“Just like me, Marietta,” I whispered, tugging at my hair.
“White hair, just like you,” Marietta repeated. “The girl finally stepped out of the woods, and they called her Sirius ‘Siri’ Van Doren, only sixteen and lived on the border with her mother, Ida, and her mother’s dearest friend, Harriet, and her daughter, Annitah...
“The four of them had fled to the town before it had a name and made a home there, long before the others. And when the two covens arrived, Ida and Harriet taught their daughters to walk in secrecy. To walk the woods quieter than a whisper and never even so much as cast a shadow, in fear of what kind of dark magic the covens could be practicing, unknown of what kind of witches they were.
“But Siri Van Doren had a taste for adventure, so yes! after her sixteenth year, she stepped out of one of many secret places she hid in the woods, all because of wonder for a boy and how he had transformed into a young man over time.
“At first, she had watched the way the muscles in his body grew and the way his brown hair only darkened as the days passed. She memorized every line, every movement, the curve of his smile. Siri knew everything there was to know about Bellamy Blackwell, except who he was inside.
“It was a spring month when it was warmer during the day and colder at night—a time when Sweet White Violets and Purple Trilliums popped up wildly like oil over a hot flame. Bellamy was alone at night, walking barefoot through the woods under the Full Pink Moon.
“Bellamy was rarely alone, and Siri knew this was her chance. She could meet the boy she had a deep fascination for. Much to Annitah’s dismay, Siri was sure he was kind and not what their mothers had said of them.
“‘And you better not say a word,’ Siri warned in a hushed tone with her hands on her hips, looking up to Annitah, who was much taller than she.
“Harriet and her daughter, Annitah, were known as the protectors of the Van Doren lineage, protectors of the moon children. Annitah understood nothing good could come from talking to anyone from either coven, but she loved her friend deeply and agreed to stay quiet.
“Siri’s feet maneuvered the woods effortlessly, and when she reached Bellamy, her nerves materialized because she had been waiting on this moment for more than ten years. She slid behind a tree and waited for her heart to calm.
“‘Who’s there?’ called out Bellamy, peering through the dense woods with narrowed eyes. The fateful spring winds tangled her white hair with the sweeping breeze, giving her away. ‘You can come out,’ insisted Bellamy, noticing it was a girl. A girl who had colors he had never seen before. ‘I am not going to hurt you.’
“Siri peeked around the tree at first, and the two locked eyes before she reared back.
“She smiled to herself.
“He smiled to himself.
“‘My name is Bellamy,’ said the young man, walking closer toward the tree as if he had stumbled upon the world’s greatest treasure. ‘Are you lost?’
“Siri could not speak at first. Her eyes darted up to the sky, where stars sprinkled around the pinkish moon. She held her breath until it burned and she was forced to let it go, but it came out in sporadic spurts.
“Bellamy dragged his fingers around the tree, rounding it until he was face-to-face with her.
“Then he froze, for he could not imagine her kind of beauty being from this world, and his lips fell open in awe as the two studied one another. ‘What do they call you?’ asked he.
“‘Sirius,’ said she, and the sound was of unparalleled eloquence to his ears, strong enough to bury its way inside of him.
“Bellamy, with a shaken finger, reached out and touched his fingertips to her supple pink lips. Perhaps to make sure she was real, that she was warm and not something of the supernatural. And Siri let him, lifting her head and closing her eyes as his fingers moved gently across the most sensitive part of her face.
“‘The only beauty I have seen as close to this was the rare blue moon in a midnight sky during the first fall of snow,’ said Bellamy so low, she hardly heard it over her fluttering heart. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear and allowed his fingertips to wander as if she were art, tracing the sharp edge of her face. ‘It is as if you were born from the moon’s glow.’
“And the two spent the entire night together, and the night after that, and the night after that…
“Nights turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, Bellamy and young Siri keeping one another as their best-kept secret over the years in the deep dark forest while the rest of the world slept.
“At the start of spring, for her, Bellamy would pluck the first flower popping up through the blankets of snow over the forest floor, then howl with the full moon, maddened with emotion he would later realize was love. While Siri would dance with the seasons as acorns bounced in her dress pockets, hoping they would keep her young and live forever with him.
“They kissed passionately at sunrise, knowing each time the sun came up from over the cliffs, they may never get this night again.
“‘Meet me at the upside-down half-heart tree,’ begged Siri, reluctantly pulling away from his mouth, but needing to say it, and needing to hear the words he would repeat every waking hour.
“He pulled her in again, heart helpless.
“‘Bellamy, say it,’ said Siri into his mouth. ‘Say you will meet me.’
“‘I will meet you,’ replied he, oh, so painfully, knowing another day would pass without her before he would see her again.
“Siri kissed him one last time before she took off into the woods.
“‘SIRIUS VAN DOREN!’ shouted Bellamy, his hands fisted at his sides in protest of her departure, to keep her a little longer and see her face once more.
“Siri twirled around, and her white hair fanned out about her. Her bright eyes met his, and his existence shattered and rebuilt stronger from it. ‘I WILL LOVE YOU UNTIL THE DAY I DIE!’ screamed he into the night sky.
“Siri smiled, causing Bellamy to take a step back as if it were a force, and to him, it was.
“‘And I will love you until the moon dies!” Siri sang, tears pricking her eyes.