Complications Between Mythical Creatures

Denial

Scarlet

The sun never really bothered me, but I always preferred the moon. Something about it just always made me feel so…. At ease. And now for some reason I couldn’t help but feel even more attached to it… I flipped over the pendant in my hands and brushed my thumb over it. It was a crescent moon, my favorite stage of it’s cycle. It was made of a light metallic material, the inside of the crescent held a sort of white stone carved to match the shape. It shone bright in the light. Tilting it side to side I could see pigments of yellows and pinks and blues.

“That’s an opal stone,” Lacie, the shop keeper said over her shoulder. She was glancing down at the book I gave her as she collected the herbs I needed from the wall. Abby glanced at her then made her way over to me, “It’s beautiful…” she said looking down at it. “Yeah…” I agreed turning it over and over, “Does it have any…”

“Properties?” she winked at me. I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed not knowing. Lacie laughed lightly at me, “Still learning, I see..” I could feel the blood rush up to my cheeks, “Sort of…”

“Don’t worry, you’re still young. You’ll eventually be able to tell the properties of every stone known to witches and then some,” Lacie reassured me. She picked up a handful of a purple root and placed it into the basket hanging on her arm. “Opal is used to help center and focus the Adora in your mind. Basically helps you correct your mind and focus better. In some cases, very powerful opal stones have been able to help power a spell that clears the users mind from spells that have done harm.”

Abby and I looked at each other amazed, “Really?” She went on how that is possible, but it’s incredibly rare. Stones that would be able to do that require a lot of magic. Some witches are actually able to channel their Adora into the stones to help increase their power, but that’s only for raw stones and usually drains the witch channeling their Adora into the stone. Stones like the one that I was holding usually don’t have power because they are so processed and coated with materials to make them more appealing to the eye. “Okay, I’m just about done. Come over to the register and I’ll ring you girls up.”

Abby decided to look around some more while I went ahead and paid. Pulling my wallet out of my purse I made my way to the front counter. Lacie placed each herb into small individual bags and punched in the different prices as she went. Leaning against the counter I looked around the wooden top seeing what else she had around. Off to my left was where the register sat, beside it was an open binder that consisted a list of names and contact information, something about discounts and group events was mentioned at the top, various small charms and displays lined the rest of the counter.

A short display labeled “Spirit Animals” held a carousel of different necklaces with small pendants of a variety of animals. “What are those?” Abby asked appearing beside me. “’Spirit Animals,’” I slowly spun through the display sifting through the small merchandise. “This one’s kinda cute,” Abby picked out a creature and looked at it closely. “What is it?” she placed it in my palm, “Oh it’s a—“

Tall poles of bark flew past Abby and I. The early morning light shone through the leaves. We were laughing, racing through the forest again. Our early morning training session usually ended in some sort of competition. This time it was a foot race. No magic. No spells. Just basic endurance and speed. Pushing harder I began to get just a little further ahead.

I look back at Abby and just as I do, her face changes. Confused I open my mouth to ask her what’s wrong but she comes to a stop. Caught off guard I almost trip as I try to halt. “Scarlet!” Abby whispers loudly at me and I snap my head back forward. There’s something walking in front of me. And it’s huge. We stand completely still, not sure what to do.

It’s about the size of a horse, with a long tail and muddy reddish color to it’s fur. It’s back was to me so all I could see was it’s long furry tail. Trying to keep off of it’s radar Abby and I just watch it. The large creature slowly crept forward, not looking at us. It’s head was pointed to our left. By the looks of it, it looked like it was searching for something. It sniffed the air loudly. And at that thought I began to back up. If it’s looking for something and it isn’t the friendliest being, I don’t want to end up on it’s target list.

I slowly fanned my hands back, signaling Abby to retreat as well. Slowly, step by step we began to walk away. Snap! My eyes shot down to the ground. The sound of a twig snapping under my foot sounded like a siren ringing through the air. I swallowed hard, getting ready to prepare myself for the worst. The large animal whipped it’s head around and it’s gaze fell on me. It took one step towards me, lips curling up into a growl. I watched it’s eyes make their way from the broken stick under my foot up to my face, it’s nose now sniffing even harder. Two steps.. Then three… The growl grew deeper and more menacing. I watched at it’s pupils finally made it’s up my shoulders and on to my face. Oh my god… It’s a wolf…

Cocking my arm back, I got ready to push this thing as hard I could, hopefully sending it far enough back for us to get away. But just as I was about to thrust my energy at him, our eyes connect. And everything just stops. The wolf’s lips relax and his eyes soften. The warm chocolate hue of them sent a rush through me, swirling inside somewhere deep in my stomach. Suddenly I felt safe and warm, like nothing could hurt me, like I was invincible.

“Wolf…” I finished my senses returning back to the shop.

Blinking away the remnants of the premonition, I looked up and saw that Lacie and Abby were staring at me. “What?” I looked at them. Abby opened her mouth to say something but Lacie quickly cut in, “How are your premonitions?” Both Abby and I turned to look at Lacie, she had this twinkle in her eyes. “Uhmm.. good?” I looked at her a little confused. She just smiled and continued to wrap the different herbs. “Still in the beginning stages of them, are we?” an old grayed eyebrow raised up at me almost accusingly as she peered up at me. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“In the beginning of most witch’s lives, if their gift is premonitions, they are usually only triggered by things that she comes into contact with. My guess is that the one you just had, had something to do with a wolf.”

Abby and I just gaped at her.

Lacie smiled wider at me, “Fledgling witches usually get visions that are connected with the things that they touch. The triggers. Since the necklace you touched is still an unowned item in my store, there would be no solid connection to anyone or anything. It’s just a piece of jewelry that has no history or meaning. Since you had one, it most likely was about the creature that’s on the necklace.”

