h1Chapter Three/h1
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe was there. Sitting at the dinner table, surrounded by aunts and uncles and their respective brood. Her cousins were sitting around her. She saw them all. Everyone-/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"No. Not everyone. Someone was missing./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The youngest, Lilija, was not present. Typically, the young girl never left Kaisa's side. She would sit to her left at meal times, whispering what little French she knew to the older girl. Kaisa studied the wooden chair. Her mouth hung open slightly as she ran her fingers over the small carvings in the seat. There was a small bird and daisy. Lilija added more details when she got bored with meal time politics./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Kaisa?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her head swiveled away from the empty seat to look at em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"mother/em. The woman tilted her head, black hair drifting over her shoulder. She wasn't Kaisa's mother, not really. She was her father's sister. Thus, making her Kaisa's aunt. She was an amazing woman./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Would you mind fetching Lila?" She gestured with full arms to the old chair. "I believe she's at the creek trying to make frogs again."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa's gaze moved to beyond the open Dutch door to the tree line. The creek lied beyond the dense oaks. Swallowing, she looked back, "yes, of course, Aunt Tali." Fear, oppressive, bore down on Kaisa. She felt like she was being stalked by death herself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Yet, her body still rose from its red chair; her pale, ruddy hands smoothed out her long black dress./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Tali's smile faltered and her eyebrows pulled her expression into a frown./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Honestly, Kaisa, you've been here a few years now. You can call me mother, you know? I would prefer it even. I love you like my own," She cleared her throat and straightened. "Kareah will be home tomorrow and she wants you to call her."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kareah, her blood sister, her twin, had been training with an elder warlock because she was having trouble suppressing her soulfyre./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"How do you make it look so easy, Kaisa?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa remembered how tired Kareah's eyes looked when she asked this. It had been a few days before her departure and she had been shadow wondering about the house. Kaisa hadn't responded. The truth was, still is, that suppressing the core of their very nature wasn't easy./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her skin felt cold and clammy, her teeth ached and she felt as though she was an unstable explosive./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Thank you for telling me… mother."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Aunt Tali's gray eyes twinkled and setting the plates she was holding on the table. Kaisa's body turned and walked out the Dutch door. She wanted to cry, desperately, as she turned away from the most loving woman the world has ever seen and her spastic, lovely family./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The grass tickled her bare feet and was hushed by the thick, black fabric of her dress. Kaisa broke through the tree line and began stepping over fallen trees and large rocks. Cool air blew Kaisa's hair from her face and the black strands dancing like shadows. The further she moved into the trees, the louder the sounds of flowing water became and soon they were accompanied by the glittering giggles of Lilija./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"She was sitting by the creek watching as the water creatures she created danced about her. The wind blew even colder this time and taking air into her lungs caused her soulfyre to flare up in revolt. Kaisa hissed. Thick, white steam rising from her lips. Wrapping pale arms around herself, she called out; not daring to grow to close to the water./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Lilija!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her brown head popped up and her blue eyes froze on Kaisa. She smiled and the creatures began to shudder and pop returning to their original watery forms./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;""Kaisa ! Venez ici ! Je veux te montrer mon nouveau truc !"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"« Non, nous devons aller. Ta mère a fait le repas. /spanC'est ton favori. »/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija's face pulled together in confusion and after a moment she shook her head./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I don't understand all that. You speak too quickly."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa sighed and held out her hand. Lilija stood and the older girl noticed that her light blue tunic and white tights were damp and here boots caked with creek silt. Once the smaller girls chilled hand slipped into Kaisa's, they started walking back to the cottage. The older girl helped the younger over fallen trees and boulders./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Do you think mama will be angry with me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa frowned, "Why would she be angry with you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I'm all messy and won't be able to clean up before supper."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa smiled gently and stopped to pluck a few leaves from Lilija's hair./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""You're always messy. It's part of your / "But we have company tonight!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa pulled her over another rock and rolled her orange eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Ivy is here for supper every night and it isn't as though she cares if your shoes are muddy."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija shook her head, "Not Ivy! I'm talking about three of father's friends I saw walking up to the house not long before you came to get me."