Eyes of Light

My eyes fluttered open and landed on the window, the sun peeking through brightly. I could see the trees rattling in the wind as I struggled to keep my eyes open, a yawn working it’s way out of my mouth. Licking my dry lips, I sat up slowly, pushing the sheets off me. The clock read 9:30am. I hadn’t slept that late in weeks, my nightmares always waking me up. I was glad that it was Saturday, marking the first week of school to be normal-well, except for all the stories Nick had told me, and my dreams.

I pushed my legs out, my feet gently hitting the wood floor as I stretched, running my fingers through my matted hair. I pulled my tank top down and opened my door, slowly heading down the stairs. My dad was at the table, sipping on a mug of coffee, reading the paper intently. I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself, stepping into the kitchen.

“Hey kiddo,” he smiled, glancing up from the paper momentarily.

“Hey dad,” I yawned, grabbing the fridge door.

“There’s some waffles in there for you.”

I nodded and pulled the door open, my eyes scanning the fridge. My eyes set on the waffles and I pulled them out, taking the plastic wrap of before shoving them into the microwave.

“You sleep well? You were snoring like a baby when I checked on you,” Dad chuckled, setting the paper down to look at me. He pushed his glasses up and ran a hand through his short bronze hair. He was young, 35 years old. He looked even younger than that, his nerdy innocence always peeking through. I could see why my mother loved him; he was always so sweet and clumsy, it gave her a chance to show him real love.

My mom always told me that people had a chance on real love and she was one of the people lucky enough to have someone perfectly for her. It made me want to find real love.

“I slept fine,” I smiled slightly, the beep from the microwave bringing me back. I pulled the plate out of the microwave and grabbed a fork, sitting down across from him.

I stabbed my waffle with my fork and stuck it in my mouth, chewing thoughtfully. The more I thought about mom, the more I wanted to learn about her… to be closer to her. I took another bite and swallowed dry, peeking up to see his zoned out expression.

“Dad?” I questioned, gaining his attention. “Can I ask you something? About… mom?”

He seemed to tense up a little bit, his eyes glazing over with immediate tears. I knew he missed her; I did too.

“Sure kiddo,” he smiled sadly, sighing deeply.

I set my fork down and bit my lip, resting my elbows on the table to support my head. I stared at him for a moment, wondering what exactly my mom saw in him. He was plain; hazel eyes, bronze hair, light skin tone. He always wore button up shirts, with the pocket on the right side. He always wore different types of faded jeans and his old shoes-the ones that looked like they were from his high school days. He was handsome, in some sort, and once you got past his clumsiness and introverted state, he was a good guy. It just made me think how my mother-someone so beautiful-would even consider a man like dad. It made me smile.

“Where did you meet her?” I whispered finally, locking his gaze. He blinked in surprise and cleared his throat, rubbing his neck gently. “And when?”

“I met your mother when I was eighteen. She was seventeen at the time and just moved in next door with her dad. Her mother had died just weeks before and she said that they couldn’t be around those memories any longer.

“She was in the ‘popular’ crowd as soon as she walked in those doors,” he chuckled, his lips turning up. “She had light brown hair and it was always so curly. I remember hearing other girls talking about how they were jealous, but no one could hate her… she was just so nice.”

“So… you fell for her instantly?” I smiled, confusion sweeping over when he shook his had no.

“I knew I liked her, but I was always focused on the school newspaper. It was sort of… cliché. The first time I talked to her, I mean actually had a decent conversation, was when I had to interview her for her achievements.

“It was always abnormal though, the way I felt. Whenever she was around, I had… my stomach just started flopping and my heart wouldn’t slow down. I always thought it was because she was just beautiful and kind, but then she gave me this…look. And something in me clicked.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, cocking my head. Everyone was just full of stories these days, and I just wanted to hear them all.

“I never looked at her the same after that. I was smitten and I, along with half the student body, knew it. She knew it too and, it was like a dream. I remember standing by my locker and then I heard her approach. She was always so quiet, but she had the most beautiful eyes. Whenever she was around it felt as if she were just glowing.”

I froze, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Like, actually glowing?”

