The Brand of The Blood Moon

Chapter 3

I was back at Onni's house. Everything seemed so real. Too real. Oh, I remember this moment. I turned my head to see Kensley in the kitchen. She was struggling a little with all the ingredients, and a sense of relief washed over me. She was fine. She was with me where she was supposed to be.

Onni had an abundance of herbs across her entire kitchen, and you would think the kitchen was a greenhouse if you didn't know better. The morning light would be broken up into small rays by the glass of the window. The scattered honey glow would shine through thin leaves making the whole room look an emerald green. Kensley's wispy frizzy was pulled into a disheveled bun, and the sun made her golden hair more vibrant. Her bun leaned awkwardly towards her face, but she looked as if she didn't mind much. Her eyes were only focused on the large wooden table of supplies in front of her.

"No no no silly. You must grind the herbs first before you mix with the water." I scurried into the kitchen from behind the door frame where I was spying on her. When I reached for the bowl to direct her, she moved her hands. In fear? Maybe I was being too friendly with her? She did just arrive here. She tucked her hands away in her apron pockets defensively. Her face turned a hot cherry color, and I realized the problem. She was embarrassed of the way her hands looked.  She tucked them in the pockets so tight in hope her gesture would lock away her own insecurities. She tried not to make eye contact with me, and it just broke my heart. I always realize how intrusive my personality can be at the last moment. I can be way too headstrong at times.

"I am sorry. My name is Alira. I just see you working all alone most of the time and I wanted to help. I don't want you to be lonely, that's all." She was just so adorable when she worked hard. She still had so much to learn about being a healer, and I wanted to make her feel more at home than at work.

She nodded with a small smile on her face, "Thank you." Kensley whispered in my ear before focusing back on the medicine. She separated her ingredients again into small clay bowls to start grinding the herbs correctly.

"Of course kid. I promise I will always be there to help you. You can talk to me about anything." I replied. Her face lit up with excitement once I uttered out the "anything" part. She rocked back and forth on her feet- shifting her body weight from her toes to her heels. "Do you have something to talk about?"

"Umm, it's so very nice to finally meet you. I've heard many stories of your kind." She said shyly. There was a long pause, and I half-expected her to go on. She didn't. I looked down at my body to see what she was referring to, and I only came to the conclusion that she was talking about my skin color. Not many people from the east looked the way I do, and as I child, people would always find it "fascinating".

"Are you talking about...?" I pointed to my skin, and her face turned even more red.

"No, no, no. I mean, umm." She looked up at the ceiling as if she were trying to find the right words to say, but she only shook her head at whatever was there. "I mean that... My people tell stories about kind humans like yourself and Onni. Torana is another story..." She trailed off. I knew that that wasn't what she really wanted to say, but I could only burst out laughing at her inquisition. It was nice to know that she didn't hate me and hated Torana instead.

"So you don't like her either, huh? Don't worry, she mellows out whenever she's eating. She can't talk as much." My facial muscles crept into another large smile. We were gonna get along with each other just fine.

The scene changed suddenly. I was still in the same place, but it was off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but this didn't occur when this actually happened in the past. The plants around us looked somber, as if the sun had dried up all of their water. The kind golden rays once before zoned onto Kensley's face. Hideous scratch marks could be seen down her face, and her face looked red and puffy from crying.

"You didn't help me!" Her frail voice screamed accusingly. "You're. A. LIAR!" Her body lit in flames. This couldn't be a dream. This can't be a dream, but the smell of burning flesh was so pungent. The screams pierced my ears the way a sword in the real world, but her words were much sharper. The plants seemed to die at a more rapid pace in front of my very eyes, and the sun was nowhere to be seen through the window. The fire from Kensley's body spread across the kitchen, and I sucked deeper and deeper into the pain. How the flames seemed to stab me throughout my body. I crawled toward Kensley. Trying to be with her in her last moment. I hovered over her body, but once I touched her, she disappeared along with the flames, the kitchen, and everything else. There was nothing. Nothing at all. Just a void of as black as ink. 

"I am sorry!" I screamed back at the void. "I'm so so sorry". I dropped to my knees. My legs not taking the weight of her words on my heart. My tears caused a small pool in front of me to appear. It was a trick of my own mind. The only time I can see Kensley is in my dreams, and even that is not enough. I didn't help her like I promised. She died because those men were looking for me. It was my fault.

"Some things come and go, but love is truly forever." A deep voice answered out. There was a man before her. To comfort her? If that were true, nothing about his voice or presence made her relaxed. He was engulfed in flames just like Kensley. "Death is a vicious cycle, but we always seem to break through it." His face was all black from the fire burning him, but he still smiled. When he did, you can see some of his skull poke through the tears in his burnt skin. His hand reached out to mine. Urging me to take it, and for some reason, I wanted to so badly. I wanted my pain to go away. I wanted to forget. I wanted to sink into the darkness around me, but to be guided by the light that was in front of me. To be led by the burning man in a world that you could only drown in your own sorrows. I didn't realize my hand was already reaching towards him until I touched his hand. My pain didn't seize like I wanted. It only grew more intense. My stomach churned and my body felt limp. With all my energy, I yanked my hand away from the burning man. I could see the outline of his smile through the flames as he vanished. The darkness swallowed him like how it swallowed me. I shut my eyes so hard hoping that when I opened them again I would see Kensley's sweet face.

"Find the oracle. Promise me." A voice called out.

__________

When she opened her eyes to see Kensley she was back in the red tent covered in sweat. The candles around her were blown out, and the sun was just yet to make its appearance in the blue sky. She felt as if she couldn't get up anymore. Her body wanted her to stay down with the earth, and cradle her back to sleep like the night before, but it wasn't the same. Her body was able to sleep, but she was not going to rest until she fulfilled her promise to Kensley.