32

Buzzing. Buzzing scorched the insides of her ears and mind.

"Mar-!...Can you hear-?..."

The young woman tried opening her eyes, light piercing her blue irises. She could not move, and that scared her, paralyzing her even further.

"…Marie! Can you hear me? Marie!"

A loud gasp filled a small apartment room. From the other side of the wall, panicked screeches from parakeets erupted. The young woman clutched her abdomen, looking down at her body. It's fine, she thought to herself. She pushed her long auburn hair out of her face and plopped back down on her bed. "Sorry, guys," she called out to her pets. After a few seconds, they called back with a questioning, concerned chirp. She smiled slightly. "I'm alright," she answered back. I'm fine. She rose to look at herself in the mirror of her dresser vanity.

She had gotten thinner, but not in a desirable way, rather, in emaciated grief. As she looked at her gaunt face and disheveled hair, Marie felt a familiar numbness already take over her. She reached across her bed to grab her phone and checked the time. 2 p.m.? she thought. Marie rubbed behind her eyes, a migraine already starting to build up. I didn't mean to sleep this late. If she was being honest, waking up around this time was normal for her. Marie rose and stretched. By habit, her hands ran across her abdomen. She looked down at her body once more. As usual, unscarred, healthy skin met her eyes. She sighed. Everything is fine.

"…Love me."

There it was. That aching throb within her chest. She paused for a second, that feeling soon being replaced with quiet frustration and confusion. She uncovered her parakeets' cage. Nearly two years ago, Marie, her brother, and her oldest nephew were looking for a missing girl in the forest where Marie grew up. The family that now lived in her childhood home had asked for help searching for their daughter, Layla. What had happened was a blur, but Marie remembered one thing for sure: there was another woman there. She remembered nothing else. As Marie washed out her birds' food container in her kitchen sink, her brow furrowed as she thought of that night. Layla was found unharmed but delirious, speaking of going through some kind of portal into another world where she met "the blonde lady." Marie closed her eyes. She remembered nothing else, nothing, except…

"Take me…have me…love-"

Marie threw the empty container against her kitchen wall in pure frustration. Her birds flinched and chirped loudly. She grasped the kitchen sink before slinking over to them. "I'm sorry, guys," she forcibly said to them in a higher pitched, happier tone. They fluffed up, taking the bait. Marie let herself slouch. "I'm just having a bad day…" As she finished feeding them, she glanced at her clock. It was almost time for her appointment. Marie hastily combed her hair and got dressed, avoiding looking at herself for too long in the mirror. She gave her cheeks a quick slap. "Okay," she said as she positioned her cellphone on her dresser.

Her apartment was built in the 1940's as an efficiency apartment, but by modern standards, it was barely bigger than a college dorm. Her bedroom barely had enough room for her full-sized bed and dresser. She had to crawl over her bed to reach her bedroom window, which was the only source of natural light. The kitchen and living area were the largest rooms despite being small in size. Every person that had entered her apartment immediately commented on the small living space. Her family was especially critical. Marie closed her bedroom door and readied a medical app on her phone. After a minute of waiting, the screen switched images to reveal a middle-aged woman with brown hair and a narrow face. Marie smiled, her eyes failing to portray the gesture. "Hello," she greeted her therapist.

"Hello! How are you doing?"

Marie rubbed her eyes and looked off camera. "It's on my mind again," she admitted. Marie had been in therapy since the age of 17, and usually she was quite honest and frank about what was bothering her due to the experience of countless sessions alone. However, this was not the case, not about what was truly bothering her.

Her therapist tilted her head ever so slightly. "Which part?" she asked.

Marie looked away in thought. "I had another nightmare about waking up in the hospital." As she spoke those words, the memory slammed itself across the borders of her mind. She gritted her teeth, unable to look at the medical professional. Almost two years ago, Marie had been found in the forest she grew up in, unconscious, almost frozen to death. She felt her abdomen ache. "I keep seeing everyone's faces when I woke up in the hospital," she explained. "I keep feeling cold, so cold…" She paused. This was the part that kept haunting her, the part that blared across her mind endlessly. Marie closed her eyes. She had been found wearing a formal, mid 1800's dress with blood covering it and her skin. The blood was tested and found to be hers, but there was no wound: not a single scratch. She managed to look at her therapist, who was observing her with a calm, open expression. Marie wished she knew what to say. Even after two years, she found no explanation for what had happened. None, except one…

But she did not voice it. Marie slunk back, her expression growing grim. After she woke up in the hospital, she barely had time to recover before being questioned by police. Layla had been found before Marie. The girl had led authorities and Marie's family to where Marie was, claiming that another woman had also been present. The girl claimed that she had seen a portal open and take both women through it. Of course, this was not taken seriously, and Marie found out later that Layla was taken in to have psychological testing done after giving her statement.

