*** This story contains some mild language, suspense, romance, and some frightening images and situations—13 and older, please.
In the Grip of Twilight
By:
Olivia Tannis Moore
Chapter Fifty:
Week One, Night Two
Muriel
I suspected that the Lycan took extra care to try and confuse us and make finding the house of Muriel difficult should we try to find it again. We seemed to change directions often. And I could've sworn we traveled in circles at least twice, before the forest thinned slightly and a small cottage with one single yellow light in the window appeared.
We had no more than stepped up on the narrow wooden porch when the door opened and a tiny woman stood there. Poking out from her knee-length skirt and blouse, her arms and legs were thin and bird-like, her skin bronzed as if she spent a good portion of her day outdoors. Her hair—what I could see of it underneath the red handkerchief—was the same bronze color as her skin with gold highlights threaded throughout.
"Hello, there," she greeted in a melodic voice, one hand on her hip while she swung the door wide for us to enter.
"Thank you, Ira," she told the dark-furred Lycan. "Although you don't have to hide underneath all that fur…these two won't be meaning you no harm. Now, or in the future." She smiled up at us as if daring us to contradict her words.
One of Demetri's eyebrows shot up in surprise, momentarily stunned, but then he returned the smile. I nodded in agreement, instantly liking the matter-of-fact manner of the woman.
We crossed the threshold into the cramped little room. The dark-furred Lycan called Ira began to follow us inside, but Muriel stopped him with a tiny hand to his chest. "You and Julius can patrol outside the house for now. Just make sure there's no interference, please." And then the door closed on Ira's annoyed face.
She turned to us and sighed, but even her sigh was lively, as if she were ready to tackle any matter at hand with relish.
It was impossible to tell her age. When she smiled, she appeared not much older than me. Her movements were energetic and youthful. I didn't see a line on her face…yet, there was something about her that was ancient. Of course, that surely didn't surprise me, not after living among the vampires for over a year.
She shooed us by flapping her hands, directing us over to the small square table where a kerosene lamp burned. "Come on over here and have a seat," she said briskly as she plopped into a chair.
I chose the seat next to her, while Demetri sat across from her, and next to me. I gazed at him for a moment. Not exactly what I expected.
His low chuckle filled my head.
When I turned back to Muriel, I found her studying me, her head cocked to one side. "You're just as pretty sitting here as you are in my dreams."
My face grew warm.
"Even prettier when you blush like that."
"Thanks," I whispered self-consciously.
Muriel interlaced her fingers on the table top and looked up at Demetri. "And you, Captain, you're the one that plays your violin on the rooftops before dawn, am I right?
He nodded once. And then it was his turn to glance at me and look sheepish, as if it embarrassed him that I should know that.
"A lot of emotion in that song you play up there. I, myself, like to listen to you play. Did you know it carried this far?"
Demetri cleared his throat and then shook his head.
"Oh well, maybe it's just my hearing—I have excellent hearing, you know. Maybe even better than yours." She leaned in over her hands, "It's my eyesight that's crap."
It was impossible not to smile.
She leaned back in her chair with another anxious sigh. "Helluva time for us to meet, isn't it?" she said to the both of us.
"Yeah," I said, not knowing how to respond to that, given the circumstances that brought us there.
"How are you enjoying your gift?" she asked me abruptly. "Or, more importantly, how do you plan on using it?"
My mouth parted in surprise. Was there anything she didn't know? It appeared that her questions were only disguised as questions, as if she were testing us. "I..I plan on using it to heal." And then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, I was telling her my thoughts when I first learned I was a reformer—how I saw it as a chance to help people, vampires, even Lycans. I told her my thoughts about the war between the Lycans and the vampires—how the lack of communication just seemed to make everything worse.
She nodded and smiled wistfully. "There's a good bit you don't know about how things really are between our races…but you'll learn soon enough. As for this gift of yours…I just wanted to hear it from your own mouth." She banged her palm against the table, startling me. "Guess that settles it."
Then, she turned in her chair and bent down to where a gray woolen blanket rested on the floor. She gathered it to her lap and smiled.
"I believe you might want this back," she said, gingerly lifting the blanket over the table for me to take.
It was heavy for just a blanket. But then, I felt something hard beneath my hands. I pulled the blanket back.
It was Thaddeus' book.
***
(My work schedule is going to be chaotic for the next few weeks—end of the school year stuff. Please be patient if I don't update every day during the week. I'll try to update regularly, but if I can't, I'll try to post a message on my profile page. Thanks for reading! OTM)