Chapter 6

Josephine turned around to the voice that broke her out of her trance. The voice laughed even louder and harder, but Josephine could not see where it came from. She looked closer at the sky and the form of a floating woman emerged. Josephine took a huge leap back from the concrete railing she rested on, almost tripping herself. The woman floated in the air, her appearance looking festive and bubby; she wore a puffy colorful dress and was chubby with a bouffant beehive hairdo do that was decorated with petals and flowers. Josephine paused to look at the woman for a moment and then she laughed out loud.

"I've finally lost my mind," Josephine walked up and down the balcony, letting out a dry heave as she tried to rationalize what she was seeing. "First this entire weird ass dream, now I'm imagining floating fat women."

She knocked her head softly, then did it again a little harder. The woman only stared at her with a bored expression on her face.

"I need to wake up from this nightmare. Remember who you are; You are Luca Torello and this is just a drea-" But before Josephine could complete her sentence the woman let out a louder more boisterous laugh. It was almost as if she was mocking Josephine and this made her angry.

"Luca Torello? You think you are Luca? Why do people always try to deceive themselves out of reality?" She floated around Josephine's head while looking down at her with a snide smile. "Is it because it makes you feel more in control? Or maybe it makes you feel special?" She tapped on Josephine's head with what appeared to be a wand.

"Are you looking to get killed, you old bitch?" Josephine reached up to grab the woman's wand away but the lady floated easily out of her grip.

"Such foul language should not come from a lady's lips," The floating woman tapped Josephine's head with her wand again.

"What are you, my fairy godmother? a witch? The devil? What the fuck do you want from me?" Josephine was now screaming at the woman, but the lady simply glided past her head while humming giddily.

She even wagged her fingers and gave Josephine a wink, which made her blood boil. So far, the flying woman had answered none of her questions and was only making her feel inferior...like a fucking toy or something.

"Will knowing who I am make your life better? Does it change your situation?" The woman leaned in and rested as if the thin air was a sofa. "Humans are so funny." She giggled, staring directly at Josephine.

Josephine was already at her breaking point. This had to be a figment of her imagination. Maybe Luca was in a coma and these were simply vivid hallucinations brought on by a damaged mind.

"These are not hallucinations brought on by a damaged mind," The flying woman chuckled back at her.

Josephine stared in horror at the woman, but settled to think about it. Of course she could read her mind; she had to be just a subconscious part of her mind. She nodded to herself; Josephine was going to find out how to wake up from this entire dream and get her life back.

"This is not a dream, Josephine. How many times do I have to tell you this?" The lady tapped her head again with her wand. "Human beings are so much work. The early stages are also always so predictable." She sighed as if she was losing interest in Josephine's plight and this made Josephine snap.

"Do you think I am a joke, witch? You think all this is funny? Your little tricks to mess with me are nothing more than my mind playing tricks on itself. You aren't real, none of this is real. So why don't you drag your fat ass back to whatever pit of my brain you crawled out of!" Josephine flipped her off, turning her attention away from the floating woman.

She was done with bothering about the floating woman- she was just another distraction like this ball, Madia and her so called step sisters.

"You are Josephine Romano, whether you like it or not." The woman stared down at Josephine, with a strange smile on her face; it was one of indifference. "You better get used to the reflection in the mirror Luca." She laughed. "I mean, it's such a pretty face I gave you- you should be grateful!"

She pouted while staring at the bewildered Josephine.

Josephine's mind began to race. She wondered what the woman meant when she said that. Was she the one that did this to her? How was this possible? And if it was possible, this meant that this was no dream at all! Her mind kept racing and she turned to glare at the witch.

"Tell me who you are and why you sent me here?" She shouted in an unladylike manner.

"What would be the point? It's no fun telling you right this minute." The witch flipped around in the air, her body glowing as her tone hinted at excitement.

"Tell me you stupid fat cow!" Josephine snarled out her words while she reached out to catch the evasive floating witch that flew around like a fly. Josephine glared directly at the face of the witch who only smiled when their eyes locked.

"Tell me right now-" Josephine began to shout but when the eyes of the witch drifted to something behind her, Josephine turned around to see what it was.

Josephine stood face to face with a gorgeous man wearing similar clothes to the man she had headbutted earlier that night, but he had dark black hair and bright blue eyes. Her surprised expression turned sour and she scowled at him.

"Do I look like a movie to you asshole? Stop staring at me!" she spat at the man, whose expression changed from shock to irritation.

"Excuse me," He said with a calm and polite grace while still standing exactly in one spot. Josephine stumped closer to him.

"Beat it, palm tree. Take your giraffe looking ass elsewhere!" Josephine snapped at the man who's brows furrowed further. "Are you deaf? Are all the men in this time period deaf pieces of shit?" She poked the man's chest as she continued to taunt him. She needed him to leave so she could grill the shit out of the flying witch.

"This is why I hate these events...they always attract such crazy women," The tall man sighed under his breath.

Josephine did not take too kindly to his remarks. She grabbed his collar and pulled him closer to her face.

"Are you insane, you unladylike gutter woman? Do you not know who I-" The man began to speak but was cut off by Josephine flicking his forehead. His voice caught in his throat.

"Do you know who I am?" She pressed the tip of her nose to his threateningly. "In normal circumstances, I'd have had one of my boys shoot you in your damn kneecaps and dump you still alive into some ocean," She pushed him away and shouted, "But I'm feeling generous right now. So fuck out of here! Can't you see I'm busy talking to this damn witch?"

The man instinctively adjusted his crumpled collar then he glared at her.

"What witch? The only person I see here is you!" His voice was much louder than before and he seemed to have dropped the regal tone he had with her.

Josephine's eyes widened with shock. She swiftly turned around to look up at the sky and...the man was right. There was no one floating there. There was no trace that she had even had a conversation with another being. The flying witch lady was long gone.

And so, the realization that she really might be losing her mind hit Josephine harder.