"Are you a mermaid? How can you be in human form?" she asked suspiciously, while stepping closer to Eirisse, but not getting too close either. Her eyes were hardening and started to shine a brighter color like the guard's had, a golden brown. 'Was this a normal reaction here? I might be imagining things, or maybe I am in a coma and this is just a dream. Yeah, I should just play along,' she thought.
Eirisse laughed at her ridiculous question. A mermaid? Her?
"What?" Eirisse was still laughing, and Ysabelle's eyebrows suddenly furrowed with confusion, not understanding what was funny.
"I am human, like you," Eirisse answered in an obvious tone, without laughing this time.
Now it was Ysabelle's turn to be laughing as Eirisse stared at her as if she were a lunatic, confused for why she was laughing. She was staring at her while trying to hold in her laugh when she noticed she was not laughing. She straightened up and tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing, analyzing Eirisse more than she did the first time. She gave her an amused look, while Eirisse frowned at her sudden change of expression.
"I'm not human." She simply answered. "I mean, sure, I am in a human form right now, but that can change if I desire."
Eirisse's frown turned into a shocked face, her eyes widened with surprise. Her face was still serious, meaning she was not playing around, or was she? Was this a joke and she was just trying to scare her?
"You are not one either…I can smell it in you, but it's faint." She stated simply, as she kept giving her an intense stare. Ysabelle looked lost in thought for a brief moment while still checking Eirisse. She finally straightened her head and smiled.
"You did not know now did you?" she reasoned, realization shining brightly in her eyes, but not in Eirisse's. 'How could she say that? Was she really a lunatic? Me, not a human? Then what am I? An alien?'' Eirisse couldn't help but find the situation eerie.
Eirisse smiled, "Alright, stop the act. If you are trying to scare me or whatever, it is not going to work. I said it once and I'll say it again, I. AM. HUMAN." She wanted Ysabelle to understand that she was not playing her game.
"Hmm," she smirked, an amused look on her pretty face. It was hard to tell what she was thinking.
She turned around and kept on walking towards her house, showing that the discussion was over for now, which made Eirisse glad.
She was drained and had a growing migraine from all that had happened that day. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her index fingers trying to stop the headache from growing. She bumped harshly against Ysabelle and opened her eyes, noticing she was facing her chest. She abruptly took a step back and started falling backward but Ysabelle was quicker. 'When had she stopped walking? Let alone, turn around?!' Their noses were touching, she was staring deep into her indigo eyes as if trying to decipher something by looking into them. Eirisse felt her cheeks heat up by the feeling of their breath mingling. This was such an awkward position she realized.
"Careful," she whispered as Eirisse gulped down her shock.
"Thanks," Eirisse replied, as she got herself out of her grip. This woman sure was immensely strong.
"When we enter the house, I do all the talking, alright?" she asked in a soft manner as if hoping not to scare her. 'God, she changed her mood every three minutes!'
"Yeah," she whispered back, looking away from her captive gaze. They were standing in front of the house by then. Ysabelle turned the doorknob and walked in, motioning for Eirisse to walk in as well. She gulped and walked in hesitantly, Ysabelle then closed the dark wooden door behind.
Eirisse got captivated by the house and stopped to look around as Ysabelle led the way. It was rather bright on the inside, the entrance room was finely decorated, simple, and it looked huge compared to how it looked from the outside. It was painted in a vanilla color with some pictures hanging from the walls in different patterns and sizes, the paintings seemed to be of some women and what appeared to be family photos.
A few yards in front of her was a burgundy-burnished staircase in a semi-circle leading to a second and third floors. There were two black couches and two sofas with a dark chocolate color placed in the middle of the room with a glass coffee table, which made Eirisse realize that this must be the living room; it was a wide-open space, quite roomy for more furniture. She looked up and a glass chandelier was hanging in the middle with some white candles lit up around it, making the room bright. To either side of her was a white wooden door. The one to her left had an average height with a golden doorknob. 'I suppose that could be a closet?', she thought.
Eirisse continued following Ysabelle and noticed they were heading to the door on the right, which was wide open and was larger than the previous one by a few feet. She could hear voices coming from the room, both male and female.
Ysabelle walked with such confidence that it made Eirisse think of her as a cool, self-satisfied, and self-poised woman. Eirisse nodded to herself in agreement with her consciousness.
