New Companion

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Darin sluggishly opened his heavy eyelids, greeted by the soft warmth of his bed. He let out a yawn that seemed to stretch through every fiber of his being, and rubbed his sleepy eyes, lost in a haze of morning thoughts.

“Ugh! When did I fall asleep? Where’s Hirato and the others? And what about the girl in the mirror?”

Beep! Beep! Beep! Darin's ears filtered out the alarm clock's constant beeping as he continued questioning the recent event.

“Was all of that just a dream? Yeah, it had to be.” Darin happily shut his eyes and shook his head from side to side, doubting his memory. “There’s no way that was real!”

Beep! Beep! Be-

Out of nowhere, a warm voice interrupted Darin’s thought, “Nope, it’s totally real. And could you turn that off!?“

Her long, wavy, black hair, which stretched down to the floor, dragged as she strolled her way to Darin’s desk and fiddled with the clock.

“How do you turn this off?” After a moment, she found the snooze button and firmly pressed it.

Darin pivoted to meet her gaze, and his jaw fell open in astonishment as his eyes widened almost out of their sockets. “Huh!? A girl!? Why is there a girl in my room!?”

The girl’s long-lashed hazel eyes observed him as a smile rose from her face. Her skin, white as a cloud, felt familiar as if he recognized this girl. She resembled the woman in the mirror. After a sudden realization, he connected the dots and figured the “dream” he dreamt of was not a dream.

“Savita!?” Darin shouted, his voice quivering with fear. “Wh… why are y-you here!?”

“Did you forget? You summoned me! I was going to thank you for getting me out of the mirror, but you fainted.” A surge of energy sparked in her voice, “So, what year is it, who’s the current leader? Is Pythos still making music?”

“It’s 2024, and who’s Pythos? I’ve never heard of that person before. How old are you?”

“Um…” Savita pressed her finger on her chin, calculating the years that had gone by. “I think, based on your answer, I’m about 300 years old.”

“300!” Darin observed her young figure and features. She had no wrinkles anywhere; her skin looked smooth and clear. “You look like a high schooler. So, how’s that possible?”

“Oh,” Savita twirled around, showcasing her beautiful young body. “that’s because I was in high school when I became a spirit.”

Savita’s story initially mentioned that she was a normal human. Most people knew about her backstory, but Darin never asked about it since he hated scary things.

Savita excitedly looked around the room, her eyes locked on his wall-mounted television. “What is this?” she pointed, perplexed.

“It’s a television.” He explained, picking up the remote. He powered on the television with the remote, and the screen brightened with people spawning in it.

Savita’s eyes were hypnotized by the magic she witnessed. She hastily turned to Darin. “Woah, how did you do that?” She snatched the remote from his hand and attempted to repeat Darin’s sorcery.

“She can grab stuff in the real world? I thought she was a spirit. Nobody could see her. But, then again… she did hold onto the sink when she escaped the mirror.”

Yesterday’s event felt surreal and terrifying for Darin. However, Darin gazed at Savita’s cheerful attitude. In his eyes, she acted like a newborn baby, born into a whole new world. Maybe Savita was not as scary as he thought her out to be. Witnessing her warm, compassionate personality, Darin's initial fear gradually faded, replaced by a sense of comfort and ease.

Darin threw his blanket off his body and sat on the side of the bed, his feet planted on the floor. “So, Savita. Can you really see people’s futures?”

Savita stopped fidgeting with the remote and answered Darin with a sincere grin. “Yeah, I can, ever since I became a spirit. At first, I didn’t understand it. But as people randomly came to me asking questions about their futures, they realized my visions were true, so they kept coming back.”

“Hmm… This doesn’t sound real. If it is real, I wonder what my future is.” Darin momentarily forgot his alarm went off because he was so preoccupied with Savita in her room. “Oh, crap! I’m going to be late to school!”

Darin quickly jumped to his feet and hurried out of the room to shower. Just before Darin arrived at his door, Savita commented, “Your future is you’re gonna slip in about 2 seconds.”

As soon as Savita finished sharing her vision, Darin’s leg became entangled in the carpet, causing him to stumble and trip over his own feet. He face-planted the ground with a look of disgust and embarrassment on his face as Savita shrugged her shoulders, uttering, “I did try to warn you.”

Apparently, she did know about people’s futures, even though Darin had learned that the hard way.

Darin quickly stood up and proceeded to get ready while covering his flushed face with embarrassment.