Story Name : A Twin Tale~
Story By : ~Amiko And Alexa~
Property Of My Unfastened Diary No Stealing!
Story Description :
This is a Rapunzel separation story About twin girls who just turned 15 and find that they can hear each others thoughts. At first they think each other is god or something but after a while they find out that they are both just a couple of girls. One girl has been seeing a guy from her tower but can't be with him since she's stuck up there. The other girl is being forced to marry a horrible man and is told by her sister that if she plans on running away she might as well come to the tower to get her down. So the plan commences and when the two girls meet they realize that they're related. The final plot twist comes when the girl who was being forced to marry a horrible man finds out who her sisters lover is.
Chapter One : Poor Nataliyah
Nataliyah licked a wooden spoon covered in creamy chocolate frosting while Cecily covered her birthday cake with sprinkles.“Do you want me to pick some strawberries to put on it Cecily?”she shook her head, her double chin moving with it like a turkey’s wattle.
“They’d only spoil by the time we cut it.”
Nataliyah began to pout, “I could pick them right before we set the cake out though!”
“I think not! I won’t have you getting your new frock all dirty before the guests arrive. Speaking of which, you should go put it on now. I want to make sure the hem is right.”
“Fine,” Nataliyah said, sighing as she slid off her stool. “It’s in your sewing room, right?”
“No, I laid it out on your bed this morning while you were out with your mother.”
Nataliyah took the stairs two at a time. She couldn’t wait to see her party dress again. Besides being the household cook, Cecily was also a wonderful seamstress. She had helped Nataliyah embroider the bottom with small white flowers and used what she had called elf dust to make the bodice sparkle.Nataliyah threw open the door to her bedroom nearly taking her clothes off there in the hallway. She laid on top of her dress relishing in the feeling of the soft silk beneath her bare stomach.Compared to her regular woolen clothes, the dress felt like acloud. She slipped it on over her head and tied the bow on the back as best she could. The mirror on her wall was imperfect and distorted her figure a bit, but Nataliyah still thought that she might just be the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes upon while she looked herself over in it. She pulled her hair up and braided it down the side. “No that’s not right,” she thought. She tossed it over her other shoulder with a flick of her head and ran her hand over her scalp, throughly tousling it. “Perfect.”
Skipping over to her writing desk, Nataliyah opened up a drawer to reveal the kohl she had been saving for this specific day. She walked back over to her mirror and outlined her eyes thickly.
“She looks like a whore,” someone said from behind her. Nataliyah spun around, dropping her eyeliner. No one was there.“That dress is rather revealing don’t you think? And your hair…don’t even get me started on that. You don’t need that black stuff either. Just pinch your cheeks. Then you’ll be a beautiful blushing birthday girl!”
“Who- who’s there?” Nataliyah asked, her voice shaking.“Mum?”
“I’m not your mum. Who are you? Why can you hear me?”
“Are you an angel?” Nataliyah had heard of angels giving people instructions in dreams, although, she had never heard ofthem giving fashion advice. The voice seemed to chuckle at this.
“Yes, I’m your guardian angel. Now wipe off all that make-up. You don’t need it.” Nataliyah walked cautiously over to her mirror, half expecting to see the angel inside of it. She rubbed ather eyes until it was all over her hands - but off her face.
“Is that good?”
“Um Sure. Now pick a different dress.”
Nataliyah shook her head. “No way. This is my party frock.I’m not taking it off until the party is over.” No one said anything back for a minute or two. She was about to leave the room to tell Cecily about the angel when it responded.
“If you won’t take it off now, I’ll make it disappear in the middle of the party.”
Nataliyah hesitated a moment, and then peeled it off. She didn’t know the extent of the power the angel had, and wanted dearly to stay fully clothed in front of all of her guests. After digging around in her closet for nearly twenty minutes, she decided on a pink cotton dress with puffy princess sleeves. “Will this do?” she asked the air.
“Look into the mirror.” She walked over to it and spun,making the skirt bloom out around her calves. “Wonderful. I’d have you cut your hair too, but your face is too pointy.”
