2.

Lustful eyes mapped her skin as the brunette danced in the room bathed with colorful lights. Even though so many eyes were trained on her, she didn’t pay attention to any of them. She was in her own world. Her mind was trained on something far outside the room filled with intoxicated people.

The music played her body like an instrument. Her eyes were closed and her hands were in the air as she moved her waist the way the music told her to. Several whistles tried to buy her attention but they didn’t know that the cost for her attention was expensive. It came in the exchange of a different currency – love.

When the music had ended, the room roared with cheers and howls from all the intoxicated people. She bowed very low, giving a short glance of the valley that ran between her bosom before raising and disappearing in the darkness of the backstage.

She was instantly met with the dark brown eyes of her friend with curly black hair and dark skin.

“Orabelle, we have to leave now,” She croaked with panic in her voice. Her face showed the same terror that swam in her eyes. It didn’t take the brunette long to get infected with the similar emotions that her friend was experiencing.

“What happened this time, Kiara?” She asked urgently as both of them rushed to the changing room to get their belongings.

“They are going to raid the place tonight. I don’t know when but I saw a couple of their men lingering outside the bar. They were waiting for the rest to show up,” Kiara’s words had both of them running the rest of the way running towards the changing room.

Kiara locked the door behind her as soon as they were inside the small room flooded with dresses, fake jewelry, and makeup. Meanwhile, Orabelle instantly busied herself with the task of changing her dress and locating her small bag that carried her belongings.

Kiara soon copied Orabelle’s actions as she started to tear the scandalous dress off her body. It suffocated her. It physically robbed her of her dignity but she had no choice. Her kind of women had no choice.

They were witches living in the world that was hunting them down and sacrificing them for the crimes they hadn’t committed. They were being punished merely for their existence. It was their crime to exist and it made them the biggest sinner than the ones who lived beneath the earth and feasted upon flesh and blood. In such conditions, it got harder for them to earn bread and butter.

Now, one would say that they were witches who’d be able to summon food out of thin air but it wasn’t that easy. Day by day, it was getting harder for them to practice their magic without drawing attention to it. It made them chose to act like humans and keep low but who would grant them jobs without questioning their identity? The only job that matched their requirements was that of a bar dancer.

They hated their jobs but it bought them two of the most important things that were keeping them alive – money to afford food and information about the witch-hunters. It was easy to yield both out of intoxicated people who crowded their workplace. Just a drink or two and few kisses had the men throwing up the deepest of secrets and empty their pockets. Their looks also helped them get a long way.

Both of them were blessed without worldly beauty. Just one look was enough for the men to fall at their feet, worshiping and begging them to sleep with them. Their beauty was both -a blessing and a curse for them.

Their beauty attracted the men like a moth to flames. They only wanted to have their body but not the actual person that resided in it. The fact that they were witches made it worst for them.

A sharp knock on the door interrupted them. They froze at their places and didn’t utter a word. The only action that their body allowed them to do was to look at each other in sheer horror and blink.

Collecting all the courage, Kiara straightened up and stepped towards the door while the other girl took her position to attack if there was any sign of hostility from whoever stood on the other side of the door.

After an exchanged look and a deep breath, Kiara clutched the door handle and opened it to reveal the angry looking man who managed the bar.

“You haven’t completed your hours!” He yelled at them, pointing a finger to the expensive watch tied to his wrist. Orabelle let out a sigh before she took the tall flower vase that stood proudly at the nearby table and smashed it on his head in a blink of an eye. It the next moment, his eyes rolled back before he collapsed on the floor with a loud thud.

The girls, they had left even before his unconscious body touched the ground. Clutching their bags tight to their body, they busted out of the bar through the back door but they were unaware of the danger waiting for them patiently outside.

Two rough hands grabbed Orabelle by her throat while another pair punched Kiara right on her face. A whimper slipped past her lips before she let out an angry cry and flinged her bag on the attacker. Meanwhile, Orabelle reached for her attacker’s head and uttered a spell silently before snapping his head. In the next moment, her attacker was lying unconscious at her feet.

With another spell, Orabelle, knocked off Kiara’s attacker before they ran for their lives. They knew they would be followed so after running a few blocks, they turned into a dark alley before Orabelle pulled out traveling sand from her bag and threw it at their feet.

In the next moment, they were being transferred to the abandoned house in the woods that they had found a week ago while they were running from another group of witch-hunters. Kiara leaned against the door and sighed in relief while blood drained out of her nose. She was punched hard.

Orabelle had dropped her bag and was now searching for some cloth that she could put against Kiara’s nose to stop it from bleeding more.

“That fvcker!” Kiara cursed as she wiped the blood with the back of her hand and dropped her bag before sinking to the ground. “I can’t take this anymore!” She cried in frustration which let Orabelle panic as she searched for some medicine too.

“Hold on, Kiara! I am looking for-“

“No, it’s not the nose bleeding, Belle. It’s the constant running. I can’t take this anymore!” She clutched her head as her insides raged with annoyance and irritation. Her heart was still racing from the incident.

It had been the fifth time that month when they had been caught and had to flee for their lives. Orabelle thoroughly searched her bag before she was finally met with the small box of medicine and a small handkerchief. With them, she was instantly by her friend’s side, nursing her wound.

“I don’t like it too but we don’t have a choice. Do we?” She asked politely as she held the handkerchief firmly against her bleeding nose and rubbed her back. She was feeling the same turmoil inside her as that of her friend but there was no use being upset over it. They had been running for half of their lives and she knew that they would have to do it countless times in the future too. But no matter what there would be a day or night when their luck won’t favor them and they’d be caught.

The thought sent shivers down Orabelle’s spine but she didn’t let the effects show themselves on her surface. She wanted to keep cool in front of her already stressed-out friend but she knew anyway that Kiara’s mind was polluted with the same thoughts too.

From time to time, such thoughts held them captive. They were scarier than the events themselves and had them thinking of all the things that could go wrong any moment and get them caught. It flamed the frustration and fear inside Orabelle.

With every time they ran from the witch-hunters, she wished that it would be the time they’d be running away from their problems too but their problems followed them like a shadow. It won’t go away no matter how much they ran.

She was tired and slowly starting to give up. It had occurred to her then that one day she’ll grow so tired of running from them that she’d let them consume her or… she could just turn around and face her problems but for that one needed courage.

Did she have that? She didn’t know but she sure knew it for sure that they’d be running soon again.

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