Lost in Demon's Eyes

12 - Meeting the witch

“Why?” Ansel turned back to me. He looked quite upset as nothing was happening even after he knocked on the door a few times. There was no doorbell to be rung.

“Well, nothing is happening. The garden is too peaceful, nobody is opening the door.” I shrugged. And most importantly, I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, so I would have enough time to get ready for the party evening with the girls. I’m so excited! I just hope this drag will be over soon!

Suddenly the door creaked and opened slightly. Ansel raised his eyebrows to show me he was right and I was doubting his decisions for nothing. I grunted. Whenever he showed me his haughty attitude, making me swallow down my losses, it made me feel like hammering him to the ground.

We entered the house. It looked completely normal, nothing weird was happening. The walls and furniture looked pretty fine as well. There wasn’t anything eccentric nor something that would make you think: aaah, so I really am in a witch’s house. It was a normal house with an average-looking interior as well as an outside facade.

“Welcome. Are you going to be standing there for a long time or can I close the door?” Suddenly a voice came out of nowhere. It felt like it was coming from the whole house, yet it was hard to pinpoint the exact spot. It was as if the same voice was speaking to me from all the directions and yet there was nobody who would be visible.

“No, sure, sorry… Go ahead.” I took a few steps to get inside the house. There was a small stair, where two pairs of slippers were waiting for us. We took our shoes off and put our feet in the soft slippers. The house was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, as we didn’t see anyone, but it still felt like there was somebody with us.

“You don’t look worried,” I whispered to Ansel, who looked amazed by how things were looking inside. He only shrugged. He was so into checking the house, that he didn’t even care to reply with words.

“Come on in. I already made tea.” A young woman appeared, her body not too slim, but she wasn’t overweight either. Her hair was flowing to half of her back, straight acorny brown with small waves to the end. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, yet she looked like a fairy from a forest. Her modest clothes made her eyes and beautiful face stand out even more.

“Or if you mind having herbal tea.” The smile, which was reflecting in her eyes, made me feel like I could trust her right away. Even though I couldn’t feel any energies or anything of the sort, somehow I felt strangely comfortable in this place. I never felt this comfortable even in the house in the village. But this place felt more like home than any home I had lived in before.

“Meoooow!” I turned my head to the staircase on the left side. A tiny dark chocolate-colored cat was sitting there, her green eyes piercing me, reading everything about me. Its hairs were long and made it look even more majestic than the silent gazing eyes.

“Ruphus! Don’t keep the guests there!” The girl’s voice came from probably the kitchen, into which she had disappeared a while ago.

“Don’t make her wait too long, you wanted to go to the party in the evening!” Ansel nudged me a bit in my side. I pressed my lips together. He didn’t have to tell me that I had to go. He was staring at things around us as well! On top of that, ever since the girl had appeared, he kept checking everything about her. And he even continued gazing in the direction of the kitchen.

The cat gracefully descended the stairs, then stopped in front of me, looking at me with just one eye, before continuing to the kitchen. As if it was telling me to follow him. Ruphus. What an interesting name to give to a cat like this…

Walking into the kitchen, which was just a few steps to the right, felt like walking from a dark medieval alley to a bright place. The sunshine was coming in through all the windows, while the kitchen itself was made from wooden-like furniture with flower decor plates. I would call it rustic, as it felt at the first glance. Yet at the other, it seemed like it was modern, as it had all these new gadgets, which even the pack kitchen in my family house didn’t have.

“Take a seat, please.” She didn’t hesitate to talk to us again, as Ansel entered the kitchen too. Again, to the right, there was a cozy-looking living room with a small sofa just for two and two armchairs. Teacups were already at the places where we were supposed to sit. I sat down on the sofa, while Ansel sat down on the other armchair, which was still available.

“Okay, so… before we start. I want to make sure there are no misunderstandings between us, as they tend to cause a lot of trouble in the future. My name’s Elleonora, but please call me Ellena, as it’s way easier, not Ellen, please. By the way, one thing to say about the tea especially… It will put you into a dream-like state. Nothing to be worried about as the effects will be gone within less than three hours. Within that time I will try to enter your subconsciousness and ask you a couple of questions and things to see if I can do anything about your hand. Let me see it.” She was already drinking the tea from her big mug, while my teacup was still intact. I looked at Ansel. He nodded in an agreement. It looked like he completely trusted her and this whole thing as well. I stretched out my arm to Ellena. She took it in both her hands and leaned closer to see the sigil, which was there. She kept studying it from different angles, tilting her head and putting the arm in different angles.

