Beware the Violet

by Maria Vermisoglou

  When I finished my arguments, he laughed. “Very good, Violet. Very good. Animals are the only ones who can recognize shifters so you can rely on them to show you the truth and tapping my foot…” He placed a hand under his chin. “I never noticed I did that. You are very observant.”

  I blushed and looked at the leaves spread on the soil as the feeling of discomfort whenever he was close made an appearance again. “So, what are you doing here? Taking a stroll into the human world? I thought you never left.”

  “I was around,” he said and I narrowed my eyes.

  “You were checking up on me? I don’t need you to check on me!” I thundered. “I can take care of myself.”

  Silence followed as my words hung heavily in the air and he gave me a long look. “I was hoping to talk to you about your necklace.” He put his hand behind his head and rubbed his neck awkwardly and my face flushed. “I guess the timing is wrong.”

  “Kind of. Sorry. What about my necklace?” I rubbed the stone between my fingers.

  “It’s a shapeshifter stone, and I gave it to your grandmother…” he stopped. “I think I better start from the beginning.” After moments of gathering his thoughts, he cleared his throat and started, “The Blessed Realm is vast and there are many doors leading to other worlds, one of them being Earth. I grew up in a realm where most shapeshifters reside until the day I first shapeshifted. No one knows what they will become until that day, but everyone expects to be something big like a tiger or a bear. It’s more majestic they say. The day came, and I was the first one to become such a small creature in a long time. Everyone laughed.” He he swallowed and looked away.

  I felt bad for him and I could only imagine how embarrassing that was but I didn’t understand why he was telling me such a personal story. “Sorry,” I said, touching his arm. “I don’t think it’s bad to be a rabbit, you can sneak into places and escape uncomfortable situations.”

  His lips turned upright in an attempted smile. “The animal to which you turn represents your character, but I was never a coward, so I don’t understand why I got the rabbit.”

  He scowled as his stormy eyes looked at me. I knew he was not a coward, but since I didn’t know the ins and outs of the supernatural world well, I chose to remain silent and listen to the rest of the story.

  “I could only endure my kind’s mockery for so long, so I left when I turned thirteen. My parents tried to hide it, but they were disappointed and showed more love to my other brothers than to me. I took my mother’s necklace as a reminder of my family and traveled a lot before finally settling in the Blessed Realm.” My eyes widened at the mention of the necklace and I closed my palm around it. “The Blessed Realm has been a home for me since then and I found people who accepted me for who I was and never mocked me. When I arrived, I was welcomed as a family member and the shapeshifters taught me tricks and how to fight in both forms.”

  I grinned as I tried to imagine him young, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. He was brave to leave home at such a young age, but I couldn’t understand why his own parents treated him as an outsider. We were supposed to be different whether humans or supernaturals to separate ourselves from the crowd.

  “Don’t be sad for me, Violet,” he said, taking my hand in his. My skin flared at his touch, but my mind tried to wrap around the fact he called me by my first name for the second time. I liked how his French accent pronounced it in a foreign way. I blushed and then chided myself. What was happening to me? He was just an acquaintance who was telling me about his life that was somehow linked to my grandmother’s necklace.

  “For many years, I was happy in the Blessed Realm until the darkness came. My senses are more enhanced because I share the qualities of the rabbit so I warned everyone along with Kristy who had the same sense as me because of the prophecy. Nobody listened and soon the darkness overcame them and their supernatural side took over. I couldn’t do anything, I didn’t know how.” As he spoke, he gestured wildly and desperation clouded his eyes. “Your grandmother came at a crucial time and we saw the light again for a small amount of time. She had the gift of vision and she saw that things were bound to get worse. The others saw her as their savior and thought they were rest assured that they were out of danger, but they were wrong.” His voice dropped into a whisper. “The Evil Master came back stronger than ever and they were trapped under his spell and acted like animals rather than the combined forces of the creatures they were. I went to the witch, and she told me to find you.”

