Chapter 149 - THE WOMAN FROM FLORIDA

Emma quirked up her slightly reddish right eyebrow at the woman whom she had never seen before in her entire life.

Who is this woman? And how does she know my name? She thought, still holding the knob of her door, paused at the entrance of her new temporary habitation.

"Hello. Should I know you?" She asked, voicing her thoughts, unable to shade the note o impatience in her voice. She had a call to make, and did not have the time to fratenize with unknown people.

"Perhaps." The woman replied, with a small smile which did nothing but to irritate Emma further. What was she smiling about now? She thought.

"I don't have times for games, Ma'am. I'm sure I don't know you, because I haven't seen you before. And if you know me, that's really not my business, but what's my business is why you are at my door, blocking the entrance, blocking my movement. What do you want?" She asked, aware that she had sounded rude, but not really bothered about it. Her mood now wasn't a fine one for playing around.

" I'm sorry if I triggered your anger my dear. I just thought that you would remember me. " The woman replied.

Emma took a good look at the strange woman at her door, from her bluish black hair to the black cloak she was hounded herself with, to the bright red flat shoes she wore, and shook her head.

"I don't know you ma. I haven't seen you before. I'm sure of that." She stated with all surety. If she had seen the woman, she was sure that she would have recollected. Her brain was a pro in that area. She could even recognize people that she had just glimpsed at a time, after months or even years later.

"Oh, alright then. I guess I have to reintroduce myself then, and perhaps talk on the first and only time we had met." The woman said.

"Sure, that would be better." Emma concured, a bit curious now about the strange woman who claimed that they had met at one time, but whom she couldn't remember one bit, no memory at all of her, even if it's a bit hazy. The woman didn't even look familiar.

"Alright. Can I come in? I promise I will not take much of your time." The woman requested, her poise still as calm as ever, like there was no cause to worry in the world.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Emma negated, totally against it. She had just received death threats some hours ago, and now a strange woman is at her door asking to be let in? No. No. Not a good idea. She thought. For all she knew, the one could be their messenger or the actual culprit, her quiet demeanor notwithstanding. 

She refused to be fooled. Perhaps the lady was even another witch. At the inclination of that witch-thought, she paused and roamed her eyes around the woman again. She couldn't even deduct anything. But she also couldn't detect any cause for alarm. Her guts didn't condemn the woman. There was no dark aura around her either. Perhaps she should listen to her now, and search for her phone later.

"I'm not here to hurt you." The woman opined, as if reading her thoughts.

"Ha..and how am I going to know that?" She asked with a sarcastic laugh.

" I don't know. You just have to trust me. There's no time." The woman answered, taking off her eyes from Emma for the first time since the conversation, and looking in front of her, perhaps to know if someone was coming.

" Trust you? That's a strong word." Emma retorted, leaving the door knob, and folding her arms across her chest.

" I know. But you just have to. You're in danger. And there's no much time." The woman mentioned, returning her steel blue eyes back to Emma who scrunched her face at her statement, while thinking that her eyes were now glistening.

"And how do you know that?" She asked, quirking up her eyebrows again.

"Oh Lord! You ask a lot of questions. Do you want to die or live?" The woman asked, her voice tone rising higher than before, her demeanour slightly shaken, apparently exasperated and tired from the question and answer section.

Emma blinked her eyes, a bit speechless at the woman's outburst. She hadn't been expecting it.

Still a bit dazed, she unfolded her arms from her chest, and opened the door a bit wider.

"Come in... " She muttered, shifting a bit, and allowing the woman to glide into her room. She thought that was the right verb, glide; the strange woman's feet were just too fast to be called steps.

After the woman had come in, she locked her door, not wanting any interruptions.

"Do you stay in these environs?" She asked the woman who had taken a comfortable seat on her bed.

"No." The woman replied. "I'm coming from a long distance." She added.

"Place got a name?" Emma asked, still standing.

