Fever Dreams beyond Time

Yvon rummaged for her phone, checking the time. It was 3:16 am it was still early in the morning. She grudgingly lay on her bed, her stiff neck limiting her options of comfortable position to sleep.

She tossed and turned all morning. She could feel the heat rising but her hands and feet were cold. She did not know why but the heat felt comforting against the cold causing her to be sleepy.

Not a moment too long she fell asleep.

Hours have past and the sun have risen to its place up in the sky. The morning rays peaks through the window, warming the room up. The heat she found solace before is now causing her such discomfort. Yvon kicked away her blanket and started to stir awake from sleep.

A soft knock came from the door, Yvon is now fully awaked. Cold sweat have appeared in her forehead, she felt her brain was pressing against her skull. She felt a dull but long lasting headache as she staggered to open the door.

She supported her neck as it was still stiff.

Abby was greeted by Yvon's ashen expression. Worried, Abby supported Yvon back to her bed.

"You're having a fever, you should take a rest. I'll be back." Yvon vaguely saw Abby as she closed the door before she fell asleep again.

Her consciousness was fighting to stay awake but she felt tired and sleepy and the stiff was not helping her go back to the deep slumber and just relax.

She heard screaming, a shrill piercing scream of a woman. She was begging, sobbing even. Yvon tried to find the voice but all she saw was pitch black. The voice continued to scream, asking for help but it only sounded farther away the next time she heard it.

"Where are you?" Yvon yelled but no one answered. Until it was all of a sudden silent.

A sudden bright light emerged. A voice — no three voices spoke at the same time.

"You must find her." They said with an overwhelming authority. Yvon did not understand who they were talking about. She wanted to ask but could not, it was their presence that she lost any ounce of confidence. She could only stutter trying to speak.

"Yvon wake up, you need to eat something before taking some medicine." Abby tapped and shook her gently.

"Sit up, here some porridge. Eat up." Abby bought some porridge on the cafeteria and brought it back.

Yvon groggily sat up and absentmindedly ate. While Abby pressed her palm against her forehead to tell her temperature.

After Yvon have finished her food and took her medicine. She went back to sleep and Abby would check her temperature from time to time.

The days passed by a bliss, Yvon recovered from her fever sooner than she have expected. The dreams that once lingered in one's mind no longer barred even an ounce of importance. The start of the school year is fast approaching.

Many students have gone back to their dormitories and many new faces have appeared around the campus.

Proud faces of both soon to be students and their parents were strutting around, prideful of the name of the school they will be carrying as a label for the rest of their lives.

Today was the start of the enrolment period and students and parents were bustling about.

Yvon and Abby were in line to process their enrolment, when Yvon felt a tug on her wrist. When she looked down there was nothing, but for a brief second she swore she saw a golden string attached to her wrist.

Only to disregard this as a something momentarily caused by the scorching heat.

The dull headache came back this time it was a lot milder.

Under everyone's inattentive her eyes glowed golden, her head hung down as she stared at the pavement unblinkingly.

Her thoughts turned hazy.

When she looked up only to find herself in a middle of the crowd. She looked around for Abby she could not find her. She felt goose bumps as she realized that the people around her had blurred faces.

The sound of their laughter were getting louder and louder.

Everything seems to spin, like there's a force within her she slapped the guy who was laughing the loudest. After she slapped the faceless guy, she regained her strength to stand for herself.

When turned around there she saw herself, there standing in the middle of faceless crowd with golden eyes.

She wanted to approach her motionless self but her body was moving on its own. She ran out of the crowd to a girls' bathroom.

There in a mirror she saw a face that wasn't hers – it was Belle's. She, well Belle was crying as the mirror reflected the words "FOR SALE" that was written in her blouse in red ink. She tried to wash it off but it only made it worst.

Belle stared in the mirror and she saw her reflection.

It had brought her back to reality. She was back in that line with Abby and no one seemed to notice that what happened. She tapped Abby's shoulder who was in front of her in line.

"Have you seen Belle?" Yvon thought she shouldn't take what she saw lightly. It was that looming fear of something you know is coming but could not quite point out the heralds of the incoming disaster.

"Who?" Abby asked back in confusion.

"You Know Belle, the one you told me about?" Yvon was growing weary of Abby's non-cooperation.

"Oh Belle, yeah I haven't seen her." After answering her friend's inquiry, Abby turned her back and focused on checking her papers if she had all of them with her.

Yvon looked down on her wrist there she saw a fine gold thread almost invisible as it gleamed under the sun. Without hesitation she followed it, she could hear Abby calling her to go back in line but her voice was getting smaller.

Yvon's focus was all poured in to following this mysterious thread of fate.

Then everyone suddenly became silent as a resounding slap was heard. When she looked up there she saw Belle in the middle of the crowd and everyone was in shock as she just slapped a guys across the face.

The bright red words on the back of her blouse was written "FOR SALE". Belle ran out of the crowd, Yvon followed her to the girls' bathroom but she can't seem to muster the courage to enter and comfort Belle.

She was in that same situation, the humiliation. Yvon could still not fathom what happened and what she saw before that. She could hear Belle sobbing and the water running, she must have been trying to wash off the writing – she knew.

Yvon walked back absentmindedly to the line. It wasn't just a simple deja vu, she was Belle for brief few minutes. Yvon shook her head it must have been just her imagination, a bizarre and oddly specific one.

They had carried on with their enrolment process as if the incident did not happen.

People continued on with their lives, as for Yvon no matter how disturb she was by the mere fact that someone had the audacity to degrade someone so easily she did not have the courage to voice out her dissatisfaction and so did other people who thought so too.

All throughout the day she could not forget what happened even at dinner she was staring blankly at her food. She only just noticed that Abby was waving her hand in front of her.

"Hello, earth to Yvon. Are still there? What is going on with you?" Abby asked and finally Yvon could not keep it to herself anymore.

"Did you know what happened to Belle?" Yvon carefully asked.

"Yeah, everyone does." Abby sighs and puts down her fork with such serious expression.

"Everybody knew, but no one wanted to stand up to Jake. Unless they wanted to be next, as much as everyone felt guilty no one dared report him."

They both became silent at what Abby just said. Even as she was about to sleep she could not stop thinking about it.

As she was laying something fell from the top of her closet. It spooked her, she stood from the bed only to find that it was just a book. The book she found on the attic, she stashed it away so would not have to remember.

Her father have called her many times, wanting to talk to her to have dinner with his new supposedly family.

She picked the book up and dusted it off. She plopped down her bed with the book in hand. She had never really had a proper look of the book. Caressing the hard bound cover looked over the hand written tittle.

As she opened the book a bright light flashed before her that almost blinded her. She immediately fell unconscious as her head fell heavily to the pillows.