The Girl

Ashley wouldn’t forget the dream that had just woke her. She couldn’t. Every year, on the same day, the starving girl froze to death in her arms.

She wiped the sweat from her face and took deep breaths as she tried to calm her pounding heart. Her hands shook as she tossed the covers from her legs and sat at the edge of the bed.

‘It’s not real. It’s just a dream.’ she chanted to herself as she clutched the mattress, both to stop her shaking hands and to orient herself in the real world. She stood from the bed, the cold tile floor chilling her feet, and stepped into her slippers, craving warmth.

She shuffled out of her room, fumbling for her kettle in the moon-lit kitchen. She needed something to warm her from the inside as she tried to forget the frozen fingers of the little girl on her cheek.

Ashley poured herself tea when the kettle clicked off. The warmth from the mug spread through her fingers. She looked at them, the white light of the moon causing them to look like those of the little girl. Ashley closed her eyes, only to be met with the sight of the girl’s pale face, sunken cheeks, and blue lips instead. She opened them again, the sight of the owl at her kitchen window causing her to drop her mug as she stepped back.

The mug landed with a splintering crash and hot tea soaked her slippers as she kept her eyes on the owl. It perched nobly on the branch, its head turned away from her. She leaned closer, the colouring on its feathers familiar to her.

Fear chilled her veins as she recognized the feather pattern of the barn owl. The third year she’d had the dream, she had done endless research into every aspect of it. Yearning for peace from the dead girl. She had even paid a therapist to tell her the dream was a memory of a movie or a book. She had put it out of her head until it had happened again the next year.

A small gasp escaped her lips, and the owl turned its head, its heart-shaped face, and pointed beak the same as any barn owl. It was the eyes which struck her with fear and had her heart pounding once more. One inky black, the other glassy blue. She had seen those eyes every year for the last five. Once a year, each year since she had moved into this house.

She pinched herself, certain she was still dreaming, but the pain of her sharp fingernails radiated through her and she hissed in pain.

The owl blinked at her, shaking its huge wings before spreading them wide and lifting itself into the air. Ashley watched it land several feet away on a different tree, before it turned its white, glowing face and looked back at her, waiting for her.

Adrenaline and familiarity spurred her into action. Her brain yelled at her to stop, she knew how this ended, but her heart pushed her forward. If she could reach the girl in time, she could help her.

She stepped out of her slippers and rushed for her boots at the front door. Déjà vu accompanied each movement, every detail the same and as clear as it had been in her dreams.

The bitter air of the January night froze her further to her bone than she had experienced in her dream. The owl fluttered from its branch, lifting once more into the air and continuing along the path she knew it would take. She started after it, the deep snow preventing her from running, though her brain urged her to hurry.

Her pajama bottoms were soaked by the time she reached the edge of the forest. As she had done five times before, she stopped, the darkness of the trees lighted only by the moonlit filtering through the tops. Goosebumps covered her flesh, but not from the cold. The hair rose on the back of her neck and she looked behind her, the midnight sky black as ink.

The owl hooted, drawing Ashley’s attention once more and, as she had done before, she stepped into the forest despite her brain telling her to turn the other way.

The owl flew from tree to tree, and she followed its snowy appearance. Little light fell through from the treetops. The distance seemed longer in real life, but Ashley continued, confirming her steps were leaving tracks in the fresh snow, as she had done every time after the third year. She knew if she reached the girl in time, she would need to find her way back to save her.

The trees thinned before her, and she knew she was close. She pushed forward, ignoring her freezing fingers and stinging cheeks.

Moon light illuminated the clearing before her as the snow lessened until her boots crunched on fallen pine needles and twigs. She stepped into the clearing, eyes zeroing in on the spot the girl always was.

Horror spread through every inch of her body, fingers tingling not from the cold, when she saw the figure slumped against the tree. Ashley raced forward, falling to her knees. She stretched out her finger, hesitating as she always did, before gripping the ratted gray woolen blanket. She pulled it back, relief flooding through her to find nothing more than snow beneath it. She let out a breath and stood up, leaning against the tree for support.

She heard a giggle behind her and whirled around. Renewed fear washed through her as the face of the girl that had haunted her dreams stood six feet from her.

The face was the girl’s, but it was different from before. Her skin was white, not blue, and her lips pink, with plump cheeks.

“You finally found me. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Words failed Ashley as the girl stepped closer until she was only an arm’s length away. The girl reached out and stroked Ashley’s cheek, as she had done in each dream, usually with her dying breath. Her frozen fingers felt like nothing upon Ashley’s frost bitten cheeks.

“Tell them where I am,” the girl said, her voice tinkling like bells in the still air.

“Wh-who are you?” Ashley sputtered out. The girl smiled, and for the first time Ashley realized how translucent her skin was. She could see all her teeth behind her smile.

“Tell them where I am,” the girl said again. “X marks the spot.”

The girl stepped back and spread her arms.

“I’m coming home.”

A bitter gust of wind blew through the clearing, snow pelting Ashley’s face as it whipped around her. She covered her eyes with her arm, and when the wind died down and she removed it, the girl was gone.

Ashley put her hand to the tree once more to steady herself as she tried to determine what had happened, her fingers finding smooth wood where bark should have been. She leaned closer to the tree, jaw slackening and eyes growing wide as the moonlight illuminated the aged x carved into the tree.