“I’ve been carrying this thing around with me for a while now.” The tone of his voice sounded like it was no big deal. It probably wasn’t. To him anyway.
She eyed the object in his hand warily. “Uh huh.”
It was a knife, a gleaming silver knife with ragged edges and a red handle.
Leaning casually against the trunk of a pine tree, he flicked the knife back and forth. It was one that could be folded, he carried it in his jeans pocket.
His eyes were on her as she stared at the knife. He was judging her reaction.
She carefully masked her face to show nonchalance, she should be over this.
He was still eyeing her cautiously as she lifted her head to look into his eyes. He matched her gaze for a few seconds, then deemed it safe to continue speaking.
“I take it out randomly whenever I feel like it. I was carving the table during last period.”
She scoffed at him and then shook her head a little, letting out a small exasperated laugh. Only him, out of all the people she knew, would do something like that.
“Nice.” Was her only reply.
Her gaze was pulled from his eyes by a flashing of metallic. She couldn’t help glancing back down at the weapon in his hand.
The slightest turn of the blade reflected a ray of sunlight. The smooth surface of the silver produced a sparkle.
She froze.
Faster than she could help, she was sucked into a memory. It was like this high velocity whirlwind that picked her up without warning and dropped her into the middle of a scene. She didn’t have a choice and it was definitely not a place that she wanted to revisit.
She stood there frozen, barely aware of her surroundings and the anxious boy observing her, as she watched the scene unfold right infront of her eyes.
The sunlight shined through the windows, seperating into a thousand different rays as parts of it was blocked by the curtains. The shadows of the curtain patterns fell all over the floor and the bed, covering them with imprints of flowers. It was a late autumn afternoon, just as the weather was turning chilly.
A girl stood eerily still, her back turned.
(She refused to acknowledge that the girl had an uncannily likeness of herself).
As the scene rotated to the side, the side of her face was visible. Her blank eyes a contrast to the warmth spilling from her window. In her hand she held her secret.
She glanced down mockingly at the object she was gripping in her right hand. For someone who’s supposed to be so strong, she was about to so something so incredibly weak.
The girl took two steps backwards and sat down on the edge of the bed. The colourful bedcovers were stained with moisture. She pulled back the left sleeve of her black hoodie and examined her arm, contemplating for a few seconds of her decision.
Raising the other hand, the object in her possession came into view. She flicked out the shiny blade with sharp teeth, the flat surface caught the light shining through the window...a flash of light....
A car veering out of control, the scene shifted rapidly, barely giving the viewer enough time to breathe. Or to gasp, as she was about to do.
Now she was a bystander to another one of her dreams. Or visions, whatever you prefer to call them. They seemed too real to be merely a dream. Perhaps that’s the result of the demonic side tempting her.
Here the scene was a much harsher one.
The girl was backed up against the wall. The cold wind whipping against her face and her hair was a mess, with pieces blown by the wind as if they were surrounding her face. She certainly felt like suffocating.
The expression on her face was one of mixed emotions, hard as she tried to hide it. Fear was dominant. Shock, despair, and almost surprisingly, determination, were also present. She looked as if she was using all her strength to not show her true emotions on her face. Her lips tight and her eyes cold, trying not to give anything away.
She glanced at the two figures a little distance away from her. The boy with his arms tight around a much smaller girl. His expression was torn between anguish and murdereous. Even though he wasn’t supposed to show any of it, she knew people well enough to read it. Fear and confusion were written all over the petite girl’s innocent face. For a moment, she felt extremely apologetic that the young girl had to see this. It shouldn’t have happened, she shouldn’t be here.
“Go,” She managed to croak out. Her voiced sounded weak, that wasn’t how she wanted it.
She cleared her voice, “Get out of here. You did what was right.”
She tried to sound hard and firm, because sounding otherwise would not achieve the results she wanted. She threw a desperate look at the boy. There had already been enough sacrifice, there was no need to make more. If anything, at the expense of her for the much better life of others would be good enough.
The boy stared at her intensely for a few seconds. She watched as he pulled out a knife from his pocket and flicked the blade out. He was prepared for action. No, don’t...
The blade was turned at an angle where it caught a glimpse of the sunlight through the clouds. The flash of the light...
“Hey, are you alright?” A familiar voice shook her out of her reverie.
Suddenly she was back again, standing beside the pine tree. She hasn’t gone for that long, has she?
She shook her head to get rid of the last of that scene. The ending was not something to dwell over.
“Of course,” She gave him a small smile, “Why wouldn’t I be?”