Elements

Episode 14: Fear and The Snow Dance

Present day

*
"I wish I knew what was going on with her. I could've helped her.." I look down at my nails. I know I shouldn't be this hard on myself, but I knew something was up with Selena. I didn't do anything about it. I made excuses to myself, such as 'she's just tired' or 'maybe she's stressed because of this situation'. It was wrong of me, I should've just politely asked what the matter was with her. "We couldn't have known." "How can we stop Erus?" Kyra seemed to be asking some good questions for the past couple of minutes. I think she's finally realizing how serious this is, that this journey could be a matter of life and death. Famulus frowns and thinks for a while. I look down as I suddenly feel something's off. A scary vibe is floating around me. As if stalkers are watching us through the window. As if I know Famulus is secretly a killer and a dead body is laying in the attic. "I'm not sure. But every try could kill her anyway. Erus is making her weaker by the minute. The weaker her body is, the stronger Erus beco-" "Guys.." The fear is visible in my eyes. "W-why is there blood coming from the ceiling?" My eyes had slowly moved up to the edges of the ceiling. I see how many stains of blood slowly drip between the ceiling and the walls. My jaw flies open out of fear. Something is definitely off. Not with this house, but with me. I feel it. "What?" The rest of the girls frown at me, probably not seeing it. I need to get out of here. It's going to get worse. "Excuse me." I say with all the control I can hold. My voice is shaking like a lamb. I clumsily get up off the couch and walk to the kitchen. It doesn't take long before the fear eats me alive. My breathing accelerates and I can feel my body shaking and my skin breaking a sweat. This isn't just a panic attack. I am seeing things that aren't there. This isn't good. I can feel the presence of scary creatures standing around me. I try not to make any sound. Until their terrible faces pop up right in front of my face. Enormous eyes and bloody mouths. Eyes glowing red. Skin and bones. Filthy teeth and scary smiles. Darkness radiating. I jump back and hear things falling behind me. Pans and kitchen stuff falling on the ground. More faces pop up. They want to hurt me. I can't help but scream. I cover my ears and try to scream louder than the many terrifying sounds I hear. Metallic sounds. Screams that rather sound like chainsaws. The sound of singing manipulative women. They want to kill me. I am helpless. I can't do anything. My back reaches the counter as I automatically slide down to the ground. I squint my eyes shut, but I can still see the faces just as clearly. It needs to fucking stop. There's nothing but fear. "Demi.." I can hear a voice calling my name. A rather calm and caring voice. The scary sight and sounds seem to fade a bit. I recognize the voice. I can finally connect a face to it, even though I still see nothing but darkness. "Kyra.." I whisper. I feel a tender and safe hand getting placed against my cheek. Her skin is warm and soft. But not long after, I everything in front of me goes black.

-,,-

"Excuse me." Demi gets up as she runs to the other side of the room. She disappears out of our sights. Something's wrong with her. "Demi, wait." Kyra quickly gets up to stop her. Demi's unusual behavior only can mean one thing. "Kyra." I stop her as I quickly take a glance outside the window. I look up in the air and see just a thin stripe through the leaves of the trees. The moon is nothing but a small line, creating a circle. "New moon." I state. Kyra looks at me. "We have to help her." "We can't" It's no use. Kyra already storms towards the screaming Demi in the kitchen. She opens the door, as her screams only get louder. How scary must her visions be to scream this loudly, especially for our steady controlled Demi. "Demi!" She yells. She walks towards her and I quickly follow. "Demi, can you hear me?" She shouts again as she reaches with her hands towards Demi's upper arms. "Don't touch her." I quickly take her hands. "You'll only startle her more." I try to explain. Though, she doesn't seem to be hearing us. Famulus joins the crowd and fidgets her fingers. "What's happening? Can I do something?" She asks. "It's fine. The moon is affecting her. We have it under control." I try to reassure her and focus back on the woman screaming loudly in the corner of the kitchen. Demi eventually sinks down the counter, as cries fly out of her lungs. She looks helpless and desperate. It hits me. Kyra carefully sits down next to her, trying not to touch her. Demi has her head covered with her arms, in full defense mode. She's almost hyperventilating. Until the screams and cries finally seem to fade a bit. Kyra looks at me with her light blue eyes for one second. "Demi.." She speaks softly. Demi's head lifts a bit. Did she hear her? She stares forward as her hands slowly draw away from her head. She seems to relax. "Kyra?" Her voice is shaking. It's scary. Kyra studies her for a moment and then lifts her arm. She carefully places her tanned skinny hand with long fingers against Demi's cheek. Demi blinks a few times, as her eyes fill with tears. What Kyra is doing is actually the right thing. Making her feel as safe a possible is the best thing to do. Demi's breathing finally slows down. Her eyes finally roll away as her head falls limb. Kyra quickly makes sure her head rests on her own shoulder. Countless pounds fly off my shoulder. I sigh. It's over. I kneel down in front of them, scanning Demi. I look at Kyra. "Good job." I nod with a faint smile. She smiles back at me and looks at Demi. "Is she okay?" Famulus asks, standing there from a small distance. I give her a reassuring nod. "I assume it's the same as with Selena. You get an episode of something, variating per person, just like Dubalein described. You pass out and wake up being fine." I explain to Kyra. Of course, I can't be sure. But it seems logical to me. I wonder what episode I will have. From this point on, we've witnessed pain and fear. It's not going to be fun. Demi breathes in deeply and opens her eyes. As she looks around for a split second she quickly covers her head with her hands again, still leaning on Kyra's shoulder. "It's okay Demi, you're safe. We're here." I place my hand on her shoulder. She carefully looks up and relaxes. She lifts her head and looks at Kyra. "They're gone." "They were never there." I say. "I saw them.." Demi frowns, thinking. "What happened?" She asks confused. Kyra gets up and helps Demi up. "It's new moon." "The.. the moon affected me?" Demi looks at the three of us. "Yeah."

