Myne

twenty six

Day seven.

Rain came home. 

*

“Are you sure you want to just stay home?” Yuki asked again. 

“Yes mama,” Rain answered. Smiling like she used to. 

“You cannot imagine how happy seeing that smile makes me,” Yuki gushed. 

“Mama, can you stop being so corny. Really.” 

Rain was blushing as Yuki laughed, kissed her little girl, and left for work. All of the parents were off to work. Not because they wanted to, or worried about their jobs and their work. They would rather stay home, watch over Rain who had only just returned from the hospital. But, it was for the very same Rain that they were leaving. They wanted her to feel like herself, like she was home, like she was safe. And if that meant going to work like it was just another usual day, then so be it. At least, Emi would be with her. All day. All the time. And Emi cared about her as much as they did. 

Yuki’s smile was gone, the moment the door to Rain’s room closed. She walked to the hall, where Emi was sitting with Anon, both showing the same serious faces. 

“She’s okay,” Yuki said. 

The other two nodded. 

“I’ll be careful,” Emi said. 

“We know,” Yuki said, resting her hand on the girl’s head. “We know.” 

Anon nodded, smiling warmly. He was worried. Scared. And so was Yuki. But they couldn’t show that, not to Emi, who was no different from their daughter. Both Rain and Emi were their girls. They cared for both equally. 

“You take care too,” Yuki added, at the door, before leaving. 

Emi didn’t reply. Yuki cupped Emi’s face with both hands, leaned in so their faces were directly facing each other, and repeated. 

“You take care too, alright? You will be alright, won’t you? I can’t go unless you promise me that.” 

Emi nodded. “I promise.” She knew what Yuki was talking about. She had made it clear to all four of the parents. She was okay. She wasn’t like last time. She had to be perfectly fine, and she was. She promised. 

Yuki was happy. Anon was happy. They waved, and left. Emi closed the door before the two made it to the elevators, before they turned around. They had to go. They were right when they decided on that. They needed her help, a bit of pushing sticking to that decision, and she was more than willing to offer the help. 

On the other side, Yuki and Anon did look back, after calling the elevator and while waiting. They saw the closed door. Exchanged a look, and smiles. They looked away, back at the elevators. And left for work. 

*

“They’re all gone now,” Emi said. She wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t acting like everything was okay. She wasn’t fine, and that was okay. 

“Okay,” Rain said, making the sign with her hand. The index and thumb making a circle, the other three standing tall. The universal okay sign. “Let’s begin?” She asked. 

“What do you remember?” Emi asked. 

“Nothing. Really. It’s like I fell asleep. And when I woke up, it was five days later. But it felt like just a night to me. That’s all.” 

“Bullshit. Can’t fool me. Not like you did them. Mama said she found you asleep when she came home. And she was early. Couldn’t concentrate at work. Maybe she felt it too. That something was wrong. And I know for sure. Sweety, what happened that day?” 

Rain’s smile fell. There was a look in her eye that Emi couldn’t recognise, couldn’t place. 

“I, I’m not sure. It’s hazy. Like a mess. Like the sports’ store room.” 

“We’ll figure it out together, okay? Like always,” Emi said, taking Rain’s hands. 

Rain nodded. “Like always,” she repeated. 

“Yeah. Like always. From the start.” 

“From the start.”  

“You saw me off. From the balcony.” 

“I went back in. And then” 

“It’s okay. You went back in. And you saw something.” 

“There was something. Yeah.” 

Rain was trembling. Emi held her hands tighter. Moved closer. 

“I’m here,” Emi said, softly. She leaned in, so their foreheads were touching. “I’m here.” 

“Yeah,” Rain said, completely blind to the tears flowing unstopped. “Like always.” 

“Like always,” Emi repeated. 

Rain nodded. Tried harder, remembering that morning. She saw herself, standing by the closed door. Looking back at her now, sitting on the bed. Like she had seen a ghost. 

“There was something,” Rain said. “On the bed.” 

She looked to her side, at the bed, where the book had been. It was an empty bed now. Nothing scary in the slightest. She looked back at the end of the room. That morning, she was still standing against the wall. Terrified. Wanting nothing more than to look away, and yet being unable to. She was lost at sea. The only buoy to hold onto was what Emi told her. Return the book. She closed her eyes. Dragged her feet to the bed. Grabbed the book. 

“Returned the book at the library,” Rain said. “Found another. Borrowed it. Brought it home.” She paused. She remembered. Not everything. But enough. “There was something at home. For me. Waiting. Dark. In my room. Calling for me. I was in the hall. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to leave. But I couldn’t. I had to go. Followed the voice. To the hallway. Toward my room.” Her eyes opened wide. She sat up straight. Her voice wasn’t strained, or shaky. “I woke up at the hospital.” 

“You never made it to your room,” Emi said. 

Rain didn’t answer. At least not in words. Simply shook her head. 

