She had a very strange dream one night. She had been startled awake by someone stroking her face. She shifted her body in the warm bed. She could feel her mother's body pressed against her back. But now someone was stroking her hair. Melody figured it was her mother so it didn't worry her. She snuggled closer. Then there was a light teasing laugh and a subtle kiss to her cheek. Her eyes flashed open, but there was no one there. Her crystal was burning again and her skin felt suddenly feverish. She slid carefully out of bed so as not to disturb her mother and headed for the cooler air outside.
It was freezing in the courtyard. The evening rain was frozen to the grass like dewdrops. The shard burned against her hot skin like fire. She reached up to cast it away. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." a dry hiss came from no where.
She paused, frozen in terror, afraid someone had finally caught her out after curfew. She wheeled all the way around, but saw no one. Maybe she was losing her mind after all. Now she was hearing voices.
A single apple dropped from the tree above and hit the ground right in front of her. She flinched.
Terror, followed by anger, surged through her. "That's it! Enough games!" she challenged the empty courtyard.
To prove her point, she ripped the shard from its string and threw it away with all her strength. But the shard did not hit the ground, it stopped short and floated in the air in front of her. It wiggled in front of her, just out of reach, as if to tease her. She lunged for it, determined to crush it into powder and be rid of it once and for all. But it flew further out of her reach the moment she moved.
She chased it in a fury until she realized it was leading her somewhere. It had lead her to the wall where she had hidden the mirror. The shard disappeared into the hole. Now she would have to remove the mirror if she wanted to get to it. She reached with trembling fingers and pulled out the mirror. She tried to avoid gazing into its depths afraid of what she would see, but it surprised her. It showed her no vision.
She twisted it this way and that. Why couldn't she see herself? She could see the garden and the trees behind her, but not herself, as if she didn't exist. She gave a cry of horror and scrambled in her hiding-hole until she had reclaimed the shard. As soon as she was holding it, her body reappeared. She was totally invisible unless she was wearing her shard. What sort of horrible curse was this?
Then she noticed another reflection in the mirror and turned to face the woman with dark hair and blue lips. Speechless, she watched as the woman lifted Melody's hair to her face and sniffed it. Looking pleased with something, she reached for Melody's face. Melody started screaming just as those purple talons curled around her face. She was still screaming when her mother shook her awake. "Melody! Melody! What's wrong?"
Melody's nightmares continued, but she managed to not scream anymore. Every night it was that same woman. She didn't do anything to Melody, but it was her very presence that made Melody's skin crawl.
Melody was also seeing strange things everywhere during the day as well. She saw people among the flowers, in the trees, and at the bottom of the pond. They were alien, inhuman creatures and they stared blatantly back at her. But she acted as though she couldn't see them, sure that she was losing her mind. Maybe they would just go away if she pretended for long enough that they weren't really there.
Some of the strange people she saw in the shadows like to chase or tease. She watched them smack, pinch, trip, and push the other oblivious girls. The nuns just thought it was the wind, their own clumsiness, or some other inconsequential reason. These invisible beings were particularly preoccupied with Nydia. No wonder she was so clumsy. They picked on the girl constantly. Melody wanted to help her even more now. She wanted to give a good kick to those things. But she didn't. She never reacted, she never showed she was aware of their presence because she suspected Nydia could see them and they were punishing Nydia for it.
Melody believed this because, occasionally, Nydia would move out of the way at the last moment as though she was aware they were there. This only irritated them and made them more determined to trip the girl. It was clear these beings didn't like it when their tricks were foiled. It was best to pretend you couldn't see them so they wouldn't hound you constantly. Like attention-seeking children, if they knew they were visible to your eyes, they would never leave you alone.
Now Melody lived with the same fear Nydia did. That someone would discover she could see things that shouldn't be there.
One of the worst days of her life began with sunshine. It was a brisk morning and everyone was enjoying the nice weather in the herb garden. Even the invisible-people seemed more content than usual and caused less mischief that morning. Nydia was able to carry her bucket all the way and back without being tripped or harassed by them. But they were showing an unusual amount of interest in Melody herself by the afternoon, which worried Melody. They purposely walked next to Melody and brushed up against her. They touched her hair and smelled her occasionally. Had she done something wrong? Did they know her secret, that she could actually see them?
Their voices, which originally had spoken some strange language that made no sense to her, were becoming clearer as well. She was starting to understand their language from listening to it for so many months. She wondered if Nydia already knew the language. Perhaps the girl had been listening to them all her life. There were so many questions she would have liked to ask the girl, but she was afraid. Afraid the invisible-people would hear her questions and then her secret would be revealed to them.
Do you see dead people? Do you hear voices? I certainly hope not! Please REVIEW!