The Immortal story and forbidden love with the Enchantress

Chapter One an intriguing offer

I felt a strange energy rise from me not long from when I moved to this town Facinare and began working as an art therapist for children and adults, but I’ll get into that more later.  I have always found that all types of art really help to express our inner minds, thoughts, feeling and emotions. I also encourage my clients to write poems, letters, sing and practically anything that they feel best to describe what it is they are feeling.

Before, an art therapist would help those express themselves with their art, but I changed that, I allow my clients to express themselves in any way that they feel comfortable. I think it is great that there are more centres opening to help support mental health and well being, I feel as though we’ve needed to make vital changes to the way we express and deal with mental health.

As it is just as much a part of ourselves as any limb or body apart. My job is to be able to support anyone I can to feel better about the uniqueness they possess. I also love philosophy, psychology, and sociology so these really come in handy too haha. Lately I have felt a little different, I still love my work and everything but like it is hard to explain but since I’ve been working as an art therapist I’ve felt this growing energy inside me, and it sometimes feels so powerful.

 It begins accumulating in my stomach this warm rich feeling and then it begins to rise like a gas through my whole body and in waves seeps out of my body and I feel its warmth surround my entire body. This tends to happen randomly but especially when I am connecting with my clients.

Isn’t it strange that over 90 percent of how we communicate is through body language? I feel that it also has something to do with the energies we sense up from each other, you know like when someone enters the room and sometimes they carry a strong presence or maybe they are just angry? Yeah that’s what I mean although with me and my energy I notice that when I look men in the eyes and this energy increases they start acting strange, they lose their words and become almost frozen and stare into my eyes.

 I feel myself hypnotising them and it is like I have no control over it sometimes. At first I was enjoying this new feeling and its effects on people but nearly every guy I would try it on their behaviour would completely change as though they were under a spell… So, I’ve stopped doing it, I just feel like it’s wrong. It got the point when one of my clients tried to kiss me, and that’s when I realised that I was messing with people’s heads too much, I don’t know, maybe it was the signals I was sending, I can’t actually hypnotise anyone.. I think. My client came and apologised to me, saying he did not know what came over him, after all he had a girlfriend he’s been with for four years… he’d always talk to me about how beautiful he found her…

I was literally sitting at my desk admiring one of my walls filled with all the paintings and pieces of other artwork given to by some of my clients when I got the strange feeling someone was in my office. I was turning my chair slowly towards the door to see it closing gently on its own and suddenly my office chair was spun around and leaning over me with one hand atop of my chair was my boss. She had a small smirk on her face the edges of her mouth was sharp and painted with a rosy blood shade of red, her snow white hair was gliding off of her shoulders one by one and I met her light sea blue eyes instantly. Marea is an interesting woman, she looks young but for some reason seems old and wise at the same time. She always has her hair in the same style, it’s always reached her waist and would sit just a little passed her shoulders, she keeps it in a neat side parting and her hair always carries perfect volume and sheen. It appeared to have almost a light fluffy appearance but looked like there was a lot of it. She always came to work in a white open neck shirt with a dark blue blazer and dark blue pencil skirt always keeping her white shirt crisp and perfectly tucked in. This was her exact appearance as she let go of my chair and sat in the wooden one opposite me. She sat with her long legs crossed, her arms resting on the chair’s while she tilted her head with pure confidence, she said to me

“I hope you let your clients sit in the comfy office chair you’re in” she smirked as she said it then bent towards me and said,  “ Lisa we need to talk.” She spoke smoothly with a well-spoken elegance, Marea is very beautiful, the beauty lies in the way she moves and talks and even the way she looks after her appearance. Her facial expression was stone and she leaned back with her head held at an angle where she could look down into my eyes as if waiting for a response, I answered

“Well I always sit in the chair you’re sitting in to help my clients feel comfortable, the kids love it, they call it the “spiny chair” I nervously laugh, Marea was quite intimidating and she knew it, but she was confident and has a strong energy that somehow made you feel both unsettled and uncomfortable. Then the thoughts began to swarm my mind, is she hear to question anything odd she could have suspected between me and my clients?, she has short meetings with them usually to make sure they are okay after our meetings.  She tilted her head back a bit more and to my surprise she smiled! You never know what her looks really mean, she’s really hard to read no matter how well you’re trained to read expression.

“Yes, I know. But I haven’t come to you to discuss whether you give your clients the spiny chair or not. I actually came here to tell you how impressed I am at your progress here.  You’ve been doing really well and the majority of your reports and individual cases are showing some promise.”  She now was sitting forward nodding her head with serious eyes and a small smile, the light reflected off of her hair creating a bright shine across her head, it appeared halo like, even her light skin glowed as she nodded in approval.

“ Oh, thank you Miss Withers that makes me really happy, I’m happy to see my clients making such great progress, they’re all such fascinating people and I can’t wait to see where the future should take them I just hope that it will be good.”

