Chapter Six -- Do not snap at me, Louis.
Louis' Point of View
I feel dizzy, lightheaded, the room is echoing and my heading feels like someone is slamming a hammer over it. I stare at the picture of the woman who cursed me, in Col's home, how?
For a month, I have tried to keep my truth away from my relationship, I have lied and changed the subject whenever Col started to get a bit closer to a truth, but now, now as I stare at the Calantha's picture, in Colette's home, I see the cruel joke life has played on me, I see that I can never outrun my past and I want to get out of here as much as I want to know why Calantha's picture is here.
"Louis." I hear, and I hold on to Col's voice as she drags me out of my nightmare. "H - hi." I stammer, and I realize everyone is looking at me.
"You okay, son? You look as white as paper." Her dad says and I nod "I'm fine, just -- just moved by how stunning your home is." I lie, and her mom buys it.
"W - who - who is that?" I point at the picture of Col, Scarlett and the woman who looks like Calantha, because there is no way that is her, Calantha is dead, she died, a very long time ago, four hundred years ago and she trapped me in this vicious circle. She can't have been alive all these while, because I have spent my entire lifetimes looking for her, looking for a cure. And, now, for some reason, Colette is in a picture with someone who looks strikingly like the woman who ruined my life.
"Oh, that is my Aunt - Aunt Catherine. This is actually the last picture I have with her, she passed a while ago." Col smiles and I nod - Colette, Catherine, Calantha, the devil certainly has a sense of humor and I am never in on the joke, how hilarious.
"Ah, I'm sorry about your loss. D - did you Aunt Catherine ever had a kid, a daughter or something?" I ask, If this woman is a direct descendant of Calantha, then her child could be the last set of the puzzle I have sent centuries searching for.
"No, she didn't." Col frowns, then smiles, oblivious "I guess I am practically her daughter, she was there for every moment of my life and left a lot of things to me, she loved Scar and I like we were her daughters." She adds and I laugh, dryly, a bit madly, because this is getting worse by the second.
"So, that is your Aunt Catherine, and you, Colette, you are practically her daughter. Amazing." I nod and she frowns "Is everything okay, Lou?" She touches my shoulder and I shrug it off, feeling scalded, and when I look at her, I can see that I have hurt her.
"I'm sorry." I whisper and she nods, I am feeling overwhelmed, understandably, rightfully so, I just need some air, and I need to be away from so much gazes on me, maybe I will be able to calm down by then, but of course, her brother has to speak.
"So, what is your thing - Werewolf or Witch?" He grins and I snarl at him "You wanna see my party trick?" I growl, my eyes turning golden, he gulps, takes a step back, with his hands raised up "Easy bro, I am just playing with you."
"I'm not your bro." I glare at him and walk out of the house, feeling so hot and bothered. This is not the way I wanted today to go, but I just cannot breathe. There are so many possibilities connected to this, maybe Catherine just looks like Calantha, and there is no connection between them, maybe time is finally driving me insane, another bout of insanity that picked the wrong timing.
However, if Calantha has a direct connection to Colette, if Col is a straight descendant of Calantha, then there is no way in hell that she is human, but she is human, which obviously means so many things are not adding up and it is sending a crack through my head as I try to figure it out.
I could fall in love with Col, I can see myself being with her, in every way possible, that was the plan after all - to fall in love, have a family, explore art and see the world. I wanted to spend this life living, without searching for the cure that I was certain did not exist, but in over two hundred years, this is the first true link I have seen of Calantha, and now, I am stumped and confused, and angry.
If you have lived for over four hundred years, constantly dying and living, constantly stuck in a reincarnation circle, then you do get mad, and sometimes, you stay mad. Sometimes, the madness does not leave, and you live with the madness, because that is the price you pay for living forever.
I dip into my pocket and bring out the pack of cigarette, I light it and I hold on to the brief relief it brings.
"Louis." I hear and I turn to see Colette standing there, staring at me, and I hate that I caused her any measure of pain. "You smoke?" She frowns and I shrug, but my voice comes out harsher than intended "Yeah, I smoke."
"Do not snap at me, Louis." She glares at me, but her voice is uneven, with a crack, she is close to tears and a vicious part of me knows that she could never have survived what I did, and perhaps there is no connection between her and Calantha. In over four hundred years, Calantha still remains the most powerful sorceress I have ever met, and Col is amazing and beautiful, but she is human, she is weak.
"Maybe you should leave, and I think it is right if we get some space between us." She snaps and walks back inside, I stare at her in shock.