They entered the room and she noticed this was the dining room with the dining table for eight people. It was painted in the same vanilla tone as the previous room, with a smaller chandelier, but just like the one in the living room, it had white candles, every space brightened. At the table, there were three males and a woman in her thirties staring at Ysabelle.
"Sweetie, you took too long taking out the trash!" The female said, looking worriedly at Ysabelle, she looked beautiful and resembled Ysabelle in their facial features, she must be her mother.
"Logan was about to go out to look for you." She added, motioning to the guy sitting next to her with her head.
"Was he now?" she replied, mocking him.
Logan stared intensely at Ysabelle in a kind of sexual way. Eirisse blushed for noticing such intimate moments that didn't concern her. He must be her boyfriend; he was handsome and kind of buff. I only took a glance at him so as to not disrespect Ysabelle.
"Hmm," was his only answer, looking away from her, annoyed at something unknown to her.
"Who's that?" A young man asked to her left. Eirisse was standing behind Ysabelle so it was kind of hard to notice her since she was taller. Everyone turned to look at Eirisse as Ysabelle took a step to the side. Eirisse took a better look at the guy who asked about her and noticed he had similar features to those of Ysabelle, except in a more masculine way. She guessed they were brother-and-sister.
He had long hair, very. It reached below his shoulders. It was straight, like Ysabelle's, he had dark brown hair, almost black. He had thick eyebrows that matched his thick eyelashes and light brown eyes. He had the same straight nose as her, except his had a little bump on the tip; a cleft nose. Lower down, he did not have cupid's bow lips but they were juicy enough to make her lick her own. His Adam's apple looked sharp. He was not that muscular, but she could tell he worked out. Unlike Ysabelle, he had a bit more toned skin. He sure was attractive like a model.
He tilted his head to the side a little bit to the left, then looked down putting a black rubber band around his right wrist. That small movement caused his hair to follow his movement, revealing a black piercing on his left ear. Eirisse looked away, realizing they were all still looking at her, she felt her face blush as she face-palmed herself mentally for being caught staring.
"This is Eirisse. Eirisse, this is my family." She motioned toward the people around the table.
She looked at each of them and gave a light smile, "hello", she waved in an awkward manner.
"This is my brother, Ethan." She motioned towards the handsome, long-haired guy.
"My father," she pointed towards the oldest man present, he seemed in his early forties. He had tan-toned skin like Ethan and unlike his wife, he had dark brown eyes. He was more muscular and taller than Ethan as if he were a gym trainer. He gave Eirisse a small smile and a nod before Ysabelle continued introducing everyone.
"She is my mother," just as Eirisse had predicted. "I'm my mother's younger self, in every way." Ysabelle smiled, displaying her triumph as she hugged her mother and gave her a small kiss on her forehead.
"And he is my mate, Logan" she pointed lastly to the guy. He had long and kind of wavy hair that reached below his ear. The roots were black but he had dyed it a blue-green color. He had similar ear piercings as Ethan, except Logan's were bigger; one was a half-inch septum ring piercing in his earlobe, punk style, making him look more intimidating than he already was with his dark grey eyes. He had low cheekbones, and his skin was not as pale as Eirisse's but he did not have olive skin either. His lips were similar to Ethan's, almost full. He seemed to have muscle but, not that much, even though his biceps were showing. He was the bad-boy type, the one you should not take to your parents.
"Oh my God! What happened to you!" Ysabelle's mother stood up from her wooden chair and practically ran to Eirisse, causing her to jump, startled at the sudden outburst. She had an accent that Eirisse couldn't decipher. She noticed that Ysabelle also had one as well, it sounded almost Russian…although, she was starting to think they were not from Russia.
Eirisse hadn't given a closer look at Ysabelle's mother, but from up close she had dark wavy hair with fair skin and light brown eyes. 'That's where they got them from,' she thought. She had full, pink lips and a faint natural blush, she had this ivory tone of skin, like Ysabelle's.
The woman took her face meticulously in her warm, soft hands and checked some cuts Eirisse had on her face. She then checked her arms and looked down at her bare legs and dirty feet. That made Eirisse feel embarrassed and self-conscious for being presented in such an inelegant fashion.
"She was lost. So, I decided to give her shelter for the night, if that is fine with you. It's late, so I don't suppose you would kick her out, right?" Ysabelle answered her mother's question. When she said she would do the talking, Eirisse felt more than thankful.