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Chapter Three/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"She was there. Sitting at the dinner table, surrounded by aunts and uncles and their respective brood. Her cousins were sitting around her. She saw them all. Everyone-/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"No. Not everyone. Someone was missing./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The youngest, Lilija, was not present. Typically, the young girl never left Kaisa's side. She would sit to her left at meal times, whispering what little French she knew to the older girl. Kaisa studied the wooden chair. Her mouth hung open slightly as she ran her fingers over the small carvings in the seat. There was a small bird and daisy. Lilija added more details when she got bored with meal time politics./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Kaisa?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her head swiveled away from the empty seat to look at mother. The woman tilted her head, black hair drifting over her shoulder. She wasn't Kaisa's mother, not really. She was her father's sister. Thus, making her Kaisa's aunt. She was an amazing woman. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Would you mind fetching Lila?" She gestured with full arms to the old chair. "I believe she's at the creek trying to make frogs again."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa's gaze moved to beyond the open Dutch door to the tree line. The creek lied beyond the dense oaks. Swallowing, she looked back, "yes, of course, Aunt Tali." Fear, oppressive, bore down on Kaisa. She felt like she was being stalked by death herself. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Yet, her body still rose from its red chair; her pale, ruddy hands smoothed out her long black dress./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Tali's smile faltered and her eyebrows pulled her expression into a frown./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Honestly, Kaisa, you've been here a few years now. You can call me mother, you know? I would prefer it even. I love you like my own," She cleared her throat and straightened. "Kareah will be home tomorrow and she wants you to call her."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kareah, her blood sister, her twin, had been training with an elder warlock because she was having trouble suppressing her soulfyre. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"How do you make it look so easy, Kaisa?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa remembered how tired Kareah's eyes looked when she asked this. It had been a few days before her departure and she had been shadow wondering about the house. Kaisa hadn't responded. The truth was, still is, that suppressing the core of their very nature wasn't easy./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her skin felt cold and clammy, her teeth ached and she felt as though she was an unstable explosive./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Thank you for telling me… mother."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Aunt Tali's gray eyes twinkled and setting the plates she was holding on the table. Kaisa's body turned and walked out the Dutch door. She wanted to cry, desperately, as she turned away from the most loving woman the world has ever seen and her spastic, lovely family./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The grass tickled her bare feet and was hushed by the thick, black fabric of her dress. Kaisa broke through the tree line and began stepping over fallen trees and large rocks. Cool air blew Kaisa's hair from her face and the black strands dancing like shadows. The further she moved into the trees, the louder the sounds of flowing water became and soon they were accompanied by the glittering giggles of Lilija. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"She was sitting by the creek watching as the water creatures she created danced about her. The wind blew even colder this time and taking air into her lungs caused her soulfyre to flare up in revolt. Kaisa hissed. Thick, white steam rising from her lips. Wrapping pale arms around herself, she called out; not daring to grow to close to the water./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Lilija!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her brown head popped up and her blue eyes froze on Kaisa. She smiled and the creatures began to shudder and pop returning to their original watery forms./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Kaisa ! Venez ici ! Je veux te montrer mon nouveau truc !"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"« Non, nous devons aller. Ta mère a fait le repas. C'est ton favori. »/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija's face pulled together in confusion and after a moment she shook her head./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I don't understand all that. You speak too quickly."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa sighed and held out her hand. Lilija stood and the older girl noticed that her light blue tunic and white tights were damp and here boots caked with creek silt. Once the smaller girls chilled hand slipped into Kaisa's, they started walking back to the cottage. The older girl helped the younger over fallen trees and boulders./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Do you think mama will be angry with me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa frowned, "Why would she be angry with you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I'm all messy and won't be able to clean up before supper."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa smiled gently and stopped to pluck a few leaves from Lilija's hair./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""You're always messy. It's part of your charm./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""But we have company tonight!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa pulled her over another rock and rolled her orange eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Ivy is here for supper every night and it isn't as though she cares if your shoes are muddy." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija shook her head, "Not Ivy! I'm talking about three of father's friends I saw walking up to the house not long before you came to get me."