We had been walking in silence for what felt like hours, and by the time we eventually arrived at the village, my legs, which had been sore before, felt even worse. As we walked through, I noticed there was barely anyone out on the streets, and on the ground, some stones looked like they had been burned. I was worried there could be demons nearby, but as long as the buildings were fine, it should be safe. At least that's what I told myself to not feel paranoid while there. Aspen led us to a building, and Leta pulled us all close together, like a mother would in an unsafe situation, as we entered behind them.

The main room of the building wasn't very large and was lit up by small candles everywhere. If any of those candles were to fall or something were to hit them slightly, the whole place would burn down, yet Leta and Aspen didn't look bothered by that. I had never seen so many candles. It was almost as if everything except the path before us was covered in wax. The man who I assumed owned the place came out of a back room, and I could see Aspen walk ahead to speak to him while Leta held us back without saying a word. Eventually, Aspen walked back over and looked mainly at Leta.

“He can only give us three rooms, but all three have two beds, so we just need to partner up for the night,” Aspen said, sounding tired and frustrated.

“Oh, Leta, let's share a room, dear,” Rune said with a dopey face.

“Sorry, Rune, I'm sharing with Tex. You and Ben can share a room, though.”

“What! Why Tex and not me?” Rune whined with a pout.

“Because they are quiet and won't try to sneak into my bed at night,” Leta deadpanned.

“That was one time, Leta!” Rune cried out in defense before moping off, dragging Ben with him by the sleeve of his shirt.

Ben looked at me, his eyes begging for help, as he was dragged into the dark hallway by Rune. I looked back to the others and could see Aspen looking at Leta, annoyed. She just let out what sounded like nervous laughter.

“Don't give me that look, Aspen; you and Elva are basically the same age, so you two sharing makes sense,” she said, poking their arm before leaning down and whispering something to them.

“Will you shut up?” Aspen asked, their face turning a shade of red as they pushed Leta away. “Elva, let's go,” Aspen said shortly before grabbing my arm and pulling me down the hall.

As we walked, I looked back at Leta with some worry, but she just smiled and waved. I didn't exactly know Aspen that well, so sharing a room made me nervous. Once we got to a door, Aspen let go of my arm and pulled out a key, unlocking it. Inside was a small area with a desk, two beds, and a bathroom. The beds were small but big enough to fit one person. I looked at the window across from us and could see the sun was starting to go down, making the room light up with a golden glow.

I looked around to see if there was a candle or lantern somewhere in the room, as it would be dark in the next hour, and found a drawer in the desk with candles piled up inside. I pulled one out, setting it in the candle holder that was on the desk. I looked over to ask Aspen to light the candle, but they were sitting at the window looking outside. They looked deep in thought, and I didn't want to bother, so I made a small spark of electricity on my finger, causing a flame to ignite.

I walked over to one of the beds in the room and laid back on it, looking up at the ceiling. There were a few cracks in it, and it looked like it had been patched up a few times, just not good enough to hide the damage. I wondered if all the rooms were like this small one we were in. It wasn't perfect, but it was tolerable for the night. I couldn't complain since it had a bed. It reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. While I was lying there, I heard Aspen walk over to the desk and sit in the wooden chair, causing it to creak slightly.

I rolled onto my side and looked at the wall, my back to Aspen now, slowly closing my eyes. There was a sudden flash of light. When I opened my eyes again, there was a young girl with pink hair tied back into a braid, and she was in a blue dress with floral lace. When I looked to my side, I saw Aspen there. It was like the dream I had before, but this time it was a happy scene, and the other people who had been in the clouds were nowhere in sight.

Aspen looked a bit different here than in the other dream, and outside of it, they had longer hair and were dressed nicer than normal. When I looked down, I saw a long white dress that was covered in a floral lace similar to what was on the little girl's dress. I looked at the girl again, and there was a boy with her now. He reminded me of Rune with the way his eyes shined and the vibrancy of his orange hair.

