I sighed as I stared at my palm. School had finally let out but I had a hard time focusing on the material. I couldn't concentrate after the dream I had, not to mention the strange mark on my hand. I felt around my palm with two fingers, other than the overwhelming amount of sweat on my hand, it didn't feel any different.
As I made my way home I froze when I reached my door. Was that Ruru waiting there? I approach her, confusion clearly visible on my face. She noticed me and turned to me with a smile. I put my hand in my pocket and made my way to my front door.
"Are you okay? You were acting strange in class today." Ruru asked. I tried to ignore her as I slipped my house key into my door but before I could open it Ruru slipped her short body in front of me.
"Are you even listening?" She asked. I once again tried to ignore her, but of course she followed me inside as I entered my house.
"You know you're breaking into my house. That's a crime."
"I'll leave once you tell me what your problem is!"
"Why do you care?"
"I'm worried as your class president!"
I rolled my eyes. Ruru was always like this. Butting her nose into problems that don't concern her. Why couldn't she just leave me alone!? Her job as class president is to make sure I'm going to class, not make sure my hand is okay! Why does it matter so much to her?
"I'm fine! Can you just leave!?" I say. I wasn't trying to be rude. I wasn't trying to do anything to her, but nobody would agree if they saw her face. It was obvious she was trying to hold back tears. She wasn't very good at hiding how she felt. I wasn't trying to make her cry, I just wanted her to leave me alone.
"Okay, I'll leave, but if you ever need my help, please don't be afraid to ask me for it. I'm your-"
Ruru stopped talking and she shook her head. She faced me again with a blush.
"I-I'm your class president!" Ruru shouted as she grabbed her school bag and ran out the door. I smirked a little as I watched her run out. Sometimes she could be so cute and she wouldn't even realize it. My smirk soon went away and I gave a heavy sigh.
I lifted my hand to stare at my palm. The mark was still there. What was this mark supposed to be anyway? A dart? A fish? No. This was a flame. A symbol based off of fire, but the mark wasn't the problem. The problem was how I knew about it! I had never seen anything like this mark anywhere, and yet here I was, explaining what it was supposed to be. I made my way to my bathroom and flipped on the light.
I stared into my sleepless eyes. I was a mess. I looked like the dictionary definition of death itself, but I couldn't focus on that right now. I needed to find someway to get rid of this mark on my hands. I looked through all of the soaps and cleaning supplies and pulled out everything I could.
First I tried to use soap. I scrubbed my hand roughly in an attempt to remove the mark on my hand. When I pulled my hand out of the water the mark was still there. Time for Plan B!
I took out some cleaner that contained bleach. I wasn't too keen on bleaching my skin, but if it got rid of this mark, then I'll do anything! I applied the cleaner and tried to rinse it off but a strange burning began to fill my palm. I look onto my palm and it was as if the cleaner was being vaporized. Once it was all gone, the mark still remained. So the cleaner was a no go too, huh?
I sigh. This was such a pain. I guess there's no cleaning this mark off, so maybe I should try hiding it. I grab a glove from Jay's room, and I tried slipping the glove on. Sadly this was the best I could do. I sighed. How was I going to explain this to anyone?
I made my way to my room and sat at my desk. I opened the curtains to my window to bring some light into the room. I booted up my computer and began my long search on the web. I tried searching for everything.
"Flame mark on hand, Fire dreams, Strange hand symbol, Fire hand symbol." I tried searching for everything I could. Nothing. Nothing about the dreams, nothing about the flames, just nothing.
Was I crazy? No, no matter how you looked at it this wasn't normal! Who could I turn to? Jay? No, he'll probably think I'm crazy! My parents? No, they'd probably commit me to some kind of mental hospital or something. What could I do? Who could I turn to? I sigh. I make my way upstairs in defeat and lie down on my bed. I find myself drifting into sleep, hoping that everything will become clear in the morning.
***************
I open my eyes once again, expecting to be overwhelmed with the darkness of the void. I look around, but this was different. I wasn't in a dark void this time. A cold wind hits my face as I try to move around. I look down and notice a firm white blanket filled the ground.
"Snow?" I ask myself as I move through the white wasteland.
I make my way through the land of snow, I suddenly feel a burn on my hand and I look down. The symbol seemed to be glowing. Not knowing what else to do, I shove my hand in front of me. A giant wall of flames appears in front of me. I couldn't contain my surprise! I tried doing it again, and the flames appeared again. I had somehow managed to manifest flames using my right hand. I chuckled a bit to myself.
"Now I know this is a dream. Magic like this doesn't exist." I say with a smile.
I decided to enjoy my dream a bit more and have some fun with my fire magic. I shoot my fire wall to the sides of me, and above me. Eventually the flames disappeared on their own. I noticed that I had been melting the snow around me. That was when I finally noticed a girl. She seemed to be my age from the looks of it.
The girl in question didn't look normal. She had short dark hair. Her eyes were a sharp yellow, and they seemed to be shaped in a strange way. She had a confident smirk, and she approached me. She was wearing some sort of purple armor. It seemed to gleam in the sunlight.
"Those are some impressive flames you're throwing around." She said with a bright smile.
Something about that smile seemed off to me though. I couldn't put my finger on it, but felt as if that smile was more malicious than anything else.
"Who are you?" I ask, trying my best to hide my fear. From the look on her face, she seemed to know I was afraid.
"My name shouldn't matter to you. You can call me what my subjects call me, the Dark Queen." She said as she took a step closer to me, her hands behind her back.
