My Lovely Karinnae

It was quieter than usual. The only sound was the gentle howling of the wind and the soft pitter pattering feet. Light wasn't abundant, natural from the Moon and the stars. Very little light came from the tall beams of metal with the broken LEDs. And despite being in the slummy part of town, a woman walked amongst the crowd of night owls. 

Her dark chocolate brown hair was in two loose braids that of which were laying on her shoulders. The dress she wore was simple to her, but to us, it was complex. There were layers: a soft fluffy white fabric underneath, a modest red, black lace, and then over that a bright modest red. She wore something tight around her waist as well-

I found myself leaning forward to get a better look. I expected some corset but that thing she wore was nothing like the ones kids wore nowadays, or the old timey originals. It was thin yet warm, I knew. My eyes widen-

She lurched up, her breath caught in my throat. She blinked away the coming tears taking a deep breath in. SheI stumbled her way out of bed wandering to the kitchen. What was that? She questioned grabbing a cup. She filled it up with ice cold water. That was such a short dream.. "It was so vivid though.." The woman muttered aloud before taking another sip. 

She stood there, empty cup in hand, doing her best to remember the dream. However soon, the woman found herself forgetting why it was so interesting. She let out an annoyed sigh setting the cup down before heading back to her room. She glanced at her alarm clock. It was three in the morning. I'm definitely going back to sleep. She thought to herself laying down. 

She combed her hair staring at the mirror. The strange dream was still creeping its little tentacles in her mind. Even as she got dressed, as she ate breakfast and as she walked out of the door to head over to work. The woman remembered of the calm woman in the chaoticness of night. What she didn't remember was why she felt so pulled to the woman of another time. 

She lets out a heavy sigh opening the office door. Her eyes briefly scanned the crowd before she found a suitable path to quietly lead her to her desk. She turns on her computer, taking out her notebook and pencil getting ready to take notes. She eyes the computer screen and squints. Should I risk going to get coffee or not..? She bit her lip, waiting for a few minutes before finally, she got up to follow her addicted brain's command.

After hours of sipping coffee and taking notes on how others were presenting their news, the woman made her way out of the office. She almost seemed to fly down the stairs, and with that grin on her face, all avoided being in her way. Today is Friday. Today is payday. She thought to herself climbing into her car. She buckled up, grinning much calmer now.

I just get paid for writing notes. She noted. She paused, though shrugged it off. After all, she got paid, so it didn't matter. The woman lets out a tiny yawn, starting the car. She backed out of the parking lot with relative ease. 

She made her way home, arriving at three twenty, like always. And like always, her neighbor's dog barked like crazy, the neighbor yelled. Another neighbor's door would fly open and they would yell at the neighbor and their dog. She opened her door, dropping her things, and close the door behind her. 

Unlike usual, however, a wave of tiredness hit her. She yawned, stretching like a feline before trudging her way to her kitchen. Once more, she picked a glass and filled it with water. I need to do something. She thought to herself tiredly. She bit her lip, chewing it up a little before she decided to head up to her attic. She plopped onto the floor, not caring for the dust and grime getting onto her work outfit. She could do laundry tonight.

The woman sighs scanning the bunches of boxes. She stood up when she had an idea, and headed to the back. She had a basic idea of what the things near the entrance were, so she decided filtering the stuff in the back would be best. She opened the box, looking inside. She spent an hour looking inside boxes in the back, filtering through things. 

She sighs, annoyed. She wanted to go to bed. And this time, it was reasonable, it was nine P.M. But she started something. She opened this big box, the biggest one near the back of her attic and thus, she must complete this one box. 

With a tired rage she pulled various stacks of paper, old drawings of hers, photos, and other miscellaneous items. The woman glared at the almost empty box. Almost done, she sighed. She dug her hands into the box, pulling out a tiny little chest. Eyebrow raised, she opened it. Her eyes widen and immediately she dropped the thing.

The thing that made that woman from her dream so interesting. The corset that wasn't one at all. It was there. In a box, in her house. In her attic. She gulped, picking up the chest. She pulled the thing out of the box, the dream vividly coming back. It was a scarf. It was black with soft intricate white and red lace-like designs. She gulped again, feeling the texture. It was so smooth- much smoother than she thought with the strange texture look. 

She set the chest down, standing up. 

Abandoning her project of organizing some of the stuff in the attic, she went down to her living room with the strange scarf. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. So strange.. 

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I stood there letting out a long yawn. "Oi!" A voice barked from behind me. I straightened my posture immediately, eyes wide. I instinctively flinched, just barely missing the smack on my head. 

"Hey!"

"You told me you'd at least pretend to be interested." She pouted, folding her arms. I gave her a look, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"We're going to Goodwill. We go to Goodwill every Friday. How can I be interested in that?" I ask with a small frown. She lets out a long sigh, slinging her arm over my shoulder. I roll my eyes.