“Okay,” Nataliyah agreed, grateful that part of her could stay intact. The angel said nothing in response, so Nataliyah walked briskly to the door, hoping the angel would stay there inher room. “Cecily?” she shouted down the stairs.
“Yes, sweetie?” a harmonious voice called back.
“I’m ready!” Taking her time down the stairs, Nataliyah tried to think of an excuse for not wearing the dress they had both worked so hard on.
“Tell her you’re too fat,” The angel said.
“But she can just let it out then!”
“Tell her your father wanted you to wear this one.”Nataliyah’s father had actually been enamored by the idea of a beautiful new dress for her coming of age party. As soon as she thought this, the angel seemed to realize how off base she had been. “Tell the lady you like this one better!”
“I’ll hurt her feelings,” Nataliyah countered.
“So? And stop talking out loud. I can hear your thoughts just fine.”
Nataliyah sighed inwardly, and nodded. She was beginning to suspect that the creature in her head wasn’t an angel at all, but instead a demon sent to plague her by Satan himself.
Cecily gasped when she saw her charge. “Liya! What on earth are you wearing?”
“I like this one better,” she mumbled, looking at her feet.
“Good.”
“What will the guests think? That dress is too small for you. Go put on your other one.”
“It’s your birthday.”
“I-I-I’ll do as I like. It’s my party,” Nataliyah stammered.
“Now leave. Don’t let her argue.” She turned on her heel and started to leave. When she was almost to the door, she bumped into a bag of flour, spilling it everywhere. She bent to pick it up, but stood up almost as quickly. “I said leave,” The voice hissed. In the end, Nataliyah found herself in the garden behind the manor crying. She sat in the dirt, not caring about her dress.
“I hate you!” she screamed in her head.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” the angel said soothingly,“But trust me, this is for your own good.”
“How!?” But the voice never answered back. Nataliyah sat there for what must have been hours, waiting for a reply, but none came. Eventually, she crawled over to her daises and fell asleep among them. The sun kissed her face softly, while the bees and frogs sang her a lullaby. She only awoke when she felt a shadow come over her, hiding the warmth of the sun. Her eyesfluttered open.
“Pierce? Wha- you’re standing on my flowers.”
“You’re laying on them,” A tall boy with a flop of surfer blonde hair pointed out. He sat down beside her. Nataliyah brushed some of the dirt off of her skirt and sat up too. “Why were you crying?” Self-consciously, Nataliyah’s hand went to her face. Her cheeks were damp, and she could feel that her eyelashes were sticking together – she must have been crying in her sleep. Pierce took a piece of dingy cloth from his pocket and handed it to her.
“I didn’t realize I had been. Must’ve been a nightmare.”
Pierce nodded, accepting this.
“Why are you here? Don’t you have to work?”
He shook his head, “You invited me. Remember? I showed you how to put handles on your vase and then you invited me to your party. I took the day off. Told my dad I was going fishing.”
It was all coming back to her now. Pierce was a glass-blower’s son. He had been showing Nataliyah last week all thathis father had taught him so that she might make a present for her mother’s birthday. Ever since she and Pierce had been kids,she had been begging him to show her, but it was only now that he felt he had perfected his art that he would. Pierce was like that, a perfectionist. Nataliyah figured it had been pride that kept him from demonstrating. If he messed up in front of someone, he might not be perfect.
When she had first showed him how to skip rocks, he wouldn’t do it in front of anyone until he could get a perfect seven-bound. She had spied on him from a tree over the pond for weeks while he practiced. When he finally had made it, she whooped for joy and fell. At first, he had been angry with her for spying on him, but when she screamed that the bog monster was going to get her he dove in too. The truth was that Nataliyah could swim perfectly fine, when he reached her, she went under, and pulled his legs so that he might think the bog monster was going to get him too. She came back up to receive a sound splashing in the face. They played bog monster the rest of the night until their parents had come down and ordered them home.
That had been when they were seven. Now Nataliyah was turning sixteen, leaving Pierce behind to be fifteen for another three months. He helped her up, “You’re too old to be sleeping out in the garden,” he said, scolding her.
