Violet Eyes

Chapter 7

EUGENE

1907

The earliest and happiest memories I have of her were of us running through the sunflower fields, and watching her move through the meadows. We spent most of our time outside. Hidden from our parents and chaperones.

We were both sixteen when we met and the moment I laid my eyes on her I knew she was the most beautiful thing I had seen so far. My young brain was sick with an endless love for her.

She was a witch in training, during a time when witches were found in abundance. I would watch her practice, changing her hair from the colour of silvery rainclouds to the night sky at midnight.

We spent so many years together, laughing and crying and promising the world to each other.

“We will be together, forever right?” I asked her as we sat under the willow tree in her garden.

She kissed my hand in response and then kissed me.

The night she turned eighteen we snuck away, to the creek at the end of the road. In a hidden cabin we laid and spent the night in each other’s arms.

“I’ve never loved like this before,” she said as she pressed her naked body close against mine.

I knew I was in love, but she knew that this love could never be. That was the day she revealed her true self to me.

“I thought… this would be our eternity… I thought we were forever!” The cold tears streamed down my face as I watched her, bags in hand.

She took my cheek in her hand, “Eugene… We were just a dream. We both need to wake up now”

She turned her back on me and left me hollow. A hollow shell that I thought would never be filled. She was one of the few things to bring me happiness in the early years of my immortal life.

And I never saw her since… Until now.

***

I couldn’t get a word out, I stared at this woman who was my first love, the woman I was sure had died long ago. She was here. I wasn’t imagining it. Everyone else could see her too.

I walked up the steps to her, hearing her soft voice speak with a drop of anxiousness in it. She tried to explain why she was here, what she was doing, but I heard none of it. The moment I got to her level I looked her straight in the eyes and clutched her close to my body. I held her in a tight embrace. She smelled of the taste of blackberries. Blackberries and cream.

“How?” a croaky whisper escaped my lips and brushed against her ear. Did she feel the electricity in our touch as I had? Did she feel like we were the only ones in the room like I had? Was this just as special and touching to her as it had been to me?

I sucked in a breath and moved away, looking at her all too familiar yet beautiful face. She had aged, but not by a hundred and twelve years…

“Nice to see you again too, Eugene” she said, breaking free from my embrace and brushing herself off, “It’s a long story, too much to explain. I see you haven’t changed. You’re still a lovesick puppy for me” she raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“Excuse me? You better watch your mouth, witch! Or I’ll report you to the Council right now!” Christa faced her off, standing right in front of her and pointing a finger in her unfazed face.

“You think that’s gonna scare me? I just came here for a friendly visit is all, to check up on Eugene and his family. Is Kathryn around?” she made a show of looking around, but her smug smile gave it away all too easily.

I clenched my fist, refusing to look her in the eyes.

“She passed away” I said through gritted teeth.

“Oh no! How you holding up as a single father then, Genie?” she said leaning against the wall, “D’you marry Christa now? Since you’re so desperate for any vag that comes your way” she snickered at her own joke.

“Girls. To your rooms now” I ordered and watched as all three my daughters walked to their rooms, “You too, Christa. This is between Lucy and I” my sister reluctantly left, but not without hissing at Lucy to which she responded with a mocking “Bleh!” noise.

“I see, wanted to get me alone so you could do all the nasty things you’ve been dreaming of all these years since ’07 eh?” her hand snaked up to my neck, her fingers sifting through my hair. I grasped her wrist and looked her straight in the eyes. Those unwavering oceans trapped in her eyes never changed.

“What do you want? Why are you here? Is this really a coy to taunt me? How are you this young still?”

Did she get bitten by a vampire?

She gets free from my grasp and changes her form to her young self. To how she looked the day she left me. And I just stared in awe.

“One of the perks of being a witch, Genie” she smirked and slowly changed back.

I couldn’t think straight. Not with her here. Not with the first love I’ve ever had standing right in front of me. The same eyes, the same soft skin, the same full lips and rosy complexion. It was so hard to look at her, to want her so bad, but not recognise her either. Her attitude is completely different. She’s never even called me by that nickname before.

“Being a witch sure has changed you,” I said, keeping my expression stone cold, “But I’ve never heard of immortal witches before”

She walked closer and put a finger to her lips, “It’s a secret okay? So you can’t tell anyone, but…” her face moved closer, moving her lips to my ear and the sweet scent of her wafted into my nose, “I became immortal, so that Kathryn never could be” she giggled as she pulled away, looking at my face and laughing even more.

But before I could counter she had disappeared, the devilish laugh still ringing in my ears long after.