"Tell me why you're here," she said. Her brows raised to her hairline. Her eyes were round and eager.
Lola shifted next to Jax, and she saw Melissa in the corner of the couch, wrinkling her nose and looking around the room.
"We wanted to ask you about this story," Jax said, opening the book to the first page.
Elwina's face lit up.
"Ahh, the story of the Doe. Remarkable, isn't it?" she said and dragged her plain nails over the text. Lola would've thought that Ewlina's nails would scream as loud as her jewelry, but she was mistaken.
They were rather rough and torn.
"It's lovely, but we were wondering what you could tell us about it apart from what is already written," Lola said as her brows pinched together.
"How do you mean?" Elwina asked sweetly.
Lola and Jax shared a look.
"The story behind the Doe, where did it originate from?" Jax asked and leaned his elbows on his knees.
Eliwna started laughing.
"Its origin? It's a story. It originated in one person's mind, and that person was crazy enough to write it for the whole world to read," Elwina said, joyfully confused by insinuation.
"But it's truth, isn't it? I mean, yes, it's a story, but someone actually knew the Doe or knew of her, and that's how the story began. Do you know anything about that?" Lola asked.
They had driven far for answers, and this was their only lead.
Elwina thought back. Her lips shook as she exhaled a deep breath, but when she turned back, her eyelids hooded.
"I'm sorry, I can't think of anything less true. This is a story meant to educate the mind and grow the imagination, but it's nothing more. It's your common princess fairytale... minus the happy ending," she said and looked down at the book. Her cheeks were painted with a peachy blush, and her eyelashes were naturally long and thick.
Elwina moved her nails through her hair and shook the thoughts out of her head.
"I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing," she said and pouted.
Jax narrowed his eyes and sized her up.
"I don't think we did. Earlier, outside on the stairs, you said you had been expecting us," he reminded her.
Elwina's eyes lit up, and she flew up from the cushion. She scurried over the floors and stopped by the large white oak cabinet in the corner of the room. Elwina turned the key to the drawer and opened it. Inside laid a small box shaped like a casket.
"She's perkier than I am. It creeps me out," Melissa whispered into Lola's ear.
She walked back and handed the box to Melissa.
"This is for you," she said gleefully. Her forehead was wrinkled, and the crow's feet by her eyes deepened.
Melissa gently took the box and looked at the cross on the top. Lola was watching the exchange in utter confusion.
"What is it?" Melissa asked.
"Open it." Elwina was eager to see her reaction.
Melissa opened the box and pulled out a necklace. It had a large pendant with a shiny white stone in the middle held on by metal wires that had been spun beautifully in a crisscross pattern.
"This is for me?" she asked and held the chain as she scanned the pendant.
"Mhm," Elwina chimed.
"Why are you giving me this?" Melissa asked, admiring the stone that shone under the light.
"My grandmother gave it to me when I was young. She used to say that the clouds were trapped inside the stone," Elwina explained as she reminisced. "I give it to you because it chose you. I sensed you were coming. I sensed it through the pendant. It showed me its new owner."
Melissa frowned as she listened to the explanation.
"Well, thank you, it's beautiful," she said with a smile.
Elwina turned to Jax and Lola and cupped her hands. Her face shifted in an apology.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help to you," she said and shrugged her shoulder softly.
Jax rose and helped Lola up.
"That's okay. Thank you for talking to us," he said and bowed his head respectfully.
They walked to the door and said their goodbyes. The girls stepped out, and Jax grabbed Elwina's outreached hand. When their skin connected, her eyes narrowed to slits and she wrapped her fingers tightly around his hand.
"Do you truly believe that you can keep her?" she whispered.
Jax's jaw clenched in pain when his palm started burning.
"You need to let the girl go. The Doe is not yours to keep. The pain that follows he who has her will be unimaginable. Take this warning as a kindness, Jax Blackwood. Let the girl go."
Jax's head snapped to the side, and he saw Lola putting her long hair up in a ponytail as she leaned against the car. Lola's eyes scanned the pendant that Melissa held up by the chain.
Jax turned back, ready to question Elwina's warning, but where she had once stood, there was now nothing. Jax looked around, but she was nowhere to be found. He listened in to hear a heartbeat or a breath. However, he heard nothing.
He turned over his hand and looked at the burns on his palm. Slowly, they started to heal, and after a few seconds, his skin was back to normal.
Jax took one more quick look around the rooms and left the house. He closed the door and hurried down the girls.
"Get in," he ordered abruptly.
The girls looked at each other in shock but got in the car, and Jax hurried to drive out of town.
He watched the house in the rearview mirror, not unaware that it was watching him right back. When they left town and reached the main road, he finally drew a breath. Lola noticed him relax slightly in the seat.
"What happened back there?" she asked worriedly.
Jax's brows had been pressed together since they left the house, and his eyes flickered to the rearview mirror as he looked at Melissa.
"Do you have the pendant?" he asked her.
Melissa reached into her pant pocket and pulled it out.
"Here, you can keep it," she said and put it in his open palm.
"Why don't you want it?" Lola asked and turned halfway in her seat to see Melissa.
"Because I don't accept shiny trinkets from strangers," she said in an obviously sweet tone to mock Elwina.
"But it's beautiful," Lola said and gazed at the stone as Jax held it up by the chain.
His eyes went between the pendant and the road as he held the wheel with his free hand.
"I don't trust her. Did you see her nails?" Melissa whispered as though Elwina could hear her.
Lola rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Not everyone can afford a manicure, Mell."
Melissa shook her head at Lola's remark.
"It's not that. She had no polish. Her nails were torn, and her nail beds were a mess. A person with fingers like that is used to getting their hands dirty," Melissa said, fully convinced of her theory.
"I don't know," Lola said and reached out her fingers to grab the pendant. "It's a nice gift-" Lola hissed when her fingers touched the stone, and she jerked her hand back towards her body.
"What happened?" Jax asked and put the pendant down. He grabbed Lola's hand and turned it over. Her fingers had sores, they resembled burn marks, and she panted as the pain shot through her arm.
"What the hell was that?" Lola hissed.
Her skin started healing, and Jax looked up with a deep-seated worry. They glanced at the pendant lying on his leg.
"Told ya. It's always the ones with the nails," Melissa said, poking her head between the seats.