Things happened fast over the next week, it started off slow, with the cracks in reality appearing and disappearing, the weather hot and humid. Then strangeness took over. Plants started to glow at night with bioluminescence, daisies turning blue, glowing softly in the light of the moon. Mushrooms grew out of the grasses, as tall as trees. Their caps opening in the rain. Strange vines and plants appearing overnight, lilies eight foot tall bloomed in the gardens.

Rapid evolution, that’s what the papers said. That the plants were evolving to cope with the changing climate. They didn’t mention that the frequency of the lights were increasing, nor that the sky was somehow taking on a violet hue. I scroll through my social media feeds, looking for any insights into what was actually happening. A few conspiracy theories surround the lights, saying that they were space crafts of alien origin, and that the strangeness of the plant mutations were some kind of terraforming. No matter how insane, the theory fit with my vision. My news feed was full of articles, people found in a coma, looking like they had fallen asleep under the giant lily plants, the government issued a warning to stay away from them. Or to cut them down at night, while the flowers were closed. Pets and children, being strangled by vines. People being attacked by strange animals in the woods. It was an endless stream of chaos and confusion. Closing my feed, I sit on my bed. Knowing that this was only the beginning.

My uncle David’s words echo in my memory. He was right to some extent, I may be twenty-eight, but in many ways I was still a child. A knock on the door startles me out of my musings, my heart racing, I call out to whomever is on the other side.

“Chris? It’s  Helen, can I come in?”

“Sure.” I try to calm my racing heart. The anxiety that had plagued me for most of my life was a hinderance that I did not need at the moment.

My auntie stuck her head through the door, her dirty blond hair hung in ringlets, down to her waist. I had always be jealous of her hair. “Are you okay? I’m sorry David said those things, he took our brothers death hard. I’m sure he didn’t mean any of it.” She came into my room and sat at the foot of the bed. Her brow furrowed in concern.

“I think we both know he did. I just don’t know why he hates me.” Picking at my nails, I take a deep breath. Feeling more like a teenager in my old bedroom.

“He’s just scared. Your _visions_, they scare him.” Helen leaned over and took my hand, before I had the chance to make my nails bleed. “I know you can’t help what you see. It’s just a lot to take in. He’ll get over it, eventually.” She smiles, pulling me into a hug.

“This dream felt different. It wasn’t the same as the others, I didn’t see death, or life. But so many people are dying, and I don’t know how to stop it.” Breathing deeply, trying not to let the tears fall. I smelled my aunts perfume, the rose scent; musky and floral, clung to her skin.

“When you called me that night. It had just gone one in the morning. You told me that I had to get to the hospital immediately, do you remember?” Her hand stroked my hair as she spoke softly.

“Yes, I had a dream that Tommy was in trouble. You were in so much pain, and the blood flowed out of you into the floor. You reached for the phone to call an ambulance, but they got there too late. I called you as soon as I woke up.”

“And thank the fates you did. Otherwise both Tommy and I would be dead now.” Her lips brush my hair. “Is there nothing you can do now, to save these people?”

Disentangling myself from her arms, I turn to her. “What? What can I do? I don’t even understand what is happening. All I know is that the lights will rip through the planet and everything will change.” Standing, I pace to the window, looking out over the mountains. “If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.”

“No, I don’t suppose I do.” Helen stood at my back. “Was there nothing in your vision to suggest why this is happening?”

“Nothing.”

The family gave me a wide berth, whispering whenever I entered a room, the drone of the tv echoed throughout the Manor House. The atmosphere had changed dramatically since they first arrived in the house, the energy mutating from joy and concern for my grandmother, to fear and dread. The children, no longer allowed to play outside, huddle around the television, clinging to their parents.

Night fell, the sunset painting the sky red in warning. A breaking news bulletin draws us all into the living room like a sirens call. A massive solar flare was ripping our atmosphere apart. The videos from around the world showed a hole in the sky, growing wider by the second, the reporters screamed their reports into the cameras, chaos took over, people running for their lives.

Everyone’s eyes turned to me, as mine were firmly fixed on the screen. “Solar flares cause EMP’s right? Like how are we seeing a report of a flare powerful enough to rip through our atmosphere, but not powerful enough to effect our electronics?” I asked the room at large.

There was no answer; I left the house. I had to get away, to breathe, to calm myself. My dinner hit the grass as it left my stomach. Everything was coming to pass, everything was changing. I looked out over the gardens, that were once so familiar to me. The grass glowing blue, huge mushrooms sprouting alongside the hydrangeas. My breath caught in my throat, head spinning with the overload of death and destruction. Without even realising it, I was moving. Running fast through the gardens and out into the Cairngorms national park.

The sky opened above my head, cold blue light splitting the milky way in two. I run over the trails, climbing the steep hills. Wanting to see the stars, I was sorely disappointed; the light emitting from the crack, drowned them all out. The trail darkened, as I slow my pace. My breathing punctuated with sobs. I was having difficulty wrapping my head around everything that was going on. My phone buzzing in my pocket snapped me out of my preoccupation.

Sighing deeply, I answered the call with a tentative “hello?”

“Where the bloody hell are you? You run off without a word, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” My grandmother screamed down the line.

“I’m fine, I just needed to get away for a while.” The guilt surrounded me like a cloak, stabbing at my heart and constricting my chest. I had to hold myself together; just for a little while.

“It’s dangerous out there! I didn’t go to all the trouble of bringing the family together so that you could go hiking! Get your butt back here now.” Gran was frantic, her voice rising in her worry and anger.

The thin wall holding back my emotions crumbled, “this is all happening because of me gran. It’s all my fault.” The tears on my cheeks were joined by the rain. Thunder cracked overhead as lighting flashed over the mountains.

“That’s ridiculous.” Her voice softened on the call. “You see things, you don’t make them happen. Come home.”

“Yeah, just give me a few minutes, I need to clear my head.” The rain was cold and clarifying. It soaked straight through the thin fabric of my top to cling on my skin. Looking up at the crack; the end of the world, rain drops falling on my face, I hear a crackle of electricity rip through the air, then nothing.

Everything hurt. My world shrinking down to a pinprick of pain. Groaning, I try to sit up. A hand forcefully pushing me back down. My eye lids flutter, not ready to open yet. ‘What happened? Where am I?”’ Thoughts chase each other around my head. A low murmur of voices pierce the fog of pain, but I can’t understand what they are saying. Blessed relief, the hands massage my skin, a warmth spreading through me, banishing the pain. A strange musky, floral scent filled the air, relaxing my mind. It smelled wonderful, it felt wonderful. The hands trailed over my stomach, my thighs, I wanted more. My body responded instantly, my nerve endings seeking connection. The groans of pain, swiftly turned into moans of pleasure; the hands pausing on my sternum. I wanted more, yet my mind rebelled against my body. Something wasn’t right, I had no idea where I was, or what was happening to me.

My eyes flew open, and met the bright blue irises of a man, kneeling by my side. His eyes were huge, sparkling in the gloaming; a wide, full mouth, twisting into a smile. He muttered something to me under his breath and I lost consciousness again.