These wonderful works of art were made by the one and only Zdvyhl, my inspiration for Ruby's character. She's extraordinarily talented, brilliant and beautiful in all senses (and has a very good taste choosing friends) You can check her amazing tattoos on her Instagram account, follow her or show some love liking her posts.
https://www.instagram.com/zdvyhl/
"I have to go..."
"You must be joking..." I let out in disbelief while the pretty brunette shoves my shoulders frantically trying to push me away.
"Ruby, let me go..." There's a hint of hysteria in her tone of voice that worries me and I decide to obey her, getting up, but I'm not letting her leave this parlour without giving me a rational explanation.
Damn it, everything was going so well... She was nervous when she arrived but I managed to calm her down and when I started working on her wrist...It was perfect, the ink slipped softly under her pale skin following the letters outline, it was so easy... For a second, I got the impression that I wasn't doing that tat but the name of the toddler appeared magically on her flawless skin. Lines were clear and the black ink shone when I finished, the skin was reddened but I knew it'd heal well and the result would be perfect. Iselen was lovely and funny, her praises sounded sincere in my ears and I couldn't help playing with her a little till she kissed me. I wanted to feel her so bad and thank her for the trust she placed in me... I thought I could take her out for dinner to celebrate the first of many tattoos and maybe I could convince her to go to my apartment later and try my bed, for a change.
But suddenly, she got tensed under my body and shoved me away almost rudely. I didn't understand what was going on because my mind was clouded by lust and satisfaction after a well done job... Till I saw what she'd seen and realized that Ivy, Savannah and I myself were wrong: Iselen knows perfectly what's inside the cabinet. My altar pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle made of wood that I left forgotten here last time I casted a cleaning and protective spell for the parlour, several candles, a bronze bowl for water, some quartz crystal rocks, dry flowers... She knows what it means, her eyes travel from the cabinet to my face and energy swirls around her but her aura is greyish-yellow and, even if I'm not as good as Ivy at reading them, I recognize fear. What the...? Iselen gets up quietly and steps back, cautiously.
"I'm going to leave now," she whispers before swallowing hard, anxiously. "I won't bother you or your friends anymore... I never meant to stick my nose in your businesses.... I'm sorry, don't hurt me, please."
"Sorry, what?" I blink shocked with my mouth wide open. What is this woman talking about? Iselen moves cautiously, getting closer to the door to take her jacket and bag from the hanger while I look at her in disbelief, speechless. "I don't... Babe, witchcraft doesn't work like that, I don't hurt anyone with magic... Well, unless they're dangerous for us and I should protect my coven, but I'd never hurt you... Let me explain..." Damn, it's pretty obvious this girl is confused. Unfortunately, lot of people still link witches with demons and black magic in this world and every time they see a pentacle they have a nervous breakdown. They don't understand that it's a symbol that represents the elements of nature along with the human mind and spirit with the aim of achieving enlightenment and live in harmony with the Universe. "Iselen, honey, this isn't what you think..."
"I know, I don't think you're an evil witch." I nod but staring at her confused at the same time, I still can't believe what's happening: I've gone from being horny five minutes ago, kissing a beautiful girl, to try to calm down the same woman who looks on the edge of a nervous breakdown when she realized I have knowledge in magic. She's going to have a heart attack if she finds out how powerful I am. "But you've said it... I'm dangerous for you. Please, let me go..."
Her fast movement opening the booth sliding door takes me off guard and I run following her to the waiting room. Thyra jumps from her chair and gets closer to the reception counter, scared and confused when she notices I'm only wearing my jeans and sports bra but she stops when I gesture at her with my hand although she remains on alert, watching Iselen suspiciously while she struggles to open the entrance door. I know it's securely locked and won't move until I say so but she hasn't noticed it and punches the wooden frame desperately.
"Ruby, please..."
"No, I won't let you go unless you give me a good explanation," I answer harshly, I'm tired of this game: I want to know what's going on here. Thyra gets tensed behind me when she realizes I'm about losing my temper, I can recognize her energy easily after so many years sharing ritual ceremonies, but she decides not to interfere. Well, someone remembers who they're dealing with for once... The other girls should learn from her and stop questioning my judgement every minute.
"My grandmother was a druid..." I blink shocked but trying to pretend that I'm not freaking out inside my head. How is it possible that none of us noticed anything weird when she was around us? Vinnia didn't identify her as a sister, Savannah thought she was a normal girl, Ivy was unable to read her aura correctly... I've slept with Iselen, twice, and didn't notice her connection with Mother Nature. This is odd... "There's always been a special woman in my family, in every generation: healers, clairvoyants, midwives, they knew the forest well and also every single plant growing there, which ones were medicinal and which ones poisonous, they recorded the passing of time watching the movements of the stars... There's a very old circle of stones related to my family in a mountain very close to my grandparents' house... We keep books with recipes, spells, diaries... all of them written centuries ago."