Then the mood shifted to a dark room. There were sounds of crying. I looked to the side, and I could see a new little girl with light blue hair standing over me, but I couldn't move at all. I wasn't even sure if I was breathing.

“I tried to catch her, but she still hit the rocks,” I heard a muffled voice say.

Every noise was muffled, as if there was water in my ears. There was a sharp pain in my back and head, and the blue haired girl disappeared, and Aspen appeared where she was before. Their shirt was covered in blood. What happened? I tried to move, to say something, but everything faded into darkness.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the room. I sat up in bed and glanced around. Looking to the side, I saw the candle I had lit. The flame was still flickering, but the wax had melted, making the candle shorter. Next to that candle, I could see Aspen sitting at the desk still, writing in a leather journal. They seemed extremely focused on whatever it was they were doing, so I figured I could leave the room for a walk. I had to clear my head after that dream.

“Where are you going?” Aspen asked, not looking up from their book.

“Just going for a walk; I need to sort through some thoughts alone,” I said, now at the door and putting my boots back on.

I left the room, not waiting for a response from Aspen. They knew where I'd be, but I didn't want to create an argument over it. The lobby of the building had all its candles except one blown out, with the small remaining flame flickering at the empty reception desk. I walked out of the front doors and glanced around; the streets were empty. I walked to the left slowly, not wanting to get lost.

I ended up thinking back to what I saw while in the room. Was that just a dream? It felt like the experience was too realistic to just be a dream. I wasn't sure what it was, and it was confusing. I wish there was some way I could get answers on it, but I knew even if there was, no one there would tell me.

It was still so frustrating that they refused to give me answers. Of course they probably have their reasons, but even then they wouldn't explain that to me, and now the books with the answers I could have gotten were gone. Probably turned to ash from the fire, the damn fires that took my answers and my sister away from me; it took more than that though, all of the lives lost, the homes with priceless memories, things that could never be replaced. I would get revenge for it all.

When I looked up, I could see I was in a strange area; the buildings looked as if they had been burned, but not enough to destroy them. I could feel panic rising in me. I had to go back and tell everyone else about it. If there was a possible demon here, then it could be bad for all of us, but as I turned around to go back the way I came, there was a blinding light once again.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a field full of green grass and many different shades and hues of flowers. There was a slight cool breeze that gently blew some of my hair to the side. I looked next to me, and there was what looked like a young girl. She had two black horns atop her head, as well as one white and one black wing. She was dressed in a mix of red, black, and white clothing, and she had long blue hair tied into a braid. She was looking at me laughing, and her green eyes had a hint of red in them as if she had just been crying.

When I tried to say something to her, there was another flash, and I was falling yet again. Up above me was Aspen, desperately trying to catch me. They were trying so hard to reach me. I looked as close as I could and noticed that they had two black horns, along with one black and one white wing. The dreams had never been like this before; it was making my head spin. There was another flash, but I was still falling. The area around me was different, though. The sky was now dark, with flashes of lightning. I could hear the sounds of waves beneath me, and above me there was the scream of a little girl. I closed my eyes, feeling the waves grow closer.

When I opened my eyes again, the sounds were gone, and all around me was silence. I found myself on the stone path below, which I must have fallen onto when the dream started. I laid there for a moment, trying to catch my breath. There was pain radiating from my knees and my head? The falling, it all felt so real, like I knew I was going to die, but this time I was scared of it.

I tried my best to shake off what had happened, and I stood up, still feeling dizzy from how fast everything had gone. I managed to walk back to the building slowly, holding onto the walls and trying not to fall over as I did. As I walked in, I saw the candle at the reception desk had gone out, leaving the lobby pitch black with no windows to let in light. I somehow was able to make it back to Aspen and my shared room without tripping over anything.

My head was still spinning just as badly as it had when I woke up on the path, but I tried to make it to my bed without disturbing Aspen. I'd be fine until morning and didn't need their help. It's not that I didn't want it if it was offered, but I'd be fine on my own; I have been my whole life. But my plan to not disturb them didn't work since I walked straight into a wall, letting them know I was there. I saw they had replaced the candle with a new one, which was strange because I was only gone for a few minutes, so the old candle should still be there. It had enough of a wick left to last at least an hour.

