Desert Umbra

Murderess

The wind chilled my bones as I followed Evy through the many vendor shops in this little town. The wet clothes on my body made everything that I was feeling worse at that moment. I felt naked without my hijab, I wore it because those who are native to Egypt always had a way of staring me down, I couldn't describe the feeling it gave me. Though I had experienced this one too many times when I was trying to find my brother. This is one of the reasons I preferred to travel at night, I didn't want to see the stares I knew were on my back like a target. Evy didn't seem to notice the stares I was receiving, just as I was debating stealing a hijab from the vendor we were passing Evy pulled us into a tent. The feeling immediately dissipated. She spoke to the ladies telling them what we needed and handed them the money before I could even have a second to think about it, I was surrounded by women.

They stripped my body of my wet clothes that were sticking to my skin and put me in a silky see-through dress with a halter neckline that crossed over itself in the front and clasped at the back of my neck. They placed an ornate black corset on me, which I wasn't expecting, the silver inlay was gorgeous. It was still a light and breezy outfit and the ladies made sure I could breathe in the corset. The final touch was a veil, the silver on mine shown in the sun catching the light beautifully. Although it was not my usual pick the mirror in front of me made me look like a dark entity. I was impressed with the stoic woman looking back at me in the mirror, she seemed powerful. For the first time, I smirked at myself in the mirror and she did the same. The moment passed quickly as Evy grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the shop, I barely had time to thank the ladies that gave us the clothes. I looked at Evy as she discretely asked me how she looked. They had clothed her with the same beautiful silk that I had on, however, her dress almost seemed goddess-like, unlike mine which matched the dark aura I felt around me constantly. The dress wrapped around her figure with a sash of coins that accentuated her body. She looked stunning, the veil they placed around her face was see-through and beaded with gold sparkles, it emphasized the makeup around her eyes.

"Prepare yourself for my brother's reaction," I mumbled into her ear. She giggled at that, and I smiled at her encouragingly. They really would make a cute couple. We walked toward the camel vendor where Jonathan was shouting at the man that he only wanted 5 camels. Rick yelled something at Jon as he grabbed the reins and started directing the camels toward us.

"You probably could have got them for free, all we had to do was give them your sister." He mumbled to Jon.

"Yes, awfully tempting wasn't it?" Jon chuckled back at him. Rick looked up seeing Evy and me for the first time.

"Awfully..." Rick breathed out, I rolled my eyes at the cheesy moment that they were sharing, going to the camel I had decided was mine and mounted up, pulling my body over the huge animal. I patted its neck while the others mounted their own camels. The morning sun was rising into the sky as we made our way out of the town. The warden had caught up to us, unfortunately, he survived the boat incident. I was less than satisfied with that, but he would be dead soon. I shook my head, how did I know that? It was like there was another voice in my head that said that.

"Never did like camels, filthy buggers, they smell, they bite, they spit" Jonathan complained, I sighed feeling the rays of the sun hit my body attempting to ignore him.

"I think they're adorable" Evy smiled leaning forwards to pet hers on the head. Just at that moment the man who was annoying me the most started singing a song. I tried not to let it bother me, feeling the heat that the black silk soaked up on my body, I was nice and warm. I held onto that feeling happily letting my mind drift back to a time when I was a teenager, before I knew it I was asleep in a dream.

Rick and I were teens, trying to make it on our own as we had been kicked out from the orphanage in Cairo after turning 16. I remember I was about 14 years old at the time and had no idea what was happening, Rick was 16 at the time and he was trying to show them that he was able and willing to take me on as his responsibility. This was far from the truth, but as he said, we must stay together. From there on out he was considered my guardian. The orphanage did not put up much of a fight as they were ready to be rid of us, we were quite the troublemakers inside. There was no telling what we would get up to outside these walls.