I was running down the hallway of the school, my heart racing, and breathing erratic. Mr. Burke was behind me, I could hear his voice echoing against the walls. I felt cold and tired, every inch of my body ached. Part of me knew this was just another dream, but how could I be sure? I was having trouble separating my dreams from real life. The halls appeared to stretch on forever and I couldn't seem to catch my breath.
"Ms. Massey," he growled. His footsteps were slow and steady and yet I couldn't outrun him. I turned my head to glance over my shoulder only to find the Burke monster directly behind me, hands outstretched, eyes glowing red. I screamed and fell to the ground, throwing my arms up to defend myself.
Without warning a glowing sword impaled the monster causing the creature to stop. The demon exploded into a shower of black ash which floated delicately to the ground. Behind the monster stood Casimir, still holding out his sword. The young man wore an exquisite suit of golden armor that seemed to glow like the sun. Even though I felt no wind, his cape billowed out around him, along with his hair which flowed free from his ponytail.
"C-Casimir?"
The young man looked down at me as if he had just noticed my presence. His angry stare softened and he lowered his sword arm, letting the tip fall to the floor. Black ash from the slain monster was still in the air as Casimir opened his mouth to speak. Every word sounded like gibberish and I strained to understand what he was trying to tell me. A large fleck of ash landed on Casimir's shoulder and I saw him grimace in pain. From that spot a crack appeared, slowly running down his arm. The cracks grew bigger and bigger causing the golden color of Casimir's armor to fall off. Under the beautiful gold, the layer was a deep black beneath. Casimir stumbled backward as he clutched at the falling gold from his armor. The brightly glowing sword clattered to the floor. The light from the weapon began to pulse and fade. I could feel his fear and I wanted to help. I reached out my arm to grab at his hand and Casimir looked down at me in distress.
A mysterious wind rushed past me, pulling us apart. I cried out as the ash blew into my face, afraid of what it might do if it touched me. I felt a hand grip my wrist tightly and I opened my eyes to find a different man in front of me. He looked similar to Casimir, only with sharper angles to his face, a larger build to his body, and much longer hair. As I took in his appearance I knew this man was not a stranger, but a frequent player in one of my most hated dreams. This was the man crying in the dream where I died. He was wearing the same armor as Casimir, only pitch black. He pulled me forward, his lips pressed against the side of my face and I shivered. I heard him whisper something in my ear.
"Diana?"
My eyes flew open. I was laying on the couch in my living room, my grandfather hovering over me. I could still smell the lingering scent of lavender in the air. As I took in my surroundings I felt the familiar sting of pain pulsing in my wrists, knees, and around my ankles. I sat up and inspected my body now covered in bruises. My new dress was dirty and torn in a few places. I felt terrible. I looked over at my grandfather, his face full of worry. Casimir was lurking in the shadow of the hallway as if he was afraid to approach any further.
"So, it wasn't a dream then?" I said hoarsely. I coughed and my grandfather quickly handed me a glass of water. I took it hesitantly, wondering how to phrase my next set of questions but it was my grandfather who spoke first.
"How are you feeling?"
I couldn't keep the incredulous look off of my face when he asked me that. I stole a quick glance at Casimir to see his reaction. He just looked embarrassed, nervously wrapping his arms around himself. My focus returned to my adopted grandfather, whose feelings were faint to me, but I knew they were wracked with dread.
"I don't know where to begin," I remarked, laughing nervously. My eyes flew up into the ceiling, trying to ward off my oncoming tears.
"I would like to explain."
"Oh, would you now?" I scoffed, my temper flaring. When I had begged them for an answer before they were silent, but now he wanted to come clean. I glared at Grandpa as I continued, gesturing wildly as I spoke. "So, can you explain to me why my homeroom teacher lured me away and then attacked me? Or maybe the part where Mr. Burke transformed into some sort of monster? What about when Casimir showed up and killed him with a sword? Then how he just disappeared, poof turned into ash. Which part would you like to cover first?"
"Diana," my grandfather said, reaching out to touch my hand. I jerked away, splashing water on my lap. Tears spilled out of my eyes as I remembered the events. I knew it probably wasn't fair to my grandfather but I was upset and angry at him.
"I need a minute," I gasped, rubbing at my tears. I hated crying in front of people, especially my grandfather.
"Take a few deep breaths. I promise I will explain," he said, handing me a wad of napkins for my wet lap. I traded my water cup for the napkins, dabbing at the damp spot on my dress. I used the remaining napkins to wipe the tear stains off of my cheeks. I worked at calming my breathing as I fiddled with my used tissue. Dark smudges of mascara and eyeliner were streaked across the flowery pattern of the napkin. Once I was calmer I looked over at my grandfather, ready for him to speak. He produced a small silver jar and unscrewed the lid to show me the contents.
