Snowlight - prologe (undecided title)

The rain pelted noisily on the glass window of the room they’d kept me locked in. It wasn’t a big window or anything. It was more like a small square shaped glass shutter on the top of the dark wall; not that I’d ever opened my eyes to look at it. Ever since I’d gained consciousness a few days ago, my senses had just started to pick up things. For example, the sunlight. It would usually try to penetrate my skin from time to time. I would feel the warm rays trace my cheeks as the clouds moved past the sun, sending shadows bouncing on the walls around me.

I couldn’t see them of course. My eyes were closed. They’d been closed for as long as I could remember. And I remembered close to nothing about my past; just the dreams I’d been having all these years through my great slumber. They were all I had at the moment to grasp onto. I felt moisture form at the palms of my hands that were at my sides where I lay. The numbness of my body was starting to wither away. I felt, for the first time, something binding me to the soft mattress that I figured I was lying on. And not just at one place, but all over my body. I was strapped to the mattress so tight that it was hard to even shift a little.

I let out a sigh. It was hard not to budge my muscles from time to time, seeing as I hadn’t moved an inch in the past several years. Suddenly, I heard footsteps just outside of my room. The first footsteps I’d heard in like forever. Then the most unexpected thing happened. I heard something shift and click, followed by the creaking of a door. I was aware of these sounds as I’d often heard them in my dreams. But my dreams hadn’t taught me everything. There was still a lot I didn’t know. For example, I didn’t know what the real world looked like, the world that I belonged to. I’d never been outside this room ever. And I couldn’t help asking myself this one question,

“W…wh…” I murmured, still not able to get a word out. My lips were as still as my body. It would probably take time for me to be able to say anything rational.

“Easy there, girl. You don’t want to cut those lips of yours by trying to move them so early. I’ve turned off the air conditioning. You should probably be able to feel and move again in a short while.” It was a deep voice of an old man. At least that’s what my brain registered to me. And what did he mean by turned off the air conditioning. Could it possibly be the reason behind why all of a sudden my hands were sweaty and I was feeling tiny prickles on my forehead. I heard the man walk toward me and loosen the straps. My chest heaved as I inhaled deeply. The straps had been making it hard for me to breathe. I wondered how I’d survived all this time without suffocating myself.

“That should make you feel better. Now don’t rush into sitting up already. Just take your time. You should start with opening your eyes first,” the man told me. “In the meantime, I’ll get you something to eat.” And he left just like that. Without any proper introductions as to whom he was or who I was. I didn’t say anything, as if I could. I just wrinkled my brow; my eyes twitched but did not open just yet. I moved my ice-cold fingers. It was like there was a heavy weight on my hand that I couldn’t lift it. Although I knew perfectly well that the straps were open. I just needed a little time for the room to get warmer, perhaps.

I lay there, sighing and moaning. My body trembled but I was still nowhere close to moving it. Finally after a few minutes had passed, I managed to open my eyes. Everything was white all of a sudden. Then slowly, things darkened and came into focus. It was afternoon and I could tell that the rain had stopped and the sun was high up in the sky because of the sunlight filtering through the shutter. The shutter… I glanced up at it. It was exactly as I’d pictured. Small, square shaped glass shutter that was framed in metal. And I was right about it being the only source of light. Because as I cocked my head to the side, I could see that the room was empty with shadows lurking in the corners. There were no cobwebs though, to my disappointment; the room was clean.

The old man walked in again, carrying a metal tray and on it was a white mug. I wondered what would be inside when the sudden scent of smoke sent shivers through my body, making the rest of the numbness go away. Seeing the surprise on my face, the man smiled and walked into the sunlight. His skin was pale and wrinkled. There was very little hair on his scalp which wasn’t unusual because he looked about the age of 70 or 80 with the way he limped.

I moved my arms up to my sides and pushed myself up into a sitting position, my eyes fixed on the cup. The old man chuckled, following my gaze. He had the softest pale grey eyes that matched the color of his brows and hair. Not that it mattered to me exactly how old he was. I just moved my hands to make a grab for the mug but he moved it out of my reach. I pouted at him, I had absolutely no idea what my eyes looked like or what color they were. All I knew was that the pouting wasn’t exactly working on him. He laughed, openly this time.

“Not so fast, kiddo. You needn’t use your hands just yet. Here, I’ll hold the cup. You just drink up.” I didn’t object because frankly, I didn’t feel like my hands had the strength to hold anything at all at the moment. But that was all going to change of course, after I’d drank. The minute my lips touched the cup, I felt a warm sensation go through me. I knew what was inside the cup. Flames. That was what gave me power. Flames that had been liquefied for me to be able to drink them up. I’d done it plenty of times in my dreams but of course, I didn’t ever remember doing it in real life. Because, according to my knowledge, this was the first time I’d opened my eyes since birth.

