38Mary lied awake in her new bed staring at her artificial space. She was fully dressed under her covers. She couldn't sleep, she was too anxious. She kept looking over at her digital clock and what seemed an hour was only five minutes. Mary felt sleep weighing down on her. Her eyes kept fluttering open and shut. After a few minutes her eyes stayed shut.
Mary awoke when she felt a hot hand over her mouth. She opened her eyes in shock to find Riley leaning over her. He put his finger to his lips and took his hand away from Mary's mouth. Mary pushed herself up to her elbows and just stared Riley.
"Well? Are you coming or not?" He finally whispered.
"Yea, let me just get my heart rate down."
"Get up, let's go."
Mary got out of her bed and Riley grabbed her hand. He walked her to the open window and she looked down from two stories up.
"How the fuck did you get up here?" Mary whispered.
Riley put Mary over his shoulder climbed up onto the window sill.
"You're not gonna…."
Riley jumped away from the window before Mary could finish her sentence. Mary closed her eyes and wrapped her legs around Riley tightly. The wind stopped rushing past Mary's face and she felt stationary. Mary slowly opened her eyes and saw the ground very close below her. Riley gently put Mary down on her feet. She was still shaky from the drop.
"Come on, it's about a half hour walk to my grandma's house."
Riley began walking toward the woods. Mary turned and slowly followed him. Mary was lagging behind s Riley grabbed her hand to pull her. He practically dragged her to the woods. Riley stopped and faced Mary.
"Are you ok? I'm sorry. We need to get a move on though."
Mary nodded her head. Riley smiled and turned back toward the woods. Riley guided Mary through the woods. They were not following any trail; Riley seemed to know where he was going. They picked up their speed walking to a jog. Mary had no trouble keeping up with Riley without falling.
They broke out of the woods into a moonlit field. At the other side of the field there was a light coming from a small house. Their slow paced jog soon turned into an all out run. Mary and Riley began racing each other to the house. Riley outran Mary and ran straight up the back porch to the door. He knocked twice and Mary ran up next to him. Mary took deep steady breathes to catch her breath. Riley hadn't even broken a sweat.
"We need to get you in shape." Riley chuckled.
"Well…sitting in a padded room…all day…does not keep you in shape." Mary said in between breaths.
The door opened and a woman stood in the door way. She was a short stout woman. Her grey hair still had a tint of red to it from her youth. Her green eyes twinkled when she smiled at Riley.
"Come in, come in." She said waving the two inside. "You must be Mary." The woman grabbed Mary's hand and shook it.
"You are Riley's grandmother?" Mary asked.
"Yes, you can call me Violet though. Now follow me."
Violet pulled Mary with her. They walked from the kitchen into a sitting area. There was one dark purple couch and a wooden rocking chair surrounding a fireplace. Riley sat on the couch and Mary sat next to him.
"Would you like some tea?" Violet asked.
"No thank you." Mary said.
"I'll have some." Riley said.
"I'll be right back."
Violet smiled at them and walked back into the kitchen. Mary looked around the small room. On the floor was a dark blue rug with a gold curling design. The only light was the orange fire. The walls were painted a plain white and nothing adorned them. Violet came back in with two mugs in her hand. She handed one to Riley and sat down in the rocking chair with her own. She took a sip of her tea and then stared intently at Mary.
"Now, Mary, Riley has told me your story, but please tell me. I'd like to hear it from your own lips."
"I don't know where to start." Mary said looking to Riley.
"Just tell her what Katherine has told you."
"Katherine told me she was once a god. She was the god of insanity. She told me I was a descendant of gods. That's all I really remember. Everything else is jumbled and I don't know what was real and what was my imagination. I was crazy."
"Well I definitely sense something other than human from you. Do you know exactly what Katherine is?"
"She said she didn't have as much power as she did when she was worshipped as a god. She is a leech and needs to me attached to something in order to survive."
"Can you make her appear?"
"I have never tried. She comes at the worst times."
"Well, for now on, write down your experiences with her. Keep a journal of some sort."
"Is there any other advice?" Mary asked hopefully.
"She can't hurt you. She doesn't have as much control over you as you think. Don't listen to her. You can beat her. Once I know exactly what she is, I can conjure a banishing spell."
"You're a witch?" Mary was caught off guard.
"She's a pagan. None of that devil stuff." Riley replied.
Violet smiled warmly at Riley. There was so much love and warmth from this woman Mary thought. She wished she could stay with Violet forever. It was almost lulling her to sleep she was so comfortable.
"I better get you back home." Riley said standing up.
"It was nice meeting you Mary." Violet smiled.
"It was also a pleasure of meeting you Violet."
Mary stood-up with Riley and smiled. Riley hugged Violet and walked towards the doorway. Mary followed him through the kitchen and out the back door. They walked quietly through the field with the moon guiding them.
"So do you really transform into a big cat?" Mary asked as they approached the woods.
"Um, yea, why?" Riley responded looking at Mary.
"Can I see it?"
"Uh, not tonight. Some other time though." Riley quickly replied.
"Why not?" Mary asked.
"Because I need to get you home. Now come on."
Riley began running. Mary sighed in exasperation and began jogging. Riley slowed up to allow her to catch up. They dodged trees, jumped over logs, and ducked under low branches until they reached Mary's home; her home sweet home.