  Puzzled, I looked at him. “Why me? Surely, there are stronger creatures than me.”

  “I’m sure they are and at first, I couldn’t understand why the witch wanted you, but you have a power like your grandmother had.” He grinned and tapped his foot and I tried not to smile at the similarity of the move. “Peaceful yet commanding, vengeance mixed with kindness and you make things happen like no one ever had.” Getting up, he stood in front of me and up close, I noticed he was on edge. “No one knows the limit of your powers or what you can do. I think the witch was hoping for a miracle as she too was on the verge of losing herself to the dark side.”

  I rubbed my necklace between my fingers as I contemplated his words. My grandmother was here and had powers as well. Did that mean my family had powers, too? “Was my grandmother the only one in our family to possess powers? And why did you give her the necklace?”

  Jacques cast a look down the road before turning back to me. “Supernatural creatures are born within a realm since they have powers. It’s like the universe assigns the creatures in the realms and humans on Earth. But sometimes there are individuals spread among the humans that have powers. We don’t know how this is possible, but it happens from time to time, but it’s rare to have two family members with powers a few generations apart.” He bit his lip and passed his fingers through his hair, dishelving it. “Only siblings can have both powers at the same time. You were the second to have powers within the same family.” He looked deep in my eyes and I was lost in the magnificence of his ocean blue gaze. “The necklace protects the wearer and your grandmother didn’t have powers like you do. She could only see beyond the veil of the supernatural even better than us, but she could also see visions of the past and future.”

  My eyes widened at the revelation. “That might explain some of her words. Sometimes, she would say things we couldn’t fully understand, but what about the things I saw when…” I hesitated. “In the battle?” Jacques raised his eyebrows and remembering he wasn’t there, I explained, “I saw my younger self playing with fairy children. Is that even possible?”

  Chuckling, he said, “I suppose it could be. Fairy children sometimes wander away from the realm and find themselves in the human world. Adult humans can’t see them, only children. That’s how imaginary friends are born.”

  “And why couldn’t I remember it before?”

  “I’m not sure.” His brow creased in concentration and I felt bad I brought that troubled expression to his face. “You should have been able to unless someone cast a spell to make you forget, but no one had reason to do it, but I digress. Your necklace protects the wearer as I said and has certain powers, but I don’t know all of them. The eldest of our family was supposed to get it when he turned eighteen, but…” He shrugged and his indifference awed me.

  “Don’t you miss them?” I couldn’t imagine leaving my family any time soon, but I grew up in a loving environment and never knew what animosity was like in toxic families.

  “Not really. We were just bearing each other and if I didn’t have to, I didn’t talk to them. We spent days without talking and I cherished these days most of all. To avoid them, I spent most of my time outside, but the realm isn’t vast, so unfortunately, we had some disastrous meetings.” Frowning, he waved as if to repel the bad memories away. “I wanted to live, so I left. You are much like her,” he said, and I looked at him perplexed, dazed by his words. “Your grandmother was kind and helped the others in her own way.”

  �
��I’m not much like her if I don’t understand what happens around me,” I said, thinking how badly our adventure could have ended.

  “Violet, what they asked of you was too much and you learned everything you could in such a short time. Be proud of yourself.”

  “You died,” I said flatly and to my utter surprise, he smiled.

  “But you saved me.”

  “No, I didn’t,” I said in bewilderment, but his smile grew wider.

  “Yes, you did. I can’t say I remember much from where the carrots are upside down, but I remember hearing your song, sweet as a nightingale's, calling me to you.” I stared at him in disbelief. Did he just make a joke about his passing? “Don’t worry mademoiselle, I am perfectly fine. You, on the other hand, are not.” He nodded at me and I flinched wondering how he could tell since I’ve fooled everyone else. Maybe because he was a supernatural.

  “I’m fine.” I gritted my teeth, masking my feelings before they invaded my waking hours.

