21st Century
"It looks like I can actually harvest some today. Wanna help me pick some veggies?" Kian turns to look at me, smiling.
"Sure! I've never done this before, so you'll have to help me." I respond as I walk around the garden.
"Well, picking vegetables is like, so hard. Harder than dealing with you as a patient." He jokes, laughing as I scoff. I quickly pick a tomato off the vine and throw it at him.
"Hey!" He yells, barely dogging it in time, "That was a decent tomato." He looks at it with a sad expression, then pretends to cry.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." I say, sarcastically, trying my best not to smile, "I don't think it's that damaged. We could probably still use it," I shrug, turning back to the plants.
"Not that damaged?!" He cries out as I feel something hit my back.
"Kian! I know you did NOT just throw that tomato at me. I thought we were gonna eat it." I say as I turn around to see a grin plastered on his face.
Before I can say anything else, he darts off running to the opposite side of the garden, trying his best to hide behind the tall tomato vines.
"Well, I mean. It was on the ground, so I thought I might as well return the favor." He says, slowly shrugging. I quickly pick another tomato off the vine and throw it across the garden at him. This time he wasn't able to dodge it in time and it hit him right in the face.
"Oooooh, my bad. I meant to hit you, but not in the face. So, uh, can we call it even now?" I ask quietly, slowly backing away as he wipes the tomato juice from his face with his shirt, before looking up at me with a mischievous smile.
"Mm, maybe." He says as he slowly walks around the plants, towards me.
With each step he takes, I take an even bigger step back. He smirks at me with that look in his eyes that tells me I need to make a run for it. I quickly turn around and bolt back to his house.
"You can't run from me!" He yells, laughing as he sprints after me. I make it to the back door and fumble around with the handle as I try to open it.
"I sure as hell can try!" I yell, finally managing to open the door in time to dart through the kitchen and into the living room with Kian right behind me.
"Okay, okay! Truce, I apologize," I say as I lift my hands up in defense, "I didn't mean to hit you in the face, okay. That wasn't my intention. You should've moved out of the way faster." I shrug as he shakes his head and quickly jumps over the couch, tackling me to the ground.
"I will not accept your apology. Unless you make me dinner." I look at him as he raises his eyebrow.
"Me? Cook?" I laugh, "Do you want this entire house to burn down?" I return the raised eyebrow as he begins to laugh.
"I guess some skills can't be passed through to the next life." He chuckles, getting up and holding his hand out to help me up.
"That's so rude!" I sarcastically gasp, grabbing his hand as he pulls me up, "Maybe I will burn your house down, just because of that comment." I contemplate, before smiling at him, "Unless, of course, you make me dinner." I look at him as he stares at me, flabbergasted.
"Fine," he huffs, "but we still have to go harvest the vegetables." He pulls me by my arm, dragging me outside with him.
"So, what are you making?" I ask, just as a pain shoots through my spine. If Kian wasn't holding my arm, I would've hit the ground.
"Fuck Almyra, what's going on?" Kian gently helps me onto the ground, sitting down beside me.
"I-I don't know.. I felt this intense pain in my ba-" I cry out as another wave of pain rushes through me, even more intense than the first time. A tingling sensation starting in my fingers, now traveling up through my hands.
"Are you alright? Why are your hands shaking so bad?" He asks, concern written all over his face.
"It f-feels numb. I can't control it." My vision becomes blurry as I feel myself falling back into the grass as I pass out.
***
"I wish things could go differently from here, but at the same time I like where this is going." William gives her one last squeeze before pulling out his knife and stabbing her in the back. Almyra gasps and writhes in his embrace, trying to escape his hold on her.
"William… Why?" She struggles to breathe as he takes the knife out and lets go, watching her fall to the ground.
"Why?" William chuckles, crouching down over her as she gasps for air.