There were things that Marie or anyone else could not explain. Even though she was missing for a handful of hours, it was evident that there were changes to her body that indicated that a significant amount of time had passed. She was leaner and in very good physical shape. Her hair and nails were longer, and she was found in a dress made for the summer. The belongings she entered the forest with were gone. None of it could be explained. As soon as she was awake, her family instantly ridiculed her. They accused her of leaving and putting on the dress as some kind of sick prank.

Marie took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say to her therapist that had not already been said. The police had searched for the other woman but found nothing. She remembered their questions. Apparently, Marie had been delirious upon waking up, asking where she was and where "she" was. When asked who she was talking about, Marie could not answer. They kept asking why she had left the forest to change outfits into something torn and bloody, but again, she could not answer. Marie looked at her phone screen. "I don't remember anything," she said.

"Take me."

Marie closed her eyes, her chest aching. "I don't remember anything," she repeated.

Blonde hair invaded her senses. "Have me."

She gripped her head. "I don't-…"

"Love me."

Marie pressed her forefingers against her eyes, desperately trying to ground herself. She shook her head. "I, um…don't want to talk about it." The rest of the appointment went by in a numb blur with the same recalls of the situation. When the police and medical staff suggested that Marie should get some psychological care, she immediately withdrew any details that came up out of fear. Marie had been to an inpatient mental facility before, and she did not want to go back. Almost freezing to death took a toll on Marie's body, and she had to go through physical therapy and had to stay with family for a while, but Marie left after only a month because her entire family would not let the incident go. They criticized her, accusing her of abandoning Layla, her brother and nephew to "fuck around and play pretend like a child." Marie started to visit her family less and less after that, and with each visit, their abuse only got worse. It got to the point that Marie had stopped talking to them altogether. It had been nearly a year since she had talked to anyone in her family.

"Are you still seeing dark shapes?" her therapist asked.

Marie's jaw tensed. "Not as much anymore," she lied. Ever since that cold, snowy night, Marie saw dark shapes that no one else could see. She had gotten an MRI but nothing unusual came up in the results. The shapes were random, usually in corners of whatever room she was in. Sometimes they looked like blobs, sometimes they looked vaguely like animals. They were always watching her. At first, they scared her, but as time passed, they only annoyed and mildly concerned her. As the session wrapped up, Marie turned off the screen on her phone and laid it down on her dresser.

What had happened? Why could she not remember? She stretched, her eyebrows furrowed. She had tried therapy, meditation, almost anything to try and recover her memories of her time in the woods. Every blonde woman that passed her caused her heart to lurch within her chest. Marie gripped her shirt over her heart. Could I be…? She shook her head, not allowing herself to feel those feelings. Her stomach growled and she lumbered over to her fridge to scrounge for some food. When only bread and a cup of coffee greeted her, she sighed and closed the fridge. She lived over a tea and crepe shop, and a delicious mango crepe was calling her name. She grabbed her purse and headed out of her apartment, locking the door behind her after saying goodbye to her birds.

As she opened the back door of her building, a cold, bitter atmosphere smacked her entire body. Why she lived in North Dakota during the winter crossed her mind on cold days like this. She lived in a college town named Small Falls. Despite having a binge drinking problem amongst college-aged citizens, the crime was relatively low. This comforted Marie along with the miles of wilderness trails along the river. This was her favorite part of Small Falls. She walked down the alley that was behind her building, giving a passerby a "Midwestern smile" which consisted of a slight, narrow smile that hardly reached the eyes. The busy hustle of the road that ran downtown flooded her senses, and she quickly opened the door to the little café to escape the noise and car exhaust smell.

As the door closed behind her, her eyes immediately scanned the corners. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a dark mass in the upper right corner behind the counter where the workers toiled away. The mass looked like a blob, but somehow, Marie felt it was watching her. She swallowed a lump in her throat and approached the counter, trying her best to ignore the dark blob. She ordered a mango crepe and stepped back to wait for her order.

"What is that?" a man's voice sounded behind her. His voice was agitated, which immediately made Marie's heart race with anxiety. She tried her best to ignore him as she waited for her food. "Does anyone else see that?" Marie gripped the insides of her coat pockets and turned her gaze casually to the man. He was pointing to the right upper corner, his finger shaking. Her eyes followed the man's pointing to the dark mass. He caught this and turned his attention to Marie. "You can see it, too, can't you?" he asked loudly, obviously unsettled. Marie turned around and tried to ignore the man.

