Supernaturals

16. The mark

ANNA

It was a dream. I knew I wasn't awake but that didn't matter. It was a different kind of dream and it scared me.

I was in a temple. It was huge and had high ceilings and insanely huge windows. There were a lot of candles, about a thousand at least. The candles were arranged in a way that seemed quite bizarre and the flames burning with so much intensity.

Also, all the candles were floating.

This ‘dream' was really weird not only because I knew I was dreaming but also because I could feel myself. I could feel my cold breath gliding over my face as my chest heaved heavily. I tried pinching myself and I felt the pain like I would if I wasn't asleep.

Then I slapped myself hard—and I regretted it.

Everything was real. As I made my way into the temple, I tripped and hit my head on the ground. It hurt real bad.

Even for a witch, this was an over-the-top weird experience.

I could feel the magic around me. It was strong, old and strange. Everything had magic of its own, it was like I was in a world where magic was all there was. While I was still as scared as f*ck, I began to get a sense of ‘comfortability' in the temple. It was as though something in the very core of my being had a very strong connection with the temple.

It felt absurd even thinking about it but I felt some peace. Getting beyond the shock, I was actually comfortable, almost like I was in a world where I should I've been. A place meant for me.

“It's peaceful, isn't it?” A woman said, coming out of nowhere.

Why didn't this surprise me?!

The woman was in a dark-coloured tunic, which was basically a large rectangular fabric made of wool. It was gracefully folded over along the upper edge so that the overfold met the waist. She had a cloak that was loosely hung on her. While it was probably thick and warm, the cloak seemed unusually heavy.

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice sounding a little different than it normally did.

“You are beautiful, Urina. But you must be strong because it's your destiny to end all evil.”

Okay, it was established that the woman was crazy.

“Who are you?”

She looked at me with a sudden smile on her face.

“Urina, I see a lot of me in you and I know you feel the peace this temple provides people of our kind.”

I was beyond confused now. Where was I? Who was the woman? What the f*ck was she saying? Who the hell is Urina?

She spoke again. This time she actually had something to say.

“I am Aragina, one of the unseen hands of witches,” she said, explaining to me that she was a spirit who helped witches.

“Why am I here?” I asked, hoping she would say ‘sorry, no reason' and I'll become conscious.

“I am ageless and just like every one of my kind, I am only here to serve.”

Okay, we are getting somewhere at least.

“Whatever. Two quick questions: why am I here? And what is ‘here'?”

She walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Urina, I'm here to tell you that the prophecy says that you would end every evil in the world. You are going to save what's left of your world.”

Could she not get any crazier?

“Well, it's clear that you have me mixed up with someone else, probably that Urina you speak of because I don't know the b*tch is.”

She smiled. “You are the b*tch you speak. Your name in the eyes of magic, is Urina. Whatever else you're called is irrelevant.”

This woman was already annoying as it stood, I felt it wasn't wise to fire back at her. She seemed nice but I wouldn't want to push her.

“Thanks for the prophecy, Aragina. At least all it says is good, let me be on my way so I can work on ‘saving the world’.”

Aragina really wanted me to take this more seriously.

“If that was all, my dear, I wouldn't be here.” Aragina asserted, her face more serious now.

She told me that I was chosen to save all lives in my world but my destiny would be sabotaged when I fall in love with The One. The One, according to them, was a half-vampire and half-demon. He was born to be my end. To be the end of every witch.

Suddenly, I began to believe Aragina. As she spoke, I began to consider that perhaps I truly was chosen to save my kind.

“Well, Aragina, you have nothing to worry about because I have no intention of falling in love with anyone.”

She laughed. “Destiny disagrees, my love. Besides, it's called ‘falling in love’, no one deliberately falls in anything, it just happens.”

I shook my head. “Since I know now, I will definitely stay away from every non-witch.”

I could see that she was unconvinced. Are you telling me that I would know someone would be my kind's undoing and still love the person?

“You have met this person, Urina. That is why I'm here to tell you to be cautious. You met him quite recently.”

Met the person who would be my kind's undoing? Bloody hell! It's that cute vampire. It had to be.

“Do you now know the person?" Aragina asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do, and I hate him with all my heart,” I remember how I had lost eight of my friends to his kind. “I have promised to k*ll him and I will keep it.”

“I hope you do,” Aragina whispered as she vanished into thin air.

Then I woke up, lying lazily on my bed.

There was a mark on my left palm. It was a circle in another circle and was so shiny that it looked like glossy black.

What a dream that was! Was the mark all about?

I cleaned up and then they left the room. I went in search of my mother who was still asleep. I also woke Nika, Tasha and Nolan.

“So that's pretty much all that happened in the dream,” I said, after spending an hour explaining to them the weird dream I had.

Everyone had something to say. It was a really weird thing to hear and also a great burden as I had learnt that I was chosen.

But Mum was quiet. Not clueless-quiet, more like worried-quiet.

“I don't think you would have an issue with that, it's good to know the prophecy is our side." Nolan shrugged his left shoulder. “Since we all know Anna would never fall for any vampire, it's fine.”

Nolan was completely correct! There was no way I could fall in love with a vampire. Vampires were monsters, monsters who sucked blood to survive. This prophecy was definitely going to be in my favour because I would rather d*e sixty-five times than have anything to do with the monsters who killed eight of my friends.

“Who's to say this Aragina is genuine.” Tasha wondered aloud.

“She is," Mum aired, speaking for the very first time, “she's a messenger of the prophecy and everything she says is true.”

It was clear that Mum knew a little more than she was letting out.

“Mum, is there something you are not telling us?”

Mum shook her head. “No, nothing at all.”

“You are a bad liar,” I added.

She puckered her lips. “Yeah, I am. What I know is pretty simple; people who have been chosen rarely ever live a normal life.”

Okay, this was bad news. Mum saw how quickly my mood changed.

“No, dear, it's not said to be that way. You have to believe that your case is different, you have to be strong.”

After we ended the ‘meeting', I climbed to the top of our roof and sang a song I learnt when I was little. I did this to get relaxed.

Hearing everything Aragina said made me feel burdened. It was much better when I wanted to act out of revenge. Now that I had to, everything seemed way harder.

At the very least, the prophecy favoured me. If falling in love with a vampire was my undoing, then it was certain that I would succeed. In fact, I could start celebrating already.

That much was certain.