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"strongDecided to post multiple chapters at once. Not sure how many I will upload today but I hope it will encourage more people to read and review. Again, all ideas and characters are of my own imagination. FAIR WARNING: the story will get darker and darker as it develops. I labeled the story as M for mature audiences but I can tag for any serious triggers: self-mutilation, rape, graphic scenes and language, etc. That does not guarantee that this story will include those topics. I understand that I missed this in the first chapter. Thank you for being apart of The Escape./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe was there. Sitting at the dinner table, surrounded by aunts and uncles and their respective brood. Her cousins were sitting around her. She saw them all. Everyone-/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"No. Not everyone. Someone was missing./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The youngest, Lilija, was not present. Typically, the young girl never left Kaisa's side. She would sit to her left at meal times, whispering what little French she knew to the older girl. Kaisa studied the wooden chair. Her mouth hung open slightly as she ran her fingers over the small carvings in the seat. There was a small bird and daisy. Lilija added more details when she got bored with meal time politics./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Kaisa?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her head swiveled away from the empty seat to look at em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"mother/em. The woman tilted her head, black hair drifting over her shoulder. She wasn't Kaisa's mother, not really. She was her father's sister. Thus, making her Kaisa's aunt. She was an amazing woman./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Would you mind fetching Lila?" She gestured with full arms to the old chair. "I believe she's at the creek trying to make frogs again."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa's gaze moved to beyond the open Dutch door to the tree line. The creek lied beyond the dense oaks. Swallowing, she looked back, "yes, of course, Aunt Tali." Fear, oppressive, bore down on Kaisa. She felt like she was being stalked by death herself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Yet, her body still rose from its red chair; her pale, ruddy hands smoothed out her long black dress./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Tali's smile faltered and her eyebrows pulled her expression into a frown./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Honestly, Kaisa, you've been here a few years now. You can call me mother, you know? I would prefer it even. I love you like my own," She cleared her throat and straightened. "Kareah will be home tomorrow and she wants you to call her."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kareah, her blood sister, her twin, had been training with an elder warlock because she was having trouble suppressing her soulfyre./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"How do you make it look so easy, Kaisa?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa remembered how tired Kareah's eyes looked when she asked this. It had been a few days before her departure and she had been shadow wondering about the house. Kaisa hadn't responded. The truth was, still is, that suppressing the core of their very nature wasn't easy./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her skin felt cold and clammy, her teeth ached and she felt as though she was an unstable explosive./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Thank you for telling me… mother."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Aunt Tali's gray eyes twinkled and setting the plates she was holding on the table. Kaisa's body turned and walked out the Dutch door. She wanted to cry, desperately, as she turned away from the most loving woman the world has ever seen and her spastic, lovely family./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The grass tickled her bare feet and was hushed by the thick, black fabric of her dress. Kaisa broke through the tree line and began stepping over fallen trees and large rocks. Cool air blew Kaisa's hair from her face and the black strands dancing like shadows. The further she moved into the trees, the louder the sounds of flowing water became and soon they were accompanied by the glittering giggles of Lilija./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"She was sitting by the creek watching as the water creatures she created danced about her. The wind blew even colder this time and taking air into her lungs caused her soulfyre to flare up in revolt. Kaisa hissed. Thick, white steam rising from her lips. Wrapping pale arms around herself, she called out; not daring to grow to close to the water./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Lilija!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her brown head popped up and her blue eyes froze on Kaisa. She smiled and the creatures began to shudder and pop returning to their original watery forms./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;""Kaisa ! Venez ici ! Je veux te montrer mon nouveau truc !"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"« Non, nous devons aller. Ta mère a fait le repas. /spanC'est ton favori. »/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija's face pulled together in confusion and after a moment she shook her head./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I don't understand all that. You speak too quickly."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa sighed and held out her hand. Lilija stood and the older girl noticed that her light blue tunic and white tights were damp and here boots caked with creek silt. Once the smaller girls chilled hand slipped into Kaisa's, they started walking back to the cottage. The older girl helped the younger over fallen trees and boulders./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Do you think mama will be angry with me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa frowned, "Why would she be angry with you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I'm all messy and won't be able to clean up before supper."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa smiled gently and stopped to pluck a few leaves from Lilija's hair./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""You're always messy. It's part of your / "But we have company tonight!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa pulled her over another rock and rolled her orange eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Ivy is here for supper every night and it isn't as though she cares if your shoes are muddy."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija shook her head, "Not Ivy! I'm talking about three of father's friends I saw walking up to the house not long before you came to get me."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Chapter Three/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"She was there. Sitting at the dinner table, surrounded by aunts and uncles and their respective brood. Her cousins were sitting around her. She saw them all. Everyone-/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"No. Not everyone. Someone was missing./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The youngest, Lilija, was not present. Typically, the young girl never left Kaisa's side. She would sit to her left at meal times, whispering what little French she knew to the older girl. Kaisa studied the wooden chair. Her mouth hung open slightly as she ran her fingers over the small carvings in the seat. There was a small bird and daisy. Lilija added more details when she got bored with meal time politics./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Kaisa?