Imagining Frost

(11) Ice Patch

My lungs froze in my chest and my lips trembled with fear, as I stared at the false version of my Grandmother. "T-turned? Willingly? As in...?" I put a hand to my heart and swallowed down the bile in my throat. The tale had said the only way for someone to turn into a Gypsy was to get their heart ripped out. Could that even be possible?

"Yes, Heather. Everything I told you was true. I know it's all hard to understand, but  "The Book of Wethrinaer" is one-hundred percent factual. It is simply in story form."

"Does this mean my mother is a Gypsy?"

"She has Gypsy in her blood, but her humanity overpowers the gene. Your mother is a half-breed. If she was awakened, turned into a Gypsy, she would be extremely powerful."

An unsettling thought popped into my head. "If my mother is a half breed, what does that make me?" My Grandmother's gray eyes faltered and she dropped her gaze and she remained silent., her eyebrows knitting together. That unsettling thought turned into a throbbing headache, and I felt myself fall forward, bracing myself on the couch. I have Gypsy in my blood.

"A child born from a half-breed is against Gypsy law. This is why I believe the boy Frost is here for you. To take you to their court." Grandma gave me a hard look at my growing paleness. "Heather, you cannot tell anyone about this. I'm trusting you."

"I'm going to throw up--"

Grandma threw a finger over her mouth. "Shh."

"No," whispered, my mind still set on the fact that I was a half breed Gypsy, when hours before I never  knew Gypsy's even existed. "No-no-no-no-no." I shook my head and covered my mouth with my hands, suppressing the emotion building up in my throat. Everything she was saying was simply crazy! None of it could be true! My grandmother was going mad.

"I can hear movement outside the house," she interjected in a hushed tone. "Someone is now watching us."

A chill went down my back. "Him--who?"

Her dark grey eyes locked onto mine as she mouthed for the second time that day, Frost. Her eyes then jerked to the window behind me for a fraction of a second before locking back onto mine.  Look.

It was then I could feel a pair of eyes on the back of my head, and my heart leaped violently in my chest. My mouth parted in confusion. I slowly started to turn around...

There was nobody in the window.

When I turned back around my grandma was staring at my necklace, which I had clutched at in fear when I turned around. Her eyes unwillingly went back to my face. "The Gypsy is following you for a reason and assume it is because you are a half-breed. Maybe if he knew that you haven't practice magic..."

"How do you even know about him!"

"We've crossed paths before," was all she said. "Gypsies never forget a scent from one another." I got up from the couch in fear of the creature with my grandmother's kind eyes. The room started to spin and I clutched the lump on my forehead. "There was nobody in that window. This isn't funny anymore, Grandma. Birthday tricks aren't my thing. Especially one so stupid! I'm honestly not in the mood--"

"This is not a trick," Grandma said in a low voice, getting up off the couch. "I am telling you the truth, Heather. And if you try and leave now, that Gypsy that has been following you will drag you in the forest kicking and screaming."

I squeezed my eyes shut at the headache forming behind my eyes, and suddenly a scene flashed before my eyes of a vivid blue butterfly fluttering its wings rapidly in the palm of two small hands.