NIGHTS OF HALLOW

”You didn’t tell me this part of your dream,” Sthena remarked as soon as he saw Perdita step out of the witch’s house with a mortified expression. He fought hard not to grin at her earlier explanation of her dream to the witch.

Perdita abruptly came to a halt as she tried to school her expression but the loud skipping of her heart betrayed her at the sight of Sthena who now stared at her without blinking.

”What are you talking about?” Perdita questioned with an oblivious look on her face and immediately changed the topic. ”We should quickly bring the things the witch needs for the ritual before it is too late. I think we should leave now.”

Sthena continued staring at Perdita without responding to her words. With an unwavering gaze, he pushed himself away from the tree and slowly made his way toward Perdita who looked as if she wanted to bolt from there.

Sthena’s steps were slow and calculative like a predator he was waiting to catch and feast on his predator who unfortunately was Perdita. He approached her and deadpanned in a cool and calm voice. ”We are not leaving here until I hear all that happened in your dream with no detail missing.”

Perdita’s heart skipped another beat while she fought hard not to falter her gaze which eventually did as she couldn’t take the intensity at which Sthena was looking at her. She quickly averted her gaze and tried to walk away while evading Sthena’s words. She muttered in a low voice, ”I don’t know which part of my narration told you that something more happened in my dream. But you can stay while I head back home...I mean to the castle and get what the witch needs.”

Sthena’s lips curved into a smirk as he noted how Perdita switched from saying home to saying castle, meaning that she was already considering the castle as her home. He turned to look at the departing Perdita and questioned, ”What makes you think you are going the right way? You don’t even know where I brought you.”

The words of Sthena made Perdita halt in her steps. She looked back at him understanding what he meant. But then, he was not planning to leave unless she told him the remaining part of her dream which she had skipped earlier in the castle.

”Well...” She began with a hesitant look while her gaze wandered around where they were surrounded by the forest. The thought of missing her way made fear kick in as she contemplated succumbing to Sthena’s desire. Having decided what she wanted, she continued ”I can always use my witch powers to find my way.”

”Accepted being a witch already? That was fast,” Sthena replied with a smug look on his face. ”But then, you have tough luck on that.”

Perdita narrowed her eyes while ignoring the words of Sthena asking if she accepted being a witch. She remarked, ”Witches have magic. You think I wouldn’t be able to use my magic?”

”I never said that you wouldn’t be able to use it, but—” Sthena paused as his expression changed from a smiling face to a serious look confusing Perdita. He went on to say, ”— but what I don’t guarantee is you running away from me.”

Again Perdita’s brows furrowed and before she could make out what Sthena meant, she saw Sthena disappear, only to come stand before her. And before she could react, Sthena had already wound his hand around her waist and immediately teleported both of them.

A gasp escaped Perdita’s lips when she felt her feet leave and touch the ground again. With an accusing wide eye, she wriggled out of his embrace and immediately looked around them and questioned, ”What are you doing?”

Not liking the way Perdita shifted away from him, he questioned in a slight mock tone, ”Don’t tell me you now forget things so easily. Having short memory?”

From where Perdita stood, she glared at him for calling her memory short. ”I don’t have a short memory!” She snapped and saw Sthena shake his head in disapproval.

”I think you do,” He said and began to walk towards her again ”If you don’t have a short memory, your brain should have registered it when I said I want to hear every detail of your dream.” He stressed the detail, telling Perdita that he was serious about hearing her dream.

”What if I don’t want to say it?” Perdita questioned back, trying to stand her ground which immediately shook when Sthena now stood in front of her. She tried hard not to step back but failed when he raised his hand towards her.

Sthena’s eyes narrowed more than they were already, not liking the way Perdita kept moving back and trying to avoid his touch, but that didn’t stop him from moving forward to take hold of her hair and allowing it to slip from his hand. He stopped one strand from falling like the others, subtly telling Perdita that he would always catch her each time she tried to run from him.

”It is not a choice, darling,” Sthena uttered in a low calm voice that shuddered the heart of Perdita because of the endearment he used on her and the way he held onto her hair. She blinked and quickly averted her gaze which allowed her to see that they were standing on a cliff and that she was on her way near the end of it if she tried to move back again. But the way Sthena looked at her now, and also remembering her dream of him caused something to erupt in her chest causing her to involuntarily move back again.

A slow smile made its way to Sthena’s lips as though he liked the sound of Perdita’s heart that continued to skip beats with every word and action of his.

Sthena looked behind Perdita seeing she was one step away from the tip of the cliff. He warned with a small smile still playing on his lips, ”Move back again and you will have yourself fall off the cliff.”

Perdita felt defeated in the turmoil happening inside her head and heart. Not knowing what else to say, she hastily questioned, ”Would you rather I fall off than hear the dream?”

”No, darling.” Sthena promptly answered. And as he spoke he took a step forward, now the one pushing Perdita towards the cliff. Perdita’s eyes widened with heart now in an errant motion. She opened her mouth to question him but was interrupted by Sthena who now bent towards her as he spoke in the shell of her ear,

”If you are planning to fall, I think it is best we both fall together.”

Perdita rapidly blinked. Instead of being afraid, she felt her stomach make a funny movement as if something was moving inside it and trying to fly away at the same time. Her green eyes met the red eyes of Sthena which appeared darker in the darkness that was already setting in. Something told her that the words of Sthena were no longer about falling off the cliff but something else that he had in mind.

Sthena offered her a warm sweet smile that shook her already messed up head and heart she tried to avoid falling for. Sthena being Sthena who was bent on invoking emotions she was not familiar with towards him continued to lean in towards her again making her bend her back while forgetting what was behind her.

When she finally remembered where she was standing, it was already too late to move forward and stop the fall as she felt herself fall backward. Her eyes widened in disbelief not only because she was falling but because Sthena was on top of her with his hands wound around her as they continued to fall towards their end or perhaps a new beginning in their life where both of them would be dead.