SIX

I let my head dip under the water, the feeling no longer bothering my head wound.

For a moment the heat of the water consumes me, all sound blurring from my ears. The feeling is blissful, washing away all the concerns and worries that have been haunting me. It's been a few days since mother's ball, and yet it's been on my mind since. Or mainly, the strange man who saved me on the ice.

I break the surface of the water, breathing in deeply. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Lei wading toward me, blonde curls swept back away from her face.

My mother's indoor pool is quite possibly my favourite facilities in this household. Lei and I spend most days in here, wading around the heated pool, acting as though we have no worries at all.

"I checked the entire guest list, and nobody with the name Eryk in any type of spelling was on the guest list," mother says from the side of the pool, emerging through the steam with her arms folded across her chest, the faintest dousing of snow melting on her shoulders, meaning she's been outside.

I frown, wading over to the side of the pool. "How did he get in then?"

"If you think anyone got past the door without a guest list Aven, you are mad," she mutters, raising a dark eyebrow at me.

My mouth is dry, and not from the warm water. How did he get in here, and yet no one remembers it but me. I could swear Lei was the first one to notice him, to approach and speak to him. And he was definitely on the ice with me.

"Was there anyone unfamiliar on the list?" I ask her, also curious about the mysterious tattooed stranger.

"Absolutely not," she mutters dismissively, irritated that I would even question her security. I believe she is more so offended by the idea that an undesirable stranger could have wandered in on her watch. "I can tell you the name, age and background of every single person on that list."

"I swear he was there," I tell her, kicking my legs about as I float, still leaning against the side of the pool. "He looked so familiar too."

"No, Aven. Nothing of the sort passed through my doors," mother comments flatly.

I sink deeper into the water a bit, until it floods over my shoulders. That doesn't make any sense? There is a chance Eryk did get in without mother noticing, even if she like's to think she has everything under control. Then who is he, really?

"I really did hit my head hard," I mutter, lightly touching the side of my head, knowing there was once a wound there, that has miraculously healed.

Mother adjusts her lilac jacket. "Your doctors have checked and your memory seems fine."

"Clearly not," Lei says, swimming up beside me. There is a crooked grin on her face as she sweeps her hair back. "Apparently I chatted up a handsome stranger, which in no way would I forget something like that."

"What a bizarre night," I sigh, pulling myself out of the water, letting the steam encompass me. "I want to forget all about it."

"Perhaps it's the nightmares," Mother comments, although doesn't sound all that concerned.

I've had nightmares since I was little. Every night, without fail, I'm haunted with confused, blurred images that don't make sense. The only time I can wake and decipher them is when I see people, or well, two people. One of them looks eerily similar to Eryk, which is starting to make me think I dreamt up a lot of what happened last night after I hit my head.

"Maybe. I'm going to go for a run," I tell Lei, ringing my hair out before draping my towel over my shoulders. Whenever I start to get overwhelmed, I go outside to let the cold wash it all away for the moment.

"With wet hair...I don't think so," mother reprimands, but doesn't stop me as I walk out the room.

+++

*On run - runs past a grave-site and stops to see father. Foggy. See's girl (Larea) who holds black flowers - reminds her of dress*

The frost crunches under foot as I run, the cold chasing me with every step.

My hair has finally dried, despite the shade from the pine trees that line the road I run down. I doubt I'll come across any cars around here, but I stick to the side of the road anyway, trying not to slip.

I know exactly where I'm going. Back when I had all the time in the world, I would come here everyday. It's been a few days, with everything going on with mother's ball, so it's time to make my usual visit.

The graveyard stretches over a rolling hill, dotted with snow laden trees. Walking up the gravel path, crusted in ice, I pull my headphones from my ears, regaining my breath.

Weaving through the gravestones, I don't stop until I find the one I'm looking for, surrounded by sad looking flowers, frozen in a shell of ice.

My father.

"You haven't missed much since the other day," I say, breath fogging up in front of me. I crouch down, looking at the faded writing. "Only that I'm losing my mind. I even hit my head, but the doctors think I'm okay. I'm seeing the same man I've dreamt about before...There has to be an answer."