"This is a salve for your bruises, it should help with the pain, and speed healing." He tilted the jar towards me, gesturing for me to take it. I held out my hand to receive it, immediately lifting it to my nose to smell its scent. It looked and smelled like a body butter you could buy in a drug store, with a hint of lemongrass and ginger. I took a small sample of the salve, rubbing it gently on my bruised wrist. I winced as I touched the nasty purple welt, gritting my teeth as I massaged the medicine into my skin. Almost immediately I felt a soft tingle and was quickly amazed as the bruising faded from a violent purple to a soft grey.
"What the heck?" I murmured, turning my wrist around and wiggling my fingers. "This is incredible. Where did you get this stuff?"
"I made it," Grandpa admitted.
"It's like magic," I whispered, watching as the bruise grew even lighter. The pain was almost gone.
My grandfather sighed deeply. "In a way, it is magic."
I stopped wiggling my hand to stare at my grandpa. "Say what now?" I scoffed.
"What I am about to tell you will be hard to comprehend at first," Grandpa hesitated, rubbing at the side of his head. He was still wearing the clothes from the open house, only he had ditched his jacket, untucked his shirt, and rolled up his sleeves. He looked like he hadn't slept.
"Grandpa, I just saw my homeroom teacher transform into a monster and Casimir stab him with some weird glowing sword. I'm beyond ready to start comprehending," I insisted. I continued rubbing the magical mystery salve on my other bruises as I spoke, all while watching my grandfather fidget nervously. He leaned back in his seat on the ottoman, crossing and uncrossing his arms over his chest before finally letting his head fall to his shoulder as if in defeat.
"I won't lie, I had hoped to keep this all from you a bit longer," he started.
I felt my face flush in anger. "Why would you keep this from me at all?" I bit back.
"Is it so wrong to hope you could live a normal life here on Earth?" My grandfather retorted, returning my angry gaze.
"'Here on Earth'?" I repeated. Chills ran down my arms. Grandfather stood up suddenly, walking over to the window that faced the front yard. He pulled back the curtain as if he expected someone to be waiting outside. I squinted as the late afternoon sunlight hit my face. I wondered how long I had been asleep and how I was transported home after I passed out.
"I'm sorry, it's hard to decide where to begin," my grandfather lamented, closing the curtain slowly. "I have thought about how I wanted to explain all of this to you for years, but I find myself in front of you now at a loss for words." He turned to look at me, a sad smile on his face.
Casimir shifted nervously from his spot in the hallway, oddly silent.
"Start with Mr. Burke," I proposed, gesturing sharply at my grandfather.
"Mr. Burke was what we call 'The Fallen', or more commonly a darkwraith."
"A darkwraith?" I repeated, stressing the word wraith as I spoke.
"It is a person who has committed a sin so great that the Gods have cast them into darkness. These cursed beings now consume the souls, flesh, and blood of other living creatures. They especially like to possess the bodies of humans."
I stared at him as he explained, terrified at the idea of it all. What sin was so great as to 'curse' someone like that? Mr. Burke had said something about a wraith during our altercation, I had wondered what he meant.
"There are several different types of wraiths, but you usually only see shadow wraiths on Earth, since the magic is so limited," Grandpa explained.
"Magic!?" I spat out, unconvinced. "Are you telling me Mr. Burke was possessed by this wraith thing?"
"At some point, he must have succumbed to the evil creature," Grandpa said softly, his face downcast.
"So, was he always possessed while at school, I mean how long does it take for a wraith to eat someone's soul?" I fretted, skipping over the idea that souls were something tangible. I began thinking about Mr. Burke's actions the past few months. I never really paid that much attention to him because he seemed like a normal teacher to me, albeit a bit grumpy.
"As far as consuming a person's soul, it really depends on the power of the wraith and the will of the human. Sometimes it takes years, other times days."
I found myself nervously twisting the lid to the salve jar as I listened. "Could a wraith possess me?" I asked.
"Ah, no. Only certain types of people make good hosts," Grandpa said flatly, shaking his head.
"What," I muttered, "like 'evil' people?" Mr. Burke wasn't very nice but I didn't think he was evil. Except you didn't really know him, Diana.
"We are getting off track. Diana, you of course know of these strange dreams you have."
"Only every waking moment," I grumbled. I had spoken about them to my grandfather several times over our years together but I never thought he was that interested in them.
"There are some scholars that believe dreams can be moments of your past lives revisited. For you, that is exactly true," Grandpa remarked.
"I'm sorry, what? Past lives? That is crazy," I said, shaking my head dismissively. I stared down at the jar of so-called magic medicine and bit my lip. No crazier than glowing swords and instant bruise remover, Diana.
