Crossroad: TBB Series Book 2

8

"Oh come one Riley, you're a Whitelighter." I was afraid to open my eyes. Maybe if I just ran through with them closed, it'd be over sooner. It was what I was going with until a scream caught my attention.

My eyes whipped open as I turned around swiftly. I was completely thrown off guard, how had I gotten here? I was no longer in the forest, but somewhere else, somewhere I didn't recognize. That same scream ripped through the wind, sending shivers down my spine, whoever it was, was in serious pain.

"Hello?" I called. Someone needed help. "Where are you?" I ran from place to place, looking for the source, yet unable to find one. On the verge of giving up, the scream became closer, almost as if it was coming from behind me.
I turned to find a woman in a gauzy white dress crawling across the floor. Her face was turned away from me, so I couldn't quite make out who she was. She dragged herself across the grass, holding on to what I assumed what a bloated stomach. She was pregnant!

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" I ran over to her, she seemed to be unable to hear me. "Miss," I tried to touch her shoulder, but my hand went right through.

I jumped to my feet as my heart fell back in place. "What the-" I tried touching my own hand, yup, solid. I looked from my hand, back to the woman, and then back at my hand.

She continued to drag across the floor, her face still away from mine. I tried touching her again, only to find once more, that I couldn't. This was crazy, I was losing it. What was I even doing here?

I paced around so that I could at least see the woman's face. When I did, my breath caught.
It was me...

Yet something was different...off. I swallowed hard as I stepped away in fear. My replica continued to cry out in pain as she breathed deeply, I realized she...I was in labor.

"Calhoun," She cried. "Please...please." Her whimpers broke me inside, she was alone and in labor.
But I was confused. Calhoun...wasn't that my father's name? And then it clicked as my eyes grew to the size of saucers. That wasn't me, it was my mother!

"Memoria Praeteritorum." I whispered to myself. "Memories of the past..." My mind was trying to figure out what was going on, trying to piece it all together. "I must've been seeing the past, or more so...a memory. But why this memory, why the night of my birth. What did it have to do with anything going on in my life at the moment? None of this made sense.

Before my eyes, the memory shifted, nearly whirring by me. I squeezed my eyes shut as I shook my head, what was happening?

When they opened, I was looking at an entirely new scene. My mother lay lifeless with a wailing child on top her chest. I stepped closer, examining the features of my minutes old, newborn self. My cheeks were full and red with color as my chest rose and fell rapidly.

I couldn't keep the tears from spilling over, it was painful to watch, here I was...so close to my mother, yet she was so far away. Just minutes old, and I was already alone.

I sat on the floor and pulled my legs into my chest, resting my chin on my knees as silent tears continued to fall. Seeing this made it all too real for me. wasn't this supposed to be helping me figure out something? Instead, I was only lost, hurt, and longing for the comfort of my mother's arms.

I wanted to hold the younger me, to quiet my cries and be told that everything was going to be alright, I was safe. Every time I tried, my hands went right through, after all, it was only a memory, none of it was really there.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see the scene anymore. "Axelia!" I called. She had to be here somewhere, she had to make this stop, I didn't want to see it.