Leyla took the elevator back down and she soon reached the lobby. According to her assistant, it was currently a bit more than 3 p.m. She stopped trying to think of another thing to do. She could only return home. Sadly, she didn’t suddenly gain a social life in the last hour. Resigning herself, she went out of the building; the valet had already brought her car forward making her have a new appreciation for her brothers’ employees.

She tipped him generously and soon she was driving back home. A lot more cars occupied the streets contrary to when she had just left the university. Still, the number of cars wasn’t enough to slow the traffic significantly. Because of this, she reached their house in the suburbs in only 25 minutes.

Leyla parked her car in the garage of a huge, three stories high modern house. The lawn was perfectly taken care of and the whole garden gave a feeling of order. The house had large glass windows and panels. She entered through the door made an expansive wood and found herself before a long flight of stairs leading upstairs. On her right, there was a living area destined for the reception of guests. It was furnished with large sofas, chairs, tables, and a huge tv screen taking a good part of the wall. The whole space had an impersonal style to it.

She didn’t stop for long and went directly to her room. Walking through the house one couldn’t find any trace of decoration that would be common in a house occupied by a family of five. There were some family pictures on the walls, but they weren’t enough to give the house a warm atmosphere.

The words that came to mind upon coming into this house for the first time were ‘cold’ and ‘practical’. Inside her room, Leyla removed her sneakers and put them in her shoe closet. She put on slippers and walked to the bed before sprawling on it lazily.

She looked at the fan above her head and imagined it falling on her body. Amused by the scenario she wondered if she had suicidal tendencies.

She pulled out her RTPA and opened a music app. With a click, she connected her RTPA to the speakers, built-in the walls. A bit later, soft music notes resounded in the previously silent room.

She knew her parent wasn’t at home, that’s why she could care less about the volume of her speakers. For them, this house was just a place for family meetings and dinners. They were dedicated to their jobs. As mentioned before, they were surgeons. Her father was in neuro and her mother was in cardio, they made quite the pair. Since their sons succeeded so early in life and they finally believed that their daughter wasn’t a total mess who needed to be micro-managed, they became increasingly absent at home. More than they used to be at least. Always at the hospital, creating revolutionary surgical procedures or winning humanitarian prizes for their work traveling in warzones. Managing all their hospitals also took a huge chunk of their time.

I know, they are the product of their education and growing conditions but still. Would it kill them to be normal parents?

Her mood sunk when she thought about them and the empty house. Nowadays she often entertained the idea of moving out, but she felt that if she did that, the remaining tethers that forced their family to come back home beyond a special occasion would be gone.

A notification alert startled her out of her depressing musings. She picked her RTPA and saw a message from Magnus, it was the ID of her ‘date’. She sent an appropriate emoticon in response before dropping her RTPA back on the bed.

She fell asleep while listening to the soft voice of the melancholic singer.

When she woke up, night had already fallen. She felt better than this afternoon at least and decided to take a bath. She used a bottle containing the essence of various scents and lit up a few candles. Soon enough she found herself naked and immersed in her bath. As she felt her whole body relax, she reached to her right and found a metallic case.

She opened it, inside there was a series of rolled papers containing various medicinal herbs. They were largely harmless, she mostly used them as anti-depressants. Leyla started doing this when she was 13 years old to cope with depression, self-loathing, and pressure. Although she was now, way better than she was in the past the habit had remained.

She took one and lit it up with a lighter that looked like a miniature skull. Soon smoke filled the bathroom accompanied by an intoxicating scent. As she was relaxing, she entered into some kind of trance. She was still conscious but felt like she didn’t have control over her body.

She soon found herself in a world of fog. She couldn’t see anything besides the shining fog no matter which direction she turned to. Her concept of time was a bit skewed as she didn’t know for how long she stayed like that.

Suddenly there was a sudden shift in the fog, it started to move violently at a certain frequency before stopping abruptly. From the shinning fog, what seemed to be a humanoid silhouette was trying to come out but seemed to have difficulties doing so.

Leyla felt an icy feeling gripping her heart when she saw that figure. She didn’t know why but she had a premonition upon seeing it. It was a harbinger.

Great Changes … changes … changes? No! ..... Clarity …. Yes, Clarity! A veiled danger. Blood… Lots of blood. PAIN!

The thought was instant and blurry, impossible to grasp or ponder upon. Just after, Leyla felt like she was falling from an incredible height.

