The Shattering of Souls

(Chapter 5) Grace

It's her. The girl from my dreams. Daliah.

The feeling was instantaneous, and undeniable. I had seen her, again and again, in my nightmares. Daliah, and Kaly...and the pale little girl with the blood red eyes. I knew immediately that this was bigger than us, bigger than this moment. The eye contact held for a minute...

And then, just as suddenly, she blinked. The sensation I felt was severed, like scissors through a thin ribbon. 

"Uhh. My friend wants to know what's good?" Daliah's voice had familiar note to it, like a song heard as a child. She stared intently up at the chalkboard above the counter, as if what had just happened had not affected her at all. Of course it didn't! You're the strange one, not her!

"Well," I sighed, chalking it up to my overactive imagination, "I personally recommend our Mean Vanilla Bean Macchiato. I have one myself every morning." I twiddled my thumb, twirling a little silver band around and around my finger. Every time my fingers grazed the surface of the little gold sun in the center, I changed directions.

The girl- Daliah- seemed to ponder my words very carefully. "Ok, then. One Mean Vanilla Bean Macchiato, and...one Extra Grumpy Caramel Ice." Finally, she looked in my general direction, flashing a dazzling smile. Her grey eyes looked pensive, and her brown bun was falling apart in the back. She wasn't anything extraordinary, but something about this girl spoke to my soul.

"That'll be thirteen fifty," I said, as enthusiastically as I could manage. She placed the money on the counter and retreated. I quickly turned, mixing the drinks with shaking hands.

What was that? Why am I feeling like this? What is it about her?  As I was finishing the drinks, the bell chimed on the door to announce another person's entry. I looked up to see Ben approaching me, his brown hair swinging across his equally dark eye. There was a smile in those eyes as he waved to get my attention.

Rolling my eyes, I indicated the chair in front of the bar. "Don't just stand there, waving like an idiot. Sit down."

Ben flopped into the chair, and grabbed my journal quickly off the counter. "So, anything new?" He skimmed the pages, looking over my dream from last night. "What is this about a 'child of the night,' or whatever?"

I poured the coffee into the cups and rang the small bell on the counter, letting the two girls talking in hushed tones at the back of the store know that their order was ready. I nodded my head in their direction, just as the short brunette who had accompanied Daliah approached the counter. "Tell ya in a minute," I whispered. 

"Thanks so much!" she said, hurriedly, and ran back to her friend. I watched for a moment as she began babbling, and Daliah pulled out her phone to check it absently.

Ben followed my gaze, then turned to me with a smirk. He waggled his eyebrows, winking conspiratorially. "She's pretty cute, Gracie."

I felt my entire face get warm. "It's nothing like that! It's...I don't know what it is!" I grabbed the notebook out of his hands, flipping back to a previous dream. "Here!"

'The pale girl stood against the darkness, a sharp contrast to the sky behind her. She had long, straight brown hair, and eyes that were simultaneous every color, and no color. She poised the stake over the crumpled figure of Kaly in the darkness, and whispered, "Don't you remember me? We've met before....you killed the love of my life. And now I'm here to end your miserable existence....."'

Ben narrowed his eyes, looking from the page to the girl in the corner of the coffee shop. "And you're sure it's her?" His voice held a hint of concerned doubt.

"Yes. I'm sure." The bell on the door rang again, and a sweet looking guy walked into the shop. He glanced around, looking nervous. His shoulder length brown hair masked his face, but I could tell he was looking at Daliah.

"Welcome to the Mean Bean, where we fight exhaustion with the power of caffeine."