Seeing Double Chapter 4
Chapter 4
She looked at the reflection staring back at her. A small smirk of triumph crossed her mouth and she began messing with her hair.
‘Still ever the blonde I see.’ She thought to herself.
“Maybe it’s time for a change,” moving her head right to left, “Hmm, red? No. Black. That’s it, shorter too, maybe A-line with some streaks of pink. For sure.” She felt a strong energy pull inside her, almost as if in protest. Then the sudden rush of pressure to her temples had her rolling into herself for a moment.
“Alright,” she said wincing slightly, rubbing her temples, “It was just a thought, jeeze Vic.” She looked at herself in the full length mirror. Her blonde hair up in a high, messy pony tail. ‘Ugh, and annoyingly still a tomboy.’ She pulled out the hair tie and let her blond locks fall; landing just above her waist.
“Well, this I can work with.” Stepping closer to the mirror she said aloud,
“Lets get started shall we?” Leering at the reflection looking back at her, the eyes changed to green and looked away. Bethany gripped the edge of the mirror a little tighter and pulled in closer to the mirror, “Don’t worry, everything’ll be fine. Promise.” Green eyes snapped back to hers, excitement shinned in them along with wariness.
‘This is the last time B.’ echoed through her mind.
“Oh honey, it’s not.” She said in a condescending tone, “you’ll be the one coming to me next time.”
Then Bethany pulled back, her reflection blurring slightly and she was looking back at herself, violet eyes and all. Walking over to the other side of the room she began sorting through her closet. Absently she played with the silver pendant necklace around her neck, not noticing it glowed slightly.
*******************************************
Toronto
Vicki woke with a gasp, she struggled to sit up, and flipping on the lamp next to her bed she reached for her glasses. Quickly getting out of bed she walked over to the mirror on her wall. She tried sorting through what could have awoken her. Looking at her reflection she began remembering. Bethany.
She didn’t know when it had begun exactly. Maybe after her father had left. Bethany had just shown up. She became an anchor of sorts for Vicki, a constant in her life. Someone who showed up at the perfect times when she was feeling overwhelmed by someone or something that happened, if she needed an extra oomph.
Despite her dream Vicki did not recall losing control with Bethany. As she had gotten older she learned more about her purpose. They had come to an agreement. Whenever Vicki was extremely upset or called her, B would always come, the anchor Vicki needed. And the same was true for Bethany though, Vicki wasn’t always as willing as Bethany to change.
‘Why would I dream about B?’ Vicki thought to herself. Absently she started walking towards her closet, ‘I haven’t thought of her in years.’ She had become restless the last few weeks, after Henry had left and last night she had felt almost anxious, as though something were happening, changing. Then the feeling as though she had lost something, as though she were missing a piece of herself came upon her.
Opening her closet Vicki grabbed a stepping stool, climbed up and looked over the top shelf in the closet. She moved a few things, cursing slightly when she banged her elbow on the edge of the shelf.
She reached back, rising on her tiptoes; she knocked on the wood of the back of the wall, looking for a hollow sound which greeted her on her second knock. Tapping the wood on the right corner twice and tapping the lower left corner twice more, the wood split. Moaning in protest, a diagonal line opened slightly, she pulled one piece towards her, the other she pushed back. Reaching in Vicki pulled out a deep wood colored antique box.
Climbing off the stool she walked to her bed turning another lamp on, she sat cross legged on the middle of her bed. She looked at the box for a few moments, her hand removing a coat of dust. She ran her fingers over the top and down the sides, remembering when she had found the beautiful box at a yard sale. Her fingers coming back over the lid ran over the elaborate painting of a coyote, bright colors popping off the deep mahogany color of the wood. Swirls of colors floated around the lid in a circular pattern, feathers twisting as if blowing in the wind. A coyote in the center had bright orange-red fur and green eyes glimmering. She opened the lid and pick up old looking books, which were just old journals. Pictures glued to the insides, scribbled cursive and drawings covered almost every inch of every page; barley any white evident on the pages.
A red velvet journal with worn edges in her hand she opened it. On the inside of the cover there was a drawing of Loki, the Greek God of mischief, only her version was a woman, a Goddess. Raven hair with red and gold swirling through her hair and around her, blue eyes on her face held a look of wisdom, knowing. A coyote sat behind her, head poking around from behind her legs, smirking. Henry wasn’t the only one who had some artistic talent.
It had been one of the first things she had drawn in the journal just before Bethany showed up again and became more persistent. For a moment Henry’s face flashed in Vicki’s mind and pain flooded her whole body, her necklace shimmered faintly. Then she opened the journal and began reading.
**********************
Back in his apartment Henry sat on his couch, staring at his phone sitting on the coffee table. He had been sitting like this for the better part of an hour. His hand reached towards the phone then retreated.
After the incident with Bethany he had fed quickly and came home. His mind going a thousand miles a minute and every thought leading straight to the one woman he was trying to forget. Finally he grabbed his phone, Coreen’s cell phone number highlighted; his finger hovered over the send button for a moment before finally pressing down.
“Hello?”
