"Amara!"
My mind drifted through the inky darkness of my nightmare. But when I heard a voice, it slowly tugged me from the black hole and into reality. My eyes flew open. I saw two figures in front of me, but I was still too groggy to make out any details. I slowly closed my eyes as I tried to get my breathing under control. I brought my hands forward to cover my face to only realize that my cheeks were wet.
I finally opened my eyes. Astrid and Gram were in my room. Astrid was sitting next to me on my bed clutching my knee and Gram was on the other side of Astrid. Both their faces were twisted in alarm and worry. Suddenly, tears started to spill out of my eyes. I couldn't control it even if I wanted to.
"Amara! Are you alright?"
Astrid came over and hugged me. "It's okay, it's okay."
I held onto her tightly as memories from the nightmare came flooding back. I let go and squeezed my eyes shut. I hugged myself at the horrifying memory. A shudder ran down my back in remembrance of my blood on the white snow. Finally, I spoke up.
"What happened?" I rasped, my voice dry from lack of water. Astrid looked over me, inspecting me for any signs of injury. She furrowed her brow at my question. "I think we should be the ones asking you that question," she said. Gram nodded in agreement.
"I...what did I do?" I said hesitantly. Gram sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Almost gave the whole mansion a heart attack," he mumbled.
"Not only did you wake everyone in the building with your screams, but you also froze half of your bedroom." I winced at the screaming part. I was intrigued by the second and looked around my room. I gasped.
Half of my room was frozen in a thin layer of ice. In some areas, jagged spikes poked out of the ice. Even my bed sheets were covered in frost and snow. I brought my eyes back up to meet Astrid and Gram's. I let out a shaky breath, half from the cold, half from sheer terror. "I had a...nightmare," I said quietly.
Astrid looked at me. "That...did not sound like a nightmare."
I just shook my head and remained silent.
"How about this. You can shower and change, then you can tell us what happened. Deal?" Gram said.
I nodded my head and stumbled out of bed. I walked over to my bathroom to take a shower. I grabbed black leggings, a shirt, and a hoodie to wear and then hopped into the shower. After the shower, I changed and walked out. Astrid and Gram were waiting for me by the doors. I followed them, suspecting where we were heading. While I walked, my brain was reeling from the terrifying dream. If it was even considered a dream at this point.
As I suspected, we arrived at the room I had met Archean in yesterday. Only this time, there was six more people. Three girls and three guys were circled around the table. Some of them looked extremely upset and bothered, while some of them were falling asleep on the table. But, when I walked in all of them became fully awake. Archean was sitting in his usual spot, but he was in sweatpants and a regular shirt, a far contrast to his suit from yesterday.
"Hello Amara, I assume you understand why you are here?" Archean said with the tiniest hint of annoyance. One boy who had jet black hair that hung over his eyes scoffed. "Are you kidding? She better know because she woke the whole dang house up."
I narrowed my eyes at him. Even though I was still shaken to the core from my nightmare, I was angry at his comment. He had no idea what kind of hellish reality I had just been through and he had no right to tell me that. My eyes flickered with rage. Next thing I knew, the chair that the boy had been sitting on was frozen in a thick layer of ice. I looked him in the eye, satisfied by his shocked expression. "You have no idea what I went through," I snarled.
My voice rang out in the silent room. Astrid gently grabbed my hand to calm me down, while everyone else was staring at me. It's rude of them to stare. I glared at the black haired boy, who, in turn, glared back at me. The guy looked about 17, like Gram. There was no doubt that he was attractive. His hair was pushed to the side with a single silver streak and covered one eye. He wore a simple grey v-neck and sweatpants, his muscles clearly defined through his shirt. But, the most interesting thing was his eyes. His eyes glowed a vibrant marigold yellow. Archean cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry Amara. Luka didn't mean any harm." Archean shot a glare in Luka's direction before continuing. "It would be nice if you could tell us what happened."
He waved his arm around to indicate everyone in the room. Astrid squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring look. I took a deep breath before starting.
"I think it was a nightmare, but it was so vivid that I'm starting to believe otherwise." I paused, deciding how to continue. "The dream started off by me running from.. a female figure. I assumed she was female because of her voice and hair."
Archean raised an eyebrow. "Voice?"
"Yeah, she...she told me to run," I said, my voice dying down to a whisper. "I wasn't really in control of my body. I just was looking through their perspective. So, I ran. It was kind of a blur after that. I remember loud sounds and streaks of white which I assumed was snow. I heard screams behind me as I ran."
I looked back up, my lips quivering. I decided not to tell them everything. They didn't need to know that. I didn't want them to. Just as I was hoping to move on, Luka spoke up.
"You're lying," he said rather bluntly. I stiffened at his accusation. Astrid noticed this and looked at me. I glared at Luka. "I am not obligated to tell you everything."
I never finished my description of the dream. I squeezed my eyes shut as shards of memories flashed through my mind. My voice caught in my throat. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. It was like an invisible hand was clamped over my mouth. Preventing me from making any noise. I was having a hard time breathing. I started to hear the tiny voice in my head. It started off as a whisper, but it soon turned to screams as it pounded its message over and over again into my brain.
Get out.
Get out!
GET OUT!