“I wasn’t last year!” she argued. The year before they had lay out in the garden and watched a truly fantastic meteor shower together. Pierce fell asleep while Nataliyah sang a song she had made up about stars. She didn’t want him to wake him up, have him wake up in the morning and not know where he was, so she went inside and got some blankets so that she could sleep next to him.
He shrugged, “I might not have been too old, but you certainly were. I was only fourteen then. YOU on the other hand were fifteen.”
Nataliyah did a mock-curtsy, “It’s truly an honor that someone as young as you might talk to someone as matronly as me.” Pierce took her hand and kissed it.
“Dear Nat, the pleasure is all mine,” Nataliyah spared a glance to her hand which tingled where his lips had brushed it.
“Care to dance?” she asked, laughing, to hide her giddiness at his touch. She cursed herself for the warm feeling she got in her stomach whenever she looked at him. He was herfriend, it was wrong to feel the way she was.
“But we haven’t any music!” he said linking his arms in hers.
“Oh?” Nataliyah began to hum a little tune. When she saw a crooked grin spread across his face, she couldn’t help but let one creep across hers too. It was infectious. “Hey ho, there’s a diddy I know about a tiny little man who went to town with his wee little children three,”
“He bought the first one a silver string, thinking she could make some tea!” Pierce continued for her, spinning her about while he sang. He whistled the next part, obviously unable toremember the lyrics. Nataliyah went along with it, and skipped around him to the beat. When they got to the chorus they tooke ach others hands and began spinning, faster and faster.“There’s not a penny in my pocket that I wouldn’t pay, to the witch who ate me on that fatal day!”
“LIYA!” Nataliyah looked to see her mother standing under the arbor with her hands on her hips. Immediately, she let go of Pierce, sending him flying into her tulips. She placed her hands behind her back, hoping her mother hadn’t seen her holding hands with a boy. After you came of age, it was completely inappropriate to touch anyone of the opposite gender outside your family. “Where have you been? All of your guests are here! The last thing anyone heard from you was Cecily, and apparently you were very rude! Not only that, but for the past four hours,everyone has been looking everywhere for you and not once do you answer!” She then turned her attention to Pierce. “And you, young man. Go home. Now. I can’t believe how insensitive you’ve been to our customs. I don’t care if you and your father a godless heathens, but you ought to respect our boundaries. ”Nataliyah saw a muscle twitch in Pierce’s jaw. He turned to hug her and she let him. She didn’t hug him back though.
“Bye,” he murmured into her hair. She nodded and pulled away. Pierce let himself out via the gate, leaving Nataliyah to her fuming mother. They both stood staring at each other for a moment.
“I don’t want you seeing that boy anymore. The way he looks at you… it isn’t right.” Nataliyah brushed past her motherand stormed into the house. She was hardly of age and was already being punished with its stupid rules. “And don’t think this conversation is over!” her mother called after her.
Chapter Two : Sophina's Gift
“Help me pick these Sophina , I'll teach you how to break the vegetables off the stem properly.” Her old mother said gesturing her a woven basket. Sophina looked up from her book and to the empty basket beside her. Not saying a word She shook her head slowly and went back to her book. It was a usual Birthday/day for Sophina ; Sitting cross legged in her moms wild garden of fruits and vegetables reading her latest birthday treat Enchanted while her mom did some daily gardening. From the corner of her eye she saw her mom picking the fresh red-tip Lettuce for her special birthday garden Stew. Her mom frowned Unpleasingly at her daughter's Un-interest . “Well it is your birthday And If you don't want to help me in the garden then i suppose....you can go get my gardening tools!” She asked in a kind but orderly tone. Sophina put a bookmark in one of the pages. “Fine.” She said getting up and closing her book with a thud. “Cares so much about that darned garden!” She Muttered to herself out of her moms hearing. “I hope the stupid thing dies!”
