Letters to the Hybrid

Chapter 8

Dear soulmate,

I've been doing some thinking lately. I mean, thinking and writing are probably the only things I can do because I'm sitting in a locked cell with a tiny window. Fun times, I'm telling you. I'm having the freaking time of my life here.

Anyways, so I've been thinking about some dreams I used to occasionally have. I mean, I can't believe I haven't thought of this sooner.

When Katherine came into my cell for the first time, she gave me the typical villain monologue about how she's kidnapped me, she's using me for leverage, I'm never getting out of here until you save me, blah blah bah...you get the gist. Anyways, I think the only thing I was really interested in was when she told me about how the mark behind my ear was a soulmate mark.

I've always been really curious about it. Ever since I could read and I learned about the alphabet, I knew the marking behind my ear read 'N.M'. I've only ever shown it to three people. For the most part, I guess I thought it was some crazy mixing of genetics. The mark became some sort of a comfort for me; one of my habits is to touch it whenever I'm sad or stressed, which usually calms me down.

Now I know it's my link to my soulmate and I've been touching it like crazy lately.

I think the habit came from a dream, dreams I haven't had or remembered in a long time. I think the first dream started when I was about 9. I remember it vividly, which is surprising since I never remember my dreams. Except for nightmares, I usually remember most of those. I'm not saying these were nightmares, because they definitely weren't.

When I was nine, I had a dream where I woke up in a small house in the woods. I walked outside and remember seeing a village, but there was no one there. I remember being in a purple dress, which was itchy and long with a leather belt around the waist.

I left the house and walked through the village, observing all the small houses and the stalls filled with foods and goods. I also remember there being a lot of horses.

There was this big horse tied to a post in the square. He seemed so clam, just standing there eating some oats from a bowl that was conveniently next to him. My nine year old self was thrilled to see a horse up close, and I was a child so of course I had to go and touch it. He was a sweet horse and I remember his coat being very soft.

The only thing strange about the whole scene was the sword that rested in the post. The point of the sword was jammed into the wood, right above the horse's neck. I remembered just staring at it for a minute, waiting for it to fall.

When I realized it wouldn't fall, I left it be and headed for the forest. I walked along the edge, touching and picking some of the flowers, which I then put in my hair. After walking a little ways past the village, I remember coming upon this little clearing full of flowers. But it wasn't just filled with flowers, there was a little boy sitting in the center of the field.

***

The little girl stepped cautiously into the field, picking a few more flowers to add to her growing bouquet. She picked up her dress with her free hand and gently waded into the field, keeping her head down and watching her steps carefully.

She picked her head back up and looked at the little boy again, but he did not turn around. All she could see was his light shirt and long, shaggy blond hair.

The little boy finally turned around when he heard the girl come closer, her mouth in a tight line and her eyebrows scrunched in concentration as she stared down at her feet. She carefully watched her steps in the field until she was right next to him.