Prologue / Shards
1358 Words
I wish I could
break all your walls down
tear apart the curtain you drop every time I ask how you are
smash the cage you've locked yourself in
until there're only splinters left.
until you allow yourself to be vulnerable.
But I can't
and that breaks my heart.
I scream into the endless, black void
My voice cracks and my lungs burn.
But you don't hear me
and I can't stop.
I'm running through a snow-covered field.
Everything's white, there's nothing around me besides the silence and the black outlines of trees in the distance, skeletons on the horizon.
I'm shivering.
It's so cold the air hurts my throat, but I can't breathe through my nose. I’m too tired already.
The white cover's so deep it slows me down while the snow keeps falling- heavy and wet.
I know I have to keep going.
I must never stop.
I risk a glance backwards and see I've left red traces behind me.
Am I bleeding?
I look down and see my hands are covered in blood up to the elbows.
Why am I in a nightgown?
Then fear suddenly overtakes.
My breathing gets heavier.
I'm now dizzy with the now strong stench of blood.
Where is it coming from?
Oh, no, no….
Desperate, I panic.
Is it coming from me?
But I can’t feel any pain, only the now unbearable, piercing cold and the snowflakes scraping my skin.
I look around.
Still nothing.
And then I see you in the distance.
You're smiling at me, mouth and claws covered in blood.
Claws?
They grow bigger and I break into a run towards you, despite the growing fear. Something tells me I should stay away, a voice in the back of my mind.
But it's just a faint echo;
I ignore it.
And I keep coming closer.
Because you're right there, opening your arms for me.
Of course I would never leave you and nothing can stop me.
I outstretch my hands too and I'm almost there, yes!
Finally, I’m almost touching you.
I'm so close now I can feel the warmth coming from your body.
I try to smile, although my teeth are clattering so bad I’m sure I’ll chip a tooth eventually.
It doesn’t matter.
Nothing does now because I found you.
I can save you, I know I will.
"I'm not afraid of you!"
I shout, my voice eaten by the blizzard. But you only stand there, hands frozen midair.
Then you drop them by your sides, as if in surrender and your eyes fill with tears.
What’s going on?
Why aren’t you fighting?
Your face transforms into something unrecognizable and I'm so scared I start crying.
This is not you.
You’re human, not…
“You can’t take all that away from me!” I scream and...
A sudden thud wakes me and I spring up from my bed.
I'm still disoriented, and it takes me a minute to figure out my surroundings.
I'm in my room, in my bed.
Breathe, you're fine.
It was just a bad dream, it’s over now. There's a storm and branches are knocking on my window.
Okay, that’s all.
The roots of my hair damp, I feel beads of sweat trickling down my spine,and I'm trying to calm myself until I can breathe normally again.
Then I hear dogs barking outside.
I distinguish a roar I've heard before.
I look out the window and see Otto is surrounded by dogs.
They're much bigger, obviously stronger than her.
She’s the old Werewolf Guardian.
We’ve had her since I was born - all families have ones, besides the ones like mine.
She's still barking against them, lowering her body closer to the ground in a desperate attempt at defending herself.
She can’t turn back to her human form anymore- she’s already hurt and that transformation would kill her.
The giant dogs start gaining at her, claws snapping and without thinking I rush out of the house.
Third floor
Second
Finally first
Outside.
Barefoot, only in my pajama, I'm now standing feet away from the beasts, and I am already drenched by the rain.
I don’t know what to do.
I shout and throw a rock at them- a useless, stillborn attempt at something. Anything.
One of the monsters turns its head in my direction and traps me with its gaze. Otto jumps and goes for its neck. Suddenly all dogs are all over her, sinking their teeth deep into her fur.
Blood starts trickling from multiple holes, coloring her rusty coat.
It's all in vain, but she keeps fighting until a final, painful howl breaks out of her throat and it's over.
I keep screaming but there's nothing I can do.
I'm a coward.
A useless coward.
I hear a car's engine coming from somewhere in the distance, then all the lights in my house are on.
That scares the beasts away and they suddenly vanish.
It all happened so fast I almost missed it.
Then it’s only Otto's dead body lying in the pool of blood, mud and rain.
And me.
I’ve always thought the worst possible feeling we’ve inherited from humans is guilt.
After the war and after we built The State.
It's not.
It's feeling powerless.
My mother is calling me but I can’t figure out where the sound comes from.
And it doesn’t matter.
Nothing does anymore.
Not more than 10 feet away from me my mother calls
“Candice, get back inside. You’re soaking wet.”
“Did you see?”
I ask quietly but I know she’s heard me.
Then I feel her hands wrapping around me.
She is trying to take me back to the house.
I obey quietly and turn back one last time towards The Guardian’s dead body. My Guardian.
Once inside, my Mother kneels in front of me and tries to comfort me when she sees my eyes filling with tears.
“I did, yes. I saw everything." she says," But it’s too late now and you must never go out at night alone. Especially when The Wolves are roaming outside.”
“She’s dead, Mom. And I couldn’t do anything.”
I’m sobbing now and my mother wraps her arms around me once again .
“You couldn’t have done anything, Candice. Besides she was your Protector, she was prepared something like that might happen eventually.”
“But I saw it. " I whisper," I knew it was going to happen.”
“You can’t have known, Candice. “
“I had a dream. I saw it and still..."
Tears begin trickling down my face and I try to bite back a sob.
"If a dream is not a warning, or a prophesy, then why do we dream? How do we prevent things from happening at all?”
I’m desperate, how come she can’t see how wrong this is?
She hugs me tighter and kisses the top of my head.
I’m still a little girl, not ready for the world – that’s probably all she thinks of me right now.
“I don’t know.”
is her only reply and she says it’s time for us to go back to sleep.
When I look back at that time I realize it was right then and there I decided my future.
I am the only one in my entire family who isn’t a Hunter.
I’m a Dream Catcher.
The colors I’m wearing are the same as what Otto’s fur used to be once and I’ll keep fighting to protect.
Watch out because I might come visit tonight.
And it all started with a dream.
- Writer
