Nikki
"I better get an explanation right now as to why you thought it was okay to drink last night!" Kailee demanded me.
Currently I was standing in the middle of my living room with the worst headache I had had in years in my bath robe, with fuzzy bunny slippers on my feet. Kailee was standing in front of me with all 5'0 ft. of her seething in fury.
It took me a moment to process what she had said, my brain still fuzzy. Finally after about a minute of silence the implication on what she had said finally hit me. I felt my heart drop into my stomach and a heavy sense of guilt fluttered right into my heart, "Kailee…I," I began but she stooped me.
"Nikki you know you can't do that! I can believe after all you went through that you would even think to try! I mean it is not like you even drank for fun you did it because you're stressed and admit it, depressed." She shouted at me, I could hear Lofton's foot step behind me.
I frowned, her words hitting me hard, "Stop it Kailee, your mad and you know that is not true," I said calmly which seemed to only infuriate her.
Kailee shook her head, "No, you have every right to be sad Nikki, but you cannot ignore your problems and if you're not going to tell me what's got you messed up at least tell her!" She said pointing viciously at Lofton, who was not staring at me with confusion and worry. When she was pointed out she frowned, now I would have to tell her something.
"Kailee, you need to go. You're angry and you're going to say something you will regret later," I sighed, pleading to her with my eyes. Now was not the time for this conversation.
She started at me a few more moments, her fury still evident in her eyes but slowly I watched it fade, leaving only a certain detached sadness in them. "Okay, but please don't try do handle this alone aright? Whatever this is." She said finally and turned to leave.
I closed the door softly behind her, gathering my thoughts for a moment. Lofton was going to have questions and I was not ready to answer them right now. I could feel her approach me and put a hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me and I laughed a little.
"It is alright Lofton, I am okay…" I said and turned my head toward her, giving a soft smile. Her eyes were filled with concern and a lot of confusion but she did not say anything for a long time. She looked lost and confused as I felt and suddenly an entirely new wave of guilt hit me, I hated that I made her feel this way.
"Look, I know something is wrong but Nikki, you can tell me. You are not alone," She said to me and hugged me softly.
At that moment I wanted to cry but I only returned her hug and finally came up with something to tell her without revealing all of my true grievances. I pulled her away gently and sat her on the couch nearest to us, I took a deep breath, and this would still be hard to talk about.
"Look, Kailee was mad because I resulted to a very destructive old habit last night, I don't really want to talk about it because it is a very sore spot for me but I did because…well I miss my parents Lofton. I know your missing yours too and so is everyone else so that's why I have been so silent about it," I said. It was not a lie by any means, in fact it was almost the entire truth except that I left out all the parts about my vision and powers and past trauma.
Her gaze changed, filling with an understanding look. We talked for a little while longer after that discussing the things that had been bothering her as well, I had managed to draw her attention away from me and I was thankful.
By the end of the conversation I had formulated what I was going to do today. I needed to get things off my chest and there was only one person it was safe to tell.
A couple hours and I was coming through the gate into Rylan's world. My nose was immediately assaulted with the smell of death, around me there were puddles of foul smelling liquid on the road and the few consorts that were around ran when they saw me. I walked a little ways for a while, unsure if Rylan was even here or not.
My skin felt like it was crawling, everything felt dirty and sick but I guess that was because it was, Rylan's world was riddled with a plague not unlike the bubonic plague back on Earth. Except this one thankfully did not infect humans as far as we knew. The poor little blue salamanders would get big buboes of their necks and arms and they would die soon after. It was sad and all of us felt for them.
We were not really sure if Rylan cared but he worked on his quest a lot so maybe somewhere in his heart he was not completely stoic. Speaking of him he was nowhere in sight.
I had turned into what was like a square in the city, a big fountain stood bare filled with green rotten sewage and I sighed, why was I here anyway? I wanted to talk to him but he may not even let me stay…it was not like we had gotten along before right? Well he did ask if I was okay and as far as I knew he did not really do that to everyone else so maybe he hated me slightly less?
There were so many questions when it came to him.
I sat on the edge of the fountain and drew my sword, laying it across my lap and staring at it. It was gleaming and polished because I did not really use it much, I preferred not to fight directly but I was not afraid too. I ran a finger down the groove in the middle idly when a voice nearly made me fall into the murky water behind me.
"You know, showing up to someone's home unannounced is really, really rude Nicole," Rylan said stepping out of the shadows of an ally on the other side of the plaza. He was wearing a rather tight black coat that had little bits of mud and dirt smeared all over it as well as his dark jeans and boots.
