That night, I dreamed of the day I died.
The dream sped forward right up to the point where I was looking at my sister's message on the side of the street..
'His name? It's [ ].'
I kept staring at my phone as I was pushed, trying to see the name. Slowly the name started focus letter by letter. 'It's Al-'. Just before I could completely see it, I abruptly woke up to the sound of beeping, my Alarm spell was going off.
"What the heck?" I grumble getting up to look outside my window. I looked down and saw the boy- Alaric tangled in vines.
I quickly rush over to the front door. "Release!" I yelled as I opened the door. The protection spell lowered Alaric down onto the ground as I checked to make sure he was not injured. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I should of made sure that you could leave freely."
Alaric stands up and I turned him to make sure there were no cuts- luckily the vines did not have thorns.
"What were you doing?" I sigh at his lack of response, then notice a bucket laying on its side a short distance away. "Were you trying to draw some water from the well?" I asked, I usually used the well for the garden and animals since the house had running water.
He nods at my question as another sigh escapes me.
"Alaric, you don't need to draw water for the house." I say as I lead him back inside. "This is a faucet, it does the same thing as the bath tub, but this water is for cooking with and drinking."
Alaric nods again after I demonstrated it's use then blushes as his stomach rumbles with hunger.
"Let's get you some breakfast." I giggle and started the fire. I quickly fried some eggs and left over boars meat. "Here is some green tea to help wake you." I handed him a plate with the food and a mug.
I munched on an egg as I watched him eat. "Well, since you are going to be staying here: it looks like I need to make some rules."
Alaric looks up, his cheeks bulging with food.
"One- Breakfast is at 6, Lunch is at noon, Supper is at 7. Of course, times might vary but do make sure to remind me incase I am busy." I paused, waiting for him to nod. "Two- my study is off-limits unless I am in there with you and do make sure not to touch anything without permission. Many of the jars and books can be dangerous. Although you can read any of the other books outside."
"And finally." I paused again for effect. "If there is any reason that you need to leave the house at night or the grounds; make sure to let me know or leave a note on the table... Got it?"
"Yes Master." Alaric says after I was done.
"You don't have to call me Master, Alaric. Celestia or Tia is fine." I smiled as he nods again. "For now, go ahead and explore around the house and garden until I call you."
I head for my study and reach for my scrying ball. "Contact Quinn." The ball swirls with mist before a familiar face appears.
"Hello Master." Quinn lightly bows towards me. "What may I do for you."
Quinn is actually apart of the Arachne species although she is only half: the arachne characteristics could be seen through her translucent white skin and her four eyes across her forehead. She also has a second pair of arms which she could retract into her body.
"I need you to come over and take some measurements of a child for me."
"A child?" Quinn cocks her head to the side. "I do not remember you mentioning having a mate and being impregnated."
"Quinn!" I sighed half in embarrassment and the other half in exasperation. "No, I did not give birth to the child- I found him."
"Hmm." Quinn's face stay passive as usual. "I shall be over in an quarter of an hour. "
"Okay, Thank you Quinn." I ended the call quickly. I was never good with dealing with her.
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I was moving the spare furniture into the room that was to become Alaric's when my barrier informed me that Quinn had arrived. I flicked my wrist to have the desk and chair set in front of the window while a rug unrolled itself on the floor.
'Looks good.' I smiled as I headed for the door. "Alaric, come here please." I say, waving my hand to send it to wherever he was.
"Hello Quinn." I greeted her as I opened the door. "Come in."
"Where is the child?" she asks as she sits down.
"Over here Alaric." I wave him over as I notice him looking at us from the hallway. "Don't worry, this is Quinn- she's going to be making you some clothes."
Alaric edges into the room, stopping behind me a bit and kept the table between him and Quinn.
"You took in a male?" Quinn asks, watching him intensely. "Are you intending on raising him?"
"Yes." I turned and smiled at Alaric. "Let her measure you. Quinn?" I say as Alaric grudgingly did as I asked. "Can you go ahead and make him some clothes now? A few shirts, pants and underwear?"
"Of course Master." Quinn starts to measure Alaric; giving him short commands on how to stand. "Do you want anything specific?"
"Focus on making clothes that are easy for moving in and allow him to grow a bit before needing new ones."
Quinn nods and allows Alaric to sit down before pulling out many different threads. "What color do you like boy?"
Alaric glances over at me before responding. "Silver."
"Hmm." She effortlessly weaves the thread into a shirt as we watched. "I will use a thicker thread for the pants."
