Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
I walked for maybe five hours before I found myself outside of the hotel again. I hadn't made an actual conscious decision to walk back to the hotel, but apparently my body had been smart enough to know where to go.
I went into my room and simply laid down on the bed there, stared into nothingness. My mind was occupied with thoughts that I knew would make Felix yell at me if he'd heard them. But none of it was fair to him. My life was destroyed, I had destroyed my parents' lives, why would I have to destroy his life as well?
I knew all too well though that it didn't matter what I told him, he wouldn't want me to leave. He would do everything to convince me to stay. And I knew I would let him convince me.
That fact made me hate myself even more.
When it became six o'clock, I got out of the bed. He wouldn't pick me up until six thirty, but I had a feeling that it would do me good to spend some time just breathing fresh air. I needed to get somewhat out of the miserable, blank state I was in.
I sat down on a bench outside the hotel. There were a few trees around and from one I could see a bird's nest. No sound came from it and I wondered why. Had the newborn already grown up enough to leave, or had they never come to life?
The thoughts did nothing to elevate my mood, so I looked away. But everything my eyes fell on seemed to be dead or dying. The flower bed by the entrance, the roses in a nearby flower stand, the hedge surrounding the parking lot.
Had my curse grown stronger? Did I only have to stay in the vicinity of something living to suck all life out of it?
It was ridiculous thoughts. If that had been the case, the garden at home would have long since been dead. But in the state I was in, the illogicalness didn't matter. Once the thought had been thought, it poisoned my whole mind. It taunted and mocked and made absolute sure I knew to blame myself for everything.
I completely forgot about where I was, that anyone could see me, and pulled my knees to me. I hugged them and leaned my head on them. No tears came, but I thought the same things over and over.
I was done. With everything. With life. Maybe my death would give life, since my life only gave death.
"She looks sad," I heard a feminine voice from not too far away. I didn't look up though. I knew I must have looked weird, but I simply did not care and hoped that they would get the hint and not disturb me.
"She is," another feminine voice answered.
"But why?"
"Can't you feel it?"
The first voice gasped. "How can she think that? Life is all around her and within her."
"She doesn't know."
The conversation was an annoying confusion to me. I wanted to look up and tell them to leave me alone. But I didn't. I had no idea why, but I stayed in the same position and kept on listening to the conversation. Their voices were soft and melodical, and they seemed familiar, though I knew I had never heard such musical voices.
"Is she...?" the first one asked.
"She is," the second answered.
"What do we..."
The question was neither finished nor answered. Instead, I heard a flurry of movements, like the wind dancing through leaves. It only lasted for a minute, but when it stopped, I felt the most unimaginable heat on my cheek. There was something pressing on it. A gentle touch. And not just any touch, I had never felt such a warm and soft touch.
"Everything will be alright, Zoe," the two female voices whispered together.
The next four things happened all at once. I realized that the touch had to be someone's bare hand, the touch disappeared, the same sound of movement as before came, and I looked up.
Whoever the female voices had belonged to were gone. I stood up to look around, but saw no sign of them. But I also didn't see anyone dead around me. So it hadn't been someone's skin against mine? What had it been then? It had been so soft, so warm, so comforting.
They had known my name. How? And what else had they said? Something about life? Why had they said that? Had they somehow known to where my thoughts were taking me?
Had they really touched me?
I spun around one more time and felt that something was odd. Different. But what? And where had they gone?
One more spin and during that lap, I heard the sound of birds. I looked at the bird's nest and saw a bird fly in and then out of it. At that I realized what was different. Everything that had seemed dead or dying before was back to being full of life. The flower bed was crowded by color, the roses stood tall, and the hedges were so thick, lush, and green that it was impossible to see through them.
A small smile spread over my lips, but I knew there had to be a logical explanation. Probably I had just felt too down before and everything had looked gloomy because of that. Magic could do a lot of things, but not miracles like this. And besides, what magical creature would care about bringing some flowers back to life?
I shook my head and laughed quietly at my own stupid second of happiness and all the stupid and impossible things I had thought. Just the fact that I had thought that someone had touched me and survived showed how desperately sad and pathetic I was becoming. It made more sense that I had made it all up in my head, in a desperate attempt to relieve some of my own darkness, than that it had all happened. That also perfectly explained how the female voices had known my thoughts and name. I was just slowly going crazy.
I turned to the street and saw Felix arrive. I tried to smile, but knew it didn't reach my eyes.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
