Our souls may share the same roots. Maybe we have a connection that runs deep, but we are not the same person. We carry the essence of the same soul, but our individualities are distinct. You bear a part of me, but you are not me.
Chapter 1
The bell rang.
The teacher spoke.
"Okay Miss, introduce yourself."
A girl stood up from her seat and went in front of the class to introduce herself.
"I'm Shanaiah Isabelle Gilmore, but you can also call me Yssa for short, I just turned seventeen this year and i lived in average house with my mother, father, and my dog."
Everything was fine until...
"OUCH!!"
"a strong light dazzled my eyes, i thought i would go blind."
"I don't know what happened, I was just in my class earlier...but where am i now? Everywhere is so dark, i only see black. It's very strange because i can see my body, it means that i'm not blind at all...."
~~~~
Yssa looked around but she can't see anything except black. She walked, she ran, even though she had no idea where she was going.
After more than five minutes of walking, She reached a place where she saw a small glimmer of light, and suddenly..
A woman appeared out of nowhere.
"How can you forget what happened hundreds of years ago, Aurelia?" She said in a calming voice. that even Yssa could feel the autumn wind in her throat.
"I can feel the aura in her voice, I have never seen her before, But why does she seem so familiar?" Yssa talked to herself.
"No matter how hard you try, You can't, and you will never EVER forget about it." The woman spoke again but from the warm embrace of the wind, It suddenly changed and became very cold that covered Yssa's whole body.
On the other side, Yssa's mother is trying to wake her up.
Yssa is unaware that she was only dreaming.
"Yssa?...Yssa?? Yssa wake up!!" Her mother said with a trembling voice while shaking Yssa to wake up.
But it seems that Yssa is trapped in her dream, that she can't even hear her mother's voice.
Yssa's bad dream continued.
The woman continue to speak "Do you want to know why?" She covered her mouth and laughed.
"because..it will always be a part of you."
Yssa's feet went numb and she couldn't move from where she was standing.
"Who is she? Who is she to me? Who's....? Who is this woman?!" Yssa kept asking herself again and again while her heart was beating faster.
"Yssa!" Her mother keeps trying to wake her.
"Remember it, Aurelia." The woman said as it slowly fades away into the light.
Yssa was dazzled by the strong light for another time, she accidentally fell on the ground and she covered her both eyes.
"Yssa!! wake up daughter!" Her mother leaned closer to Yssa, she was starting to panic and shook Yssa even harder.
"Aurelia~... Aurelia~" The woman kept calling Yssa by the name that no one has ever called her before.
As time passed, Yssa could barely see the woman.
"Aure-" The voice was so far away that Yssa couldn't quite hear it.
"SHUT UP!!!" Yssa shouted as she immediately opened her eyes and quickly got up from her bed. She looked around in her room and she saw her mother sitting next to her "M-Ma?..." She asked with a confusion and relief.
Yssa realized that it was just a dream.
"I'm glad it's just a dream." She said to herself.
"For god's sake Shanaiah Isabelle! I've been waking you up for 10 minutes but you didn't even move a little!" Yssa can see the fear in her mother's eyes.
She yawned as she stretched her arms "I just had a bad dream Ma, don't worry, i'm fine."
Yssa doesn't want to cause ang problems for her mother, so she said she was fine even though there were so many questions swirling around in her mind.
"Do not worry?! If you could have only seen how you looked earlier Isabelle, I would have thought you were already comatosed" She speaks with her arms crossed while staring deeply at Yssa's eyes.
Yssa stared back at her mother's face for a moment. "You know that you're scary when you call me by my full name" She jokingly replied to her mother while she's holding back her laugh.
Yssa just made a joke to make an excuse so that her mother won't worry anymore.
"Cut it! Wash your face already and go downstairs, our breakfast is getting cold." Her mother said before going downstairs.
"I'll come later Ma, bon appetit" Yssa's reply to her mother.