“There’s something I have to tell too,” Emi said after the right length of silence. “While at the hospital. Day four, I think. Yeah. Day four. I was sleeping on the sofa, the one in the room. Pushed it next to the bed. Made myself at home in it. Not the most comfortable. But who goes to the hospital for comfort. Right? Anyway, I was asleep. And I had a dream.” 

“A dream?” Rain asked. 

“A dream,” Emi repeated. 

“That’s my thing, isn’t it?” 

“Yes. It is. And I had one anyway. There was a woman. Familiar. And at the same time, unfamiliar. Opened the door. It was bright outside. Blinded me. Couldn’t see her clearly. Couldn’t make out the features. Her voice was familiar, and unfamiliar, at the same time. She came in. And talked to me. I am who you know I am. But not who you think I am. I think. Something like that. And then, I woke up. Does that make sense to you?” 

There was also something else. The woman asking Emi to keep it a secret. Emi didn’t tell Rain that. 

“I don’t know,” Rain said. “Is it supposed to mean something? Like a clue? You know, like in the movies. These dreams are like premonitions. And the things you see, the details, they are like clues. For something that you will come face to face with when awake. Do you think this is something like that?” 

“A secret. You won’t tell anybody. Alright?” The woman had said. 

And Emi had promised. To keep it a secret. Yet, here she was. She shook her head. Removed the woman from her head. Looked at Rain. 

“Maybe,” she said. “No. I think that must be it. If not that, then it’s just a dream. Meaningless. Or something that my unconscious mind is trying to tell me that my conscious mind forgot. Or something like that.” 

“I vote, a clue.” 

“Of course you do. That’s always your favourite.” 

“Yeah. Otherwise, my dreams would be nothing.” 

“And the book?” 

Rain froze. “What about the book?” She asked. 

“What about the book was so scary?” Emi asked. 

“What do you think?” 

“Alright. I’ll put concisely what we both know. You found a book at the library. The green book. You found it again, a full year later. In your eyes, it’s bright green. Shining. In mine, it’s faded. Old. The story inside, we read it different. The girl, is Rain in your eyes. Mira in mine. And the pages don’t turn. You just read. And read. The whole book is like one page. What else? Did I miss anything?” 

“No,” Rain said. “That’s everything, that we both know.” 

“Now, what do you know that I don’t?” 

“There’s a shadow. No, wait. That’s not first. I had a dream. It was the girl. From all the other dreams. She was also the girl in the book. She was on her bed. Looking out the window. At the lake. I was in the room, with her. Looking out the window. Looking at the lake. And I saw then. It wasn’t the lake. She was looking past the lake. At the other side. There was something there. A darkness. A shadow. And then, the girl saw me. Came over. Tried to grab me, I think. I woke up. And then, there’s a shadow. With the book. When I was looking at the book, the shadow was looking at me. I think. I think, it’s the same shadow from the other side of the lake. And I think it has something to do with the girl. In the room. The girl in the story. Rain. Or, Mira. Or whatever her name is. Whoever she is. I think the story is important.” 

“The old man, the famous star reader, Mr Sky, reads her fortune. Tells her it’s dark. Before it gets bright.” 

“Yes. And after too.” 

“What after?” 

“What happens after that. In the story. Don’t you remember?” 

“The old man realises that the girl is gifted. She had talent. She can’t be a star reader. But she is something rarer. A traveler. She asks if there was a way to change her fate. And he tells her, yes. Might not be possible for others. For her, yes. She just has to find someone, steal their fate, exchange with hers.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

Emi wasn’t sure she understood. If it was just the story, then that would be that. Anything was possible. But it wasn’t that. It wasn’t the green book. The story had ended in the book with the old man reading the girl’s fate. It was an abrupt ending. They didn’t like it when they read it. But now, Rain was saying there was more. In the story. In the book. 

No. Rain didn’t say in the book. 

“Sweety,” Emi asked, “was that in the book?” 

“Was what?” Rain asked. 

“The part after the reading. The traveler. The stealing. Was all of that in the book?” 

Rain wanted to answer yes. It obviously had to be in the book. Where else could she get the story from? But she stopped. Because she wasn’t sure. When they read the book and it ended, Sky had read the girl’s fate. What then, about the rest?” 

“I,” Rain said, unable to find words. 

Emi wasn’t any better. Just as lost for words. Just as confused. What the heck was going on? 

And what was that about the stealing? Emi thought back to what Rain said. The old man told the girl she could steal someone else’s fate. And Rain said, the girl saw her in the dream. And then, Rain also said there was a shadow with the book, in this very room, on this very bed. Combined with everything else, this was truly scary. 

“Do you think,” Emi asked weakly, “this is all actually happening?” 

“What do you mean?” Rain asked. 

“The girl, is the same from the book and the dream. She wants to escape her bleak fate. She wants to steal another’s fate. She saw you in the dream. After that, you started seeing a shadow. Here. Do you think, this is all actually happening?” 

Rain couldn’t answer. They were both terrified. And neither could say it, even to themselves, with any confidence, that it was all in their heads. And the big reason for that was because they knew. Weird things happened around Rain. Wasn’t the first time. It was just the scariest.