CHAPTER THREE
"You just don't know when to give up, do you Melissa?" Lauren asks, her eyes dark and hardened. We're in a dark alley in the early hours of the morning. The sun has yet to rise over the horizon, and the world feels dull and cold and dangerous.
Lauren stands only a metre from me, her arms dangling motionlessly by her sides. Her face contains none of the warmth it once had, instead coloured a sickly white, and her eyes look hollow, lifeless.
She is not the Lauren I remember.
"Give up what?" I reply.
"Being normal," she says. "You're never going to be a normal girl. You're never going to live a normal life. Your fate, your future, has been known for a century."
"Half a century," I correct her, and she shakes her head.
"Before the Seer, there was another who foretold your path differently. And he will not rest until his vision has come to pass."
"What path?" I ask, and the wind brushes up against my arms, sending shivers racing down my spine.
She looks me dead in the eye. "You should ready yourself, Melissa. The future is near."
I open my eyes to heavy darkness, fighting hard to keep my breathing under control. Lauren's face, dark and cold, hovers over me in the blackness and I squeeze my eyes shut. You're not real, you're not real, you're not real, I repeat in my mind. It was a nightmare, nothing more.
Just then, I hear a noise rattling throughout the house. I go rigid, freezing under my blankets as my eyes lock onto the dark entrance to my room. The sound of footsteps, of creaking floorboards, draws closer and closer, and I slowly slip out from under the covers of my bed and rise to feat, holding my palm out so I can use my powers quickly if need be. The noise is almost upon me now and I tense, preparing myself for the confrontation.
A figure emerges from the darkness, and I freak. "Melissa, don't!" they whisper-yell. But it's too late. Panic sends my abilities into overdrive, raw power surging down my arm and into my palm, and the person shoots back, slamming into the wall behind them and falling to the floor.
Instantly, I realise my mistake.
It's Sarah.
"Shit," I say, dashing over to where she lies in a heap on the floor. "What were you thinking?" I whisper, and slowly help her away from wall and into a standing position.
She holds a hand to the back of her head and winces, swaying slightly on her feet. "I thought no one was awake. I certainly didn't think you were going to freak out on me and blast me with your magical powers."
"Sorry. You know I'm not good at controlling them."
I help her into the room and onto her bed, thankful that she's not too badly injured. "You owe me an explanation," I say, flicking on the light before moving to sit opposite her on my own bed.
"I know," she replies. "Just give me a minute."
"Nothing's broken, right?" I ask, guilt snaking through me.
"I don't think so," she says, and my muscles loosen in relief. "I feel like my entire body is throbbing, though. I think I must be pretty badly bruised."
"Well, that's your fault."
"How so? Need I remind that it was your powers that flung me into that wall?"
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Cold Tomorrow
Paranormal[The sequel to Cold Fire] All her life, Melissa has been defined by something she's had no control over: a rare, undiagnosed disease. But even with all the scientific explanations offered to her by the undeniably clueless doctors, she's been living...
