The Sight

1: Drown

Chapter 1: Drown

I was running. The slick snow covered ground crunching underneath each step, occasionally a foot would sink in too deeply, I’d lose my balance and I would have to struggle to regain my footing.

My lungs were fighting to work and I felt warm and cold at the same time. What was wrong with me? Why was I so weak?

A throbbing pain in my right arm made me glance at it, two long gashes ran from my right forearm to the top of my hand, like fang marks that had been dragged across my skin.

This is a dream I told myself, it’s just a dream.

The ice covered tundra disappeared from around me and I was in a room surrounded my mirrors jutting out at different angles and reflecting reflections of my own reflect around me like a kaleidoscope.

But not all of my reflections were the same. Some were happy, crying, angry, relaxed and even some were blank as if a pencil had erased their eyes and face, leaving only blurred outlines. My vision started to double and dizziness forced be to walk backwards into another glass wall.

Sinking to the ground I turned my head and saw a lean figure dressed in black approach me. They crouched down before me and lifted my head in their hands, momentarily my vision focused and I was looking into my own face, however this version of myself did not have my ocean colored eyes but instead dark indigo orbs that resembled a starry midnight sky.

“Do not give up sister.” The person with my face spoke, they pulled me too my feet and the room full of mirrors and herself disappeared. Icy wind wiped my hair across my face, once again I was in the snow covered tundra and I ran, the pain in my lungs and arm intensifying, but I continued to move my feet.

I ran until the ground beneath me cracked and I was pulled under water. The shock of the ice hitting my skin forced the air out of my lungs and I saw the bubbles gracefully float towards the surface. I tried to follow them but my limbs wouldn’t move right.

Everything started to move in and out of focus. Periods of vision and blackness plagued me like a flashing strobe light, illuminating movements with harshness before disappearing into darkness and illuminating it again.

I fought my way to the surface, forcing my lungs to take in air, but they weren’t working right. Clawing at the ice around me I tried to grab ahold of something, but the ice was too slick and my hands were burning too much to allow any dexterity.  Searing pain forced what little air I had taken in to leave my lungs. I could feel my consciousness starting to slip away like the edges of a burned photograph, soon to be lost forever.

Instinct took over, I thrashed, clawed and screamed, the periods of flashing blackness started to get longer and I could feel the world start to slip away, everything became numb except for my burning forearm.

The blackness reclaimed me, but when I opened my eyes the next time I was no longer fighting to stay on top of the water’s surface. For a moment I thought I had slipped back under and was floating beneath the layer of ice. But I wasn’t, instead I was being carried, a strong heartbeat thrumming against my head. I tried to lift my chin to see who was holding me but my vision went black again.

When I awoke the next time it was to warm water spraying my face and body, it gave me strength enough to lift my head. I could see I was being held in someone’s shirtless swirly tattoo decorated arms and they were turned and talking to another person standing just outside the shower. The words they spoke seemed so close my consciousness but also so far away.

Just as the world started to go black again very slowly I felt something sharp being sank into my shoulder.  The recognition of more pain was dull and slow.  My hazy mind questioned if I was being bit.

Then my world went white instead of black. Images from so long ago swam beneath my eyelids and before I could question if this was what it was like for my life to flash before my eyes that part of my brain turned off completely.

 The only thing left was a boy. Black hair and green eyes holding out his hand to me, I took it before everything slipped away.   

-August 2011-

Kaylee's POV

[Kaylee age 16]

With a start I woke up in my bed, tossing the covers off to make sure I was ok. Hands trembling I ran my fingers down the side of my neck, I felt no pain, but a half image of bite marks with a containing circle drawn on by magic flickered through my mind momentarily. 

This wasn't the first time I had had this dream.  But within the past few weeks it was starting to become more frequent, making me question if my sight was trying to tell me something. But up until now the sight had for sure only presented itself in a fight by giving my glimpses of what was happening seconds before a possible injury could befall me.

But it was still possible I could have full blown visions, the Council had told me that the sight was a very peculiar and unexplained gift. Few people had it and the ones that did had different ways it worked. I knew for a fact that Arwyn, my adoptive mother had it, but her sight worked more with seeing interactions with people before they happened as well as a very precise ability to know when to carry an umbrella. Due to the first part of her gift the Council often used her to determine teams for missions regarding the safety of the realms. Arwyn was very gifted with Meraki aura and palm reading.

I rose from my bed to splash water on my face, turning on the bathroom light I closed my eyes to allow them to adjust to the florescent brightness. When I opened them my reflection starred back from the mirror. My ocean blue-green eyes were red and looked tired under puffy eyelids. My dark brown almost black hair fell messily in a wave making its way down to my lower back. I could see my streaks of purple tucked away in the under layers of my hair. In the artificial lighting my skin looked yellow and unappealing, but I knew in the natural light of the sun it had a pale tan.

I looked down at the mark of The Council on my left wrist. Every Venatio Noctem received the mark on their 16th birthday. It was a triangle with 3 lines running horizontally including the bottom leg of the triangle. A line cut the triangle completely in half and extended slightly above the top triangle tip and bellow the bottom side of the triangle. Inside the triangle was a circle that had tangent lines along the 3 triangle sides but never crossed over outside the circle.

This was the mark of my purpose in the world, to protect the realms and their inhabitants.

Sleep threatened to return to my eyes. I stole one last glance at my neck to make sure it was unscathed and returned to my bed. My alarm clock displayed the time of 2:40 in the morning with unforgiving neon green light. I sighed and rolled over onto my side away from it. In a few hours it would go off and I would have to prepare myself for my first day of my last year of high school, the idea left a nervous weight in my stomach. 

(AN: Re-edited 3/30/14)