Sophina walked through the garden her book in hand. She decided to take her time. Besides , she didn't have time to be ordered around by her mother on her birthday! She stepped over the Tomatoes watching closely for the garden snakes that crept around them and found the pavement walkway. She got to the top of the stairs that led to the den and jumped down all the Three steps that led to the door. She pulled it open and begin the search for the green case that carried the gardening tools. She sat her book down by the door and looked through the tables and boxes , And finally an old musty smelling desk that held lots of dust. She spotted the metal case lying on its side And grabbed the handle pulling it upwards not knowing the latch was loose. She pulled again this time more harder and watched as the tools darted after one another across the room. “I cannot believe this!” she thought and threw her hair back as she got on her knee's to collect the floor fallen Tools. She begin having head pains. She figured it was just a headache then remembered the exact same pain that happened this morning in bed. This morning while she was asleep she started the same head pain and it increased rapidly waking her up. She sat up and put her hand to her forehead and just like that it stopped! She kept her hand there thinking it would come back if she put it down. And all of a sudden she saw a blurry Image in her head. It begin blurry but went clear after awhile. It was so vivid like a dream. It was a image of a girl who looked just like her. She was sleeping.
Sophina remembered and like the morning she touched her hand to her forehead and the pain stopped but she started to see something in her head. It begin as it did the first ; blurry then clear. Is was that girl from before. This time she wasn't asleep , She was happily skipping over to a desk and started to dig through the contents of one of it's drawers. She then headed over to a mirror with something small in her hand and started applying it heavily around her eyes.
"She looks horrible!" Sophina thought to herself at the image of the girl. Surprisingly the girl spun around, dropping the little jar of black ink. “Oh my god! , She can hear me!" Sophina replied Aloud to herself. Shocked She decided to try and talk to the girl in her head again. "That dress is rather revealing don't you think? And your hair ... don't even get me started on that. You don't need that black stuff either. Just pinch your cheeks. Then you'll be a beautiful blushing birthday girl" she continued not even knowing it was the girls birthday like it was hers.
“Who- who’s there?” the girl asked , her voice shaking. “Mum?”
"I'm not your mom. Who are you? Why can you hear me?" Sophina Asked the girl curiously?". “Are you an angel?” the girl asked back. Sophina giggled at the question. "Yes , I'm your guardian angel. Now wipe off all that make-up. You don't need it." She pressed. The girl then walked to the mirror And rubbed at her eyes until it slowly disappeared off her face but on her hands.
“Is that good?” she asked the mirror.
"Um Sure. Now pick a different dress." She ordered.
The girl then shook her head. “No way. This is my party frock. I’m not taking it off until the party is over!” Sophina Didn't say anything further until she saw that the girl was about to leave the room . "If you won't take it off now , I'll make it disappear in the middle of the party." Sophina threatened , Again she didn't know how she knew it was the girls birthday and the girl was having a party.
She could see that the girl hesitated a moment, but gave in and peeled the dress off. The girl then walked to her closet and after digging around in it for nearly twenty minutes, she came out with a pink cotton dress with puffy sleeves on. “Will this do?” she asked looking around.
"Look into the mirror." Sophina asked and the girl obeyed. She walked over to it and spun, making the skirt bloom. "Wonderful. I'd have to cut your hair too, But your face is too pointy.". Sophina then tried to figure out how she would think to magically attempt to cut the girls hair.
“Okay,” the girl agreed. Sophina just sat for awhile looking at what the girl was doing in her mind ; The girl walked out the door of the room she was in closing the door cautiously behind her. “Cecily?” she shouted. “Yes, sweetie?” a voice called back. “I’m ready!” She said taking her time down the stairs. Sophina heard her thoughts. She was trying to think of an excuse for not wearing the skimpy dress.
"Tell her you're too fat!" Sophina suggested.
“But she can just let it out then!”
"Tell her your father wanted you to wear this one." Then she heard the girls thoughts. ; The girls father had actually been happy with the idea of a new dress for her party. Then Sophina realized how off she'd been about this. "Tell the lady you like this one better!", “I’ll hurt her feelings,” The girl countered.
"So? And stop talking out loud. I Can hear your thoughts just fine."