“Oh, of course not,” he chuckled, his eyes bright with admiration. “I think I just saw it because I had an obsession with blue and whenever she wore it, which seemed to be everyday, it was like she was always carrying a same glow of blue with her. It was probably because I was so taken by her.”

I nodded slowly, narrowing my eyes in thought, but he continued.

“She asked me to the school dance. Me. I was nobody. At first I thought it was some type of bet, or maybe even just a pity date…”

“So you said no?”

His eyes widened and he laughed loudly, making me jump. “Of course not Lonnie! I said yes. She was beautiful; I didn’t care about why she was asking me. Although, if it had been a bet, I would’ve been humiliated, but your mother was never like that.

“We went to the dance and I had an amazing time. I actually got her laughing with all my dorky jokes. We were outside and we were just sitting there, talking, when I looked over at her,” he sighed, his face returning to sad. He bit his lip and looked down, a small smile rolling over his lips.

“I took that one extra look at her and I felt it; I felt love. I was in love with Rosalind. I was surprised when she returned the same look, as if I were the only one she could see. That’s when I got the nerve to kiss her and it was gone from there. I couldn’t stand to be without her. I’d be outside and she’d see me; I didn’t have the nerve to go over there, so she’d run out and straight to me. It was like a love you only see in movies or read about in fairytales, but it was better.”

I felt myself smiling, tears threatening to release as he took his glasses off and wiped at his eyes. Something was odd though, and, deep down, I felt it. I didn’t bring it up; I had a better question at hand.

“How… how’d she die dad?” I whispered, gulping when he sniffled. He looked up slowly and shook his head, sighing.

“They didn’t…. “ he trailed off, taking a deep breath. I watched him closely, furrowing my eyebrows at the fact that he suddenly looked blank. “They didn’t exactly tell me. She was in an accident.”

“You know that necklace that you gave me? The one she always used to wear?” I then questioned, deciding to get off the awful subject.

“Yeah,” he smiled slightly.

“Do you think it’d be okay if I started wearing it? I’d take good care of it…”

“I know you would kiddo and I think your mother would like that.”

[&&light]

Anna called before I could make it up the stairs, saying she retrieved my number from the phonebook. She talked for a good hour, giving me a chance to listen to all the things I seemed to miss about the first week of school. Was I too engrossed in Nick-the time we spent on the project, I meant. She then handed the phone over to Josh who just wanted to talk about today.

“Can you meet me in town?” he had asked, naming the coffee shop.

“Sure.”

This wasn’t a date, it was just hanging out… right?

I padded across the hallway with my towel on, glancing at the clock. It was already eleven, giving me a whole hour before I had to meet him down there. I sighed heavily and shut the door to my room, moving over to my dresser to get my underclothes out before opening up my closet. I pulled out one of my casual cotton knee skirts; it was pretty, a trim of lace down at the bottom. Mom always liked girly things, maybe that’s why I owned-but never really wore-so many skirts. I grabbed a light pink t-shirt and pulled a sweater over it, slipping on my flats. I realized that I never wore the skirts because I couldn’t wear my sneakers. I was already dressed, so it’d have to do.

I let out a deep sigh and ran the brush through my damp, wavy hair. I cringed when I hit the knots but tugged on through, pushing my already dry bangs back with a clip. They were getting too long, hiding my face. Dad usually nagged me about it, but now I was starting to think that cutting them would somehow mess up my hair, and that was a trait that I shared of my mother.

After putting on my usual amount of make-up, I bit my lip and looked in the mirror, bringing my hand up, I touched where the necklace would lay, smiling to myself. I was going to wear it now. I hurried to the closet and pulled the box back out, picking up the blanket. Could I use that too? I stood slowly and gently placed the folded blanket on my bed, turning back to the contents. Digging through carefully, I found the necklace, my heart seeming to stop. She never went a day without wearing it.

Sighing shakily, I reached my hand out and grabbed the small clear orb, a dim color shining through. I thought it was just the color of my skin, but as I pulled it up closer to my chest, it began to shimmer a soft golden color, my eyes widening. It was beautiful… and it was like the color I had been glowing; I realized that sounded absurd, but I couldn’t deny it: I had glowed, whether I was crazy or not, I had. I lifted up gradually, my eyes locking on the brightening color. My hand began to tingle and my breathing became more frantic. The glow was spreading gently up my arm, but not as much as it had been when the wolf was around.

