Poppy's POV

I woke up with a headache. The nerves in my brain threatening to explode from the pressure.

I sat up gasping on my bed and realized that I was drenched in sweat. There is not a soul in sight.

Aaron is probably snoring in the other room.

What an elder brother!

Psah!

He never listens to what I say, nor does he have time for me anymore.

All he does is think of that girl, that Claramay. God knows what effect she had on my brother.

She has ensnared my brother in her charms and now he's burning in the fire like a moth.

Ugh!

I looked around my room.
Something was different, very different and for a second I wondered if I was hallucinating.

But no, the entire room was filled with an eerie red glow. It was a steady dull light and it made the surroundings seem like the scenes in hell from the horror movies.

But the light was diffuse, melted into the walls. Where was the source?

My eyes traced the rays and it was spilling out from a gap in between my covers. I dived my fingers, searching inside my quilt for whatever was producing the light.

My hands touched something cold and an electric shock lit up my veins. I drew back my hand with a small scream.

My fingers seemed to have touched the sides of a hot kettle. I put them in my mouth, sucking them to relieve the pain. What was the thing?

I peeled the covers from my body and threw them off the bed.

Something was gleaming on my bedspread. It was a trinket. The one that Claramay had given me years back.

Claramay, the soft spoken girl with blue eyes always gazing far into the sky. Her raven black hair was an envy for me. High cheekbones, full lips and the complexion like the kernel of apricots. That girl was an exotic beauty. I immediately took to liking her. But Aaron fell for her and suddenly the relationship between us was about to change. If everything had gone right, she would have been my sister in law.

But she disappeared one day, without a trace.

I still remember that day as clearly as if it was tomorrow. I hadn't told Aaron anything about how oddly she was behaving that day.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

I have just finished the laundry and am hanging out clothes in the line when I spot her. She's standing in one corner of the courtyard, a heavy cloak thrown over her flimsy dress and she seemed to have been watching me from afar.

Clara...

I call out her name, hoping to catch her attention, but she stands there, still as a statue, her gaze far away.

'Clara, Claramay come in,' I beckon.

The faintest of a smile appears on her lips. Her lips seem very blue and her face is pale. One hand rises to greet me, one thin, bony hand, like a branch gnarled by the wood roaches.

'Are you sick?' I close the gap between us quickly.

She backs off, her eyes frightened. There was something feral about her looks and her hands seemed to be trembling from the effort to control herself from flying at something.

'Claramay?'

'Poppy'

Her voice is hoarse, like that of a wood rubbing on metal. It had lost all it's sing-song melody and was sounding alien.

'Yes? What happened?'

'Nooo' a cry emanates from her throat, a voice that seems to be coming from afar, 'I can't do it. I can't.... They're forcing my hand. Run, run away from here...'

I don't know what to do. The fear in her voice makes my blood crawl.

She covers her face with her hands, clawing at her skin. I hug her, trying to pry her hands from her face.

She snarls at me. I back off, holding my hands as sign of peace. She covers her face again.

Without a warning, she turns around abruptly and breaks into a run, her baggy clothes fluttering wildly around her hair disheveled.

I am suddenly afraid so I follow her, calling after her. She picks up pace. I run faster. Something glittering flies out from under her cloak and falls on the ground, rolling under my feet.

I step on it with a crunch and stop to pick it up.

She looks at me concerned, but then turns around. I don't follow, because something else attracts my attention. The thing that went under the gravel.

I rub the dust off its glistening surface. The light catches it and it glints. It's a trinket. A beautiful ornate piece of ruby, set amidst a filigree of gold. Beautiful vine patterns adorn the sides.

The trinket looks familiar But I can't fathom why. But suddenly it strikes me where I had seen thst vintage piece. The jade trinket that mum had, inherited from my dad, his last memory, was made in the same pattern. There was a remarkable similarity between the diamond cut stones.

But what connection do they have?

I return home wanting to tell Aaron every single thing, but he was away on his job of running errands.

I never see Claramay again. It is as if she has never existed. Aaron searches everywhere for her, asks around the colony, but no one knows where she went.

Aaron sinks into depression. I can understand how much he is hurting inside, though he doesn't let it come on his face. I know, I love him, but at times it becomes very difficult especially as after death of mum, he's the only thing I can call as a guardian around here.

Sometimes I want him to listen, sometimes I need to vent out my feelings. Sometimes I need a friend. In the neighbourhood there aren't many girls whom I could call friend.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

I pick up the trinket twirling it between my fingers.

I get up from the bed, dangling my legs from the edge. My head is still reeling from the effect that woke me up.

My feet touch the ground. I stand up, almost like in a trance. I sway, light headed and unsure of my footing. I catch myself on the bed frame before I could fall.

I feel nauseous, but there is some unusual magnetic force pulling me out through the door, a force that is not being nullified by the entire of my will power. I give in and let it pull me.