This isn't real. It's not real, she told herself.

"It's watching you, miss! It only showed up when you did!"

"78?" a worker called out from behind the counter. Marie flashed her receipt, grabbed her crepe, and bolted out the door, her heart racing. She nearly ran down the alley, but only took on a brisk walk to not alarm the passer byes. She did not look behind her as she rounded her building and entered through the front door. With shaky hands, she barged into her building and ran up the stairs to her apartment. She unlocked her door, shut it and slunk to the floor. Her birds' greeting barely met her ears as she stared at nothing.

Someone else saw it. Someone else had seen the darkness. How? A piece of mango fell to her floor, and she realized that she had been squeezing her crepe to the point of it nearly exploding all over her hand. She rested her head against her door and sighed. What is my life? she asked herself.

Her phone dinged. She rummaged for it in her coat pocket and looked at the notification. Her nephew Jack had sent her a link through Snapchat. She unlocked her phone to look at it. It was an article written by a local news reporter. The title read, Mysterious Woman with "Powers" Saves Two Teens in Small Falls.

Marie nearly dropped her phone.

Her throat tightened, her eyes began watering, and her heart raced. She continued reading.

Two teenagers reported to Small Falls police department that they were attacked by an unknown assailant last Tuesday night and were saved by a young woman who, according to them, had ice powers. The two teenagers, whose names have been redacted to protect their identities, were near the pedestrian bridge on the Falls River near the The Queen's Golf course around midnight on Tuesday night when they claimed that an unknown source of light attacked them. A mysterious woman saved them using "ice powers" before disappearing into the night. Her identity is unknown. Small Falls police department have combed the area but have found nothing. They urge citizens to not go onto the river trails during the night. Both teenagers were hospitalized after the incident and are recovering.

Marie was shaking by the time she was done reading. She hid her face with her hand to try and calm herself. She had tried so hard to push everything down, to ignore the dreams she had, the feelings she felt, but one article nearly caused her entire façade to come crashing down. With shaky hands, she scrolled to look at the chat that her nephew had left underneath the article URL.

"Could it be her?"

The sound of a car door slamming shut rang around the empty park parking lot. Marie adjusted her pink scarf and took a deep breath in. Although it was only 4 p.m., Marie knew that she only had a couple hours of daylight left until the darkness fell over the town. She locked her car and began trudging up a dam that lined the river. Spring was slowly coming over the frozen land, and even though the days were getting longer, it was still dark by 6 p.m. However, it did not matter that darkness was coming. Ever since the incident in the woods happened, Marie could see in the dark. This was a detail that she had only mentioned once to a doctor, but after finding out that Layla had been locked up in the mental ward, she rescinded this fact and kept any more details to herself.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the past. Only a couple of hours had passed since she had read the article. She had tried to push it out of her head, but to no avail. It kept blaring across her mind, forcing her to think about things that she desperately tried to hide. But after two hours, she gave into her gnawing curiosity and came to the spot where the article said the incident happened. Why had she reacted the way she did when she read the article? Why did the mention of the mysterious woman fill her with such a powerful emotion that made her question everything about herself? She needed to find out, even if she found nothing.

There were two sets of trails that ran along the river in Small Falls. One was paved and farther away from the shore and closest to the dam. Small Falls was prone to floods, invoking the city to build a dam that ran along the entirety of the body of water within city limits. The other set of trails was natural and close to the river. This is the trail Marie chose to take to avoid as many people as possible. Something within her told her to be secretive about the entire situation. Sources of light attacking people? A woman with ice powers who saved them? The dark masses? Everything about the situation was ludicrous, but something within Marie begged for her to investigate. She had a feeling everything was connected. The spot mentioned in the article was less than a half mile away from the city park. Marie sniffled and kept trudging onward.

A sickening screech filled the air. Marie stopped in her tracks and looked for the source of the cry in the trees. Something about that cry sounded familiar… When she could not locate whatever made the sound, she kept going. Soon, a pedestrian bridge came into view through the trees. The paved trail wound through the trees and onto the bridge, continuing on the other side of the river. Marie appeared out of the forest and scanned the river. When nothing met her eyes, she climbed the bank onto the bridge and scanned the river once more. She froze.

A large bird made of darkness sat on the river watching her. Its eyes were made of light along with the shaft of its feathers. Marie felt herself shaking. It stared at her with a sense of familiarity that she could not pinpoint. She took a step back, her eyes never leaving the creature. It motioned back with its head before taking flight down the river around a bend, out of sight.

