Page 16 of Truth Revealed

At times, it seemed just a short distance in front of her, and at others, it seemed miles away. But she kept walking. Because if she stopped, she feared what would happen. With her eyes on the light, she didn’t focus on the nothingness around her.

Wait…

Squinting, she realized the light was growing larger. Finally. Just a few more steps. Daria broke out into a run, her feet aching in protest, but her heart pounded, and not because of the exertion.

Stopping right before the light, she hesitated with her hand outstretched. What would the light do if she touched it?

Daria wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.

As if sensing her hesitation, the light shimmered, growing brighter until Daria raised a hand to shield her eyes.

Wait—no, was it getting bigger?

Daria stepped away, seconds from running back the way she came, but her feet had frozen to the ground. Her voice got stuck in her throat, her mouth opening on a yell, but nothing came out. The light got bigger, brighter, until even covering her eyes with her hands didn’t stop it from blinding her.

Daria released one last attempt at a scream, her breath producing nothing but a heavy exhale of air instead of a cry for help. Unable to move, scream, or cry, Daria couldn’t do anything but—

Sitting straight up in bed, Daria gasped for the same breath she’d been trying to release on a scream and put her hand to her chest. Her heart threatened to pound right through her ribcage, her chest heaving as she stared wide-eyed around her room.

That’s it. I’m never sleeping alone again.

In fact, Daria wondered how quietly she could sneak down the hallway to Misery’s room. Shaking her head, she planted her feet on the ground and was surprised when they didn’t ache like they had in the dream. It’d seemed so real.

She stumbled to the bathroom, turning on the dim light instead of the overhead one. Light was clearly not her best friend. Remnants of the dream made a shiver trail up her spine and she turned on the hot water, studying the puff of steam that faded as the water adjusted.

Okay, so it didn’t take a genius to understand. Her subconscious must be freaking out over the whole immortality thing. That’s what her dream had been about, obviously. The light was how people described their near-death experiences, so it made sense that Daria would dream about chasing the light, since she’d died plenty of times and never seen such a thing.

Analyzing it made her feel better, so she pushed it aside and splashed her face with hot and then cold water. The drip, drip, drip of the water into the sink was loud, but she wiped her face with the towel and turned to head back to bed.

She didn’t make it that far.

Instead, a puff of smoke engulfed her, blinding her. A zip of panic went through her as she began to cough, accidentally inhaling more of the smoke than she was expelling. She blinked, tears wetting her eyes as she wondered what the fuck was happening.

Why me?

Wait.

Something was familiar about the type of smoke around her, but by the time the pieces clicked, it was clearing. It dissipated almost as quickly as it had appeared, and Daria blinked—and then blinked again because what the fuck?

It was like she’d woken up from one nightmare to appear in another. Chaos, her dad, stood in the center of his mansion… palace… thing. In yoga pants and… a crop top. A crop top that had the words “There’s nothing better than a good stretch,” paired with an image of two fingers making the peace sign. But turned sideways.

“Oh my God.”

“Time to start your lessons!” Chaos announced cheerfully.

“Oh my God,” were the only words Daria was capable of forming. It was like a train wreck, terrible, but she was afraid to look away. “What are you wearing?”

“Daria!” He tsked. “I didn’t pick you for the judgmental type.” He glanced askance at her and wow, he might not have known he was a dad this whole time, but he had that guilt trip look down.

“I’m not, but you’re my dad! Please put different clothes on.”

“Fine. As you wish.” Chaos crossed his arms and tilted his nose up at her.

She should have known better. He made it worse, if such a thing was possible.

His yoga pants morphed into teeny tiny workout shorts, and the crop top changed into a skintight athletic top to match.

Daria covered her eyes and groaned. “No! No, please no! I preferred the crop top! Make it stop!”