When The Snow Falls

4

Nathan groaned and turned his head away from the burning sunlight. A cool hand was pressed against his forehead. His eyes cracked open, the world a blur for a moment. His eyes slowly began to focus on Nikki. She looked worried.
"Nathan you're heating up." She half turned. "I'm gonna go get the-" Nathan grabbed her arm, staring at the hospital blanket covering him.
"Nicole, please." He looked up at her, pleading with his eyes. "Don't tell the doctor." Nicole stared at him for a long moment before pulling the uncomfortable hospital to his bedside. She folded her arms on his bed and stared at him.
"What's wrong, Nathan?" He looked at her, seeing the dream was oddly accurate. Her face was curious and even the wolf's features matched.
"I had a dream. You, me, and this other girl were in it." Nicole tilted her head.
"Uh, it had pale blue eyes and an almost brown coat."
"Chestnut." Nicole whispered, staring at the ground with her arms shaking.
"Yah, how'd you know that?" She stood up abruptly, the chair tumbling over backwards behind her. She gripped the sheets on Nathan's hospital bed. "Nikki, are you,"
"I gotta go." Nicole spun and jogged from the room, not looking back. Nathan watched the door.
Soon after he had given up looking for Nikki to come back, the doctor returned with a petite woman behind him. She had golden blonde hair pulled up into a loose bun. She had a light tan suit on with a salmon shirt underneath. She carried a clipboard on her arm with her lips curved into a smile. She had slanted eyes that made her look slightly Asian.
"Good afternoon, Mr.Plessner. This is Miss.Heart, your new therapist." The blonde woman stuck out thin hand, which Nathan ignored, as the doctor checked his vitals. The doctor pressed a few buttons before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. The therapist sat in the chair Nicole had abandoned and smothered her slacks on her legs.
"Alright, Nathan is it?" She ran her pen down the clipboard and tapped it once before setting it on her lap and smiling widely at him. "I would like to start with your home life. Remember that everything you say will be kept confidential with me unless you say otherwise." Another wide smile. Nathan was getting sick of them already. Her smile changed to a thinner one.
"Life is fine." He mumbled, looking towards the large window on his left. This lady was just too happy, too hyper. He just felt like she was off. He didn't want her around.
"Has there been any stress lately?" Nathaniel pursed his lips. It was true, a close friend of his had recently killed herself but not like he was going to tell her that. It was too fresh and too personal.
"Yes but I'd rather not talk about it with you." He twisted his face into a sour look as he said 'you' and her face fell then turned slightly annoyed.
"Look, I've had kids like you before. Think you're 'too cool' to show you have feelings but it's necessary to start and finish the healing process. I'm here to help you sleep but I need to know what's wrong first." Nathan glared at her, his jaw beginning to ache at the strength of which he pressing it together.
"You don't know anything about me and you come in here talking about how you can 'help me'? I've been having nightmares that scare me awake and no magical mind-cure will  help. I've tried everything from chanting to sleeping pills and nothing works. One if my closest friends killed herself because some douche monkey broke her heart and she felt like no one could pick up the pieces." He was practically yelling now. "I had to speak at her funeral and say how beautiful she was and was forced to keep the deep scars on her wrists a secret because god forbid people find out she was dead inside long before she swallowed those pills." He stared at her for a moment. "Don't ever assume anything about me." Miss.Heart's eyes were wide. Her face had paled to white and her knuckles matched at her grip on her clipboard. She swallowed thickly and crossed her legs. Nathan's face was stony serious, his eyes flashing with fury. Miss.Heart stood quickly, the chair scooting back loudly. She mumbled something about time being over and her next client before quickly leaving the room. Nathan allowed his eyes to drift and found himself looking out the window. The sky was grey, clouds obscuring the sun. Nathan watched them shift, never revealing the orange sphere in the sky. They rolled across the sky lazily, occasionally growling or rumbling. Nathan stared at them, surprised that he had exploded like that. He was usually quiet and reclusive, never rocked the boat for fear of it tipping and sending him down with his friend. He was always afraid of that. Afraid of death. Who wouldn't be? Humans spend their lives hiding or running from death. He looked down at his hinds, clasped in his lap.
He was dreaming again. There was nothin but white as far as he could see. He sighed and sat down, closing his eyes to wait.
"Stand." He spun around to see go had commanded him to his feet. That girl from before, Snow, was standing behind him. She was wearing the same light white gown but her white hair was now in a single braid that trailed over her left shoulder. Her shoulders were back but it seemed almost like she was in pain. Her unreadable expression seemed to hold back a billion other feelings. Love, betrayal, pain, loss, surprise, anger. All those and more seemed to float behind her face, behind her eyes. Then her expression was changed to one of pure dominance. He, without thinking, averted his eyes. She snorted before offering her hand to help him. He carefully took it and stood again.
"Who are you? Why do you keep appearing to me." Her face tilted upwards, allowing her to look down on him.
"I am bound by my word to help my replacement. A great evil approaches and someone has to stand and face it." Nathan knit his eyebrows.
"Evil? This is the real world." Snow grimaced.
"Exactly why someone must protect all the humans who think there is no evil to be found." Nathan rubbed his eyes. His lack of sleep was invading even his dreams. He looked at Snow again. She had beautiful blue eyes but something in them told everyone to back off. There was this danger, this closed off persona in her eyes. They flicked to his then narrowed. "What?"
"Nothing." He mumbled. "What's coming?" Snow pursed her lips.
"That I can not say. Just remember to watch for a few things. One," She held up a finger. "Watch for the gods. They enjoy coming down to watch and making a deal with one can save your life."
"Have you made a deal?" Snow reached up to her hair and ran her hand down her braid, a dark, midnight blue streak appearing under her fingers.
"This is the Deal of The Hunter. Don't take the Deal of War. It's price is high and it's help is little. Second," She held up another finger, the blue streak disappearing. "Keep Nicole close and try to get into her other life. Tell her that Kiba can help her to trust again."
"Kiba?"
"Don't ask, just tell. I have time for one final thing." She rested her hands on his shoulders for a moment before her grip tightened. "When the storms come, when the winds howl, when the snow falls you can not be afraid. Take heart, young squire. You have much to learn and a true nights sleep is the first step." Then, with a smile, the dream dissolved.