Aspen walked over to me quickly, like they had been waiting for any noise that could have been me. They looked worried as they reached me, taking me by the hand and leading me to sit on the bed I had been sleeping on earlier that night.

“What happened to you?” Aspen asked, looking down at me.

“Nothing happened; I just went for a short walk like I said I would.”

“Elva, you were gone for two hours, and your leg is bleeding.” They motioned to where I had hurt my knee before they walked to the bathroom, leaving me alone.

I looked down and saw that blood had soaked through my now torn up leggings, leaving a dark stain around the area. I was confused about how I got that from a simple fall, but I was more confused about why Aspen said I was gone for two hours. It had felt like at most half an hour, but maybe it was longer. My head felt fuzzy, and I couldn't remember much of what happened besides the weird things I had seen. It's as if the walk to where I woke up never happened. I wasn't even sure where I was when I woke up.

I watched as Aspen walked back into the room with a wet rag and some bandages. They came over and kneeled down in front of me.

“I'll need to roll up this leg to clean and bandage you, okay?”

I knew they planned to do it for me, but it was my blood, and I wouldn't want them to get any of that on them, even if it wasn't that big of a deal. When they looked to the side to grab the rag, I leaned down and pulled the leg of my leggings up above my knee. Aspen didn't say anything when they looked back, and I watched as they quietly cleaned off where the blood had been.

“Is it normal to hallucinate after losing someone?” I asked while looking down at them.

“Sometimes it is. What kind of hallucination was it?”

“Well, it was more like a dream, but I was awake. I saw you and a small girl with a blue dress there, then on my walk I saw a young girl in a field who had the same hair and eye color as you, and then I was falling, but it was in two separate places. At first I thought maybe it was just a dream, but it keeps happening.”

“Sounds like a daydream,” Aspen said hesitantly while wrapping a bandage around my leg.

“It didn't feel like one, though; it was too real.”

Aspen stood up, turning their back to me. It looked as if they wanted to say something but were debating whether they should or not. “Just get some rest; it's probably because you're exhausted.”

I watched as Aspen walked to the candle, blowing out the flame and engulfing the room in darkness. I laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, wondering if what I saw really was just a daydream, but I didn't understand why it happened so fast and lasted so long. I chose to just believe Aspen, even if I wasn't totally sure they were right about it. Could daydreams really make you lose all sense of time and feeling outside of it?

I thought back to the night before. Why was Rory the target of something like this—what made her a target and not me? It was hard to believe she was actually gone. One day, if I ever return to that village, I'll expect to see her skipping down the road with a handful of flowers and rocks to give out to anyone she saw.

I had so much I wanted to tell her, to teach her. But now I can't even see her face again. I can't see how she looked—smiling, asleep, or half awake at the table after being dragged out of bed by Ben. I couldn't see her face light up as she talked about all the things she learned in class, or how the new plants she had started to grow out in the garden.

I couldn't help but cry as I thought of it all. I couldn't even save a picture of her before we left. I had nothing, no one. I felt alone in a group of people, most of whom I had just met. I looked to the side, seeing that Aspen looked to be asleep now with their back turned to me. I wiped my tears away before covering myself with the thick blanket that had been folded up at the end of the bed.

I rolled onto my side, facing the wall once more. I wondered if maybe there would be a doctor I could visit in one of the towns. One who could explain what was happening to me.

After a while of laying there, I could hear movement from Aspen's bed. At first, I just thought they were moving slightly in their sleep until I heard them get out of the bed, breathing heavily—maybe they had a nightmare. I wanted to say something, but at the same time I didn't know if it would be too intrusive or not, especially since we had just met. I looked to the side, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Aspen look at me before walking out of the room.

Once they were gone, I sat up and looked at the door. I wondered if they would walk back in or if they were leaving. I laid back again and closed my eyes to sleep, knowing they could take care of themself, but just as quickly as I had laid down, I got up, slipped on my boots, and walked out the door.

