*Danika*
My eyes enlarged with horror, my body flipping to the side to gaze at her in bewilderment. “How did you know that?”
“That is why I’m a sorceress, girl. Merely meeting you yesterday and I know everything I need to know about you.”
I blanched with fear; the only thought on my mind right now was that she also knows about Alonso and me.
“C’mon, let’s go,” she nudged me in the direction of the history shelf. “I know what you are thinking right now. The only thing that I wonder is why the two of you would do that… It’s not my business,” she raised her hands in the air and continued, “I merely care about you. I have heard a lot about how kind and considerate you are. My daughter’s pup, Theo, had been a thorn in our flesh six months ago, and my daughter was considering stopping bringing him to the infirmary anymore. However, he suddenly changed and is now more than willing to go there. He won’t stop saying your name at home.”
“All I’m saying is that, from what I sensed yesterday, you don’t look happy, so why would a good woman like you agree to such faux play with him?”
“He made me do it…” I confessed, having nothing to do or say. It seems my trouble has followed me here. I had entirely forgotten to stay away from sorceress and witches as they tend to look into the soul of people without permission.
“I understand. Well, it’s good that you are here. There is a lot you need to know about being a whisperer and the ability to control your impulses. That was why your grandmother became dark. She couldn’t control the demon on time and therefore, it took over her. From cases I’ve seen before, it only succeeds to subdue its carriers when they already have dark hearts and deep inside, nurture evil. Another notable piece of information is that she must have evoked the demon into her, and in exchange used someone in her generation as a sacrificial lamb. Unfortunately, it happened to be you.”
She was right. I might not have met my grandmother, but from Mrs. Dolly’s description, only an evil woman can birth an evil father like mine. I have no doubt. However, I’m alarmed at this discovery. I didn’t know anything about my father’s parents, mostly as a result of his indifference toward me. The only duration I heard a little about them was the time his father died in a raid and my Dad had to go. I didn’t get the details and didn’t care one bit, as I was down and mostly bedridden the period after Bianca sapped my powers a night before.
All the same, this is good news. At least I have an inkling of where I got this from. Coming here was indeed a blessing to me. One riddle solved.
She brought out the book we were reading yesterday and opened to the Chapter we stopped, titled Whisperers lineage. I flicked my eyes to her in panic. How did she know all these? She wasn’t here with us, how come she got the exact date and even helped us to mark it? Is she that powerful?
“Are you going to tell on us?” I swallowed and inquired, her initial revelation about Alonso and me still engraved in my heart.
“As I said earlier, it’s none of my business. The only thing I know is that this path you two took, is going to be one crammed with gallops, and these gallops would take a lot to fill them up. You just have to be prepared.”
Oh, Gad. Not another riddle. “What do you mean by that?” I eyed her, removing my bag to place on the table in front of me.
“Everything has consequences, Danika. The goddess placed the two of you together but out of your obstinacy, you deviated from her will. There is bound to be consequences.”
“He forced me! Before now, I used to be nothing but the weak and clumsy girl who can’t stand up for herself to do anything but accepts whatever fate thrusts at me. What should I have done? Forced myself on him? He is more powerful than I am and can ever be!” The veins in my neck were protruding as I tried to defend myself. I knew that I would be blamed for this! I always knew it!
“One step at a time, Danika. Don’t fret… For now, you need to focus on what brought you here. Know yourself so that as you said earlier, you don’t have to live your life based on others’ dictation.”
I huffed in recourse and looked down at the book, brushing my hair to the back of my ear. “Since you know about me, you should know I desire nothing but to know everything about this power in me, so that I don’t turn out horrible like my grandmother,” I informed her.
“Okay. Let’s see what we have here.”
We traced the lineage of my grandparents from our pack, and true to her word, the tree stopped at my grandmother being discovered after so many years as possessing the horrendous power which she used to wreak havoc on so many raiders and invaders of our pack. She was known to be very powerful and died later when she was captured and caged in a drum filled with silver liquid and more than enough wolfbane than she could endure.
