My mind and body feel so fuzzy right now. What was I just doing? The last thing I remember was… I’m not actually sure. I can’t even remember where I am right now.

“Eva sweetie, did you fall asleep on the desk again?” mom asked as she was walking up with a cup of tea for each of us “Is my lesson really boring you that much?” her tone was playful to let me know she was joking.

That’s right, I remember now… after begging her for like a month, mom finally decided to teach me some Blood magic. Even though we don’t know what type of magic I’ll have yet, there’s a strange feeling inside of me that says I’m going to share the same magic as my mom. And because of that, I wanted to start learning right away.

“No, I’m just really tired.” I responded while rubbing my eyes and watching her place a cup on the table in front of me.

I’m surprised I was able to fall asleep on the dining room table that easily. Maybe it’s because I stayed up almost all night. But can you blame me? Last night I was so excited for my first magic lesson that I don’t think I could’ve slept even if I tried!

She laughs and sits back down next to me on the bench “Poor thing. Do you want to stop for now and try again another time?”

Suddenly I was wide awake “No! I promise I will stay awake this time! Please show me more cool stuff with blood!”

My begging was quite amusing to her “Well if you’re still up for it, then we’ll continue. Though there isn’t a need to rush into things yet. You’ll still have plenty of time to practice with me before you start learning magic in middle school. And don’t forget, we’re not even sure if you’ll be able to use Blood magic yet. You could always end up as a Fire witch.”

She always loves to tease me about that even though she knew I wanted to be a Blood witch like her. There wasn’t anything wrong with Fire, but I had always been much closer with my mom than my dad. So I want to be just like her when I grow up. My mom is just so much easier and funner to talk to than my dad.

Which makes me pout and cross my arms “I don’t want that! I want to be able to help make people feel better, just like you.”

“And I would love that. Working in the same hospital with you will be just the funnest! Especially since I would finally have someone to do all the boring jobs that I don’t want to do.” she playfully pinches my cheek.

“Ahh that doesn’t sound fun.” I slumped down a bit “But if I’m a Blood witch, then I could help you heal people. We can find someone else to do all of the dumb jobs.”

She laughed and put one arm around me “That would be amazing. I can always use as much help as I could get. And the two of us would be the best duo in the hospital!”

Hugs from my mom were always the best. Even the small side one she was giving me. They somehow always felt more warm and loving than any of the hugs my dad gives me. And that’s saying something, because the Fire magic makes my dad’s body really warm.

When she let go, she pointed to my chest “You have a good heart. That’s something every Blood witch needs to be able to preform their best magic. Blood magic comes from the heart, so it’s really easy to hinder magic abilities if you ignore what it is saying. But even if you don’t end up as a Blood witch, I still want you to keep that heart and always be the best person you can.”

Something started to feel off. I was getting a major sense of deja vu that I had already had this conversation before. Not only that, I suddenly realized I was crying, and there was a tightness in my chest. It was a bad feeling. Breathing was becoming harder, so I overcompensated by taking really deep breaths. But I knew that something was wrong. And it had to do with my mom.

Looking at her, nothing appeared to be off. Even the soft smile she was giving me felt so reassuring. But there was an overwhelming sense that this was going to be the last time that I saw her. Suddenly there was so much I felt like I needed to say.

“Mom… I love you so much… and I p-promise to always be the best person I can be.” I barely managed to say through my tears.

Mom’s eyes also get teary as she takes the back of my head with one of her hands and brings it to her chest for a hug “I know Eva, and I love you more than anything in existence. I’ll always be there for you. Even if you don’t see me, just know I’m there.”

While sobbing in my mom’s arms, I finally figure out what’s happening. This wasn’t really her. My mom died years ago… this was only a memory.

The environment around me began to disappear into light. The surrounding space was slowly disappearing one item at a time until it got to me and mom. I tried to hold her as tight as I could in an effort to keep her with me, but it didn’t work. She was the last thing to disappear in the room.

Left alone only for a moment in the vast emptiness of light, everything suddenly faded to black once more.

The darkness felt more tangible this time. Which was easy understand why after realizing it was caused by my eyelids being closed. So I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of my apartment while laying down on my futon.

It was hard to tell what time it was or how long I had been sleeping for, but I felt well rested. The weight of Dog laying on my lap could be felt before I saw him. Everything felt so quiet and calm in the room. All I could do was lay there silently in the hope of not waking up Dog.

There was still a lot of emotions that carried over from that dream. My moms warmth still lingered on my arms, yet they felt so empty. The pain I had felt in my chest was still sharp. Why did the dream have to hurt that much?

I had intended to stay quiet so I didn’t have to interact with anyone, but I had a feeling I wasn’t alone in being awake. It felt as if someone was staring at me.

Looking over to my side, Naomi was back to her human form and sitting on her knees an arms-length away from my futon. The soft smile she had when I made eye contact with her was being used to cover the pain she was feeling. She wasn’t saying anything. Only silently watching me.

To see her still there was more surprising than it was anything else. After putting me out I would have assumed she would have used that opportunity to escape. Yet here she was, still politely sitting by my side with a restrained smile.

Though I wasn’t ready to speak to her. I looked back up at the ceiling and lost myself in thought for the moment. And the strange thing was I felt completely calm with her being next to me. Hadn’t I just been freaking out right before she used her forbidden magic on me? I couldn’t explain it, but I felt completely safe having her look over me.

But the silence couldn’t last forever. Eventually I had to ask her “What did you do to me?” while still staring up at the ceiling. My talking sounded so loud in the quiet room that Dogs head immediately sprung up. His tail began wagging upon seeing me awake. The relief he was feeling was being shared by me.

Naomi on the other had was nervous about the coming conversation “Y-you were freaking out… so I used my magic to make you take a nap… but I made sure to find a really happy memory and put your mind there to help you relax!”

Casually speaking to a Dream demon felt so surreal. I turned my head to look at her now over-exaggerated “everything is fine” smile. For a being that was able to read and control anyone’s emotions, she sure was bad at hiding hers.

“You went through my memories? Does that mean you know everything about my past now?”

She waved both hands in front of her and spoke frantically “No, I wouldn’t do that without your permission! All I did was pick your most prominent happy memory and played it for you! I don’t even know what it was because I didn’t peak into your dream even once!”

Naomi was desperately trying to defend herself because she had believed this conversation was a fight for her life. But if she had actually read my memories, then she would have known I had no ill thoughts towards Dream demons. Still, her knowledge of what modern witches thought about Dream magic made her act with caution. Which I didn’t blame her for thinking.

All my life I was taught to be afraid of beings like her. But with it happening all those decades ago without a single peep out of them since, people around my age didn’t take the threat seriously. Hell, a lot of kids my age even took sympathy on the Dream demons. It’s not every day that a type of magic is completely outlawed after-all.