The Obsidian Princess

Chapter 9

Hans took both the girls to the pet store and then parked his truck in the front of the curb. It had been more than twenty years that his daughter was growing up in this town and still people shied away from looking at her. Some of them closed the eyes of their kids when they pointed at her or commenting that she looked like a ghost.

It deeply pained him to think that his child had to hear all those things just because she looked different from others. He had tried his best to make her feel that she was not different from anyone else at all and she was just like the others but inside he knew that she was only a little girl whom his wife had brought home from the forest whose mother had died giving birth to her.

They entered inside and Nemoy came forward smiling seeing Hans and smile faltered just as he saw Eloa walking behind him. But he still put up a brave face. Although that did not miss his eyes.

“So good to see you Hans…and I see you have brought the birthday girl as well,” said Nemoy as Eloa smiled up at him. She was glad that he had even bothered to remember about it.

“Eloa has decided that she is going to take on the black kitty….” Said Hans as he turned to find Eloa no where in sight and Nia was standing there who pointed in the direction of the rows of the cages which were kept at the back of the store.

“Aha…a very good choice…she is of a very good pedigree and her mother is also from a very good line…she had four kittens in this litter and ….” And the store-owned kept on saying but he had no idea that Eloa had chosen the one that she was going to take home.

Finally she came out of the rows with a kitten in hand which was grey in colour. Her eyes were absolutely green just like Eloa’s and she felt like she was destined to take her home.

The store owner Nemoy gasped looking at the kitten that Eloa had in her hands.

“Where from did you get that thing? And has she scratched you?” asked Nemoy as Eloa looked at her in surprise.

“What are you saying Uncle Nemoy? She is a perfect little thing and I have never seen a colour of fur like this ever before…it is like her and my skin matches and compliments each other absolutely perfectly…why are you asking if she has scratched or not? She is the sweetest baby I have ever seen…aren’t you, my little baby???” asked Eloa as she nuzzled the mouth of the cat and Hans was so happy to see that his daughter had found something that she had liked.

“You don’t understand Hans…that kitten is bad news…we were going to put it down…she was born of a dead mother and yet this one thrives and none of the cats are going to be with it and this one is always alone…you have to understand that you can take any other kitty you want but the vet is going to put it down after Christmas…” said Nemoy but before he could finish that sentence Eloa screamed out and all those who were in the shop looked at her.

“NO ONE IS GOING TO PUT HER DOWN…AND THAT IS THE LAST WORD,” said Eloa in a cold voice. Nia came ahead and placed her hand on her shoulder.

“It is alright Eloa. We are going to take her home. And Nemoy Uncle if she was going to be put down anyway then the least humane thing you can do is give her a chance at a good life in a home who want her. Please say what is her price…and you gotta indulge the birthday girl once in a while, don’t you think?” asked Nia as Eloa smiled at her.

“No price for her…take her away for free,” said Nemoy as he looked in bewilderment at the trio who went out of the shop and he could only mutter one thing,” Freaky bitch.”

When all of them were in the car Hans asked his daughter if she had chosen a name for the kitten and she smiled and nodded her head at him.

“Siren.”

All of them reached home and Eloa and Nia went to the kitchen to find Siren a warm bowl of milk. Sonia scowled at the creature in Eloa’s arms but she did not say anything at all because it was her daughter’s birthday. Parents did have to sacrifice their own pleasures for the sake of their children and she knew that she was lucky to have a daughter.

Eloa did not look up while coming out of the kitchen and collided head on with a hard body and fell down on the floor with a slam. She winced at the impact out of habit, not pain and looked up to find herself looking at the most handsome mortal other than her Leonardo Di Carpio.

He had tousled dark brown hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes were a mesmerizing deep ocean blue, flecks of silvery light performed ballets throughout. His face was strong and defined, his features molded from granite. He had dark eye brows, which sloped downwards in a serious expression. His usually playful smile had drawn into a hard line across his face. His perfect lips ripe for the kissing. His strong hands, slightly rough from working, held mine as he stared deep into her eyes she couldn't help but blush. His smile etched its way back into his face. His body was warm and toned as he helped her up, comforting to the touch. His voice was deep, with a serious tone.

“My apologies Ma’am…did I hurt you in any way?” asked the man in his deep voice. He was not smiling at all but Eloa could see the laughter and mirth playing in his eyes.

Eloa forgot how to speak.

And just like always Nia entered the scene and said,” And you spoiled my surprise..I told you to stay hidden, didn’t I?”

“It is really tough to stay hidden inside a place where every five minutes or the other Mrs. D is coming in to get her things. The kitchen pantry is no place to hide a surprise,” said the man in an accusatory tone. Eloa looked at him carefully and felt that her heart would stop beating. This was no one else other than the one who had gone away….

“Azrael?” asked Eloa softly as both of them stopped bickering and the boy who was more like a man looked back at her and smiled.

“I did not think that you would be able to recognize me any more Eloa,” said Azrael smiling at her. One of his best friends from childhood with whom he was speaking for the first time in seven years.

Eloa looked at him for one moment and then suddenly without any warning she slapped him across the cheek so hard that he reeled backwards at the force of the blow. And then he looked at her in shock.

She did not say anything to him at all and looked at him very calmly and then she walked away from him. Nia looked at both of them with equal shock marring her face and then she ran after Eloa who had gone inside her room.

“What was that Eloa?” asked Nia as she closed the door behind her.

“That was exactly what you saw Nia. I don’t think that I am going to clarify my actions,” said Eloa as she stood in front of the mirror and looked at her pale and clammy face. She could see the reflection of a living corpse looking back at her.

And this was not happening the first time. Every single day and every time she looked at the mirror she could see the reflection of a corpse with unnaturally black hair and green eyes which made her look like the one girl who dressed all round the year in a Halloween costume and would be wearing that perpetually till the day she died. It sickened her to the pit of her stomach but she was a freak of nature and she had no idea why.

“Why on earth would you slap Azrael? He was our best friend Eloa….have you forgotten everything?” asked Nia as she pulled Eloa and made her face herself. Eloa looked at her but she was not looking at her friend any longer.

“That is exactly what I have been trying to tell you Nia…he was our best friend. He was the third of our Three Musketeers and he left us…he kept us stranded and he broke our group without even bothering to talk back. What do you think about that? Have you ever thought about how I felt?” asked Eloa. Her voice was loud enough to go out of the room.