My grandfather moved to sit back down on the ottoman, leaning in close to me. "You see, we, Casimir and myself, are not of this world. We are warriors who hail from the kingdom of Eirene, which is located on a planet called Terra. Our planet lies in a dimension parallel with that of your Earth."
I sat in silence for a moment as I broke down what my grandfather had just told me. There was a heavy pause as I opened my mouth a few times to speak but couldn't find the words. Both my grandfather and Casimir looked so serious, so worried, as I sat there, trying not to laugh. I couldn't stop myself and began chuckling loudly.
"Okay, now you're just making stuff up," I giggled. "Warriors? Like you fight people? And you're from another dimension for that matter. What does that even mean?" My laughter faded as I took in the sober expression on their faces. Are they really telling me the truth? I wondered. I reached out with my talent and I couldn't sense any dishonesty. I was perplexed.
"Yes, we are warriors, fighting in a resistance against the rule of an evil king called Ratimir. The planet we hail from is one rich in magic and is full of many kinds of people. The Nephilim are much like your human race," Grandpa explained, as he gestured at Casimir. "Myself, I am what is known as a Miya'ouk."
I stared at him quizzically. "Miya-what?" I asked, attempting to repeat the word. "What is that?"
"I guess the closest translation would be Earthborne."
I crinkled my nose at him, still confused. "Earth? Like the planet Earth, like a human."
Grandpa chuckled lightly, thinking a moment before responding. "No, I was not born on Earth. It refers to the element I align with, which is earth," he explained, pausing to let me take it all in. "I have magic that is rooted in nature, like trees, plants, and dirt."
"Is that why you are so good at growing things?" I wondered, out loud.
"Ha ha, indeed," Grandpa admitted, a slight blush on his face. I was silent as I pondered all he had said. The idea of magic was so strange to me, along with these new words.
"Miya...ouk?" I repeated hesitantly.
"Yes, you've got it," he said with a small smile.
Casimir spoke up softly, ever eager to help explain. "The proper term is Louk, but over time the Louk eventually divided themselves based on their element. The fireborne are Fum'ouk, the waterborne are Taku'ouk, and the windborne are Poch'ouk."
I must have looked very confused because Grandpa stepped in to help.
"In English, we like to use the word Elemental... if that helps."
"Oh, Elemental!" I exclaimed, relief flooding over me for just a moment before another wave of unease passed over me. "That is easier...but..."
"Diana?" Grandpa said, watching me nervously.
"It's just that you look so human, I don't understand. You say you're an Elemental but I admit I expected something a little more...." I eyeballed my grandfather's appearance as if horns or a tail would pop out at any second.
"It is a spell," Grandpa disclosed, lifting his arm to show off a bracelet on his wrist. He had once told me it was a gift from his college sweetheart. As far as I could recall, I don't think I have ever seen him without it.
"A spell, like a magic spell? So, if you take off that bracelet you'll look all dark and scaly?"
"I do appear less than human, yes," he clarified, nodding his head slowly.
I sat for a moment, waiting for him to continue or at least take off the bracelet. I looked down at his wrist intently. "Well, are you going to show me?"
My grandfather stiffened slightly glancing over at Casimir. "I do not wish to frighten you, Diana," he finally said.
I huffed at his comment, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "I am already freaking out Grandpa, but I am also having a hard time believing all of this," I confessed as I rubbed nervously at my elbows. "You talk about other worlds, Elementals, magic, and, yes, a lot of weird stuff has been going on, but you just can't expect me to believe all of this without some more proof." I cast my gaze up at my Grandfather my expression stern. "Please, I just need you to be honest with me right now."
Grandpa stared at me with his familiar green eyes lined with wrinkles, weathered by the sun. He removed the bracelet with a sigh and there was a quick shimmer surrounding his body. It was so fast that if I had blinked I would have missed it. His skin was darker like he had gotten a good tan. Along with this his lustrous silver hair was even longer now, colored mossy green and mixed with silver streaks. He looked up at me and I saw his green eyes had gotten even brighter. Sharp fangs poked out over his upper lip and his ears were now long and pointed, much like elf ears. I watched curiously as they twitched, half tempted to reach out and touch them. Even with all these changes, I could still see the familiar lines of my Grandfather's face. This was the face of the man who took me in and cared for me all these years. Waves of unhappiness and guilt flowed from my grandfather and I gasped inwardly. My anger was forgotten for a moment as I was in awe that I could sense more of his feelings. For years I had always assumed he was just not a strong broadcaster. Now I guessed that maybe the bracelet, which disguised his appearance, might also have helped block me from reading his emotions. This might have been the reason why he could successfully lie to me for so long.
I looked over at Casimir who was watching my reaction closely. "And Casimir, what does he look like? Is he under a spell also?"
The young man walked towards the couch hesitantly, a heavy blush on his cheeks. "Oh no, I always look like this, mostly."
