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Kiera enjoyed her weekly walks in the woods. It was so nice to be alone, just herself and not another sentient being there. No one to look at her strangely when they thought she wouldn’t see. No whispers behind her back just out of earshot. No teachers hovering closely over her and “just checking in” on her. Ever since that fateful night what was it- three years ago? She tried not to count. But just like that the memory was back in her mind of the moment she stepped up on instinct and helped most everyone through the door- she remembered throwing up her arm, the bitting pain and then running, as desperately as she could…..the memory was still as vivid as if it was today. Hard on the heels of the first memory was the dream she now knew was the infection taking hold- the fear, her inadequacy and inability to heal herself or anyone- She shuddered hard and tried to push the memories and dreams away. It wasn’t usually this strong- it must be because it was Haunted Hallows, and anniversary of the night they had shown up…..

Realizing that she’d stopped walking and was stood holding her left arm close to her body and rocking slightly she quickly stood up straight and drew in a deep breath. It was not THAT night, and she was NOT back there- she’d been taking the Cure for at least a year or more- strange she couldn’t recall the exact day- but nonetheless, she was absolutely a control freak about taking it as prescribed.

“Kiera, stop losing yourself in memories, straighten up and move on for the love of the Nine!” She said out loud, frustrated to hear that it came out as a whisper. Shaking herself firmly and running a hand down her hair to settle it into place she ignored the tear winding its way down her cheek taking herself in a firm hold and starting to walk again.

Just then she heard the sound- it seemed to be a whispering voice of a freshling, laughter, and something else- She turned behind her to look but no one was there, thought she knew that the noise was not part of her PTSD as she turned and walked to the right where the noise had come from, hooves quiet on the dirt path as she searched for the source of the noise.

word count: 790

As the two realize who the other is, more whispers tickle their ears. First one, then the other, they seems to come from everywhere...and yet, from nowhere.

Ramsey noticed from her stance that Kiera looked like she had been ready to punch them. They truly felt bad about startling her as the girl took some calming breaths. "I really am sorry--" Suddenly Kiera's hand was raised to silence them and it was then that Ramsey heard the whispering continue. Was Kiera trying to get them back? Ramsey almost rolled their eyes at the lame show of magic when she grabbed their hand. They glanced from the clasped hands to Kiera's face, not sure what was going on. She still looked scared so it wasn't... Ramsey responded to the command to turn around quicker than they normally would.

Don't be stupid, Ramsey berated themselves. They took a breath to calm their thoughts and once again focused on the whispers. Maybe this was just Kiera getting them back? She could easily decide to shove them and make them scream at the sudden forced movement.

"You... You don't happen to be the one doing this, are you?" Ramsey let out a small laugh. The whispers weren't all that scary, just confounding. "Though if they're not you, the whispers could be my friends trying to scare me." A smirk spread across their face as they nodded their head. "Yeah, that's got to be it."

"You can stop being jerks!" Ramsey shouted into the forest. "I think you're being rather rude to my friend here! If you want to meet her you can just come out and introduce yourselves!" They didn't let go of Kiera's hand, though, as it seemed to make them feel braver.

Word Count: 263 xxxx Total: 898