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her head swiveled away from the empty seat to look at mother. The woman tilted her head, black hair drifting over her shoulder. She wasn't Kaisa's mother, not really. She was her father's sister. Thus, making her Kaisa's aunt. She was an amazing woman. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Would you mind fetching Lila?" She gestured with full arms to the old chair. "I believe she's at the creek trying to make frogs again."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa's gaze moved to beyond the open Dutch door to the tree line. The creek lied beyond the dense oaks. Swallowing, she looked back, "yes, of course, Aunt Tali." Fear, oppressive, bore down on Kaisa. She felt like she was being stalked by death herself. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Yet, her body still rose from its red chair; her pale, ruddy hands smoothed out her long black dress./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Tali's smile faltered and her eyebrows pulled her expression into a frown./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Honestly, Kaisa, you've been here a few years now. You can call me mother, you know? I would prefer it even. I love you like my own," She cleared her throat and straightened. "Kareah will be home tomorrow and she wants you to call her."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kareah, her blood sister, her twin, had been training with an elder warlock because she was having trouble suppressing her soulfyre. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"How do you make it look so easy, Kaisa?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa remembered how tired Kareah's eyes looked when she asked this. It had been a few days before her departure and she had been shadow wondering about the house. Kaisa hadn't responded. The truth was, still is, that suppressing the core of their very nature wasn't easy./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her skin felt cold and clammy, her teeth ached and she felt as though she was an unstable explosive./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Thank you for telling me… mother."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Aunt Tali's gray eyes twinkled and setting the plates she was holding on the table. Kaisa's body turned and walked out the Dutch door. She wanted to cry, desperately, as she turned away from the most loving woman the world has ever seen and her spastic, lovely family./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"The grass tickled her bare feet and was hushed by the thick, black fabric of her dress. Kaisa broke through the tree line and began stepping over fallen trees and large rocks. Cool air blew Kaisa's hair from her face and the black strands dancing like shadows. The further she moved into the trees, the louder the sounds of flowing water became and soon they were accompanied by the glittering giggles of Lilija. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"She was sitting by the creek watching as the water creatures she created danced about her. The wind blew even colder this time and taking air into her lungs caused her soulfyre to flare up in revolt. Kaisa hissed. Thick, white steam rising from her lips. Wrapping pale arms around herself, she called out; not daring to grow to close to the water./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Lilija!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Her brown head popped up and her blue eyes froze on Kaisa. She smiled and the creatures began to shudder and pop returning to their original watery forms./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Kaisa ! Venez ici ! Je veux te montrer mon nouveau truc !"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"« Non, nous devons aller. Ta mère a fait le repas. C'est ton favori. »/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija's face pulled together in confusion and after a moment she shook her head./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I don't understand all that. You speak too quickly."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa sighed and held out her hand. Lilija stood and the older girl noticed that her light blue tunic and white tights were damp and here boots caked with creek silt. Once the smaller girls chilled hand slipped into Kaisa's, they started walking back to the cottage. The older girl helped the younger over fallen trees and boulders./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Do you think mama will be angry with me?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa frowned, "Why would she be angry with you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""I'm all messy and won't be able to clean up before supper."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa smiled gently and stopped to pluck a few leaves from Lilija's hair./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""You're always messy. It's part of your charm./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""But we have company tonight!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Kaisa pulled her over another rock and rolled her orange eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;""Ivy is here for supper every night and it isn't as though she cares if your shoes are muddy." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"Lilija shook her head, "Not Ivy! I'm talking about three of father's friends I saw walking up to the house not long before you came to get me."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"strongDecided to post multiple chapters at once. Not sure how many I will upload today but I hope it will encourage more people to read and review. Again, all ideas and characters are of my own imagination. FAIR WARNING: the story will get darker and darker as it develops. I labeled the story as M for mature audiences but I can tag for any serious triggers: self-mutilation, rape, graphic scenes and language, etc. That does not guarantee that this story will include those topics. I understand that I missed this in the first chapter. Thank you for being apart of The Escape./strong/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.4pt; line-height: 200%;"span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;" /span/p
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