"Wow, that's amazing..." I whisper moving a step closer, fascinated and ignoring her anxiety. "Wonderful, you're a privileged lady, babe. There're only a few people like you in the world, linked to magic and Mother Nature by such a strong bond, raised by powerful women who taught you..."
"My grandmother was attacked and raped by a witch hunter." I step back involuntarily but regretting it immediately when I spot the sadness on Iselen's face, Thyra gasps shocked behind me but she doesn't interfere yet. "She managed to survive somehow, she never told me what happened to him, but my mom was the result..."
"The hunters' gift skips a generation." My tone of voice sounds horrified and there's nothing I can do to hide it, the beautiful woman seems to flinch in front of me due to pain and embarrassment. I try to keep my poise since this isn't her fault but it's difficult for me not to feel... disgust. She's supposed to be the same Iselen that trusted me and allowed me to tattoo her wrist half an hour ago, the same girl I held in my arms last Saturday and who tasted so sweet on my tongue, but this changes everything... And I hate to feel like this because I've always been proud of my open mind and my lack of prejudices and now I can't help looking at Iselen differently just because her grandfather was an asshole.
"I know, my mom never... but I do. That's why I'm going to leave and never bother you again... Please, open the door."
"Wait," Thyra gets closer slowly till she's standing next to me and Iselen looks at her cautiously. "Your druidic side might be stronger than the hunter one, you don't know it..." I nod trying to hide my surprise, the Jamaican woman is very suspicious usually and she'd try to get rid of a hunter by all means under normal circumstances, I wouldn't picture her showing compassion for one of them.
"I hurt someone once, it wasn't deliberate..." Iselen cuts her off abruptly. "A classmate invited me to her home to celebrate her birthday and her mom used to play with Wicca religion, she wasn't serious about it but there was stuff at that house that I didn't like... I felt sick after eating a piece of cake and my mood turned into an aggressive one somehow in the middle of a stupid game... I shoved her to the swimming pool and she almost drowned... Everybody believed it was an accident but I know what I felt... I remember the way my grandmother looked at me later, with sadness and fear in her eyes at the same time..."
"Iselen, you were a child... You're an adult now..." I try to calm her down when I see tears running down her cheeks.
"I know what I felt and I know I pushed her deliberately... I felt sick and horrified because of my behaviour later but at that moment I would have... Please, Ruby, let me go... I don't want to hurt anyone else, I don't want to hurt you." The pretty brunette stares at me desperately, she really looks at the edge of a nervous breakdown holding the strap of her bag like it's some kind of lifesaver, the bandage stands out on her wrist and I have to remind myself that she's the same Iselen who fascinates me and the one I want to tattoo so bad that my fingers are tingling of desire again. I nod slowly pointing at the door.
"Okay but this isn't over yet..."
The Spanish girl turns around fast and unlocks the door, this time it opens easily and she runs away like there's a demon chasing her, bumping into Savannah and the other girls who jump back startled but, when they finally manage to react, Iselen is far way. My sisters and Lester walk into the parlour with their mouths wide open in shock and demanding an explanation and it's Thyra the one who tells them everything while I flop down on the green velvet couch, exhausted and stupefied at the same time. This is crazy and my head is pounding. I don't know how much time has passed when Louisa's fingers stroking my hair snap me back to reality, my friend smiles sadly and looks worried while I lean forward to be able to rest my cheek on her belly carefully, feeling the baby moving under my skin... Louisa knows this manages to calm me down, a new life is always a reason to be happy and thinking of this little girl growing healthy and surrounded by extraordinary women helps me to centre myself. My main goal is to protect them both at all costs... even from hunters.
"I don't understand it," I hear Ivy whispering. "I should've noticed it but... I knew there was something odd, like some kind of restrained energy, but I never thought she was doing it deliberately, it looked more like a potential witch but no one had taught her the basics yet, she could've been a powerful woman following the instructions of the right mentor. I thought that Mother Nature wanted Ruby to be her teacher..."
"I didn't notice it either even if it's not always easy to identify another druid," Vinnia shakes her head frustrated. "We don't cast spells or make love potions, we're healers that know about medicinal herbs, we watch the birds flying but not all of us have the gift of foresight, we know about astronomy... But grouping stars in constellations in a different way to what Babylonians and Greeks used to do... And out connection to Mother Nature is the source of our power, we identify ourselves with trees instead of the Zodiac animals... Our energy feels different to other witches from well-known cults... But she's not wearing tripe spiral pendants, jewels made of oak wood, there's no mistletoe or a golden sickle in her apartment..." I shake my head, I would've seen those things when I searched the studio.
