A Vision of Crows

Chapter 5 - Of Visions and Side Effects

By the time Meg had woken up, the train had already arrived near the Mardan border, where the Mercadia was located. For the first time in her life, she was thankful for the existence of neutral territory. Here, she wouldn't have to necessarily worry about her identity, for the people of the Mercadia only cared about selling, trading, and buying goods. It was a refuge from the divisive politics of the countries that surrounded it and the devastating conflicts that came with it.

The sky was beginning to darken, and Meg knew that she would soon have to find a place to sleep. Thankfully, she had prepared a bit before leaving and had been reading brochures during the train ride, and so she had found a relatively affordable room that she could pay for with the money she carried with her, some of in her purse, the rest hidden within her clothing.

She had not prepared for the high prices of hotel rooms in the area. As a result, she had done quite a bit of digging around for a decent yet affordable room, though it was not guaranteed that she would be able to book it when she got there. She scolded herself for not expecting this, and silently cursed the hotel owners for being so greedy.

At the counter, the woman stared at her before stretching her face into a rather uncomfortable-looking smile. "Room for one?" she asked, her eyes cold as ice in contrast to her plastered grin, reflecting Meg's face, covered in makeup and sunglasses.

This was clearly not her first experience with strange folk.

Meg nodded and replied, "Yes, a room for one."

The woman charged her for the room before handing her a key, "You'll be in room 211. Have a nice stay!"

Meg gave her a small smile of thanks before quickly heading to her room.

Once she was in her room and felt that she was safe behind locked doors, she removed the glasses and scarf, placing them on the table next to the door aside her purse. She glanced at the scarf for a few seconds before she tightly clutched the scarf and pressed it against her forehead. "The berries for Liza, that's why I'm here."

She sighed and sat on the bed. As she lay on her back, she suddenly began to hear a faint buzzing in her ear. Annoyed, she rubbed her ear, but the noise grew louder. What's with that buzzing? She rubbed her ears again even harder, but the buzzing did not disappear. It was starting to give her a headache, so she got up to go to the bathroom.

In front of the faucet, Meg splashed a handful of water in her face and looked up to face her reflection. Her makeup was now wet and smeared, dripping down her face. In the presence of the water that poured from the faucet, that awful faucet only continued to grow louder, and louder, and louder, until suddenly, it ceased.

Only to be replaced by a frightening, familiar voice.

The beginning of the end and the end of the beginning draws near.

The running water began to accumulate into a small pool that would not go down the drain. The image in the pool began to fill her sight and mind. Within the apparition, she saw a woman, more beautiful than anyone else she had ever seen in her entire life, like a rose that never stopped blooming, with long wavy hair the color of gold and a face as lovely as a golden lily touched by dewdrops. However, the woman's black eyes held nothing but emptiness, an endless abyss of darkness. In her hand, she held a shotgun. In front of her was what seemed to be a small bundle of clothing. But upon a close look, it was actually another person, who seemed to be shaking and crying. The woman then pointed her gun at the person at her feet. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Meg tried to run towards the figures in front of her, but before she could even take a step, the vision cut off as the voice said, Remember, you can watch, but you can't touch. You can't change something that has yet to happen.

In a daze, Meg turned off the running water, before collapsing onto the floor.