The Blind Sorceress and the Midnight Beta

Chapter 2: In The Dark

                                                                                       Tempest

I could not seem to understand or contain this feeling. Not a split second passed by, tears rolled down my face. Whenever I heard the sighted people and their children they couldn’t see—just like me—there was like a great affinity I felt with them. It didn’t matter if it was just a minute.

Around this time of night, about a couple hours or so after sundown, I would visit the nearest town and magically put out all the lights. I’d cover the entire place with darkness. I knew it was kind of a sick game I play with these people but hearing them everytime they could not see was somehow soothing to my heart. For at least a minute of every single day, they were like me.

“Shh! Keep quiet! It might be the Baba Yaga that’s doing this to us every night, so that she can snatch away the children. Don’t make a sound or that old hag will get you, take you to her hut, cook you and eat you!” One of the mothers told her crying children. They cried even more upon hearing it.

Bloody mother! Why would she even tell her children that? It’s horrible!

I knew about the Baba Yaga. My grandmother told me about it a few times when I was maybe eight. It was a frightening creature known in all Slavic countries. It was part of countless myths. This mythical creature is also depicted in horror stories that people tell others. They would use invocations and chanting spells that would summon a Baba Yaga.

In other versions, the said creature is portrayed as the villain in child tales that’s represented by an old hag with monstrous appearances living in a wooden forest hut. According to a certain legend, the Baba Yaga would kidnap children. She would take them to her hut. There, she would cook and eat the children as punishment for misbehaving according to their parents’ rules.

When I was young, it was indeed fearsome.

On the other hand, older people are fearful of her as they believe she can cast wicked spells and curses on them.

Anyway, I continued to listen to my surroundings—to the people’s murmurs as I passed by while riding the wind.

“Stay still. Don’t move. The lights will come back in no time just like other times,” one man said to his wife.

“Why is this happening around this time anyway?” she asked with annoyance in her voice. “It’s too dark, I can’t see! The other night, I bumped my head on the door of the overhead cupboard!”

I felt guilty all of a sudden. That must hurt!

“Because you left it open. That’s why I’m telling you now to stay still. If you can’t see, don’t move or you’ll get hurt!” the man argued.

“What if the light is not going to come back this time, huh?”

“It will. It’s just some kind of an inexplicable phenomenon as it happens around this time,” the husband calmly retorted.

After a few moments, I commanded the wind to take me back to my cabin deep in the forest. My haven was magically made, so it was invisible to humans, paranormal and supernatural ones. I did it to protect myself. My only companion was Tosha, my pet parrot. She was adorable. She could mimic and talk back to me. I had no idea how she looked like but I could only feel her shape and how small she was. She had smooth feathers though and fat beak.

I entered my huge cabin, and the green parakeet greeted me with a lively tone.

“Welcome home, you bloody sorceress!”

I chuckled a bit. She was intelligent. I only taught her that for a couple of weeks, and she got it. I thought the one who sold her in a flea market was just some kind of a scum, since I had no idea about birds. But when I heard her talk, it fascinated me, so I bought her even though the price was higher than most other birds. I bought her for sixty leva (more than thirty euros). I heard others were just less than fifty, though I knew other species had more than twice the price—just like the canary, which had a price of two hundred leva (more than a hundred euros).

“What did you do today?” Tosha asked.

I heard her somewhere to my right. On that side, I had my bed, large enough for me. I always loved to roll all over it, feeling the luxurious softness and warmth, especially during winter.

“Well, I went to the closest town and heard someone bumped her head and a mother scared her children.” I sighed. “It’s because of what I’ve done.”

I heard Tosha murmur something like “Bloody sorceress!”

I grimaced, feeling guiltier. “What do you think I should do?”

“What do you think?” she asked back.

I blew a heavy breath on my face. “Bloody parakeet! You don’t know what to say, do you?”

***

I woke up and heard a buzzing noise in my ears. It lasted for a couple of seconds, just like every morning when I wake up. I got up from the bed and went straight to the toilet to take a quick shower before breakfast. It was my usual thing.

I always wore ankle-length dresses with long sleeves. Whenever I’d go out, I’d wear a green cape over it. The cape had a special purpose, which was to tell me if my grandmother was in the vicinity. I placed a charm to it, which would cocoon me if she was around. The cocoon would make me invisible to her eyes and other Shadow members.

After my morning routine, I went out of my cabin to explore the forest. I could hear the birds chirping as I walked. The air was fresh and cool, and the scent of the forest was a very welcome one to my system.

It was about half an hour later when I felt someone watching me. I wondered who it was, but maybe it was just a random person who stumbled this way, so I ignored it.

A few minutes later, I was nearing the falls. There were squeals and laughter, and I heard the splashing of water despite the constant downpour of the water falling down below.

Bloody people. How did they find this place? Maybe I should strengthen the charm around my territory for them to not find this again.

My heart shook a bit, thinking my grandmother might have tracked me down after I left home. I did not and would not want to go back there. It was enough I almost killed an innocent person—okay, shifter—because of the feud between our clan and that so-called Silvermoon Pack. I had no idea what stemmed the feud, but it had been a bloody one—and for that, I meant literally!

I just got away from killing a shifter because I refused adamantly.

My grandmother thought I would get around, and I’d just follow her footsteps eventually. But no, I didn’t wait for that to happen. I decided to run away from home and managed to hide in this forest for about five years now.

I decided to leave the falls and went to the southern part, where I would be able to listen to people talking in the market. I rarely went there to explore and simply listen or sometimes buy things. Anyway, no one could guess I was blind. My grandmother used to say I looked normal. Well, maybe she did tell me the truth or she didn’t, I would not know.

Nonetheless, I would just enjoy this day like a normal person… except that someone had bumped into me.

Who’s this annoying person who didn’t watch where he’s going? I thought with irritation.