#encounter .001

[theninthcard]

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul    don't let it in with with no intention to keep it       jesus christ, don't be kind to it          honey don't feed it, it will come back when & where: june 11th, 11:57AM, in the woods behind the lair closed

A breeze rustled through the leaves shading Lailani’s head, the faint noise accompanied by the shifting of many little bird wings. She had come out into the woods to seek out nothing n particular. What do you look for when you’re not sure the ley line you’re on is actually disturbed? Out here and around The Lair, the magic beneath the soil was so strong she could feel it in her hands. Part of her had begun to wonder, now that they had ley line-related disasters cropping up all over the globe, if the magical mishaps they’d struggled through hadn’t been linked to a similar sort of break or blockage.

Then again, those had sorted themselves out, it seemed. There may not have been anything to find in the first place. She went out anyway, her sweater sleeves rolled up to her elbows so she could press her fingers into trunks and roots and dirt freely. She hadn’t found anything yet, but it couldn’t hurt to keep looking, especially if any information helped the rest of the Council.

Caught up in her exploration, she didn’t notice the silence that fell around her. It wasn’t until she heard slow, steady footfalls through the dropped leaves and twigs, headed right toward her, that she turned to take note of the change.

Animals often approached her in these woods, but none of them had ever looked so feral, or so much like her.

Lailani’s throat constricted. The person across from her had the same narrow chin, the same eyes too big for her face. Identical to the reflection Lailani saw every day in the mirror, except for... The way she looked at Lailani, uncanny and intense, her eyes holding none of that characteristic unfocused dizziness.

Are you the eye from my vision? The words died before they ever reached her tongue. Could one ask a vision if it is a vision?

The sweater this other version wore was shredded in places and stained deep with dirt. Thorns and leaves were tangled in her hair, which hung in haphazard chunks. The hollows under her cheekbones and at her temples were too stark. An thin cut on her cheek bled in tiny red rivulets. She didn’t seem to notice, or care. She stared Lailani down. Both of them sunk into their shoulders, but where Lailani’s posture was a nervous response, the other’s was tense. Predatory, even.

She took another step toward Lailani, her bare toes curling into the ground. Lailani skittered back, her heart fluttering in her chest. Both of them stilled again, watching each other. “Are you here to tell me something?” Lailani finally asked, shivering from an inexplicable chill. 

“Yes.” The voice that came from the reflection was a guttural rasp.

She lunged. Lailani reacted too slowly, a squeak of shock leaving her lungs as she was caught by her wrists and yanked close. The reflection’s eyes glazed over momentarily, though she still looked right at Lailani. Right through her, really.

“You’re all alone,” she whispered in that rattling voice. “No one can ever get close to you. None of them want to. Not when you see too much.” Her forehead creased, lips twisting with pain. “It’s even in your role. It’s all you ever were. Alone on a mountaintop, waiting to be someone else’s tool for enlightenment. Never remembered or wanted below the summit.”

Lailani’s gut clenched, her own brow furrowing. Whatever this was, it hurt. The fingers clamped around her wrists hurt. The words it spat at her hurt. She always felt alone, even when she wasn’t. Only a few shiny moments - Eve in front of the cards, Mitch in the window ledge, Salma letting her in, Aeron talking her through confusion, Dana’s I want to know you - only those gave her hope. Hope was tenacious.

She shook her head. “I have my family,” she said, not sure whether she meant one or the other, or both as a whole. 

The reflection’s eyes narrowed. “Do you?” A cold wind ripped through the clearing. “Do they care about you, or are you just useful? Everyone wants to know what will happen to them, or what’s going on in their enemies’ heads. The ones who let you come close... They just want to use you. They can see right through you. You think Salma can’t tell?”

Lailani’s breath stuttered to a halt. The reflection smiled, too sharp, unnatural on a face that looked so much like hers. “Why do you think she draws you so close, but never quite enough? Why do you think she asks you how you are with such carefully feigned care, warning you about the others taking advantage? She wants you to trust her. She wants you to let her closer than anyone because she can see that you’re weak to her and she has her own designs on power.”

Shaking her head vehemently, Lailani tried to twist out of her grip. “No-” she started to protest, her words morphing into a sharp gasp as the reflection’s nails dig into her skin. No vision had ever captured her like this.

“And the rest of them see it, too,” she went on. “The ones who let you come close just want to use you, and the ones who keep their distance don’t trust you.” She jerked Lailani by her arms, the violence of the motion stilling both of them. She leaned in, her voice rasping over the shell of Lailani’s ear.

“They have a point. You have all this power. You could use it for yourself.”

She pulled back so her glimmering eyes could meet Lailani’s, which had grown to mimic tea saucers. “W-what do you mean?” she asked, her Virginia vowels trembling.

The reflection watched her, hawkish, before releasing one of her wrists. Her hand came up to pull a lock of Lailani’s hair over her shoulder, fingers twisting and tugging at it lightly. “I tried to be like you. Patient, freely giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. I still ended up lonely and unwanted. All I ever wanted was to be known, to be held.”

Lailani’s chest shook as a panicked sob tried to break free. She clenched her teeth shut. She had to listen, had to be quiet, because whatever this was - vision or apparition or otherwise - it was important. It had to be.

“So, I... stopped giving them what they wanted. I still saw what I did, but I didn’t tell them everything, or twisted the details. The more I held onto, the more they came back, desperate.” The reflection grimaced. “They still didn’t want me, but it was more than before, so I took it. I found ways to keep them as close as I wanted. People will do a lot to keep their secrets out of the light.”

“That’s wrong.” Lailani’s voice rose, her nerves getting the better of her. “I don’t do that. I won’t. It’s wrong. It hurts people.”

The reflection shrugged, tugging just a little bit harder on the lock of hair. “Maybe it is, but they needed to be on my good side. They needed me. It felt so good... I didn’t want to stop.” She looked into Lailani’s eyes, her own softening. “You understand, don’t you? I just couldn’t stand being so lonely anymore.”

Seconds, maybe minutes, went by before Lailani’s chin dipped in a short, anxious nod. She did understand, even if it seemed wrong, abhorrent, impossible.

“You don’t have to be alone, either,” she went on, her voice dropping into something pleading. “You can have more. It’s not perfect, but it’s better. Let me show you.” She yanked at Lailani’s wrist, and the insistent pull broke the spell of sympathy she had woven.

“No,” Lailani whispered. “Are you a vision? I don’t want to see.” Whatever future this was, she would find a way to avoid it. She wouldn’t follow this path no matter how desperate she got. “I don’t want this. I want to go.”

The reflection went quiet, slowly baring her teeth in a snarl. “You’ll see. You’ll come looking for me again, desperate for what I can give you.” Her grip tightened so suddenly Lailani couldn’t flinch fast enough. She shoved her backwards with a growl. Heartbeat pounding, Lailani scrambled away, her wobbling legs barely holding her upright as she took off. She looked over her shoulder once, twice, but her mirror image stood watching her, making no move to follow. Her eyes seemed to pierce right through Lailani even at a distance.

Only when she reached the edge of the trees did she look over her shoulder once more and find nothing at all behind her except shadowed woods. She didn’t stop, making all the way to Eve’s garden before leaning against a tree and panting, her pulse showing no signs of slowing soon. 

What kind of vision was that?

She looked down at her hands, spotted bruises blossoming in the shape of fingers around her wrists. No vision had ever attacked her before, or left behind evidence.

Lailani shoved her sleeves down over her fingers, hiding their shaking, and quickly glanced all around her before ducking inside the building and all but sprinting to her bedroom.