Shadow Former

[8] Echoes

Her brother jumped on her bed in rhythm with her pounding head.

"I've been waiting all morning," Zook said.

Konnya pulled herself up. Hardly any light came through the curtains. Couldn't have been a long wait. Harbor rolled out of bed and opened the window. Chirping birds sounded much too loud.

Zook moaned. "Hurry up! The sooner we eat, the sooner we can get to my party."

Harbor gently pushed him toward the door. "Let us get ready first. We'll be right out."

He sighed. "Girls."

Harbor shut the door and burst out laughing. Konnya winced pulled the pillow over her face. 

Harbor grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "We don't have much time. He'll be back if we don't get moving." Her smile faded. "You look terrible. And... different."

"Huh?"

She tugged Konnya to the mirror and pointed at the reflection. "Look."

Konnya shook her groggy head. That couldn't be right. Her eyes were a shade darker, so was her hair. And it was a good four inches longer. She fingered her face. Was it thinner?

"Did you bruise yourself?"

Konnya traced a fingernail across her collarbone. A faded swirl sneaked half way around her neck. Where have I seen that before? Her skin was cold, but the swirl burned. She slammed her hand to her thigh. "Must have."

******

Shadow Former.

The words played over and over in her mind. What could they mean? Did her dreams have something to do with it?

Zook sat next to her at the table. He leaned close and whispered, "What'd you get me?"

Konnya pressed her lips together. "You'll find out later." She wanted to smack herself. How could I forget? Maybe she could run to the store and grab something before he found out.

Mom set a plate of waffles on the table and gave her a worried look.

Konnya fiddled with the ends of her hair. How could she make herself look more normal? Going to Zook's party was going to be a mess. A scarf could hide the swirl on her neck. It had gotten darker while she showered. Looked more like a tattoo than a bruise now. Mom was going to freak out if she found it.

But her eyes. How could she get them back to their normal honey color?

"...Happy birthday, dear Zook..."

Konnya joined in on the last line. She sneaked glances at her parents. Pheww. They seemed too busy to notice her.

Dad shoveled eggs onto his plate. "Who's turn to start?"

Konnya gritted her teeth. She hated this tradition. Her youngest sister, River, raised her hand.

"Go ahead," Dad said.

River went through the long process of naming nine things she was thankful for about Zook. Konnya tried not to twiddle her thumbs as they went around the table.

As Harbor finished, everyone looked at Konnya. She inwardly sighed and rambled out the first nine things that came to mind. Her family seemed satisfied, and they went on with breakfast.

She picked at her waffle, shuffling it around her plate. Food didn't sound good. But on the upside, her headache was mostly gone.

Simultaneously, her family's movements slowed. She waved her hand in Zook's face. He went on taking a bite in slow motion, not a flinch of recognition. She did the same to all her family. Not one of them stepped out of their sloth like movements.

They all seemed stuck in a...she didn't know what to call it. A slower time? Why wasn't it affecting her?

Konnya thought she heard someone scream. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and went absolutely still. A high, childlike shriek of terror. Konnya had never heard anything like it, but it sounded oddly familiar.

She went to the window to see if she could find the source. Nothing. The street lay empty and deathly quiet.

A bird flew past, and Konnya gasped. It was in the same painfully slow movements as her family. She scanned the yard. The swaying tree out front did it too.

Whatever it was screamed again. Somehow it came from everywhere and nowhere. Like an echo.

"An echo of things yet to come," a voice whispered. Konnya held her head. The scream and the voice rattled around her skull.

Shadow Former. Shadow Former. Shadow Former.

More screams and things banging into each other flashed around her mind. Glass shattering, a child crying, sirens blaring. A raspy voice that wasn't hers spoke above it all.

"Always alone. Always afraid. Doomed to the fate of a Shadow Former."

Though it did no good, Konnya pressed her hands to her ears. All this commotion came from inside her head.

Someone put a hand on her. Reflexively, she somersaulted away, grasping for a ring that wasn't on her finger.

"Konnya."

She looked up. Blurred by tears, she didn't recognize who stood in front of her.

"Calm down, muffin."

She knew that voice. "Dad?"

He pulled her into a hug. "You're okay. Maybe you shouldn't go to the party, and rest instead."

Konnya wrapped her arms around him, and wanted to melt into his side. She nodded against his chest. He patted her hair.

She squeezed tighter as the voice started again.

"Always alone. Always afraid. Doomed to the fate of a Shadow Former."