I had a dream that we were dead
and we pretended that we still lived
There would come a day he would no doubt wish to be plain. To be boring and unnoticeable. To be a normal horse. Perhaps that day would even be today. Even now, he becomes swiftly more self-conscious of his appearance, of the death that clings to him like a putrid cloak. For a moment his skin glows, as though he is trying to erase the essence of his being. As though the light can replace the darkness staining him with its awful, ghastly ruin.
And then he feels it again, that sharp tug that claws at his soul and sears his mind with its wrongness. He takes a hasty step backwards, eyes widening as those pale, clouded orbs widen with recognition. With understanding.
He may only be a boy, but he understands all too well what it means. Though the truth of her desires remains hidden from him, this girl is something else. Something frightening and surreal and all too familiar. Something he is not entirely sure he wishes to face just yet.
”Stop!” The word is expelled on a rush of air, the alarm too evident in his tone. Were he a bit more clever, he might have hidden his fear, might have chased away his discomfort. But he is only a boy. Unfortunately, not everyone is so forgiving of the clumsiness of youth.
Her question stills him, preventing him from retreating another step. There is nothing physical halting him, only the realization that he still doesn’t know. He cannot answer her questions, even though he should be able to. He had never stopped to ask.
And that is perhaps one of his greatest mistakes.
”I…” He halts, unsure if he should even answer her. But, despite his doubt (or perhaps because of it) he manages to stutter out an answer. ”I don’t know. I was born like this.”
His pause is more pronounced this time, wariness and curiosity warring inside him. In the end, he cannot seem to help himself, his desire for knowledge outweighing his fear. ”But you. You’re different, like me. Do you know why?”
Jinn
undead son of Tiphon and Elysteria