“Okay, I am not going to lie to you. This isn’t going to be easy to deal with and I am not really sure if we can do anything about it at all. The sigil…” She stopped speaking, making the atmosphere heavier as she kept holding and staring at my arm. It looked like she was trying to find a way to put her words in a softer way, or trying to verify if she had looked and seen things well.

“The sigil had been drawn by Dantalion himself. If you drew it yourself, and don’t get me wrong, many people do that, it would be easy to deal with. But seeing you have entered into some sort of a contract with him, this might be a tough nut to crack. But no worries, all things have a cure. We only have to find out, what it is. So heads up, we can solve this. We have a lot of time, anyway. Now… Please drink the tea, Zia. I need to see inside of your head.” She finished her long speech with many breaks and thoughts spoken out loud. There was nothing to lose for me to drink the tea, there was nothing to gain from drinking it, perhaps, either. I took a big sip until I had finished the whole cup in a matter of a few minutes. I thought it was just her saying that I would get dizzy and tipsy and drowsy, tired. But in fact, it was seriously working well. I couldn’t keep my eyes open no matter how hard I tried. My eyelids were growing heavy while focusing on any object in front of me was nearly impossible.

“Zia, do you hear me?” I heard Ellen’s echo in the back of my head, while I was growing deeper into sleepiness. My consciousness slowly faded, while I experienced the darkness of the night and following dreams. I couldn’t answer her, no matter how much I tried. I was motionless. I stopped feeling my body and surroundings. I was completely stuck inside of myself, while not knowing the time nor the space, which had become overflowingly empty.

“Where am I?” That was the first thought I had when I finally managed to open my eyes. I was in a room, which didn’t have any windows or doors. A complete nightmare for someone with claustrophobia. There was nobody around, only me, four walls, ceiling, and floor. Everything was whitish-grey, with no shadows or even a lightbulb present. At first, I realized it was very easy to be here. It felt very comfortable and pretty habitual. As if I was living here for most of my life. Then, my brain started kicking in. My chest was getting tighter and it was getting harder to breathe. Typical claustrophobia.

“This is your subconsciousness. Calm down. No need to be wary of anything, just continue the way you feel like…” I heard a familiar voice, which didn’t belong to me. It had to be Ellena. She said she was going to ask me a few questions after I drank the tea. This was probably her way of getting to know things. But I was stuck in the room, there was no way to exit it. No door to open.

“If this is my dream or subconsciousness, then I have to be able to do things here.” I looked at my arms, shaky hands… I was doing my best to take deep breaths. Nothing unusual was happening to my hands or wrists,, the sigil wasn’t there either. I tried imagining a door, as imagination was the only thing left for me to get out of this empty room. And it appeared! I walked through it to a huge sunny garden. There were all kinds of roses, trees, bushes, big grass fields, ponds, a small brook, and a place to sit down. It looked like an ancient gazebo made out of white marble stones, with a round table in the middle and two benches twisting around it. I started walking towards the gazebo, creating a pathway through all the plants, flowers, and what-nots. It felt like I could sit down there, drink crystal-clear water and relax while hearing the birds sing and butterflies fly around me.

Sitting down, I felt a weird force around me. It wasn’t mine, it definitely wasn’t Ellena’s, either. Up to this point, she was only a voice around me, while this one was definitely messing up with the settings of my subconsciousness-like dream.

“I’m glad I found you here.” A male voice. I felt like I had heard it before somewhere. It didn’t sound too scary, nor too inquiring or flirty. It was more like the voice of a friend, whom I hadn’t seen for a very long time, and yet I felt very close to him.

“I didn’t know you’d come here,” I replied, not knowing how exactly to feel about it. If I was supposed to feel offended, threatened, or even happy that someone like that had come to my dream, my subconsciousness, perhaps even my soul.

“Well, we are bound by blood, of course, I’d be here.” The breeze whispered around my ears. Bound by blood? I’m only connected by blood to my own family. I never did any blood oath or anything.

“Still can’t figure it out?” The same breeze around my ears. This time it felt closer. I could feel it gently caressing my left ear, lifting the strands of my hair, and then touching my right ear as well.