I quirked an eyebrow because as he approached I could see the sheen of sweat covering his forehead and his normally tousled hair was not even more wild, sticking up in way to many different directions.
I was too busy examining him to notice him stopping in front of me and looking at me with a confused expression, "Why do you do you do that?" He asked his voice clearly annoyed.
I came back to reality and it took me a moment to realize he had said something to me, "What?" I asked.
He groaned a little, "You stare at people in the most uninhibited way, like you just stare. Has no one ever told you that was rude?" He asked.
I scoffed, who was he to tell me I was being rude? He was the one who refused to get along with anyone, "I stare at people because I am curious, and I was wondering why you were so dirty, and yes I know it is rude but I don't really care," I said shortly
He seemed shocked by my answer, his normally emotionless face twisting and for one in his life, Rylan did not know what to say, so instead he changed the topic, "Why are you here anyway," He asked running a hand to tame is dark brown hair, arms crossed over his chest.
It was my turn to be a bit at a loss, "Well…" I began, embarrassed. I hated that he was the only one who had the answers I needed and the only one who knew all my secrets save for a few. "I…I needed to talk about my vision. You have similar ones and I don't need anyone worrying about me." I stated carefully, each word clear and purposeful but void of emotion, "You are the only one who knows and I know that you won't worry about me," I said finally.
A smug look crossed his face and I wanted to punch him, so bad, I had never wanted to punch someone as bad as I wanted to punch Rylan in that moment right there.
"So…you need me?" He asked, satisfaction dripping from his words.
'You can do this Nikki, you can swallow your pride' I told myself carefully and I did exactly that, "Yes," Was all I told him.
Rylan looked almost upset that I had not tried to deny it, and that made me smile in turn, I was not as immature as he thought I was.
"Okay then, what do you want to talk about?" He asked, sitting next to me on the fountain.
I contemplated my first question for a moment, decided on what to ask right now, "Have you heard anything else?" I settled and leaned back on my hands, watching him.
Rylan frowned a little but looked otherwise unbothered, "Yeah, I hear stuff a lot but it never really happens, I think I am hearing like things that could happen," He said slowly obviously taking time on his words.
I cocked my head to the side, "Like alternate versions?" I asked a little further but he only gave me a sharp look.
"This is about what your problems not mine," He reminded me and I sighed.
"You just don't want to talk about yourself," I told him.
"Exactly"
"You suck,"
"You're annoying," He concluded.
I stood up and groaned, I walked a few steps from him but stopped. I could not let him chase me off just because he was being an ass.
I looked back at him and just kept a stoic face, "Why do you feel the need to push people away from you?" I asked.
He seemed frustrated as well, not by the look on his face, his face was always calm. No you could tell by the clench of his fist and the slight shift in posture, "Why do you psychoanalyze everything?" He asked in an almost lazy tone.
I then realized that I was not going to get a solid answer to that, only more sarcasm.
I finally quit my pacing and sat back down. I looked over at him and he was waiting on me to speak, "Fine then, I will stop prying." I conceded and thought back to my vision, "I need to know who the other person in the vision was Rylan, I have this feeling that it is getting closer and I have to do something." I said seriously.
His expression did not change save for her eyebrows furrowing together slightly; the change was so slight many would not notice but I was used to searching for such minute changes.
"I don't know, I had an idea when you showed me it but that theory went to hell a few weeks ago, I have not thought about it since," Rylan said.
I studied him for a moment; his finger tapped the rock slowly but, forcefully? I looked at his eyes, which were ever unchanging and I had a weird feeling in my gut, he was lying.
"Please, don't lie about this. And don't try to say you are not because I am not an idiot," I told him, my annoyance beginning to build, why could he not tell me! This was someone's life on the lines.
He shook his head, "I told you a long time ago, I am not going to accuse anyone." Rylan said firmly.
I wanted to yell in frustration, "I have spent week now watching Cade, and everyone to make sure that no one has problems but the vision keep happening! Which I could only guess means that it is still going to happen. Now the only person he is even sort of mad at is-" I cut myself off. I stopped my mouth from finishing the sentence and it was like fireworks had gone off in my mind.
Rylan was the one in the vision.
I stood as fast as I could and put a few feet between us, he visibly tensed and stood as well, "Nicole," He said calmly holding his hands up a peaceful gesture.