Marie hesitated.

"Take me…"

She swallowed a lump in her throat, her heart racing.

"Have me…"

She gripped the steel railing of the bridge, her eyes glued to the spot where the dark bird had disappeared.

"Love me."

She bolted.

Marie ran faster than she had in years down the bridge, into the wet, heavy snow, and onto the river. She ignored the ice creaking underneath her boots and sprinted through the snow. "W-wait!" she called out. Her hand reached forward as though she could catch the dark bird with her hand. "Come back!" For the first time in two years, she felt elation. She stumbled on a frozen log and tripped, faceplanting into the snow. Without hesitation, she rose and kept going, a small smile wanting to form on her face. Your name, she thought. You have a name! What is it? She gritted her teeth as she rounded the corner, her body starting to lose its stamina. She halted, her breath heavy.

What appeared to be an icy wall cascaded across the river. Marie stared at the ice. It was different than the ice on the river, which was dull and dirty, whereas the icy wall was pure and flawless. It shimmered and stood magnificently amidst its frozen neighbor. Marie approached slowly, running a hand along its perfect surface. She bit her lip when tears threatened to fall down her face. She could feel the ice as though it was alive, as though it had emotion. It was familiar. She looked around, quickly taking in the scene before her. Whoever was responsible for the ice came in from the western bank, forming the ice wall and using it as a ramp as they traveled east across the river. A giant group of icicles shot up from the river, but it was obvious that the icicles were not from the same source as the ice below. It was a defensive maneuver. An icy sphere that was half formed was immediately behind the spikes as though the person was shielding someone. Marie noticed footprints behind the shield.

Her head reeled, and she momentarily rubbed behind her eyes. Her analysis came so naturally despite having never seen such combat before. She looked around, running a hand over each icy figure as she soaked it all in.

Another screech pierced the air. Marie flinched instinctively and ducked as a dark figure flew over her head. It was the dark bird, and it was aiming itself right for her. Marie rolled out of the way when it dove for her again. She whipped her right hand back, outstretching her fingers as though she was wrapping a weapon around her fingers. Marie grunted in confusion, but was quickly distracted by the giant bird screeching as it flew high into the air.

"Marie!"

Marie gasped upon hearing the voice. It was a woman's voice: the same one she had heard in the forest two years prior. Her head shot back and forth, desperately looking for the source of the voice.

"Marie! Look out!"

The sickening sound of ice cracking filled the air, and Marie nearly fell backwards when something began to come out of the ice. She froze in horror. A monstrous claw shot out from the frozen surface of the river, darkness dripping from its sharp tips. The claw was made of light, but was oozing darkness. Marie fell backwards as it struck the river's surface, sending a shockwave. She coughed from the impact and scurried to her feet. The rest of the creature surfaced from the river. It was a wolf made of light. It stood twenty feet tall with darkness oozing from its light fur like an illness. It set its sights on Marie and growled, its brilliant teeth glinting in the remaining light of day.

Suddenly an icicle shot up from the surface of the river and stabbed the wolf right through the jaw and head. The creature made a slight whimper, its body momentarily halting before gravity pulled it down…right towards Marie.

"WATCH OUT!"

A piercing screech sounded through the air. Behind her, the dark bird dove straight for Marie, racing against time and the now falling giant wolf. Marie crossed her arms in front of her right as the bird collided with her from behind and as the wolf fell on top of her. A giant wave of darkness shot from Marie with a boom!

For a moment, everything was still. Marie stood completely bewildered. Did darkness just come out of her? The wolf was gone, dissipated upon meeting the darkness that had just shot out from Marie.

"Marie?"

She looked for the source of the voice. A young woman jumped down from the bank of the river and onto the ice. Her hair was long and a light blonde, and her blue eyes were wide as she looked at Marie in a way that made Marie's heart lurch within her. She was beautiful, more beautiful than any other woman Marie had ever seen. The woman stopped for a second, her eyes brimming with tears. "You're alive…You're alive!" The woman rushed towards her and embraced her tightly. Marie froze underneath her touch. The woman gripped her tightly and cried. "You're alive! You're here, right here…" When Marie said nothing, the woman pulled away and gripped Marie's arms with her slight hands. "Do you remember me?" Marie felt her face flush as the woman's eyes washed over her. "Do you remember my name?"

Marie's head reeled from dizziness. "…El…" Her body began slinking to the ground, managing to say as she lost consciousness, "El…sa…"