This was crazy. I gulped and stared at the now golden orb in shock. When my mother wore it, it was blue. Dad said that she had a blue glow to her… but that it was just his imagination. Was that true? Or were we actually glowing? I shut my eyes tight, my head spinning with all the stories Nick had told me.

“People can’t tell a witch is a witch unless she glows, and, I don’t really know, but I think that only happens at certain times… the glowing.”

My eyes snapped open, settling on my skin that was lightly glowing along with the orb. I gasped, my breath shaky, and dropped the orb. The gold glow immediately stopped, the orb turning see-through as it landed back inside the box gently. Quickly picking it up, I felt a slight shock in my hand, my eyes blinking rapidly. Was this a hallucination? Was I crazy? This was something I most definitely had to ask Nick.

I took a deep breath and quickly tied the necklace around my neck, looking down in shock to see the orb now a solid gold color. A shock ran through me instantly and I squeaked, my hand flying up to my chest, but then the feeling was gone.

I quickly shoved the box away and shook my head, taking a couple deep breaths. My eyes settled on the picture of my mother, the necklace around her neck a solid blue. This wasn’t making any sense… or was it?

I bounced down the stairs, calling out to my dad who was getting ready to go into work, and took the door key off the table. Heading out, the wind sent a shiver down my spine instantly, picking up as soon as I stepped foot onto the grass. I looked around the sky, the clouds covering up most of the blue and the sun, the air almost hazy.

I got another chill as I began to walk, my flats crunching over the leaves and twigs when I started to get out of my backyard and into the forest. Turning onto the path, my eyes caught sight of the paw prints again, and they were once again following a trail of leaves, until they stopped at a tree. There was a larger indent, as if the wolf had stomped on the ground in some kind of anger before the prints began to wonder through the brush and the trees.

I bit my lip and continued slowly making my way deeper into the forest, hoping that I’d come out by the school. The coffee shop wasn’t too far from there. I wish I had a watch, the time now escaping me as I continued forward. The rustling of the tree branches and dried leaves seemed to come to a stop, along with myself. Everything seemed dead silent. I turned my head slowly, a gust of wind hitting my face, taking my breath away. I blinked in surprise, a low whistle echoing slowly.

It was like one of those horror movies, hearing noises but nothing’s there. I looked around frantically and gulped, taking a quick step forward. The whistle sounded again and nearby leaves began to rustle, floating up gently. The only thing I could hear was my now heavy breathing, my eyes searching around. I gasped suddenly, air hitting me, almost like a slap, and I reached for my face. That’s when my eyes settled on a large black cloud of smoke in the distance, a glow or gray coming off eerily, but before I could blink, it was gone; like it just disappeared… or camouflaged itself. My eyes widened and I took a shaky step back, my head turning at the sound of more rustling leaves. The smoke began to appear again… right next to me.

I squeaked and almost tripped backwards, seeing only the glow as it swirled around with the wind. The whistle sounded at a higher level and a hiss followed, the smoke surfacing darkly, almost flying forward. I gasped; this same smoke was in my dream, killing my mother. This smoke had to be the black magic. I shut my eyes tight, not knowing what else to do as it got harder to breathe, something hard suddenly clasping around my arm. I felt myself being tugged harshly off the ground, echoing voices running through my mind, my head aching.

I gasped in shock, my eyes flying open as I felt something hard, but soft, throw me backwards with a hard growl. My hair whipped around my face and my body twisted, flying harshly from the impact. My butt hit the ground and I rolled, my arm and head smacking the tree; I winced. A sharp pang surfaced in my wrist, a tickling feeling rolling down my forehead repeatedly, and I felt stinging on my knees and elbows. That same growl rippled through the air like a siren and I heard a loud thump. Placing my palms in the dirt, I shakily raised myself, struggling to see through the hair that stuck to my face.

My eyes settled on the large light brown wolf, it’s ears down as it crouched. I noticed that it’s paws were digging into the dirt and it’s body was shaking as it let out another snarl. The cloud of smoke stopped glowing suddenly and whipped around through the trees like a lighting bolt, the wolf’s head jerking around, trying to find it again.

