*COMING JUNE 1ST *
Greta is gone.
War has broken out.
The Goddess wants Judith to bring order to chaos- but all she wants is to bring Greta back home.
*This is the sequel to Unholy
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"Greta." Her name fell from my mouth in a way that felt sour.
I saw her there, like an apparition fading in and out of the cold gusts of rain. Her short blonde hair whipped back and forth. Her gray eyes were wide, like she just saw a ghost as well.
For a long moment I was afraid to close my eyes, even just to blink. I was scared that, like so many dreams I'd had before, I would open them and she would be gone. A whisper of smoke, gone on the stormy wind.
I didn't want her to be here, if she was just going to disappear again. I didn't want my mind to do this to me right now.
"Ah—" the sound I made was almost like a whimper. I took a step away.
No. I didn't want this right now. Why was this happening to me? I didn't want to be brought back to this place of longing and pain. I just wanted it to go away. I wanted her to go away.
"Judith?" I couldn't hear her, but I could see my name tumble from her lips. I had seen it so many times before, after all. How could I not know what she was saying?
She took a step towards me. Then another. Then another. Soon she was trudging through the wet grass towards me.
It wasn't real. I knew it wasn't. It couldn't be. I wouldn't get my hopes up and I would get hurt again.
Soon, she was right in front of me, and I found myself more terrified than I had felt in months.
I tackled her to the ground before she could get to me first, and we landed solidly on the muddy ground. I looked down at her, at the pink of her wind chapped cheeks. Her gray eyes. The wet strands of pale blonde hair that clung to the sides of her face.
My fingers dug into the soft cotton fabric of the coat she wore, real and hard. This couldn't be a dream. It couldn't be a delusion. I could feel her exhale, an action of relief. I could feel her. Her mouth twitched into a smile.
"Judith—"
I picked my hand up and slapped her across the cheek.
She was stunned, wide eyed, but still somehow smiling. A giddy laugh broke out across the field, and I hated it.
"Greta, you bitch!" I choked out.
She grabbed my hand. I didn't fight back. I watched, tears pricking in my eyes, my throat burning, as she pulled the black glove off of my hand and set it to the side. With shaking hands, she pressed the bare palm of my hand to her check.
Her skin sizzled and hissed, steam puffed into the air around it, amplified by the wetness of the air.
"Ah, it's you." She said. "It's really you."
I snatched my hand away, repulsed by the outline of my palm seared into her cheek.
"Greta, what the fuck?" I choked out.
There were so many things I wanted to say to her.
Where have you been? Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me? Tell me you didn't leave of your own will!
I said none of them. My tongue felt useless and thick inside of my mouth.
Tears started to fall from my face as I was finally unable to hold them back. A couple dripped onto her face, and those too seared her flesh. She lifted her hand and used the pad of her thumb to wipe them away, despite the pain I knew it caused her.
"Oh, Judith, my sweet-"
She suddenly stiffened beneath me, her eyes looking over my shoulder, somewhere past me. Against my better judgement, I reached up and grabbed her hand once more.
"Greta?" I whispered.
There was darkness, and the violent flapping of wings as she vanished from underneath me in a cloud of bats. With her body gone, I fell into the grass underneath her, the rain starting to pelt me even harder as the storm grew even fiercer. I scrambled up, looking desperately around the field.
Greta was a few feet away from me, her back turned, heading back into the woods.
My breath stopped and I suddenly felt sick, confused, and angry.
"Greta! Greta, what the hell?!" I yelled, running after her on trembling legs.
She stopped and turned to face me, and as I stumbled up over to her. I reached out to grab her, to yell at her. To scream at her about where she had been and why she was leaving again.
Why would she leave me?
But again, words failed me, and I only looked up at her with desperation and tears.
She got to me first, her fingers wrapping around my wrist and pulling me roughly closer. Her other hand fell to her waistband, and she pulled a large dagger from her belt. I didn't understand what was happening. I tried to pull away.
Her hand slipped from my wrist, and instead grabbed the hem of my dress. She brought the knife up, and sliced a piece of the fabric away.
"Greta, what are you doing?"
She stuffed the fabric in her pocket, then glanced back up at the treeline. Her hands tangled in my hair, and she pulled my head closer. Her mouth pressed softly against mine, a quiet hiss ringing in my ears until she pulled away. Her mouth was so red.
"I'm sorry, Judith." She said.
"What-"
She pressed her hand against my forehead, and everything went black.
I know this chapter is very short, but think of it as an interlude before the next one. ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)