After her mother left, Yssa went back to her bed and hugged her favorite plushie.
"Why do i feel like I've known that woman for a long time?" She whispered.
"Just a stupid dream."
Everything went back to normal in the next few days but Yssa still couldn't forget about it.
It's been almost a week but Yssa just stayed in her room all weekend and still thinking about her dream six days ago.
This feeling was bothering her and she couldn't get it out of her mind.
"Why did she call me Aurelia? Why did she told me that i forgot something? What am i trying to forget and she wants me to remember?" Yssa lay down on her bed and covered her face with a pillow. "Shut up Yssa!! It's just a shitty dream!" She said in her mind while kept pressing the pillow on her face.
After lying on her bed for a few minutes, She didn't realized that she already fell asleep.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a woman kneeling on the ground not far away from where she was standing. This girl has silver hair and emerald eyes. Yssa just stared at her when she realized that the woman was crying and she looks like begging for someone to help her. After a moment, there was a face less man wearing a black hood appeared. He's carrying a very huge axe and he's walking towards the woman, he got closer and closer till he started to aim his axe at the woman.
The poor woman was helpless and could do nothing but to cry.
After Yssa saw it, she immediately ran towards the woman to to give her a helping hand.
"Don't do it! Stop!!!" She shouted to distract the killer, but it doesn't seem to work.
Yssa ran as fast as she could, thinking that she might be able to save the woman, but when she was about to reach her, something strange happened that Yssa never felt before, it feels like someone is pulling her away.
"What's happening?! Miss! Look at your back!"
She shouted while someone is pulling her.
"Why can't you hear or even see me as if i am invisible!?!" Yssa yelled rudely at the woman.
But suddenly, After a blink of an eye, everything disappeared.
Yssa looked everywhere to look for her, but she couldn't find the woman. But when she turned around for another time, she saw a huge mirror in front of her and decided to look at her reflection, but she didn't saw her body. She couldn't believe what she's seeing in the mirror right now, Instead of seeing herself, she's looking at the body of a woman she saw a while ago.
"h-huh?....m-my hair....my eyes..m-my face?..this isn't me!!" She was stunned and didn't know what to do. Her black hairs turned white, and her dark eyes shines like a crystals.
While she's looking at her reflection, the woman she saw from her dream six days ago appeared from her back.
"Aurelia....what a beautiful Aurelia~ it's been a long time since the last time i saw you standing on your own feet" the woman said while caressing Yssa's cheek.
Yssa's eyes widened after she heard what the woman just said. "W-who are you?..." Her lips trembled.
"Zipporah, The other half of you."
Yssa suddenly woke up sweating profusely and gasping for breath.
A while later, someone knocked on her door.
When Yssa heard the knocking, she immediately wiped her sweats on her face. "Come in."
It turns out to be her father.
Her father noticed that Yssa was pale, so he asked her. "Are you okay daughter? Are you sick? You look pale."
Yssa can't say even a single word and she was just staring at the window in her room, she still can't get over about what happened.
Her father stood beside her and asked her again. "Yssa, What happened?"
Yssa returned to her senses and answered her father's question.
"I'm okay Dada, just having bad dreams sometimes. What made you come here by the way?" She responded as she's trying to change their conversation.
His father was relieved to hear what Yssa said. "It usually happens to many people, it would be better if you pray before going to bed next time" Then he pats her head.
As he was about to leave, he remembered that he has something to tell Yssa. "Oh i almost forgot to tell you that we are going to your grandmother's house tomorrow morning, so it would be better if you pack your things now. We will be staying there for seven days" he smiled and left her room.
After her father left, she hurried to look at the mirror. "That was a pretty weird dream, including that Aurelia and Zipporah. Whatever!! It just drives me crazy" she said while speaking angirly to herself in the mirror.
The next day Yssa woke up early to prepare for their trip to her grandmother's house.
Barking dog
"Shhh Toffee you're so loud!" Yssa's mother tries to calm the dog.