I watched in shock, suddenly feeling a cloud come over me, suffocating me almost. I opened my mouth, trying to gain my air back. My eyes focused on the black smoke that suddenly reappeared, hissing when the wolf snarled again, jumping forward, closer. I jerked forward, gasping for air as the cool wind hit my face. I winced, pulling my hand up to my head, feeling the blood dripping down from a cut. I had to hold my wrist in my other hand, the aching not too bad, but enough to make me feel sick.

The wolf crept forward and, as it got closer, my skin began to glow a bright gold. I felt like I couldn’t breathe again, but from shock this time. I was definitely glowing, a soft glow coming off my hands, becoming brighter as the wolf leapt forward gracefully, baring it’s teeth. I stared on in shock, everything seeming to go in slow-motion. The smoke appeared again, darker than before, it’s glow still gone, and it smacked the wolf back as if it were a large hand. I jerked, my back hitting the tree trunk, my legs thrashing to push me backwards. The wolf flew through the air, it’s legs flailing and it’s fur rustling through the large wind. It let out a yelp, making the tree shake as it hit and landed to the dirt. It wasn’t even a second later before it growled with irritation and jumped back onto it’s feet, it’s chest heaving up and down.

“Damn it!” a voice growled in my head. My eyes focused on the wolf, staring in awe. That had to be Nick’s voice… but where was it coming from? It had to be the wolf. That voice only came when the wolf was around….

It was ready to lunge forward as the smoke swirled, whispering something that I couldn’t understand, but then he completely froze. It’s eyes darted around, the gold seeming to brighten almost immediately as they landed on me, the small ring of chocolate brown also widening. I gulped and tried to scoot farther back, but I was already up against the trunk.

“Stay still!” that same voice hissed, desperation and anger apparent; it was as if it thought I couldn’t hear it… but I could, so clearly in my head.

The wolf planted it’s paws in the dirt and pulled it’s head up, it’s chest heaving out quickly. A high howl suddenly sounded, coursing through my body like a vibration. I winced and covered my ears, the pitch high, almost stinging me. The smoke froze, seeming to break up through the wind, what sounded like a scream following it; like the howl was burning it or something. I widened my eyes, taking in the sight of the wolf continuing to howl, the sound piercing through me, but now it felt as if it were numbing, and it took my mind off my pain for only a moment.

When the howling stopped, the smoke disappeared, the glow flowing away with the light breeze. I slowly took my hands off my ears, pulling my fingers up to stop the blood from dripping any further down my forehead, but my eyes were completely focused on the wolf. It was breathing heavily, it’s head down as it backed up, it’s eyes focused on me. I was glowing again, the light feeling subsiding as it backed away, ready to turn around and run through the rest of the forest, but it didn’t.

I watched it curl up and shake, my breathing uneven and seemingly loud. I felt myself lean forward, my hair falling around my face. Blinking, I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was starting to get worried, the wolf was shaking so violently. I opened my mouth, no words coming out as the sight in front of me unfolded.

The wolf slowly started to become transparent, the color of the fur becoming almost clear, but it’s eyes stayed bright, only dulling slowly. It leaned down and became smaller, still shaking. I squinted to see it almost completely disappear until two hands dug into the dirt roughly, muscular arms coming into view, struggling to hold the body up. A head of curls came into my view, the thick ringlets wind whipped, and I gasped. The whole body soon filled out, the chest of what was now a person heaving, the breathing now audible. I shivered, my hands sparking some, holding a lighter glow as I stared at the person.

“N-nick?” I struggled, my eyes widening when realization finally hit.

His head slowly lifted, his cheeks burning red, and I caught a glimpse of his eyes; they were a dull gold, the chocolate brown coming through quickly. They narrowed on me, his full lips parting, trying to get a better hold of his breath. I watched his fingers curl up around the dry clumps of dirt, his jaw tightening as he was getting a hold on himself. I stared at him with wide eyes, suddenly forgetting about the pain to focus on Nick.

All the stories he told me… it made sense now, how he knew so much, but everything was still out in the open.

“You’re…. a wolf,” I gasped, chills running up and down my spine.

Oh boy.