“Hm, was your friend ill by any chance?” Lila calmly inquired. A stray leaf slowly flittered into the puddle and sent ripples through its surface as the witch’s image momentarily disappeared from view. “You could have exacerbated her condition without even knowing.”
“I do not remember…” Noël despondently replied. “Though, if that were the case, I’d probably be angry enough to kill.”
“Guess this was why you’ve always be on the move,” the witch pondered. Smile devolving into a grim line, Lila stared unflinchingly at the world so out of her reach. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you use to go on adventures with those twins?”
“Yes, but it’s been so long. I haven’t seen Adelaide since 1610 and Henrietta died long before her,” Noël remarked. Sadly, there was little he could remember of them. How long would it be until he even forgot their names? “At least I still have you, Lila.”
“Thank you dear,” Lila softly muttered. “I must admit it would’ve been nice to meet them.”
“They were lovely people,” Noël responded, voice intertwined with sadness. A flicker of guilt could be seen beneath his uncertain gaze as memories of two long gone souls slowly flickered to the forefront of his mind. “If we were born in a different time and underneath better circumstances, I’m sure they would have loved you.”
“Why do you sound so uncertain?” the witch asked as she carefully took note of Noël’s guarded expression.
“It’s nothing, Lila. Perhaps I’m feeling sentimental in my old age.”
Gazing forlornly at Lila, Noël could have almost sworn her hazy, purple eyes morphed into…something else. A heavy, threadbare noose was ensnared around her neck as sorrowful, hardened brown eyes gazed impassively at everyone and nothing. Weathered brown boots barely touching the stool separating her from rough, wooden floorboards, Noël swears he saw a flash of red and wavy, chestnut hair peeking out from within the shawl of a cloaked figure.
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A cacophonic screech broke the excited chatter of the crowd as the stool was kicked aside by an impassive executioner with dull, horrendous golden eyes.
“Ilia!!!”
---
“Noël?”
“Oi, you—don’t ignore us!”
“Sister, I saw a bakery down the street. Why don’t we ditch him?”
“No can do, Adelaide. He stole my paintbrush!”
“Noël—? How’d you get stuck in a tree!!?”
“Why don’t you climb up here and get them, Henrietta?” Noël mocked, black dress shoes kicking back and forth. He sported a wry smirk directed towards the incredibly irate girl staring daggers up at him. A bright crimson cloak billowed lightly from his place atop the tree. The rosary beads he wore around his hair made a light metallic sound as he dangled the paintbrush from Henrietta’s reach. “Oh right, you can’t at your old age, grandma.”
“Excuse me!?” Henrietta huffed in anger as she stomped over to the large oak tree. Well-kept dark brown bangs covered her bright green eyes as she glared challengingly up at Noël. A bandana as vividly green as her eyes rested on top of her head. Dressed in a loose white dress shirt, the exceptionally beautiful woman was quite vexed. Rolling up her cream-colored sleeves, she unhesitatingly started her ascent…to both reclaim her paintbrush. And to push Noël down the tree.
“Oh, Henrietta, sister…your skirt will be ruined,” Adelaide yelled out to her younger twin. Clutching the green shawl wrapped around her head in nervousness, Adelaide could do nothing more than distill the anxious tremors that wracked her hands. A distraught frown marred her lovely face as she pondered a way to resolve this mad, dire situation they had all found themselves in. Her long, bright green skirt gently swayed as she tentatively walked closer to the large oak tree.
“Yeah, Henrietta. Why don’t you listen to your elders?” Noël cheerfully questioned. “It’s what I’d do!”
Eye twitching in annoyance, Henrietta continued climbing the battered and weathered oak tree. Carefully paying heed to the golden beads dangling from her sleeves, she exclaimed, “You’re probably older than us!”
“Technically I’m not!” the vampire laughed humorlessly. “I’ll stay this way forever while you two get older each day. Soon, you both won’t remember me and I’ll be alone…with Ilia, of course.”
Hollow smile never quite reaching his eyes, Noël calmly stated, “I can’t wait for that day to arrive.”
“Dear me…” Adelaide remarked, arms outstretched incase Henrietta were to plummet down from a fifty foot drop.
“Gimme back my paintbrush, you damn brat—” Henrietta exclaimed as she neared the branch Noël was perched on. “Quality brushes aren’t easy to come across, you know!”
“Alright, here you go,” Noël pleasantly conceded as he handed Henrietta back the paintbrush. “Hurry back down, this branch isn’t strong enough for two people—”
A loud cracking sound could be heard as the branch Henrietta had been standing on snapped without so much as a warning. Hastily stuffing the paintbrush back into his messenger bag, Noël quickly reached for Henrietta’s outstretched hands…
And fell.
And fell…
And fell……