Mirai

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I wasn't sure where I was. Nor was I really sure what my surroundings looked like. I knew it was a forest, but there were just vague blurry forms that could be trees around me. And a girl.

The way I saw the girl, the way I saw the surroundings, was similar to how I had seen Tamah all those years. I knew she was a girl and I knew she stood in the forest completely naked. But that was all I knew. I couldn't tell what hair color she had or if it was long or short. Not even the color of her skin.

But I knew she stood naked in the forest as if waiting for something.

And something came. Something ran towards her.

"Watch out!" I screamed, though I knew it was pointless because I knew it was a vision and I was unable to interfere.

The something was a wolf, and it reached the girl in a second. But when it should have sunk its claws or teeth into her, its body looked to slacken. The girl stumbled since the wolf collided with her. But then the wolf lied motionless on the ground. As if dead.

More wolves came, and they all tried to attack her, but they all met the same fate. They reached her, but as they came in contact with her, they fell to the ground.

They all died as soon as they touched her skin.

A shiver ran up my spine as I realized that. It was a terrifying ability to have. Such power in one person.

The wolves eventually realized what was happening and no one else attacked her.

The scene shifted and several flashed before me. All of them the same. All of them were of the girl as she killed person after person. But as it progressed, one thing changed with each new scene.

I wouldn't have said that she was happy in the first one, but there had at least been positivity around her. But for each new scene, the positivity dimmed. It was as if every person she killed took a little part of her with them and replaced that part with darkness. The darkness in turn spread and became anxiety, fear, dread, pain, guilty. And then finally, it turned to self-hatred and loathing.

She took lives and lost her sense of self while doing so.

The flashes of scenes came to a halt and she sat in front of a fireplace. This time I could see her clearer. She wore a green dress that covered her whole body and had red hair in a tight braid.

I walked over to her and sat down beside her.

Her eyes were focused on the fireplace, but it didn't look like she actually watched it. Her thoughts were far off. It reminded me a bit of how Tamah had been when I had entered her prison. There physically, but mentally, emotionally, she had distanced herself.

A man came, her dad, and placed a hand on her shoulder. I watched as she flinched away and another realization hit me. It wasn't that she had the ability to kill all living things with a single touch. It was that all living things that came in contact with her skin died. She had no choice nor control over it.

Her dad walked away and we were left alone. I placed my hand against her cheek, though I knew she wouldn't feel it. My body ached from the pain she felt and it ached even more because I knew she was a good friend of mine, though we had yet to meet.

"Everything will be alright, Zoe," I told her. "You will find happiness. You just need to accept yourself and accept that you aren't what others have made you into."

The scene dissolved, and I watched as the words I had just said became true. Watched her find her mate. Watched as he gave her a reason to fight again, a reason to hope. Watched as she learned more about herself and as she began defeating her inner demons. Watched as she began to see herself in a new light.

Watched her find happiness.

I blinked and the vision had ended. Hovering over my face was Tamah. She was still as adorable with the paint splattered across her face, but she had a wrinkle between her eyes. I moved a finger up to smooth it out.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I just fell asleep."

She extended a hand and brushed it against my cheek. When I saw her finger again, there was a tear on it. I moved my own hand up to feel my face. From the amount of wetness, I had cried a lot.

"I'm not sad," I placed a hand on her cheek and smiled. "I promise. I had a vision of a girl and she has had a tough life. Quite a horrible life. But she's all good now. She's happy."

I sat up and Tamah sat opposite me. I then went on to tell her in more detail about Zoe. It was nice to formulate it all, especially the part about that Zoe was a friend, a good friend, but she didn't know me yet. That whole part felt so odd compared to how things normally were, so verbalizing it helped my own understanding of it.

At some point when I talked, Tamah moved and sat down in my lap. I hugged her and leaned my head against her shoulder as I continued to talk. When I was done, I moved my head slightly so my nose was against her neck. I took deep breaths of her scent. It was a sweet scent, one I knew I would never grow tired of.

The sun had begun to set and colored the sky pink. We stood up to head inside for dinner, but Dad came out of the house.

He walked with heavy steps and exhaustion in his eyes. It made my stomach drop. What had happened? What was going wrong?

"Your mother wants to send a message to you," he told me.

Oh, a dream about Zoe. Wonder if there'll be any dreams about the other three as well? 🤔