“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself,” she said, voice hoarse and strained as she slowly turned to walk deeper into thealley.Was it her? Was it her voice that I heard call out to me? “It’s not safe for women after a certain time…”
“You are a woman out here,” I shot back.
“I belong here…you do not…”
The small shuffling noise of her feet sliding against the earth made my shoulders relax as she moved at the pace of a mother’s mother. With her head sitting low against her shoulders, she stopped for just a moment.
“So where do I belong?” I asked, feeling my heart in my ears as I watched her carefully. She remained still, matted braids falling against her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side.
“Outside of here,” she whispered. “You have life outside of here…”
My eyes widened as the sound of drums in the distance began to beat.
“Ayira!” Minka hissed, trying not to say my name too loud. “We need to leave before they start to look for you!”
“What do you mean!?” I called out. The woman took two steps before pausing as she slowly turned around with her bags to stare at me. She had black pearls for eyes and a mouth that hung open, showing no teeth. She was dark, born of the sun but there was no light in her anymore. Whoever or whatever she is has long left her body. She is now nothing more than a shell of her former self. “My mother is a witch…She is from the highest and oldest forms of magic,” I threatened. “She has taught me everything I know. Speak,” I commanded.
The woman looked me in the eyes, black pearls searching for something in my gaze.
“You are lost…Princess,” she said as she lowered her head. When she didn’t pick it up, I felt myself become agitated as my chest began to heave up and down.
“SPEAK!” I demanded as the drums began to beat louder. The laughter and music grew from the main streets, and I could only imagine my mother was calling for me. The woman began to hum as she shuffled her feet, moving aside me with her bags.
“Do you wish for another life outside of this?” She asked as I quickly caught up with her. I stopped her from walking further as she remained still, head still hanging low since she refused to look at me.
“What life are you speaking of?” I questioned. “This is all I know–––”
“No, it isn’t… You were born with a split soul,” she said as she pressed her two fingers together before pulling them apart. “I was there the day you and your sister were born together.”
“Princess!?” Minka called out as the crackling sound of fireworks went off. I looked up through the narrow buildings in the night sky, seeing sparks of fireworks in the distance.
“Asister?” I repeated. “I…I have a sister?”
“The alchemy of souls,” she murmured. “One soul split into two different paths made for the other…from the moment you and your sister were born…”
The woman slowly moved to the side of me as she started to shuffle again, humming a little melodic tune as I stood, stunned. Minka’s heaving chest and wide blue eyes stared at me. Her fangs were exposed, and I could see the guilt in her eyes.
“You knew,” I whispered.
“Your mother made me promise not to say anything to you–––”
“Where is she?!” I shouted as I turned around. The woman had almost disappeared into the shadows of the alley when I quickly came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder.
“She is alive?” I questioned.
“I warned your mother that she cannot keep fire from flame and flame from fire for too long…I warned her,” she said with a fading tone.
Thoughts of a sister living in the outside world began to flood my mind.What was she like? What was her life like? Did she know about me? Did she have friends outside of a cat? Did she know anything about this place?
“Do you wish to see her?” The woman asked.
“Princess, pleaseee,” Minka pleaded as the drums grew louder. “We have to go! Now! We have to leave! I can explain everything–––”
“Tell me,” I demanded. “I wish to see her!”
The woman released a slow eerie smile stretching from ear to ear with not a single tooth exposed behind her lips. I felt my heart racing. I backed up when she balled her hand into a fist and blew red dust from her mouth as the smoke puffed out against my face. I began coughing while hearing Minka scream out for me to run. She scratched at the woman’s ankles, ignoring her cackling as I continued to cough and grip the wall for balance.
“Your mother will pay for her sins, princess! The so-called queen will get exactly what she deserves!” The woman shouted, voice no longer weak and feeble. She’d been waiting for this moment her entire life. Whatever my mother did, she decided to use me and as I stumbled out of the alley, I could see my visionbecoming weak. I called out for Minka who dashed across me like a white fabric before yelling for me to follow her.
