A Dream's Curse

The Truth

        Tick... tick... tick... I looked up at the clock. 2:47am. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, and sat up in bed. To be honest, I was glad that tonight would be another night without sleep, because my dreams have always been plagued with nightmares. The worst part is, I've started to believe that some of them are prophetic. Ever since I was born, I have had dreams about finding people dead for no reason. Not murder, not suicide, not poison, and not killed by an illness. Just... dead. And then, when I would wake up, I would try to find that person, and then I would realize that... that the dream had been real. Even the best detectives and police in the world haven't been able to figure out if they were killed or if it was natural, and if so what caused it.

It started with my parents, who died mere hours after I was born. Then, as I switched foster families, one after another, someone would die. I always felt horrible, because if I hadn't been sent to that family, their mother or brother or whoever it was wouldn't have died. I learned not to get close to people, hoping that it might help, but it just made me feel lonelier than ever. Finally, I couldn't keep in my secret anymore, and when a six year old boy named Elliot Robinson passed away, I told his parents - my foster parents at the time - about my dreams.

I had hoped that they would try to help me, but instead they were angry, and blamed me for their son's death. I was taken away from them, and when the news spread that I was a murderer, no one wanted to foster me. That's why I was sent to Nevermore; because I had nowhere to go, and because this is the only place that might be able to help control my dreams.

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎~❄~⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

"Hey Winter!" Enid called out, walking up to me. I was at a fencing practice, watching Wednesday. She was against Bianca again, and it was hard not to admire her skill. "Are you going to join the fencing team?" Enid asked when she caught up to me. I shook my head. "Fencing isn't really my thing. I just thought I'd come watch for a bit, since I have nothing better to do." Enid clasped her hands together. "Why don't we got into town? I could show you around, we could go shopping, get some coffee at the Weathervane..." I hesitated; shopping was definitely not my cup of tea.

However, Enid was practically begging, so I nodded slowly. "Fine, you can show me around, but no shopping, okay?" Enid nodded hard. "Deal! Oh, I'm so excited! I can show you Pilgrim World, the Weathervane..." She went on and on, but I had stopped listening. We walked back to her dorm room first, because she insisted she needed to change her outfit. I thought the sweater she was wearing had been fine, but she disagreed. I was wearing a simple white t-shirt  and white jeans, which I figured was fine for just going into Jericho.

Once she had changed, we left the school and headed into the forest. "I'm guessing you've heard the monster in the woods story by now?" Enid said, and I nodded. "I've literally heard it all. It's one of the things I love about this place; you run into mysteries wherever you go." Like Wednesday, I love solving mysteries, and I have to say I'm not bad at it either. As soon as I had heard a little about what happened last year, I asked around and got the whole story.

After a while, we got to Jericho, and Enid led me toward a few shops. "I know we agreed on no shopping, so I'll just show you around the stores, we don't need to go inside." She said, and I sighed. I had hoped no shopping had meant nothing to do with stores, but I guess I was wrong. Enid either didn't notice the look on my face or chose to ignore it, because she kept going, pointing out which shops sold the best dresses, and which ones sold the best accessories, etc.

Finally, she agreed we could go to the Weathervane. I pushed open the door and walked inside. It was like almost every other coffee shop I had ever been in, which didn't surprise me. We walked up to the counter, where a girl around our age was standing. "Hi Quinn!" Enid said, because of course she knows everyone at school and in town. "Hey. What can I get you?" Quinn asked, looking bored. "I'll have a vanilla latte. Winter?" Enid looked over at me. "I'll have a mocha." I said. I don't drink coffee very often, because depending on the kind it's usually too bitter for me, but mocha's are okay considering they're pretty sweet.