Unknowing Attraction

9. Hestia?

I shoot up from my relaxed position, sweating and panting. The images fresh in my mind, fear and panic coursing through my veins so intensely, I thought they might burst.

"Jasmine- are you okay? What's wrong?" I hear a velvet, somewhat groggy, voice ask. I look over to see Caius, concern and worry written across his beautiful features. "I-" my mouth is too dry to speak, the word sounding like a bird croaking out it's last breath.

"I'll get you some water." He says, lifting my legs off of him, making his way to the kitchen. Rise. Rise. Rise.

The woman's voice reverberated through my head, the images of the flames flashing into my sight every time I blink. "Here, drink." Caius says as he holds a cup in front of me. I grab the cup of water, taking a couple drinks before setting it down on the TV tray. "Was it a nightmare?" he asks, and I'm unsure of how to answer. "There was a woman, and-" I try to make sense of what happened, but can't find the words to explain. Caius wraps his arm around me, rubbing my shoulder to console me. "Just breath. You're okay." He says, my body quivering under his touch. He pulls me into his lap, kissing my forehead every now and then as he rubs my head graciously.

He hums a song that sounds familiar, but I can't figure out where I've heard it. I close my eyes, leaning my head against his chest as he leans back. I see the flames, and the woman wearing white. I hear the popping noises my skin made as it blistered in the heat. I opened my eyes, wanting nothing more than to forget everything I had just encountered in the unpleasant dream.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as I tried to find a way to explain what had happened in the dream. It was all so confusing. I remember the ring of fire, the popping and sizzling sounds- her voice. Who was she? What did she mean when she told me to rise? Did she mean wake up?

"I was in a circle of fire. I couldn't see anything above, or below me. Only the flames that surrounded me. I heard my skin popping and sizzling with the flames- ow." I suck the air in through my teeth in pain, as Caius grabs my hand. I look down to see a burn on the back of my hand, my eyes widening slightly. "How-" I say before Caius gently grabs my wrist, lifting my hand up to look at it. "You have a burn, on your hand..." he says, too calmly for my liking. "What else happened in this dream?" he asks, his voice low- almost a whisper. I look at him to see him staring strenuously at me.

"I saw a woman. She stepped through the flames and grabbed my hand, telling me to rise." I respond faintly, my head feeling like fiberglass is filling the spaces between each fold of my brain. I feel warm, like I have been bundled up in as much winter gear as possible. "Do you remember what she looked like?" he asks as he feels my forehead with the back of his hand. "She was wearing a long, white gown- and I think she wore some kind of crown." I say, Caius answering with a low 'Hmm.'

"You're burning up.. no pun intended." He says. "It feels like it." I say, laying my head on the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling. We pondered in silence, before Caius' body jolts, a look of clarity illuminating his face. "Hestia." He says, his voice louder than usual.

"Hestia? Who is Hestia?" I ask, confusion embroidered into my tone. I look over to him to see he is already looking at me, his eyes wide and a slight smile coming to his face. The name sounded familiar, and I wanted to say she was a figure in some sort of mythological story I'd read about in school.

"You're freaking me out..." I whisper, and he closes his eyes for a second before apologizing.

"My apologies. Hestia is said to be the goddess of Fire. Well, I guess not necessarily. She personifies the fire burning in the hearths of every home, in Greek mythology." He explains.

"So a fire goddess is trying to talk to me. Why?" I ask, and he looks at me, his smile growing wider. "Because you ARE Hestia. That's why she told you to rise. You are being used as a vessel by her, almost like how God will use people as a vessel to do his will. Except the only difference, is that you and Hestia are two halves of one soul." he says, and I almost can't believe what I'd just heard. "What? What the actual fuck does that mean?" I ask, panic making a home in my diaphragm. My breathing still feeling strained, leaving me unable to take deep breaths.