I instinctively take a step back. I didn't like the vibe this girl was giving me. She giggled a bit when she saw this. She began to walk towards me at a normal pace. I wanted to step back again, but for some reason I couldn't bring my body to move. Was I...shaking? I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
"You're hand is also quite interesting. A flaming arrow. How cute." The Dark Queen sneered as she stopped right in front of me. Our faces were inches apart.
"What are you doing here? Isn't this just a dream?" I ask her.
She then began to laugh. She held her stomach as she stared at me with unblinking eyes.
"You think this is a dream?" She asked.
I suddenly felt something sharp pierce my stomach. I look down slowly to see that she had stabbed me with a sword made out of ice. Ice? Where did she get that? That was when I finally noticed her hand. She too had a symbol on her hand, just like me, but this one seemed different. My hand had a flame on it, a flame being pierced with an arrow. Her hand however….was different. Her hand seemed to have a snowflake on it, inside of the snowflake was some sort of skull. What did the skull mean?
"W-What is going on?" I say through heavy pants.
"Do you really not know? You were the one who used your magic earlier."
"What are you talking about!? Magic isn't real! This is just a dream!"
I scream in agony as The Dark Queen grinds her sword deeper into my stomach. She smirked as she tilted her head a bit. She was enjoying this, she was enjoying seeing me in pain like this! I had to get away, I had to find some way to escape. But now matter how hard I tried I couldn't move, was this how I was going to die? To die to a strange lady stabbing me with some sort of magic sword!? No! I refuse!
I raise my hand slightly, if I could make those fire walls before, all I had to do was focus and maybe I could form some sort of attack! I had to hurry! I had to do something. I close my eyes and concentrated. I wasn't going to die! Not yet!
My hand began to burn up. I open my eyes and see that in my hand is a ball of fire. I stare at it for a second, before throwing it right into The Dark Queen's face.
"AH!" She yelps a bit before backing up.
She seemed taken aback, almost as if she wasn't expecting me to fight back. I get into a fighting stance and take a step back. I couldn't exactly fight her right now, I had a stab wound in my stomach after all. Maybe if I intimidate her she'll back off?
"Stay back! I'm not afraid to hurt you!" I yell out.
"Good luck with that. With how injured you are I highly doubt you'll be able to do anything with the state that you're currently in. But I have to admit, that was quite the move you had there. A controlled fire ball. For a novice you're quite good at this."
The Dark Queen held her hand out and a new sword formed in her hand. She pointed the sword at me, her smile was gone and all that seemed to remain was a look of pure determination. Did she really want to kill me that badly?
"Now, why don't you make things easier for both of us, and die!" As soon as she finished her sentence she had rushed towards me.
What exactly could I do? I didn't have a weapon or anyway to defend myself. Running wasn't an option either because of my stomach wound. So my only option was to move defensively. I side-stepped to avoid her blade, I was cut a tiny bit but I had other things I had to worry about.
I try to use my flames as a way to shield myself, but she cuts through my flame in one fell swoop and I can barely use them as a means of defense.
"Why are you trying to kill me!?" I ask her.
"Why? Isn't it obvious? It's because you're a threat!"
"A threat!? A threat to what!?"
"Everything I've worked towards will be ruined if you remain alive! I'm not going to let that happen!"
I was about to ask what she meant but she soon tackled me to the ground. I stare up at her. It was almost as if she could smell my fear because just smiled before cackling.
"Do you realize how helpless you look right now? She asked as she held her side, she was enjoying this.
"What do you want from me?" I ask her again.
"What do I want? I just want you dead! Now die! Go to sleep and never wake up!"
I brace myself for the impact from her sword, but it never came. I heard something suddenly, were those bells? I heard what sounded like ringing bells coming from above me. I look at the sky and notice that the blue sky was turning white. I heard the girl from before curse under her breath.
"Out of time huh? Doesn't matter! You're still mine." She said with a sinister grin as she stepped off of me. The light grew brighter and brighter until the whole world was enveloped in it.
Despite the world fading, I could still hear her words clearly in my head.
"I'll see you soon, very soon."
***************
I gasp as I find myself jolting awake, I even managed to fall off the bed. I lift myself up and rub my head to check for any bumps. When I didn't find any I looked down at my hand. The glove had been burned through and the mark was visible yet again. I groan as I sit down on my bed.
I heard my phone ringing so I grabbed it and opened it up. Some random number was calling me. I shrug and answer it.
"Hello?" I ask.
"Hey is this you Ruben!?" Said the voice of Ruru on the other end.
"How the hell did you get my number?"
"Well I definitely got it legally and didn't snoop through the teacher's documents!"
"I have a hard time believing that."
I laugh a bit. Did she seriously sneak into the teacher's lounge to learn the number of one of her classmates? That's just extreme, even for someone like her.
"So uh, how are you feeling?" Ruru asked me. Was she seriously asking me again?
I sighed, why did she have to keep butting into my business.
"Why do you want to know?" I asked her.
"W-Well um, you know I'm-"
"You're my class president?" I finish her sentence for her. She didn't respond, which was more than enough of an answer.
"Look, your job as my class president is to make sure I get to class, that has nothing to do with my hand or anything like that! So please, just stop getting involved in my problems!"
I didn't wait for Ruru to answer, as I hung up. I placed my phone back on my nightstand as I lie down and try to get some sleep. Sadly the nightmare I had just had, kept me up all night.