Elementalist

Nightmares

I must have been tired because as soon I flopped onto the bed of my room without even taking off my shoes, I drifted into slumber. I had hoped that this magical place could shield me from the nightmares, just like at Sienna's bunker, but unfortunately they followed me here. Apparently that night was just a lucky coincidence. The dreams were more vague this time. I saw my parents, but their faces were a blur. Then there was Connor standing with them, still a child, with a lonely look on his face I had never seen before, they were all so far away, like there was a wall between us. Tracy appeared next with them. She ran towards me with her arms open and i ran towards them but suddenly my hands were tied behind my back and pulled me. I could see Tracy and my family all together fading slowly. In their place stood Dale and, weirdly, Sienna. They looked at me with blank expressions as if they could see through me, and then I fell.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a jerk. I ran my fingers through my tangled hair and decided to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later I was sitting on my bed. Unlocking my phone, I texted Dale, knowing that Tracy would be sound asleep.

A: Hey are you up?
D: Now I am. You shouldn't be texting me. Go to sleep, you can ask the council your questions tomorrow.

Well... So much for that, I just needed a friend to talk to, but okay. I lay back in bed and eventually fell asleep to the light patter of rain on the window as it started to drizzle.

Not much to my surprise, the dream kept following me all night but I was too tired to wake up. The last thing I saw was Conner's eyes bright yellow staring at me as I jerked into consciousness with the sunlight in my eyes. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, the rain had cleared up it seemed. With a slight knock on the door, a blond haired girl peeped in, "Good morning Alessa! Wonderful day, isn't it? Sorry to intrude but I've been sent to get you ready and brief you about what exactly is going to happen". Emma, I recalled vaguely from the previous day, sat down on the bed next to me. She was a very pretty girl, but also seemed sweet, the kind of girl who everyone wanted to be friends with. She was dressed in a preppy knee length dress. I must've looked awful compared to her. I noticed that her outfit wasn't all entirely pink and looked completely normal. Huh.. maybe they put a spell to make it look that way?, I daydreamed. She was telling me about breakfast.

"Do you magic the food into existence? "
"No, no," she laughed, our abilities don't work that way, they're not as free range as magic. We cook the same as everyone else, though they do say that Barry's does have a magic touch when it comes to food. You'll see at breakfast." she got up and handed me a fresh pair of jeans and a cargo t shirt."Come along we don't want to be late now. I just know we are going to be great friends. Dale has told me so much about you!!" I felt a twinge of jealousy. He'd spoken to her about me but couldn't tell me? I didn't even think he was that much of a talker. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought I did. Anyway, I got dressed quickly and freshened up, meeting Tracy in the hallway. She was wearing jeans and a black tank top. Together, we kind of looked like Kim Possible's twin brothers... If they were  almost adult female spies.

Emma led us down a flight of stairs and to a large hall, about the size of a basketball court. There was a long rectangular table in the middle, set for two people, with a delicious looking layout of sandwiches and eggs and fruits. "What about the other seats?"  Tracy asked. "Oh its just you two for now, we thought you two would want some time alone to talk since today might get busy. That, and the fact that everyone else had breakfast at home, she giggled. I'll let you two finish up and then I'll meet you in the great hall which is another storey down, and down the corridor. You'll spot it I promise." and with that, she left.

"So..Trace, what do you think of all of this.
"It's absolutely delightfully delicious!" she said, stuffing her mouth with a bite of watermelon.
I rolled my eyes at her, (although I must admit the food was amazing, Chef Barry really did do magic)
" ohhhhhh you mean all of this. Well, to be honest I feel welcome. We've talked about this before,the only things we remember about running away were the fire and the forest. But also that I do remember some vague colourful places. Maybe it's because I was older? I'm not sure Ali but I have a pretty good feeling about this place. Trust me on this one." I sighed," oh all right let's go get our memories back then". But as I bit into the scrumptious  crossaints I couldn't help but wonder about how we fit into the narrative (and also how someone could conjure a crossaint that magnificent).