"Good idea." I responded, setting down a cup of water for her.
"Where did you find the boy Master?" She asks, pulling out her second pair of arms to start on the pants.
"In the deep forest. He was being chased by a demon."
"Demon." Quinn hisses causing Alaric to jump. "Those abominable creatures."
Quinn had a very terrible experience with demons; they had killed her horde and were torturing her when I happened to come across them a few years ago. I saved and healed her wounds to which she decided to call me Master; I ended up having to agree with her calling me that so she would not hunt humans anymore.
In return for her making clothes and linen's for me, I give her a small amount of blood which sustains her for about eight months. I also encourage her to mainly eat human food which she can also live on.
"Quinn." I quickly distracted her. "Do you happen to have leather?"
"Leather?" My distraction works. "Shall I bring some next time?"
"Yes."
Quinn finishes one pair of clothes and puts them on the table.
"Alaric, go put these on and see how they look." I say causing Alaric to get up with the clothes.
Quinn waits until he has left the room. "I am surprised Master."
"Surprised?" I raised an eyebrow at her comment.
"Taking in a human boy." She continues with the next set of clothes. "From my understanding, you did not anyone close to you."
"Is that the impression I gave you?" I chuckled.
"You do not even have a familiar Master. That is very dangerous for a witch."
"I can protect myself, Quinn. And I did have a familiar a long time ago. Unfortunately, he is no longer here. I ended up deciding on not accepting another familiar for a while." I watched her weave.
"You are my savior Master." Quinn pauses. "I wish to see you live a long life."
"I have already lived for a 150 years. That's longer than most." I laughed and notice Alaric standing in the hallway. "Come over Alaric. Let us see how it looks."
He enters the kitchen, the shirt slightly hanging off his small frame as the rest was tucked into the dark brown pants that were long.
"Looks like we will have to roll up the pants a little... How do they feel Alaric?" I asked him.
He pauses for a moment. "They are nice."
"Don't worry, we will be having to measure you again once you start growing...." I pause. "Alaric? How old are you?"
"Twelve."
"What?!?!" I gasp. Alaric was so malnourished that he looked more like he was six or seven years old- not twelve. Even Quinn was surprised; although, you could only tell by looking at her eyes which were wider then usual.
"Sorry." Alaric quickly apologizes.
"No." I reassured him. "You have nothing to apologize for at all. It is not your fault."
"Who would treat a child like this?" Quinn mutters as she finishes the last pair of clothes and sets them to the side. That question hanged in the air for a moment before she says. "Master, may I get my payment now?"
"Yes. Of course Quinn." I pull my sleeve up and hand her my arm. "Alaric, you may leave if you like."
Alaric gets up and starts to leave but stops as he sees Quinn opening her mouth and biting me.
"Tia!" He starts forward.
"It's okay." I soothed him. "Quinn isn't hurting me. It just feels a little strange."
Alaric nods as he sits back down watching us closely. I chucked a little, figuring that he was starting to get attached to me.
"Quinn." I tap Quinn's head once I felt that she had enough. She releases me, licking a few droplets off my arm and around her mouth as she sighed in content.
"Thank you Master." She looks up at me, her eyes dark and shining like a spider's: that was a usual thing with her, we had a real good compatibility since my blood was apparently high quality. "Then I shall take my leave. I will bring some more clothes on my next visit."
"Thank you and travel safe Quinn." I let her out and waved, noticing that Alaric was watching me.
"Well, I supposed it is now time for bed. Follow me to your new room." I smiled at him as I closed the door.
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Alaric looks around the room as I watched from the doorway.
"If there is anything you don't like or something you want in your room- let me know." I say as he smooths a crease on his bed. "Do you... Like it?"
"Yes." he looks at me. "I like it very much."
"Great! You can go ahead and take another bath or wash your face- I will be heading for bed."
Alaric nods at me as I walked down the hallway and entered my room. I changed and laid down. A few minutes pass as I relaxed and suddenly; I remembered.
'Wait- the dream!' I sit up in shock. I had finally remembered my dream from last night: the male leads name was Alaric!!!!! 'Are you kidding me!?!?!?!!?' I internally screamed at myself.
I was the evil witch in the novel who tortured the male lead!!!
I knew that I was in the novel, but I didn't realize my role inside it! I couldn't run away anymore, since I had told Alaric that I would take care of him so instead of torturing, maybe if I treated him kindly and made sure to prepare for the demon attack- then I won't have to die!
I continued to reassure myself as I fell into a fitful sleep.