Theo #3
Bathed, clothes pinned by the open window, and cooled off from the visual Vivian had treated me to, I hesitated before stepping out.
I had an additional precaution to take. One that I didn’t think we’d need tonight; but why not have it sooner than later?
A little extra safety never hurt anyone. Well… this was gonna hurt a bit.
I pulled out the jars Ida gifted me and popped a sprig of Malough into each, having collected some on our hike. That was half the spell. Now, for the other half. Night was part of life, and I didn’t want Vivian to have to fear its beasts any more than the ones of day. Better to be protected.
I unsheathed my knife.
I’d been sliced open so many times that the sting was familiar when I pressed the sharp tip into my palm and dragged it through my flesh.
Crimson immediately welled within the creases of my hand.
I clenched my fist closed to form a steady stream, and used my other arms to one-by-one rotate the jars into the flow of blood.
The pale green herbs were coated in a layer of thick red, mirroring the spell jars Ida kept outside of her cabin and then some.
I didn’t want to skimp on this, so I made sure there was a small pool at the bottom of each glass container.
Once I was pleased with the charms, I sewed myself up with my med kit, applied pressure with a rag, re-corked each container, put them back into the bag, and cleaned my workspace. Six was enough for now. I couldn’t rob Ida of all her glassware.
Gore cleaned up, I stepped back into the bedroom.
Vivian had rolled so that her head was on the pillow, her face framed by a crown of red hair to match the blood I had just spilled for her.
Her eyes were half-hooded with sleep, but she kicked her leg for the momentum to roll herself off the mattress.
“I left your clean dress on the sink for you.” I’d considered mentioning the new charms, but it’d been a long day… I wasn’t sure I could say it more tastefully than, “I just filled six jars with my blood for you.” I’d think of a better way to tell her tomorrow.
“And I warmed up the bed for you!” she announced, shooting me a smile as she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Now what? The sound of running water softly filled the room; I could faintly hear a low feminine hum through the noise.
My feet mindlessly stepped closer to the wall while some deep, subconscious part of me yearned to be wrapped in the notes she caged within her chest. What would she sound like if she sang louder, instead of muffling her voice between sealed lips?
I didn’t realize how long I’d been frozen in place, leaning into the wall panels, until the faucet cut off.
I all but jumped back into the bed as to not be caught eavesdropping.
“I feel like a human again,” Vivian remarked as she stepped into the room, a pale linen dress clinging to her damp skin.
“Is that what you identify with most?”
She hummed in thought, lifting the covers on the right-hand side of the bed and sliding underneath. The delicious smell of her field—blackberries—wafted over me. “I’m not sure I care much about the label.”
“You don’t like being a goddess?”
“Goddess,” she snorted, as if it was a silly title.
“What’s funny?”
“Not funny,” she sighed. “The ability to heal people is… cool. But when I think about my life as a street rat on Earth, my bitch mother who doesn’t give two shits about where I am or how I’m doing, and the fact that this planet wants to harvest me to fuel their light bulbs…
I guess I just don’t feel like much of a goddess. ”
My body tensed instinctively. I felt the need to pray for forgiveness on Vivian’s behalf for calling Goddess Eva a “bitch”.
Beyond my religious conditioning, I hated hearing that she felt undeserving, unloved, and exploited.
We hadn’t talked much about her mother, but those feelings made sense with what was happening to her.
As wrong as it may be, if I had to choose between siding with Vivian or all the deities in the heavens, I was beginning to think I’d choose her every time.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
She turned to her side, propping her head up on an elbow to stare down at me. “You don’t need to be sorry. There are more important things to me than whether I’m special.”
“Like what?”
She smiled softly. “Can you get the light? I’m exhausted.”
“Of course.”
The low glow of the lantern faded, bathing us in soothing darkness. I closed my eyes, sinking further into the pillow with all four hands folded onto my torso. I could feel her breath fanning over my upper arm. The faint taste of blackberries tingled my tongue.
“Hey Theo,” she whispered.
“Yeah, Viv.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being you.”
There was a rustle of blankets. A palm rested over my shoulder, warmth seeping into my skin.
The scars that always burned stung a little less.
My heart thumped against my ribs, trying to escape its cage so it could be held in her hand.
She wasn’t some stray beast. She wasn’t a rejected daughter.
She wasn’t a battery. She was Vivian. A goddess in a world of devils.
And she deserved a safe place to lay her head at night.