"Of course not. Even if she was not in this condition, I wouldn't kick her out, right, Marcus?" the woman turned her head and asked the male in his forties, sitting next to the chair she was sitting in, alongside the young man with long hair who was still looking at Eirisse with an indescribable look. Eirisse blushed once more and looked away, avoiding his gaze.
Eirisse was not usually this quiet, but she was in an unknown place and knew she must keep her comments, questions, and opinions to herself until she knew how to solve this. Emma would be laughing at her if she saw how sheepish she looked right now. Eirisse sighed heavily, she missed her friend already.
"No, of course not, darling." Her husband answered, looking at Ysabelle with a concerning look. He was not content with the fact that he would have a stranger in his home for the night but he didn't want to quarrel with the females; he was too exhausted to deal with any drama that night.
"She can sleep in the guest room that's next to yours, Ysabelle." The woman stated.
"Yes, mom," Ysabelle answered calmly while walking toward Eirisse again.
"C'mon, let's get you out of those wet clothes." She commanded, making Eirisse look at her and noticed Logan was eyeing her suspiciously. She couldn't blame them, she felt the same way.
Although she was a stranger, she couldn't help but think if she looked that threatening that everyone kept on eyeing her dubiously?
"Thank you," Eirisse spoke softly to all of them, giving them a small bow in gratitude, relief engulfed her, she had found a place to sleep that night. Ysabelle intertwined her arm with Eirisse's elbow and pulled her out of the room and up the stairs to the third floor.
Both top floors had similar designs, the hallways had a gray color with some nature paintings every now and then. Their house screamed fancy everywhere she looked but at the same time, it was minimalistic. Ysabelle led her to the right side of the long hallway and opened the second to last door.
"This will be your room, okay?" she announced as they entered.
"There's a bathroom right there," she pointed to the white door to the right of the entrance, right next to the side table. Next to the white side table was a queen-sized bed with simple, yellow bedsheets. In front of it was a medium-sized walk-in closet. To the side of it was a two-meter-long window with matching yellow curtains.
"I'll go get you some clothes for you to wear until your clothes dry off." She walked out, leaving Eirisse alone to keep admiring the room. She walked up to the window and there was a balcony; with wonderment, she went and slid the glass door to the side. It may have been nighttime, but she could still see that there was a small garden and behind was a backyard, followed by the forest.
"Here you go," Ysabelle walked in and Eirisse turned around as she placed the clothes on the edge of the bed.
"There's a towel and everything you'll need already in the bathroom." She delivered while giving her a genuine smile.
"Thanks," Eirisse muttered, genuinely thankful for all the attention they were giving her.
Ysabelle turned on her heels and left the room, closing the door behind her. Eirisse took the clothes and went inside the bathroom. She took off her wet shorts and slowly, with care, she took off her shirt, it still stung a bit to move her back so she tried to not hurt it more. She went under the shower and braced herself. The warm water hit her back unexpectedly as it took a few seconds to fall, making her wince as the burning sensation came back.
"Ahhh!" she yelped, but she covered her mouth with both hands, making the sound come out muffled. Her eyes stung with tears because of the pain, shivers ran up and down her body. Eirisse placed one hand against the wall, supporting herself as she looked down at her body and noticed a few pieces of glass still in her upper thighs. She successfully took some out, but not all, she could feel them somewhere at the back of her arms and back. Blood ran down the shower floor, mingling with dirt and water.
After a long and tiring shower, she couldn't stop thinking about Alex and what he would say to their parents about her disappearance. They might think that the basement is hunted or that it needs an exorcism. The sudden thought made her chuckle in bitterness.
She sighed sadly and kept drying herself with the towel, then she looked at her back in the mirror. She took a deep breath in shock. A tattoo, it was fuming in a red color around black ink. She did not know how to react, she had so many questions but no one could answer them at the moment.
Eirisse tried to touch it, but it burned, almost as if rejecting her touch. 'How did that thing get on my back?! Before I crossed the portal, I did not have it.' It was such a strange circumstance and it stirred emotions and beliefs altogether. The tattoo started from the back of her left shoulder and crossed diagonally all the way down to her right hip bone. A sword started from the start of her spine all the way down to her hip; it was with the tip down at the end of her spine. There was a crescent moon with its top tip touching the sword and what looked like a lightning bolt crossed the moon and the tip of the sword. The end tip of the lightning bolt reached the top part of her back dimples.
Eirisse touched it again, this time, the burning sensation was fading, so she could finally feel it, it was real. She had astraphobia, so why did fate decide to give her a lightning symbol tattooed on her back?