Soft ripples played through the waves, dancing to nature's song.  The blue sky kissed the old, pine bridge where Scarlett sat.  She gazed up at the thousands of wooden branches that surrounded her, holding all the secrets of the lake.  She held a playful orange smile with them.  "I envy you, you know?  So old, so mysterious, and so wise.  Yet, here I am, trying to make sense of it all," she said bitterly.  Scarlett tucked the shorts of her hair behind her ear, keeping in tune with nature's song.

"I never wanted to be in this position, but yet, here I am!  I sit here as dull as ever, trying to figure out how to pull my life together.  Then, some sinister witchcraft hit me today.  Maxine is either one strong cookie, or I'm just making too big a deal out of this!" she cried, tossing her head not so majestically into her knees.  Scarlett wept for a few moments before a tall man appeared before her, dressed in an old, silver robe.

"I have heard your cries, my child.  Now, stand up!" he ordered and she immediately abided.  Scarlett longed to walk towards him, but something held her back.  Something about this whole thing just felt so wrong.

He walked in circles around a cut down tree stump, his fingers lingering on his long silver beard.  "Scarlett, you are hiding something and you want to know what it is."

"That's why I came here!" she responded weakly.

He let out a cry of laughter.  "What are you hiding?"

She shrugged her shoulders.  "I saw some strange thing occur today."

"That's not it.  Do not lie to me, Scarlett, and remember that I can see all," he said, his eyebrows furrowing together in anger.

Scarlett cleared her throat and tried again.  "Sir, I do not know what else you could be talking about."

He let out a laugh and waved his hand at her, as if dismissing the thought.  "Come back to me once you know."

"Know?  Know what?" Scarlett cried, the trees rushing past her in a blur, before everything just became black.  All black, all nothingness, all lost hope.

****

"Scar, Scar, wake up!"  Like a jolt of coffee, Scarlett opened her eyes and saw a petite German lady standing in front of her – Julia.

"Jules, what are you doing here?" she cried, rubbing her eyes to wake up.  After blinking a few times, her head felt heavy.  "Where am I?"

"In your studio, Scar," she responded, helping Scarlett to her feet.  "I came to bring you a coffee and found you past out, murmuring something about magic."

Scarlett's face blushed the color of her name, and she immediately reached to fix her hair.  "That's so strange."

"You look flustered," Julia said, stating the absolute obvious.  She walked over to grab Scarlett's drink to hand it to her, perhaps wake her friend up a bit.  As she handed Scarlett the cup, her eyes danced with excitement.  "Hot dream?"

Scarlett let out a tiny laugh, gratefully taking a sip of the mocha.  "More like a forest with a lake, and some old guy."

"You like older guys now?"  Julia offered a smile, but Scarlett still seemed too distracted to sincerely laugh.

"No, it was strange.  He kept saying he knew some secret of mine, or something.  It was all just odd."  Scarlett shook her head and sat down on the top of her desk trying to remember at what point she had even passed out.

"I don't remember even falling asleep," Scarlett admitted, once she realized that her memory was faulty.

Julia put her hand on Scarlett's knee, concern flooding her eyes.  "Is everything okay?"

"Just exhausted, that's all.  I have been working very long hours on this dress that I just finished," Scarlett said with a yawn, pointing her hand in the direction of the mannequin.  After Maxine had taken the pictures, Scarlett put the dress back where it belonged and began working on sketches for her diversity line.  She figured that she must have fallen asleep sometime in between then.

Julia nodded out of approval.  "I love it, but what kind of long hours?"

"I think that I have gotten a total of twelve hours of sleep over the last three days," Scarlett mentioned casually, trying not to sound like a whiner.  That had always been a pet peeve of hers, along with hypocrites.

Julia slapped her forehead angrily.  "Scarlett, you do realize that sleep is kind of important, right?"

"Sorry, but I just haven't had the time.  It's alright, though.  I mean, coffee has always been there for me.  Well, along with a glass or two," she admitted sheepishly.

"Are you talking about alcohol?" Julia blurted out, infuriated beyond belief.

Scarlett nodded.  "Of course."

"You do realize how stupid that is, don't you?  You could have been using that time to sleep!"

"No, I drank in between stitches."

"That's dangerous!  You could have gotten totally drunk and hurt yourself."

"But I didn't," Scarlett pointed out with a sneaky smile.  Then, a thought flashed Scarlett's mind and before she could think straight, she grabbed a clean needle.

Julia raised an eyebrow.  "Inspiration strike you?"

"Yeah, something like that," she mumbled.  Scarlett took the needle and jabbed it straight into her skin, about two inches deep.

"Scheiße!" she screamed, blood beginning to slowly leak out of her.

"Scarlett, what the hell!" Julia yelled, running over to her friend to remove the needle.  She looked at Scarlett with concerned eyes.  "You need sleep, look at what you're doing."

"No, you do not understand," Scarlett fought.

"And when did you start swearing in German?" Julia asked, even more confused.

Scarlett let out a sigh, knowing that she was absolutely crazy, but she also knew something strange was happening.  "My model, Maxine, ran into a needle I was holding today.  It went just as far deep into her skin, but she didn't even flinch or bleed."

"Maybe she has a high pain tolerance, which you obviously don't, so don't try that again!" Julia yelled, grabbing a tissue off of Scarlett's desk.  She began to blot away the blood, applying pressure to help with the bleeding.

Scarlett rolled her eyes.  "I'm twenty-two years old and can do whatever I want," she snapped.  With a change of tone, she added, "There's something definitely weird with Maxine."

Julia let out an annoyed laugh.  "Drop it, Scar.  You need sleep and are just imagining things.  Sleep deprivation is a very scary thing."

"I know what I saw, Jules!"

"I believe you, but I also know that you're dead tired.  I'm going to get us a cab — meet me outside in ten minutes and I'll make sure you get to your penthouse okay.  Then, you can sleep and we can talk about this once your mind is cleared."  Julia had a look on her face that seemed determined, and Scarlett knew at once that there was absolutely no point in fighting her.

She nodded, unwillingly.  "I'll meet you."

Julia strutted out of the room, retrieving her sunglasses out of her bag, and Scarlett watched as she did so.  They were best friends for a reason, and she knew that Julia has the best intentions at heart.  Even still, Scarlett knew what she saw and her mind was made up — she would get to the bottom of it.

****************************************

Author's Note:

How did you like Scarlett's character? She's young and extremely successful — I'd say that's a pretty strong female character.

Tomorrow you will the third sister, Sapphire! While Selene is a productive businesswoman trying to chase her dreams and Scarlett is living her dreams, Sapphire is a bit more depressing.

I suppose you'll just have to wait and see!

This chapter is dedicated to my German friend dasJEW !  Thanks for always helping me out with translating and letting me practice ♡

Lots of love,

Ali xoxo