Morana

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As my fingers touched the poster, it melted away to reveal... An altar was my best word for it.

It was a square hole in the wall, like a safe. The side of it was in dark wood and on the floor, there was a red cloth. On it stood several different candles. There was also a beautiful knife. It looked like it was in silver and the handle had gemstones all over it. A book leaned against the back, it looked old and was in leather. On one of the sides, there were several little bottles filled with herbs. On the other side were small jars filled with things I would need to look closer at to identify.

"That's so cool," I said breathlessly and turned around to look at Alejo again.

The expression he had made my wonder and amazement disappear in an instance. He frowned, and there was a hint of confusion and worry in his eyes. Maybe even a bit of fear.

"What?" I asked him and felt worry wash over me.

"I didn't think... But it let you..." he mumbled and then shook his head lightly. After that, he had a smile on his face, but it didn't hide the other emotions completely.

"What are you on about?" I asked.

"Nothing. Really nothing. It's cool, right?" He kept his smile firmly in place.

"Cut the crap. Just tell me what got you scared." I placed a hand on my hip and held my gaze firmly on him.

"I'm not scared," he argued. I just kept staring at him until he sighed. "I guess I'm surprised mainly. I... I wasn't sure it would open for you."

"Meaning?" I pressed him.

He looked away before answering. "There's a spell on it. To keep the wrong people from opening it. Firstly, you have to be magical to open it. But then... I guess the second part is about trustworthiness."

"So, if you trust a person or not?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No," he shook his head. "I can be fooled. That safe, or whatever you want to call it, kind of has its own consciousness. But linked to me, sort of."

"So what? Asking me to touch it was a test? To see if your magic locker deems me worthy?" I laughed. "And what precisely made you think I might not be?"

He looked at me again now. There was a stiffness to his face, probably he tried to hide his emotions from me. But I could see the flashes of worry and fear.

"Well, I can sense your magic. You'll be able to sense other's magic too with a bit of practice," he started. "And I just wasn't sure, now having gotten a better feeling of the magic around you. You are a witch, there's no doubt about that. But there's something off about it. Something... unsettling."

My jaw tightened and my heart began to race.

There it was. I made people feel uneasy. I knew that already. It was the story of my life. I was used to it. No one wanted me around because something about me was just wrong. So why did it hurt so much hearing Alejo say it?

"Fine," I said. Short and clipped. "Fine. I get it. No need to explain."

I turned and walked back to the hall.

"Hey, wait! I didn't mean..."

"You didn't mean what?" I yelled and turned back. He had gotten off the couch and was close behind me.

"I didn't mean to upset you," he mumbled.

I snorted. "Whatever. I'm used to it. I won't force my unsettling company on you any longer."

I turned to storm out again, but got nowhere before his hand grabbed hold of my arm.

"Just wait a litt..."

"Fucking let go of me!" I hissed and tugged. "Honestly, thank you for this enlightenment. Makes my decision to leave town much easier."

I didn't look back as I stormed out, though I could hear him behind me.

"I'm sorry. Morana, please!"

I slammed the door and hurried out. Thankfully, my wallet and keys had survived the accident, my phone not so much. But that meant that I could walk in the direction of my apartment and as soon as a cab rolled by, I waved it down and jumped in.

I was fuming. Though really, I wanted to crawl into a ball on my bed and cry. But no. I'm stronger than that, I told myself. I couldn't let some random person I just met get to me. What did it really matter? I was used to being alone. I knew no one wanted to be my friend. Something was wrong with me and I just had to accept that. I had Leramidon. I didn't need anyone else.

I was strong. I was independent. I was, and always would be, alone. And I was content with that. It was my normal. How my sixty-seven years of life had been. Some random guy wouldn't, couldn't, break me.

Though I still felt such a deep loss, one that went into my core, piercing all my nerves with needles of sadness and that I was unable to understand, from knowing I would never be Alejo's friend.

As soon as I got home, I brought a suitcase up and started throwing clothes into it. I didn't care if it was properly folded or anything. All I wanted was to pack up and leave.

"Where do you want to go Leramidon?" I asked as I packed. "Miami seems like a nice place. Or maybe we should go north. To Minnesota or something? What do you want? Sun or snow? Obviously, you want sun. All you want is heat."

I stopped packing and turned to my turtle. I walked over to his aquarium and brought him out before sitting down on the floor. Then, I placed him on my knee and he simply rested there.

"What is wrong with me?" I whispered and felt the tears finally break through. "What have I done wrong? I've tried so hard to be good and friendly and just nice. But... Why do I keep on failing at it? Am I really just unlovable? Like is my soul or something just wrong? I kind of, for a moment, assumed that I made people uneasy because I'm a witch, but apparently I even make witches uneasy. Am I evil or something? Is that why my parents just left me? Did they realize that something was completely wrong with me and didn't want to deal with it?"

I sat in silence for a moment and let the tears flow. A knock on my door made me finally move again. I held on tight to Leramidon, held him to my chest for love and support. I didn't care about making myself presentable. I planned to tell whoever was at the door to fuck off and then continue my packing.