The girl sighed and nodded just as sophina saw an odd looking old woman coming towards the girl and gasp. “Liya! What on earth are you wearing?” she asked her. “I like this one better,” she mumbled to the lady, looking at her feet.
"Good."
“What will the guests think? That dress is too small for you. Go put on your other one.” The woman pressed making sophina annoyed.
"It's your birthday." Sophina replied.
“I-I-I’ll do as I like. It’s my party,” The girl remarked nervously.
"Now leave. Don't let her argue." Sophina ordered yet again as the girl turned on her heel and started to leave. When she was almost to the door, she bumped into a bag of flour, spilling it everywhere. She bent to pick it up, but stood up almost as quickly when sophina hissed. "I Said Leave!".
In the end, The girl was in her garden crying. She sat in the dirt, not caring about her dress.
“I hate you!” she screamed at sophina in her head.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Sophina said soothingly, "But trust me, this is for your own good."
“How!?” The girl asked in a wavery voice. And just before she was about to answer back sophina heard her mom calling her.
“SOPHINA! Where are you??" Her mother shouted snapping sophina out of her Ordering thoughts. She came into the den and watched as sophina took her hand off her head and got off the floor. She collected the remaining tools and gave them to her mother and ran into the house. She could hardly wait to see the girl in her head again.
Chapter Three : The Un-Wanted Guest
“Help me pick these Sophina , I'll teach you how to break the vegetables off the stem properly.” Her old mother said gesturing her a woven basket. Sophina looked up from her book and to the empty basket beside her. Not saying a word She shook her head slowly and went back to her book. It was a usual Birthday/day for Sophina ; Sitting cross legged in her moms wild garden of fruits and vegetables reading her latest birthday treat Enchanted while her mom did some daily gardening. From the corner of her eye she saw her mom picking the fresh red-tip Lettuce for her special birthday garden Stew. Her mom frowned Unpleasingly at her daughter's Un-interest . “Well it is your birthday And If you don't want to help me in the garden then i suppose....you can go get my gardening tools!” She asked in a kind but orderly tone. Sophina put a bookmark in one of the pages. “Fine.” She said getting up and closing her book with a thud. “Cares so much about that darned garden!” She Muttered to herself out of her moms hearing. “I hope the stupid thing dies!”
Sophina walked through the garden her book in hand. She decided to take her time. Besides , she didn't have time to be ordered around by her mother on her birthday! She stepped over the Tomatoes watching closely for the garden snakes that crept around them and found the pavement walkway. She got to the top of the stairs that led to the den and jumped down all the Three steps that led to the door. She pulled it open and begin the search for the green case that carried the gardening tools. She sat her book down by the door and looked through the tables and boxes , And finally an old musty smelling desk that held lots of dust. She spotted the metal case lying on its side And grabbed the handle pulling it upwards not knowing the latch was loose. She pulled again this time more harder and watched as the tools darted after one another across the room. “I cannot believe this!” she thought and threw her hair back as she got on her knee's to collect the floor fallen Tools. She begin having head pains. She figured it was just a headache then remembered the exact same pain that happened this morning in bed. This morning while she was asleep she started the same head pain and it increased rapidly waking her up. She sat up and put her hand to her forehead and just like that it stopped! She kept her hand there thinking it would come back if she put it down. And all of a sudden she saw a blurry Image in her head. It begin blurry but went clear after awhile. It was so vivid like a dream. It was a image of a girl who looked just like her. She was sleeping.
Sophina remembered and like the morning she touched her hand to her forehead and the pain stopped but she started to see something in her head. It begin as it did the first ; blurry then clear. Is was that girl from before. This time she wasn't asleep , She was happily skipping over to a desk and started to dig through the contents of one of it's drawers. She then headed over to a mirror with something small in her hand and started applying it heavily around her eyes.
"She looks horrible!" Sophina thought to herself at the image of the girl. Surprisingly the girl spun around, dropping the little jar of black ink. “Oh my god! , She can hear me!" Sophina replied Aloud to herself. Shocked She decided to try and talk to the girl in her head again. "That dress is rather revealing don't you think? And your hair ... don't even get me started on that. You don't need that black stuff either. Just pinch your cheeks. Then you'll be a beautiful blushing birthday girl" she continued not even knowing it was the girls birthday like it was hers.
