Members of the Fun

      There was never that sadness, that sensuality or joy in Her eyes that Ivan was used to seeing in the eyes of other girls. And people in principle. She was different from everyone else. It's amazing. The aura around Her is dark, absorbing, and, to be honest, he was afraid of Her. From the beginning of their acquaintance, She seemed to show sympathy for him day after day, but the merchant's son was in no hurry to reciprocate. The girl is beautiful – smooth red hair, chiseled figure, charming green eyes. That's just it...       Red-haired and green-eyed people were considered evil spirits, and all suspicions about every disaster and bad weather were hung on them. Maybe you shouldn't trust her too much. Anna, although she seems pretty, is still not a local. No one knows exactly where she came from in their area. She has no parents, the house stands on the very outskirts and looks scary, to put it mildly. And the oldest grandmothers point at her and cough, hissing. Each of them claims that she met Anna as a child.       Whether to believe it or not is everyone's business. It is quite possible that the old ladies are already beginning to get confused due to their considerable age, and blaming them for lying is the height of stupidity.       — Va-anya, – the guy jumped up, almost dropping the birch bark and feather from his hands, and turned around, meeting green eyes, – do you want to walk to the edge of the forest?       The counselor scratched his head, putting away writing supplies. The idea was not bad in principle, but only fear was rolling over him in slow waves. Ivan felt like a timid boy next to Anya. But at the same moment, the green eyes seemed to read his thoughts and warmed up. The girl smiled softly and put her hand on her shoulder.       The sun shone mercilessly that day, not just warming, but literally frying poor people in the shopping area. Bunnies played in the little girl's copper hair, framed her face, as if she were some kind of deity, a real angel. And to refuse her seemed like a crime at that moment. Also this smile, full of aching tenderness. Evil spirits can't smile like that. Evil spirits cannot smile in principle.       Right?       People they met on the way rolled their eyes fearfully, and some even dropped what they had been holding tightly in their hands; one woman, a good acquaintance of his father, even stopped to say something. Anya, noticing this, pulled Ivan back, asking him to stop.       — Where are you going? – she was interested as carefully as possible, afraid to arouse the anger of a suspicious girl, but in the meantime she slowly moved closer to Vanya, taking him behind her back, – Van, you have a lot of work, have you really already been released?       He just nodded in fascination, looking straight into Anya's eyes. For a moment, it seemed to him that her pupils were not humanly narrowed, like a cat's, and words flashed at the bottom of the green iris, as if a scenario according to which he should now play his role. He dared not disobey.       — Yes, Ekaterina, tell my father that I will be back later in the evening. Don't look for me.       Without even glancing at the worried woman, he walked on. Anya smiled tenderly and followed him with a springy step. Ekaterina personally saw a weighty argument for the purity of the mysterious Anna's intentions – Vanya said everything himself, she did not push him, did not kick him, did not influence him in any way.       And although logic screamed at her that there was nothing to worry about – the young people just went for a walk, not a damn thing, some inner premonition begged to follow them. If she's wrong, she'll just run away and pretend she didn't see anything.       And if something out of the norm starts happening, she will intervene.       But isn't she mistaken in believing that she will be able to fight back if anything happens?       The edge of the forest was approaching. The field they were walking through rustled with spikelets in the wind, as if singing a song known only to himself. But apart from that, they were accompanied by a frightening silence: Anya was silent for some reason, smiling mysteriously and shooting her eyes. It seems that girls do this when they flirt, but in her performance it looked scary. And her eyes seemed to barely blink, completely ceasing to be human. Or maybe he's already going crazy.       He nervously clenched his shirt in his fist, already regretting that he had gone to a deserted place with it without thinking at all. As if for evil, images of witches surfaced in my head, which took the form of seductive girls, and thereby lured not particularly intelligent travelers into their networks. Is he stupid? He is quite educated, since his father is not the last person in the subordination of the emperor. Why did you get caught so easily? But it doesn't seem to matter now. Either he has filthily slandered the poor girl in his thoughts, or, he does not want to believe in the second option, he will not see his father or anyone else anymore.       