Page 17 of My Dark Obsession
Yep. Money. The word twins gave me an uneasy feeling in my empty stomach. Looking back to my little oval pills of relief I closed my fingers around them and shuffled on my knees to the cracked bedroom window, dragging myself through the dirt and dried blood on the wooden floor, splinters piercing my skin through my ripped jeans.
There, stood on the dried yellow grass in front of the bitch’s old beetle Volkswagen were two small, blurred figures. Pressing my face to the dirty glass, I just about made out two little boys, grasping each other's hands and standing perfectly still as if to be unseen. My breath stalled in my throat. I felt frozen. An unknown feeling unfurled in my chest as I squinted at these little twins.
I had to get closer. Something in me screamed to get closer. To take in the detail of their faces. Slowly sneaking down the stairs I peeked around the corner as Lyal and the social worker’s murmurs drifted into the kitchen. Seeing the empty hallway, I snuck out the front door.
There they stood. Big wide ocean blue eyes, messy blond curls that looked more knotted than my own rat’s nest hair.
For the first time in a long time I felt the urge to speak, my voice raspy from lack of use. “He–hello.” one word. All it took was that one word and time stood still. Nothing else needed to be said. The three of us felt it within our very beings. They were mine and I was theirs. My back straightened, my shoulders firmed andthe weakness inside of me turned into something I can only describe as pure obsession.
My clenched fist opened, dropping the pills that almost lost me my new reason for living. They scattered, lost in the overgrown dead grass.
“What are you doing outside?” Lyal’s grating voice drifted from the doorway.
Usually the tone of his voice sent shivers down my back, knowing I was about to get beaten or be put on another two-day food ban. But not this time, and never again.
Turning to face him, I stood in front of the twins. He wasn't going to touch them. No one was. They were mine.
My hand burned from the coffee I had squeezed from the cup. I shook my wet hand and froze from the intense look on Rí’s face.
“We’ll get ye’ to them.”
“I know.”
We didn’t stop again. Instead, we walked down the street, dodging the busy crowds and nosy passersby. We didn't have to push through and create a path like others; one look at Rí and the people jumped out of the way. Some outright avoided him. One man even fell into an apple cart, creating a mass of angry market men as the apples rolled into the curved stone gutters. Some apples were pinched by grubby well worked hands. I looked away.
The streets became less busy the further on we walked. The humid air now stuck my t-shirt to my back and the hot coffee made me sweat more. However it tasted incredible, and one of those sweet treats would have complemented it perfectly.
The stalls ended abruptly and, in their place, stood empty barren-looking houses, reminding me slightly of the burnt ones in the Dead village I appeared in.
How did I get there? I had originally thought Lyal had dumped my body in some far abandoned village but obviously not. I was unconscious, beaten to near death and then I was in Wisteria.
I hoped that this Cole had the answers.
A strong sweet and slightly sour smell reached my nose, and I looked up from the thinning stone pathway to see a lone figure leaning against one of the buildings. They were completely covered in its shadow, no detail available except the glowing cherry of whatever they were smoking. They flicked the cigarette but never moved from their position.
I felt their eyes on us, following us as we moved further down the path. Rí’s slow stomp tried to match my steps but my small legs hurried to catch up still.
As we wound round a corner, the path completely ended, leaving us walking on dried dirt and weaving through thorny bushes.
“Where exactly are we going?” I said as he took over pulling a long thorny branch from my shorts.
“The Light City.” He answered whilst offering his hand for me to climb over a small hump. I ignored the hand and powered through the bushes.
I didn't have help before, and I didn’t need it now.
He surprised me by adding “The shadow land is home to the misfits, the shifters and the angry. The Light city is run by the council, all White witches.” He looked uncomfortable before continuing, “before the war, all supernatural’s were equal. Yes, there were bigger shiftersand stronger witches, but everyone was equal. The war tore our realms apart; thousands of supernatural beings died and along with them, the peace.”
Wars truly did destroy everything, not just in the human world too it seemed.
“How long ago was it?”
He paused in our walk and looked to me, tilting his head as he searched for some unseen answers in the bushes around us.
“Yesterday was eighteen yearsexactly.”
I kept silent. Nothing added up. I needed the how’s and whys and I needed them immediately. I wasn’t used to not having the information I needed. I hated the unknown.
We turned one last corner before he stopped in front of a blurred tree. I rubbed at my eyes with the heel of my hands, pushing down until stars appeared.