“Who- who’s there?” the girl asked , her voice shaking. “Mum?”
"I'm not your mom. Who are you? Why can you hear me?" Sophina Asked the girl curiously?". “Are you an angel?” the girl asked back. Sophina giggled at the question. "Yes , I'm your guardian angel. Now wipe off all that make-up. You don't need it." She pressed. The girl then walked to the mirror And rubbed at her eyes until it slowly disappeared off her face but on her hands.
“Is that good?” she asked the mirror.
"Um Sure. Now pick a different dress." She ordered.
The girl then shook her head. “No way. This is my party frock. I’m not taking it off until the party is over!” Sophina Didn't say anything further until she saw that the girl was about to leave the room . "If you won't take it off now , I'll make it disappear in the middle of the party." Sophina threatened , Again she didn't know how she knew it was the girls birthday and the girl was having a party.
She could see that the girl hesitated a moment, but gave in and peeled the dress off. The girl then walked to her closet and after digging around in it for nearly twenty minutes, she came out with a pink cotton dress with puffy sleeves on. “Will this do?” she asked looking around.
"Look into the mirror." Sophina asked and the girl obeyed. She walked over to it and spun, making the skirt bloom. "Wonderful. I'd have to cut your hair too, But your face is too pointy.". Sophina then tried to figure out how she would think to magically attempt to cut the girls hair.
“Okay,” the girl agreed. Sophina just sat for awhile looking at what the girl was doing in her mind ; The girl walked out the door of the room she was in closing the door cautiously behind her. “Cecily?” she shouted. “Yes, sweetie?” a voice called back. “I’m ready!” She said taking her time down the stairs. Sophina heard her thoughts. She was trying to think of an excuse for not wearing the skimpy dress.
"Tell her you're too fat!" Sophina suggested.
“But she can just let it out then!”
"Tell her your father wanted you to wear this one." Then she heard the girls thoughts. ; The girls father had actually been happy with the idea of a new dress for her party. Then Sophina realized how off she'd been about this. "Tell the lady you like this one better!", “I’ll hurt her feelings,” The girl countered.
"So? And stop talking out loud. I Can hear your thoughts just fine."
The girl sighed and nodded just as sophina saw an odd looking old woman coming towards the girl and gasp. “Liya! What on earth are you wearing?” she asked her. “I like this one better,” she mumbled to the lady, looking at her feet.
"Good."
“What will the guests think? That dress is too small for you. Go put on your other one.” The woman pressed making sophina annoyed.
"It's your birthday." Sophina replied.
“I-I-I’ll do as I like. It’s my party,” The girl remarked nervously.
"Now leave. Don't let her argue." Sophina ordered yet again as the girl turned on her heel and started to leave. When she was almost to the door, she bumped into a bag of flour, spilling it everywhere. She bent to pick it up, but stood up almost as quickly when sophina hissed. "I Said Leave!".
In the end, The girl was in her garden crying. She sat in the dirt, not caring about her dress.
“I hate you!” she screamed at sophina in her head.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Sophina said soothingly, "But trust me, this is for your own good."
“How!?” The girl asked in a wavery voice. And just before she was about to answer back sophina heard her mom calling her.
“SOPHINA! Where are you??" Her mother shouted snapping sophina out of her Ordering thoughts. She came into the den and watched as sophina took her hand off her head and got off the floor. She collected the remaining tools and gave them to her mother and ran into the house. She could hardly wait to see the girl in her head again.
Aunt Maude was there. So was her husband, Nataliyah’s Uncle Stewart. A few neighbors had popped in, probably for the free food. That was about it. The invitations had been sent out fairly short notice so it was to be expected that so few would actually arrive. Everyone clapped when she entered the room, like she was royalty.