“Yes, I believe it will Lisa, and I believe it will be all because of your support, I’m really glad I took you on, and for a young girl of just twenty too. It is all quite impressive. But I think to truly test your ability you will need a bit of a challenge. What do you say Lisa? Will you accept a bit more of a challenge?” she asked looking slightly desperate, but the look changed as quickly as it came…interesting

More of a challenge? But the clients I deal with daily are a challenge believe me, getting someone to open up when they know that’s what you want them to do is harder than you might think. Sometimes it takes at least five or six sessions before I begin to hear anything, so the challenging part is being patient and it’s harder when you know there’s something wrong… But this is Marea Withers, I don’t want to say no especially after her compliments this could be good for me after all, and better if I can help more people that would be good for them. I respond with

“Erm, sure I think a challenge may be just what I need, aha, so did you have some people in mind? And thank you Miss Withers for your support of my work and the compliment means a lot.” I say as I feel my cheeks burn a little.

Miss Withers lays back in the chair with smooth poise and looks down as she says, “ It appears you have quite an effect on your clients.” A brief pause… one ..two..

“particularly with the men.” She said that as her eyes flickered up straight into mine, there was no expression on her face but there clearly was on mine because at this point my cheeks were burning so hard I had to bite my bottom lip to distract myself from the blushing. Oh god is she going to fire me for seducing the men I’ve worked with arghhh what do, I SAY?! Oh god is she just teasing me about how good I am only to say how disappointed she is with the way … my thoughts are cut off she’s taking

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice every man I’ve sent to you has clearly felt something for you, it is as though you’ve enchanted them like an enchantress.” She turns to face me completely bending forward again with her hands on her lap.  “ It’s written all over their faces and I know you are very skilled at reading body language so I know you know what I mean, just looking into your eyes I can see you know exactly what I mean Miss Storm.”

Dam it, this is so awkward…

A beat

“Lisa, I want to assign a challenge to you because this man..”

Oh, so a man

“He is great trouble; he just goes around doing what he pleases and using people’s hearts to get what he wants out of them.” She watched my face for my reaction as she spoke “I’m concerned with the way he treats women and others around him. He used to be creative loved painting, I think he needs your encouragement and your therapy.”

“Okay so you want me to make him describe what he feels? Perhaps he’s doing this because he is hurting.”

“Well, the truth is I don’t know because he won’t open up to me and I can’t stand watching as his heart turns cold, he throws parties to distract him from his grief..” she said this all so fast, she looked distant now, looking off to the side of the room her eyes looked concerned and sad, it was as if this man she spoke about was standing in her view.

“Miss Wither’s you are clearly concerned about this man, do you love him?”

“Why, yes I do.”

“So then why would you want to send this man to me? If you love him why don’t you try helping him.”

“Oh, dear Lisa, I’ve tried everything, but what he needs is a young face someone to remind him that he is alive and living, someone with true compassion. He’s a truly passionate man, loves art and all things that are beautiful.” She says all of this in a sombre tone but then her eyes light up and flick back to me “Lisa you are perfect! You’ll get him to open up”

But doesn’t she see that see how perfect she is, she’s so beautiful and has credentials for these kinds of matters. What’s more is why would she turn to me? There’s plenty of beautiful fun-loving women that work here like Michelle for example. But I can’t help feeling sorry for this man, perhaps he really needs help.

“He sounds like he has trouble connecting with women perhaps, I really don’t see why you can’t help him, it sounds like you’re deeply in love with him. But you say he uses women at his parties? Perhaps you should avoid him, he should treat women better.” Suddenly Miss Withers uncrosses her legs and lets out a loud shrilly laugh she swung her head back letting her white hair dangle at the back of the chair. Her teeth were so white I thought the colour reminded me of the inside of a fresh porcelain mug.

“Oh god that was so funny.” She said wiping a tear from her light blue eye she looked at me grinning now, I grinned back happy that she was smiling again and not looking so sad anymore.

“Lisa, this is my brother we’re talking about! Sorry I should have been more specific; you are right though he needs to respect women better. So, I’ve managed to convince him to come here for therapy, he needs to learn to open up again.” She laughed at herself then composed herself sitting up straight and crossing her legs again with her arms across the arm rests. In that moment you wouldn’t have believed a woman of her stature let out such an outburst at all. She looked mischievous as though she was plotting something in her head.

“This is rather a serious matter Lisa, and I feel you would be perfect at getting my brother to fall in love with life again. I am asking this of you as a personal favour and because I really like you Lisa, you’re a good person with a true heart, always remember that. I will send him in at 12am sharp tomorrow, you will have exactly six months to evaluate him. That is all the time he is able to give me.. “ he abruptly stood up and put her hand out to me as to seal this deal. “will you do it? I will triple your pay.”

“Oh no you won’t have to do that, consider it a favour, a friendly favour Miss Withers. “ I reached out my hand to shake it and she took it in an instant while saying.

“Call me Marea.”

And with a warm smile she paused then walked out of my office.

I hear a knock at the door Anna pokes her head around the door, she’s Marea’s personal assistant, she has golden blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, she’s tall and slender, she looks like she could be a model. She often wears a sleeveless skin-tight black dress, and expensive pearls. She often wore her hair down and straight in a side parting, but her hair wasn’t as silky or half as voluminous as Marea’s hair. Me and Michelle call her the posh snob because she often holds her head as though she is balancing her head on an invisible slate, and always looks down on us quite literally.

“Your appointment with Erin Withers is at twelve o’clock tomorrow morning.”

I went to say thank her, but she left before I could even open my mouth… What did I expect she always acts like that.