The daylight was dwindling to a barely noticeable lightening of gloom. Dusk was coming sooner than expected and it was time to pull all the curtains close and turn the lights on.
One after the other I checked to make sure that all the windows were closed while getting a view of the trees forming a crazy outline at the quickly approaching silver sky.
I moved towards the living room repeating the same process, I made sure to leave the front door unlocked for when he would return. Checking the last windows in the living room, I proceed to shut the glass doors to the deck.
I took one last look at the now darkening forest through the transparent doors and turned away. Evening was slipping away sooner than expected and the last of the sun's rays was pampered behind hazy gray clouds.
Thump!
I jumped a little, slightly surprised at the sudden noise. I froze for a moment, trying to listen hard if it was just my ears making up sounds of their own. And I was starting to believe it until I heard something fluttering softly from the deck area.
I was starting to get worried because the fluttering seemed to be getting louder the longer I stood there.
Skeptically, I began to make my way to the area where the noise was coming from and as I was rounding a corner my muscles stiffened at the sight of red-paint like spots that had splattered on the door.
Was that...blood?
I drew closer to the glass doors, inspecting the stain that looked as if someone stayed from a distance and sprayed red paint at the upper section of the door. I completely forgot about the sound but that was until, the sound returned and a slight movement from the ground caught my eyes.
I crouched down, and stared at the dead creature sympathetically, laying lifeless on the other side of the deck.
It was a dead crow.
I went to slide the door open to take get rid of it when without warning something else missile into the door and bounced off, dropping smack on the floor beside the dead bird.
I stared in utter disbelief when upon closer look I realized it was another crow, and the two of them seemed to have had the same fate. I was dumbstruck for a moment, if that wasn't creepy I don't want to know what is.
Now I'll have to get rid of two dead birds body.
I went to the kitchen to get get some gloves and a bottle of bleach but again as I was rounding the corner, I stopped midway and stood watching in absolute terror as both birds were on their feet and looking at me through the translucent with dead scarecrow eyes.
The bottle of bleach dropped from my hands and then they flew off in the direction of the forest. I bolted to the door and watched as they both flew in sync then perched on the shoulder of someone.
Wait! Shoulder of someone?
The person stood among two large trees in the darkened forest and if I wasn't looking closely, I would have thought the person was a small tree.
A chill froze me to my spot, at the sense of familiarity. Those ragged clothes, her ghastly figure, how could I forget a person like that. How could I forget the witch?
Our eyes connected and I felt a solid shiver run down my spine. I was beginning to feel a sense of paranoia and an oddly primitive warning sounded in the back of my mind when I saw a sickly smile making its way on her lips.
She turned and headed to the forest, I watched as she took two steps then stopped and looked at me over her shoulders. She wanted me to follow her.
Well she is going to have to continue waiting on me to follow her, because I'm not leaving this house, I thought grimly. However my actions were the complete opposite and soon I was tearing through the woods behind her. Gloomy shrubs hid dangerous creatures but I was running too fast for them to even consider preying on me.
I stopped when I found myself in an open area in the forest and I was starting to think that maybe I was hopelessly lost. But that was until I heard murmuring in the distance, when I moved closer to the sound I was appalled to see light coming from a cave.
I saw movements coming from the inside, so I stealthily made my way closer to the entrance. I was not surprised to see her moving around and doing god-knows what. She turned on her heel and her eyes instantly connected with mine.
"Oh Skyler, I didn't see you there, come in" she said even though her voice came out more as a hiss.
She did not!
I treaded inside infuriated at what she just said, it was obvious she saw me even before I saw her.
"Are you following me?" I blurted out irately while folding my hands over my chest, but she just completely ignored me and continued doing what she was doing. What is with people and ignoring me?
"I don't know what kind of sick crap you're brewing but you're going to tell me and you're going to tell me now" I stated bitterly. She turned to me and I saw when her thin bloodless lips turned up in a sickly sweet smile. What is with her and smiling so creepily.
"Of course dear, but take a seat first" she answered while pulling out a stool for me to sit on. I narrowed my eyes at her while looking between her and the stool then sat awkwardly. But it was only because I was tired from running.
I looked around the cave taking everything, it was quite witchy and packed and it had an arid smell. The cave was in plain sight, which was quite questionable since witches rather to stay hidden.
"How very profoundly private" I said sarcastically.
"I sense anger...give me a second" she remarked then scurried off. After a minute or two I heard her returning and saw her holding a wooden bowl of some sort.
"Here drink this, it will placate the anger" she instructed while placing the bowl in front of me. I stared at her tentatively then looked at the liquid contents in the bowl. I hope this was not poison.
"No its not, and besides if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already" she informed with the same monstrous smile on her face.
My god did I say that out loud.
I picked up the bowl but I still had my doubts and it didn't help that she was looking at me expectantly I turned the bowl to my head and drained its contents, at first it tasted a bit slimy but as it went down it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"What was that?" I asked slightly disgusted.
"Just water...that was soaking snake eyes and bat wings" she replied nonchalantly and I began to gag but nothing would come up. After I calmed down she spoke.
"Why are you so angry" she asked gravelly with a hint of concern, and it left me feeling weary if she actually care or not.
"Because you ruined my life" I almost screamed out. Apart of me knew she didn't really do anything and she only played a small role in the bad situations that I have ended up in but even so I was still angry.
I saw when she tipped her head to the side, her lank and lusterless hair failing to the side like stings of a rotting straw and stared at me puzzled.
"I'm completely lost, what did I do to ruin your life?" she said and I couldn't tell if she was feigning ignorance or if she truly had no idea, so I began to tell her about all that has happened from the time we met in the woods up until now, but completely leaving out being mated to Ares because I didn't trust her like that.
"...and from there my life completely went downhill, he keeps asking me if I'm working for a witch, which is you I'm guessing, and he keeps asking for a specific name and its so maddening" I spoke non stop without catching a breath.
She was just sitting there taking everything in. Truthfully I wanted her to say something anything but what she said afterwards got me feeling like I wanted smack her off the chair.
"Oh" she said uncaringly.
And I just stared at her bewilderedly.
"Oh, is that all you have to say, oh?" I said perplexed. Nope, I wasn't hearing clearly.
"I just confided in you, and 'oh' is all you have to say" Did people just not care about my feelings and she had the audacity to look unfazed.
"Sorry to not say the things you wanted to here, I'm a witch after all, I don't normally tell people things they want to hear but I'm just truly not surprised"
Not surprised?
"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked vexed.
She got up from the stool and I watched her movements like a hawk as she scurried from here to there.
"I'm not surprised he have reacted the way he did towards you since it is a witch that cursed him after all..."
To be continued