This is Normal

one

They say the future is in our hands lest chaos reign across all the land. Something like that at least. It's been a while since I've read up on our myths and legends. Being a guardian of time would be a pretty sweet gig if it were in my game plan. As for me? I'm looking for the future where I'm in a bikini by the pool, instead of chained up till I assure Norwood I'll adopt the Gatekeeper's creed.

Fat chance in hell I'll be out of here soon.

"Don't be afraid of it. Your dreams, those nightmares that have been haunting you are trapped deep inside. You must let go and free yourself. You must be open to the treatment for it to work," Norwood's voice sounds distant for some reason. I blink then rub at my eyes, fighting sleep. She must have put some spell over me because my muscles are like jelly, and my resolve is becoming weak.

"Stop... it," I bite out as I drift further and further away.

"Close your eyes. Count to three. Breathe in, breathe out. Who do you see?"

"It's just a blur. I... I can't make anything out, I swear," I'm not lying this time around.

"Try harder," she murmurs against my ear. Or, from very very far away. I can't tell now as I'm floating in a sea of memories I can't be quite sure are my own.

"Do you feel it? Your power. Harness it. Let it guide you home," Norwood reassures me as the darkness fades and blooms into a blinding light. I fight and I fight but I'm unable to keep it away. The dark chains of moon dust and black pearls that bind me dissolve away, and I'm turned upright to face my fate.

"Close your eyes. Count to three. Breathe in, breathe out. Who do you see?"

"I see... home."

***

"Where have you been?" My sister asks me and laughs as she swings closer and closer into view. I remember this place. At least, I think I do. It's where I grew up before we moved.

"I'm not sure," again I'm being honest, staring down into hands too young to be my own. Kenya keeps grinning like she always does... like she always did before. Turning towards the edge of our backyard, I can see that the world is still teetering on the edge of a valley full of stars. That's what my sister use to call them no matter how many times Mom explained they were pockets of Time. The world is as I knew it growing up: my family's house, the playground in our backyard, my big sister, and a forest so deep and so old I thought is spanned the whole wide world.

Turning back to Kenya who is frozen in the same pattern on the swing, I test the ground with a few steps, marveling as it gives like a bouncy house pushing me back.

Lucid dreams must be something new Norwood whipped up in her lab...

"Hello? Anyone here?" I know it's a ridiculous question even as it leaves my mouth. Who else would be here inside of my own mind? But, I can't shake the feeling that someone is watching me, crying out for me, in need of help. That's how it always starts in my nightmares. First the happy memories come, and then all of my regrets. Only this time I know I'm dreaming and I still can't stop it.

A gust of cool wind pulls me closer to the edge of the yard. I yank away and grab onto the swing set, my sister still frozen with a smile that's now wax-like and dead. Above, a storm of crows blacker than the night sky is flapping in unison. They come closer and closer till they surround us. I panic and try to grab onto my sister and pull her away. It's always the same scenario I can't change. The murder rises and takes us with them. I know what's next. Like a broken record my mom's screams come from below, followed by doors slamming, feet pounding, and spells trying to pull us free of the storm.

I try my best not to look into Kenya's face. I can't handle looking into the expression that will be there when I am sleepwalker, powerless, knowing both of our fates.

If I had the power to change the future, I'd rather be dead instead.

Closing my eyes for the inevitable fall, I wait and I wait and nothing comes. Glancing around I realize instead of plummeting to the ground, we're both suspended, everything is suspended in midair. I figure it's one of Norwood's tricks again to get me to get over what happens next. Something tells me however, this isn't her doing.

"Hello? Who's there?" Even a Gatekeeper can't enter the memories of another. Who would have the power to do so? Why would they want to? And, who the hell is that man flying this way?

My eyes spring open as I stare into the most beautiful face I've ever seen on a man, woman, and anybody in-between. His eyes are like the color of mercury, with rivers so blue they're unreal crisscrossing his iris. I pry myself out of my sister's death grip just enough to trace the shape of his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones with my fingertips. He doesn't flinch. He just stares back with an expression I can't read. An odd calm falls over me till I spot the pointed ears and dark brown eyebrows of a fae.

A fae? Now I understand!

Trapped in Norwood's prison, the only pastime I had was reading her books, hundreds of books on faes, imps, changelings, and all sorts of little creatures from folklore. That and a fair share of teen romances which would explain the cheesiness of his appearances. They are powerful and mischievous beings, ones I've never laid eyes on in real life, but unable to enter my memories without my approval either.

I must have conjured him up. That would explain how he got here. Maybe not why the memory stopped working, maybe not but it's a start.

I'm so lost in my own thoughts that I don't notice the memory start to tear apart at the seams before it's too late. It takes me even longer to react as the boy in front of me takes me into his arms. I freeze as my vision blurs and he transforms into a kid like me. Slowly the memories unravel and strike into a supernova, bursting and scattering across Time.

We float together in infinity, as he presses his tan cheek against my forehead, muttering in a language I've never heard heard before, "Wake up. Find me. Please save me Danielle, my queen."

***

All Images CC0 from https://www.pexels.com/