I realised I should apologise to Sabrina for my behaviour.

"I am sorry for dragging you out like that." I said after. My voice sounded tired even to me. "I would have stayed but I wasn't feeling very well. I know you meant the best, taking me out to meet your friends. I am sorry for spoiling your evening..."

"Don't be." she said, giving me a half-smile. "I could see it was serious. I was just feeling irresponsible for having let you drink so much tonight when you have to work tomorrow..."

She looked genuinely concerned and I heaved a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't mad at me.

"I didn't drink." I said, interrupting her. "It's something else."

She raised her eyebrows. When I didn't answer, she spoke.

"Well? What's it then?"

"I wish I knew." I muttered, leaning my head against the car window. "But I have no clue."