Journey of a Girl

Secrets We Keep: Chapter Eight

Excitement moved her forward.

Where is the Collector now? Is he still under the effects of my smile?

She giggled to herself.

What would happen if I called his name? He may even be watching me this very second.

Hours ago that thought would have disgusted her, but now it gave her a touch of satisfaction and courage. She thought of returning to the charred door to use her energy for another attempt to break inside, but found herself devoid of any frantic need to find the Queen. It had been replaced with something that pressed her to keep moving, a desire to simply go, even if she had no direction.

Her steps turned into a light skipping.

Ma's book might be able to occupy her mind, but the notion of sitting still not only felt unwanted, but impossible given her mood.

She passed through the towns. She passed the hut of Hansel and Gretel and the ivy-covered home of Jill.

She giggled as she went, though she had no cause to.

When she passed her childhood home, a shiver touched her courage. Even now, with this brave energy, she didn't dare step back inside.

Childhood.

That word felt thick in her mouth.

The Collector said she wasn't a child.

She was inclined to believe him.

Credence didn't feel grown-up, but something nagged her, a whisper deep within that told her she knew she was past the cusp of womanhood.

Even Ma had sensed it. How long ago was that?

There were no more invisible enemies that threatened Credence into hiding. No night dark enough to send her cowering by a fire. Even the Collector, the last fear she held onto, proved that once the shadows were chased away, all that was left of the nightmare that plagued her was nothing but a man. 

If that understanding was not the very proof that she was beyond childhood, Credence wasn't sure what would be. 

She was deep in the woods when she stumbled upon a place she hadn't seen before.

A cluster of trees with rope ladders winding up their trunks, leading to several quaint homes. Credence ventured into the one she thought looked the most lovely, and it was in this charming dwelling that she found a mirror.

It was the first one she'd seen since her time with Lilith, and when she saw her reflection, Credence stilled.

She thought she was much changed in Lilith's home, but she remembered seeing a bit of the child in herself. Now, Credence could not find a hint of that familiar face, or even the body she knew to be her own.

Under the blouse she could see the small hills of a bosom. She hadn't noticed when she bathed, but she had never imagined possessing such anatomy before, and certainly never thought to look. Her shoulders were broader and her arms were defined by a whisper of muscle. When she pulled her clothing tight around her body she could see the outline of hips, and a curve in her waist that replaced the straight, bony physique of adolescence. She rolled up her pants and revealed slender legs with an unmistakable femininity in their shape.

But it was her face that startled Credence the most. Its roundness had slimmed into a defined jawline. Her nose had lost its innocent, button-like form, and her lips had stretched and plumped into an inviting pout. What once had the padding of baby fat was now contoured into the angles of an adult.