Life's Requiem {Book 1}

Chapter 3: Fractals

There it was again. The same nightmare that had begun to haunt her since the night of her last performance. Purple flames dancing across her skin, a searing heat flooding her veins. Screams had torn from her throat, accompanying the others she heard. It was torment. A warning.

Jennica looked down at her trembling hands, untouched by fire but clammy and pale, along with the rest of her skin. She shuddered from the cold sweat, her hair sticking to her neck and the sides of her face. These past few nights had been unbearable.

The sun had peaked and shone through the window that rested between the two beds. It was after eight o'clock, but Cammy was inclined to sleep longer. Jennica, however, would not, and she refused to wait for her to wake up. Taking a grey cardigan and slipping it on, she left the dorm with enough grace that her departure was silent and unnoticed.

There was an open landscape beyond the bulk of college buildings, leading to the football field. Jennica would often take walks through there when wanting her mind to refresh. That was what she needed at this moment. Graduation was in the evening and she was fighting a new demon, which was a rare occasion, but something her parents always warned her about. Emotional demons were so easily deceiving and led people to do terrible things with their lives. Jennica always vowed to be strong enough where that would never happen. Not even these nightmares of burning alive would change her character. She only wanted to know why she was having them and put it to an end.

The football field was empty, but the games played there had left behind wisps of memory that Jennica could envision when looking at it. Crowds cheering, opponents fighting for their victory, music blaring over the noise. She never cared much for football, but memories were still made when watching them with Cammy. She could almost see herself cheering from the bleachers, along with hundreds of other students. Jennica leaned against the field's border rails in nostalgic thought.

"Still thinking?" An oddly discrete voice interrupted those thoughts. A voice she did not recognize.

Jennica turned her head, and there she saw him, standing merely ten feet from her, leaning against the same railing. A stranger.

"I was wondering when your mind would clear long enough for us to talk." He continued. "You've been so busy."

"Who are you?" Jennica was cautious around strangers. Her heart thumped against her sternum and she nearly wanted to retreat back to the dorms.

"Someone you can trust." It wasn't very convincing, and the worst thing a stranger could say. "I've been watching you. Or... should I say, watching over you."

"And that's supposed to make me trust you?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps not. But I don't always believe in formal introductions, especially with the nearest of kin."

"You aren't making any... I..." Jennica was nervous. "Who are you?!"

There was a pause. It wasn't very welcome.

"I've been worried for you, Jennica." Her breath caught. He knew her name. "You're oblivious to the truth. These secrets will leave you crippled, you don't know the power you hold." Turning to face her, he pointed at her locket, knowing she was too afraid to speak. "Your locket... it's tormenting you, yes?"

"What...?"

"The nightmares." He was so inconspicuous, it was agitating. "You've been having them."

Jennica's honesty compelled her to nod. "How..." she swallowed. "How do you know about them?"

"I could feel them. Just like you can feel me." He took a step closer, making Jennica frown, but she did not retreat because there was an odd familiarity to his appearance. "Your locket is magic, and now that you have grown, it's finally chosen you."