Not away but towards her.
Diane ran frantically towards the door in terror. Her hands shook so badly that she could barely grip the door knob. She kept clawing at it anyways, desperate for an escape.
When she stared back in her moment of terror, she was alone in the room. Only but a black bird sat at the window pane staring at her, as if in disbelief of her sudden agility.
Diane let her hand slip from the knob as she held her knees that were wobbly from fear.
So many things had happened since coming here, but none had been so eerily terrifying as what had occurred tonight. The way the elements seemed to have collaborated was too ominous for it to only be a bird.
Or is that a Raven? Diane wondered as she took a closer look at the bird sitting still on her window.
Had the shadow been the bird all along? . Diane found it hard to believe. What he saw couldn't have been a bird, a shadow that big.
Then the uninvited guest made a low, throaty croak before launching into the air. It's black wings beating like shadows against the pale sky. It must have been startled too.
It took minutes before Diane stood up from the feet of the door. She slowly made her way back to the door, scared she might find the shadow still there.
But it was just her.
And her garden.
The wind blew sweet flowery scents to her face. She looked out of the window and saw the garden she had been at. Only now did she realize that her window overlooked the garden. Looking far ahead to the middle, she saw the roses now perfectly bloomed. She would pick some up tomorrow morning for her flower vase beside the bedside.
She closed the window and lay back on the bed. The softness of the bed made her feel at home, and the silky feeling of her nightgown gave her a comforting embrace.
She might be in an unfamiliar world, so far away from home, but at least she is comfortable. There was no student loan to worry about repaying. She does not have to read late into the night to prepare for presentations or wake early for surgeries.
She gets no random calls for emergencies and therefore does not run out of the house even on her off days. There was no one to miss either.
All she has to do is learn how to deal with her stepmother-in-law; in fact, she has to get acquainted with how things work if she wants to last long here.
She thought of the strange man at the seaside and about the mysterious aura that surrounded him. She remembered how he groaned, and said a little prayer for the mysterious man, hoping he is fine wherever he is. For, even though she had not duly acknowledged him, he literally saved her life.
*****
When Diane opened her eyes once again, Mira was staring into her eyes, so close that their faces almost touched. Diane smiled at her. Her face flushed to a beautiful pink. She quickly backed off.
She helped Diane out of the bed. And took her by the hand and led her to sit facing the large wall mirror. She took a good cursory look at Diane's face and started working on her hair. She untangled the hair that was in two weak knots and worked her fingers through the strands as the hair fell softly onto Diane's shoulder and then her waist.
Until now, Diane had not noticed how long her hair was. Waist length? She had always had short hair, not by choice. Her curl pattern was too hard to maintain, so she had cut her hair short after several attempts at keeping it.
She watched as Mira kept fiddling with her hair, like when she would get obsessed with a lab specimen as a med student.
Every hand movement of hers suggests that she enjoyed this particular routine of hers.
She took out a gold-colored container from the drawer, from which she scooped a generous amount of whatever was inside it, applied it to the hair, and ran it through the whole length.
She then began to comb it, gently. So gently that Diane wondered if the pressure was actually enough to fully detangle the hair. What was she scared of? Afraid of breaking a strand, maybe?
She caught Diane staring at her and smiled as she continued to work her slow magic.
She brought out several fancy hair clips and placed them before Diane. They had bought some of it at the town last night on their walk. Diane chose the less colorful one and handed it to her.
"Naaa, not that one, milady." "You have to look the best today!" She said, half grinning.
She picked the one with peach blossoms designed on it. Diane could not understand why she acted like she had a choice in which was to be used in the first place if she was still going to do what was on her mind.
She did a loose dough knot with half of the hair at the center. And let the rest fall seamlessly down her waist. The end result of that fussing finally made sense to Diane. It was simply perfect.
She was ready for the day, for Dravon, Diane thought as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
"You look absolutely gorgeous, Athea!" Mira gushed so much that Diane wondered what it was that she really felt for Athea. Was she just mesmerized by her beauty? Was it pure love for a girl she grew up taking care of, or was there something else there?
Diane smiled at her as she took her hand in hers. They strolled out of the room, into the hallways that led out into the garden.
Whatever it was that Mira felt for Athea, Diane planned to utilize it..
Because in this unfamiliar place, the first person she wants to possess is Mira.