Melody of Blood and Night

Twelve

She plummeted, enveloped in the blackness that trapped her within the distortion of her mind. Time seemed to slow as she waited for her to hit the invisible ground beneath. She wondered if she was dead.

Then, almost instantaneously, beautiful winter woods constructed themselves around her, fading into view. Two girls, sisters, running through the silvery trees and into the snowy clearing.

Together they ran, leaving behind two trails of dainty footsteps as they darted towards the frozen pond, laughing happily, without a care in the world. Aedlyn's chest tightened as a wave of nostalgia washed over her. She envied them, coveted their easy smiles and the childish joy gleaming in their eyes.

They halted, panting. She looked on, with her lips pressed into a bittersweet smile, as it began to snow. Little snowflakes landed on their hair, blending in perfectly with her sister's snow-white locks that tumbled down to her tiny waist in a straight sheet, contrasting beautifully with her flawless, ebony skin.

Her hypnotic opal eyes, seemed almost transparent, as if they were crystals of the silvery morning mist, glimmering in the soft sunlight; tinged with the lightest shade of blue. Aedlyn felt like she was gazing at herself, only in a different body, as she watched her sister remove a snowflake from her little self's blue-black hair before off they went again.

But this time, the little girl with magnificent turquoise eyes halted. Aedlyn's heart skipped a beat as the child turned to her. Everything, even the snow, stilled.

The tinkling laughter faded away and eventually stopped. Aerilyn seemed to have vanished too. Suddenly, the winter sky over the snow-covered glade darkened to a stormy grey.

She stood there facing her younger self, just the two of them, surrounded by the dull white of their environs. The little girl's steady gaze stripped her bare, penetrating her soul. Standing here, before herself, she felt more vulnerable than ever.

"You're early." The child spoke in a voice etched with wisdom far greater than someone her age could possess.

"Who are you?" Aedlyn questioned warily.

"I am your conscious, your inner voice. I am," the little girl paused, and looked her straight in the eyes, before she answered, "You. "

Tilting her head slightly she spoke again, "You need answers Aedlyn, wake up."

"How?" Aedlyn asked, but a loud grinding noise followed by thunder-like boom reverberated through the snow-covered glade before the child could reply.

She found herself standing on the frozen lake, looking down at her feet and the web-like cracks that radiated out from beneath them. Terror jabbed her heart.

She shouldn't have been able to hear anything over the blood roaring in her ears, but yet the whispering voice of the girl kept repeating herself in her mind, "Listen."

Panic seized her senses as the ground began to shake and the cracks began to widen. A blizzard took shape around them as the biting cold gust of wind slammed into her.

She couldn't help but squeeze her eyes shut. "Aedlyn," Her father's voice called out to her amidst the chaos. Her eyes flew open. But only for a moment before the merciless sheets of falling snow caused them to narrow down to wrinkled slits. She looked past the raging snowstorm through squinted eyes.