“Coreen, it’s Henry.”
She looked at the reflection staring back at her. A small smirk of triumph crossed her mouth and she began messing with her hair.
‘Still ever the blonde I see.’ She thought to herself.
“Maybe it’s time for a change,” moving her head right to left, “Hmm, red? No. Black. That’s it, shorter too, maybe A-line with some streaks of pink. For sure.” She felt a strong energy pull inside her, almost as if in protest. Then the sudden rush of pressure to her temples had her rolling into herself for a moment.
“Alright,” she said wincing slightly, rubbing her temples, “It was just a thought, jeeze Vic.” She looked at herself in the full length mirror. Her blonde hair up in a high, messy pony tail. ‘Ugh, and annoyingly still a tomboy.’ She pulled out the hair tie and let her blond locks fall; landing just above her waist.
“Well, this I can work with.” Stepping closer to the mirror she said aloud,
“Lets get started shall we?” Leering at the reflection looking back at her, the eyes changed to green and looked away. Bethany gripped the edge of the mirror a little tighter and pulled in closer to the mirror, “Don’t worry, everything’ll be fine. Promise.” Green eyes snapped back to hers, excitement shinned in them along with wariness.
‘This is the last time B.’ echoed through her mind.
“Oh honey, it’s not.” She said in a condescending tone, “you’ll be the one coming to me next time.”
Then Bethany pulled back, her reflection blurring slightly and she was looking back at herself, violet eyes and all. Walking over to the other side of the room she began sorting through her closet. Absently she played with the silver pendant necklace around her neck, not noticing it glowed slightly.
*******************************************
Toronto
Vicki woke with a gasp, she struggled to sit up, and flipping on the lamp next to her bed she reached for her glasses. Quickly getting out of bed she walked over to the mirror on her wall. She tried sorting through what could have awoken her. Looking at her reflection she began remembering. Bethany.
She didn’t know when it had begun exactly. Maybe after her father had left. Bethany had just shown up. She became an anchor of sorts for Vicki, a constant in her life. Someone who showed up at the perfect times when she was feeling overwhelmed by someone or something that happened, if she needed an extra oomph.
Despite her dream Vicki did not recall losing control with Bethany. As she had gotten older she learned more about her purpose. They had come to an agreement. Whenever Vicki was extremely upset or called her, B would always come, the anchor Vicki needed. And the same was true for Bethany though, Vicki wasn’t always as willing as Bethany to change.
‘Why would I dream about B?’ Vicki thought to herself. Absently she started walking towards her closet, ‘I haven’t thought of her in years.’ She had become restless the last few weeks, after Henry had left and last night she had felt almost anxious, as though something were happening, changing. Then the feeling as though she had lost something, as though she were missing a piece of herself came upon her.
Opening her closet Vicki grabbed a stepping stool, climbed up and looked over the top shelf in the closet. She moved a few things, cursing slightly when she banged her elbow on the edge of the shelf.
She reached back, rising on her tiptoes; she knocked on the wood of the back of the wall, looking for a hollow sound which greeted her on her second knock. Tapping the wood on the right corner twice and tapping the lower left corner twice more, the wood split. Moaning in protest, a diagonal line opened slightly, she pulled one piece towards her, the other she pushed back. Reaching in Vicki pulled out a deep wood colored antique box.
Climbing off the stool she walked to her bed turning another lamp on, she sat cross legged on the middle of her bed. She looked at the box for a few moments, her hand removing a coat of dust. She ran her fingers over the top and down the sides, remembering when she had found the beautiful box at a yard sale. Her fingers coming back over the lid ran over the elaborate painting of a coyote, bright colors popping off the deep mahogany color of the wood. Swirls of colors floated around the lid in a circular pattern, feathers twisting as if blowing in the wind. A coyote in the center had bright orange-red fur and green eyes glimmering. She opened the lid and pick up old looking books, which were just old journals. Pictures glued to the insides, scribbled cursive and drawings covered almost every inch of every page; barley any white evident on the pages.
A red velvet journal with worn edges in her hand she opened it. On the inside of the cover there was a drawing of Loki, the Greek God of mischief, only her version was a woman, a Goddess. Raven hair with red and gold swirling through her hair and around her, blue eyes on her face held a look of wisdom, knowing. A coyote sat behind her, head poking around from behind her legs, smirking. Henry wasn’t the only one who had some artistic talent.
It had been one of the first things she had drawn in the journal just before Bethany showed up again and became more persistent. For a moment Henry’s face flashed in Vicki’s mind and pain flooded her whole body, her necklace shimmered faintly. Then she opened the journal and began reading.
**********************
Back in his apartment Henry sat on his couch, staring at his phone sitting on the coffee table. He had been sitting like this for the better part of an hour. His hand reached towards the phone then retreated.
After the incident with Bethany he had fed quickly and came home. His mind going a thousand miles a minute and every thought leading straight to the one woman he was trying to forget. Finally he grabbed his phone, Coreen’s cell phone number highlighted; his finger hovered over the send button for a moment before finally pressing down.
“Hello?”
“Coreen, it’s Henry.”