“That makes sense…” I trailed off looking down at the small figure between my fingers. “Let me see your hand,” Lacie reached across and took my hand. Flipping it over she opened it so that my palm was facing up to us. “Hmm..” she said pulling back on her glasses. We leaned in closer to try to see what Lacie saw.

All witches have the ability to read palms, cards, and so forth. It was a common gift that was spread through all generations. However, it does take some practice. You have to know what you’re looking at because every hand is different. “I see…” she nodded.

“What? What do you see?” Abby asked looking down at my palm, confused.

Jacob

“Would you hurry up?” I called over my shoulder to Embry. For some reason he decided to walk extremely slow. After we finished getting all the groceries my dad wanted, we decided to go ahead and check out the bike shop a few blocks over. “What’s the hurry? You’re the one who said we had time,” he jogged up next to me. “I swear, you’ve always been the slowest out of the entire pack..” I shook my head ignoring his question.

“Oh relax,” he said putting a hand on my shoulder making me slow down. “You said we had some time. So stop rushing. Take a moment and enjoy this beautiful day!” I stopped and looked at him, “Beautiful day? It’s cloudy and looks like it’s gonna rain.” Embry only rolled his eyes in response, “Anyway…”

“Come on,” I said picking up pace again.

Scarlet

“Thank you!” Abby and I exclaimed over our shoulders one last time as we left Lacie’s shop. One large paper bag swung from my hand while we made our way toward the street where my car was parked. The door clicked shut, “Well that was weird…” Abby leaned close and mumbled to me.

“Right?” I looked at her, “I wonder what she saw…” I said looking down at my palm again. “Me too,” my best friend peered over at my open hand. We both continued down the pathway trying to see something. “I mean the least she could do was tell us what she saw, or a something!” We turned the corner and started walking down the narrow alley that lead to the street. It’s not the smartest thing to do, but it was faster than following the pathway all the way around the buildings. There are alleyways between every few buildings. They're cold, and wet, and just plain gross, but it's much faster.

“Should I be worried that she didn’t tell me anything?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so…” Abby suddenly stopped. Confused I looked back at her, “What?” No answer. “Abby. What’s the matter?” I quickly went to her side, looking around the wet alleyway, preparing myself for the worst. “Do you sense something?”

“No. Yes. No,” I turned back to her, confused. She looked back at me then. “I mean I sense something, but not the way I normally do. This is different…” she looked out toward where Lacie’s shop was. It was just this little shop behind a building. It’s not completely uncommon in Port Angeles, but it is a little creepy. Especially with the weather here and because its closer to the the forest and near a huge empty parking lot.

“Different how?” I asked still on guard, searching.

“I don’t know.” Suddenly she took off, “Come on," was all she left me with. Abby took off running back the way we came, passing Lacie’s storefront. “Abby! Wait!” I called after her, scrambling to keep up. But she didn’t. She just kept running, turning right then down another alley. “Abby!” I trying to keep my bag from dropping anything as I ran. “Wait!” By now I’m close on her heels, but she doesn’t stop.

We quickly cut down the alley and I can see the busy street ahead of us. Whatever she was sensing she was out towards the public eye. “If it’s nothing bad then what is-“ BAM!

We both slam into something hard and get knocked straight on our asses. “Oww….” I groan rubbing the spot where I took the brunt of the hit. Of course, that place would be my face. “Are you okay?” I try to blink past the pain in my head and try to focus on what’s going on. I see two tall figures in front of me. One is standing while the other is kneeling in front of us. Over to my left the kneeling figure is helping Abby get up. I look around and realize that I had dropped the bag with all the herbs, which, of course, spilled all over the floor. Thankfully, none of the bags seem to have ripped open.

Relieved, I start gathering up the little bags. “You guys are in a hurry,” the kneeling figure, which I now realize is a guy, says with a laugh. I glance up and see that Abby is all smiles. He looks familiar, I think to myself focusing on the herbs. “You need to be more careful,” the second figure, of course another guy, says and helps me pick up the last couple bags. I look up and suddenly my tongue feels heavy and my face feels hot. Jacob. I look back up and realize that the first guy is Embry. No wonder Abby was all smiles. Which means... "Good job," Jake takes the bag from my hands and place the bags inside. He stands up, brushes himself off and reaches down to help me, “Thanks.”

“Funny running into you guys here,” Embry smiles at her

“Yeah, funny,” Abby blushes madly, “Sorry about that."

“Where you guys off to running like that?” Embry asks.

I turn back to Jake, “Sorry for running into you like that,” I feel the heat beating into my face.

“It’s fine. You should be more careful.” He shrugs, not looking at me. Shock ran ice through my veins. Once again I can’t help but feel that draw inside me. I look at this boy and can’t help but feel like I want nothing more than to be close to him, but it looks like I'm the last person he wants to see right now. “So what are you guys doing out here?” I ask, trying to make conversation. “Had to pick up some stuff for my dad,” he answers handing me the bag. "Thank you," I reach for the handle and our fingers touch. An electric current runs through my fingers and disperses throughout every inch of me. Everything inside me feels warm and strong, Kinda like my premonition....

"Where you guys heading now?" Abby asks. Jake quickly takes his hand away from mine and buries them deep in his pockets. Embry opens his mouth to say something, but Jake quickly cuts in "We actually have to head home now."

Embry gives him confused look, but Jake just looks at him and starts to walk away.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll catch you later?” he turns to Abby and smiles apologetically. She looks at me and Jake but just smiles Embry and says yes. “Bye,” he waves at us and jogs to catch up with Jake.

Abby waves at him as I mumble a bye. “What was that about?” Abby asks as soon as the guys are out of ear shot. “I don’t know…” I frowned, “but that was not the same guy I was with last night…” And that thought just squeezed a large knot in my chest.

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