  After hearing so much about his life and seeing how calm he was about his almost dying, I admired his strength. Inside, I was breaking into tiny pieces as I was starting to realize how dangerous this world was and thinking of my grandmother brought tears to my eyes. If she was here…

  “Violet, it’s over. Everything is going to be fine.” Jacques’ gentle voice shook me away from my dark thoughts and I felt his steady arms around me.

  Never before had I seen him show any kind of tenderness, but I felt embarrassed as I needed it right now. The smell of pine and wood he emanated soothed my dark thoughts, but not my racing heart. Typically every time we were in a close proximity, I would get a feeling of discomfort but this time, it was replaced by a rather warm feeling that started from my toes and reached my heart.

  He placed my head on his shoulder and wound his fingers through my hair while whispering my name. A part of me was confused over his motives, but a wider part of me relished his attention since he offered a safe place tucked away from the darkness.

  I don’t know how long we stayed like this, but when I opened my eyes, I was feeling better, I saw the sun had lit the square and pulled away as I realized how late I was. My family must be worried, as I hadn’t been away from home at such an early hour before. “I need to be going,” I said and nodding, he held my hand in his.

  “Are you going to be all right?” The worry imprinted in his voice dumbfounded me. I didn’t peg him as the worrying about others type. More like the other way around.

  Everyone else had just assumed I was perfectly fine after my dangerous encounter with the Dark Master. Even Kristy. Only Jacques seemed genuinely concerned about my wellbeing and it went against the persona he had demonstrated so far. It was a big and confusing puzzle where I held only a handful of pieces and yet I couldn’t figure him out. He was sarcastic and at times mean, but showed glimpses of being tender and vulnerable. The story he narrated made things even more complex because he could have told me the necklace’s connection to my grandmother without mentioning his. Yet, he chose to tell it and even mentioned parts someone would have thought too personal to admit to a girl he just met. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t pinpoint the reasons, and it was aggravating.

  “I’ll be fine. I just need these nightmares to end,” I admitted reluctantly.

  His expression turned somber. “I wish I could help you more, but I don’t know how difficult this must be for you. I’ve been around supernaturals since I was born and I can’t imagine the battles you are fighting inside of you.” Looking deep into my eyes, he continued with a voice laden with emotion, “If you need me, I’ll be always there even if it’s just to talk.”

  My mind ran wild as his words rolled like honey and I tried to maintain a neutral expression but my face betrayed me. I cursed inside my head as I felt the burning sensation spread in my cheeks. Hoping to maintain my dignity, I nodded and pulled my hand away and put both on my wild beating heart. This close proximity had started to give me weird feelings.

  “Are you staying in the Blessed Realm?” I tried and his eyes gleamed.

  “Most of the time, I travel between realms but maybe just this once, I’ll stay behind,” he said and gave me one of his charming smiles. “Until next time…”

  He left his words hanging and looked at me with a distant look. Unable to fathom what caused this sudden change of reaction and sadness, I formed the question but I never uttered a word. Taking my face gently, he kissed me and before I realized what was happening; he morphed into a rabbit and disappeared, leaving me staring at an empty space.

  I walked the streets aimlessly in a daze, trying to understand what on earth just happened, but every time I tried to go to that moment my mind led me to another memory, away from the one I sought. Stopping in front of a shop, I gazed at its windows without seeing them. Jacques had kissed me. No, that couldn’t possibly be right. I must still be dreaming, I thought. But…I couldn’t dream of such an impossible situation. Especially with the whole lot supernatural mess I had to face and the training. Now, his confessions made a lot more sense. Glancing at the window shop for the first time since I had arrived, I jumped back as the poster smiling at me was of a rabbit. Wearing overalls, he was winking at me, holding a sign. “Love nature!”

