The Mirrored Souls

7.

It's been a few night's of me huddled up in my room with my candles burning and me studying my mother's journals nonstop. After being in the garden with Neriah that day, I wanted to keep my distance and focused on what I needed to be focused on. What I didn't expect was to be given the cold shoulder from Darce since our last encounter. Twisting a curl around my finger, I take a few notes while taking a bite of the apple I snuck from the kitchen. Rain hits my bedroom window constantly, giving me noise in the background. Getting a cramp in my neck from looking down so much a hand reaches down and grabs hold of it then their nails dug into them. Clawing the hand, it grips harder having me cough up blood then it stops once Darce shows up in front of me.

Coughing still he bends down patting my back not seeing the blood like I did.

"Why are-" I go to complain about him being there but he just hands me something.

I look to the foreign object in my palm and he tucks my curl behind my ear, "I know you're not her, you'll never be but if you ever get a chance to talk to her..." he points to the object, "tell her that she can keep hating me but I wasn't the one who sent the villagers her way." Getting ready to leave I tuck the object inside my drawer then grab hold of his frigid hand covered in ink, "Why would you give me that?" Darce looks back at me, "It's not hard to find out what you are," then he tries to leave again but for some reason I wanted him to stay.

"S-Stay."

The word faltered making a small impact but enough to pull him back, having him sit on the floor with me.

"What's with the old journals?" He tries to pick one up until I grab it.

"Something I really can't show you."

Gathering them up, I place them in my drawer, locking it away.

"I wasn't going to steal them," he lays to the side, propping himself up with his elbow and hand.

"We barely know each other so how would-" this weird energy flows between me and him and I find myself imitating a memory from Odette unwillingly, going behind him and feeling his chest with both my hands kissing his shoulder through his shirt.

Tensing up under my touch he looks to the side saying, "What are you doing," his jaw tightens and my energy overpowers the one intruding, having me move quickly. "That...I mean...It wasn't me." Darce stands growing colder, leaving without hesitation. Neriah knocks wanting to check on me, feeling overwhelmed by everyone's energies I get a headache.

"Give me that candle there," I pointed, rubbing the side of my temple as I let him in.

"Are you hungry?" He asks near the door while giving me the candle.

Shaking my head I say, "No, I'm fasting."

Lighting the candle the flame rises a bit then simmers down to the wick killing the energies lingering in the air.

Watching Neriah leave I meditate, steadying my breath.

There's this change where I'm on the plane field here but gradually move to another.

Voices travel soft or scream out loud, depending on where I end up.

Right now I'm seeing these white bricked up doors with a key dangling from the top of one. I've heard the story of the five wise doors, but seeing them now was giving me a sense of worry. Reaching with my tippy toes, I grasp onto the key falling face first. While laying on the fogged up floor a creature of some sort slithers close to me getting ready to wrap itself around my limbs. A tiny light shines my way scaring the creature giving me space to move and try and get back home.

Clasping my hands together I hold the key inside of them asking for guidance as my attempts to go home failed.

On the tenth try I shift to another realm far from anything I know.

Standing as snow sprinkles onto my skin, I look around seeing nothing but snow covered trees and ground. Crunching noise from someone walking through it makes me snap my head back seeing someone wearing a fur coat and hood. I hide behind a tree nearby watching them uncloak themselves showing hunter scars along their neck. Their eyes gleam a crystal blue as they touch the ice more letting it melt in between their fingers. An orb of some sort forms as he closes his eyes, mumbling words I never heard before. The iridescent colors make it camouflage to any object it goes by. Once it goes by me, their eyes become enlarged. Taking that as a bad sign I start running and mistaken their capabilities as I'm being tangled up inside the snow having no room to breathe.

Few seconds later I'm coughing in an unknown dungeon with iron bars in front of me.

"Hello...?" I call out while holding onto the iron bars.

Whistling comes from the entryway, I stumble back when it gets closer.

"Why am I here..." I say motioning to the bird cage I'm trapped in.

They grab me through the bars having my face smushed into the rusted iron, making the sulfate smell climb into my nostrils, having my eyes water. "What do you want with me?" Gritting my teeth feeling irritated by the uncomfortable position he has me in. "Your gift..." he makes the orb form from his hand like in the snow covered forest until I squeezed my eyes shut imagining home, my garden, Neriah. A ghastly wind knocks me over as I'm on the roof of the house with Neriah plucking the dead weeds overgrowing, not even noticing I'm there. "Neriah!" I try to get his attention but I'm so far up there's not a chance he heard anything.

"Neri-" Darce grabs hold of me and brings me down onto the ground now looking at his brother who is now looking at us both perplexed.