Mirrors & Shadows

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝐕𝐈

Her breathing seemed to stop in that instant. However, she suddenly woke up again, this time her cheek stuck to the table's surface. In her frustration she held her head in both hands, trying desperately to remember what she had seen. Instead, her gaze fell upon the paper that lay flat on the table. Scribbles ran down the page, when they met its edge, they cascaded onto the table where her unconscious self had decided to continue. She noticed that she was still holding the pen. What's more, her phone indicated it was quarter to six in the morning. Sunlight filtrated through the window near her bed, illuminating the rest of the room. It was no longer the scenery of her nightmare. All of it had been but a cruel nightmare. She sighed. They were just watching over you, making sure you were okay. She calmed herself.

The unfinished plate of pasta remained from last evening. She heated it in the microwave to have for breakfast instead.

When walking to work, she wore a big scarf that gave her a false sense of security. Although she wasn't actually cold, it shielded her from unwelcome glances.

During her class, the young professor did her best to ignore Edmond De Revel at the back of the room that she knew was watching her. Her briefcase had broken when she had fallen. So when the class ended, she stood struggling with all the paper she would have to carry by hand while trying to manage her huge scarf.
"Here let me help with that." De Revel offered.
"No need." Luna answered hastily but almost immediately she watched the paper at the top of her pile slowly slipping out of her grasp and fall into De Revel's hands in time.
"May I have a word with you?" he whispered. The last time they had spoken was at the hospital. She frowned, glancing at the remaining students.
"If you don't mind doing so as I walk to the metro." she grumbled.
"I have time." he replied airily, striding to the door and holding it open for her.
When they were out of earshot, he asked:
"You knew for madame Valdret didn't you? You sensed it. How?"
"Sensed what?" Luna asked, confused.
"That she has cancer." he announced gravely. They were in the university courtyard. Luna stopped abruptly, the pile of papers she was holding, crashing to the ground, though she did not bend down to retrieve it.
"She has cancer?"
De Revel studied her.
"You could somehow feel it when the two of you shook hands. Isn't that right?"

How could he have noticed? The papers she had dropped began to whirl in the wind around them. Even if he did, how could he come to such accurate conclusions? It had been years she had been trying to convince others that she had visions of people's deaths without them calling her 'lunatic' but now that someone actually showed signs of believing her, of uncovering a secret she had kept her whole life, it was terrifying.
"How do you know she has cancer?" At this point one of the papers hit him on the side of the head. He added it to the stack he was already carrying and bent down to pick up the rest that she had dropped.
"You do know what I am?" His voice held doubt. Immediately she felt stupid for asking. Based on the migraine she had experienced during her vision, Cendrine suffered most likely from a brain tumor. And as a neurobiologist, De Revel maybe had contacts in the field that knew about Valdret's condition. They walked out of the university's gates and onto the street.
"Sorry of course," she added, not wanting to offend him. "You're a neurobiologist..."
"I didn't mean as a job... I mean what I am."
"I... I don't understand..."
"You don't know why we're different from them then. Would you like to know why?"
One moment his eyes searched hers. The next, his dark hair and coat ruffled in the wind as he turned away from her. Luna stopped, dumbfound. She watched him walking swiftly away from her, holding her stack of paper in his left grasp and felt torn between retrieving it from him and heading home.
"Hey!" she called hesitantly. "The metro station's in the opposite direction."
"Change of plans. We're going to my lab." he replied calmly without turning around. She caught up with him.
"Says who?" she demanded indignantly.
"It's only a few blocks away." He justified.