Page 9 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

“What do you mean?”

“I can only remember your golden eyes, but nothing else.”

“I’m not sure,” he sighed as his gaze looked overthe waterfall. His hand held tightly onto mine as we stood in silence.

He turned his head, so his pointed ear was toward the woods, like he had heard something. I glanced behind us, but I couldn’t see or hear anything.

“Where are you right now?”

I opened my mouth to answer him, but a weird noise behind me had me turning to see what it was.

“Fuck,” he whispered as he looked over where I was watching. “Something is wrong; I need to wake up.”

“Wh-what? I want to stay with you.”

His eyes filled with a deep emotion before he leaned down and kissed me possessively. I felt the shift again. No. Not this.

When I pulled away from his kiss, his eyes were vacant. The man fell to his knees in front of me. Blood poured from a neck wound.

“No.” I kneeled and caught him as he fell. But it was too late; he was dead again. I leaned my head against his chest, sobbing loudly. I was begging him to come back. That’s when I felt it. His cold hand circled my wrist, making me look at him.

“Are you going to let me die, my love?” he asked.

"No."

“Then save me."

?????

I gasped for air as I sat up in the cave, trying to stop the tears from flowing down my face. Why was my mind torturing me? My breathing was too quick. I couldn’t steady my breathing. I tried lying down as the dizziness enveloped me.

That is when I noticed the floating green orb as she moved toward me. I prayed to the stars that she was friendly and wouldn’t kill me after I passed out. My eyes fluttered shut, and I fell into darkness.

?????

When I opened my eyes, I was rocking gently in a chair, the cave still nowhere to be seen. I was surrounded by blackness, but then a small flicker of flames ignited. The roar of the fire in front of me was so comforting. After a moment, the black walls around me shifted into a small, inviting space with trinkets and art on every inch of it.

The rug under my chair was soft against my bare feet. I sensed him before I saw him. But I could not stop rocking back and forth. I did not feel any danger. The chair next to me began rocking in tandem with mine.

I smiled when my eyes met the frail older man smiling at me. His wild white hair seemed to fit him, even if I didn’t know who he was.

“Thea, my dear,”he said with a smile. I watched him. “My name is Brim, and we are friends.”

Brim. His name was so familiar.

“I don’t remember dreaming of you before.” I frowned.

“You aren’t dreaming.” He glanced away from me and to the fire. “You have been having visions like your mother used to, and you are about to have another one. I am here to guide you. You called to me for help.”

I did?

“My mother...” An image of a woman who looked similar to me popped into my mind but was gone before I could appreciate her beauty. “A vision of what?”

Brim looked at me curiously.

“I am unsure. But your mother had them to show her events that would alter her life forever.”

“You look scared.” I frowned. Why was I getting worried all of a sudden?

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