Chapter 104 - A VISITOR AT NIGHT II

Emma stared at the woman blankly, her mouth still opened, as the woman crossed her legs, seating on the stool, looking all poise and certain.

"You should take a seat." Zipfara said, indicating with her thoroughly decorated white staff that Emma should seat back on her bed.

"We have a lot to talk about." She added, tapping her left foot rhythmically on the tiles floor.

Emma nodded like a reluctant lizard, before taking a seat, more like dumping herself slowly on the bed. She gulped down her spittle, suddenly thirsty, perhaps due to the drop in temperature in the room.

"Do you believe in beings, not entirely humans, existing on the earth?" Zipfara asked, keeping her staff, reclining slightly on the dresser table, then folding her hands together.

But Emma was mute. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Her mind still reeling from the scene playing before her eyes. She couldn't believe that she had just watched a beautiful woman metamorphose or appear from a gust of cold wind. A woman who knew her name. She couldn't believe either that she was communicating with her.

" Emma.." The woman called again, staring at the redhead who was gaping at her, with her mouth open. She could understand the girl's suprise, since she had been with the humans since birth, had been trained by them for so long.

"Ye..s.." Emma finally replied, getting herself back together. She called herself back to order, thinking that there was no way she would be able to get answers to her numerous questions if she was behaving like a sheep saved from drowning in a mighty body of water.

"Did you hear my first question?" Zipfara asked.

Emma didn't think she did. She had been too zapped out, too drowned in her thoughts that she hadn't heard the woman's earlier question.

"I ... didn't.." She stuttered out, shaking her head too, as if to emphasize her answer, to avoid a sudden zap of vodoo on herself.

"I had asked whether you believed in beings, not humans, existing on earth?" Zipfara asked, her voice, an octave higher.

"Well, I should now, since you just appeared out of thin air." Emma stated, folding her arms across her chest, turning up her lips in defiance. She had misunderstood the woman's increased voice tone. She had thought that the woman thought her foolish or stupid.

"Well, that's okay. It will make whatever I want to say more easier." The woman concluded, nodding her head in agreement, staring around the room.

"And what is that?" Emma asked, shaking a little bit, the temperature in the room was dropping further. Did this woman think she was an igloo or a resident of the artic or Antarctica, perhaps even Pluto? She thought, knowing that the cold atmosphere was being regulated by the woman.

"Please could you increase the temperature with whatever switch you have? I'm freezing here. I'm not your kind either." She stated, rubbing her hands in an  up and down movements on her arms, in a bid to warm up herself a bit.

"Sorry." Zipfara mentioned, slightly amused by the redhead's sudden boldness.

The girl should be though, considering who she was. She thought, staring at the redhead keenly, while taking up her staff from its reclining position on the dressing table.

She muttered incoherent words, flicking the staff with her thumb, till the room's temperature became normal.

But she continued, until Emma raised up her right hand.

"Stop." She said, feeling a bit hot. "It's okay now. You can stop." She repeated, fanning herself with her hands.

Zipfara just nodded, before keeping her staff back on the dressing table.

"Thank you." Emma stated, grateful that the old woman hadn't even hurt her like the witches she had read of in story books, and watched in movies.

"So who exactly are you? And how do you know my name? How do you know my place? Why are you here? What exactly do you want? Were you the one that broke into my house? She listed off, doubting her last question because this type of being who could emanate out of thin air, didn't need to break into her house. But she still asked. Hopefully the woman might know of the person or people who actually did it.

"One question at a time." Zipfara said, smiling. A smile which Emma found enchanting. Did all the older women here have it in common? She asked within herself. She remembered that she still hadn't asked Melvina if there was a river that kept the women here youthful and beautiful, the men too. Perhaps after this night, she would, if she survived it. If there was an enchanted forest, then there would be an enchanted river too.

"Okay. Who are you, and where are you from?" She finally asked, crossing her legs.

"Okay. As I mentioned earlier..My name is Zipfara. I'm from Ezin. I'm the queen of the witches, except the southern what." Zipfara calmly replied, causing Emma's mouth to drop open again in suprise.

"Queen of witches?" She croaked out, almost drooling.

"Yes." Zipfara replied. ".. except the southern colony though." She added, with a wistful look on her face.

"How many colonies are there?" Emma asked, her eyes widening as time ticked by.

"Four. The Northern, The Southern, The Western and The Eastern." Zipfara mentioned, tapping her fingers on her lap.

"So you're in charge of The Northern, The Eastern and The Western then." Emma muttered, biting her lips.

"Yeah, except the southern colony. Collectively, the three colonies were called Ezin." Zipfara replied.

" So What about the Southern colony? Why aren't you ruling over them, since you already have three colonies?" Emma queried.

" I did, until my best friend deceitfully stole one away." Zipfara answered.

"Don't we all have stupid and betraying best friends." Emma murmured, remembering June; her best friend who had cheated with her sister's boyfriend.

"What's the bitch's name?" She asked, startling Zipfara.

"Leonarya." Zipfara replied. "Her name is Leonarya." 

And suddenly Emma slumped.