The question now is why me? Why did she have to ask for a power that dangerous, then had to stake the future of one of her generations on such vicious dark acquisition?
No wonder Bianca is evil. She must have gotten her horrible behavior from our father’s side, then I had to pay the price by being the bearer of this bad omen!
“I just can’t relate at all! How can a power like that be in someone like me who loathes harming others?” I asked her with a wide eye.
She chuckled rustily, handing me a teacup she had gone to bring in the middle of our study. “There is always a reason powers come to people without their calling for it. You should be happy that you have it, at least you don’t have to hurt anyone with it.”
She’s very correct. I might hate this power in me, but it is better that I’m the one carrying it than Bianca. Perhaps by now, she would have burnt the pack down or installed herself as the Alpha and made us her slaves.
“Relax, Danika. Everything would fall into place in good time.” She tapped my hand gently and proceeded to point out other family trees and the attitude of their bearers while alive.
By the time we had gone through half of the book and Mrs. Dolly had told me so many things that left me dazed with fright and shock, darkness has already covered and I had to prepare hastily to leave.
“I really learned a lot today, Mrs. Dolly. I’m grateful to you,” I intoned while walking out of the library.
“It’s nothing. I’m glad to help.” She waved off my comment. I came to a stop in front of the building and bid her farewell, hence walking out alone.
Just as I walked out, I saw a black car in front, a car I recognized so well. How come? I looked back to the entrance of the library, glad that Mrs. Dolly hadn’t followed me outside. Albeit, that feeling that she knows someone is here didn’t escape me.
I ambled in the car’s direction hurriedly, so we leave soon enough.
“Hey, Sweetface,” Alfred said, sliding the window of the car down as the door to my side opened.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked frantically.
He shrugged and started the car. “I have my ways.”
This wouldn’t fly. He is typical acting weird and trying to sidestep it. I can’t be in the middle of my present crisis and I can’t even trust someone I have come to like. My friend! “You know, I’m really working very hard to believe that you are…” I tightened my lips, closed my eyes to cool off, and continued, “I don’t know, Alfred. You are just full of black and white. I can’t tell the kind of person you are apart from the cheerful aspect of you.” I put my seat belt in place and resumed gawking at him.
He was smirking, not even bothering to clear the air.
I shook my head. “I’m serious, Alfred. If you say you are my friend, you have to stop acting in certain ways. I know this is not the right time to have this discussion but the other day you came back from wherever you went to…” I made an air quote with my fingers. “… When I asked you where you were at, you said some cryptic stuff and even broke your promise by saying… saying what you did!”
He howled with laughter to further intensify my outrage. “What did I say, Danika?” he asked after his laughter receded.
“You know what you said, Alfred… That is not supposed to happen and I’m telling you now that if you want this friendship to continue, I don’t want you to say that again!” My voice has risen against my intention but I needed him to understand that this is no child’s play. I might not be with Alonso anymore, still, I don’t want to have anything intimate to do with him or any man again for that matter.
“Okay,” he said in a drawled monotone. He didn’t look like he had gotten the point of what I meant.
“I’m serious, Al”
“And I said okay. Since it’s wrong for me to say”
“Alfred!”
“Fine!” he yelled, stamping his palms repeatedly on the steering that I feared we would have a road mishap. I reined in my irritation, not wanting to be the cause of something as horrible as that.
“I’m sorry for raising my voice at you… I-I just want us to be true friends, Alfred. I don’t want to become uncomfortable around you or stop being with you due to fear of the unknown. I need you to tell me things when I ask you, and not get angry… The other time I asked about your second power and you flipped on me. Now I’m asking, how did you know I was in the library? Because I didn’t tell you and no one knew. So how?” I eyed him solemnly, giving him the hint that I come in peace. Deep down in me, something uneasy pulled, informing me that Alfred might not be who I think he is.
But what could he be hiding?
…