I fell to my knees, holding my head and sobbing. I clutched myself as the screams radiated in my head. They only intensified the longer I sat there. I felt hands trying to help me, but I pushed them away. I only knew one thing. I had to get out. But, the screams disappeared as suddenly as they had come, replaced by a cold breeze. My vision was soon clouded with a blanket of shadows. I knew my eyes were open, but I could not see anything. A wave of deep exhaustion ran through me. I relaxed, grateful for the silence. I heard a whisper. It came and went like the wind.
'I will see you soon.'
Then the wave of darkness faded by someone shaking me.
My vision returned. I blinked once. Twice. Astrid was the one shaking me. Gram was next to her. He offered me his hand, I grabbed and he helped me to my feet. I staggered a bit, leaning on Gram for support. I was gasping for breath. I looked around remembering the faint whisper, the promise. My eyes landed on Luka.
"Why did you do that?"
He looked taken back. He scratched the back of his head in confusion. "I don't understand. Do what exactly?"
My eyes widened in shock. Something in my gut told me he was telling the truth. If that's true, then who was it? Cautiously, I spoke.
"Did you hear it?"
Now, all of them looked confused. One girl who had dirty blonde beach waves and stunning sky blue eyes turned to me. Not only was she beautiful, but two cerulean blue feathered wings rested behind her. "Are you okay?"
I shook my head. I'm going insane. Another part of me scoffed. I heard it. I know I heard it. I cleared my throat.
"Um, I'm sorry for my disturbance," I said, preparing to exit the room. "I'll just leave."
The winged girl sighed. "It's alright. We are awake now. Mind as well introduce ourselves."
She gave me a small smile. "Hi, I'm Kalina."
"Hi I'm-"
"Amara. We all know."
I nodded my head, uncertain of what to make of this. This time another girl spoke up. She had brown eyes with a hint of red in them and her black hair was in a braided updo. She would have been normal if it wasn't for the fox-like ears poking out of her head. I noticed a small movement behind her. She has a tail!? Her ears and tail were white and stained red at the tips. She gave me a friendly wave and a bright smile.
"I'm Wren."
I smiled back at her. She seems nice. I made a mental note to talk to her sometime. Another girl spoke up.
"It's Talia."
The girl had long lilac colored hair and beautiful lavender eyes. She looked completely normal. No weird animalistic features or anything. She looked like she was bored and the previous events had not fazed her one bit. She seemed older, probably 18. I pursed my lips. I stayed quiet, refraining from asking questions. This time one of the guys introduced themselves. He had pure white hair and eyes just as bright with the slightest hint of blue. I noticed his ears and stifled a gasp. No way. His ears poked out from his fluffy hair. They were pointed. I was very tempted to ask him if they were real. Of course they're real, I scolded to myself. If giants and fire nymphs existed, why can't elves?
He grinned at my surprised expression. "I'm Caspian."
I snapped out of my trance and blushed. I felt bad for staring. I saw Luka roll his eyes. I ignored it and turned to the last guy. I almost did a double take. The boy looked like he was only 12. He was spinning around on his chair. I smiled at his energy. He stopped and looked at me. Again, I was shocked. He had chocolate brown hair that hung over wide black eyes. On the top of his head sat two tiny black horns. I saw a tail swish back and forth behind him. It was your typical demon tail that you would expect to see in comics and as halloween costumes. He gave me a shy smile.
"Hi, I'm Theo."
I smiled at him. "It's nice to meet everyone."
Archean finally spoke up. "Yes, you will be training with them."
"What!? I'm not training with him!" I said, pointing at Luka. He snorted. "Not like I want to either," he mumbled.
Archean rubbed his temples. "She is going to train with the team, end of discussion."
He turned to me. "Amara, you will start training tomorrow. Everyone dismissed."
He shooed us out of the room. After everyone was outside, he shut the doors and left us. Everyone was silent, not saying anything. Astrid was the first to speak. "So, Amara," she paused and lowered her voice. "What really happened back there?"
I hesitated for a second. The others heard her and watched me quietly. I shuddered. "I don't really know."
"Okay, What really happened in your...nightmare?"
I inhaled sharply. "While I was running, I tripped over something." I paused. Should I really tell them? I summoned every ounce of courage I had and told them.
"I was shot in the thigh. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I saw my blood on the ground. I dragged myself behind a ledge and blacked out. That's when Astrid woke me up." Luka seemed to accept this and left it alone. Wren came over and hugged me. "You poor thing. Luka shouldn't have thrown you under the bus like that."
I smiled. "Thanks," I said.
She nodded. Suddenly, her face lit up like she had a great idea. "I know! Let's take you shopping at the mall. We can have a girl's day," she squealed in excitement.
"I- okay," I said. What's so bad about shopping? Gram tapped my shoulder. "See you later then."
I nodded and waved. The guys and Talia left, leaving Kalina, Wren, Astrid, and I to go shopping.
"Come on Amara!" Wren called. I hurried after her. I was glad that I was going to spend time with the girls. As I hopped into the car, my thoughts drifted back to my dream. I had left quite a few details out. Things like how the inky darkness had suffocated me or the voice that had tormented me. But, the thing I was frightened by more than any of these things was that my blood was not red.
It was silver.