Kinda wtf-ery - Cleo
Musical laughter followed Cleo, yet every alleyway she peered down remained empty, the source of the mirth untraced. And every laugh that sounded both soothed and unnerved her.
If this kept up, she'd never be able to walk around town at night again. Cleo turned down another street, eyes over her shoulder, startled when the ground became springy; she'd strode into Hyde Park. With a start, Clee turned back the way she came...
And nearly ran into a wild young woman. Hair coppery dark, her clothes rough with age, the woman smiled in the half-light of the street lamps.
"You found me." The words should've sounded delighted, but were menacing to Cleo's ears.
"...wasn't trying to..." Clee gripped her bag's strap like a lifeline, taking a couple steps back; the woman made up the distance.
"No?" Her eyes flashed, caught Cleo's glowing green as a forest after rain. And the depth in them stretched forever, like overlooking a never-ending canopy continuing into a stormy sky.
Clee's breath caught in her throat, a butterfly in a spider's web, and only a whisper emanated.
"...no..." The word fluttered uncertainly into the air.
"You're so sure?" The woman's voice felt like a torrent of rain, confident and alluring. With one hand, she smoothed back Cleo's hair, tucking it behind her ear.
"Are you?" The woman's breath tickled her ear, and Cleo shivered in the warm night air, paralyzed, her mind screaming. Yet at the same time wishing to be touched again...
A chiming of bells sounded, and Cleo belatedly realized the woman had laughed again.
"...little Cleo..." The woman's other long-fingered hand stroked Clee's hair, then her cheek. Despite herself, she leaned into the touch.
"So afraid...so yearning..." Amusement tinted her voice, and her breath brushed Cleo's mouth before her lips did, startling Cleo and catapulting her into awareness.
With a terrified whimper, the spell shattered, Cleo broke away, turning, her legs churning as she raced homeward, face flushed in fright and bewilderment.
The echo of laughter followed her.