In Control

Chapter 8

We were back under the tree and the being still hadn't explained to me what she meant by reviving me. Or that I was going to die and had no clue when. I mean I know as a human my life expectancy was pretty short, but to be told I was gonna die before the age of 20 is no less of a shock than being hit by a car out in the middle of nowhere! Let alone leaving a FREAKING FLOWER break the news to me by dragging me around at its own will!

"... Hold out your hands..."

I did as told, palms up, as the same glowing orbs from earlier came down and filled in the wounds on my fingers and palms. It stayed a rainbow of pastel colors, swirling in and out of each other as the breeze blew over me. As the colors moved and swirled, I could feel a plethora of different sensations move across the wounds. I also noticed that some of the colors would grow and take over the area, then fade out as a new one took its place. Not only that but it fell into some sort of sequence too.

Red warmed the area first, probably culturizing the wound. Blue would cool it down and slightly numb it. Green came over and made it tingle, like peroxide. Yellow would smooth out the tingle and sink to the bottom and the process would start over again. Occasionally, purple would come in and drip out of the wound, but other than that everything stayed in sync.

"... Everything here has a purpose, nothing is random... It may not make sense in the present, but if you give it time, it will show you the answer..."

I looked up from my hands curiously as she sat down next to me, holding the owl in one hand and petting its head with the other. The owl was very pleased and was tilting its head down with its feathers spread out from it. The ends of her eyes gave hint to the fact that she was smiling as she looked at me straight on.

"... The vines are a symbol of what is to come, Luna. The rose was the one to bring them to you, so a loved one will be the bringer of death for you..."

Images of my mother came swarming my mind.

"... As I have said before, I do not know when you will die, but those vines on your leg tell you that it will happen and how it will happen..."

"Wait, so how will I die?" She took a moment, then replied in the calmest and innocent voice I think I will ever hear.

"... Either suffocation or drowning..."

I sat there dumbfounded and unable to say anything for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"... The vines are very constricting, the way they curl up your leg. They dug deep enough to become a part of you, meaning you will be deep below the surface of something. The thorns also represent the fact that there shall be other ailments to your death, but those are to remain a mystery until your last moments. The black pigment in the mark also means, and bare with me cause there's more than one meaning, that you shall be blinded and or have another guardian do the deed. But do not fret, you will be revived to fill your role in this chapter..."

"Wait... Another guardian? There are others like you? If there are others, why did you choose me to take your place?" The being stopped petting the owl and looked up.

"... Yes... There are others... But none of them are your friends. At least not while you are still incomplete..."

She sat down the owl and took my hands, folded them, and held them in her own. Her eyes curled up, informing me that she was smiling. In that moment alone, I was feeling every bad emotion possible. I looked at her straight on and could tell that these emotions, the anger, the regret, and the pain were not mine, but hers. She took her right hand, placed it on my cheek, and brought our foreheads together. Love burst through the veil of misery and everything around us seemed to stop. A wave of cool air blew over and swirled around us as my nerves calmed.

I closed my eyes for a moment as everything went still.  A voice, a strange voice speaking some other tongue called from the darkness.

When I opened them again I was laying down on the ground, the being was floating above me watching the branches of the willow gently wave in the wind.

"... Your body needs to rest..."

I sat up and looked to her. "What happened? How did I fall asleep?"

"... When your body released all of its tense energy, you fell asleep into my arms..."

I panicked and looked at her worried. The being chuckled as she glided to the ground and shook her head.

"...You aren't the first and you definitely aren't the last. But please, go to sleep. I will begin the process tomorrow when you awake..."

I could swear that the sky dimmed as she motioned to a door that was placed inside the trunk of the tree. The door itself looked old and worn, cracks all around the edges. A small window on the top portion of it. I looked at her questioningly only to find that she was gone. Whipping around and searching for her in the surrounding area provided no answer as to where she had gone. It was like she vanished without a trace.

"Okay... She's gone." A hoot to my left. "At least I'm not alone."

I picked up the owl and walked to the door, pushing it open with ease. Inside was like my room back at the new house. Everything, including my boxes o' crap were there. The only difference was the window did not show the view of the forest or the land of this beings home. It was blank. Like a clean canvas waiting for that first stroke of color to be added. I walked closer to the window and sat my hand on it. My owl buddy hooted and lean towards the window also.

"What's up with this thing?" I tapped it and a ripple effect made its way across. "What?"

I did it again and something came into view. But barely. It looked like a red car, but it was so blurry I couldn't tell what anything else was. Or even if it was a car. I ran my hand across the window and the image rippled rapidly and became clear. It was Casey in the red Maverick in the town just an hour away from my new house. Meaning he was no where near that monster.

"Casey..." I fumbled for my phone and saw that he was still on the call. "You're still frozen..."

The time on the call was stuck at an hour and a half. Plus twenty seconds. What I would give right now to talk to you, I thought. At least you're safe. Taking another look at the car, I noticed another person in it. I could tell it was Casey because he's the only one I knew with a Cherry red Maverick but I could not for the life of me tell who was there with him. It's not like I could ask him either. He, along with everyone on Earth, was frozen in place.

The owl turned its head to the bed and I nodded. "She said to get some sleep. I bet we both need it after what happened today..."

Leaving my owl buddy on the window bay I crawled into bed. This was much softer than I though it would as I immediately sunk down into bliss. I was tired. Closing my eyes I, I drifted into sleep about an hour later. At least I thought it was an hour. There were no clocks to tell what time it was. Or if time even worked that way here.