"No, stop." I said firmly, I wanted to pull my sword out and demand answers but I knew one on one that Rylan would probably be the victor so I had to keep this calm.
It was hard to stay calm while my mind was reeling, it all made sense! He dodged and avoided my question because he did not want to reveal that he was the accused. This made me feel even worse about the growing hatred between the two.
"I am only going to ask once, what happened on Bryson's world. What could have possibly happened between you two to make you want to kill him?" I demanded.
Rylan, with his hands still in the air, took another step forward. He seemed to flinch as I took another step back. "Look, I know. I have not given you reason to believe anything I say, but I need you to know that I have no intention of killing Cade. Yes he is rude and annoying and arrogant but that does not mean I am going to kill the guy!" He said tensely.
He was right, I had no reason to believe him at all, but I did not want to condemn him…I searched my mind for a solution. I had to tell someone! I bit my lip in frustration. This all went zero to hundred in a blink of an eye.
We stood in silence for a moment, he made no more move and I knew I technically had him in a tight spot…if I left right now I could tell someone, maybe even Cade. He was afraid and I knew fear made people weird so maybe this could be easier…
"I won't tell Cade," I said finally.
His face flooded in relief but I held up my own hand, "But we are going to see Bryson, if you don't come with me right now everyone is going to know instead of just him,"
Bryson
I had not expected any guests today, let alone Nikki with Rylan in tow.
Nikki came in unannounced as usual and I did not mind that much until I saw Rylan lurking behind her. "Umm…Nikki what's going on?" I asked tensely.
Nikki only held up her hand and waved outside. She wanted me to come with them so I complied, what on this world would the two of them be here for? Together?
We walked a long ways before we finally stopped. I had no idea Nikki knew my world so well but she took us deep into the woods away from the gate where anyone could come in. During the trek Rylan kept avoiding eye contact with me and giving weird, nervous glances at the time player in front of us.
I tried to pick up some clue as to why we were here; Nikki was dressed in her casual attire, a fitted T-shirt and skinny jeans. Her hair was still neat and smooth as usual but Rylan had dried sweat covering him and hard mud smudged all over his leather jacket. They had not been together when he had gotten all that so what could this be about?!
Finally after thirty minutes of silence Nicole seemed to be satisfied with the distance, which happened to be a good mile and a half.
She stopped abruptly and gave Rylan a sharp glance, "Start explaining, right now or I will." She said, voice seething in anger but also confusion.
I was so lost on what was going on so I just looked at Rylan, who was not almost cowering under her glare and I wanted to laugh. He could stare down Cade while he was seething but when he was being vocally attacked by someone like Nikki, who was not very intimidating, he squirmed.
He opened his mouth a few times to speak, but would close it again deciding against what he was going to say.
Nikki groaned in anger, "Fine! I will tell him." She said shortly but he threw his hands in the air, stepping in between us as if not seeing each other would stop her.
"No!" He almost shouted, "I…I don't want Mark dragged into this okay," He said looking over his shoulder at me.
I was hesitant to agree but a look at the female in front of him made me nod slowly.
He stepped back a little and looked at me, he jaw tightening as he clenched his teeth, "When this all started, Nicole-"
"Wait! Stop!" Nikki shouted and she actually covered his mouth with her hand. A bright blush burned on her face. Rylan's own face contorted in confusion as he looked down at her but made no attempt to escape.
I was getting annoyed at this point, "Please tell me what it is you need to tell me. This is getting really irritating," I sighed.
Nikki sighed in defeat, "Okay, I will let Rylan continue but you have to know, I have discovered more about my powers. I have visions and I can share them with people," She said quickly.
My jaw gaped in shock but she did not give me time to speak, "Now please do not ask right now, any questions should be saved for the end!" She said sternly.
I was so thrown that I only nodded in agreement.
"Can I speak now?" Rylan snapped at her but a sharp glance made him sigh in defeat.
"As I was saying, when this was all getting started Nicole accidently showed me a vision. In that vision there were two people fighting and my powers let me know that one of them died." He began, he shifted uncomfortably for a moment but Rylan was not dumb. He knew he had to tell the story whole.
"I told Nicole that someone died but I did not tell her who. Honestly I already knew who it was but it did not make any sense so I did not say anything," Rylan told me.
I raised an eyebrow, "Who were the people in the vison?" I asked, a sense of dread settling in my stomach.
"Cade was the one that died…and I killed him," The doom player finished.