The voice of a boy is calling her from outside of the house. "Isabelleee? Yssa!!"
Her mother heard that someone is calling Yssa. "Yes? Who are they?"
"Oh aunt Agatha, it's me Axle"
It turns out to be Axle, Yssa's childhood best friend.
Agatha called Yssa after hearing that Isaac was looking for her. "Yssa come down here, your friend is looking for you."
Yssa just finished getting dressed when she heard that someone is calling her.
"I'm coming, please wait a second" Yssa had no idea who would be calling her at this hour. "Oh Axle? Do you need something?".
Axle jumps up to Yssa and hugged her. "IM GLAD IT WASN'T YOU!!"
Yssa was very shocked by her friend's actions "woah woahh woahhh wait!! What are you doing?." She raised her eyebrows.
Axle paused for a few seconds and he looks very tired. "Come with me! You need to see it!" He said while chasing his breath.
Yssa noticed that Axle looks very tired and acting weird so she asked him with curiosity.
"What's the matter Axle? And why do you look so tired?..and acting...weird?"
Axle continued to pant while his hands were on his knees.
Yssa ran inside their house to give Axle a glass of water "here, Drink this"
"th-thanks.." Axle took the glass of water using his trembling hands.
"What happened? You're worrying me"
Yssa can feel that something is wrong with him.
Axle clears his throat then finally spoke "When I woke up this morning, I decided to go to the old house where we often used to play before and.." Axle stopped talking.
"AND WHAT?!" Yssa asked angrily because she was annoyed that Axle stopped talking for no reason.
Axle drank another glass of water again. "I know you'll just call me crazy."
"You know that you're the only friend i've always been with since we were kids, right?"
Axle nodded.
Yssa is trying so hard to hide her annoyance. "But that's no excuse for not beating your ass right here right now! I'll make you pee in your pants again!" And she smiled innocently.
Axle was frightened by Yssa's words and he remembers how Yssa punched him in the stomach nine years ago that caused him to be hospitalized for four days. "Okay jeez just shut up buffed Yssassy, i'll tell you now."
Yssa crossed her arms, showing that she was ready to listen to what Axle had to say again.
"..and i was surprised to see you there..but i think i was wrong, It's you but it's not really you.. you guys are sharing the same face but that girl's hair and eyes are different....after that..." Before axle could continue what he was going to say, Yssa interrupted him.
"stop. So you're saying that you saw me earlier? in that house? that old creepy house? What are you even doing there at the first place? You can't fool me." Yssa said while pretending that she's not believing him but the truth is there was a little nervousness inside her.
"I'm telling you the truth! i saw a woman with no face in my dream, she told me that i left a treasure that i've lost hundreds of years ago..inside that house. I was so curious about the treasure she mentioned so i went there to check for it my se-.." Before he could finish, Yssa's mother and father came out.
"Yssa! Let's go, if you don't want to spend our night on the road." Agatha said while putting their luggage in the trunk of their car.
Axle looked at them.
"Oh goodmorning aunt Agatha, goodmorning uncle Victor" Axle bowed and smiled.
Victor just looked at him and nodded before getting into the driver's seat of his car.
Axle turned his gaze to Yssa and tried to make her believe him. "Yssa, her eyes are so green just like that stone in your pendant and her hair is-" Yssa stopped him for another time.
"Just stop. I have to go, Don't ever mention that again." She passed Axle and went to their car without saying any goodbyes.
While on the trip, Yssa was alone at the back seat of their car and she couldn't help but to think about what her friend said. "Green eyes....like...my necklace?" She thought to herself then looked at her necklace and saw a pendant who is from her ancestor that is made of emerald stone.
"oh? this emerald? It's from our family's ancestry...but, what if this is the reason why those people who appeared in my dreams are still bothering me?" She pulled the necklace causing it to break and she threw it from the window.
Yssa thought that it would end there, but she was wrong. Because the truth is there's no escape in remembering the forgotten truth of the past.