At six PM sharp, Claudia showed up at Zander’s house wearing a long crimson evening gown that had a slit up the left slide that stopped right before the thigh met the hip, with her hair up in a messy bun. She didn’t even have time to knock when Zander opened the door with a smile that quickly turned into a frown as he looked back into the house.“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked him after seeing his mood change so drasticallyZander sighed then looked back at her, “It’s nothing, really, just Sean has been locked in his room all afternoon. I think he is mad at me for telling him that you couldn’t come. I just wanted to surprise him. Just this once.”“Oh, if that’s the problem, then I will just head up to his room and fix the problem now,” Claudia said, decisively, before heading up to Zander’s room.When she reached the door, she noticed the lights was off and her brow crinkled in confusion. “It’s only six. He shouldn’t be asleep yet,” she thought and knocked softly on the door. When she d
When Claudia got to her room, her phone rang for about the fifth time since she got home. “He isn’t going to give up until I answer, is he?” she thought with a sigh. She pulled her phone out of her purse and answered the call. “You finally answer? What was your plan, to ignore me forever?” Sean said, his voice laced with anger and hurt. “What do you want Sean? It is late and frankly I have no energy for fighting,” Claudia said her voice laced with fatigue and pain. The almost broken sound of Claudia’s voice nullified his anger, and he became concerned. “What’s wrong?” he asked her, his voice much softer than before. “What’s wrong? Heh, you’re asking me what’s wrong? Oh, I don’t know,” Claudia started, her voice rising an octave with every word until she was practically screaming, “Maybe it has to do with me catching my now ex cheating on me on his birthday, or maybe it’s becoming obvious to me that I am such a monster that even in this lifetime you scumbags think you can treat me a
“I must be dreaming,” Claudia thought as she looked around herself. She was standing in the square, but it was vastly different. It looked like it did back in the 1800s. She sighed inwardly because she was familiar with this dream and did not wish to see the ending again. That is when she noticed, unlike her other dreams like this, she had control of her body and decided that she will take advantage of this. She turned around and started walking aimlessly down Decatur Street until she heard a familiar voice screaming. “Help, help!” the voice kept screaming, and though she felt like she knew the voice, she could not place where it was coming from. She looked up and around her, that’s when she noticed that she was at the crossroads and in front of her, tied to a tree was Sean and beside the tree was Legba. Legba snapped his fingers and suddenly the tree was on fire and Sean screamed louder for help. The very next second Legba appeared n
After showering, her mind had calmed down enough to fall asleep, but her dreams weren’t any better. The moment she closed her eyes, she was greeted by a hauntingly familiar presence. “What are you doing Claudia?” the figure asked, and Claudia shook her head firmly. “This is obviously my dream so I should be asking you that, especially since you’re dead and all,” she said giving a slight, defeated chuckle. This time the figure chuckled and shook his head, “Haven’t you learned this yet, Claudia? Not everything is what it seems to be,” he said, “Besides, I am not the one punishing myself because of how I was born, now am I?” “No, you are just the one that went and got himself blown up do to what he was born at, aren’t you Volk? You really have no room to lecture me, you couldn’t even keep your promise to the person you claimed to love. Please just tell me why you are evading my dreams when you are dead? Do you want me to hate myself more?” “You hating yourself is not, never has, and
It was a hot summer night, with fireworks going off overhead. A woman that looked like she was roughly in her late teens, with long, flowing, red hair and bright blue eyes that seem more significant against her pale, almost translucent, skin, was seated, elegantly at her tarot table wearing a dark crimson cape with the hood pulled over her head, in front of the cathedral, where she could smell the river water on the wind while watching the other people in the square laughing and playing around as they enjoyed the celebration.“Look at them, having a marry old time, as if none of them know what had happened here all those years ago, but I remember. I remember all too well, as if it happened just yesterday, and I think they should pay,” she thought.Then she saw a mother pick up her little boy and place him on her shoulders so he could see the fireworks and the hard piercing look on her face soften, causing a soft smile to appear on her full lips as longing bloomed in her heart. “Or, ma
“Good evening,” the older gentleman, who had sandy brown hair, green eyes, and was walking with a cane, said to Mike with a bow before turning to Claudia with a slight frown as Mike excused himself and left. “Claudia, you are bound to work yourself into an early grave if you continue on like this,” the older gentleman said to her. At those words, Zander’s tight smile turned to a frown, “What do you mean Lex? All she is doing is reading people’s fortune, like she does almost every day. It isn’t like she is trying to push her energy into others again, is it?” “Not that I am aware of, but she has been out here reading fortunes basically nonstop for three days straight. She hasn’t slept and has barley ate anything at all,” Lex said as he crossed his arms over his chest, “I bet she has been telling you she is going home.” This time Sean frowned and gave Claudia a slight pout as he said, “Why are you working so hard, Claudia? Are you trying to kill yourself?” “Of course not, if I did t
After getting her coffee and beignets, Claudia headed to the benches that was behind Jax Brewery, since no one ever went there, and she just wanted to be alone for a minute as she sat down thinking about everything that was going on. She was facing the river with a conflicted and absent-minded look on her face. As a matter of fact, she was so lost in her own mind that she had no idea that someone was following her until he stepped out of the shadows and cleared his throat. “Is everything alright, Claudia? You’re normal more perceptive than this. I mean, I was able to follow you this whole time, yet you didn’t realize it,” Sean commented. “I did realize it,” Claudia lied, “but I chose not to react. Maybe you should try it sometimes.” “Sure,” mumbled Sean. “What was that?” “Nothing,” Sean said before he made a rose appear seemingly from thin air, “A beautiful rose for the even more beautiful Claudia.” At those words Claudia’s expression darkened and she stood up causing her black
The next day, as Claudia was fixing breakfast, she thought of ways to tell Lex about her considering to date Sean without upsetting him because he had been having heart issues lately. Lex looked up from his paper and watched her for a moment before speaking. “What’s wrong, Claudia?” he asked. “Nothing’s wrong? Why would you ask such a question?” “You’re obviously worried about something so spit it out.” Claudia brought the food to the table and sighed as she sat down, “Dad, Sean is coming over in a few hours to have lunch with us.” Lex giggled slightly and shook his head, “If that’s all then why are you so nervous? Doesn’t he and you spend a lot of time together anyway? You’re almost like brother and sister.” As he asked that, Sean had slipped into the house with a bouquet of roses hoping to surprise Claudia by being early. “Well...” she began and then started playing with the hem of her shirt, “he asked me to date him last night.” As she said that, Lex was taking a sip of his