"This whole thing started way before you can even remember. Well. You never remember and that's the problem, Almyra. If only we could talk about why you did the things you did to me, but we can't. Maybe one day, but that day is not today." William laughs as he begins to stab her multiple times, blood splattering everywhere as she screams in agony.
***
"William!" I gasped, jolting up. Almost headbutting Kian in the process, but he jerked back in time to avoid it.
"He killed me." Is all I could managed to say, looking at Kian's confused face before it clicks.
"William was the one who killed you during the war?"
"No. I think it was after. I'm not sure though." I look at the ground as the tingling starts again, but it becomes stronger as it goes up through my arms.
"Kian, something is wrong with my arms. It feels like it's vibrating from the inside out." Kian stands up, lifting me up bridal style and takes me into the house, laying me on the couch.
"It's going to be fine. We'll figure this out together." He reassures me as a faint light starts to shine from my fingertips and travels up my arms, illuminating my whole body.
"I don't think there's anything medically we can do." I chuckle as the light grows brighter and brighter until it's shining so bright, it's blinding. Kian shields his eyes as I close mine, and I feel him grab my hand.
Once the light dulled down, I opened my eyes and looked at Kian who slowly put his arm down. I looked around, seeing that we were no longer at Kian's house, but now we were in a small clearing in the woods with a small creek rushing through beside us.
"Almyra.." Kian whispers as his grip on my hand tightened. I look at his face as he stares past me. I lean up on my elbows and turn to look behind me and see myself. My past self. Laying there in the grass, dead and covered in blood. I release his hand and try to sit up, but my head begins to feel heavy and a throbbing pain causes me to fall back.
Images of my past life flow through my head. Sounds, touch, emotions all hitting me at once. Everything from that life I can now remember. I open my eyes, seeing Kian hovering over me and I smile, tears starting to fall down my face as I lunge at him, tackling him to the ground as I lean over him.
"Whoa, what's goin-" I interrupted him with an intense kiss. It takes a moment for him to register what is happening, but he soon kisses me back with just as much passion. He slowly trails his hand up my arm to caress the side of my face, rubbing his thumb on my cheek before I force myself to pull away.
"I remember everything from my past life now. I missed you so much." I grab his hand from my face and hold it, "but we need to find William. He killed us both and he's the one… the one who took my memories." I say quietly as I touch my forehead.
"What do you mean he's the one who took your memories? How is that even possible?" Kian asks, confused. I slowly get off of him and stand, extending my hand out to help him up.
"I saw him, Kian. When the fight started, everyone was dying by these impossibly fast, invisible beings, they're called the Unseen. And then out of nowhere, William shows up and takes them all out without anyone even seeing him. When I confronted him in the middle of the field with his underlines surrounding us, that's when I saw proof that he was one of them. Not just one of them though. No, I think he's their leader." I said, looking at Kian.
"How I know is because we ended up fighting and I sliced him down his back and he healed instantly. He told me everything was my fault and that he killed you because he knew you would try to warn me. Then he took my memories away, everything starting from the moment he stepped onto the field. He made me think everyone was dead, except for me. And that somehow I won on my own." I turn to face the creek, staring into the water as Kian hugs me from behind.
"Well, I did try to warn you, but that doesn't matter now. Look," he turns me around to face him, "we're here, together. Both of us. We might be in the past right now, but throughout every life we've lived, we've always found our way back to each other. Yes, William will be an issue, but for right now he thinks we're dead. So, let's take advantage and come up with a good plan to get rid of him. What do you say?" He looks at me, smiling. I can't help it, but I give a small smile in return.
"I agree, but first, one thing." I hold up my finger to pause for a moment as I walk over to the dead body of my past self and retrieve the journal that I had shoved down my pants.
"What are you doing?" Kian asks, confused.
"Just grabbing something that I think we'll find to be very useful." I lift the journal to show him.
"And I think it's time we talk about this sketch you did and never told me about. Along with the note that you left for me, as well." I smirk as I watch Kian's cheeks growing red.