That night, while Amerine was sleeping, she didn't dream of anything but a weird fog in a forest. As she roamed the forest, she looked up at the sky. The sky was dark but filled with thousands of twinkling dots. The moon was full and shining down to guide her. The trees were tall as if reaching up to the sky with their long branches and green leaves. It was a little cool so she didn't have a problem of sweating or feeling hot.
Unusually, she looked down on herself and found herself wearing an unfamiliar white nightgown falling down on to her ankles. It was cotton so it was soft and the sleeves were extremely loose starting just after her elbows up before it reaches her wrists. She didn't remember putting this on before going to sleep.
The leaves and twigs beneath her bear feet crunched while she walked this mysterious forest. As she ventured on further, the fog became thicker until she was fully enveloped in it, only seeing a few trees that are near her but nothing but fog on the distance.
However, a strong tugging feeling lured her deeper despite her mind's protests. She watched her body move against her will as it walked deeper and deeper until she noticed that the trees lessen and the fogs became thicker.
She was having an internal battle. She wanted to stop but she couldn't. She can only watch what she was doing. She tried to move her fingers slightly but it wouldn't move on her own will.
She was looking straight ahead and trudged deeper until there were no more trees and the fog became so thick that she couldn't see ahead now and even her feet were starting to blur.
Blinking once, she suddenly let out a gasp as she gained control of her body. It was a weird experience for her but by now, she's starting to get used to the weird things happening around her…
"Amerine…" A quiet voice whispers through the fog.
Or not.
She couldn't identify where the voice came from but it was surely a female… and a child at that. It even sounded scared. She can feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing the more she thought about.
"Who are you?" She called out but all she met was silence.
She was still, not sure where to go next. The fog was thick that it made her unsure on where to head next from her blurry view of the environment around her.
"… Chosen…" The female's voice gently spoke near her with child like glee in its tone.
"… Sleep…" The child's voice came from the opposite direction of where it was first heard.
"… Light…?" It sounded curious this time and came from another direction different from the first two.
"… You…" This time it sounded satisfied and faded away.
She was confused. It made no sense to her but the child gave random words to a clueless girl like. It seemed to be clueless as well, trying to ask questions that she couldn't understand. It was obvious from its tone.
It was silent for a few seconds before she heard it again but this time, it was a voice of another person. It began with a small buzzing sound and she couldn't identify its gender. However, it wasn't long before it started getting louder and it was then that she noticed that it wasn't only one person but multiple speaking at once. No matter how much she strained to hear and understand, it all sounds gibberish to her.
From the pleasant sound, it became louder and louder. The pitch became higher and it wasn't quite a nice melody. It was starting to get on her nerves. It was giving her a headache as it grew louder.
"Stop!" She tried to shout but was drowned out by the voiced.
"I said stop!" She screamed louder but the voices only talked louder. It gave her a painful migraine.
She start to cover her ears and closed her eyes shut, trying to relax and shut them out but they wouldn't stop. She slowly kneeled to the ground, feeling herself grow weaker as it continued on. She can feel multiple soft touches all over her and she whimpered in pain. They wouldn't stop.
Soon, the soft brushes turned slowly into touching. It became grabbing and she then found herself with multiple hands gripping at her so tightly that she started screaming in pain.
"Let me go!" She wanted to wake up from the nightmare but no matter how much pain she was in, she couldn't get out of it.
"Help me! Someone! HELP!" She screeched helplessly, thrashing wildly and pulling away from a lot of invisible beings.
The voices talked louder. She didn't know that they could talk louder at all at this point. Her mind was filled with their voices.
She opened her eyes and saw nothing but at the same time, felt everything. Slowly, a hand was reaching out to her. While it did, the voices started to scream louder but this time, she understood them.
"Don't!"
"No!"
"Help! US!"
The voices all screamed and screeched in pain as the hand started forming an arm. It was reaching out to her but she was frightened to even do anything. The grabbing started to get more violent.
She started bleeding when the invisible nails started digging deeply on her skin. She cried out in pain at this.
"Take my hand!" A voice of a man called out in her head amidst the crying voices. It was distorted but she knew it was a man. It was a weird feeling in her gut.
Looking at the steady outstretched hand, she took it. She was suddenly jerked to the direction of the hand and found herself pulled out of the heavy fog. The voices disappeared as soon she left the mysterious fog.
Looking up, she couldn't see the face of her savior. He had his back turned towards her but he had a muscular built from the view of his back. He also had muscles on his arms and legs but it wasn't as obvious in the legs because of his pants. She can only see the neat back of his dark blonde hair.
"Soon…" It was all he said when her surroundings started to became brighter.
Opening her eyes slowly, her eyes struggled to open but she managed, looking at the white ceiling of her room. Turning to look at her window, she saw the sun was up and bright, sunrays shining through her window and on her face. She was blinded for a minute before her eyes adjusted and she let out a yawn.
