Xanthe's blood ran cold, freezing her body to the spot.
She knows what I am? What does that mean?
Her senses were instantly alerted, overdriving her mind with disturbing questions. Her first instinct was to run, but what if she ran and this strange lady chases after her and hits her across the head with that stick?
But, hold on. . . what did she just call me?
BARBIE?
Slowly, she turned to face the other woman, her narrowed eyes drilling a hole in her face.
That sounds quite familiar!
Just then, Xanthe drew in a sharp breath, her eyes flying wide open. It was her! The lady she'd shared the same holding cell with on her first day here.
"YOU?" She exclaimed. "You're the Gloom Princess from the holding cell."
The lady squinted her eyes, her head angling to the side. "Gloom Princess?!" She repeated the word slowly as if she was mulling over the new nickname. Then, she nodded in approval. "Hmm! I kinda like that. Oh, and yeah! I'm the Gloom Princess from the holding cell."
Within seconds, her legs ate up the space between them until she was now standing a few inches from Xanthe.
"You're a witch, ain't you?" She asked with so much conviction, leaving no room for denial.
Xanthe's breath caught in her throat without warning. "How. . .how do you know that?"
A satisfied laugh left the lady's mouth as she proceeded to explain. "I saw you cast a spell at the police station. . . 'Tuum cor exure mea venere. Submittere ad meam voluntatem!'" She tilted her head to the side, grinning smugly. "That translates to 'Burn your heart with my love. Submit to my will.' That's the Enchantment Spell, isn't it?"
Xanthe's jaw plunged to the floor. How does she know that? Is she a witch as well?
"Besides," she continued, "as creepy as this sounds, I've been following you since that day. And I saw you, on multiple occasions, practicing spells in hidden corners."
WHAT? SHE'S BEEN TAILING ME TOO?
Now, Xanthe was feeling a tad wary. Her feet shuffled backwards, readying themselves to pick race in case the need arose.
WHO EXACTLY IS THIS WOMAN?
The lady seemed to have noticed the uneasiness on Xanthe's face. To reassure her, she lifted her hands and spoke in a calmer voice. "Hey, I know I come off as a stalker and all. . . but trust me, I mean no harm. I'm not a bad person."
Xanthe hesitated, giving her a sidelong glance that spoke volumes. "That's precisely what any bad person would say."
She might've saved her life but she was still a total stranger to her. And she wasn't taking any chances. Not when her survival was at stake.
With the little vitality left in her, Xanthe held Maia's gaze and spoke a spell she'd never thought of using in her life. "Mens absconde, memorial evanesce."
Xanthe held her breath, waiting for the spell to kick in, but nothing happened. Not even the cold wind shifted from its course.
The other lady peered at her for a long moment and then burst out laughing. "Sorry, but were you trying to erase my memories?"
"Yes. . . No. . ." Xanthe stuttered, taken aback. "How. . . how do you know that?"
"'Mens absconde, memorial evanesce'. That's the memory-erasing spell?" She laughed again. "Shouldn't it have struck you by now that I know a lot more about your kind than most mundane you've met?"
She was right. And that sort of frightened her. Which was funny, because when she'd just arrived here, her prayer was to find someone who knew even a soupçon of her kind.
"By the way, you're saying the spell wrongly," she continued obnoxiously. "How can a witch be so bad at being a witch?"
Xanthe's face wrinkled. "I'm not saying it wrongly," she shot back, taking offense. "My vitality is just not favorable enough to handle the spell at the moment."
She cleared her throat and tried again, repeating the spell more intently this time.
But still, nothing happened.
Xanthe watched in annoyance as the lady threw her head back and began to laugh again.
She wished she knew the Transformation Spell. Nothing would've pleased her more than turning this lady into a hyena, since she loved laughing.
"You have serious problems with your pronunciation," the lady said finally. "Saying the spell accurately is just as important as having magic coursing through your veins. Someone taught me that." She beamed as she moved closer to her. "You don't know this yet but I can be a big help to you." She extended her hand to her. "I'm Maia, by the way. Maia Kennedy. What's your name?"
Xanthe waited for a moment before taking Maia's hand in hers. "I'm Xanthe."
"Cute name," Maia said casually. "Now we've gotten that out of the way, can I ask why you keep sleeping in these creepy alleys? Don't you have a place to stay?"
Xanthe shook her head.
"You can come crash at my place," Maia suggested casually. "I live alone and I don't mind sharing my space with you. I mean, if you keep staying here, there's gonna be more of those dudes harassing you. . . or WORSE."
Xanthe eyed her suspiciously. "Why should I trust you?"
"Why shouldn't you?" Maia said, lifting her shoulders. "I mean, look at me. . . do I look like someone you can't trust?"
"Um. . ." Xanthe drawled while giving her a long, thorough appraisal.
Her eyes travelled from Maia's deep smokey eyes, the black leather rivet choker with a silver skull pendant, and the knee-length spiked boots peeking out from under the black leather trench coat.
She looked like the angel of death. And if Maia hadn't just saved her life a few minutes ago, Xanthe would've sped out of there without looking back.
"Yes," she replied in conclusion. "You definitely do."
Maia inhaled sharply, faking a hurt expression. "Heeeyy! Don't judge a book by its cover." Then, her smile came back on. "Anyway, it's your choice. You can stay out here, hungry and cold, or. . . you can follow me back to my apartment where it's WARM. . . with WARM food to eat. . . and even a nice, WARM shower."
Xanthe knew what she was doing. She was trying to bait her. And, to be honest, it was working. EXCELLENTLY.
When she didn't respond, Maia shrugged her shoulders and began to walk away. "I heard it's gonna snow heavily tonight," she spoke in a loud voice. "I hope you don't turn to a chunk of frozen meat when next we meet."
Xanthe knew it was stupid to follow a total stranger home after all she'd been through since coming here. But dying in a warm house seemed far better than dying out here in the cold street, because at that point, she was unsure what would kill her first— criminals or hypothermia.
There was also starvation. The last meal she'd had was the half-eaten bread she battled off her not-so-friendly stray dog neighbor which it'd definitely stolen from the other stray dog living two streets away.
That was one memory she would take to her grave.
"Hold on, Miss Maia!" Xanthe called out, hurrying after her. "I'm coming with you."
Maia smiled, slowing her pace so that Xanthe could catch up. "I knew you'd change your mind," she said excitedly. "Oh, just call me Maia. Friends don't need formalities."
Xanthe blinked. FRIENDS? That was a foreign word in her vocabulary.
Within hours, Xanthe found herself in Maia's neighborhood. It didn't look as fancy and secure as the neighborhood that Lorenzo lived in.
Most of the houses were ramshackle and looked like they'd been that way for decades. The sidewalks were cracked and shifted from it's usual position. The trash in the corners wasn't even properly dumped in the can. And what about the streetlights? They were flickering so badly that anyone could tell they were barely surviving up there.
The entire neighborhood was desperately in need of renovation.
Shortly, they reached Maia's house which appeared to be one of the few decent homes in the neighborhood.
It was a two-storey apartment with a proper structure. Maia occupied the ground floor of the building while the upper floor appeared to be vacant. Everything was in place. Nothing was falling apart or threatening to. It was even bedazzled in twinkling colorful lights which came as a surprise to Xanthe, because she would've bet an arm that Maia was allergic to colors.
As soon as Maia turned in her key in the lock, she held the door open for Xanthe, ushering her into her home. "Welcome to my humble. . ."
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Xanthe screamed at the top of her voice.