𝙞'𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙧

chapter 14

talia's body was cold as ice.

her hair flew in the wind as waves broke onto the rocks she stood on, water spraying onto her skin. she looked up, seeing the lighthouse she remembered coming to with her dad as a kid. it was a forty minute drive away from her home.

so how did she get here in the middle of the night?

the area around talia was dark. the only time she could fully see everything around her was when the lighthouse light above circled the area. as it did and she stared to the front of her, tal could see a figure.

a boy.

"hello?" tal called out over the waves, squinting her eyes. the boy walked closer, eventually coming into view.

he looked about talia's age, maybe a little older. his dark brown eyes and hair looked similar to tal's, making her curious.

"who are you? do you know how i got here?" she blurted out. unexpectedly, the boy in front of her smirked.

"you may not know who i am, talia. but i know you. and i've learned to grow very fond of you over the years."

a breeze of saltwater sprayed over the two as a new set of waves crashed. talia grew more confused.

"over the years?" she clarified.

"i've been watching. seeing you figure your life out. noticing how you...slowly follow in my footsteps."

the boy looked talia up and down, and she did the same.

"i see you received the bracelet i left for you. consider it a gift." he mentioned.

talia looked down at her wrist, seeing the bracelet she picked up from borgin and burkes.

there was something familiar about the boy in front of her, but she couldn't figure out what.

"how did i get here?" tal asked again. the boy shrugged, putting out his arms.

"i brought you here. i needed a nostalgic place. i figured...this would do."

tal felt her hair begin to curl from the dampness around her. she watched as the boy in front of her looked around, walking in a circle and staring back at her.

"what do you want, then?" she wondered. the boys look of curiosity quickly turned cold, which made talia's stomach turn. she watched as he reached for his wand, slowly pointing it towards her.

talia reached for her own wand to defend herself, but quickly realized it wasn't there.

"i would like to apologize for this. but i've been told im incapable of remorse."

with that, the boy flew a nameless spell at talia. she ducked down, gasping at the sudden action.

"bastard!" tal yelled. a strong wave hit the rocks, soaking talia and the boy. she began to run, immedietly going to the lighthouse.

the boy quickly followed, forcing talia to dodge spells along the way. as she ran as fast as she could, tal tripped on the rocks beneath her, a gash forming on her knee.

"it's best not to run, talia! make this easy for us both!" the boy yelled. talia turned around, her body on the ground from the fall. her hair was now wet.

"go to hell!" she yelled back, still unable to recognize who the boy was.

tal got up and ran for the tower. she pounded on the door and began to feel helpless when it didn't open.

the boy threw another spell in tal's direction. she ducked, and the spell hit the door, causing it to swing open. talia ran for the steps, trying her best to throw spells from her hand at the boy behind her.

as tal ran up the steps and slowly began loosing her breath, she heard thunder from outside of the lighthouse, followed by splatters of rain.

she stopped to catch her breath. talia couldn't fathom what was going on, but knew she had to survive. as she looked down, she saw the boy was not far behind her. she took a deep breath and continued to run, spell after spell being thrown her away.

it took talia a while to reach the top of the tower. but, when she did, she ran to the other side of the big light. it was now pouring, and a few seconds barely went by of her catching her breath before the boy stood there in the doorway.

"well...this is a bit of a cliche. don't you think?" he asked, slightly out of breath himself. talia shook her head. rain poured down on them.

"what the hell do you want?" she yelled. it was then she started to cry as her mind realized there was no way out.

the boy took a step closer, his wand held in the air. talia focused on it.

about 13 and a half inches, yew, phoenix feather core.

"i want you dead." he said.

tal ran around the weakened platform of the lighthouse. it was a big circle, and quickly made the both of them dizzy. tal had enough when she tripped on a broken wire that stuck out onto the platform.

"there's nowhere to run." the boy said. talia could feel he was close.

she hit the rail she held onto in frustration as she looked down at the rocky waters beneath. she remembered how she had gone to bed in her childhood home and woke up here.

it had to be a dream.

"i'm dreaming. i'm dreaming." tal squinted her eyes close, trying to wake herself up. the boy scoffed.

"you're naive. this is no dream, talia. everything that's happening is real." he explained.

talia opened her eyes. she looked at the boy, and looked at the water below, rain sprinkling down on them.

she had to wake up somehow.

tal closed her eyes. quickly, she jumped over the lighthouse rail. the boy leaned over the edge, watching talia fall.

"no!" he yelled.

when talia opened her eyes again, she was sitting up straight in her bed. she was out of breath and panting with fear, but was completely dry.

the only thing that was different was a bleeding gash on her knee where she tripped on the rocks.