The Book of Aure

Chapter Four

I'm too tired to write a witty intro.

Shy

{Chapter Four}

"What're we going to do?" Aure slumped onto the sprawling Persian carpet Gran had spent ages picking out only four years prior, insisting that she didn't want to rush a decision and wind up with something she'd hate in a couple of months.It took Gran a whole six months to finally settled on the deep purple and red floral piece. Aure wasn't too sure about the colors at the time, but was absolutely exhausted of all the window shopping. Now, Aure was once again questioning the decision as the colors swam under her hands that kept her propped up as she tried her best not to puke all over it. "People are gonna notice him, I mean, I'm lucky if the cops don't show up any moment now because of a call from a concerned neighbor from all the yelling—and his skin it was purple! Tell me you saw the purple skin!"

Meiri rolled her eyes, "It's more of a lavender, and its really not that prominent, I doubt anyone will notice if they see him from a distance."

"To be precise its periwinkle" a faint voice interjected from the other side of a window.

"If you don't StOp!" Aure shouted, lunging for the window. Lazily Meiri stopped her friend with a wave of her hand, gently tossing her onto her bed and away from the window's locks. "I can't do this!" groaned Aure into a pillow.

"Just breathe, really its worse than it seems. At least he's not here to kill us!"

Aure simply stared at Meiri in disbelief. "He could do worse than that, Ree, he could expose us! Because of me! Oh, what are we going to do?"

"Well, for starters, we are getting you a drink. Then we are going to find at least one room in this place where you-know-who can't hear us, then maybe with a some privacy we can both get a little shut eye. For all we know the morning will give us a new perspective." Meiri grabbed her friends hand and dragged her to the kitchen with an encouraging grin, pouring generous shots for both of them. Handing one to Aure, Meiri clinked their glasses together saying their usual cheers in a singsongy voice, "Chasers are for wimps."

"Chasers are for wimps," Aure grumbled as she tilted her head back and slid the tequila down her throat, fighting the urge to grimace as her chest burned. While it maybe wasn't the healthiest of coping methods, the alcohol did allow Aure to relax after she and Meiri made themselves comfortable on the couch. Sleep came easy, however dawn came quickly, and contrary to Meiri's assurance, the morning did not, in fact, bring any new perspectives. It only brought more questions.

Quietly, Aure crept through the cottage, peeking through the kitchen window as she boiled water for her morning cup of tea. She couldn't find head nor tail (oh geez, did he have a tail? She didn't see one, but maybe it was hidden in his pants-then he would have horns and a tail. People would think he's some sort of demon!...What if he was a demon? What if he was the Devil himself?) of her date from the prior evening. Forgetting her cup of tea, Aure softly tiptoed window to window, looking out to the cottage's garden from all possible angles, but found the giant purple sidhe was nowhere to be seen. Still, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up on edge, as though someone was watching her, as if someone was in the room with her, right besides her, close enough to touch, yet invisible to her eye. Desperately attempting to swallow the ever building sense of dread that rose in her chest, Aure rushed back down to the basement calling for her friend, "Reeeeeeeee"

~*~

With thinned lips Avernus watched his bride in the waters, the image fading at the brink of the waters' gentle ripples, yet her visage was as clear and crisp as she was the previous evening, sitting across from him. "However I can not touch her, feel her, or see her truly," he found himself criticizing, craving some abstract concept of intimacy he couldn't fully comprehend.