"What do you think?" I ask and Vinnia grimaces, flopping down on an armchair while Louisa keeps stroking my hair slowly.
"According to what Thyra said, Iselen is terrified by the hunter nature inside her, I think she's trying to restrain that compulsion that leads other psychos to stab us, chop our heads off, tear our skins off or throw us head first to a bonfire." I nod, agreeing with her: I never felt in danger when the pretty brunette was around me, not even when I was shattering under her mouth, completely vulnerable. "I think she's restraining her druidic nature at the same time and that's why none of us noticed anything weird."
"I guess it makes sense," Lester hands me a bottle of water and I smile grateful, I hadn't realized I was thirsty due to the shock. "The question is... what are we going to do now? Are you still feeling that compulsion towards her despite who she is?"
"I'm afraid so," I confess while my sisters stare at each other bewildered and shrug.
"Well, in that case the only thing we can do is to move on, I guess, but cautiously and maybe we should give Iselen some space so she can cool off a little..." Savannah crosses her arms over her chest and stares at the ceiling, pensively. "You don't want her to pack her things and rush back to Spain."
*****
"Go back home, I'll try to run into Iselen at the lobby next Monday before I go to my own office and will talk to her."
Savannah's advice seemed wise and I decided to follow it because I didn't know what else I could do, honestly, except maybe run to the hunter's studio and, I don't know, fight her till she surrenders to me again, kiss her, fuck her, fall on my knees to beg her not to leave me because I can't live without designing more tattoos for her... Lot of options but none of them seemed to have chances of success. I walked into my loft, exhausted, and flopped down on the grey couch pondering if I should make some dinner or go to bed directly. I've been sitting here for 15 minutes and still don't know what to do... It's dark outside and, even if the lights of other buildings around mine illuminate my living room usually thanks to the wide windows, it's starting to rain now. I turn on the lamp on the side table and, suddenly, a furry monster with sharp claws jumps on me.
"Morgan, you've scared me, where have you been?" I pet my black cat while she makes herself comfortable on my lap and looks at me worried, the animal is very sensitive and seems to understand my mood swings better than any human. "Have you been nibbling at Ivy's plants again? She's going to get mad at you, little demon."
My loft is, according to Aletta, a temple to the Scandinavian design... whatever that means. I only told her I wanted a warm hardwood floor to be able to walk around barefoot, clean lines and neutral colours and a lot of plants to be able to feel in touch with nature even if I live in a big city. And of course, she did a great job... My friend was determined to keep the old wooden beams and brick walls, painted the ceilings in pearl white and covered in wood the wall behind the TV. The kitchen cabinets are dark grey but illuminated by the light that comes through wide windows where aromatic herbs in pots are hanging. Ivy picked out rubber plants and ferns that she put in huge pots scattered around the living room and dining room and there're always gorgeous flowers in vases and old bottles on every table and shelf. Morgan loves to play with all of them.
I wonder what Iselen would think about my apartment, all this space and light... There're five stools near the kitchen island while she has to have breakfast on a tiny folding table. My bed is huge and comfortable compared to her couch, my bedroom is full of plants too, there's a soft rug in pink shades on the floor and a gorgeous blue armchair. A place where you can relax, sleep, read or watch TV cuddling on the mattress. But my apartment is also a space filled with magic, I drew protective symbols under the hardwood floor and the wall paint long time ago, Savannah's grandmother came to visit months ago and she cleaned all the bad energy, my coven comes here from time to time to meditate and meld our spirits with Mother Nature.
"Do you think she'd feel sick here?" I ask to Morgan and she meows softly, perplexed by my question. "But she's been going out with us, she's been having lunch at Ivy's flower shop and visiting the tattoo parlour and never showed any sign of anxiety or disgust. We're always surrounded by magic and energy but she likes us, I think... She didn't even notice what we are till I left that cabinet door open, she must be really good at controlling the hunter in her mind... Are you hungry, honey? We'd better eat something for dinner."
I leave my cat on a pillow and get up, stretching my limbs slowly and hearing my neck vertebrae creaking due to the tension, it's been a long day. Something grabs my attention out of the corner of my eye and I smile, getting closer to the window... Ivy has been here today and has left a gorgeous present on the table I use as an altar. The pentacle is made with flexible green stems and surrounded by rosemary that smells wonderfully, five gorgeous roses stand out on the points of the star and there're candles and quartz stones around along with more flowers and aromatic herbs, a bronze bowl full of salt and another one with water, a glass for wine and a plate for offerings. Very pretty, my sister is very good at this and has a great taste too. My athame is waiting inside its sheath but I'm too tired tonight to perform a complete ritual so I decide to light a candle to honour Mother Nature.
Tomorrow is another day...