She woke up with her head submerged in water. She rose from the bath, goosebumps covering her soft skin. She trembled as shivers coursed through her body.

What was that!?

She felt a bubble of panic trying to rise at the surface of her thoughts, but she popped it. One of the perks of her great mind was that she was less enslaved to her emotions compared to the average human. This allowed her to maintain cold logic in highly stressful situations.

Ok, let’s think about it rationally. I seemingly dozed off then appeared in an incomprehensible place covered in fog. Hidden within the fog, there was an entity that looked to be trapped. Upon seeing it, I became terrified and had a premonition. What was it?... Blood?

She held her head feeling a migraine coming.

This doesn’t make any sense, if I were to refer to the fantasy books this would be the fabled premonition that starts the hero’s quest.

She scoffed in ridicule, although she liked to imagine herself as someone special due to her gift, she didn’t think she was the main character of an epic tale.

This was a supernatural dream which in retrospect shouldn’t be shocking, given my supernatural talent. I had already speculated that mysterious unexplainable things existed since my gift appeared suddenly 5 years ago.

For now, I can’t do anything about it. I will advise upon further information. Still, I should keep an eye out for unusual phenomena.

She drained the bath, took a quick shower, and dried herself. She then proceeded to take care of her hair and skin.

Feeling refreshed, and with the previous incident, filled somewhere in her brain, she went downstairs into the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten all day and her stomach was starting to protest.

Just as she stepped into the kitchen, she paused.

“Evening, mom.” Her tone was empty.

“Evening, Leyla. Are your studies going well?” Her mother, Catherine Regal asked distractedly not raising her head. She was eating a sandwich and seemed to be studying a patient IRM.

“They are doing fine, if it were not for the university rules, I would have obtained my master’s degree last year. I finished the whole curriculum, as things stand, I am merely waiting for the final exam.” Leyla answered mechanically as if she was giving a report. She hadn’t seen her mother for 4 months, and these were their first words to each other. Typical.

“It should be in one month from now. After that, I will start preparing for my doctorate.” She finished speaking and closed the discussion like that. Her mother seemed to be fine with that, focused as she was on the patient’s files.

Her parents had always wanted their children to be in the same field as them. Alas, the twins were far too independent and proactive with their passions. They had already obtained their Engineering doctorate at 15. Before the Regals could comprehend what was happening, the twins had already built a billion-dollar company. As for Leyla herself, she was more compliant, she followed her parents' wish concerning the domain of studies(medicine) but instead of surgery, she opted for psychology.

She chose the field of medicine due to having constantly disappointed her parents during the years before she awakened her talent. They didn’t explicitly say that, but their attitude was louder than words. As for psychology, it was because she understood the issues she and her family had. In a bid to better understand her parents, heal herself, and hopefully her family, she could only go for the science that dealt with mental wounds.

Was it successful?

In the case of her relationship with her brothers, it was. As for her parents, she indeed understood them better, especially after she looked into their childhood. But their relationship didn’t get any better. It could only be said that humans were complicated creatures.

Leyla opened the fridge a little absentminded. She picked various ingredients and started cooking a simple meal. She asked reflexively, “Do I make some for you and Dad? Will he be back?”

“No and no. He is currently in surgery. I will also need to return to the hospital in a few hours, so cooking for us won’t be necessary.” She finished her sandwich and cleaned her plate in the sink. The sink was right next to the stove where Leyla was cooking.

Now that she was closer, Leyla could once again see the resemblance between them. Her mother was a tall woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She possessed a willowy figure with perfect womanly proportions. She looked to be in her early thirties despite being 48 this year. People would most likely confuse them as sisters if they stood together. She had a soft face that belied a rigorous temperament. Leyla thought her interns must have felt deceived by her looks.

“Don’t work too hard, take care of your health too,” Leyla said awkwardly before leaving for her room a plate of food in one hand and a glass of juice in the other. She could have sworn her mother let out a smile, but it must have been her imagination.

See? I am trying to make this family better. And I will succeed dammit! One step at a time.

She thought inside as she ascended the stairs. Soon she was seated on her desk, at the first bite of food she frowned. It was too salty. It seemed she had a long way to go to be at ease in the presence of her parents.

Sigh

Well, these things take time, she consoled herself while eating. She opened her streaming account and started a movie. It was about fantastic creatures.