I feel a strange push and pull before everything around me comes back to focus. I remain on my knees as I cough up a strange white substance. "d.a.m.nit, Eris! This is why you shouldn"t try this s.h.i.+t... wait, why are you in a dress?" Binx asks from his corner with growing concern.I look around the familiar surroundings of my workroom before falling forward and pa.s.sing out. When I finally feel myself waking up, I open my eyes to see Binx laying on my chest, looking down at me with worry.
My heart aches as I slowly close my eyes and ask "How long was I asleep for?" Binx watches me closely as he says "Twelve hours... give or take. What happened to you?" He jumps off my chest as I slowly sit up and look around at the mess in the room.
"I went back in time..." I say with a dazed look. Binx frowns at me and says "I... I would say that you"ve had too much to drink but you"re in an odd dress and you have black blood all over you... it seems like yours and... someone else"s? And did you cough up white blood?"
That gets my attention as I turn to look at him with a frown and ask "White blood?" He lifts a tiny paw and points at me, causing me to look down at my dress but it"s just a nasty mix. "Sooo... how far did you go back?" Binx asks with curiosity.
I try to run my hand through my hair but my hand gets caught in all the dried blood so I give up and say "I went back to the first witch... before all the other supernaturals were made. Oh yeah, I told her all about them so, in a way, I helped create them."
Binx blinks at me with shock before saying "You aren"t pulling my tail, right? You really went back that far!? Did you tell her to give me extra powers!?" I give him a dry look before forcing myself to get up. I walk out of the workroom and head straight for the shower.
The house turns the shower on for me so by the time I get to it, it"s already warm. I don"t even take the dress off... I just step into the shower and stand under the warm water. I lift my face up and close my eyes, allowing the water to wash my entire face and hair as I try to collect myself.
After a while, I look down and lift my hand. The mark from Kian is back... I look at it for a minute before using my magic to cut my palm open. Just as Binx had said... pearly white blood pours out of the cut but for some reason, I can"t bring myself to be shocked. It"s like I"m numb...
Was this a side-affect of the punishment or was this the gift Queen Cara spoke about? My magic instantly heals my hand as I proceed to peel myself out of the dress. I think about destroying it but I just can"t bring myself to do it. Instead, I place it over the shower rack to dry as I clean up.
Once I"m all cleaned and dressed, I walk out to my kitchen and look around at everything. Just the way I left it... I walk over to my coffee maker and fill it before turning it on. The aroma of coffee makes me relax a little as I see the sun starting to set. The coffee I"ve been dying to have all this time...
My time is all screwed up... I pour myself a cup and walk over to the table. The same table my mother and I had coffee at just a few days ago. I notice with surprise when it doesn"t hurt as badly as it used to.
It still burns me up inside but it"s not all-consuming like before... I guess spending a month in the past can do that for a person. I sit at the table and sip my hot coffee as the sun continues to disappear, bathing everything in a warm orangy glow.
Binx sits on the counter and silently watches me as I collect myself and put things in order. My father and brother... I need to find them and I need to find out who the black hooded figure is. When I do find out... I plan to make it"s death the slowest and most painful death possible.
But first, I need to find "Tristan" The witch hunter from the Church Of Order. He"s the most suspicious to me right now. Even when the sun is long gone, I continue to sit at the table, staring off into the darkness until a figure appears.
I quickly recognize the silhouette and watch as he moves closer. We stare at each other through the gla.s.s until my eyes start to tear up. The look on his face changes slightly as he looks me over carefully but I look away and stand up.
I walk over to the back door and walk out without a word. He stands in the same spot, looking at me with suspicion but when our eyes connect, he freezes. His raven black hair and dark red eyes were nothing like his white hair and silvery-green eyes but it"s him. The innocence in his eyes was long gone... something darker and colder remains but it"s still him.
My chin trembles as I glare at him and say "You idiot... why? Why did you do that?" My voice breaks at the end as a single tear falls. His eyes soften as he says "Now you know me... I was starting to wonder how long I"d have to wait until..." He stops mid-sentence and looks away.
"You... You..." I struggle to talk as my voice tightens. He looks back to me and opens his arms as he says "I told you before, I"d go through h.e.l.l and back for you, dollface. Come here." I walk to him with more tears falling but as I get to him, I lightly hit him before asking in a broken voice "Are you okay?"
He chuckles at me and gives me a dark smirk as he says "You hit me and then ask if I"m okay?" He brings his hands up and wipes my tears as he says "I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. This time I don"t have time against me. This time..." He stops again and holds the sides of my face.
More silent tears fall as I look up to find that same loving gaze but it"s now mixed with a dark haunted look. He leans forward and lightly kisses me as he says "Stop crying, dollface. I"m here and I"m okay, see?" I breakdown in tears and hug him, cras.h.i.+ng into his chest as he tightly wraps his arms around me.