Illusion and Reality

20 questions

"Why was your picture in the envelope? Why were you wearing a ball gown in that picture? Why were you wearing purple contacts? How did he even get the picture?" Lily paced in her room as she rambled about the stuff.

I opened my mouth to answer but she cut me off, "Oh my goodness, he is a stalker who is obsessed with you."

I looked at her as she continued pacing inside the room in circles, “Lily please sit down, my head is spinning just by looking at you.”

She huffed but finally plopped down on the bed.

“That’s not my picture.”

She passed me a look which clearly meant, you are crazy.

“Remember the day we got lost in the forest?” she nodded slowly, “when we went to the castle I got lost again and I found a random room. It was different but that was not it, there was a portrait in that room which was hidden by a cloth, when I removed the cloth, I saw the same woman we saw in that picture and that’s not me.”

“That’s messed up,” Lily said, almost in a whisper, “who is she then? Why does she look like you and where did you find the portrait?”

“I don’t know, I just kept walking trying to find someone for directions, and ended up in that room.”

Lily was staring at the ceiling, “Do you think Astrid knows about this?” I asked.

We were sitting in Lily’s room after putting everything back in its original place.

“I don’t know...I don’t know what’s going on with our lives, I am still trying to process everything, besides we can’t just barge into Astrid’s room, she will know about it or we will turn into insects after taking one step inside her room.”

“Val said we have to find the witch who made the stone,” I said.

Lily sat straight on her bed, “How exactly are we supposed to do that?”

“The witch lives in the jungle far far away, hidden from everyone’s way but could be seen with sun’s first ray,” I repeated the words Valeria told me, “that’s all we know about her location.”

“I am not even sure who should we trust anymore, god knows what other secrets are these people hiding.”

I bit my lip slightly, I was feeling bad for hiding the truth from Lily. I never told her about my nightmares, even though I made her a promise.

“What is it, Sam?” Lily asked in a stern voice that made me avoid looking at her.

“My nightmares never stopped Lily, they became more real,” I said in a small voice and waited for her reaction.

Lily stared at me with confusion, “You mean those weird nightmares you had? What do you mean real?”

I took a deep breath and started explaining everything, those nightmares, that lady and men, purple eyes, the mark on my arm when that woman held my hand.

Lily sat quietly listening to everything, “We promised that we won’t hide anything.”

“I know Lil, but you were already worried about everything and I didn’t want to increase your stress. Already everything is weird.”

“I know Sam, everything is shitty right now. And I can’t blame you for not telling me anything when I was hardly here. For the first time, I had no plan, I was running from the truth and I found my escape from reality in Liam.”

“Everything will be okay Lily,” I said giving her a hug.

“Did you ask Valeria about the place you saw in your dream?”

I nodded, “I did, it’s is some sacred place for her coven and then I didn’t know what to say.”

Lily sat on her bed quietly for a while thinking about something, I sat quietly next to her watching the vase of fresh daisies in the middle of her peach-colored room.

“Let’s go to Valeria’s house and see if she can help us, we don’t have much time now,” Lily said out of a sudden.

“Do you think we should tell her about the woman in the portrait or about my nightmares?”

“I don’t know if I can trust anyone right now let alone a witch,” she said.

I did not say anything to her and just went to see Valeria with her.

Val opened the door before I could knock as usual, “Sam, I was about to contact you.”

Lily cleared her throat next to me and greeted Valeria with a smile.

Val gave her a grin in return, “Hello Lily, this is a surprise, I was not expecting you,” she corrected herself quickly, “ not that I am not happy to see you here.”

“It is nice seeing you as well,” Lily started looking at everything carefully, it was the first time she was in Valeria’s house which was completely opposite of her liking...bright and messy in an artistic way.

“What did you want to talk about Val?” I asked her.

She glanced in Lily’s direction with doubt.

“Don’t worry, she knows.”

“I did some research and the witch who made the stone belongs to the Earthen Circle.”

Lily and I exchanged a confused look and then waited for her to continue.

“A witch who gets her power from the earth and nature.”

“Okay, but what’s so special about it?” Lily asked.

“The witch who loves nature also loves flowers, plants, and all those things,” Valeria looked at us with raised eyebrows.

And then it clicked, a witch who loves nature, we were living in a house full of flowers, a garden in which plants never die.

“Astrid?” Lily and I said together.

Valeria nodded slowly, “I was surprised as well.”

“Are you sure? Maybe there is a mistake, can you check again?” Lily asked impatiently.

Lily and Astrid had become friends and I knew it was hard for her to accept.

“I know it is not easy for you t but I asked the stars and they do not lie.”

“This is crazy, why didn’t she tell us? Why didn’t she go to the witch in the first place? If she wanted to betray us why would she help us for so many days? Maybe you are wrong,” Lily said to defend Astrid that made me frown as well.

Valeria looked at her with a serious look on her face, “Did she find anything helpful? Pretending to help someone and actually help someone are two different things.”

Lily was also staring at her with a similar look.

“Did you find anything else?” I asked to change the topic.

She sighed, “Unfortunately that’s all I could find. Our families are not particularly fond of each other. You should ask Astrid directly now.”

“You are right, thank you for your help Val,” I hugged her.

“It is fine, Samara. Just be careful,” she said returning the hug.

“Are you okay Lily?” I asked walking back home.

“Yes. I dunno, this is too much. I can’t believe Astrid can betray us.”

“We don’t know anything for sure yet,” I said.

“You’re right, let’s just ask Astrid.”

We opened the front door only to find Astrid and Lucius standing in the living room having a serious discussion.

“Where were you both?” asked Lucius.

“How is it your concern?” Lily answered harshly.

"Watch your tone. Do not forget you both are still alive because of him and this is how you ungrateful people talk to him?" Astrid said with anger laced in her voice.

Lily scoffed, "Ungrateful my a-"

"Lily calm down," I whispered in her ear.

"No, let her speak. I want to hear what is it that she has to say?" Astrid took a step closer to us.

Lucius was faster and stood in front of us, he then turned towards me and asked, “You did not answer my question,” the tone was soft yet strong.

Lily removed my hand from her arm and stood in front of Lucius, “You want answers. Fine, let’s play 20 questions,” she showed him the picture we took in from his room.