I looked down the hall before I walked forward in the dark, moving slowly into the main room and seeing a candle lit like it had been before I left the first time. I opened the door, looking outside, expecting the area to be empty, but to the side was Aspen leaning against the building, looking up at the sky; their blue hair looked as if it was glowing from the moonlight.

I tried to walk back in, knowing Aspen would be fine, but the door closed loudly behind me, causing Aspen to turn their head towards me, startled. I looked at their green eyes, seeing that they looked red from possibly crying, just like in one of the dreams I had earlier in the night. “I didn't expect you to follow me out here,” they said quietly.

“I was worried,” I said, moving to stand next to them and looking across the street.

“I'm fine,” Aspen said, looking back up at the sky.

“Are you?”

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“Yes, I'm fine,” Aspen responded more bluntly than the first time.

“Your eyes are red,”

“It's just allergies; I'm not used to this much travel.”

“Didn't you travel every few years, though?”

“Not this fast.”

“Did you have a nightmare?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“Why do you care?”

“I just do, so talk.”

“It wasn't a nightmare, so don't worry about it. Go back inside or you'll get sick.”

“Heavy breathing, suddenly waking up, crying. All signs of a nightmare. Besides, I couldn't possibly get sick out here. It's not cold.”

“You're really pushy.”

“If it bothers you so much, talk about it. I've noticed people always feel better when they talk about the things that upset them.”

“One day, if your sister were to come back alive, would you hate her for staying away for so long?” Aspen asked after a moment of silence.

When they brought up Rory, I could feel an ache in my heart. No one else had mentioned her after we left. “No, I'd just be happy she was alive. Well, maybe I would be a little mad, but I wouldn't hate her; I never could.”

“I wonder if others would be the same,” Aspen whispered.

“Is this about your nightmare?” I asked, looking over at them.

“It doesn't matter,” Aspen sighed and looked at me. “Let's go back inside; it's kind of creepy out here.”

The next morning, everyone was awake extra early, which I thought should be illegal. I could tell Ben felt the same, as we were both exhausted even after getting decent sleep. We started our walk to the middle of the villages, where the castle was. While walking, it was the same as before, Aspen in the front, Tex off to the side, Rune clinging to Leta while she would get mad and smack him away, and me and Ben walking together, as we normally did. Well, it was normal until Ben randomly had a whole cooked chicken in his hand.

I looked over to the side to see Rune walking next to Tex, talking, and glancing over at me for a second. I looked away and remembered that before, it had been mentioned that they were siblings. I never saw them talk up until now, though; maybe it was just me, but it was nice to see them together. It reminded me of how Rory and I used to be, except we talked a lot more.

I wondered how things would be if she was with us. I'd think she would either be up at the front with Aspen going on her long rambles about plants, because Ben and I have heard it all from her, so she would want to share it with others, or maybe she would be asleep on Ben's back, not quite ready for the long walk ahead of us after all the previous events. It was nice to think about, but it hurt even more knowing she could never do any of that again.

“Where does he keep getting food from?” a voice asked, coming from behind us.

“What?” I asked as I looked behind me to see Tex—I didn't even hear them come up to us.

“I keep seeing him get food throughout the day, and I was wondering where it came from.”

“The animals bring it to me,” Ben said in between bites of his food.

“You have animal magic?”

“Yeah, it was a popular magic type where I was born; they also just follow me,” Ben said with a shrug.

Ben and Tex continued the conversation, and that was the first time I've ever seen Tex look interested in anything; maybe magic was something they found interesting. Their voices seemed to slowly get further away, which was strange as I was still close to them. At first, things got dark. When my sight started to go, I found my way to a tree to keep myself up before a bright white flash. I felt dizzy, and not being able to see like the other night while walking was almost normal yet scary.

