Chapter 16 - Who Is The Lamb And Who Is The Knife?

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I blink rapidly a few times, each time hoping that my reflection will go back to normal, that this hallucination, or whatever it is, will just go away all on its own.

Of course, nothing happens. But I think - I think - my hair has a brown streak in it now. But as I turn my head, it turns out to just be a trick of the light.

Turning away from the mirror, I hold my hands up. They’re really pale, almost silvery. And not the silvery-gray pallor Dad usually has, but bluish-silver. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I looked just like Jack Frost.

Oh God. Does that mean I’m dead? Did I fall off the roof, and all this is just my soul trying to find its way to the underworld or whatever?

Panicking slightly, I look out the window before remembering that I jumped into the front yard. Using my Dark power, I climb onto the roof again and peek over the edge. No corpse on the front lawn. I take it that’s a good sign.

I get back into my room, close my window behind me, and check my reflection again. No change. Actually, maybe not. It looks like my skin has gotten even paler.

“Ugh,” I groan, keeping my voice so low I can barely even hear it. “Come on, dream. End already.”

I sit on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands for a moment before I decide to turn on my laptop and start looking things up. At first, my brain is so jacked that I have no idea what I’m trying to find. It takes a while before I’m able to focus, and then an actual idea comes into my mind.

Armed with this idea, I go to the Ice palace website and look at photos of last year’s palaces and their guests. What I see is exactly what I expect - all the people at the Ice palace looking just like me. That is, they all have silvery skin and hair, and their eyes look blue, but I can’t really tell without zooming in more than the website will let me.

Either way, I guess I should take this as a good sign. It seems to be normal for Ices - maybe it has something to do with the winter solstice?

Checking the dates on all the photos, it looks like it does. All the white-haired and blue-eyed people were photographed within two days of the solstice, according to the timestamps in the lower corners of each photo. All those from outside that two-day window show what appear to be the same people, all with different skin and hair colors.

So this looks okay. Definitely just a weird magical reaction. Not some kind of strange late-comer to the seemingly never-ending party that has been my puberty.

I check my reflection one last time before getting back into bed. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but my skin looks like it’s darkened a shade or two.

I’m still hella nervous, though. What if I’m not back to normal by the time I wake up? How would I explain that to Mom and Dad?

Because of all that worrying, I’m unable to properly fall asleep again for the rest of the night. Maybe I get forty winks in as many seconds between two and three in the morning, but aside from that, nothing. Just as well - I don’t want my last memory before leaving for the palace to be a bizarre nightmare. I’ve had enough of those for a while, thanks.

Since I have to leave at nine o’clock, I’m forced to wake up at six (I set my alarm clock again, as if it were a school day). The first thing I do is flip my light on, take my shirt off, and see if my skin is still silvery. It’s not.

I then look in the mirror and let out a long, groan-like sigh. Anyone passing my closed door might get nasty ideas about what they’re hearing (imported directly from the nearest gutter), but I don’t care. I’m so relieved to see myself looking like myself again - pale but not grayish skin, brown hair and eyes.

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