Aurora

Chapter Two

  My blood runs cold when they call to me. My instinct is to run, but, curiosity gets the better of me. I turn around to notice we are no long in The Shooting Star. Instead, I'm in what must be a house. The walls are made with packed straw and clay, the floor of clay as well. The hooded figure has been replaced by a very old woman, her eyes firmly closed. She holds the glass of wine in her right hand and the bottle it was poured from in the left. She takes a sip, letting out a sigh of satisfaction at it's flavor.

"My my child, I haven't had a bottle of this since the year the treaty was signed. Quite a lovely find in a mortal bar", she says, facing my direction without opening her eyes. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come sit somewhere"

I stand awkwardly before settling for a frail wicker chair a few feet from her. It's silent for a few moments. "So, where am I and how the hell did I get here?", I ask abruptly. She lets out a hearty laugh before it turns into a coughing fit. Once she settles, she turns to me.

"The underworld, child."

I stare at her for a moment in absolute disbelief. Before I can retort, she laughs again. "I'm only kidding, doll. You're in a house in the middle eastern desert."

"Like that makes it any better?", I scoff. "How the hell did you get me from the bar to the desert like that?"

She gives a cracked, toothy grin before taking another sip of wine, "I imagine you have many questions. I will answer none. That is not why you are here."

Dread pools in my stomach when I hear her words. The hairs on the back of my neck stand straight at her presence now. "Then why am I here?"

"I have a message for you, child. The only hint you get to have. The truth to your origins lie within you and others will begin to seek your essence very soon. I cannot reveal why, but, assure you are alone on your 18th birthday."

I'm confused by her words. "Why can't you tell me more?"

"Just because I can't, deal with it", she spits out. 

"Well, can I just ask one question?"

"What?"

"Why do you keep your eyes closed, are you blind?"

She begins to chuckle mischievously as she begins to inch closer to me. "They say the eye is the window to one's soul", she says and she continues to close the distance between us. My head is telling me to run, but, my body is frozen in place. She stops just inches from my face, my eyes on par with her closed lids. "But mine, are a window to destinations", she says as her eyelids fly open. My eyes are met with black, endless pits where her eyes are meant to be. I shriek in surprise and realize I'm back behind the bar. A couple customers look over to me in curiosity for the sudden noise. I look down and take a deep breath, trying to shake that entire experience from my head. In the hooded figure's place is an empty wine bottle and glass, with the exact change sitting on the bar by it. No tip but can afford an ancient bottle? Cheapskate.

                                                                                                           *

 After work, I make my way up the long driveway on the Adams Estate. Punching in the key code and wishing goodnight to the guard, I head over to my room away from the main house. Using my key to get inside, I walk in and plop down on my sofa. Rubbing my face, I look out of the sliding glass door to my side and at the moon. Since the Adams aren't very fond of me, they had me move in to the in-law house on the property. I'm sure they wouldn't have provided even this much if there wasn't such a close public eye on them. Not like I'm bothered by staying here, it means I'm further away from their hellspawn, Judy and James. Last time Judy saw me in the house, she shoved me down the stairs and ground her foot on my fingers, breaking two of them. Miss and Sir forced me to tell the doctor I dropped a weight on them to avoid suspicions. That was 4 months ago, I've diligently avoided her since. She only tortures me out of opportunity. James, on the other hand, seems to do it out of sadistic pleasure. When we were younger, he'd pretend to be my friend so I'd get close enough for him to hurt my feelings or physically harm me. Every time he hurt me, he'd pretend to sincerely apologize so I'd let my guard down and he could do it again. As we got older, it progressed into worse situations. Ripping up my clothes, destroying random objects I own, leaving creepy notes on my kitchen counter to make me feel uneasy, and other countless instances. I'm hoping to say goodbye to this nasty place when I turn 18, before things escalate with James' behavior. Yawning, I stand up from the couch and drag my tired self to bed.

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  "No way, that's so f*****g creepy. Are you sure you didn't just fall and hit your head?', Thea says, chewing on the candy she bought from the school cafe. 

