Fated to Meet You

Chapter 3

A dark forest swirled into existence around her. To the left was herself walking, seeming the same age as she was currently. She seemed in a rush, almost running with books loaded into her arms. Katryna followed her quietly, wanting to know where she was heading to. She had just entered another pre-dream state after all. Or pre-dream nightmare, to be more accurate. Almost a minute passes with nothing happening, causing Katryna to get quite nervous. Something always goes wrong.

Just as she was starting to get nervous is when a loud snap pushes through the air. She quickly turns to see what the noise was, but her future self seemed to be too worried about the location she was heading towards to notice. Behind her was a pair of deep, red eyes, lurking. Katryna moves closer to inspect it, being able to make out the large, grey body of a wolf. One far larger than she ever expected to encounter. It was the size of a large horse.

A low growl rings through the air before the wolf is lunging towards the future Katryna, passing through the observing one. She quickly turns her head, eyes widened in shock. What was she doing alone in the forest in the first place? But just before the wolf can land on her, a bigger brown wolf appears on the other side, tackling it away from her. This wolf was twice the size of the other, almost effortlessly taking the first down. She looks back to her future self to see her not running away, her expression portraying similarities to the current Katryna’s own shock and surprise. That made her feel strange, not understanding why she was staying nor why she wouldn’t run. She would have seen this all in the same vision Katryna was currently seeing, wouldn’t she?

The scene starts to fade away and Katryna prepares to return to her room when something quite different appears before her eyes. She entered what seemed to be a sort of dorm room, two sets of bunk beds sitting in it. But sitting on one bed was herself in the lap of a man. While the man was holding her flush to his chest, working her top off, she simply sat there still, hardly moving unless otherwise prompted.

After her shirt was removed, she was placed on her back on the bed, the man moving to remove her pants. Katryna moved closer to see her face, noting that her eyes seemed glazed over, skin looking pale. Was she drugged? Katryna really wanted to punch the face of the man removing her clothing when the door banged open. She turns quickly to see who entered, catching a pair of the most enticing stormy gray eyes.

Luckily, this new guy grabbed the other by the shoulder before delivering a quick blow to his face. A bit of blood splattered as a loud crunch was heard, nose clearly broken. “Stay the f**k away from her!” He proceeded to hit the other a bit more before quickly grabbing Katryna’s body and running away with her. The scene swirled again and Katryna was pulled into her living room.

This was a place she was familiar with, but it definitely was not the place she recalled being. Although currently in her bedroom in the early evening, the living room appeared to be mid day. A loud snapping sound through the air causes her to jump, turning her head from the windows to the scene behind her. There was her father, holding a belt above his head. Below him was her, grimacing in pain with tears pricking her eyes.

As the leather belt swings down again, hitting her again, she can’t help but shield her eyes. Katryna didn’t like her father, but seeing him like this? It was too much for her to handle. She hears a few more snaps in the air, a sob moving through the air, but it does nothing to stop what she knew was happening behind her closed eyes. What was only a minute feels like hours before a growl echoes through the house. She looks around to see not the expected wolf, but a man with shaggy brown hair looking enraged. She notes the eyes were not the previously stormy gray ones, but a vibrant green.

Faster than she can blink, the man is across the room, grabbing her father’s wrist and throwing him to the floor. He grabs the belt and starts hitting her father before a soft cry escapes her lips, “Please.. Stop. Just leave him,” Although the rage doesn’t leave his eyes, the man drops the belt, turning around and helping Katryna up. She watches as he helps her walk from the room, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. Then the room swirls again and this time she does land back into her room.

Three visions in one night? And all without pause. She was very unsettled. But yet, she felt good. Although the contents of the scenes were bad, they all ended with her getting help. That wasn’t typical for her, as usually she was on her own. Was she going to get good friends? People who cared for her? But what about that wolf? Why was she out in the forest to begin with? Instead of drawing what each scene entailed, instead Katryna draws what the three important figures are. The brown wolf, the gray eyed man, and the brunette. All figures important for her to remember. With that, she finally went to rest.

Barely at the break of dawn, she is awoken to a loud pounding on her door. “Katryna! How dare you lock the doors in my house? Get your ass down to the kitchen and start making breakfast!” She holds in her urge to groan, having barely slept after the visions from the night before. She rubs her eyes hard before pushing herself to her feet, waiting for the pounding to stop before opening the door. There her father stands, still seeming as angry as when she left him the night before.

His eyes look over her in rage before he points a finger at her chest. “Clean yourself up first! You look like a train hit you six times.” She scowls at him, but doesn’t say a word, getting a phantom sting in her cheek at the memory of what happened last time she objected. She waited for him to leave before closing her door and getting changed.

Moving into the bathroom, she grimaces looking at her face. Although ever so light, there was a bruise starting to form across her cheek. She carefully covers it with makeup, doing so with the rest of her face as well to make sure it doesn’t seem misplaced. Was this what it would be like now? Her having to tiptoe just to make sure she isn’t injured? All over some stupid little joke letter?

After ensuring she was ready for the day, Katryna quickly made her way downstairs, preparing breakfast. After it was ready, she brought two plates to the table, placing one in front of her father and the other in her mother’s normal seat. “She will not be joining us anymore.” This causes Katryna to pause. Her mom wasn’t going to eat with them anymore?

“Why not?” she asks after a few minutes of hesitation. Did her dad do something to her mom? Where would she be? What is she doing?

“Your mother moved out. Last night she packed her things and left. It’s just you and me now, kid.” This causes Katryna’s body to go rigid. Just her.. And him? Her mother left without her? Her dad hits her and in response her mother flees, but doesn’t take her with? She stands there for a moment, lost. “Are you going to just stand there or are you going to eat?” he snaps, then begins to eat his own food.

Katryna blinks away the tears beginning to prick at her eyes, “No, thank you.” She grabs her mother's plate and takes it back to the kitchen, tossing the food in the garbage before cleaning everything. How could her mother do that? After all the years Katryna spoke of them leaving together, how could she just leave without her? Especially after what happened. She felt broken.