Never forget your knife

6 - Elda's gift.

I jolt upright and I'm choking on water, I panic as I look around my surroundings. No blood.

It's a bathroom. Levi's safe house. Levi..

safe..

I must have fallen asleep and slipped into the water, I'm glad I didn't drown that would be a shitty way to die.

I get up and dry myself off and get dressed but just as I'm about to walk past the mirror I see a flash of white. I stop and slowly approach the mirror but instead of seeing my usual brown flowing hair, it's white, all of it is pure white as white as the clouds from my dream. My long lashes and thick eyebrows are white as well it's as if the colour has been sucked out of them, it makes my skin look paler and more gaunt, the circles under my eyes look darker and my eyes look more deep and dark, like pools of black oil.

"Wh-what..?" I say out loud to no one.

That's when I remember Eldas last words..

Enjoy my gift

Her gift....... ?

"Hey!! open up sleeping beauty you've been in there for hours come on now!! I gotta pee!!" Furlan cries out banging on the door.

How can I face my friends looking like this! How many people have pure white hair anyways?

I take a deep breath and open the door. Furlan's eyes widen with shock and he takes a step back.

"Who? Are you?" He seethes as he looks at me curiously.

"It's me... Raizel" I say slowly as to not spook him

"Holy shit.. you hair it looks.." he pauses for a moment as if deciding the right words.

"Is it bad?" I ask as I feel the tips of my eyes reddening with embarrassment.

"What?! No not all! I was gonna say pretty, ya look pretty! Gorgeous really!" He beams at me

"Gee thanks, that's sweet of you to say" I say smiling sweetly and moving past him.

"No problem! now move! I need to leak!" He exclaims pushing past me rushing to the toilet.

I walk into the living room where the twins are eating food and Levi and Isabel are talking about a next target.

Isabel gasps which causes Levi to turn around and look at me, his normal nonchalant face twists into a face of shock. The twins both drop their sandwiches and look at me with wide eyes and open mouths. Pax is the first one to speak.

"You look like a princess Raizy!"

"How did you do that to your hair?" Isabel asks tilting her head to look at me

"I'm not sure, I went for a bath and I had this horrible dream, more of a nightmare really, then I woke up and my hair was white." I explain.

"I've heard of things like this, it's rare. It normally happens when something stressful or traumatic occurs. You're hair turns white almost overnight, you were in there for a while so it probably happened during your bath." Levi answers

"You think Elda's death triggered it?" I ask sitting down next to Taisa and pulling her onto my lap.

"Probably." He says and turns back to his papers on his table.

"You look good Raizel so don't worry!" Isabel reassures me with a smile on her face.

I look down at Taisa who's picked her sandwich back from off the ground and is continuing to eat it looks up and me and pops her eyebrow as if to say "what is it"

"Do you like my hair Taisa?"

She looks up at me with her big doe eyes and gives me a thumbs up.

And that's when it happens.

She speaks. Taisa actually speaks.

"Nice." She croaks out before looking back down at her sandwich contentedly.

"Taisa spoke!" Pax says ruffling her hair lovingly.

I smile so brightly and hug her and squeeze her tighter than I have before.