Hunted

I race farther up the brae, wind rushing through my long blonde hair as I chase after him laughing.

“Domnall! Slow down!”

“Rowena! Go faster!” Domnall taunted. The long green grass swishes around my ankles, the sky a cloudy gray, and the air moist with the promise of rain. I don’t want to be anywhere else. Or with anyone else. I want this moment forever. Domnall has reached the crest of the brae, a silhouette against the sky, and I’m approaching him now, holding my skirts, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

“You’re fast!” I say.

“You’re a snail.” He says with a wink. I playfully punch his arm. Then I look out at the incredible scenery.

“Isn’t that… just wonderous!” I look out over the incredible beautiful glen. It’s absolutely stunning, the green is incredibly vibrant and a slender creek, a silver ribbon, sparkled with an almost otherworldly energy as it snaked through the glen. I can see the clachan. It looks so small. So sweet. Like a child’s plaything. Domnall reaches out to me. I take his hand and step closer, resting my head against his shoulder.

This can’t last. I know it can’t last. He’s a muggle. And I still haven’t told him what I am. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to tell him. He’s wondered, of course, why I have refused to tell my kin about our courtship, well, he can’t know.

“What a day, eh?” He says, sitting down in the long grass and pulling me with him.

I don’t have anything to say in reply so I simply nod, and use it as an excuse to nuzzle against his shoulder. And then it happens. My deepest fears, worst nightmares all come true at once. A flash of lighting in the distance sets my soul on fire. My magic. I know it’s my magic, because it’s happened before. I know that soon, something is going to burst out of me. Something I won’t be able to control, and Domnall is going to see. I leap to my feet, panicked and completely unsure what to do.

“What?! What is it Roa?” Domnall asks, jumping to his feet as well.

I don’t answer. I just start running as fast as I possibly can down the hill away from the clachan. I trip on my skirts and fall, rolling some feet in the grass, and scraping my arms on the rocky ground. I quickly push myself back up on my feet and pick up my skirts again. I hear a rumble of thunder and feel my hair stand on end. It is coming. Domnall is chasing me. And he is fast. Incredibly fast. Lightning ahead of me. Then rain begins to pour all at once, as if a massive bucket had just been tipped upside down.

“Roa! Rowena!” Domnall is calling after me, and then, all at once, my feet are not on the ground. None of me is on the ground. I am floating. Hovering, in the air, and only getting higher. The rain stops as suddenly as it had begun, there is no wind, and I am shooting into the air now like a bird taking flight. I can’t control it. I don’t know why. I don’t even have my wand with me, not that it’s helped in the past. And I couldn’t use it now anyway, as it would risk exposing what I am to Domnall. Not that that really matters now as I am literally flying.

“ROWENA! What is happening?! What- wh-” Domnall is below me now, looking up into the sky, craning his neck to see me. I can’t see his face very well since I’m so high up, but I can tell he is shocked. Well, what muggle wouldn’t be? In fact any witch or wizard could very well be shocked as well, as this sort of loss of control wasn’t common in wizards and witches in their twenties.

Slowly, gradually, the rain starts to come back. A light drizzle. With it, I slowly begin to descend as well. I land softly on the wet grass, and am face to face with a stunned Domnall.

“What just happened Roa?” He asks.

I can’t tell him. I refuse. So I run. Back up the hill the way I just came, and towards the clachan. I have to get home. I have to forget this. He has to forget this. Rumors have already been circling the clachan about my grandmother and her strange potions.

“Roa, what are you?! A devil? An angel? What are you?” Domnall is chasing me again. I can hear from his desperate voice that he is crying. I don’t look back. So much running today. Will I ever stop running? Will I ever stop hiding?

It takes an immense amount of time to reach the clachan. I don’t stop running the entire way. Domnall doesn’t either. We both arrive incredibly out of breath.

“Roa. I need you to talk to me. Tell me what you’re hiding.” Domnall yells. The others in the clachan look at us. I feel my face flush. I can’t do this. He can’t do this. I need my wand. I need to obliviate him fast. Where is my mother? My father? But they’re not here.

“If you won’t answer, than you are forcing me to realize that you are of the devil. You are a servant of that horrible being that lives only to curse our lives. I thought you loved me. Was it all a ploy to destroy me?”

“No! No! I’m not a devil! I’m not here to destroy you!” I shout. There is a crowd gathering now. People I love and respect are looking at me in a different light. I’m in trouble. There’s another lightning flash. My hair is on end again. This can’t be happening. Not again. Not so soon. Not here.

“Rowena, tell me the truth!” Domnall is crying heavily now. I see he has drawn the wrong conclusions. And then suddenly there is another lightning flash. But it hits me. It disintegrates my clothes instantly and becomes a pillar of flames. Surrounding me but not burning me, as if I’m some holy figure sent from the devine, or a devilish servant of hell. Then the flames fade and I stand, naked in front of the crowd. And Domnall, his voice filled with hatred, betrayal, and most of all, unbearable pain, screamed the word I had long had nightmares he would utter.

“WITCH!!!”