SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 10- As the Wind Blows

"She has to be, out of all of us that were there the day that she..." Roxie begins to trail off as she stares at me in excited disbelief "There was only one of us who she could be."

"Don't jump to conclusions, that doesn't prove anything," Nanea states in frustration.

"What's going on here?" I ask nervously, but they seem to pay no attention to me.

"What other explanation could there be?" Roxie asks anxiously as she stands up and begins to pace around the room.

"More than one person could have had that name. Besides, we don't even know the context of it." Aurora adds, and they all turn back to look at me. Suddenly, Roxie comes up and leans down to make uncomfortably close eye contact with me.

"We need to know exactly what happened in this nightmare," Roxie asks, sounding even more anxious.

"I don't understand, what are you guys trying to figure out?" I ask as I worriedly look between the three of them. None of this seems to have to do with anything, but they all seem pretty serious to be just talking about dreams, unless...

"You guys can see memories before awakening?" I ask, somewhat surprised.

"Oh god, yea. I awakened in my sleep when I was fourteen. Sometimes these things can just happen." she says as she swishes her wine around in her glass "Under certain conditions, it can be better to awaken before you're of age. Waiting around can cause dangerous nightmares depending on a few things."

"You guys don't think that I'm..." I try to ask, but suddenly feel speechless. There was no way in hell, these were all just nightmares, things my mind was producing to scare me. My friends had nightmares that they couldn't explain all of the time. I shouldn't be any different, right?

"Tessa, we need to know for sure," Aurora says as she tries to calm my nerves.

"I guess if it helps you all," I begin, trying to recall the dream, "I don't really know where to start." I sigh.

"Start with where you heard the name." Nanea suggests "Do you remember what she was doing or who she was talking to?"

"Well, this time it was a man and a woman talking. Everything is always dark when this happens, but I could hear pretty clearly. The man sounded cold and calculated, and the woman kept calling him 'master'." I explain, and they all seem to be hanging onto my words, but I ignore it and keep going "They were talking about some girl and how they wanted to put a curse on her." I try to think of more details, but my head is starting to ache.

"...She was talking to someone that she called master?" Roxie asks, sounding nervous "What kind of curse were they talking about?"

"I'm not sure, it sounded like he wanted to hurt her, but didn't want to at the same time. It was really confusing. They talked about destroying a part of her and how it would take awhile because they didn't want the blame." I explain, my head beginning to hurt more and more.

"The miscarriage..." Aurora states quietly, as if only to be heard by herself "Iker had placed a curse on Umbree to make her lose her daughter. It makes sense why he would use one that would take time, but Umbree never remembered hearing about it even after all this time. She only found out after Justin told her. She said she was unconscious for a while after they brought her in." she explains as she tries to make sense of it.

"Maybe she was wrong and just couldn't remember until now," Roxie states as she seems to gaze at me.

"What the hell is going on here?" Nixi asks angrily from the doorway, and suddenly they all turn to look at her nervously.

"Nixi, we think there's a chance that-" Roxie tries to explain, but is quickly cut off.

"Yes, I understand that." Nixi states bluntly "After you left so abruptly last night you had that look on your face, so I figured that this might happen. But why did you want to try to push her so soon?"

"You don't understand, she's having nightmares about it," Aurora states calmly. Nixi looks at them judgmentally and sighs as she comes in.

"If you're so sure, then why didn't you inform Arsen? I think that he deserves to know." Nixi asks as she stands before us, crossing her arms.

"I didn't want to get his hopes up just yet. He's been waiting twenty-four years, another day won't kill him." Roxie shrugs.

"Fine, I guess I can understand that." Nixi sighs, then turns to Nanea "You too?"

"The nightmares are getting worse, it's probably safer the sooner we do this." Nanea sighs.

"Would someone please just tell me what the hell you're all thinking right now?" I shout and suddenly they all fall silent "You clearly think that I'm one of you, so stop giving me the stupid run around and just come out and do whatever you need to do already. I'm going crazy over here!" I can feel myself shaking as the room starts to spin. Suddenly, Aurora runs to catch me as I nearly fall over in my seat. I somehow stay conscious, but everything feels off.

"Scara..." Aurora says calmly as she gently brushes my hair away from my face, holding my head in place "You were right about the feeling, but we're wrong about the person." she explains, then suddenly looks out the window as a strong wind blows through.

"How is that even possible? Umbree was the only one there when they cursed her." Nanea states "The rest of us either weren't alive or had no idea where she was."

"Lolani, think about it for a minute; she wasn't the only one there." Nixi states and they all exchange the same look "I'm getting Arsen." she says as she suddenly dashes out.

"Hurry!" Roxie screams, and suddenly, the world goes dark.

When I wake up, I feel the warmth of the sun and the tickle of a slight breeze on my skin. I'm laying in a meadow of flowers that seems to go on forever, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. I sit up and look around, this place doesn't feel like reality. It seems too perfect.

"What a pleasant surprise, waking up so early this time. I just wish it wasn't because of those stupid nightmares. I swear, it never gets any easier, does it?" I hear the voice of a young girl talking, then suddenly she steps into view as if from out of nowhere. "How are you, Tessa?" she asks.

"Who are you?" I ask cautiously as I stand up and begin to study her. Her golden hair is long and braided, and her eyes are amber and practically glow in the sunlight. Her dress is simple, yet stunning. It didn't particularly outline any of her features, but that was part of what made it so beautiful.

"You." she giggles as she approaches me "But, I'm guessing that that isn't the answer that you were looking for." she smiles.

"So, they were right?" I ask in disbelief "They thought at first that the memories that I saw were Umbree's, so, Veronika. But, then Aurora realized that she wasn't the only person who could have seen those happen. I don't get it, what am I missing here?" I ask worriedly.

"Mahina was right, she wasn't the only one." the girl smiles as she comes closer "Have you ever wondered why those dreams were always pitch dark? You could hear but you couldn't see. It's simple really; we hadn't been born yet."

"Wait..." I begin to think. We had learned a lot about the entire family in school, and Veronika and her daughter had an interesting story considering the fact that they didn't know that she would be reincarnated until her return after the gap years. "Breeze, is that you?" I ask curiously.

"The one and only," She states as she takes a bow "Of course, and I know you know what that means." she smiles as she glances up at me "Welcome back to the land of the living, little warrior."

"Holy shit." I state as I watch her step closer "What happens now?" I ask, my heart filling with nervous excitement.

"We go do what we do best." she giggles "It sounds like Daddy has been on his own for a while; I think it's time we cheer him up," she suggests happily. I can't help but smile.

"I have a dad..." I say, overwhelmed with emotions "I couldn't agree more," I state as I begin to tear up, and suddenly she dashes forward to hug me, and within seconds, everything becomes nothing more than a bright light.