"Florida." The woman replied, a light smile touching her lips as she saw the shocked look on the redhead's face.

"Florida..." Emma croaked out, her mouth dangling open. "You came here from Florida?" She asked, finding it unbelievable.

"Yes. I had to make some findings to locate you. Had to ask your sister, Amelia. It took a while though. Forgive me, that I was late" The woman replied, her eyes still on the bewildering Emma.

"Amelia knows you?" She asked.

"Not really. I had approached her, and then we had got talking, and your name came up." The woman said.

"How is she? How is my family? Do you have any idea?" Emma questioned.

"They are all fine. The evil eye haven't noticed them yet." The woman replied.

"Evil eye?" Emma mumbled, feeling a slight headache already, as she walked up to the other side of the bed and sat down, while reclining he back to the wall, her eyes slightly closed.

"Yes." The woman replied, understanding that the girl was finding everything overwhelming.

"Don't worry dear..a step at a time...you will sort everything out." She admonished, tapping Emma by the leg as if to console her. She hoped the girl would have enough stamina to bear the storm that was up ahead. She had to. She was the chosen one.

"I don't know about that. Who or what is the evil eye?" Emma asked, opening up her eyes which rested warily on the woman.

" Well, simply put..they are the forces that are against the fulfilment of the prophecies." The woman replied gently.

" Prophecies?? Oh God.." Emma muttered, wondering whether she was in a nightmare or what.

"What prophecies? And how am I involved in all of these?" She queried, feeling the headache rising.

" Well, it's a long story. But in summary, you're the promised saviour of our world." The woman answered.

"Ha...you must be joking..." Emma said, before laughing out loudly, stopping when she saw that the woman wasn't laughing with her neither was she acting like she had been joking. The look on her face breeder no room for that. This was serious.

"How is that possible? I'm just ….well...me...Not a saviour or messiah like Christ. I don't want to be another Christ." She stated, stammering at some point.

"Nobody asked you to be like your Christ. You're a prophecy coming to pass, and there are forces that are against your rising, against the fulfillment of the prophecies." The woman stated.

"Wait...wait..." Emma stuttered, standing up, unable to take the strange information all in while sitting down.

"You said I should know you. Who are you, and how have we met? Why can't I remember? Did we talk about this topic?" She asked.

" Well, not really. We met in the passing." The woman answered.

" I am Margo. We met in one of the ski centers in Florida, precisely on your seventeenth birthday. I had told you to follow me then, that you would be in unavoidable danger in the nearest future." She stated.

" Ski centers…. " Emma muttered, trying to remember. She recalled that her sister had taken her to a ski centre on her seventeenth birthday. She also recalled that she had met an old woman, dressed in shabby clothes, almost rags, that had held her strongly by the hand and had told her to follow her. She recalled that she had shoved the woman and walked away, thinking her as a mad woman.

Skimming the woman in front of her which looked not more than 40 years, she wondered whether it was possible that they were the same person.

"Yes, we are the same." Margo replied, already sensing when the redhead had connected the dots.

"But...that is …. impossible…." Emma stammered, still looking at the woman in front of her.

"The woman I had seen…." She was saying when Margo cut in.

"...was aged." She finished.

"Exactly. How come you're the same?" Emma asked

"Well, that's one of the perks of being a witch." Margo replied, with a small smile.

" You're a witch too?!" Emma shrieked, holding her head as if to stop it from falling.

"You've met another?" Margo asked, scrunching her eyebrows, hoping the witch the girl had met wasn't whom she was thinking of.

"Yes." Emma replied, her eyes still widened. Two witches in two weeks. What a wonder! She thought sarcastically.

"What's her name?" Margo asked, standing up, eager to know who the first witch was.

But before Emma could reply, a knock was heard at the door, causing the two females to pause their discussions.

"Who is that?" Emma asked, walking closer to the door.

"It's me, Clem.."  The knocker replied.