Jinx

She had been left behind… again.

Datura couldn’t help but feel that it was on purpose. Her “sisters” had been out in the woods, here beneath the dense treetops of Perth. They were getting bigger, more capable. Today, they had been practicing their hunting skills, but the smallest of the bunch, Datura, couldn’t ever seem to keep up with the rest of the girls.

First, she lost sight of them. Then the sound of them disappeared as they traveled further into the dark woods. Finally, the scent of the sistes seemed to vanish without a trace, leaving the ivory-clad child alone once more.

To call the child lost, however, was not precisely accurate, for to be lost meant that one had a destination in mind, and for Datura… That never seemed to be the case. Her existence felt aimless. Unnecessary. And so, as the sun slowly moved toward the western horizon, Datura’s ears were perked and eyes cautious as the traveled alone, back to where the rest of the coven hopefully waited.

It was becoming clearer by the day that Datura wasn’t particularly good at anything. Where her coven sisters were thriving in their places, the pale child was easily overwhelmed by talk of the goddess and the Feminine Divine, as Mother Rhiannon called it. The only thing that seemed to stick in her brain were herbs, both for healing and poison, though she didn’t dare to touch the latter, for obvious reasons.

Suddenly, the metallic stench of lupine blood caught her attention, causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks, with a dainty paw still midair. Her heart began to pound in double-time, looking more earnestly around for a place to hide.


@Sumac