The Understudy of an Alchemist

47. An Omen From A Four Year Old

I am facing the drop off of the cliff, while younger me has her back to the drop off of the cliff, hands on her knees, still laughing. But as my eyes start to focus, behind her, I realise that there is someone else there. Something that she hadn't noticed yet. A shadowy figure with horns and a twisted smile, is lurking behind little me, moving closer and closer to her, it's movements swift and cautious.

Time seems to stop, as the creature's eyes fall upon me. My blood freezes to ice, and the sudden urge to vomit over comes me the sheer second the thing lays its evil eyes upon me. Something about this creature is horribly wrong, yet I cannot figure out why. Grinning evilly at my reaction, it raises a thin shadowy finger to its twisted white line of a mouth to shush me.

Then, it raises the shadow blade in its hand, triumphantly above its head, as it looms close enough to my younger self to be able to touch her. The girl, sensing something was wrong; turns her head too late; as her face twists in horror at the sight of the creature, a small scream escaping her throat........

As the creature plunges the knife into my younger self's back.

~*~

The jolting motion I make is so swift that I slam my head sharply against the bedhead, the little girl's terrified scream echoing over and over in my mind like an ear worm. Shivering, I raise my hand to my forehead, it's throbbing from the impact of hitting the wooden surface. As if on cue, the door slams open, revealing Varian standing in the doorway, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "Are you alright? I heard you gasping-"

I cut him off with a reassuring wave of my hand, as I sit up slightly despite my head's protests. "I'm fine. I'm- wait. Your bedroom is on the other-side of the house, how did you hear me??" Looking uncomfortable, he diverts his gaze slightly off to the side as he awkwardly elaborates, "I was already on my way here. Did you......." He moves his attention back towards me once again. "..........did you have a nightmare?" Ignoring the question for the fear of having to explain dead children who were also somehow me, I inquire instead, "What time is it?"

"It's about seven thirty. What happened?? Did you have a nightmare?" He repeats, still determined to know. He's not going to let this go. Rolling my eyes, I retort in a voice that sounds harsher than I'd intended, "Why do you care? Why woul-" Then, it hits me like wall of bricks, as the realisation creeps upon me. "Did..........did you have one too?" He bites his lip hesitantly, before eventually nodding.

Frowning at this, I question, "What was it about?" At my question, he hesitates once more, looking even more uncomfortable, before stating in a lowered voice, "It was about my........dad. When he was being encased in the amber. And everyone was surrounding me, and they were telling me that I deserved it-"

I cut him off. I can't listen anymore. "Look, it was just a nightmare, okay? It's not real. No one would ever think that you deserve any of that, because you don't." He's silent for several minutes, before he then suddenly probes once more, "What was yours?" I shrug, trying to play it off casually, as my heart seemingly does a back flip. "Uh.......I wouldn't consider it a nightmare. It just had a jump scare near the end. Like, you know when you're falling asleep, and your body does that fake fall thing?"

He looks like he believes otherwise, but nods nonetheless. "Okay. I'm sorry, I was just concerned." I wave my hands. "No no! It's fine, really! I just meant that, compared to yours, it was nothing." But was it? The memory of that disturbing shadowy figure brutally murdering my younger self still echoed in my memory, despite my attempts to scrub it clear from my mind. But I'm still here. I reassure myself with a shake. It's not real, because I'm not dead.