The Scot

Chapter 1

Walking briskly down the busy street, she wrapped the jumper around her midsection tightly to ward off the cool gust of wind that seemed to be penetrating her skin. Muttering curses at the unusual change in the weather she increased her pace. She was almost jogging now which was kind of tricky with her blasted boots. The boots had long ago become the bane of her existence. They were a size too small. When she was buying them they were tight but the damn shop did not have a bigger size and the shoes were to pretty to give up on. Now, however she was regretting her decision of buying these shoes. Sadly they were going to be discarded. All of a sudden little white flakes started falling from the sky. Snow! Just what the day needed.

 Everything had been going wrong since this morning. First the alarm did not ring. Next she was late for work and had to listen to a healthy dose of lecture from her superior about the demerits of being late. Then her shift was changed from pediatrics to the emergency ward. Which meant that now she had to work under Dr. Gargoyle which was more challenging than the patients in the emergency section. The day had been long and dragging with one emergency case after the other. It seemed everyone was having all kinds of accidents today because they knew that she was going to be the doctor on duty. First there was a patient with glass stuck in his right arm, then there was man who had come to emergency for having a s*x toy up his rear. And if the day could not get any worse she nearly had two patient who flat-lined on her watch and she had to revive them. And all during the day her shoes had been scraping her feet and they were bleeding now. And worst of all it was snowing. It had been a long day indeed.

During all this Ariel had finally arrived at her house. She opened the door by pushing in the code and walked inside her freezing and frigid room. She huffed out a breath and it came out as a thick fog. After turning on the light she immediately removed her shoes and socks which were by now soaked. She limped towards the sofa and plopped down with a thunk. Heaving another sigh she inspected her throbbing feet. They were bleeding indeed. The back of her feet were scraped and blood was clotted there, as for the thumbs they were swollen and aching. She quickly treated and feet and also took a painkiller for the pain. She then put her head on the back of the sofa and dozed off.

Getting off the sofa she trudged towards the washroom and washed up and then changed her clothes to a nightwear and went to sleep.

The next morning she woke up at 4 o clock. Her shift started at 6 and she couldn't afford to be late again. Quickly she completed all her morning rituals and was on her way towards the hospital. While walking towards the hospital she passed the antique shop.She stopped for a minute to admire it as she always did. A thought struck her all of a sudden. Looking at her watch and noticing that she still had a half hour before her shift at the hospital started and the walk only took 10 minutes from her home she entered the antique shop. Upon opening the shop the bell at the door sounded quite loudly in the quiet shop. She winced at the sound and walked inside. She looked at her surrounding with awe and admiration. Antiques had always held a fascination to her and she had sometimes wondered at the story behind an antique by looking at the cracks and scars it had. She had always been practical about life. But regarding antiques she was a fanatic. Walking around the shop she looked around, her head whipping from right to left to moving in circles. Something glistened in the light of the rising sun. It caught her eye and she walked towards the source. 

Her breath hitched. She was awestruck. It was simply so beautiful.

It was a copper heart necklace. Along it was a luckenbooth. Both were entwined around each other as if they couldn't stand to be separated. She peered down towards the case to look at it closely when she heard a frail but booming voice behind her. "Souls that can never be parted. Time holds no difference for them." She whirled around and stared at the wiry old man with black penetrating eyes. She averted her eyes from his all-knowing eyes. 

"What are they?" Ariel asked.

"A luckenbooth and a necklace." The man replied in a matter of fact voice.

Ariel rolled her eyes at his tone. And turned again to stare at the exquisite pieces of jewelry. "Do you want them?" The old man again interrupted her staring session. How much are they?" "For you they are free." "Free?" she asked incredulously. "But they are a pair. You can't get one and discard the other." The man replied, completely ignoring her startled expression.

"You said they are free?!" She again said.

"I said they are free for you." "Why? You don't know me. Why give me something for free? This is the first time I have ever visited your shop." Ariel rambled out her response.

"Doesn't matter. I'll pack them for you." was the reply given to her rambling and then she saw the man pack both the jewelry pieces deftly and shoved the packet in her hand. Ariel was still looking at the man dumbstruck. She tried to refuse his offering but all he said was, "This will bring love to you. Don't ever lose it. Guard it with your heart. However, everything comes with a price and the price for this," the man pointed to the wrapped packet in her hand, "is your life." With that he nearly shoved her out of his shop. 

Regaining her senses she again went inside the shop but the old man had all but disappeared. As if he never existed. Irritated, with her mesmerized brain she shook her head and looked at her watch. She only had 10 minutes! 

She hurried her steps towards the hospital trying to forget the strange incident that just happened. She walked inside the hospital and towards the changing rooms for the residents. She quickly changed. 

When she opened the revolving doors her head and ears were ringing with the old man's voice. "Everything comes with a price and the price for this is your life."