Turns out, the brooch was worth a fortune.
Like a whole lot.
I found that out a week later at a reputable jewelry store in the city.
The old jeweler nearly fainted when he saw it as he referred to it as a lost artifact.
A cursed blood diamond.
“The Crimson Thorn,” he had whispered, like saying it too loudly might actually kill him.
According to him, it didn’t belong to any single culture but has appeared in it all.
And it always was the same object that caused a disaster.
But I didn't care anyway about the mythology of how people died to create or to even own it.
Even the jeweler looked at me like I should already be dead but I didn’t care.
All I heard was one thing.
Money, money, cha-ching!
And lots of it.
.
.
.
By the end of the week, I was no longer the broke high school senior as the brooch sold at auction for a crazy price.
Rich people were that eager to die or try fate I guess.
I also graduated with distinctions and now I'm in the university with my amazing boyfriend and a proposal mere days away.
Everything was perfect, and for me, it could mean that something would soon go horribly wrong.
Or maybe it's just nerves.
.
.
.
.
That night, I was walking home right after picking up the black diamond ring with the thorned band that screamed goth.
Zach would love it.
And I'm sure he would frown at my spending even though he liked the luxurious things in life.
What a strange guy.
I was smiling to myself when it happened and a shadow of wings covered my vision.
I had a smile on my face thinking it was Maya until I looked to see an owl.
Even worse, I couldn't seem to understand the bird as it looked and felt like… it was dead.
Then it spoke.
“In twilight’s glow, a vessel waits…”
I froze as the voice was coming from inside my head.
“Mystia, the key to shifting fates…”
The owl blinked as the mechanical feel only got worse to me.
“Mystia… the key… to shifting fates…”
It repeated that line three times before flying off into the dark.
I stood there for a long moment with Maya on my shoulder.
“…Okay,” I said slowly. “That’s new.”
Maya was silent, which was this moody bird’s way of telling me not to ask her.
“You’re certain you want to marry Zach?”
She finally speaks after a moment.
“Maya,” I said, “why are you suddenly spiritual today?”
She didn’t answer the question but I continued walking regardless.
“I love him,” I said anyway.
“Not what I asked,” she replied inside my head.
I sighed. “He’s my boyfriend, I’m proposing. That’s how it works.”
“There’s a difference between love and attachment Sia.”
“That sounds like therapy talk from you Maya.”
“It is merely an observation.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a bird.”
“And you’re emotionally avoidant.”
“Wow, low blow Maya.”
I gasped with a hand to my chest.
We argued for the rest of the walk mostly on my emotional avoidance but I refused to take marriage advice from a bird obsessed with Tom Hardy.
By the time I got to three alleyways away from the bus stop–
“You’re really doing this,” Maya said quietly.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Even after everything?”
“There’s nothing wrong with Zach.”
Maya hesitated, that's a new occurrence.
This bird was not one to hold back her thoughts.
“Are you in love with him?” she asked.
I stopped walking.
“…What kind of question is that?”
“The important kind Sia.”
I exhaled with annoyance , praying for patience.“Of course I am.”
“Or you just planned a life with him in your head without thinking that?”
“That’s literally what marriage is.”
“No,” she said softly. “That’s what safety is for you.”
I didn’t respond to that because I didn’t like where that conversation was going.
I play with the ring in my pocket.
“You’re overthinking things,” I told her.
“I don’t think about enough things,” she replied.
I snorted.
“Also,” she added in a teasing tone, “you’re still a virgin.”
I almost tripped from my outrage
“That was unnecessary!”
“It was a factual statement especially if you're about to be married.”
“You enjoy saying that too much.”
“It’s efficient information I need to always remind you of.”
“I hate you.”
“Well you don’t have any other alternatives than me Sia.”
We kept walking as I bristled over my virginity.
I never had the chance to lose it even though I've tried really hard.
I even–
A loud and sharp scream cuts through the silent night coming from the alleyway.
I stopped with Maya also puffing herself up in anticipation.
The logical thing to do would have been to walk away and call the cops.
Instead, I moved toward it.
“Don’t,” Maya warned but I ignored her and kept walking.
“It’s probably nothing.”
“It is never nothing Sia, especially for you!”
“Then I’ll just check.”
“That’s how horror movies start you nitwit!”
“I don’t watch horror movies.”
“That is far much worse!”
I ignored her and walked right into the dark alley.
It's like a fog is lifting from my vision as I finally see them.
Two bright figures that were glowing oddly even without any light.
At first, I thought it was a violence crime until I realized it wasn't, it was something else entirely and I just barged in on them.
The taller one had a hand wrapped around the woman's throat and was lifting her like she weighed nothing with his member.
The only thing that connected the both of them was that.
The much smaller woman was gasping, shaking as se looked like he was caught between pain and something that didn’t look like fear.
It was… pleasure.
Uncomfortable and unfiltered one.
I know now that her shoutings were not one of pain or help, it was of pleasure.
The taller man moved like something possessed in a controlled but hungry pace.
“Nghh–!”
Wow.
With the size of him, I can understand why she was screaming for bloody murder.
I should’ve left immediately when I saw them but like a pervert, I stayed and watched.
Finally, I stepped back slowly.
“…Okay,” I whispered to myself as I turned to see Maya had vanished. “This is not my business.”
A sound came from behind me and I turned around too quickly and collided with something, no someone, who's really solid.
“My eyes are up here, fledgling,” he said as I was staring too long.
“Raise your head,” he said softly. “Let me see the face of my peeper.”