I couldn't hear or see anything for a few seconds, which was new, then I opened my eyes to see an arena; it looked as if we were standing on a cloud. Under everything, there was a mix of the white and black clouds, but on this one, half was black and half was white, like the one I saw in my falling dream. The white side had mixes of bright lights and gold, while the black side had fire around the edge. There was also a woman, a young girl, and two men on the black side; they were the ones I saw before, watching me fall, and then there was Aspen, next to me, looking at three of the people with a look of fear.

When I looked to the white side of the arena, I saw a woman with bright blue eyes and blonde, almost white hair. She was in all white with blood red gloves on, sitting on what looked like a throne made up of gold and fluffy white clouds. She looked like a queen, but I didn't feel fear looking at her; I felt a warmth, like she was my mother. I tried to talk, but I couldn't speak or move, almost as if I were a statue, but I still had movement in my eyes, and I looked to the side and saw Aspen, no longer scared but now calm, looking at me. I started to hear the people on the black side yell something, but before I could make out any words, everything went dark, and I opened my eyes to see Aspen next to me like in the dream, their hand on my back, but they looked worried now.

I tried to stand up and tell them I was fine, but my legs gave out from under me, and I hit the tree, with Aspen grabbing my arm so I wouldn't land on my knees again. They slowly helped me sit down and took a step back, letting everyone else move closer.

“Elva, are you okay?” Ben asked as he reached me.

“Yeah, I'm fine; I just got dizzy for a moment,” I said, putting a hand on my head and thinking back to what I just saw.

“If you were feeling sick, you should have said something,” Leta said, concerned as she walked over, gently bumping the top of my head with her hand.

“I'll be fine; it was just for a moment. Let's start walking again; we should get to the other village before it gets dark,” I said, not wanting to make them worry any more than they already were.

I could see Leta and Ben were hesitant about moving anymore, Tex didn't seem to care, and Aspen was as normal as usual. It seems as if this time I was only unconscious for a few seconds, or at least a few minutes. I stood up as Rune, Leta, and Tex started to walk, Leta looking back at me for a moment, then ahead once again. I tried my best to keep myself balanced and walk, but my head was spinning.

I was never this dizzy before after one of these things, so I couldn't understand why it was happening now. The night before, I had been feeling similar, but it wasn't this bad. As we walked, I didn't see Aspen up ahead of the group like before. I wondered where they were, but with my head spinning, I could barely look away from what was in front of me.

After a moment, I looked down and saw the ground getting closer. Did I fall? I expected to hit the ground, closing my eyes and preparing for the impact, but instead of falling on my face, I felt someone grab me around my stomach. I opened my eyes, looking behind me, and could see Aspen there.

“I'll carry you the rest of the way; you look as if you're going to pass out,” Aspen whispered to me as they helped me fully stand up, keeping a hand on my shoulder in case I were to topple over again.

“No, I'll be okay; you don't need to do that,” I protested, not wanting to bother them.

“It wasn't an offer,”

Before I managed to say anything else to try and convince Aspen that I was fine, they walked in front of me and picked me up on their back. “It's fine if you need to rest; you shouldn't push yourself to be fine when you aren't,” they said quietly, only loud enough for me to hear.

I never really thought of letting myself rest before; when I was sick, I still had to take care of everything. It was strange to now be told to do something I rarely did, even when my parents were alive. I always wanted to help out, they worked so hard to support us before, so I couldn't take breaks when they weren't able to.

At first, Aspen carrying me was a little awkward, but after a minute, the dizziness got worse, and I laid my head on the back of their shoulder, closing my eyes so I wouldn't feel sick. I had never been this close to them before; they had a soft vanilla scent. It was calming, and it reminded me of the bakery down the road from my house that was popular for their vanilla cakes. I always asked for strawberry when we went, but I loved the soft vanilla scent that filled the store and the area around it; it made you feel at home even if you had never been there before.

After what felt like a few minutes, I heard someone walk over. I didn't open my eyes to look, not wanting to talk to whoever it was, especially in a situation like now. I was worried they'd laugh at me for needing to be cared for like this. I doubt anyone there would laugh in this situation, but the nervousness about it was still there.

“What do you want?” Aspen whispered, annoyed.

