CHAPTER SIX — UNHAPPIEST BIRTHDAY
1487 Words
Jasmine’s POV
The second the locks clicked into place, my stomach lurched.
Not a cute little flutter.
Not nerves.
A full‑body, “I might vomit on my own carpet” wave of nausea.
I stumbled to the sink, gripping the counter like it owed me money.
“Happy birthday to me,” I muttered. “Twenty‑one and apparently allergic to… everything.”
Another wave hit, sharp and hot, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
This was officially the worst birthday in the history of birthdays.
And I once spent my sixteenth crying in a Taco Bell bathroom, so that bar was already low.
I took a shaky breath.
Then another.
Then—
“Breathe, Jasmine.”
I froze.
The voice wasn’t in the room.
It was in my head.
I whipped around anyway, because apparently I’m the kind of girl who checks behind her for invisible intruders.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Nope. Absolutely not. I’m not doing voices today. I’ve hit my quota.”
“You’re not losing your mind.”
“Oh good,” I said, pacing. “Because that’s exactly what someone losing their mind would hallucinate.”
A soft laugh echoed inside me — warm, feminine, confident.
“You’re awakening. This is normal.”
“Normal?” I barked out a laugh. “Normal is brunch. Normal is mimosas. Normal is not… whatever the hell I did out there.”
A pulse of warmth spread through my chest, like someone placed a hand over my heart.
“You have power, Jasmine. Immeasurable power. You were never meant to be ordinary. You are about to learn about a whole different world”
I blinked. “Okay, inspirational Pinterest quote, calm down.”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“By doing what? Narrating my mental breakdown?”
A pause.
Then, gently:
“I’m close with your mother.”
I stopped pacing.
“My… mother?” My throat tightened. “Jenny? She’s not even close with herself.”
A soft, amused hum.
“Not that mother.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then who—”
“You’ll know soon.”
I pressed my palms to my temples. “No. No cryptic nonsense. If you’re in my head, you can at least be straightforward.”
“Straightforward would overwhelm you.”
“Oh, great. So you’re a condescending hallucination.”
“I’m not a hallucination.”
“Prove it.”
Silence.
Then—
A sudden, sharp pulse of energy shot through my chest, knocking the air out of me. My knees buckled, and I caught myself on the counter.
My pendant glowed bright enough to light the whole kitchen.
“You feel that?” the voice whispered.
“That’s you. That’s what you are.”
I swallowed hard. “What am I?”
A soft, almost affectionate sigh.
“Greater than you’ve ever been allowed to believe.”
I stared at my reflection in the microwave door — wide eyes, flushed cheeks, hair a mess, pendant blazing like a tiny sun.
I didn’t recognize myself.
“Why me?” I whispered.
“Because you were born for more.”
I let out a shaky laugh. “Fantastic. Love that for me. Truly. But could ‘more’ maybe wait until after I stop wanting to puke?”
A warm ripple of amusement.
“You’ll adjust. Your body is aligning with what you are.”
“Which is…?”
Another pause.
“Not yet.”
I groaned. “You’re worse than a cliffhanger.”
“You’ll thank me later.”
“Doubtful.”
“You will.”
I dragged a hand down my face. “Do you at least have a name?”
A beat.
Then:
“Nina.”
I blinked. “Nina. Okay. Great. I’m Jasmine. Welcome to my brain, I guess.”
“I’ve always been here.”
My heart stuttered.
“What?”
“You just weren’t ready to hear me.”
I stared at the glowing pendant, nausea fading, replaced by something else.
Something electric.
Something alive.
Something terrifying.
“Why now?” I whispered.
Nina’s voice softened.
“Because tonight, everything changes.”
---
CHAPTER SIX — CONTINUED
Jasmine’s POV
The words echoed in my head long after Nina went quiet.
Because tonight, everything changes.
Great.
Fantastic.
Exactly what every girl wants to hear on her birthday — a cryptic prophecy from the voice in her skull.
A sudden wave of nausea slammed into me so hard I had to grab the counter to stay upright.
“Okay,” I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut. “If this is what ‘change’ feels like, I’d like a refund.”
But the nausea wasn’t the worst part.
My senses… shifted.
The air felt thicker.
The lights seemed too bright.
Every sound outside sharpened like someone turned the world’s volume up.
Footsteps.
A heartbeat.
A groan.
Something dragging.
I shouldn’t have been able to hear any of it.
“What is happening to me?” I whispered.
“Your senses are aligning.”
Nina’s voice slid through me, warm and steady.
“You’re beginning to feel what you were always meant to feel.”
“That’s not comforting,” I said, pacing. “In case you were aiming for comforting.”
“I’m aiming for truth.”
Another pulse of energy rolled through my chest, making me gasp.
“Truth about what?”
A pause.
A long one.
“Your human life will not stay the same. There will be several inexplicable changes as your power continues to reveal itself”
“Yeah, I figured that out when I made three grown men kneel without touching them.”
“There is another side to you.”
“Another side?” I rubbed my temples. “Like… what? A secret personality? A demon? A tax auditor?”
“A lineage.”
My breath caught.
“From who?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
“My father? The one who bailed before I was born?”
“Yes and no.”
My pulse kicked up. “How can—”
Nina hesitated.
Actually hesitated.
“It is… complicated. He is dark .”
Something in her tone felt wrong.
Not the words — the way she said them.
Like she was trying to soften something sharp.
But I didn’t push it.
“Dark how?” I asked quietly.
A small snarl comes from Nina “He comes from a world that has caused great harm.”
“That’s still not an answer.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By being vague?”
“By not overwhelming you.”
I opened my mouth to argue — but something shifted.
A cold ripple crawled up my spine.
My senses sharpened again, violently this time.
I could hear breathing outside.
Labored.
Wet.
Wrong.
“Nina,” I whispered, “why do I feel like something’s about to happen?”
“Because something is.”
“What? From who?”
“I—”
She cut herself off, like she was fighting herself.
“I can’t explain without explaining too much.”
“That’s not helpful!”
“Jasmine—”
A loud bang slammed against the door.
I jumped, heart in my throat.
“Jasmine!”
Kael’s voice. Urgent.
“Open the door! Bryson’s hurt — he needs help!”
My breath caught.
I rushed toward the door, hand on the lock—
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then all at once, like the building shuddered.
I froze.
Peered through the peephole.
Kael was there.
Bryson slumped against him, barely conscious.
But other guy, Laizel—
Gone.
Not walking away.
Not lurking.
Just… gone.
Except I still felt him.
A cold ripple crawled up my spine, sharp enough to make me gasp.
Like something unseen was pacing the hallway.
Like the shadows themselves leaned forward, stretching toward Kael and Bryson, hungry and too close.
My breath hitched. “What… what is that?”
“He’s still here. He’s coming”
Nina’s voice was tight.
Not calm.
Not amused.
Afraid.
I swallowed. “But I don’t see—”
“You won’t. But he’s watching. Hunting.”
A chill shot through me.
The shadows in the hallway seemed to thicken, creeping along the walls like they were alive. Like they were reaching for the two boys outside my door.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Nina—”
“Open the door. Now.”
“What? Why? What’s happening?”
“Open it!”
Her voice cracked — sharp, panicked, nothing like before.
I fumbled with the locks, hands shaking, and yanked the door open.
Bryson collapsed forward immediately.
His eyes fluttered open for half a second — unfocused, glassy, barely there.
“Happy birthday, Jas…” he whispered, giving me the weakest, crooked little smile.
Then his eyes rolled back.
And he went completely limp in my arms.
- Writer
