Blue Jay

The Blue Jay's Mark

HEY :-) ERM ... DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING THIS LOL :-) MEH HOPEFULLY ILL LOOK BACK ON THIS SOMEDAY AND REMEMBER WHEN I WAS JUST STARTING OUT ON WATTPAD LOL THAT WOULD BE FUNNY :-) 

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"Mona!" My older sister, Serena was shaking me again, "Mona, get up! Quickly! It's Hazel!" 

"What!?" I scramble out of bed, feeling the old wooden bed frame groan underneath me, and hurry over to my ancient wardrobe. The floorboards of my little attic room creak as my feet patter over them. Wrenching open the doors, I find myself a pale blue dress, ad pull it on over my underwear, not caring that my older sister was still in the room. I grab my blood red cloak and slip it around my shoulders. All the while Rena was pacing impatiently. 

"Come on!" I click my fingers in front of her face, snapping her awake and we yank open the trapdoor to my tiny attic room and stumble hastily down the ladder. Our house is a very old, very creaky, ramshackle old thing that can barely hold all of us inside it. Our family has lived here for twenty one years, and me and my sisters were all born right in this very house. It is home. Serena and I hurry into the tiny kitchen, to find the rest of our family, Mum and two sisters sat around the old wooden table. My mother looks tired and worn down, Ivy extremely worried and impatient, and Hazel just looks downright sick. I stand there, breathless in the doorway, 

"What happened?" Serena breaks the silence. 

"I think you two had better sit down." Mum says quietly. Serena and I both drop into seats, side by side, across from Ivy and Hazel. 

I am the youngest of my three sisters, and the odd one out. Hazel, Serena, Ivy and my mother all have blond hair and deep, twinkling blue eyes, while my hair is coloured like coffee, and my eyes are a light, chocolatey brown. I inherited my features from my father, who died when I was five years old. 

"What happened?" Serena repeats. 

"Hazel saw the blue jay." 

Serena and I gasp in shock, and look at Hazel in concern. 

I can barely get the words out, "W-where did it land?" 

My mother sighs, "You all know that the Blue Jay is the very object of death, of pain and suffering and sorrow. When it appears, it appears only to show you where your life will come to an end. Sometimes it lands by a river, sometimes it lands on a cliff edge, sometimes it lands on the boat, signalling the entrance to the Vicus." 

"Mother, we know this!" I say, "can't you get to the point?" 

"Shut up!" Ivy hisses at me. 

Our mother continues wearily, "and sometimes, it lands in our own homes, on the door, where you know, the woman appears, for a mere few seconds, but that is enough, that is enough for the child to become entranced, to know when the Blue Jay is near, to not be able to stop themselves from taking the woman's hand, from following the Blue Jay to their death." 

"Hazel?" I can barely get the words out. She nods slowly, still shaken. I put my head in my hands, hiding my face while Serena goes to hug Hazel. 

"Well?" Ivy whisperes. 

Hazel still seems unable to speak, so mother explains, in barely more than a whisper. 

"Hazel was going outside to collect firewood, and suddenly ... There it was. Right in front of her, perched on a low hanging bough. She couldn't help it, of course she couldn't, and the Blue Jay led her here. To the doorway. That ... Monster appeared, and Hazel ... She wasn't Hazel for a second."

"But Hazel'll be ok, won't she?" I ask quickly, grasping at straws, "She won't get ... You know ... Taken? Will she?" But even as I say it, I know I am lying, even to myself. There is no hope for my sister.  

"Mona ... I'm afraid that Hazel will be the Blue Jays next companion, the woman will come, and there is nothing we can do about it." 

Tears well up in my eyes, and I get up sharply, and walk outside. 

"Mona, no! What if she takes you as well?" 

"She's already taken my sister, what's the worse than can happen?" 

"Destamona, you come back here RIGHT NOW." My mother says sharply. 

"She can't take me--you know she can't." I snap, storming out the front door and slamming it shut. 

Once outside, I let the tears fall, drawing my cloak around me against the bitter wind, my black shoes getting dusted with snow. The Blue Jay. How was it here? Out of all the places it could've been, it came here, and of all the people it could've marked, it had to mark my sister. I had never been particularly close to Hazel, or Ivy, for that matter. Ivy and I are always getting into fights about this, that and the other, and Hazel is just so much older than me that I've never really understood her. It's always been Ivy and Hazel, and Rena and I. But now, I wish I'd taken the time to get to know my sister more, despite the age difference between us. I suppose I thought I'd have plenty of time for that later, but now ... At twenty-one, Hazel's life is cut short. She is marked as the Blue Jay's prey. Marked by Death itself. Or is she? Suddenly, I have to know--maybe Hazel was mistaken, or maybe, just maybe, the Blue Jay spared her. Maybe there was still hope ... 

I ran inside, snapping the door open and leaving it swinging wildly on its hinges. 

Without explaining, I rush into the kitchen and grab Hazel's hand. She clenches it into a fist. 

"It's no use, Mona." She slowly opens her hand, and there it is ... The small, blue outline of a bird branded onto her palm. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, and wrap my arms around Hazel's neck, hugging her tightly, and cry, burying my face in her shoulder. Hazel is completely silent, still too shocked and sick to cry, to do anything other than stare blankly down at her hands. 

"I love you, Hazel." I moan softly, "I love you so much."

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A/N: SOO THERE YOU GO :-) STILL DUNNO HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE READING THIS BUT YAY I GOT A VOTE ON MY FIRST EVER CHAPTER :-)  YAY THAT'S DEFINITELY ENCOURAGED ME TO WRITE MORE I LOVE YOUU :-)