“Aw, what's wrong? You go all soft for her but not me? That hurts, Aspen,” a voice said sarcastically, which I instantly knew was Leta's.

“Shut up.”

“You sound like an old man,” Leta joked. “I guess you are at this point, but you still look as if you're eighteen,” she said before pausing and getting serious. “Elva looks exactly the same as twenty years ago; I never believed you back then when you explained it all.”

“Why do you keep bringing this up? Leave it alone.”

“Do you think Adelphia will recognize you two?”

“I didn't leave her with pictures, so she'll probably only remember me. It's been fourteen years since I last saw her, though. She probably thinks I'm dead.”

“At least you gave her to a good family. Well, they're dead now, but they were good.”

“You suck at sympathy, Leta.”

“Sorry, I don't sympathize with people who abandon their family,” Leta said quietly, her footsteps getting further away, leaving us in silence once again.

Aspen's not eighteen? This whole time I thought they were younger than me, but maybe they just look young, and what did Leta mean by saying I look like the old Elva? She mentioned it before, but it was still weird to hear that in such a serious tone. A bunch of questions flooded my mind, and I had no way to answer them myself. I kept my head down, but now my eyes were open. My head hurt every time I tried to think of a possible answer to everything; it was all so confusing and strange, while at the same time it felt as if I knew the answers and just forgot.

I knew at some point I'd have to ask Leta or Aspen. Leta seemed like the one who would talk more and quickly answer, but then it would risk Aspen getting mad again if they heard any of it. If I asked Aspen, they might just say it was some kind of dream again. Maybe I could just talk to Ben about it when we stopped; he was the person I always talked to about things, so maybe he will believe this or at least know a way to help me decide who to go to.

Everyone stopped walking, and when I looked up, we had finally made it to the next village, and instead of being empty like the last one, it was full of people. They were all moving around like they had somewhere to be in that exact second, yet they all looked like zombies at the same time. Aspen let me down before opening the doors to the hotel for everyone to go in. I didn't feel dizzy anymore, but the headache from earlier was now worse. We all walked in, and the room was dark with colored spinning and flashing lights going in random directions. There was a loud noise, causing all of us to turn our heads towards where it had come from. There was a strange woman running on top of the tables, heading straight for us as if to attack.

“Three rooms for all of you!” she yelled out, jumping down from the table. She then pushed Rune and Leta together, Ben and Tex, then me and Aspen together into small groups. “You six are paired up! Now go to your rooms and have a lovely night!” she yelled out again while throwing three keys at us and skipping into a dark room, not giving us any chance to say something.

We were all confused as we watched as the lady disappeared. We weren't sure how to react to what had just occurred. I looked around and saw Rune, who looked like he was about to cry from happiness, while Leta was going to cry like someone had died. Tex and Ben didn't seem to care after getting over the shock of the sudden appearance of what I guessed was the hotel owner. I didn't mind the pairing since Aspen and I had both been together in the last room. When I looked at their faces, it seemed as if they felt about the same as I did. It was still a bit awkward for me, though.

While everyone sorted the keys and got ready to walk to the rooms, I grabbed Ben's sleeve and pulled him outside. I had planned to find an empty area where we could talk in private, but to my surprise, there was now no one outside.

“Why'd you bring me out here? The sooner I get to the room, the sooner I get more food,” Ben said with a look of need, like he was hallucinating everything as food.

“I have to tell you something; I overheard Leta and Aspen talking earlier,” I said quietly, just in case anyone were to be around.

“Ooooo, tell me everything,” Ben said, now snapped out of his food thoughts.

“They must have thought I was asleep, but Leta was talking about how I looked the same as the old Elva again and how Aspen was old or something, but I thought they were eighteen. They also said something about reincarnation,”

“Maybe it was a dream?” he asked with a shrug.

“No, I know this wasn't a dream; I clearly heard them talking about it.”

“Maybe you're some cool person who has powers like in the books; you get to come back to life right after death, and you have some kind of unfinished mission! Ooo, can I be your cool sidekick? We can beat up villains together,” Ben said with excitement as he punched the air in front of him.