  Taking a sharp breath, I started heading home, still sweating from what I saw, but my mind unwillingly returned to the way his lips kissed me and how gently he…

  Stop it, Violet! Get a grip, I chided myself and went on to observe the things around me so I could stop thinking of what happened. In my back of my mind, though, questions formed as to why he kissed me. It’s not like he knew me for a long time or that we were particularly close. Had he kissed me because he took pity on me? No, it can’t be it. Surely, he couldn’t be that cruel and what he told me proved that. His story had shaken me, but the questions I had, got to me even more. I had many flaws, but this was the greatest of all—I always needed to know the answer. Maybe it was a defense mechanism but now more than ever I needed to know the answers or this supernatural situation would send me to the skies.

  Chapter 8: Glow Fairies

  When our street came into view, I silenced my thoughts and wore a bored and relaxed expression. Fortunately, today we would be removing the Halloween decorations so that could help me keep my mind from wandering but unfortunately… it was Saturday. My parents were going to be in the house all day and that meant I had to be extra careful about how I acted. Sighing, I pushed the door open and braced myself for the scolding.

  “Violet?” My mother came from the kitchen with her apron and a wooden spoon in hand. When we were little, she would threaten to beat us with that spoon even though she never did. The wooden spoon was our terror until we were old enough to understand she only did it to keep us in line.

  “Where were you? It’s almost noon.”

  “Went for a walk. I lost track of time,” I said, shrugging and in a way, it was true.

  Smiling, she waved the wooden spoon at me. “A walk never hurt anyone. Now, will you go help your sister gather the decorations?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said indifferently even though I was relieved I passed the first test and headed to the living room where Diane, with a miserable expression plastered on her face, was putting every Halloween related into boxes. The way she acted it was like someone had died.

  “Where have you been?” she said, casting a piercing look at me. Diane was never good at reading others and comparing the witch’s piercing gaze made anyone I have ever met pale in comparison.

  “Out for a walk. Let’s hurry up, shall we?” I said and turning my back on her, I gathered some decorations and put them in the box quickly. Now that I knew about the Blessed Realm, these things felt dangerous and I didn’t want to touch them any more than I needed to.

  “Okay…” Diane said and sniffed. “It’s so sad…”

  “Well, you’ll see them next year.” I prayed that I didn’t have to see them anymore for the rest of my life. I’ve got enough supernatural
things to face to last me for several lifetimes.

  Clicking footsteps alerted us to our mother’s presence. “Violet, someone is here for you. She said she’s your friend?”

  Wondering who would ask for me, as I had no friends that my mother didn’t know, I went to the main hall. While walking, the terrifying thought of Jacques coming invaded my head and I steeled myself. Seeing a pink cloud surrounding the girl waiting for me, I relaxed as I had a good idea who the friend was.

  “Hello, Violet,” Kristy said, confirming my thoughts.

  “Hi Kristy,” I said in a cheery voice, but inside me, I was wondering why she was here and how would I present her to my family. I was excited to see her as she was my only friend but right now, this seriously complicated things.

  “That’s Kristy, Mom,” I said, as I didn’t want to raise any suspicions by stalling anymore. “I met her yesterday.”

  “That’s wonderful. Why don’t you two sit and chat, and I’ll finish taking down the decorations?” my mother said and I lifted my eyebrows, but accepted the offer.

  “Am I interrupting?” Kristy asked, an embarrassed look wavering on her face when my mother left.

  “No, we are just taking down everything that’s Halloween-related.” I rolled my eyes, and she laughed. “I take it you don’t have celebrations like this?” I said, trying to distract her from asking any strange questions.

  “No, but sometimes we celebrate, too.” She lowered her voice so much that I had a hard time hearing her. “Plus, I live here and have to blend in.” Inspecting me, she narrowed her eyes and I wondered if I seemed as messed up as I felt. “What happened? You look…I can’t describe it actually. Your aura is very strange.”

  “You can see auras? Is that what that pink cloud surrounding you is? Why can I see it?” I examined it further and noticed it had various hues of pink and it varied from deep pink to a very soft shade to the point it seemed white.