The Winter Tyrant

Yuki found herself in a strange emotional state after Dean and Brooke had finally taken their relationship to the next level.

At first, she had thought she was okay with it. I mean... it was the apocalypse, and he was the only guy that was decent looking and stable enough to provide for someone right now.

Surely it didn’t make sense to monopolize him entirely for herself now did it? Unfortunately, she had overestimated her openness to the idea and found herself sulking more and more after the fact.

There were even certain times where she felt like she desperately needed five minutes to herself while watching Dean and Brooke become physically intimate in less scandalous ways.

She would run off, take a breather, and return without anyone taking notice. And at first, she thought they were so involved with each other that they simply didn’t notice her presence.

But it wasn’t until one day when she was sulking in the hallway, holding her knees to her chest and thinking in quite silence that Katherine walked by and tripped over her. Nearly falling face first to the floor.

Yuki, already in a bad enough mood looked over at the woman and raised her tone.

"Walk where you’re going, will you! I’m sitting right here!"

But the look on Katherine’s face was bewildering. She looked like she couldn’t see who was speaking to her. Worse yet, she crawled forward on her hands and knees, placing her hands out as if she were looking for something she couldn’t see.

And the woman’s words confirmed it.

"Yuki? Is that you? Stop playing around and come out!"

Yuki scoffed and rolled her eyes, but noticed Katherine didn’t change her behavior, in fact she rose to her feet and began pressing against the wall after seemingly having searched for some kind of hidden hatch in the floor to no avail.

It was then that Yuki genuinely became upset. Standing to her feet she got right up in Katherine’s face, all the while the woman continued to act like she couldn’t see her.

"What’s your problem? Are you trying to piss me off today?"

It was only then that Katherine realized Yuki was right next to her and stared down at Yuki’s figure in total shock.

The woman reached forward with her open hands and immediately became embarrassed when she realized what she had grabbed.

"Oh, there you are."

She said, while looking away in embarrassment, but still casting a glance in front of her as if she couldn’t believe it.

Yuki still couldn’t quite grasp why Katherine was acting like she didn’t exist and shoved the woman away lightly "Here I am? Of course I am, what are you blind?"

It was only then that Katherine understood something and was quick to comment on it.

"Yuki.... Are you not aware? You’re invisible right now! I literally can’t see you!"

Yuki remained utterly silent... and thought about it for about two seconds. She was instantly about to dismiss the absurdity of the idea when she remembered the time her skin blended in perfectly with her sweater.

She looked down at herself, at first, she saw her own appearance. But when she blinked her own hands disappeared in front of her eyes along with everything else.

Only faint distortions remained when she moved. Difficult to see from afar, but clear enough while at close distance to prove this was not an illusion or mirage of some kind.

She instantly shut her eyes, fell to her knees, and screamed.

"What the fuck is happening to me!"

Then and only then did she reappear. And Katherine saw her too this time. But she didn’t have time to react before Dean and Brooke rushed into the room. There they looked over at the sight, and Dean instantly felt to his knees checking on Yuki who seemed otherwise fine after a brief investigation, even if she was spooked.

He looked up at Katherine with a stern gaze in his eyes.

"What happened to her?"

Yuki clutched onto Dean and cried, fear overwhelming her senses as Katherine shook her head in disbelief as if she had just seen a ghost, stumbling over her own words as she tried to rationalize it in her head.

"She wasn’t there... and then she was.... And now she’s...."

Dean looked over at Brooke who had followed him into the room who was equally shocked as he was. And then, in the next moment, Yuki disappeared in his arms, causing him to recoil in shock.

He instantly reached forward to see if she had actually disappeared, because he could still hear her crying, until he touched something he wasn’t expecting.

He no longer felt fear as he connected the dots between the sweater incident and the girl’s current predicament.

"Yup... that’s Yuki...."

Nobody quite understood what was happening, and Dean honestly couldn’t believe it himself, but his instincts were right the last time Yuki showed signs.... She, like him, for whatever reason, was evolving.

Yuki only reappeared after she got so angry by the crude comment that she stood up and began to prod Dean’s chest with her finger.

"What do you mean that’s Yuki? How do you know that by simply touching my chest!"

Dean just gave the woman a glance that conveyed his thoughts in the most smug way possible.

Are you really asking that?

Yuki was stunned into silence, and only Brooke and Katherine remained utterly confused by the current circumstances, with Katherine finally blurting out her thoughts on the matter, not able to handle the absurdity any longer.

"What the hell is going on?"

Brooke didn’t say anything, but her eyes conveyed the same thought. Dean now found himself in a position where he could no longer keep his abilities a secret and was quick to give an answer.

He sighed heavily and scratched the back of his head before rolling his shoulders.

"The truth of the matter is that after the long winter began there appear to be certain individuals myself and Yuki included among them, who display certain extraordinary abilities. Yuki seems to be able to blend in with her environment like a chameleon at times. And I.... Well, I guess you can say that I can perceive the world, and certain information like the letters on a ledger...."

There were no words to follow that statement. Because it was simply too absurd to believe.