Duality

part six

Every few seconds Mila scanned the area around her, searching to see if the man had come back. Anna couldn't have known that's what Mila was doing, but she laughed aloud, making Mila pause. "What's funny?" she asked, keeping close.

Anna moved around a tree like she could see it. Her hand trailed along the bark, dropping to pat a leafy bush and stop, inspecting the roots with deft fingers. Her eyes remained fixed at the space in front of her. "You act like someone's courting you."

"What?"

"You know, pursuing you," Anna continued, grinning.

Puzzled, Mila said, "Well, he is." And it wasn't very funny to be shot at as she ran through the woods. Anna's giggle, repressed at the last second, didn't seem to understand that.

"Did you change your dress?"

Studying the flowers that wound all the way up to her shoulders, Mila shrugged. "Yesterday." The new look didn't bother her, and she didn't feel like picking the flowers off, now that she'd lost her decaying powers. "But why do you ask?" Anna wouldn't be able to see it, after all.

For whatever reason, Anna laughed again. "It was a joke."

This new Anna scared Mila. She talked about things Mila didn't understand, made jokes at things that weren't funny. Mila wound a loop of hair around her finger, wondering if this was Anna's way of coping, now that everything she'd trained Mila for had fallen apart.

Or at least, had been postponed.

"What if he doesn't come?" Mila asked aloud. The moon shone bright in the sky, just like the other nights he'd found her. The only difference was she followed Anna like a dog would its master, like that would stop the inevitable.

"He's a gentleman, he won't stand you up," Anna said. She didn't laugh, which meant she was trying to be reassuring. Mila waited for actual words of wisdom, but they didn't come.

She wound her hair to fall over her right shoulder, shielding half of her face from the woods. "Mila," Anna said, drawing her from her thoughts. Looking up, she expected to see Anna reaching to settle her with firm words. Instead, Anna nodded her head at something behind Mila.

Spinning, she expected to see the horned man. Instead, Anna breezed past her. "Honestly, if you're going to forage with me, be useful."

With a sigh, Mila stood further off to the side while Anna found a dark green plant and began picking berries off of it. Mila had learned long ago not to question how Anna knew which was poisonous and which were safe, but she still wondered: Anna had no concept of color. She moved closer, wondering if she should point out the dark hue.

"Won't you be late?" Anna said, stopping Mila before she got too close.

Leaning forward to watch Anna's hands work, Mila said, "He didn't give a time." Worried, she looked to the moon, almost hoping the sun would rise and take away her problems. "And he might not come."

"Hiding from him won't help."

"I'm not going to stand in the middle of the clearing all night, either," Mila protested. Sure, she could walk to the edge of the woods in hopes of meeting him halfway, but that hadn't gone well either time she'd tried previously.

The bushes rustled, forcing both of them to listen. Mila relaxed first, sensing a rabbit. Anna waited to hear it move away before going back to picking. "Do you hunt?" Mila asked. She never saw Anna with injuries, but if she stuck to smaller prey...

"You're supposed to ask him questions, not me." Anna's jaw clenched tight, her cheekbones sharpening. Mila had said something wrong.

Glancing to where the bunny hid for a distraction, Mila said, "I didn't mean... I'm sorry."