The Night Fair

t w o

"Tania," she blurted, sitting up. Gently rubbing her temple, she looked questioningly at Tania. Tania was huge girl and one of her school friends. Her dowdy dress hung oddly; a reminder of poverty that fell on the city. Tania's hair were tied neatly, her lips redder than cherries, and her face was a tone lighter than chocolate, a contrast to her usual self. "You applied makeup," Avika gushed, almost touching Tania's face. Tania took a step back, probably blushing. She was holding a big lantern, which made Tania light up like an angel.

Avika withdrew her hand, embarrassed. Scratching the back of her neck awkwardly, she said, "Weren't you planning on visiting Night Fair?" Tania didn't say a word. She just looked confused, and kept darting glances here and there. A frown appeared between Avika's sweat baked forehead, and she leaned closer. Her eyes widened seeing Tania's eyes. They were hazy and purple. She instantly took a step or two back, fear grappling her entire body.

Panic clawed its way through her heart, making her feel suffocated. For the third time in the same night, she fell onto the ground, her legs unable to hold her. She couldn't feel the physical impact, too drowned in panic. Wriggling the hem of her coat, she tried to ease her body. She could not see properly; her vision felt slightly hazy. Breathe. Her mind screamed. Breathe.

Struggling to breathe, she started picking stones kept on the side of the road, sitting cross-legged. One. She counted, picking a rocky stone and keeping on her other side. Two. She counted taking another stone and keeping beside her. Her mother once had told her to distract herself by doing something mundane whenever she struggled to breathe. She never had proper anxiety attacks but sometimes she struggled to breathe properly. She continued, not noticing Tania, who was now sniggering. Avika repeated this procedure until she could breathe. Panic still rested in her heart, but she was feeling better than before. With wobbling legs, she managed to stand up. Naanai's words crossed her mind, making her stumble, "Purple eyes are under compulsion. Beware of them. Don't say or do anything because they are like puppets. They will do whatever there master says them to do."

Drawing a shaky breath, she stole a glance at Tania. The latter one was know staring intensely at the former one. Her face had gone eerily pale. Tania took a step forward. Unlike her usual graceful steps, they were fast, heavy, and unbalanced. She lacked her usual dexterity which was scary. Avika, transfixed, stood rooted on her spot. Tania inched closer and closer until the lantern was the only distance between both of them. Avika's heart hammered, realizing what her nani had expected of her. She didn't even dare to open her mouth, Tania's gaze and her huge height staring wits out of her. Tania laughed. Just like her steps it was creepy and full of malign. Tania whispered, her voice too shrill for a fifteen-year-old, "You are never going to get the black thread!"

Avika jumped. The voice reverberated, the trees whispering them. She looked around, panic growing in her heart, again. Tania was staring to scare her badly, and the voice she just heard reminded of the nightmares she used to had. She suddenly had a urge to scrub her skin. The wind howled, and Tania took a step back. Immediately the scary look was gone, but still her eyes were purple. She gave Avika a look, and then ran past her, dropping the lantern on the ground. It broke in pieces, glass flying everywhere. Some glass struck Avika's cloak too. Avika looked at her disappearing form, not minding the broken lantern; her heart thudding her chest. Her head throbbed, and the panic danced in her body. Fear covered her body with sweat, Tania's words ringing in her ears. Pinching her nose, she shut her eyes.

She internally screamed. Breathing through her mouth, she tried to clamp her emotions down. She opened her eyes. The wind, the road, the trees felt darker, shadier and more mysterious than before. Feeling better, she picked the broken glass from her cloak bare-handed, not feeling the pain. She muttered to herself, after getting control over herself, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Only if she knew what had happened to Tania after their encounter, then maybe she would have never visited the fair.