*CH*8*A GRAVE MISTAKE*

                  As soon as we got into the car, my smile dropped as a memory rushed into my head.

      'I was chasing my Dad with the widest grin on my face, we were headed for the car, we were going to Shoprite and I couldn't wait until I'd be able to stuff my face with chocolate, my dad had promised me that if I could catch him, I'd drive and I knew that there was no way he'd let me drive but chasing him was fun, so I did it anyways.

     He got to the car first ,open the driver's door ,got in and locked the other doors, I knew that because as soon as I got to the car, I tried opening the door to the passenger seat at the back but it wouldn't budge , thankfully the car windows were open.

      "Hey ,Daddy!!!! No fair, you cheated."

My Dad turned in his seat to look at me and burst out laughing.

       "But how did I cheat? I won fair and square."

       "No you didn't, you ran faster than I did."

       "But the point of the game is not to get caught."

       "I know, but still....." I put on my best pouty face and as usual it didn't work, it never worked on my dad.

       "You know I'm not buying it." He stretched his hand and clicked on a button that opened the car door to the passenger seat.

       "I'm still gonna drive." I said as I climbed in and shut the door.

       "Oh yeah and how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

        "In the spirit."

My dad and I laughed and he started the car, the engines roared to life and he reversed out of the compound and off we were.

The memory faded away, just as I was being pulled into another one.

I was being taken to boarding school and it was my first time in high school, I was just starting out in Junior secondary school 1 and I was scared as hell, I was crying and my mum was holding me by my upper arm pulling me towards the car outside, all my boxes were already packed in the car.

       "Calm down Margaret , why are you pulling her arm that way, do you want to dislocate it?"

My dad walked up to us from the car ,picked me up and carried me in his arms, I buried my heck in the crook of his neck, seeking comfort.

       "She's going to boarding school for the first time,it's not easy for her, she's been with us for as long as she's known, taking this step is huge, especially for her, just because she's..............you know what I mean but that's no excuse for the way you treat her, she's OUR child and she deserves OUR love, end of discussion."

And just like that, the memory faded,and went back to the first memory when we were both in the car about to leave, I saw a picture by the side of my dads right foot, he had his signature wide grin on his face, revealing his beautiful and very deep dimples and by his side stood a...... before I could see it, he put his leg on top of it and tucked it into his seat, but why would he.....

Suddenly I'm pulled out from the memory again and I'm being pushed into another, the second memory, my father stood talking to my mother with me wrapped around his upper body, I couldn't make out his words except  'just because she's.........' after saying those words his expression was filled with guilt, never in my life had I seen my father look as though he was in so much pain and it absolutely broke me,my father....the man who never frowned, the man who was the best company, who there was never a dull moment around,the man who always made me smile, this man who was my sun....looked absolutely broken, the overwhelming happiness around him was gone,in its place was guilt, sadness,grief ,there was so much pain, I couldn't stand it, I wanted to get out of there....the stupid memory, I couldn't stand to see my father like this, I just couldn't, I didn't want to see him like this, it'd destroy me ,because now there's absolutely nothing I could do about it, nothing I could do to help him, I just needed to get out of there.

     I screamed and screamed as I closed my eyes.

        "Mofe!!!!"

I felt something shaking me and I stopped screaming, I opened my eyes.

        "What happened?"

I looked around confused, we were still in the taxi ,the driver was staring at me and I'm sure Shadow was staring too, I looked outside and I saw that we were at the city mall already ,so I brought out my wallet from my shorts and gave the driver some cash, a bit more than I was supposed to pay because of my weird behavior, I stepped out of the car with Shadow following suit as I felt her behind me , as soon as the driver sped off, I turned to Shadow.

       "What the heck happened in there?"

        "I should be asking you the same thing, you blacked out for an hour , I kept calling your name and you're very lucky the driver couldn't hear me or else we both would be dead, as I was saying, you suddenly burst out screaming just when I was about to slap you out of your black out, I mean what the heck happened to you."

        "I don't know."

       "You don't know?"

       "Yes Shadow, I don't know, please don't make me more frustrated than I already am."

Silence

          "I got sucked into a memory, two actually, it's like....I don't....I don't know how to explain it, i remember everything that happened in those memories but it's like, I somehow missed the details when I was younger.....like....I was in the memories but as a third person, looking at the scenerio without being there and I could see everything that I didn't before but I don't know what it all means ,there was a picture there and I saw my....my......Dad in his worst state, that is apart from his death........ugh....I am so frustrated, because I can't feel anything.....I.....never mind.....I give up..let's just go."