And he also ordered me not to look for him. They won't bury him properly, because they won't find his body, if there's anything left of him at all.       Anya went ahead, almost ran. Among the branches of the fluffy fir trees, there was a clearing lit up and shining from the inside, on which a red-haired girl stood, inhaling a wonderful fragrance. Vanya carefully pushed aside a large brush of spruce, just looking into this idyll, but not in a hurry to join. And Anya wanted exactly that – she laughed happily and waved her hand, beckoning. The guy sighed heavily, but stepped into this sunny circle, and immediately found himself lying on the warm grass. Before he could even get scared, it was as if inhuman eyes had already stuck into him.       Anna was hanging over him; her copper hair was in contact with his frozen chest. There was a feeling that they began to move beyond the control of the hostess and the wind, like a lot of small snakes. The girl's eyes radiated a barely noticeable glow in daylight, and the pupil had definitely narrowed. Vanya clenched his teeth and tried to push the girl away, but she pressed his hands back to the ground with frightening force; her eyes flashed with an evil gleam, as if she had pinned him to the spot.       — You can't run away, – she licked her lips, showing sharp fangs and a forked thin tongue, which scared the poor guy even more, – they told you, Vanya, don't go into the woods with Anya. Why didn't you listen, huh?       He swallowed, muscles twitching under his skin. His lips trembled, but there was nothing he could do. The fingers that gripped his arms seemed to wrap around his wrists as well.       — But you don't have to fear for your life, I only need your suffering, – in order not to talk anymore, she decided to show by example: she ran a deadly sharp nail over her hand, leaving a deep scratch, from which blood immediately began to ooze. Vanya exhaled noisily through his nose, closing his eyes, and breathing rapidly. The eyes opposite eagerly caught every reaction, every sigh and tear that appeared, but did not run down the cheek. Soon the whole arm was covered with cuts. The scars will definitely remain.       How long this torture lasted, he would not have been able to say for sure, and he would not have wanted to remember it once again. Now the evil spirits were already smiling contentedly, but they were still sitting on him, not in a hurry to let go.       — I would erase your memory, but it wouldn't be interesting. What do you say, can you live with these memories? – the guy nodded bitterly and painfully, – then let me introduce myself. Graves.       She held out her hand, and Vanya spat into the ground to his right.       Graves pouted resentfully, returning to a more human appearance, and released her tense hands. The blood had dried on them, but the wounds that remained on the soul from betrayal would not heal for a long time. Ivan got up, warming up, and then abruptly attacked the witch, intending to grab and drag her into the city, but only rolled head over heels. Looking around, he only noticed a snake's tail hiding behind the trunk of a distant tree. ***              — And then? – the guy's green eyes flashed. The blue ones on the contrary, although they radiated absolute skepticism, still showed that the hostess was nostalgic.       — To be honest, I don't remember. I think I went to the next village, – Graves sipped grape juice, closing her eyes, – such a shame. I decided not to erase his memory, so that it would be more fun, pure madness.       — Are you really that cruel? – the white–haired little girl was horrified, covering her mouth with her hands. Goldie recently became a witch, – he was already in pain, and you also left him alone with depressing thoughts!       — Oh, – the redhead waved her away as if she were an annoying bird, – did you just realize that I don't have mercy?       Scamandor waited patiently for the story to continue, but the snake was still mysteriously silent.       — By the way, I wanted to ask how you walk down the street with this, – Goldie tapped on the deer's horns, to which the brown—haired man hissed, also waving her away. She furrowed her blond brows in confusion.       — Yes, I'm just hiding them, like Graves hides her long tongue. — I'm not really hiding it, – the girl quietly chimed in, sticking to a glass of grape juice.       — Besides, I don't come to town very often. I don't need to, that's right, people are constantly wandering around the forest and scattering garbage. It's annoying, – he made a malicious expression on his face, but in response to this, even Graves smiled tenderly in affection, – I'm really angry.       Graves and Goldie exchanged sly glances and nodded.