Amority

Past

I sat up in my bed. It was dark outside and I was sweaty.

I must have cried myself to sleep.

I couldn't remember having a bad dream, so why was I so sweaty? It felt abnormally hot for the end of November.

I jumped off of my bed and cracked open the window. The night sky was beautiful-I was lucky I lived on the extreme outskirts of town. The sky shone with a thousand stars, each reflecting off a soft powdering of fresh snow.

Strange, I feel much, much hotter than I should have it had just snowed, even if I am naturally warm.

The night noises filtered through my ears, the shrill call of a wolf, the low hoot of an owl, the scurrying of mice in the bushes.

Wait a moment. How could I hear the scurrying of mice? They were much to quiet to discern from my second-story room. This is strange, I wonder what is happening to me, first extreme heat even after it snowed, then heightened hearing.

Something is wrong.

My world tilted and changed. I could see a double image, my bedroom had taken on an eerie, ghostlike appearance. I could still see the walls and items from my bedroom, but another room had taken more of a priority over mine. It was larger, and I skimmed near the faint outline of my old walls to avoid bumping into them.

I held up my hand and stumbled back when I saw an ancient chest through it.

Wh-why am I see-through?

"We must destroy her. The child of an Amority and a demon is forbidden. She will kill the human world and all those that live in it."

My head snapped in the direction of the voice. There, in the middle of the room, was a beautiful lady and a figure wrapped in shadow.

"Surely there must be a way to save my child. Our child" The woman's purple lips trembled, puffs of frost delicately hanging in the air.

"Tamara, look, the child is already sucking the life from you. She feeds off your magic even as we speak. We must destroy her!" The figure had a low, deep, gravely voice. He stretched a dark hand forward and I glimpsed yellow-orange skin.

"No!" The woman, Tamara shrieked, twisting her slender body away from the man. His hand snaked forward at an impossible speed. One moment it was stretched forward, the next he gripped her arm tightly.

"Tamara, we must get rid of her! I love you, I can't lose you. Not again."

Tamara looked down at her cradled arms, a small baby wrapped in a course blanket slept soundly in her arms. A lock of fiery-orange hair twisted between its pale purple eyelids. A small hand was wrapped around Tamara's long chestnut hair.

"I have given her my heart, Vritra. My little baby girl. My little Jacqueline." She crooned. My heart stopped.

She couldn't be talking about me, could she? I've never known my parents, but this woman couldn't possibly be my mother! We look nothing alike! And what in the world is an Amority? Is that some kind of clothing brand? It must be, I don't know any of the clothing brands, why, I just throw on what Wendy buys me.

But then, if it was a clothing brand, how could it and a demon have a child? Nothing makes sense anymore.

"Our child is killing you! You have given your heart to a monster, Tamara." Vritra's voice snapped me out of my musing.

"How could you say that about my little Jacqueline!"

"All I speak is the truth!"

"No, all you say are lies! Lies from the very beginning, you're lucky I'm a truth seeker, or we'd never have been!"