Candles and Broomsticks

The Liar and His Lover

Don't be fooled by fairy tales.

The evil witch is never the ugly one. The evil witch is always beautiful, near flawless. Enchanting.  Entrancing. Entrapping. They draw you in like a Venus fly trap, smelling sweet and looking like a strange dream. Of course Venus was the goddess of love. So, his love must have been the trap from the beginning. 

I should have seen it.

Our night time patrols... He'd take me out into the dark and kiss me. He'd whisper pretty little nothings in my ear and make me believe them. His eyes would shine like a hex and curse me deeper and deeper into his arms. I was becoming his. It disgusted me how weak he made me, but I kept falling further and further down until I was drowning in him. I was supposed to watch out for danger on those walks. Instead, I was dancing in the woods to the music of two lying hearts. I could see him telling lies through his eyes.

I wish I could think like I did then.

But that night changed everything.

I had been studying late in the library for an English test. I wandered the lonely, stone halls. I don't think I was supposed to be out so late. Each of my footsteps seemed to be like pennies dropped in wishing wells. Wishful footsteps. 

Nighttime exists in its own realm. It is a land where all the dangerous things happen. Anything is allowed. The constrains that sunlight have on our souls in released and our desires and ambitions are loosed like hounds out to torture unsuspecting foxes.

I heard his voice. Tae's. I heard it coming from the potions classroom. I figured he was helping out Sanderson with a late night project. Why wouldn't they want help? I was nearly at the door when I heard her voice. Daphne's.

"She went to the library and asked for the book of prophecies." Daphne sighed. I paused and leaned against the wall, quieting my breathing. "She knows."

"She doesn't know." Taehyung argued. "I've been with her the whole time. If she had suspicions she would have told me."

Not the whole time. I'd been meeting with Winters in some of my free periods to learn about her job and the work that I would need to take over. I didn't tell him that. I wasn't as open and easy to read as he claimed I was. 

"So, she would have had no opportunity to tell Winters what we've been doing to her? You've kept her away from us at night?" Daphne demanded. I felt tears welling up in my eyes and bit my lip. "Giving Raven all this power isn't any good is she knows we killed this many people for it. She won't understand."

My throat tightened and I struggled to suck in my breaths. 

"She doesn't have to understand." Sanderson grumbled. "She doesn't have to know."

"Are we done here?" Taehyung sighed. I ran after that. I ran out into the woods. 

The scent of pines and wet autumn leaves overwhelmed me as I ran deeper into the forest. I stopped and looked around at the trees around me. I sunk to the ground and let myself cry. I let myself wash it all out.

He had been too perfect. He had been everything I wanted. A trap designed to draw me in and keep me complacent. He would go to my room. That was the time we'd decided to meet up for our nightly walk. I knew I should go. I should pretend that I don't know anything. 

I couldn't look into those eyes. He would see me breaking the moment he saw me. His would destroy me before I could make it a step forward. I hugged my knees to my chest and stayed there all night long. 

It was Friday night. Tomorrow I was supposed to be confirmed after my final exam for English.  That's what I told myself as I sat there like a coward, huddled away from everything and everyone. It started raining at about two A.M. and I finally stood up and started wandering around in a pathetic sort of drooped way. Halfway to my room I changed my mind. He would be waiting there for me. I found a bigger tree to hide under and leaned against the trunk.