-,,-

"Oh my God, yes!" Demi studied the earrings after placing away the wrap. A bright smile expressed the enormous happiness she radiated. I got her the expensive earrings she's been wanting for a while now. "They're perfect! Thank you so much!" She looked at me and quickly replaced the earrings that were already nestled in her ears. "They suit you so well!" Miley exclaimed. Demi grinned as she let her fingers slide over the red pendants. The corners of her lips were curled from earring to earring. "And this one is for you." I shoved a big package towards Miley. Miley excitedly unwrapped the Christmas wrap and opened the box. "No. Way." Miley's jaw dropped as she took out a glass box. Two stick insects casually rested on the few leaves and branches. She quickly places the box on the ground between her legs and carefully took out the small creatures. "They're amazing!" She shouted as they walked around her hands. "I'm gonna name the dark one Fred and the light one Ginger." She grinned. Demi rung out her contagious laugh. "Like the dancers!" I smiled brightly. I was so glad they enjoyed my presents. "Miley, your turn." Demi smiled as she placed the box away. "Yesss." Miley placed the stick insects down and placed the glass box away as well. "This one is for you." She placed a small present in Demi's hands. It was poorly wrapped with wrapping paper, so bad it was cute. I scanned Miley to see if she even put effort into it, but from her excited smile, I could see how sincere it all was. Demi grinned as she did her best to get through the loads of tape, wrapped around the present. "Careful." She finally opened it and found a porcelain horse in her hands. Demi liked horses, but this piece was so kitsch that I tried my best not to laugh. Demi smiled and studied it. "It's beautiful. Thank you! I'll place it on my nightstand." She nodded as she placed the rearing horse down. Miley now placed another poorly wrapped package in my hands. I smiled and unwrapped it. A plastic thing. Even after studying I tried my best to make up what exactly it was. "It's uh.. It's a.. uh.." I tried my best to keep my smile on my face, but my confusion made things less fun. "It's a knife sharpener." Miley smiled and pointed at several spots. "Here you can unfold the layer and then you place the knife here. And then you slide against it, and it will get sharper." A knife sharpener? For what knifes? The knifes we all paid for and share or the knife I inherited from my mom? I don't even cut with that knife. "In case that precious knife of yours gets blunt." She smiled brightly. She actually meant it. I smiled fakely and nodded. "Thanks Miley, that's.. that's amazing." Demi looks at me with a meaningful face. A face that says 'isn't it cute? It's the thought that counts. She did her very best'. And she was right. Miley can be a great friend, but she's the worst at picking presents.

-,,-

It is cold tonight. I can't sleep. I'm still thinking of what had happened to Demi this evening. I feel weird. Unfocused and yet certain. I told Demi that it was going to rain, storm even. I was wrong and yet I was right. I had rolled myself in my blankets like a caterpillar in its cocoon. I shiver, trying not to let any bit of open-air freeze my body. I can't stand this cold. I sit up and look around. I can see Demi and Miley, peacefully sleeping after a long day. I'm worried about Selena. What if we can never see her again? I haven't known her for that long, but I just already care about her. I'm supposed to, right? I rub my face. I can't think clearly. I get out of bed, still with the blanket wrapped around my body. I walk towards the window. Perhaps looking at the rain will make me feel better. I open the curtains, but what I see is unbelievable. The rain is white. It's water, I can feel it. But it's.. frozen. It slowly swirls down to the ground. The whole world has become white because of it. Layers of it are lying on the ground. "Miley." I quickly walk towards her and shake her shoulder. I sit down on the side of her bed. The sleeping body slowly comes to life. "What?" "Something is wrong with the rain." Miley now opens her eyes and frowns at me. "The fuck?" "No. The rain. It's white. I'm afraid, rain is water. Will something happen to me?" Miley now leans on her elbows and looks towards the window with the same frown and a sleepy face. She sighs deeply. "That's snow, Kyra." She rubs her face and lays down on her back again. "Snow?" "Yes. When the rain freezes in the air it turns into snow." She turns to her side. "Now go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." "But.." "Kyra. Bed. Now." She taps my arm, telling me to get up. I quickly get up and do as she says, but I can't stay in bed for long. I put on my clothes and carefully walk downstairs. I open the door as quietly as possible. The wind blows into my face, and so do the cold flakes of snow. I look at them with big eyes. This is beautiful. A smile appears on my face. I step onto the path that leads to the front door and start dancing around. I can't help myself, this is just magical. I can feel every snowflake falling on the piles of even more snow. It's cold, yet so beautiful.

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"Demi." "Hmm?" "Demi, you have to see this." "Hmmm." "Demi, look!" "Okay, okay, what?" "Look.." "Is that?" "It's Kyra." "What is she doing outside?" "Discovering snow." "Oh.. wow." "Isn't this precious." "It's adorable." "She's like a puppy discovering a sprinkler" "Look at her dancing.." "Makes me want to join her." "Don't even think about it, Miles." "I'm not crazy, it's way too cold." "Did she dress up for this?" "Yeah, she did." "Look at her Miles... she is something else." "Imagine her dancing like this in her tribe in those Indian rainforests." "Must have been a perfect world." "She seems to make everything look like a perfect world." "Agreed." "Should we go get her?" "Hmm, no, I think she needs this." "Let's go back to bed then."