The first thing that Cherry noticed when she woke up, was that the once searing and unbearable pain that had been in her body had now reduced to a dull and aching throb. Cherry opened her eyes only to be blinded by a bright light that was streaming in from a relatively small window. She took a deep breath and winced slightly. Every muscle in her body was sore and everything in her protested movement as she slowly sat herself up in the bed she had been in.
What the fuck had happened? She remembered pain, so much pain spreading through her back and through her chest. She remembered the fear that gripped her heart and refused to let go. For a second everything seemed blank, what really had happened? She was at work as per usual, another day of rain... the usual summer weather in Florida. She worked her shift by herself, locked the store up for the night, and then...
All of the air in her body seemed to leave her all at one time. Flashes of memories played through her head in rapid succession. The noise, the man, the gun, trees in the distance providing a sense of hope... then the pain again. But if all of that had happened then how was she alive? How was she in more or less perfect condition?
All of the questions made her head spin. All of the how's and why's had done nothing but give her the start of a nasty headache. Quite frankly she didn't have the energy to try to think on it. Her body still felt relatively weak and tired and before she could try to solve what happened to her, she fell into a deep sleep.
~
Cherry's eyes opened to a small and cozy room that looked like the living room of a log cabin. There was a fireplace with a large and comforting flame, and a large furry rug that kind of reminded her of a polar bear. She was situated on a plush leather couch covered in a flannel blanket and also very confused. She was yet again in another fucking room, another room that she didn't recognize.
In the midst of her annoyed confusion a man walked in, a old, short, and happy man... the man from the gas station the night she had gotten shot. "You know I do remember telling you that you should be careful," he called out casually.
Cherry's mouth dropped and her eyes narrowed. "Just what the hell is going on here?" She demanded. Cherry stood from the couch and let the blanket drop to the floor. "Where are we?" She gestured wildly to the foreign room.
The man waited for her to calm for a second, "Technically you're still in the first room you woke up in. This is just a room in your mind, well in your dream to be more specific."
"So you're telling me this is all a dream right now?" She asked flatly.
Cherry was having a hard time processing what was going on, what kind of shitty lifetime movie was she dreaming up for herself?
"Well I don't want to exactly call it a dream, it's more of a vision. I came to visit you to help you understand a few things before you wake up again." he reasoned as he sat in a chair near her. "You may want to sit back down for a second, I'm probably about to shock you."
Cherry sat back down hesitantly, she didn't know how she felt about the whole ordeal yet. However, it wasn't like she had anything else to do, if it really was a dream she just had to wait to wake up.
"So what are we doing here, strange guy from the gas station?" She asked him somewhat sarcastically.
The old man chuckled at her attitude. "You can just call me Arthur, and really you should be thanking me, young lady."
Cherry shot a pointed look his way, "And why is that Arthur? This is all a dream, you said so yourself."
"Yes, but you getting shot and dying wasn't just a dream now was it."
Cherry froze as she felt a phantom pain pang through her upper body at the thought of the night, her last night. But if she was dead then what was she doing here, none of this was matching up in her head.
"You're here because I saved you," Arthur told her, answering the unasked question.
"Saved me how? You said I was dead." She gritted out in a irritated tone. "How can you save a dead person?"
"It's complicated, even somebody like me has rules to abide by. But I couldn't very well leave you to just be dead, well at least not permanently." He clasped his hands together and leaned forward on his knees. "How do you feel about fate and destiny?" He asked her.
Her mind was going a mile a minute at his words. What did he mean somebody like him? As for fate and destiny well she had never thought much of it to be quite honest. She looked at the old man's friendly eyes. "I guess I never thought much about either of them. It's not something that I've ever been big on believing in." she answered him steadily.
Arthur smiled slightly, "Cherry, from the moment everyone is brought into this universe they have a thread of destiny to follow. You make your own choices and you choose your path, but the end result is always what the universe wanted. Every human's life is mapped out in invisible ink amongst the stars." He told her intently. "Then there are other beings who are supposed to help these threads of destiny along. That's what I am doing, I'm helping you get to your destiny. As sorry as I am to say it, your destiny is not in your life you were living." Arthur finished his speech gently trying not to upset the young woman in front of him.
Cherry sat in silence trying to absorb all the information that had been thrown at her. She thought back to a earlier sentiment, this really was like a bad movie. She had lived twenty one years in a life that wasn't even the life that she was supposed to have, at least according to the man in front of her.
Cherry glanced back up at the man who was sitting silently and trying to gauge her reaction. "If that wasn't the life I was supposed to live then why was I living it?" She asked him
He shrugged slightly, "The thread of destiny has many stops along the way, maybe it was just one of yours." He reasoned lightly.
"What exactly are you?" Cherry blurted. The question had been burning her but then again so were a million others, she probably would never have time to ask them all.
Arthur let out a loud and kind laugh at the sudden change in topic. "Well we call ourselves the Guardians of Destiny but I guess you could classify us as angels in a way."
