Chapter 134A Ghost that Speaks

Faith and Nuru were holding me steady. I didn't remember standing up but I was glad they did, my legs weren't able to hold me in all the confusion and I slumped down. Their grips held me upright and gave me the moments I needed to get my attention to the moment again.

"Miss Amy, we're here." Nuru's worried voice.

My eyes still didn't show me anything but blackness. So it had been a dream. Although it had felt like something else. As if I had gone to a different time. Now that I thought on it some more. I knew the story... I knew it very well. I had even told Khuna of it.

My grandmother, how she got the bracelet.

But it couldn't have been here.

No, something in my mind said, it wasn't here. But this forest and the openness of your mind were enough to form a link to that moment, that place. I tried to make a step forward, getting back my balance. It helped to clear my mind.

"I'm alright. Eh..." Something I wondered. "What did I do?"

Faith sounded worried. "You stood up and walked around a little, looking around trees and talking. But there was no one there."

Sleepwalking? "I think I was dreaming, do you remember anything I said?"

Faith thought only for a moment. "I think you said: 'I think I see one!' and 'I'm glad I could help you.'. You said a lot more too, you were definitely speaking to someone else."

I nodded. "Yes, I had a dream... or a vision of sorts. Perhaps I sleepwalked while my vision played out to me."

Nuru spoke clearly. "Yes, Miss Amy."

The only real problem was that I still couldn't see. The full effect of the forest diminished a little by the intense experience of the moment, yet still like a blanket for my worries. However, I could hear the rumbling in the distance.

"It's going to rain."

Faith giggled. "I don't mind."

I felt empty, thinking of the drops of rain on my lips, as they would satisfy me. But they would no longer. Drink... Perhaps I needed to drink. Oh! I had completely forgotten.

"Nuru, did you eat something already?" My voice laced with worry.

The first drops already started to fall, hitting the leaves with a peculiar noise. "Yes, Miss Amy. A housekeeper brought me lunch so I would not have to leave your side."

"Yes, I left a note with instructions for her before I slept yesterday." Faith sounded humble.

She was only an arm-length away and I gave her a hug as best I could, almost perfectly on target. "Thank you."

The drops made their way through the trees, one by one. "Can we go back to the castle?" I asked.

Nuru stood immediately by my side again, to guide me while I walked. Faith just giggled. "Of course we can."

We headed off, back to the castle. As soon as we left the protective cover of the trees above us, the rain started to fall really hard. It drenched us through within a minute and made a noise like a million people drumming. Yet, there was a strange beauty to its complex rhythm. I found myself smiling as raindrops ran down my face and beyond. I didn't care I was wet, the fresh rain renewed me a little.

We couldn't run, because of me, so why not surrender to it?

We walked silently, the tarmac a friend to my feet, as was the gravel path in front of the castle. It told me we were almost back. It couldn't be far now.

Faith gasped. "There's someone laying there!"

I didn't hear anyone, even their heartbeats not enough to be heard over the rain. "Where?"

Nuru spoke softly at my side. "In front of the castle, there's a boy on the ground."

I heard Faith's footsteps running, probably to the boy. Her voice was only just audible, even from this short distance. The rain made things so hard to hear right now.

"He's alive, human. I've never seen him before, though. He looks unconscious, pale and soaked completely."

Nuru brought me closer. "He looks like he's been walking for days."

Faith tried to wake him up, holding him up and speaking to him. "He's opening his eyes!"

The boy said only one word, in a voice so soft I could not recognize it. But it was important. He was here for a reason, now we knew what the reason was. It was unclear how long he had been looking, only that he found what he was looking for.

All he said, before he fainted again;

"Amy..."