“THERE’S MY PUMPKINNY BIRTHDAY GIRL!” someone shouted from across the room. Aunt Maude led her balding husband outside. Apparently he was drunk already. Not that the wine had even been placed out yet. They would save that for when the sun had fully set. Nataliyah wanted to go upstairs and stuff herself into her mattress until the party was over. None of her friends had come since she hadn’t invited them. As if they would even want to be her friends after they met her family. Pierce had been the only one she could really trust with meeting her relatives. His were just as bad, so he was bound to understand her predicament and that it wasn't her fault they behaved so immaturely.
After greeting everyone, she led them to the hall with the airs of an ever-gracious host. Though it was her party, her parents still held the head of the table. She sat next to them, across from Uncle Stewart and Aunt Maude. To her right sat Uncle Stewart’s best friend, Henry. Apparently Henry was meant to be her first suitor. In her parents mind though, a girl should only have one man after her. Especially if he was rich. So to rephrase her situation, to Nataliyah’s right sat her future husband. He was clothed in a handsome cloth of red and gold velvet that made him seem to glow. Her mother nudged her, urging her to make polite conversation.
Nataliyah shifted in her chair so that she could look at the man without her mother seeing all the eye-rolling she was sure she would have to do. She scrunched up her nose when she saw his face. He must have been thirty, if that. His face was pock-marked with a pencil thin mustache creeping across his upper-lip. Both of his dark eye-brows were like bushy caterpillars that had decided to curl up and die on this man’s unfortunate face.
“I’m Henry,” he said to her, holding out his had for her to kiss. She puckered her lips and did it quickly, not wanting to spend time around a meaty hand like his. Who knew where it had been? “If you don’t mind me saying so, you look very beautiful.”
Nataliyah nearly wretched when she saw that the man had such wandering eyes. For a moment, she was glad the angel had told her to wear this dress. It buttoned up to her collar bone, and was baggy around the waist, leaving slim figure to look lumpy. It didn’t seem to stop the creep from looking below her eyes though. She tried to talk to him, but all he seemed to be interested in was how old she was, and how much her hair might be worth. “Do you hunt sir?” She asked as her last attempt at making conversation. She herself didn’t particularly like the idea of killing beasts for sport, but she was looking for anything besides her beauty to talk about. The man’s eyes glittered.
“Oh yes, I hunt very well my sweet child. In fact, I think I shall be going out tomorrow. I think I saw a few bears on my way here.”
Nataliyah nodded. She knew of a bear den, not one league from her house. She and Pierce had been there often enough. Just this last spring two cubs had been born. She nearly couldn’t contain herself when he talked about how juicy the female bear had looked. He cracked a joke about how he might get ‘beary’ lucky and shoot her mate if he was still around. Everyone laughed except for Nataliyah. She knew that the male bears didn’t stick around after the mother had become pregnant and she couldn’t find it in her to pretend like orphaning those cubs was funny. Of course, he probably had no idea that the bear was a mother, but Nataliyah still hated him for wanting to kill her.
Beneath the table she could feel Henry put his hand on her knee while he talked to her father. She froze, too scared to move. Slowly, it traveled up her thigh, massaging her inner-leg. She stuck a spoonful of peas in her mouth, trying not to scream. Suddenly, his thumb stopped moving, and his fingers started brushing along her thigh. She felt the slow movement of her dress creeping up past her ankle. Nataliyah stood up, knocking her chair over. “I’m going out for a walk. I need some air.”
Henry stood up too, “I’ll come with you.”
Nataliyah’s eyes grew large, “No, no- you haven’t even had your desert yet. I’ll be right back.” She glanced at her mother, who was looking at her disappointed like.
“That wasn’t very kind of you Liya. Of course you’re welcome to come with her Mr. Swent. Take your shawl Liya sweet, the sun is down and it’ll be cold. Numbly, Nataliyah took her coat from then fireplace room, and pushed open the door. Henry followed her, his hand on the small of her back. They walked down the road in silence with nothing to light their path but the full moon. Nataliyah kicked gravel in front of her, trying to think of a way to tell Henry to go back. “Run,” a voice in her head told her.
“Angel?” Nataliyah asked in her mind.
