Forever His True Mate

Chapter 8

Camille plopped down on the love seat in their living room. Tracy walked to the kitchen. “You want anything hun?” She called to Camille. “No, I’m just fine.” She called back. Without warning, Camille’s eyes glazed over, and she entered a trance like state. Her eyes moved back and forth restlessly as she viewed some far away scene.

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          Camille stood in the middle of a modest bedroom. She could tell from the décor that it was a young woman’s room, but the style was all off. It was reminiscent of the renaissance . To her left she spotted a small ornate golden mirror hung on the wall. She gasped. It wasn’t her; the hair was all wrong. But the eyes. The eyes were her exact color. A beautiful violet. It was an anomaly that doctors could never explain. Her parent’s eyes were blue and brown.

          There was a knock on the door, and it drew her away from the eyes in the mirror. “Victoria!! You’re going to be late for your own debut. Let’s go!” Came the hurried voice of a woman. Camille was stuck for a moment before she decided to see what this was about. The Goddess didn’t grant visions for no reason and this is what that was. She was sure of it. The best thing she could do was gain as much knowledge as possible.

          She opened the door and standing there was a large squash of a woman. She was short and round with a weathered and kindly looking face. The woman looked her up and down. “Just lovely.” She cooed. “All the boys will be coming after you” The woman fluffed the bottom of the frilly gown she wore. Camille allowed the kindly plump woman to lead her to the top of a winding staircase. The was classical music drifting from the bottom of the stairs along with a light chatter of several voices and the clink of  crystal glasses. She slowly descended the stairs. There was a hushed silence that overtook the crowd as she came within sight. She scanned the room hungrily looking for anything that could be used as a clue. Then she saw him. Handsome and bearded. She wasn’t 100% but it looked like Conor from behind.

          The room swirled and flashed to another scene. The smell of flowers overwhelmed her senses. It was lovely. She could hear the faint breaths of another person. She could feel them. More than just physically, mentally. She glanced at her ribcage which seemed to be irritated. She realized that she was naked and that she was red with the fresh markings of a strange tattoo. She committed the mark to memory. Before she could turn to begin questioning her companion, she felt violent jerking and her name being called over and over and over growing louder each time. She tried to reach out and touch the mysterious person, but she was pulled back to the present.

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          Tracy shook Camille with all her might. When she had walked int o the living room to see her friend like a zombie totally freaked her out. “ What the hell was that?!!” She yelled at Camille. “Your eyes were all silvery and you looked dead, but you were breathing, and you just totally looked like you were going to start eating brains.” Tracy took a breath and sat down next to Camille waiting for an explanation. Camille chuckled weakly. Not fooling her friend for a second she exhaled. “I was sent a vision. And it took a lot out of me. I don’t want to go into the details, but I need to go to my room.” She explained while rising from the sofa and making a beeline towards her room. She dug out her journal and wrote down what she saw and experience. She was just as freaked out as Tracy was.

          After Camille had finished writing her account of the strange vision, she began to pack. She switched between booking a flight to Louisiana, packing, and texting her Grandmother. She was Reine du Bayou, Queen of the Bayou. Camille knew that if anyone could interpret the signs she had been presented by the Goddess it was her. Tracy would want to come but it was important that she distracted Conor. Tracy knew about Camille’s lineage. She knew that Camille was a witch, but she had never witnessed her practice outside of the occasional tarot reading when she wanted to know if her relationship would last. Though she loved her best friend, she never divulged the extent of her family’s power nor the long line of witches that protected, nurtured, and cultivated the family.

          Camille finished packing her bag. Her flight didn’t leave until the morning so she spent that time reassuring Tracy that she was ok and that she would come back. The two women stayed up most of the night talking until Camille’s phone rand early the next morning as she prepared to take her small carryon bag to her car. “Hello Cherie.” Came Conor’s smooth voice. It was strange that he would call just as she walked out the door, it was like he knew something was up, but that’s ridiculous she mused to herself. “I would like to see you.” He said after she was silent for a moment too long. “I’m sorry. I’m going to visit my grandmother for a few days. As soon as I return, I would like to see you as well.” She answered. She wasn’t sure how truthful it was because depending on what her Grandmother had to say about the strange dreams and tarot cards, she might could never bring herself to see him again. “Ok. That sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Why are you going?” Conor sounded dejected but tried to keep his tone like. Camille noticed. “I have some questions about some things that only she can answer. It’s not really over the phone conversation.” She replied curtly. She didn’t think she liked him questioning her, but she tamped the need to respond the way she wanted. She could definitely tell that she was under some stress. She normally was very mild mannered and little things didn’t bother her. “I understand completely. The wisest among us are normally the eldest among us.” He replied ignoring her irritation that he could hear in her voice. “I have to go hun Tracy is driving me to the airport now.” She said in a much more pleasant tone. They said their goodbyes and ended the call. Tracy came out the house and hopped happily into the driver seat of Camille’s car. She lover driving the car compared to her 2005 Ford. She was happy as a pig in mud as Camille jumped in the passenger seat and turned up the music to a deafeningly loud volume so that she could avoid making small talk with her best friend. Instead she closed her eyes and concentrated. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was concentrating on, but she took slow and steady breaths regardless.

          Traffic began to build as Tracy drove on. Camille’s eyes were heavy with the meditation she was performing in order to hold her concentration. Camille was unaware that she had drifted off when scenes began to flash behind her eyes. A woman with red hair and violet eyes. Pain. A brunette woman with the same violet eyes. Sadness and the world sideways and falling. Then Laughter. High and cruel and triumphant. What had the woman won? The last thing she saw was blazing silver eyes and black hair whipping as the cruel laughter echoed and mixed with blustering wind. As she came out of her trance sweating, she could still hear the laughter and it chilled her to the bone and cause goosebumps to rise on her arms. The woman in the dream was deranged and dangerous. She hoped that that her grandmother could help explain what was happening to her. The vision of the woman scared her.