Just in time, her mom opened the door to her room and much to her shock, Amerine was still in the covers, snuggling her pillows and blanket so comfortably. It was a weird sight for her. She would always find her daughter up already in the early morning and she would be cranky from the lack of sleep. Sometimes, her dreams would shake her up so badly that she had to go to her psychiatrist first thing in the morning. So, seeing her daughter wanting to stay in bed more was a fresh thing to witness.
"So, what's the special occasion?" her mother's tone was playful and she could practically see the smirk on her face even with her back facing against her mom.
"Nothing. I just wanted to stay in bed for awhile before facing everything today." She moaned out, snuggling her face further on the soft pillow on her head.
Her mother chuckled at the sight of her daughter who was looking so adorable right now. She approached her daughter and saw the chubby cheeks of Amerine. She playfully poked it and Amerine glared at her mother in annoyance. Her mother then sat on the edge of the bed with her watching her mother with every move she makes.
"You had fun last night?" Her mother inquired and at the mention of last night, memories of everything went back to her.
All the chaos she created, the new girl she met and the mysterious things she had just discovered; it all came crashing down on her. However, despite everything, a soft smile formed on her face. The excitement and contentment she felt was a new feeling with her and now, she found that she was also utterly curious and wanted to know more of the new world that she was introduced in last night.
Looking at her mother, she wanted to tell her all what happened. She had the urge to tell her everything but was stopped when she thought more about it. Her mother looked at her curiously, similar to what she looks like when she's curious. Knowing her mother, she would overreact and the chances of going out again at night might decrease if she did tell her. At the same time, her mother might think she's crazy now and she didn't want that. She already has her condition and its symptoms to deal with.
"Yeah, I did." Her answer was simple and her mother looked at her, urging her to tell her more but she only shot her an innocent smile.
Her mother, knowing that her daughter won't spill anything, sighed and shook her head.
"Fine…" she finally settled and stood up.
"You can stay in bed today. We don't have anything to do at all anyways and I don't think you have any plans today…?" she asked by the end, looking at her daughter from the doorway, waiting for her answer.
Amerine thought about it and couldn't shake off the thoughts of wanting to know more. She didn't wear to start though but she did want to go somewhere, wherever fate will let her go.
Turning to look at her mother, she was still in the cocoon of her blankets.
"Umm… I actually wanted to go to Enzo's today and maybe go somewhere to hang with him." She informed her mother on which she nodded with a smile on her face.
"Sure. Just let me know when you're leaving." With that, her mother closed the door behind her.
Standing in front of the door, she rang the doorbell and she heard a muffled shout of a woman in there. Waiting for a few seconds, it opened to reveal a woman who had long brunette hair in beach waves and a pair of kind brown eyes. Her eyes were sparkling in delight when she caught sight of Amerine on their porch.
"Amerine! What a surprise! Come in, come in!" The wrinkles on her face were accentuated further when she smiled at her.
Amerine smiled at the woman's welcoming action. It was obvious that she was delighted by her presence.
"Hi, Aunt Mary. I'm here for Enzo. I was hoping we could actually go somewhere and hang." She stated her intentions as she stepped inside the cozy looking house.
"Oh, sure. He's in his room, probably still asleep. That lazy son of mine…" she chuckled and directed her to sit on the sofa on the living room.
"Now, don't be a stranger…" she started, placing down treats on the table.
"Make yourself at home, sweetheart. I'll go fetch Enzo for you." With that, she went on upstairs to her son's room.
A few minutes later, while she was munching on a few cookies, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Mary going down the stairs and towing behind her was Enzo who still looks sleepy and yawned.
"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Amerine chirped on which Enzo responded by glaring lazily at her. His mother laughed at this and smirked at her son.
"See? Even Amy here agrees." Enzo had on an exasperated look on his face.
"This is why I didn't want you coming here. You and mom would just team up against me!" He threw his arms in the air childishly and groaned however, his posture looks as if he already gave up.
"You know you can't keep me out of your home. I practically grew here and so did you in my house." She laughed.
Mary agreed with her statement with a nod. Hearing the soft melody of Amerine's laugh softened the look on Enzo's face. Then, he joined in laughing as well.
"Yeah, you're right." He finally agreed.
He then looked at what she was wearing composing of blue denim jeans, a green flowy halter neck top, and a pair of light tan ankle boots. It was quite an unusual choice of clothing for her as he always knew that her style was more on skirts and shorts ever since she gained the freedom of wearing it. Then, directing his attention to her face, he noticed that her hair was in a half up do braid; probably done by her mother. She wasn't wearing makeup like the usual whenever she goes out. She only had on mascara and lip gloss. He thought she looked much prettier without makeup. The freckles over the bridge of her nose and cheeks were more visible and made her look adorable.
