A Dreamer Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 12

Jasmine found herself falling through a dark and seemingly endless abyss, the water around her freezing her skin which was clothed with a flowing white dress. Shadows danced and circled around her, their dark bodies almost translucent. They were all chanting one phrase.

'Nobis Maas'.

For a moment she allowed herself to keep falling, to take note of the strange markings that lined her arms. Until suffocation began to kick in. She attempted to swim up to the surface when she noticed the heavy golden weights that were attached to her ankles with chains. The shadows suddenly disappeared as she began to fall faster and faster. In the midst of her panic, she looked up towards the surface to see Eluard's face. There was a wild desperation in his eyes. He seemed to be screaming something that she couldn't quite make out. She had only a moment to reach out to him before her back made contact with the jagged ground. Thin rivulets of red rose up from the ground dyeing the water a light pink.

Jasmine sat bolt upright in the foreign bed, gasping for air, her mind still in a dreamlike haze. A hand grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her violently.

"Snap out of it! It was just a dream! You're okay!" yelled a male voice. A guy dressed in a blue lab coat stood before her clearly annoyed with her sudden outburst.

Jasmine gulped and regained her composure, her body still trembling. Her hands were both wrapped in clean white bandages which smelled like what could only be Whitefeather. The rest of her felt sore and heavy. The smaller injuries were treated with band aids.

"Jeez! Your little hysteria nearly got me electrocuted!" he scowled as he put his spectacles back on and ran his fingers through his neat blond quiff.

Jasmine slumped back into the pillows.

"Look, this is probably the fifth time I've woken up in a strange place and had to meet new people and it's really getting boring so, who are you and where am I?"

"Well Jasmine, I'm Cameron Blake but most people just call me Cam and-"

"Wait," interrupted Jasmine, "Cam as in 'had-to -run-through–the-woods–in-a–coconut-bra-and- meat-skirt' Cam?"

"Just when I thought that story was dead and buried," groaned Cameron with a slight grimace.

"Yes that's me and welcome to my private lab space. I've been asked to use my once in a lifetime day off to sit in my workplace and analyze your DNA. You're welcome," he said sarcastically.

"Hey! I don't really want to be here either you know."

Cameron rolled his eyes and flopped onto an electric blue office chair and grabbed a tablet from one of the main desks.

"Whatever. So Jasmine, I saw the footage from your assessment and I must say that I'm impressed. They told me you've never had any formal training but you managed to survive something that could make even the greatest fighters of Griffinstone piss themselves. The cost of damage might just hurt the taxpayer, but that's not our problem now is it. Tell me Jasmine, are you a Chryoskoni?"

"A Cryo what now?" questioned Jasmine.

Cam furrowed his brows.

"Chryoskoni? Ring a bell? Anything?"

Jasmine shook her head.

"Well it's not my place to say. We have people for that...plus I'm lazy as fuck. Anyway, tell me about your family. Who are they?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm an only child, my favorite relative is dead, my mother is Caroline Michaels who I've lived with pretty much my whole boring life and my father is Alfred Paige who I have never actually met and have no idea where he lives or if he's alive at all."