I don't think there is a word for the rush of emotions that hit me all at once, most of all I was confused. Since when did all there prophetic things start happening and what had Nikki not told me? Why would Cade even fight Rylan let alone piss him off enough to make him want to kill him? I also felt hot anger, how could he even think about killing one of our friends! Not only think about but actually do it.
Before my mind could process my actions I had my knife drawn and pressed hard to his throat.
I could vaguely hear Nikki in the background yelling, no pleading for me to calm down and listen but my anger was red hot. We may not be as close anymore but Cade was my friend and I was not going to let him threaten him.
"You have one minuet to explain before I kill you right here, right now," I told him in a low voice.
Rylan's eyes were wide with shock but he did not look afraid. His hands were above his head in surrender but I could see him toying with a bracelet on his wrist, I knew from Mark that he kept his shield on said bracelet only compacted in a tiny square that passed off easily as a charm.
"Don't even think of fighting me, I will kill you before you have to opportunity," I told him and pressed the knife a little harder to prove my point.
Nikki was fidgeting, she moved quickly and nervous. She had wanted my thoughts but I don't think she expected me to react this severely.
Rylan gulped, the movement in his Adams apple made the knife nick him slightly but he did not flinch, "Okay," He said slowly, he gathered his thoughts, "I can only say that I have no intention on killing Cade, we have our differences but I would not kill him," He said keeping his voice even.
Nikki scoffed a bit, "Then why do I keep seeing it!" She demanded.
Rylan gave her a hopeless shrug, "I don't know! I hear people die all the time but they don't, so maybe that is it?" He attempted to suggest.
I did not buy it, I knew Rylan was bad news from the start and all this had just proved my point! I drew back slightly, while I did not trust him at all I had finally calmed a bit and realized even if he still had the thought to kill Cade killing him would solve nothing.
Keeping my knife raised as I released he brought a hand to his now slightly bleeding neck, he wiped at the blood but only smeared it a bit, I saw Nikki cringe a bit but none of us said a word for a moment.
I needed more information, "What did you say to Cade that day on my world," I said more of a command than a question.
Rylan took in a sharp breath and looked at me with expressionless eyes, "He made me promise not to tell anyone," he said.
I frowned, normally after everything that was just revealed I would not believe him but Cade refused to tell me as well. I knew I could probably pry the information from him somehow but…something made me think that was not a good idea…
In fact I felt like this whole conversation needed to be over. This was all too much for one day and I needed to speak to Nikki alone about her powers, she owed some explanations as well.
I glanced over at her and she had the same tired look on her own face, I gave her a nod and she just shifted her gaze from me. I looked back at Rylan who was now looking at me expectantly.
"You can go, but from now on you are not allowed to be alone with Cade at any given point in time. Do not talk to him unless it is absolutely required and you won't tell anyone about this. We all have too many problems to worry about let alone dealing with this," I told him.
He seemed to be in thought for a moment before nodding slowly and walking away, throwing one more glace behind him as he walked away into the trees.
I turned my gaze back to my friend, she was staring at the spot in the trees where Rylan had disappeared, an unreadable expression on her face, she looked confused and a little angry but there was also another look in her eyes.
I coughed a bit making her turn her attention toward myself. I sighed, "Will you please tell me about the power stuff now?" I asked.
She took a big breath then exhaled with a smile, "Gladly," She said.
"So let me get this straight, you get random visons of things that could possibly happen, weird intuitive feeling and you can hop around in time?" I asked Nikki, the confusion evident in my voice.
She only nodded slowly, "That is pretty much it yeah," She said with a hesitant smile.
"And you did not think it was a good idea to tell anyone any of this?" I asked, a little sarcastically.
She let out a sigh of frustration, "Look, this has been stressful enough for me I did not want to add to any ones problems," She said.
I shook my head, "Nikki we are supposed to worry about you! You can't take on stuff like this by yourself; it is like your future self said. You need you friends," I concluded, she had told me the odd story about the dying clone and it left me a little unsettled.
Nikki stared for a moment, before she jumped up from her spot in the grass and gave me a tight hug. "I know," She muttered thought my shirt.
I hugged her back and smiled gently, "We can figure this out okay? Both your problem and mine and soon we will have figured it all out!" I said with a little laugh, it sounded too optimistic for me but right now, she needed that.
She pulled back from me; hand still on my shoulders as she looked me in the eyes, "You really think so?" She asked.
I nodded quickly, "Yeah I do," I confirmed.
We both smiled at each other and with that happy note, we traveled home to face the chose that was to come in the following days.