"Alex- please?" She looks up at me, giving me those stupid puppy dog eyes. I narrow mine, biting my tongue. Don't give in, don't give in. Don't give in. Don't give-

"Oh fine." I mumble pulling away from her. She laughs, victorious. "Oh calm down."

"Never." I scoff. "Don't pretend to be so mad-" She says, jumping up to pat my head. I wince. Why do you always hit so dang hard? I look at her with a tiny glare. "You love me." She says with a grin. I sigh. 

"Unfortunately." She laughs, pulling my arms around her waist. My shoulders drop. It's hard to walk when you're in front of me like this you know. I complain to myself. 

She, as if sensing my thoughts, looked up at me with one of the largest smiles. Ya know the one: where you can't help but smile back. I nod forward, quietly telling her to pay attention to where she was going. Thankfully, she listens, and the two of us continue our walk to Goodwill.

The two of us walk into the store of returnable goods. I scan the place, not sure where to head off to first. But my girlfriend of course, beelines straight to the back left side where the men's clothing was. I comb a hand through my hair, smiling. Maybe I'll surprise her. Get her something for the eleventh. I shove my hands through my pockets, heading towards the large woman's section of Goodwill. The eleventh is soon.. So that's a good idea. I think, nodding to myself. 

I shuffled through the various shirts and such. I found a few things she might've liked, but overall nothing here so far screamed Karie. I was full of sighs by the time I reached the hats and scarves. Instead of shuffling through them, I walked through the place occasionally scanning the clothing. 

Soon, my face was set with a frown, and my hands were shoved into my pockets. Nothing seems good for her. I thought. The eleventh will be our second year of dating. I felt tears come to my eyes. Nothing in a Goodwill will show- I paused. There was a scarf. I walked towards it, studying it. It was made of a black fabric with soft intricate white and red lace-like designs. I reached out, feeling the texture. My eyes widen. It was surprisingly smooth, considering the visual texture. 

I bit my lip, pulling out my phone. I took a picture and did a photo search. Once more, my eyes widen. Why are there so many not clothing related searches?- I looked up, scanning the area before reading the first little tidbits of information showing. 

In 1893, Lady Wenslia Kathlynn was burned to the stake after thirteen brutal stabs to the chest. Like many of the time she was accused of witchcraft and being a loyal servant to the Devil..

My eyes widen, scrolling down. There were a few websites covering about Lady Kathlynn. Some included that the only thing that wasn't destroyed, was this scarf. I looked at it, a little paranoid. Why wasn't it destroyed? I wondered. I bit my lip again before clicking onto a link. 

….her scarf was one the only thing of hers not destroyed or stolen. She often wore it as a corset, installing the belief of her being a witch and a lover for the Devil. The people of her town, Wera, believed that if they burned or harmed, or even dirtied her scarf, the Devil would come upon the town. 

My jaw dropped, and immediately I exited the link. I scrolled down the list. There's so many relevant links- I thought, automatically grabbing it. I headed up front to pay for it. Doing the transaction purely from instinct as I read more about this Lady Wenslia Kathlynn. I put away my phone, thanking the cashier, quickly making my way to Karie. 

"Oh hey- Alex!" She called out. I whipped around, grinning. Her eyes widen, before quickly narrowing. "What are you planning?" She asks as I kiss her forehead. 

"Nothing you won't know of in a few days." Her eyes widen and a huge grin appears on her face. She hits me in the shoulder and I merely laugh, wrapping an arm around her. 

"You're such a sweetheart, Lexie." 

"So are you my lovely Karinnae." She chuckles, paying for her couple of books before continuing to let me hold her by my side.

I sat there smiling as she stared at the scarf. "You- you found this at a Goodwill?" She asks with wide eyes. I bounced my leg. "It's so lovely!" She comments, holding it up. I grin like an idiot. 

"I did- it's crazy huh?" I agree. She looks up at me, her eyes glowing like tiny little Suns. She rose a brow seeing my leg bouncing. 

"What..?" 

"Do a photo search." I tell her. Hesitantly she does saying a confused: "Okay." I grinned standing up, offering her a hand. "Lady Wenslia Kathlynn in 1893, and Williams Kathrine in 1984. A supposed witch and a sudden strange luck in the world." Karie looks up at me with shock, taking my hand. Her phone dropped down and she hugged me tightly.

"You listened! You listened to my little rants about the Williams and Wenslias!" I laugh, hugging her back. I kiss her head.

"Of course I did, my love." I say watching her go back to grab the scarf. She wore it normally before beaming at me. I chuckle folding my arms as she continued to style it different ways. "Why don't we go do research about it, huh? I mean, surely there were more owners of this scarf before Lady Kathlynn and Mrs. Williams, and you." She looks at me quickly.

"You'd do research with me?"

"Of course! I love seeing you smile." I grin. She laughs, victorious and my heart swelled. My lovely Karinnae.