Echo - Nicolae/Sebastian

"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true." Valerya read from The Scarlet Letter in a soft voice, tucking a loose lilac strand behind her ear. She closed the book and set it back on the shelf, wondering if the universe was attempting to communicate with her in an unusual manner. She ran her fingers through the neatly lined literature of the same shelf, certain she would not find truer words to her predicament. She was an echo playing human, and she had grown tired of pretending to play the perfect human one day and live by the rules of the echo the next. Valerya had packed a backpack and ran from her life in Bristol before her foster guardians turned her over to King Sersyn now that she had fully blossomed, for The Ancients had seen the coming of a woman, not a child.

She had lived under her guardians' rule the majority of her echo life, and she was ready to start anew, on her own, in the quaint town of Mystery Spell. With only twenty-two years of age and nothing but one hundred twenty-three dollars and a few personal items in her backpack to her name, Valerya waited by the check-out counter for the bookstore clerk to take notice of her, pulling at the thick pearl bracelet that hid the Echo mark on her wrist – The same mark Sersyn had ordered seared on her with a hot stamping iron rod at the young age of eight. She had cried at the pain then but only remembered now.

"Mister..." Valerya trailed off as she searched for the clerk's name on the plastic nametag the coarse black haired man sported over his white button up. "Joaquin," she read, incorrectly pronouncing his name as jua-quin. The store owner was visibly bothered by her lack of accurate enunciation.

"It's pronounced wha-keen. Most people can manage to get that right," he uttered in a scolding tone.

"I apologize. I had not heard the name before." Valerya blushed profusely, combing her fingers through her lilac locks, hoping the short-tempered man did not notice the pink on her cheeks. He waved off her apology in a dismissive manner and returned to the book cart behind the counter, paying Valerya no mind.

"Mister Joaquin," she began, enunciating the wha before the keen as the man had explained in his curt manner. "I saw your help wanted sign on the front window, and I happen to be looking for employment. I'm organized and have good attention to detail."

Joaquin took his eyes off his books for a second to address Valerya in his brusque manner. "I don't need you to recite your resume. I don't need help."

"That's not what your sign says," Valerya's irritated voice carried over, making the few and scattered clients around the store turn in both curiosity and annoyance. She was fed up with rejection and denial, and her tone did little to hide the fact.

The store owner walked around the counter and pulled the sign off the front window, addressing Valerya once more. "I found someone and forgot to remove it. Now please, let me finish my work." He walked away from her and toward a small office in the back of the store.

Valerya saw the hope of employment fleeting with every step Joaquin took in the opposite direction, but she could not stoop down to chasing him and begging. She could find another job, even if she had no experience... nor money to afford more than three days at the rundown motel she had called home for the last week. Valerya abruptly turned to leave, knocking a hardcover book off the counter with her elbow. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the thought of having destroyed something of value and being unable to replace it. She paused for a moment to calm her thoughts and look inward, wondering if she'd made the right choice when she hopped on a train to the furthest town where a two-hundred-dollar voucher would take her. Mystery Spell was not far from Bristol, but it was far enough to place distance between the foster guardians and herself.

"Let me help you with that," spoke a man Valerya had not noticed in the bookstore prior to her little mishap. His accent divulged his English roots, and his fine tailored clothes disclosed his affluence. The stranger wore impeccable black leather oxfords, tapered fit navy-blue dress trousers, a cream-colored V-neck tunic that exposed his defined pectorals, and a matching navy-blue fitted vest. He gracefully bent down to grab the book, causing his long brown hair to fall over his shoulders. The ruby of one ring and the large emerald stone of another shone bright as he wrapped his fingers around the edge of the fallen hardcover. He was handsome, well dressed and a gentleman. Valerya could hardly deny her interest, though she knew she could never have a man in her life – mortal or echo. Her life belonged to King Sersyn, to use and dispose of her as he pleased; anyone that stood in the way of that would meet her mother's fate. Ima. Valerya still remembered her, though the memory became hollower every day as Ima's face distorted in her mind, losing its defined features and even the color of her eyes. 'Had they been hazel, or a golden brown?' the echo could no longer recall.

"Thank you," Valerya spoke in a detached and cold tone as the stranger placed the book back on the counter.

"My name is Nicolae." He flashed her a smile she might have interpreted as warm, but warmth was not something she was familiar with. "I do not believe I have seen you in town before." The stranger added as if hoping to strike up a conversation or any sort of reply from the young woman.

It was true that Valerya yearned to observe and acquaint herself with the residents of Mystery Spell in order to assimilate in her new town, but she did not wish to do so with him, not with Nicolae. A man like him reminded Valerya of the human life she had lost and an echo life that was not her own. Had the circumstances been different, she would have welcomed his acquaintance with open arms – allowing herself to be swayed by the man that stood before her. Her reality was different, though; she had to guard the secret of her nature as much as her heart. 'Rayna,' she considered introducing herself by her former name, but it felt wrong. That had been her name in another life. "Valerya. I'm new in town," she replied in a short manner instead.

"I see." He paused for a moment, but his piercing light green-gray eyes remained on the young woman. "I have lived here for several years now and would be happy to acquaint you to our town, Valerya. That is, if you would like."

"I must politely decline, sir." The echo shifted her eyes away from him, uncomfortable by his proximity and that intoxicatingly delectable scent he emanated of pine and sandalwood.

"Nicolae," he reminded her, hoping for a different outcome to their exchange. "I hope you do not take this the wrong way, but I inadvertently overheard your conversation with the store owner earlier. If I may be so forward, I simply wished to share the prospects of an employment opportunity with you."

'Overheard or eavesdropped?' Valerya wondered as she immediately took a step back. Her heart rate elevated and her brows furrowed. "I am not interested," she spoke in a curt tone, accompanied by defensive body language. Her leery nature caused her to question why a stranger would go through such trouble for an outsider, especially one with a discernable head of lilac hair. Valerya was accustomed to the judgment that came with her lilac locks; she'd grown a thick skin because of it, yet the benevolence of the gentleman baffled her. People were affable and generous when they expected something in return; the echo had nothing to offer.

"Forgive me," Nicolae began.

But Valerya abruptly turned away and exited the shop. She dashed to her motel, looking behind her every few seconds. To her relief, Nicolae did not follow. She slowed down her pace once she had placed a comfortable distance between the bookstore and herself. The echo exhaled sharply and was overcome by bewildering regret. Sersyn had made her wary of her own shadow, she recognized, but perhaps she should have given Nicolae a better chance. She felt foolish and found herself wishing to return, if only to apologize to the stranger for her taciturn and aloof manner. She shook her head at the thought, dispelling it from her mind. He may not have been a threat to her safety, but she was to his. There was no room for men like Nicolae in Valerya's life – handsome, thoughtful, and compassionate. That was a dream for another girl to hold – a girl whose life was her own. Valerya could not risk caring for another, for the real risk was witnessing Sersyn turn her joy into ashes once again. 'Ima,' she remembered. She couldn't allow another human to meet her mother's fate, so she walked into her motel room, resigned to never think of Nicolae again. She felt dejected, lost, conflicted, and stirred, but for the first time, she felt alive.

★ ★★★★

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