Page 11 of Sweet Poison

As we make our descent I can almost feel the magic in the air, and I can already imagine all the adventures waiting for me down below. A feeling ofDeja vutakes over me as if the land itself was calling out to my soul, inviting me to uncover this country’s hidden treasures and immerse myself in its unique beauty and culture.

Something deep in my bones told me that something monumental was bound to happen. Something that would change the course of my existence forever.

And it did.

That something was… him.

Chapter

Four

HOLIDAY OFFENSE

Madden

“My heart knew you were the one long before I set eyes on you.” – W

The sun was beginning to set, bathing the garden in tons of gold and pink. I am sitting on a large, weathered rock near the edge of the over the top garden, my gaze lost in the shimmering waves that clash at the shore as I think of how this place was almost too perfect. I don’t trust perfection. I’ve never had and the O’Sullivan household and their estate feels like something that is too good to be true.

At least for someone like me— someone that ruins everything he touches.

I sit here on this old rock like I do every evening trying to escape how suffocating it all feels. The O’Sullivan garden is beautiful with vibrant flowers, butterflies of all sizes, and the occasional burst of colorful magic. And even though it is a sightto behold during sunset, it is even more wondrous at night when the moon shines down on it.

As I brood in my usual corner, my thoughts swirl around me like the tides in the ocean. Angry and restless.

I am so stuck in my head that I barely notice the mushroom ring that circles a cluster of toadstools until something—someone smalls—moves within it.

She appears almost like a magic trick, emerging from behind the mushrooms shy and quiet, seeming otherworldly.

The O’Sullivan girl.

Willow.

I had to close my eyes and reopen them to make sure if it was just a dream. There is just something about her that doesn’t feel real. Her small silhouette is framed by the soft, ethereal light on the sun setting over the horizon.

I lean forward to get a closer look and notice she is holding a book as big as her face, her fingers lightly brushing the worn leather cover as she flips through its pages. Her brown curls fall around her face, shimmering, casting a gold halo around her. Pretty…

Thud.

I touch my chest feeling my heart beating. It’s been a while since I’ve felt it react to anything or anyone.

The organ in my chest seems as if it was trying to tell me something but what? All I really know is that I can’t look away. Willow looks as if she had stepped straight out of a fairy tale, her delicate features and the way she is sitting so poised among the mushrooms makes her look like a magical creature. Her big and curious blue eyes focus on the book as if she can’t get enough of what is inside.

While she is lost in the pages of her book, I sit there, feeling a pang of wonder and something I can’t quite name. The world seems to fade around her and so does the torturous noise inmy head, and for the first time in a long while, I feel like I can breathe without it hurting.

How rare…

How does she do that?

As I continue to watch her, she suddenly looks up from her book. Her eyes meet mine with a spark that no one seems to have when they look at me, and a soft smile across her face.

She rises gracefully from the ground and then she begins to walk towards me. Her feet are bare and her toes are painted mint green. I noticed earlier her mother’s nails are also painted green.

As Willow approaches, the space between us seems to shimmer with an invisible pull that feels like magic. Her pretty smile grows warmer even when she looks shy, and for a moment, it feels like the whole world has quieted down and we are the only two people in it.

Feeling a little bit too much at once, I shift nervously on the rock, suddenly aware of being caught staring like a fool.

When she finally reaches me, she stops just a few feet away. Her eyes quietly search mine as if she knew the secrets I haven’t shared with anyone else. She nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and that’s when I see the tiny gadget on her left ear.

---