"So, what's the occasion?" He went to the kitchen to grab a snack, knowing Amerine was following him there.
She sat on a chair, munching on a cookie. He saw it and glared at it, feeling jealous that she get to it the special cookies that his mom makes while he couldn't unless there was a special occasion.
"Well…" she ignored the glare she was receiving, knowing the reason why he was like that.
"I wanted to hang… and maybe talk to you somewhere." She looked at him, pleading with her eyes. He clearly noticed that.
"This is about last night, isn't it?" He asked and upon hearing the keyword "last night", she looked around consciously.
"Yeah… but let's talk while we're on the way to the library." When she mentioned the library, he rose an eyebrow at her.
"Since when did you like reading?" She glared at him playfully and scoffed, crossing her arms.
"Since now." She replied sassily, standing up.
"Now come on, hurry up. I don't want to waste too much time anymore." Her weird attitude was starting to get him curious and a little bit worried.
"So, what happened last night?" He started after she was silent for awhile. He didn't let it distract him much though from the road.
"Yeah… so, I met this girl who's just about our age… a little bit older by a few months, actually as she just turned 17 two weeks ago." She started to which Enzo nodded.
"So, that was Madeline?"
"Yeah." She looked out the window of the passenger seat.
He took a glance at her and noticed the way she bit her bottom lip. It was a habit she had even as a child whenever she is nervous or trying to concentrate. He remembered how her mother tried to fix the habit but it never did do something to change it.
"She was rather peculiar." She let out a deep breathe and sat up straighter.
"Before I met her, I was in danger. I was about to be killed just because I wondered what was going on in an alley. She saved me before it killed me." Slamming the breaks, he looked at her worriedly and angrily.
"You got yourself in trouble?! Worst of all, almost got yourself killed?! Amerine, what were you thinking?! You don't just sneak a glance when something is suspicious. You should avoid it! What would've happened when she wasn't there to save you?!" Enzo was furious and she knew it but she kept her mouth shut.
He didn't know that it was something out of this world that tried to kill her last night. He didn't notice that she gave no detail about it and just assumed it was a psycho. Although she wanted to defend herself, she knew it will only make things worse. Enzo always kept his cool until now. It was a new experience for her. He never got angry at anything so easily so she didn't know what to do. However, she did know how to calm down her mother whenever she is angry or stressed out.
She looked him in the eyes and saw the raging fury within his dark orbs. She hesitated but she made herself calm down. She touched his arm and soothed him with a small smile, her eyes sparking up warmly.
"Hey, its okay. At least, I'm still alive, right?" She cooed.
He felt himself get warm on his chest and slowly spread all throughout his body. He finally felt himself calm down and he sighed, slumping on his seat. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Fine… but expect that I'm never letting you out of my sight ever again." He sighed, making Amerine smile brightly at him.
"Sure. I can live with that." She happily replied.
"Is there more to this story?" Enzo ushered her to continue, proceeding on their route to the library.
"So, she saved me and invited me to La Fortuna since she knew I was shaken up by what happened." She lied but didn't make it obvious. Enzo only nodded, believing her story.
"She actually got us in easily and maybe… bought me a drink." She looked at him with unease.
She took a quick look at Enzo but unlike before, he had on a cool expression this time. It was too good to be true though. She knew he was still angry at her or rather on what she decided to do. The only answer she got was a nod; a gesture for her to continue.
"We had a quick chat and got to know each other… she was actually quite pleasant." LIES!
"So, you two became friends overnight. It doesn't explain why we need to go to the library. What's the connection?" Enzo was focused on driving but he rose an eyebrow when he noticed that Amerine wasn't giving much details.
"She actually believed me…" a small smile erupted on her face.
"The nightmares I had… she believed me when I told her that it all felt so wrong and real." She dazed off with the smile still on her face.
"I believed you. What makes her different?" Although admittedly, Enzo was actually quite skeptical, opting to choose to believe that his best friend only has a large imagination to think of such things.
Amerine nodded, absent mindedly. She knew he didn't actually believe her without any clear evidence. It was just the way the world is. People choose to believe things only when they see it and when there is an evidence strong enough to back up one's claim. Otherwise, that person will be labeled insane or they just have a large imagination.
She didn't see the same genuine spark on Enzo. She only ever saw it on Madeline; the first time someone believed her. Not only that but it didn't seem to bother the woman as it looked like she dealt things worse than her own case or she handled a lot of things in life already despite the young age. She was fascinating and it only fueled Amerine's curiosity.
"This time I know its true. She knows and believes that its true as well." Amerine stated in a whisper but Enzo still heard it.
It was all silent after that until they arrived at the library.
"We're here." Enzo pulled the key to his car and Amerine didn't waste any second, stepping out of the car as soon as the ignition died down.