"We? There are more of you?" Cherry asked curiously
"Oh yes, young lady. I can't very well help along everyone's destiny. That would be entirely impossible." He told her. Arthur seemed amused at the thought of only one Guardian. "We are a legion of many. Every Guardian is assigned two threads at a time and when one of their threads end they will receive a new one, and so on. I was assigned to your destiny thread, and what an intriguing one it seems to be." He mused.
Cherry gave him a small smile, the whole idea was actually kind of beautiful in a weird cosmic way. Not to mention she was really grateful that she wasn't actually going to be gone forever, she would get to live life again. That lead to a whole new series of questions though, how would she keep living when her life wasn't apparently what she would be going back to.
"Arthur, where do we go from here?" She asked him fidgeting in her seat. She was suddenly very nervous about the whole idea. "Where am I going?" She asked him in a slightly panicked voice.
Arthur sent her a reassuring smile and held his hand out in a placating way. "Not anywhere bad, please do not work yourself up so much."
Cherry tried to calm her erratic breathing and nodded and him silently and stiffly. Arthur suddenly took on a serious tone of voice again. "There are many great things in your future but they take place in a different world, another reality if you will. It's a place where things might be different from where you're from, where you might be different."
"What does all of that even mean?" She asked tiredly, this was starting to exhaust her brain.
"It means that I cannot just drop you as you are in another place, it simply wouldn't work. How could you live in a world in which haven't previously existed?" He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees again. "You're going to change to fit your destiny... the thread never lies, Cherry. You will have a new life as a new person with new memories."
Cherry jerked back as if burnt, "New memories? What about my old memories? Why have me live my life if I can't have my old memories? Why not just have me born in the world where my bullshit ass destiny is supposed to fucking occur!" She exploded angrily.
Arthur sat calmly as she raged and when she was doing nothing but breathing heavily in anger he continued on. "Your old memories won't fully be gone, they will be locked away in your mind until destiny decides you need them. You will need them again, but not right now."
Cherry was getting awfully sick of this destiny shit that had her head turning and her thoughts going every which way. "So what exactly is going to happen to me?"
"You will remember this whole conversation, and you will remember that you did indeed have a different first life. That is all you will remember until the right time though." Arthur told her tentatively. "You will have memories of a life to help you fit into your new world. You will remember relationships with people and you will feel a bond to them, it will be almost as if you have been there your whole life."
Cherry sat in an unsure silence, this was a lot to take in. After a few minutes of processing Cherry looked back at the old man who had all at once changed her life in a very drastic way. She couldn't help but think back to his words from when she had first met him, not everyone enjoys a twist of fate indeed. "So I'll know that I used to have another life, I just won't remember it until destiny sees fit?" She asked
He nodded at her and offered a sympathetic smile.
Cherry let out a harsh and derisive laugh, "I guess it would be confusing to have two sets of memories banging around inside my head." She sighed and leaned against the couch once more. "When does all this happen?" She asked curiously "When do I get all these new memories and start my new life?"
He shrugged, "As soon as we are done here and you wake up."
"You aren't going to tell me anything about my new life?" Cherry asked nervously
Arthur smiled at her to try and ease her nerves. "Why would I have to, when you wake up you'll know everything you need to know."
She nodded bravely, "Does that mean I'm ready to wake up now, Arthur?"
Arthur stood and nodded, "If you're ready then it is time."
Cherry suddenly felt a pang of sadness, "Will I ever see you again?"
Arthur let out a happy laugh and smiled at the young woman's question, "If destiny deems it to be so."
Then suddenly the room was fading and Cherry was waking up, waking up to something different. Memories ran through her mind, her new life ingraining itself into her head. Everything clicked into place all at one time. Cherry knew who she was now, everything felt normal and right.
Her inner musings were cut short by a knock on her door,
"Come in!" Cherry call out sleepily.
The door cracked open and she saw her younger sister staring at her with a small smile, "Come on, sleepy. We have to get ready, mom wants a final big breakfast with us before we leave for Dad's."
"Oh shit Bells, I hope you didn't let mom start breakfast." Cherry grinned at the memory of the last time mom tried to make them breakfast and almost burned the house down.
"Phil was watching her and letting her butter toast last I checked." Bella joked to her sister
"I'll be down in 2 minutes, Bella." Cherry told her as she started to climb out of bed.
Bella left the room and Cherry froze in her spot. Where had all that come from? Arthur was right, she really did remember things and people. She had felt a love and fondness for her sister and mother that only could be felt for family.
Cherry's mind flashed back to her talk that she had with Arthur, this was her destiny for whatever reason and she was going to live it because it was now the only life she had. She once had another life, one she remembered nothing about for the time being. Cherry put her old life out of her head, it would do nothing to ponder on something she couldn't change.
Now she was Cherry Swan, and she was okay with that.
A/N: Hey y'all! I really just started this story based off of some odd snippets of a dream I remember having and my love for Jasper. This is all just for fun so I'm sorry for any mistakes or inconsistencies. I'm not particularly well versed as a writer but I'm trying my best. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!