Mirai

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I couldn't finish the sandwich, so we left for the main house almost immediately. Each step I took increased the nausea I felt, but I persisted. Kept telling myself that it made sense to ask the Priestess for help.

When we got to the doorstep though, the nausea had increased so much that I couldn't fight it anymore. I bent over and the few bites of the sandwich I had managed to eat came up. It was all still as intact as it had been when I had swallowed. The bread could be seen, as well as the pieces of ham, cheese, and salad. It was all just a soggy mess mixed with fluids. Seeing it made another wave of nausea come, but nothing but more fluids came up.

"Take it easy, M. We won't let her hurt you," Redmond whispered right by me. I then realized he held my hair back with one hand and that I held onto the other.

I straightened myself and he gave me a soft smile that was quite unusual for him. Then he dried the sides of my mouth off with the edge of his jacket.

"What's the meaning of this?" the Priestess asked in a harsh tone. She had just come out of the house, and I automatically took a step closer to Redmond. He, in turn, put an arm around my waist.

"Something has happened with Mirai," Mom explained in a shaky voice. "A curse I think."

The Priestess looked at me, her eyes narrowing. For a moment I thought she'd say she didn't give a damn, almost hoped she would, but then she nodded and turned to walk back in.

We followed. Mom first. Then me holding hands with Redmond, and Richmond close behind.

The house was just one floor, but quite large, with lots of corridors. The Priestess led us into one of the rooms furthest in. The room had white walls and no furniture, but a few cushions on the floor to sit on.

"Explain," was all the Priestess said when we had entered.

"She got a mark on her neck. The number thirty. I tried to use my abilities to see anything about it. But it's blocking my powers. And when I tried, she... She got all cold," Mom said and threw me a quick glance before looking back at the Priestess.

I leaned against Redmond and he had an arm around my waist again. I didn't want to have to move from there, but I knew I would have to. The Priestess would want to see the mark for herself.

"Turn around," was all she said.

Redmond took my hand again instead, and I was thankful he didn't completely let go of me. I felt weak, like my legs would give away at any moment, and the physical contact with Redmond was all that gave me support to still stand.

He was also the one to draw my hair to the side to show the Priestess.

"It blocked your magic?" the Priestess asked after a long silence.

"Yes," Mom answered.

"Well, we'll see if it can block mine."

Before the Priestess even had time to touch me, the feelings from before came back. The coldness, hunger, thirst, and, most importantly, the tiredness.

I wanted to sleep, I had never wanted anything as much as sleep. To just disappear into nothingness for a while. To escape everything else. To rest and have new energy to deal with the mess. To not have to think or feel. Just for a moment. Pure nothingness for a moment.

But I couldn't fall asleep. Instead, I grew colder and colder and pain came as well. I opened my mouth to scream out the pain, but instead, a sob escaped me. And the whole world shook, like there was an earthquake. I held onto Redmond as well as I could, tried to steady myself. But my grip felt far too loose.

"Stop it! You're killing her!" I heard a shout and everything eased up. I was able to tell that it wasn't the earth that shook, but me. I became aware that the tiredness and hunger and thirst didn't belong to me, though it persisted.

The coldness though...

Redmond moved his hand up to dry something from my cheek. His eyes were wide and brimming with fear. His hold on me was gentle, but I knew it was his arm that kept me standing.

When his hand fell from my face, I saw a snowflake thawing against his skin. I looked at my hands that fisted his shirt. My skin was blue and a few snowflakes were on there as well. They were all spread out one by one in a way that showed off their own uniqueness, and if it hadn't been because it was on my ice-cold skin, they would have been beautiful.

"You're colder than a block of ice," Redmond mumbled and pulled me closer, hugged me to him. Then I felt more warmth on my back and knew that Richmond was there. The coldness subsided somewhat, and I held on to Redmond. Closed my eyes and tried to block out everything except the warmth their bodies gave me. But the Priestess' words reached my ears anyway.

"A faerie, I think. Whatever magic used is blocking my powers as well, but from what I could feel, I think it's a faerie," she said.

"A faerie? But... They never do anything unless there's good reason to. Why would a faerie curse Mirai?" Mom asked.

"Could be because of her potential. Faeries have their own ways of seeing the future. Perhaps they have foreseen that she will have immense clairvoyant abilities and will help us greatly. Maybe that is against their best interest, so they decided to block her abilities."

"But why this change now? What's up with the number? And... And all of it?"

"She turned eighteen. Perhaps the curse isn't strong enough to hold it back, and they knew that. So they put a new curse on her. Would stand to reason that the number is a countdown. Thirty days maybe, and then something else will happen."

Everyone became silent. My tears flowed and got absorbed by Redmond's shirt. I wasn't sure why I cried. It could have been because of the cold, or the tiredness that had stayed. Maybe it was because of exhaustion, because everything felt so messed up. Or maybe because I deep down knew the Priestess was right about at least the last thing.

The number was a countdown. Thirty days, that was what I had. Thirty days and then I would die.

I didn't know how I knew. But I was certain that was the case.