Chapter 1: Meeting Him, in a Dream, at Least
When I opened my eyes, I was in a dream. I was in a clearing in a forest, somewhere up in the mountains, somewhere I had never been before. Snow was falling hard, sticking to my hair and eyelashes. I looked up, and saw that it was nighttime, a full moon peaking up behind the tall mountains. Odd, not a cloud in the sky. I looked down, everything moving in that weird slow motion that isn't really slow motion kind of way. I was wearing black skinny jeans, knee high black converse, and a deep purple tank top. Weird, I wasn't cold. It was practically blizzarding out here, yes I know it's not a word, and I wasn't in the tiniest bit cold. Ah, dreams, my one escape.
I noticed my arms were free of bruises, and I could feel that my face wasn't bruised and beat up either.
I turned my face back up to the sky and smiled, tears falling down my face.
Hello, Little Blackbird.
A voice. Oh, such a beautiful, sad, sexy voice. I'd heard it somewhere before… Then, it hit me, running away from that house down the street… The Boarding House! I'd run from the Boarding House! That voice wasn't spoken out loud. That voice was in my head. I lowered my head, still in that slow motion that wasn't slow motion way, and searched the clearing, then the woods around it, seeing nothing but shadows and snow. So much snow. So much darkness.
"Hello?" I called, wanting a reply and yet dreading one.
I saved you, Blackbird. You owe me.
"Where are you?" I called, circling, so slow, yet so fast, in circles, staring so hard at the trees, in the trees, that my eyes were beginning to hurt.
Look with your Mind. Speak with your Mind.
"How?" I called, distress in my voice.
You called me when you were in trouble, projected your thoughts for help. I'm your savior. I can protect you. Do you want it?
"Yes! Please! Keep me safe." I called, still circling, still looking, snow still falling, faster, faster.
Then I will, Blackbird. Open your mind to me.
I opened my arms, the only thing I could think of, and closed my eyes, imagining a door opening in my mind. It was a giant black-oak door, ornate and heavy, and it creaked as if opening for the first time in this lifetime. This lifetime? I've only lived one lifetime. Yet, something somewhere made me think differently.
Old Soul. You've been around awhile, each lifetime never letting anyone in, never trusting, never surrendering your secrets.
"Where are you?" I cried, keeping my eyes closed, grasping with my hands for something I knew was there, someone I knew was there. Then, pressure on my outstretched hand, arms around my waist, a chest against my head, lips on my forehead, breath against my hair, hands on my back, and safety around my mind.
I'm here.
My eyes flew open then, my room a spinning vortex of neon colors, Kanon Wakeshima's "Still Doll" blasting from the speakers, creating an eerie atmosphere to the already pretty spooky evening and dream I'd just had. I couldn't remember anything that had happened earlier that night, er, last night, I guess. I could only remember waking in a strange house, with blood on my shirt, and a dream…
That's when I heard a knock on the door.