Free Blood Rose by Jacquelynn Gagne

had passed before I finally decided I was done. Not just physically but with the piece itself. Slowly pulling myself to my feet I left everything scattered as it lay, only to fall into my cool bed and into instant sleep. Instant hell.

 
    VI
    “WAKE TO A NEW WORLD”
    Neesa showed up at nine sharp the next morning. “Wow, Anna. I’m sorry but you really do look like hell in the mornings.” As she laughed I sneered at her comment before downing my Red Bull.
    “Now you know why I stay inside till ten most days.” I was dressed in a black shirt with white wings across the back shoulders and my favorite blue jeans all ripped up with a bleach stain on the right thigh. My hair pulled up into a tight sloppy half bun. Cute but spunky. So I knew it wasn’t how I was dressed but more the sullen look and blue bags under my eyes. Skipping makeup obviously had been the wrong choice. Oh well.
    “Doesn’t matter. Come on let’s get going. I have fresh blue berry muffins from Penny’s in the car for us and a super-sized hazelnut frappe with your name on it.” With a yawn of obedience I first walked to my fridge and grabbed two more Red Bulls, stashing one in my bag and popping the other open as I followed Neesa down stairs and out to her car. It was gone before I opened the passenger side door.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Only once before had I met Neesa’s mother, Adélia. Her skin was bronze and her eyes looked like that dark African rosewood with black and silver hair wound in big looping curls down to her tailbone. The subtle strands of silver looked as if a professional had strategically placed them to make her even more beautiful.
    If Neesa reminded me of a Gypsy from a fairy tale then her mother was one. She even dressed the part.
    In fact, she’s the one who started my interest in making jewelry the year before.
    The name of her store was Wildflower. For its kind, it was the biggest in the state. It was like a new age super market. There was everything from a candle making station to a stone room filled with almost every type of rock or gem known to man. Even raw diamonds.
    The book section was more or less a library for its vast selection. The jewelry section was as big as an upscale jewelry store and some of it was just as expensive. Of course, there were also herbs both fresh and dried. To the right there was a door leading to a health food market. It too was packed with vitamins and oils. In another section hung clothes, tapestries and art of every kind from little figurines to artfully crafted furniture.
    Basically if it was ever considered new age, hippy or somehow associated with craft work or whatever you so choose to call it, it could be found at Wildflower. She even had cauldrons. I didn’t ask about those.
    Aside from the fact it seemed awkward to have so much attention directed at me. This was the primary reason why I felt guilty for her closing the store. It was always busy when it was open. Closing it cost her money but there was no use in arguing now.
    As we pulled up to the Wildflower, Adélia was already waiting for us outside. Dressed much the same as when I last saw her, with a vanilla cream skirt flowing over her bare feel, a matching cream-colored top and a sheer ivory shall wrap around her shoulders.  As before, she was covered in gold jewelr y from her big golden hoops, her many necklaces to her fingers covered in
    beautiful golden rings. Her skin was a mirroring of her daughters. Caramel rich and dark. The only inkling of her age was her hair was showing brilliant silver locks mingled in with the ebony strands flowing to her hips.
    “Neesa,” she spoke her daughter’s name with so much reverence and love that it rang in an almost musical melody.
    “Momma.” Neesa seemed like an excited child as she hugged her mother fiercely. “Momma, you remember Lianna.”
    As their hug broke, Neesa’s mother turned and took me into her arms as warm as she would her daughter. “Of course. Lianna, it’s