Page 21 of Heart Shaped Wreckage
“Always. I can still see your wings even if you can’t. The impression has always been with you and always will, unless… No, the future is not yet set in stone. So many pieces have yet to be laid in front of you on the pathway to your next existence. Come, and I will show you my face.”
Heath slowly pushed the door open. The room was pitch black, and as we stepped over the threshold, hand in hand, I could see nothing that lay in front of us. It was like walking into the blackness of the darkest night with no starlight to guide you.
Heath seemed to be able to see much better than I could. It made sense since he was part wolf. I didn’t know too much about shifters. I don’t think I ever did.
The door slammed shut behind us as we stepped through, and I nearly jumped out of my shoes.
Heath’s hand tightened around mine. “It’s fine, Kevin. If she meant us harm, she would have never let us into her home. Here we have one of the oldest magics in the world to protect us. The magic of her invitation inside.”
“Old magic that only the oldest know and can call to existence. Heath knows… He has used it before, haven’t you, old one?” Her voice sounded like she had swallowed glass.
“Crone or mother?”
“Why not both?” she croaked. “Sometimes the hardest questions have the simplest of answers. A candle lit on the table and… No, that wasn’t a candle, it was a finger. I had to stop myself from running from her house.
The flickering light cast shadows against a face that looked like wrinkled paper.
“Let there be light,” she cackled as the flame flew from her fingers and around the room. Candles were lit all over the place, and soon the room glowed with the red flames. An old woman sat in a chair, and her toothless grin was hideous. She had to be the oldest person in the world – at least, that’s what she looked like. Her white hair hung frizzy and long all around her like a veil.
“What do you have to tell us?”
“I think that poor… Kevin, is it, is scared of me. Poor thing, so lost and alone… lonely and sad.” Her voice started to lighten and smooth, and I watched her form shimmer and shift as if it were being filled with a light from nowhere. She was an old woman one minute and then a young woman the next. Magic. Very powerful magic. She glowed internally as if she were some kind of angelic being. It was actually very fucking scary, even if she was prettier this way.
“Ah… I know you, don’t I?”
“Yes, we’ve met once or twice in the past.”
“One of the ancient oracles. That means that… If you would see us… You have something very fucking frightening to tell us.” Heath moaned as if he were starting to become uneasy.
“A fright to one might be an exciting adventure for another. But yes, I knew you would come. It’s been seen for longer than you know. But I could feel the prescient energy of prophecy coming all day.”
“What do you have to tell us, old one?”
“Remember, child of all, that once heard it can never be undone. Are you sure you wish to hear? Do you really think it was an accident that the boy witch knocked on your door? Fate has cast her finger in both of your directions, and in the end, fate always has her way.” She grinned from her chair. She now had teeth.
“Which form is truly yours?” I asked, unable to stop myself. It was bothering me. I needed to know.
“Why can I not be both, child? I have been and will be many things in my long life. Maiden, mother, crone – as well as huntress, rider, and victim. Magic came from chaos, and I have seen my own birth but never my own death. Chaos swirls within me as if she were my mother. Perhaps she was. My death is birth, and my birth is eternal. Now, little witch, do you want to hear what I have to say?”
“Will it tell me who I am?” I tried to stop myself from being scared, but I was terrified..
“I could, but I am afraid I cannot. You are tied into the prophecy, and part of it will be your search for identity.”
“I'm scared.” I tried not to whimper.
“I’m notunafraid.” Heath pulled me closer to him. “A prophecy could mean much.”
“It could mean the end of everything, couldn’t it?” She laughed.
“What do you have to say?” He sounded very unhappy about it.
“Human?” She pointed her finger at me.
“I guess…”
“You do have to say it?” Heath whispered. “Magic has rules.”
“I do know that. Yes. As scared as I am, I want to know who I am.” I tried to stop my knees from banging together. I was shivering.