"Yes, Thea, I didn't hit my head. How could I have hit my head if I was standing when I was back in the bar?"

She's quiet for a minute, "Okay, you've got a point."

"I just don't know what to do. She pretty much told me people are going to be after me and that I have to be alone on my 18th birthday. It's so strange but for some reason, I believe her."

"Uh uh, no you don't. You're just trying to get out of senior week!", Thea exclaims accusingly. 

"No, seriously, T. My gut has never steered me wrong, I'm trusting my gut on this one."

She groans loudly before dramatically collapsing on the table, "Party pooper", she mumbles. I laugh, continuing to pick at the muffin I bought. Today is the last day of our senior year. I want nothing more than for this day to finally be over so I never have to see most of these people again. I feel a cold liquid suddenly splash over me, causing Thea and I to jump. Looking up, the b***h Trio stands in front of me, an empty bucket in Tara's hand. Her and her friends all give me the same plastic, tight-lipped smile. A foul smell invades my nostrils as I try to figure out what the hell she poured on me.

"It's from that pond behind the school", Jessie giggles, "It's really murky", she says with emphasis. The three begin to laugh, a few other popular kids joining in. I feel the anger beginning to boil my blood. I force my eyes shut as an attempt to hold back my rage before Martha's shrill voice pierces my ears, "Aww, is someone mad?"

It's the last day of school, I already know I graduated. f**k it. My eyes fly open as I lunge forward, acting out of pure rage as I unleash years of anger from their bullying. Tara and Jessie jump to the side with wide eyes as I grab a hand-full of Martha's brown hair before smashing her face into the table I was sitting at. I pull her head back up before tossing her on the floor and spitting on her. My eyes focus on Tara just as her and Jessie are about to run. I speed walk towards them both as the kids gather and chant around us, "FIGHT! FIGHT!"

I grab Tara first, forcing her to turn back to me. Looking her in the eye, I rear my fist back before slamming it into her jaw and another into her cheek. She cries out and tries to grab my hair, but, Jessie beats her to it. Jessie yanks me back and Tara tries to kick me. Jessie chuckles devilishly as she continues yanking me back by my hair, hitting my face and chest with her other fist. I finally stood up to them, I won't lose. Looking around desperately, my eyes land on just what I needed. Swinging my body weight to the right, Jessie stumbles towards a table. Grabbing the empty plastic lunch tray, I swing it full force at Jessie. She yelps as it connects, finally releasing me from her grip. Before she can recover, I crack her across her face with the lunch tray. She goes down just like Martha. My eyes lock on Tara, who hasn't moved an inch. I begin to approach before she drops to her knees and cries, "I'm sorry! I won't pick on you again!"

I scoff as I stop in front of her. She looks up to me shakily, hopeful I show her mercy. I fake her out with a swing of the tray, getting her to scream. I chuckle, "Whole lot of help that is now that we're done with school, huh?" Dropping the lunch tray, I grab my bag and walk out of the school, a hush of whispers floating around as I leave. I heard Thea rush behind me to follow.

  We walk in silence for a little bit before Thea speaks, "Are you okay? That was..uh, something."

"Actually, I feel great. Should I have used violence? Nah, but, I just had enough of it."

She lets out a brief laugh and nods her head, "I understand the outburst. I probably would've snapped, too. Getting bullied by them since you were little."

I look up to the sky, soaking in the warm rays of sun light. It was about to be the beginning of the summer and it already felt like summer, too. 

"Well, since I'm not going to senior week", I say, earning me a glare from Thea, "Do you want to stay the night?"

She smiles wide and becomes giddy, talking a mile a minute about what we can do and what snacks we're going to buy. I'm glad she's so easy to please or I'd really be in trouble for not coming to senior week.After a sleepover supply run and a much needed shower, we pile into my bed as we gorge on snacks and stream movie after movie. Laughing and crying together at the good scenes. Before long, Thea's tapped out and asleep on the left side of my bed. I won't be far behind her, it's been along day.