"Maybe there is."

I flinch, not expecting to hear another voice in this graveyard.

Turning around, I see a girl sitting a few graves down from me, right atop a large gravestone. She wears all black, her flowing dress reaching her feet, a knitted cardigan pulled over her shoulders. She doesn't look cold though, staring at me with deep brown eyes framed by thick lashes.

"Oh, sorry...I was just talking to my father," I scramble, mortified that she just caught me speaking to the frozen ground.

She hops off the gravestone, wandering toward me, flat shoes padding along the ice uneasily. I can't help but stare at her, her beauty ethereal and foreign, like she's stepped out of an ancient painting. Her dusty blonde hair is twisted up into an elaborate hairstyle, covered by a wide-brimmed hat.

"How lovely. I hope my family will do that for me when I pass," she says, voice soothing and vaguely unfamiliar.

She sounds like Eryk, I realise.

"I'm sure they will," I tell her assuredly, turning back to look at my father's gravestone.

"Although, I'm adopted, so they don't exactly see me as one of their own," she admits. I try not to frown, unsure of why this strange girl is sharing so much with me. I'm unnerved now, her accent so strange, just like Eryk's. There is no way this is a coincidence.

"That's terribly sad," I tell her honestly. "I'm adopted as well."

Despite being adopted, I've always thought of my adoptive parents as nothing other than my real blood. When I lost my father a few years ago, I mourned him as my father, and have never thought any differently. Whoever my birth parents are, they couldn't care for me, which is a fact I've never spent long dwelling over.

"Do you know your birth parents?" the girl asks, tugging mindlessly at her grey woollen gloves. She's acting genuinely curious, although her intrigue is making nervous. I have no idea who she is.

"No...They abandoned me at birth. Left me on the doorstep like some old fairy-tale," I tell her with a shrug, trying to convey that it truly doesn't bother me.

"That's some fairy-tale," she says with a laugh. "I'm visiting a sister."

I look back to where she points. The gravesite is unmarked, although there are a myriad of pretty pink and white flowers that must have just been laid there. My stomach twists, knowing the feeling what it is like to lose someone.

"I'm sorry," I sigh, breathing fogging out in front of me.

"Don't be," the girl says fondly, adjusting her hat. "She was just wonderful."

I smile at her. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so harsh on her, realising that she just wanted someone to speak to. However, the longer I sit here, the deeper the chill embeds itself into my skin. I'm just in my running clothing, so now that I've stopped, I feel as though the ice is flowing through my veins.

"I should go..." I say, standing back up, brushing snow off my shoulders. Now that's it's started to fall in weightless clumps, it's time to head back home before my mother decides to kill me.

"Wait," she says, eyebrows furrowed, looking suddenly concerned. "You should know something."

"What's that?"

"You're bleeding..." she breathes.

I frown, wondering for a moment if my head is bleeding again, until I feel warmth liquid pool above my lip. Raising my hand, I touch my nose, only to draw back to see them smothered in purple blood.

"Oh damn...How did that happen?" I protest, turning away to wipe my nose incessantly. I'm bleeding profusely all of a sudden, revealing to this complete stranger that I don't bleed the same colour as everyone else. Either she's going to know I'm strange, or think I'm diseased.

"It's okay, you don't need to hide," she insists. I flinch, whirling around as she rest her hand on my shoulder. "I bleed purple too."

Mortified, I watch as a thin strip of purple blood falls from her nose.

"You can't tell anyone about this, okay? No one else an know I bleed like this," I tell her, grabbing her shoulders tightly to shake her. She doesn't look frightened, letting her nose bleed all over her. "Do you understand."

Pulling my hands back, I realise I've imprinted blood from my hands al l over her dress, black or not. Stumbling back, I look around. No one else is here, but she could easily report that to someone.

"Your fate is calling you, Aven," she breathes.

I don't wait another second, turning on my heels to sprint out the graveyard. The sight of that strange, unfamiliar girl bleeding purple as well haunting me my entire run back.

And she knew my name...