“Yeah right, I think if any of us were to be that cool, it would be you; you even have the main character hair,” I said, lightly brushing the long side strand of Ben's hair with the back of my hand. “I do want to know if what they said was true, though; do you think I should ask Aspen?”

“No, don't do that. They'd probably ignore you or say you're delusional, or something like that,” Ben said with an exaggerated annoyed look. “I know! Talk to Leta!”

“What?”

“I'll go get her; you wait here!” Ben yelled out before running inside.

“Wait, Ben—” I called after him, but it was too late.

I leaned against the wall of the building, crossing my arms and letting out a sigh. I wanted to avoid talking to both Aspen and Leta until I could properly think of what to do and say, but at least he wasn't dragging Aspen out here. Before I could think of a way to explain to Leta what I heard without it coming off as rude or like I had been eavesdropping, I looked over to see her running at me. At first, I thought she was planning to attack, but she pulled me into a hug, lifting me off the ground. Her grip was so tight that I thought I'd die of oxygen deprivation before I could talk.

“I was hoping you were awake when I talked to Aspen!” Leta yelled out, excited.

I hushed Leta as she set me down. “I don't want them to hear, but what do you mean?”

“Because you should remember everything; Aspen is supposed to be the one to tell you a lot of it, so I can't say everything, but I'll answer your questions,” Leta said in a hurry.

“Oh, uh, okay. Well, what did you mean when you said Aspen was old? Aren't they eighteen?”

“Physically, yes, but Aspen is actually one of those immortals you hear about in stories, a part of this big family mess. I only learned about it last year when I saw them again, but twenty years ago they had a daughter. Well, she was adopted; I think it was actually their sister.”

“And what about me being like the old Elva and reincarnation?”

“Oh, that part I can't say; you'll need to talk to Aspen,” Leta said with a shrug. “Just relax and talk to them; the more you push it, the closer you get to making them talk. Just trust me—I don't think they can ever say no to you,” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I was about to question her more, but was cut off by Rune popping his head out of a window next to us. “Leta, please come back; it's scary in here alone,” he whispered.

I looked back to Leta, and she had an annoyed look on her face, but she waved goodbye and went back inside, leaving me alone. Was Aspen really immortal? It was all so much to try and process; sure, there were rumors of immortals, but they always seemed like nothing more than a bedtime story for children. I took a deep breath and walked inside, seeing the lights shut off now and the woman we saw before nowhere in sight. I walked down the hall, trying to figure out which room I was supposed to go to, when I saw Aspen standing by a door and leaning against the wall.

“Were you waiting for me?” I asked as I approached them.

“You left without seeing which room we were in; didn't want you to get lost,” Aspen said quietly before opening a door with a key and letting me in first.

I walked into the room and saw there was only one bed in the shape of a heart, and the walls were a mix of red and pink. The lights were different colors too, like in the entrance. It was strange and didn't look like the normal candle lights most houses had. I had never seen a bed shaped like a heart before, either. I looked over at Aspen and saw they were practically on fire from how irritated they were with what I guessed was the whole place.

“Like the room, kids?” a voice asked from behind us.

I turned around, and it was the lady from before, now with a smirk on her face. “How do you do this?” I asked, more interested than confused.

“Magic,” she said with a smile.

“Is there any room with two beds here?” Aspen asked in a low tone, glaring at the lady.

“No.”

“Go away,” Aspen said bluntly.

“Do you have any pullout beds or extra pillows?” I asked, planning to sleep on the floor and let Aspen have the bed.

“Nope, that bed is big enough for you two; don't be shy,” she said with a wink before disappearing down the hall.

I had so many more questions for the lady, especially about what kind of magic could have been used to do this. I almost hoped I'd run into her again before we left the next morning, but with how early we had left before, I doubted I'd ever get the chance.

“You can have the bed; I'll sleep on the floor since you carried me earlier,” I said, breaking the silence in the room.

