Be Careful What You Wish For

With the sounds filling her head all of the time, Selene has yet to put up a new cover. It’s not like she doesn’t want to. She’s tried quite a few times, but it’s too distracting. She can barely stay in key when she sings. Despite this, Selene decides that she should go ahead and yet on her account and see if she has any new comments. The teenager turns on her computer and then opens up the internet browser. She keeps the site pinned, so she doesn’t have to enter it every single time she wants to get on it. Now, let’s see...
A new DM.
Selene was not expecting this. It’s not the first time that this has happened. It is rare though. Most people just comment, and whenever someone DMs her to harass her, she just blocks them. Is someone else about to express their hatred for her? Selene mentally prepares herself and then opens the message. What’s this?
Hi.
You may not know me, but I know you. I’ve been experiencing some weird shit lately, and I’m not sure if you have been too, but I know this is coming from you. I’ve been having this dream about this girl. I can’t see her face, and I wake up before I can try. I can’t sleep, and over the weeks, it’s gotten worse. I can hear you sing and talk. I even see images of you and your sister from when you two were kids. I’ve see a blurred out version of you, but I haven’t been able to talk to you. I know this sounds crazy. I would have thought that this was impossible before it started happening to me. You have to believe me though. I know that your name is actually Selene, and I can describe where you live. This all just sounds really creepy, doesn’t it? I just really need your help in order to stop all this. Please believe me.
She finds herself quickly standing up. Could this...? Could this be the presence that she’s seen? It has to be, right? What they’ve described makes sense compared to what she’s experienced, and they even know her actual name. There is no other way that someone would know this, right? Selene sits back down and starts to write a reply.
I believe you. I’ve had some weird things happen to me lately too. I think I’ve seen you too. Well, you come out more like blue flames. I’ve also been hearing mumbling. Is that you? I don’t know why this would be affecting you more than me, but I need to talk to you, so I can fix this.
Send.
There. Now Selene just has to wait. Ugh, she doesn’t want to wait though. Maybe... Maybe she could try to contact him another way... Selene runs as fast as she can up to the attic. She grabs candles and creates a circle just like she did that fateful night. Instead of casting a spell though, Selene starts to meditate in this lit circle. She concentrates. She has to reach him. She has to contact him. She just has to! Focus. Focus.
“Selene?”
The teenager opens her eyes to find a ghostly image of a man sitting in front of her. She’s not sure what he looks like on account of the fact that he’s wearing a plague doctor mask. What she can make out is that he has dark hair and that he’s quite lanky. Besides that, she’s not sure if she could pick him out in a crowd.
“Yeah.”
“How- How did you do this?”
“I just focused on you is all. So you’re the one that messaged me?”
“Yeah, that was me.”
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
“You see me in a mask too?”
“What do you mean by ‘too’?”
“I see you wearing the mask that you wear when you do covers.” That’s odd. Selene goes to take it off, but the masked man grabs her arm. “Please don’t.”
“Why?”
“I’m scared that taking our masks off with end this connection. It always does in my dreams.”
“Oh, alright then. I can leave it on. So... what’s your name?”
“Jack.”
Selene does her best to block out the familiarity of the voice. She does her best to block out that strange tweet from a while ago. Surely this couldn’t be the same Jack. It can’t be. Selene ignores the thoughts that enter her head telling her that it is him.
“Um... Hi, Jack. I’m not really sure of what to talk about. You said that this all started with dreams, right?”
“Yeah, was it the same for you?”
“No, I don’t remember my dreams.”
“None of them?”
“Not after I cast a bad dream remover spell. Maybe that’s why I’ve never had any dreams about you.”
“Maybe. Do you know how to fix this?”
“No. I’m really sorry. I didn’t even know that this was going to happen.”
“Well, you ask a ‘spell’, right? What kind of spell did you cast?”
“I cast a wishing spell.”
“A wishing spell? What did you wish for?”
“I... I just wanted to meet my soulmate...”
The man in front of her paused in thought. “So... does that mean that... I’m your soulmate?”
“I guess so.”
“... OK then.”
“I didn’t really know what was going to happen. I thought that maybe it would speed up us meeting or it would give me a sign of who you are or something. I never thought that any of this would happen.”
“Why didn’t you know?”
“I’ve never had any training. That’s why the nightmare remover spell didn’t turn out so great either.”
“So when it comes to magic, you need training, and you haven’t had any.”
“Yeah, there are schools for witches.”
“Like Hogwarts?”
Selene can’t stop herself from chuckling. “Kind of. From what I’ve heard, it’s like college. There are schools for kids that are under eighteen though too. My sister went to one of those first. I was never allowed to go. My aunt and uncle hate magick. They only let my sister go because she has visions that she can’t control. She could never have a life without magick.”
“Why do they hate it so much?”
“I think it has to do with when my grandparents died or something. I’m not really sure. They both can perform magick, but they refuse to. They just want a ‘normal’ life, and I have to live a ‘normal’ life too.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Right?”
“Do you think your sister could help with any of this?”
“She might. I could ask.” Selene really doesn’t want to though.
“Cool... Now what?”
“We could just talk?”
“Alright.”
And the two of them did talk. They talked for hours, and it only ended when Selene heard her aunt and uncle come home. Both of them didn’t want to say goodbye, but they had too. Selene promised to contact him again soon, and she’s going to keep that promise.
Selene lands on her bed and sighs happily. Finally. Finally she talked to the presence, Jack. She even feels better. The mumbling has stopped, and she hopes that everything has stopped for Jack as well. She knows that she should ask her sister like she said she would, but she still doesn’t want to. The mumbling stopped, and if everything stopped for Jack as well, does she really need to? Selene is hoping that this all comes out alright. If it doesn’t, she’ll ask Rose.
The teenager stops thinking about contacting her sister and instead starts to think about this strange feeling that she is having. It’s something that she has never felt before. It’s like the connection that was between them has disappeared and has been replaced with some other kind of connection. Selene can’t compare it to anything. What is this sensation? She feels like the two of them are already so close. Is this because they’re soulmates? Is this why she is feeling this?
Even though Selene still has questions, she sleeps perfectly fine that night.

Notes