After I’d swallowed the flames down to the last drop and felt their heat flow through me like a river of power, I managed to speak.

“Why did you wake me up? It wasn’t time.” I was aware of my unusual accent which I knew would be corrected with time. It was the first time I’d spoken, but not the first time I’d heard my voice. I’d known what my voice sounded like from the time I was born. It was soft and not very loud. The old man smiled at me but something was not right. My brain told me that people smiled when they were happy but somehow that smile did not match his eyes. “You need to get up and try walking around now. Come on. I’ll show you around.” That was what he said instead. I did not trouble him with the question again and stood up, balancing myself on my bare feet. The floor was still cold and I gasped the second my skin made contact with it but I tried to keep my shivers to myself.

I followed the old man out of the small room I’d spent my entire life in. Although it wasn’t easy, walking around on two skinny feet. My knee length, light grey frock flared as I moved. I noticed that I was in some kind of laboratory where there were long white corridors with several doors lined along the walls. Behind those doors, I knew, would be others like me; others that survived on elements of the Earth. But why I had been the only one to wake up and not them was what confused me the most. And it was almost as if the man had read my thoughts, he said,

“Don’t stress yourself too much thinking about it. You will be let onto every bit of detail later.” We walked into a small room where there were white couches and a soft warm carpet that felt so good to stand on. And then I looked up at the glass wall in front of me. Through it, was a breathtaking view; for me at least. A garden full of trees and roses of every color. The grass was lush green and neatly trimmed and there were pebbles on one corner of the garden. They surrounded a small pond. “For now, I can only let you in on the information that I’ve received from the Main. There have been disturbances and you have been chosen to put an end to it. I will have to assign you to a home and family if you are to investigate who is behind these disturbances.”

I tore my eyes away from the garden and stared into the old man’s soft grey ones. Again my brain registered something wrong with his face. He was smiling while his eyes did not feel the joy. I couldn’t understand how that was possible but it wasn’t my job to anyway. My job was given to me and I had to do it without any questions. Except one, of course.

“What is to be my name?” I asked. Although the words came out slow but the accent was a little better this time.

“Flake…” the man said with a pause, “It is the name entered for you in your files and birth certificate.”

I nodded and went on admiring the view as I thought about the name. Flake. Like a snowflake. I wondered why on earth they would’ve given me a name like that when it went completely against my element. That’s when I saw part of my reflection in the glass wall in front of me. I could see a skinny girl with pale skin and dull black straight hair that curled up a little at the end. The hair was at elbow length, falling over her shoulders. And then I stared into the girl’s eyes. I stepped closer to the glass, she stepped closer just as I did. And I saw why I was given the name Flake. It was because of my eyes. They were as soft and silvery white as a snowflake.

“Admiring yourself, eh? Well that’s what you’ve looked like in your previous lives. Of course, it wasn’t exactly you. It was some other soul inhabiting a body identical to yours. When the time came, the soul left the body which then turned back into an egg. Then you hatched from the egg in a few years and have been growing in that room, learning through your dreams, up until now.”

I looked back at him. He was sitting comfortably on the white couch, occupying as little space as possible thanks to how thin he was.

“I still do not get why everyone else is still sleeping,” I spoke in a faraway voice. “I was taught that we were all to wake up at the same time. And yet here I see only myself wide awake. Or is it possible that everyone else is already–” I stopped talking when the man held up a hand, looking cautiously around to see if anyone was listening. Then he let out a sigh,

“Listen, Flake. I don’t know if it’s because you woke up early that you’re unaware of the fact that you are not supposed to ask random questions. If anyone here catches you asking questions out of curiosity, well let’s just say you don’t want to know what they’ll do to you.”

I gulped, feeling something sink inside me. I hadn’t expected to hear that. What was it that I had skipped out on my dreams? Why was I not aware of this fact, however terrifying it was? And then, again as if he’d read my fear he said,

“Don’t you worry, though. They won’t hurt you as long as you do exactly as you are told. If they tell you to lie, you lie. If you’re told to hurt someone, you will do so without hesitation. And if you’re asked to kill.” The old man stopped, seeing my face. The color had drained from it and my snowflake eyes were wide with shock.

“Hurt? Wh-why would I want to hurt someone? Why would anyone want to hurt someone?” I stammered, feeling a tremor go through me. The old man stood up immediately, eyes full of concern and strode over to take my trembling hand. He led me to a couch and made me sit there. Then he limped his way to another room and came back with a glass of water.

“Here, drink up. You needn’t worry. The water’s warm. It’ll make you feel better.” I took the glass from him and took a sip at the water and then another till I’d drank almost all of it. I gave him the glass and he put it on the glass table in the middle of the room. My trembling had ceased for the time being and I let my head rest on the arm of the couch, closing my eyes.

The man just stared at me with worried eyes as if he hadn’t expected me to react the way I did at hearing that I’d have to hurt someone. Who could even bare such a thought?