Content Warning - Language and adult themes
Episode 29
Thea came in as I lay resting in bed, and I couldn't help the annoyance growing, though stifling it was easy enough. I'd just returned after a long and arduous conversation with Granny Phil. Thea walked up and placed a small box on the bed next to me. It was a simple white box and couldn't have been more than five by five inches. On top was a matching white bow that didn't seem functional, and overall, the box looked like the top popped right off. I stared at it for a while, unmoving. Honestly? I was afraid even to touch it. Everything from her was questionable at this point. Still... it was an insult not to accept a gift from the Gods.
Does this even count if it's a trick? Then again, how will I know if it's a trick if I never even open it to find out if it is or isn't? Right? It would just be rude.
She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at me. I tried not to let our eyes meet. Granny told me that's got a lot to do with her compulsion abilities. The Ancients, some of the firsts, and even some of the Purebloods have it. She also told me that direct eye contact makes it stronger but wears off after a while. I don't know how long a 'while' was measured for her, but I only hoped it'd be soon. Thea and Lark had been gone for a couple of hours, and I was still thinking about her. Her warm breath on my neck. Hopefully, Lark was having more luck resisting it than I was.
The urge to look up was strong as Thea now stood directly in front of me. She stood and waited expectantly with her waist and all that existed below consuming my line of vision.
Ughhhhhh!
Pales were not even my thing! As a kid, it took me a while just to get used to Granny Phil because she was the first Pale I'd ever seen. It was odd and a bit of a shock, to be honest. I remember being afraid of her at first because she looked so different than the rest of us. Nothing against Pale's at all, but they looked so... dull and muted. Like someone had made a beautiful painting that was forgotten. Left in the rain for all the colors to melt together and wash away. Thea? She was a blank, empty canvas, which was even more disconcerting.
This has to be the compulsion affecting me
.
It has to be.
I felt her finger slide under my chin to bring my face up. Everything tingled from her soft touch on my skin. I tried so hard to keep my eyes closed, but I couldn't help it. I opened them to find hers were light gray, this time with hints of blue, making her pupils look like the eye of a bad storm brewing.
I watched as her gaze bounced from eye to eye as she examined me.
Maybe she's reaching into my brain right now.
The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't feel a thing if she was. After a minute, she pulled her finger away and headed toward the washroom. Stopping, she turned back to look at me, "Calm down, Raelyn. It is just a gift. I've been giving you such a tough time and that is not very fair to you now, is it? Just a small little peace offering to help ease your stress." She smiled at me and grabbed some towels off the rack, "You need in here? I'm going to go get cleaned up..."
I shook my head, and she nodded, walked into the restroom, and closed the door. Silently, I sat there as I waited and listened until I heard the shower water running. With a giant sigh, I let my body fall back on the bed behind me. While Lark and Thea were off ditty-bopping, Granny was putting my ass to work. She'd spent nearly the entire time trying to teach me blocking techniques. The goal is to be able to prevent or at least make it hard for Thea to reach into our minds and access whatever she wants. I learned I'm not great at it during our little speed lesson. It's always been difficult to shut down the inner monologue, even with Gran's soothing voice to guide me. I usually have a hard time trying to meditate, and that's practically the first step. You must quiet everything.
Everything
everything. After that, you divert your thoughts into what Gran called decoy memories. Basically, you fabricate them and play them in your head. Purposeful daydreaming is what it sounded like to me, and I was decent at that. Too bad I can't master the emptying part. Philomena said anything that floats into your mind, Thea could probably snatch a quick glance at. Training had felt pointless to me. No matter how much I practiced, it's not like any of us are mind readers, so how would we really know if what we're doing is working? Pointless.
Rolling over with another sigh, I came face to face with Thea's little gift. Everything in my bones was telling me to leave it alone.
Don't touch it. Just leave it there or kick it off the bed!
Still, the urge to look and see was great.
What could it hurt?
It was just a tiny box. What terrible thing could be lurking in a box this small?
A tiny bomb or chemical warfare?
Both seemed highly unlikely. I don't think she would've had the time or that Lark would've approved of any deadly purchases. She is deadly by herself and doesn't need help, but with her compulsion ability, who knows? Still not sure how that works. Maybe she didn't want to get her hands dirty, so she bought something else to do the job for her.
Or it's highly possible I'm just being paranoid...
That's another thing altogether. Lark. It seemed to me that he was also under her compulsion. He was doing a lot for her without much questioning, and that's not Lark. If he is to do anything you ask or tell him, it's not before a thousand and one questions
after
he's checked the legitimacy of your request in his mind. Sure, we're in danger, but he's been too quiet! Maybe not exactly quiet because he's been a mouthy ass to Thea. That could be aging up, but maybe it's the compulsion. Gran told me that for the immensely powerful beings, it's said being in proximity can cause its effect to kick in. Everyone feels it differently, and its effects apparently include but are not limited to stomach issues, profuse sweating, joint weakness, joint tenderness, poor emotional dysregulation, and increased libido, just to name a few. An intense longing for the powerful being is inevitable. It made me think there were levels of intensity, like choosing between a beginner, normal, and nightmare mode in video games. Maybe there were various kinds of compulsion?
I was so lost in my trance that I just now realized the box had somehow made its way into my hands. Retrospectively, I never remembered reaching over and grabbing it. That's how mentally preoccupied I was. 'Just a small little peace offering to help ease your stress' is what she said.
How terrible can it be?
With that reasoning feeling so solid to me at the time, I was instantly sold. Forcing my body to the edge of the bed, I threw my legs over, and my tired torso reluctantly sat up.
My fingers brushed across the white ribbon, causing some glitter to shimmer and fleck off from the bow. I felt my hands start to shake as I pulled the top of the box off. There was a little white card bordered in black with my name elegantly sketched on the front in gold ink. I grabbed it and flipped it over, then frowned. "Ready for use," I whispered aloud as I read it. Each letter so gracefully penned in gold and drawn underneath it was a black heart. A gold arrow was drawn through it.
Ready for use...
Beneath the card was white tissue paper with gold flecks on it. Slowly, as my hands shook, I pulled the tissue out of the box. Whatever was inside, I felt fall into my lap. I picked it up to get a closer inspection, and it was incredibly soft in my hands. It was a deep red color and somewhat circular, but both bottoms were a little flat. Turning it over in my hand, I realized there was an old charging dock on one end and flexible petals shapes on the other. Where the seeds or pollen should be was a hole in its center. It was the strangest flower I think I've ever seen.
What in the hell?