“No, you take it; I don't sleep well either way, so it would be a waste to let me use it,” Aspen muttered before walking to the window.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“What?” Aspen asked, not bothering to look back at me.

“How old are you?”

“I'm eighteen, why?”

“I just heard a small part of your conversation earlier, and it was just, really confusing,” I said before realizing what I had just admitted to, “Oh, but I didn't mean to listen; it was an accident, honestly.”

“You were probably dreaming; I didn't talk to anyone.”

“Why is that always an excuse for everything?”

“It's not an excuse; it's just what happened.”

“Just tell me the truth, then. We both know that's not what happened.”

“Why should I? I barely know you,” Aspen grumbled, still looking out the window.

“Well, you should at least come up with a better excuse,” I mumbled, aggravated with the conversation.

I looked over at the door when there was a loud pounding. I walked over and opened it, confused about who it could be. There I saw Leta; her curly pink hair was a mess, and a strap of her red dress had fallen over her shoulder. It looked as if she had been caught in a fight. Behind her, I could hear what sounded like someone running down the hall.

“Aspen, switch with me, please; he won't leave me alone,” Leta cried out, basically on the floor begging.

Aspen looked away from the window; it looked as if they needed a moment to process what they were seeing.

“Fine, just be quiet. You'll make Elva's headache worse,” Aspen muttered as they walked past us out into the hall, running into Rune, who had just arrived at the door.

How did they know? I looked out into the hall to say something to Aspen—anything at all—just to get their attention, but what could I even say? I pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind as I watched Aspen drag Rune down the dark hall. It seemed like every time we had the chance to talk, something would go wrong and leave me with more questions than I started with.

I let out a sigh before going back into the room, closing the door behind me. I took my boots off at the door and saw Leta already passed out on one side of the bed, wrapped up in one of the fuzzy red blankets that had been tossed over the end of the bed as decoration. I walked over and laid on the other half, trying to keep mostly to myself. I closed my eyes, ready to sleep and just get rid of my headache. But I saw that white flash again; it always happens at the worst times.

This time, instead of normal flashbacks, I got multiple at once; they all rushed into my head while I also felt myself experiencing them slowly. They all had Aspen in them; one was us as kids playing in a field of flowers, and another was us dancing in a ballroom lit up with many different lights. I was in a long emerald green dress, and everyone around us had masquerade masks of different kinds of animals; some looked strange, though. But as the good ones disappeared, I started seeing flashes of Aspen crying over me; one was in the rain with rubble and fire around us; another Aspen was covered in blood and trying to tell me it would be okay and I would be fine; then on the last one, there was Aspen crying while also smiling; I could hear what sounded like crackling firewood; the room was lit up by a fire, and just as quickly as everything had appeared, everything went black.

I sat up. At first, I thought the lights had been shut off in the room, but that's when I realized the ground beneath me was covered in an inch of water. I. There was a circle of light coming from above me, but there was no source from which it could be coming. I turned around, hearing drops of water hit the ground. Where the noise had been coming from, there was a mirror. I walked over to it, confused; it was almost as tall as me, hovering a few inches above the ground.

When I looked at it, I saw my normal self, but not even a minute later, the mirror started to ripple like a once calm pond that a stone was tossed into. I looked closer, and my reflection had morphed into another version of me, this one with red and black horns twisting up into a point; my black hair, now long and curled at the end; and I was wearing strange clothes: a blood red top with a white dress. I looked into my eyes, expecting them to be the same, but they were a cloudy blue with blood dripping from them like tears.

I watched my reflection as it moved in strange ways while I stood there frozen. It smiled at me, like its mouth was being stretched up by someone's fingers, and as the smile grew, rows of sharp teeth appeared, almost like an animal's mouth. As it reached a hand up to the glass of the mirror, I couldn't move. I wanted to back away, to follow its hand with mine, but in a split second, its hand sprang through to my side, grabbing my throat. I felt overwhelmed with fear—was this how I would die? I finally got myself to move, and I reached my hand up, trying to pull theirs away, but in that second, everything melted down, disappearing. When I opened my eyes, I was back in the hotel.