NIGHTS OF HALLOW

By the time Perdita and Sthena had reached their destination, their coats were considerably covered in snow. The weather too had become colder than the last few hours since they came out and enough to leave one frozen.

Each step they took made a dent on the freshly fallen snow on the floor until they got to a building, and Sthena announced, ”We are here.”

Before them was a house looking as though it was on the verge of collapsing. Perdita stared at Sthena with questions in her eyes. The house looked as though it would fall in pieces if she dared push a finger on it.

”Excited to meet one of your sisters? Don’t be scared, darling. ”I’m here.” Sthena smiled at her, eyes crinkling in amusement, which had Perdita slightly glare at him at the mention of meeting one of her sisters. Sthena proceeded to knock on the door using a latch attached to it.

The door to the house creaked open, and Sthena led Perdita inside.

”You brought me food?” A voice came from the darkness shrouded in cobwebs that seemed to have lived centuries inside.

With the smile still on Sthena’s lips, he slid his hands into his coat pockets. ”I’m afraid this is not your kind of food. Pardon that I came empty-handed.”

”A fellow witch,” The voice this time sounded behind Perdita, which made her jump, startled. The hairs on her shoulders rose in apprehension at the unusual behaviour of the unknown owner of the voice. ”A special witch,” the voice added.

”What did you come for?” The voice continued, the question directed at the king.

With his hand still in his pockets, Sthena replied, ”To find out if your troublesome sisters are up to no good.”

”I live alone. I don’t care about what goes on outside.” The voice replied and almost dismissively said, ”If there’s nothing else, you may leave.”

”We are far from being done.” Sthena maintained his stance, the smile on his face slowly turning to that of a menacing one. ”Don’t think because you have the ability to be invisible, I can’t make you appear from your shadows. Speak, we don’t have all night.”

”If you truly want to know, come back here after three days, then you’d see for yourself. A little information, however, be careful not to end up in their pot, especially with her being a special one of the vampire-witch siblings.”

”How did she...” Perdita’s brows rose in surprise at how whoever this witch is got to know she was.

”Touch her or another strand of her hair again and you’ll see yourself in ashes.” Sthena narrowed his eyes on the woman as though he could see her from where she was.

Perdita’s stunned expression turned into realisation when she understood what the witch had done. Using her hair to find out who she was. She touched her hair in slight confusion at how she didn’t feel her hair being taken.

”What is going to happen in the three days to come?” Sthena continued to question the witch.

”Graves, bodies, skeletons, and more dead bodies. Men, more men would come that day too.”

”You do know what is going on.” Sthena clicked his tongue and nodded knowingly. ”That is all for now. Keep an eye out for anything that could be of help to me. We will return, this time, we’d need more information and, of course, assistance from you.”

”I need all the information I can get concerning the men that have been coming to the town. Also, there’s a child I want you to find out about, if he is still alive, though I doubt it. He belongs to the head warden.”

”A child and witches?” The voice spoke in disappointment, ”I doubt even a strand of his hair is intact, but I’ll see what I can do.”

”Mhm,” Sthena nodded and turned to Perdita so they could leave the house. He stopped midway, turned his head in the direction of the voice and warned, ”One last thing, a word about Perdita to anyone will have your body in a heap of dust.”

Once outside, Perdita turned to Sthena to ask, ”Why does she stay invisible? The witch, I mean.”

”Let’s say she feels embarrassed of her skin. She is not like the other witches who can maintain and switch to a youthful body. A spell she performed a long time ago came back to attack her and almost took her life. She was lucky to have survived with only severe burns.”

”And the house,” Perdita turned to glance at it, ”Isn’t she scared it will fall apart one day?”

”Unless you see a different house from what I see, the house is in perfect shape.”

”Is it?” Perdita narrowed her eyes. Is Sthena joking with her? ”I see a house on the verge of collapsing.”

”Told you she was your sister after all.” Sthena chuckled, saying this. He knew Perdita’s glare would come next. ”Likely she held up the house by creating an illusion in the eyes of others. Only one of her kind can see the true state of the house. It is a good way to stay out of the church’s eyes while living in it. Here I thought all along she lived in a good house.”

”Witches have the ability to do that?” This sparked Perdita’s curiosity. She stared at her hands, wondering the things she could still do.

”Not every witch has the ability to do that, just a few ancient ones. You’d be surprised to know how many abilities you have.”

”For now, it seems our intended long night will be cut short. We will return in three days. And that reminds me, would you do me the honour, darling, of joining me for a soiree tomorrow evening?”

”Soiree?” Perdita quizzed. She had heard Daemon discuss it with the king some time ago. ”Where is it to be held?”

”Here in this town. It is a way of assuring the town’s people that they have nothing to fret about and the killing that happened some weeks ago is being investigated and will not happen again.”

A soiree, she thought. She hadn’t attended one held by the higher society, and she did want to see how they did theirs. ”I’d love to.”

”It’s settled then.” Sthena smiled at her, taking her hand into his as they walked away from there.