Luna Witch

Luna Witch © 2014 by Nastassia BB

The cold black seeped away as a strange warmth spread through Chloe's body. Through the groggy haze she could feel a breeze blowing against her skin. Her heady felt heavy and seemed to be swaying awkwardly. The rest of her body seemed too numb to feel anything but the warmth, and she liked it.

Eventually the comforting haze cleared though the pounding in her head continued. As she gradually opened her eyes, it struck her as odd that tree branches were pointed towards the ground. Chloe blinked and tried to turn, which was when she became aware of the arms holding her beneath her shoulders and knees. She was being carried. A grunt escaped her lips as she tried to raise her head, the arm shifted a little but with strength enough to bounce her higher till her head rested against the man's shoulder.

He wasn't wearing a shirt. Chloe found this odd if not a little disturbing, but his scent distracted her. It was a very earthy scent blended with a hint of spice. The warmth that came from his skin, which was very nicely tanned, seemed to ease away the ache inside her skull and she found herself relaxing once more against him and back into nothingness.

She awoke again to voices.

“I can't believe you brought her here.” The woman was angry and seemed to be pacing nearby.

“She needed help. Don't be so dramatic Clara, I'll cover the expense of the room and anything else she needs.” The man's relaxed and confident tone brought Chloe's eyes open. A ceiling decorated with a purple pattern of flowers greeted her. She rolled her head slowly to the right and took in the soft violet mattress beneath her, a night table with a laced purple lamp, and beyond a dark oak dresser with a simple white lace cover beneath the vanity mirror. The room was quaint in a Victorian sort of way. The mirror revealed a window behind soft violet curtains on the other side of the room, but Chloe focused on the door next to the dresser and the voices on the other side.

“This is a bad time, things are complicated right now,” Clara said. “What am I supposed to do with her?”

“You have a guest who's a doctor, ask him to look at her. Give her food, a change of clothes, treat her like any other guest. Once she's recovered enough we'll see what she has to tell us,” the man answered reasonably.

“Annabell won't approve. She's not fond of charity cases, especially one's that could be dangerous for us.”

“Annabell has other things to worry about with the baby and Frank.”

“Exactly, this is a bad time!”

“Clearly you're not giving this much of a chance.”

“You act like I'm turning away one of our kind. She's not-”

“Fine, then we better tell her.”

The bedroom door snapped open and the shirtless man walked in. Chloe stared at him startled. He was almost too tall to fit through the doorway, dark black hair fell at neck-length around a thin yet noble face. His green eyes passed over Chloe with a look of blank interest as he turned to the woman beside him. They were both roughly the same age, mid-twenties if Chloe had to guess. Clara had scarlet hair that fell in waves around her face which was tan and freckled. Her eyes were a hazel brown, and they peered over Chloe with an expression of annoyance.

“What's your name girl?”The man asked. Chloe blinked at him, feeling rather defensive given the conversation she'd overheard. “Where you from?”

“I-” Her voice came out horribly ragged and seemed to awaken a deep pain in the back of her throat. Chloe coughed and rolled over in a sloppy attempt to sit up, given her left hand was still a useless painful mess of bandages. “Wh-”she tired again, just as futile and another round of coughs followed.

“Oh for goodness sake,”Clara circled around to window where a pitcher of water and two glasses rested. She filled on and brought it over to Chloe with all the brisk compassion of a detention teacher. “Drink then talk.”

Chloe accepted the cup awkwardly and dropped back against the pillows. As she drank Clara examined her critically, her eyes focused curiously on Chloe's left hand.

“Thank You,” Chloe managed after half the glass was gone. It still hurt, but speaking seemed to be required presently.

“Jaden said he found you on the beach, how did you come to be there?”Clara said arms crossed.

“I was on a boat, I'm not sure where exactly-” Chloe dropped her gaze as Selena's pale face flashed before her eyes. “There was another girl, a friend, did you-” She looked to Jaden but he shook his head. Chloe sank against the pillows, exhaustion and sorrow flooding over her like a heavy cloud. “There was a storm, the boat took on water,” she shrugged. Everything after Selena disappeared was a blur. Chloe didn't really know how she made it away, didn't really care. All she could think about was Selena.

“There was a bit of a weird storm last night,” Clara nodded. “I'll inform the coast guard about your friend. Was anyone else on the boat?”

Judge Gabriel's smug face flickered behind her eyes and Chloe tensed. “No,” she answered. Clara raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Jaden.

“What happened to your hand?”Jaden asked instead. Chloe felt her stomach twist.

“I cut it, before the storm,” she mumbled and shoved the bandaged hand against her side.

“Then we better have the doctor look at it and examine you for any other injuries,” Jaden turned to Clara expectantly. The red head sighed and threw up her hands.

“Fine, but the minute Eva says she's healthy enough to leave she goes.”Clara turned and marched out of the room. Jaden turned to follow her but stopped in the doorway.

“Your safe here,” he said softly looking back at her. “Try to rest.”

Easy enough for him to say. Chloe drank down the last of the water and fought back the wave of tears that burned at the back of her eyes. A doctor was a horrible idea. Chloe didn't have the strength to heal anything on her own, let alone the horrible mess from the brand on her left hand. She could only hope the twisted flesh was too unrecognizable to be connected to the Church. No doctor was going to buy it as a cut though. Idiot. Chloe struggled to sit up, jeans scratching against her damp skin as the sand both inside and out grated against her.

Perhaps they would allow her a bath before they kicked her out. That woman Clara had only seemed to eager to be rid of her. Perhaps I should go now before the doctor gets here. It seemed a good idea except Chloe lacked the ability to get out of bed. Left with no other choice she waited and tried to keep her thoughts as far from the Church, Judge Gabriel, and Selena as she could.