“Yeah, now run for your life!”
“Have you ever spoken to an angel?” Nataliyah asked Henry.
He smiled, “Of course I have. How long ago did you fall from heaven?” He leaned down to kiss her with his fat, chapped lips, but Nataliyah turned her head.
“Idiot, just run!”
“Why?”
“Listen closely; I’ve met guys like him before. Any second, he’s going to want to play some grab-ass and then I need you to laugh,”
“Wha-“
Nataliyah shuddered when she felt Henry’s hand slide well below the casual line. She tittered nervously. “Now take his hand with your left one, and spin around. Then kick. That should give you at least forty seconds.”
Nataliyah did as she was told. Mr. Swent crumpled to the ground, holding himself. She picked up her skirt and sprinted back towards her house. She tripped though, and went tumbling off the side of the road into the grass. Before she could pick herself up, she saw Henry standing on the side of the road, looking at her in the ditch. “Pull your dress down, you’re only egging him on,” the angel told her. Nataliyah tugged at her dress and started crawling backwards. Henry sauntered down to her, panting from his run.
“I thought you were going to be an easy one.”
“What?” Nataliyah asked, her voice barely an audible whisper.
“RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!” Nataliyah tried to stand up, but Henry pushed her down again. “If you just stay down there, this will be a lot easier,” He straddled her legs and pushed her shoulders into the soft ground. “It’d be best if you stayed quiet too.”
“Bite him, punch him, ANYTHING!” Nataliyah fought, trying to kick at him. She bit his had as he tried to unbutton her dress, but he just slapped her. Suddenly though, his weight was gone. Nataliyah scrambled to her feet and saw that Pierce was beating up on Henry. He was choking him while punching him in the gut at the same time. “GET MY KNIFE!” Pierce screamed to Nataliyah. She stumbled over to him and pulled a knife out of his pocket. Flicking it open she held it next to Mr. Swent’s temple. Immediately, he stopped struggling. His face was beginning to turn purple from the pressure Pierce was putting on his neck. Pierce took the knife from Nataliyah’s hand and carved an ‘A’ into the man’s cheek. He let up, letting Henry crawl away.
Pierce put the knife back in his pocket and watched him go away. Nataliyah hid behind Pierce, holding his trembling hand in hers. She cried silent tears, trying to get over what just almost happened. She put her head against his back and closed her eyes. If he hadn’t been there…
“You would have been a dead duck. Deflowered and near-dead because you wouldn’t listen to me. Maybe you should work-out. Then you could fight off all the creepers who are bound to come after a pretty girl like you.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she told the angel out loud.
Pierce turned around and hugged her. “It’s not your fault,” Nataliyah shook her head and buried her head in his chest wanting to disappear. Her cheek still stung from where Mr. Swent had slapped her. “Come on, I’ll walk you back home.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “So that was your new husband,” he said after a while.
“Yeah, I guess so,”
“He was pretty old,”
Nataliyah managed to chuckle, “And creepy. Wandering eyes and all that.”
Pierce opened the door, “You want me to come in with you?”
Nataliyah was about to answer when her mother passed by the den and saw them both standing in the doorway holding each other. “What happened?” She asked her voice shrill.
Nataliyah looked up at Pierce for guidance on what to tell her. One side of his mouth went down. He pulled a leaf out of her hair and let it fall to the cobblestone stair. She then realized what it must look like. Her eyes we still red from crying and Pierce was white as a sheet from the fight. Like he was scared someone might find a certain something out… Her mother pulled Nataliyah in and held her to her chest, patting her hair. “Get out of my house Pierce if I ever see your face again there will be Hell to pay,” she said between her teeth. Nataliyah tried to pull away and get to her friend, but her mom held onto her tight.
“Bye Nat. Forever I guess,” Pierce mumbled. She could tell from his voice he was close to tears.
“PIERCE!” she screamed, but it was muffled by her mother’s breast and came out more like a quiet squeal.
“Miss you,” She could hear him slam the door on his way out.
~NO STEALING! PROPERTY OF MY UNFASTENED DIARY~