"Mostly?" I restated, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well, as a Nephilim my lifespan is much longer than a human's. I also age more slowly," Casimir explained.
"Don't tell me, you are secretly five hundred years old?" I joked.
"Oh, hardly," he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. I focused my glare on him and he mumbled. "I'm more like two hundred."
I stared at him flatly. "Two hundred?"
"Well, one hundred and ninety-four," he clarified.
I let out a huff. "I think I need a moment," I admitted, tapping my fingers nervously. If Casimir is almost two hundred years old, then how old is Grandpa? This whole story was too much. Another planet filled with magic and Elemental people? Not to mention they were telling me that my dreams were visions of a past life. It was overwhelming.
Another train of thought popped into my head and I looked over at my grandfather, who was watching me silently. "Wait, back up a second. You said my dreams had to do with my past lives, plural. As in more than one?"
"Yes, I believe that your dreams are the older parts of your soul attempting to speak to you," Grandpa theorized.
"And they decided to go with repetitive, ultra-graphic, and painful nightmares? Gee awesome," I said sarcastically. My dreams always seemed so real to me, and now I guess that was because they were in fact real. It was still hard to believe. I glanced from my grandfather to Casimir, eyeing them warily. "So, what do these past lives have to do with you?"
"Your last life was one on our world. In our land you were known as Princess Taya," Grandpa explained.
"A princess, for real?" I blurted out. I had a hard time imagining myself as royalty. "So, you are saying I was a princess in your world, but if this is a past life then I must have died," I reasoned. My grandfather was silent, his eyes full of sorrow.
Casimir was the one who replied. "Yes," he said simply. "The princess died over a hundred years ago."
"A hundred?" I spat out in shock. My memories flashed back to one of the most violent parts of my dreams in which I was stabbed. The dream was so vivid and painful that I would wake up screaming in agony sometimes. It was something I had lived with for as long as I could remember. I touched my stomach tenderly, as it twisted in pain. "All this time I've been having these horrible nightmares because of a past life as this princess? But you took me to all those doctors for tests!" I glared at my grandfather and he seemed ashamed. "So now you're basically admitting that you knew what was causing them the whole time."
"More or less," my grandfather said quietly.
I felt a flash of anger. "Well, which is it? More or less?" I shouted, standing as I did. As I jumped from the couch, so did my Grandfather. "These dreams have tortured me for years and you hid the truth from me. Ten years you lied to me! You could've said something or at least helped me to understand their meaning."
"I wasn't sure how to tell you, my dear. Honestly, for years they were only theories," he tried to reassure me, reaching out to comfort me. I jerked backward from his touch and I could see the hurt in his eyes. "Only recently has Casimir been helping me piece together the meaning behind your dreams."
"What does Casimir know about all of this?" I said harshly, throwing my hand in his direction. There was another moment of awkward silence as my Grandfather and Casimir eyed each other from across the room. "What else are you not telling me?!"
"I should let Casimir explain that, but I must tell you that what is happening to you regarding your dreams is very uncommon. Even from our land blessed with magic, it is basically unheard of," my grandfather insisted. "Reincarnation is rare and there isn't a lot of information that I can get my hands on."
"I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell me," I protested, stamping my foot a little. It was childish but I was so frustrated that I could scream. Tears welled up in my eyes again. "I've felt so alone, so powerless that sometimes I wondered if I was going crazy. I trusted you so much and you lied to me." I was whispering now, choking slightly on my frustration and tears. I had begun pacing while I was speaking, my body moving on its own. I glanced at my grandfather, his new Elemental appearance seemed sad and defeated. This was an expression I never imagined I would see on his face. I felt a twinge of guilt for yelling at my guardian but I shoved it away, wanting to remain furious instead. I was beginning to feel trapped and I knew I had to get out of this room.
"I just... I need some space," I said, turning around suddenly. I rushed around the couch, nearly tripping on the corner of a rug in my haste to leave.
"Diana!" My grandfather called out.
"No!" I shouted back. I rushed towards the front door, intent on leaving now. Casimir caught up to me easily, blocking my path.
"Diana please, let us explain," he pleaded, placing his hand over his heart.
I shook my head at him. "No, not right now. I just need a moment, alone." My hands were shaking as I grabbed my jacket and purse. It didn't seem like Casimir would move so I pushed into him, shouting as I shoved. "I need to get away from both of you. Just out of this house!" Casimir made a move to stop me and I whirled around, raising my finger to his face. "Don't you dare stop me, don't follow me, just don't," I hissed, choking back my anger.
Casimir stared into my eyes, his brow furrowed slightly. He lowered his arm slowly and took a step back, his face awash with a familiar sadness.
And with that, I stalked out of the house and into the setting sun.