One Week in June | ONC2020

June 8th 10:00 PM

"Okay, wow." Alistair leans back in his chair and runs his hands through his hair as he processes all the information I just shared with him.

"I don't expect you to believe me. Trust me, if I was in your position I wouldn't believe me either." I sigh and put my head in my hands. There are three ways that could go; he's going to go along with with my crazy story because he's a good friend and doesn't want to believe that I'm losing my mind, he's going to kick me out and I'm going to have to deal with this on my own, or there's the slim chance that he'll believe what I'm telling him and he'll help me end this curse, if there's a way to end it.

"So the gang's all dead?" He stares at the ground with a heartbreaking look. I nod my head yes and his breath hitches. "Shit."

"It was awful." I murmur, two tears fall down my cheeks before I wipe them away.

Alistair reaches over and grabs my hands between his. "I'm so sorry Reia, I know they meant everything to you." I take a deep breath, trying my best to hold back the waves of emotions that are bubbling up within me. If I let the waterworks out now, then there's no way I'll be able to stop them. I have to figure out how to stop Rusalka and the curse she bestowed onto my family for generations.

"Can you get me something to drink?" I ask. I can't pull myself back together with him sitting here pitying me.

"Of course." Alistair stands up and starts walking towards the door. He stops next to me, planting a kiss on the top of my head, before leaving the library. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes to try and compose myself.

A cold gust of winds blows through me and my eyes shoot open. The room is dark and all the windows in the room are open, their curtains blowing with the freezing breeze sending snowflakes crashing into the bookshelves. The only light coming in is from the full moon outside, making the library a whole lot eerier than it was before.

"Alistair?" I ask, looking around in the darkness for a sign of him. If he's playing a prank on me, I'm going to kill him. This is not a great time to mess with me and my fear of the dark. My eyes fall on the corner furthest from the door as a figure starts walking closer towards me. My heart rate skyrockets as the terrifying woman who's been haunting my every thought steps into the pale moonlight flooding in from one of the windows.

"Rusalka?" I ask. She smiles in return and my breath catches in my stomach. Her teeth are dark and filled with moss. Her eyes are sunken into her face and are grey where the pupils should be, but I can see a tiny spark of amusement light up in her dead eyes as I say her name.

"I see you're learning." Her voice is harsh and raspy. "All you Marlow's think you're the first one to piece together that I'm the one Anna wrote about. I'm only leaving her journals intact so you understand that there is no way around my will. If you don't do what you're told, then they all will drown with me. You'll lose everything just like your stubborn mother did." She cackles as I run out of the library and into the hallway. I turn back to see her following close on my heels, her evil grin carving itself deep into my mind. I smash into what feels like a brick wall. I step back and see Alistair standing before me with a frozen scream plastered across his face, the same one my friends had when they were drowned in the frozen lake by Rusalka.

"No!" I scream and scrunch my eyes close, hoping that it'll all go away. There's no way she can be here. There's no way that Alistair could be in front of me. It's all a vision.

"Reia!" Alistair yells at me as I teeter from one trembling leg to the other. I open my eyes and I am face to face with Alistair Miller, who is sporting the most confused and concerned look I have ever seen him make. He's back to normal and more importantly he's not dead.