I turn my back and I walk away but I can't feel Shadows presence so I stop.

         "I'm really sorry for how confused you feel now but I can't do anything for you except to keep you safe so that time itself unravels everything to you."

I sighed, I was so tired of all the suspense, I just wanted to get everything done and over with, was that too much to ask?

As I opened my mouth to speak, the scene of the mall disappeared from sight and suddenly we were standing in an.....attic?

          "Shadow!!! I'm freaking out, what just happened?"

I spun around trying to feel for Shadows presence but I couldn't feel anything.

           "Shadow!!!!! Shadow!!!!! Somebody help me!!!!! Shadow!!!! Where are you?!!!"

            "Relax Mofe, I'm here okay and there's someone I'd like you to meet."

             "Relax? Relax!!! We're in an attic, how the fuck did we get here and where did you go to? Answer those questions before you tell me to fucking relax, you want to keep me safe but the only thing you are doing is driving me fucking insane, I've sworn three times in 1 minute and it's all because of you, so don't tell me to fucking relax, God I wanna hit you right now, if only I could see you."

I took in rushed breaths after my rant.

      "Are you done now?"

     "God, I hate you, yes...........

yes I'm done."

      "Rosa!! Come out."

From nowhere , a woman appeared, a young woman, probably in her early twenties,she had her black hair up in a bun, she had big round brown eyes with square shaped transparent , probably recommended glasses on, she had a sharp and pointed nose, chubby cheeks and full brown lips, all compliments to her beautiful glowing fair skin, she wore a simple pair of strappy sandals, dark blue jeans and a white camisole but she looked gorgeous, she had Amazing curves, she was slim but sexy slim, not like me at all, her hips weren't too wide, they were just right, she had the tiniest waist, damn, this woman paid attention to her waist trainer and her workouts and her breasts weren't full, but they were a nice size and it worked very well with her figure.

        "Who are you?"

        "I'm sorry for the inconvenience I may have caused you by teleporting you here, I just didn't want you to be seen when making your way here, it's my hideout, my name is Rosa, I'm a cursed witch."

      "A cursed witch?"

       "Witches who stray from their original path will inevitably be cursed by the one who created them."

     "And who created you?"

     "The supreme mother or as humans call her 'mother nature'."

      "Seriously?? I'm beginning to think that this is all a joke, the 'supreme mother' ,what the fuck is that? Are you seriously telling me that God is not real?"

      "That's not what I'm telling you, I simply said we were created by the supreme mother."

       "Okay,I'll bite."

        "Mofe, show her some respect, she's the one who saved you from untimely death, she teleported you from your house, cleaned you, dressed you and sent you to school."

        "Fine, thank you for your help but why couldn't you save my family too?"

          "Mofe..."

           "No,leave her, she is upset, I understand, I'm sorry I couldn't save your parents, it was just an inconvenient situation."

           "So saving my family was an inconvenient situation?"

I fold my arms and glare at her, I liked her because she's beautiful but she's beginning to piss me off.

            "Let's just say that I only had enough juice to save one person, anyways, onto what you're here for, Shadow ,as you call her has requested that I make you something to mask your scent from the supernaturals."

            "Do you know her real name?"

             "Yes but it is not my place to tell,she will tell you when she is ready."

Rosa pulled something out of her back pocket, a vial , whatever was inside looked purple and disgusting, it looked sticky.

         "You must take this once a day by 12 noon, just a drop of it, nothing more."

She throws the vial to me and I thankfully catch it.

          "What if that broke, I wasn't prepared."

          "Now that's a grave mistake, in our world ,you must always be prepared, prepare yourself for every possible scenerio that could occur ,both the good and the bad, prepare yourself for the gore of war, prepare yourself for the ripping of limbs from limbs, prepare yourself for curses, ones even worse than death and prepare yourself for what watches behind you most of all, because you never know when the next thing is going to be thrown and it surely will not be a small vial."

Suddenly I was back outside the city mall, at the exact position I was before and I could feel Shadow behind me, I wanted to turn around and walk away but I couldn't help but stare at the window on the top most floor of the mall, thinking of the ominous words that Rosa undoubtedly just put into my head.