A KIND OF MAGIC ↝ Killian Jones

⇒ CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, Wilma dreamed of Killian again, which by now, had become more or less habitual. But the dream itself was different than what she was used to — for the past months, she had been living in a rom-com in her sleep, from fond hugs and kisses to cute little dates and quirky comments at each other, but that night, the dream she couldn't snap out of felt more like a memory. Scarily much so, really, it was beyond vivid, like she was reliving a moment crucial to their relationship. They were in the depths of a jungle — which alone was odd for Wilma, who was sure she had spent all of her years living a city life — and under the moonlight, they kissed. It felt like fireworks going off in the pit of her stomach, like the eruption was making her heart race to a point where it nearly burst through her chest, and as euphoria spread out all over her, the feeling of utter love only intensified.

It felt so strange, but most of all, it was the feeling of happiness in Wilma's chest that caused her to jump out of the dream, snap back to reality, and with heavy breaths, she sat up on her soft mattress. She couldn't stop thinking about Killian, but then again, perhaps she was allowed to be a little confused by everything that had happened to her in the span of one day — this strange man, so convinced it was her he was looking for, showed up in her life suddenly, wanting to kiss her, wanting to prove to her that they knew each other. And yet, all Wilma knew about him was everything she had seen through her dreams — all she knew, was that he cared about her, and somewhere deep down, she cared about him too. She couldn't make sense of it, not even to herself, but she wanted to trust Killian. It felt right. It felt natural.

Considering it was already quite early, just a few minutes before her alarm would have woken her from the dream she kept on chewing on, Wilma tossed the covers aside and tiptoed to the kitchen, where, as per usual, Emma was making breakfast and Henry was patiently waiting at the table with some unfinished homework in the works.

"Morning, Winnie", the boy greeted, unwilling to drop the nickname despite the several mornings Wilma had begged him to do so, but instead of pointing it out, the woman settled for playfully glaring at her godson.

Clearing her throat, Wilma directed a look to Emma. "I heard Walsh proposed last night...", she pointed out casually whilst drawing a sip from her tea, "how'd it go?", to which Emma groaned in response. Concluding from that, not so well, so Wilma decided to drop the matter. Emma did the opposite, though, and brought up something unexpected.

"I heard you talked with the stranger from yesterday morning", she whispered, to avoid Henry hearing, and almost choking on her tea, Wilma coughed and lowered the mug before shooting the woman a profoundly shocked look. Grateful that Henry was busy getting ready for school, Wilhelmina shushed Emma, and then proceeded to wonder how she knew about it, and reluctantly, the blonde elaborated. "He kind of showed up while I was out with Walsh. He says I used to have this past life, but I've forgotten all about it because of some magical curse", she explained, but surprisingly, there wasn't a hint of amusement on her face. If anything, it almost seemed like she was considering the possibility of Killian's words being true, and Wilma thanked the heavens — at least she wasn't the only one.

"What if he's telling the truth?", Wilma asked bravely, and with widening eyes, Emma gave her an incredulous stare.

"Wilma", she scolded, "you can't trust him. Promise me you won't go after him. God knows how dangerous he could be. He's a stranger who tried to kiss you, remember? Please? Promise me you'll stay away from him." Wilma couldn't help but feel guilty under Emma's disapproving gaze, which didn't give her much choice but to nod in agreement, as a promise that she was going to stay away from Killian, and in the process, stay safe.

But frankly, Wilma didn't know if she could keep that promise.

———

IT WAS LATE already when Wilma got out of work, but after closing the shop, she finally did what she had been planning all day — she tried to find Killian. But before that, she needed to make a stop at home and then create an excuse of getting more coffee or tea at the nearest store, to convince Emma and Henry that nothing sketchy was going on. Luckily, just as Wilma was taking out her keys and reaching for the front door, she completed her mission — she found Killian.