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"Hello. " She smiled at me without recognition. "I'm waiting for my love to come back. He brought me here, and he said he'd be back. So I'm waiting for him. "
I reached out and took her hand, trying my hardest not to cry. "I need you to come back to the village. We have something for you. "
She kept smiling, but she looked at me more closely. She seemed different here without her usual layers and layers of mascara. Younger. So much more vulnerable. I didn't want to wake her up from this, didn't want to shatter this dream reality for her. "Do I know you?" she asked.
"Yeah, you do. Come back with me. "
"Oh, I can't. I'm waiting for him. You can wait with me, if you'd like to. "
I squeezed her hand. "He's not coming back, Carlee. "
When I said her name, her whole body stiffened, her eyes opening wide and clearing, as though a veil over them had lifted. "Carlee," she whispered.
I nodded and waited for her to freak out, to start screaming or crying, bracing myself and getting ready to hug her or carry her back to the village, whatever it took. For a few impossibly long moments she didn't say anything, didn't move, and I wondered if the shock had broken her brain. Then her brown eyes locked on mine again, narrowing into slits.
"I'm gonna kill that effing creep. "
I laughed, relief flooding through me, and threw my arms around her neck.
"No, seriously. I'm going to kill him! I can't believe I bought his stupid lines! I don't care how pretty he was, I mean, have you seen what I'm wearing?"
Laughing, I nodded into her shoulder. "So not the style. "
"I know, right? I look like an extra in some fantasy movie. Some stupid fantasy movie. "
I pulled away, searching her face. "You're
going to be okay, right?"
"As soon as I figure out what's going on, sure. "
"Remember that cute guy, Jack?"
"The one who never called?"
"That's the one. You and he are going to have a long chat. "
Her face brightened considerably at the idea of talking with a cute boy. She really was still Carlee, and I felt about a thousand pounds lighter knowing that, regardless of what her life would be like from now on, at least she would be my Carlee.
"How does my hair look?"
"Fabulous, as always. "
We started walking down the hill when Reth appeared in front of us. Carlee glared at him. "Oh, I am so done with your type!"
"He's on our side," I said.
"Evelyn, the dancers are safe, but I think you and I should attend to the others immediately. "
It took me a second to realize he was talking about the pregnant girls. My previously buoyant spirits plummeted. "Okay. Carlee, Jack and Lend are over there. " I pointed to where you could just see the crowd. "They'll probably need your help calming everyone down and getting you all moved somewhere safe. "
"I can do that. But you and I need to have a talk, like, soon. Because this is some seriously freaky crap, you know?"
"Oh, I know. " I smiled sadly at her, and she turned and ran down the hill toward everyone else. Maybe besides totally underestimating paranormals, IPCA's greatest sin was totally underestimating normal people's ability to adapt and accept everything hidden going on in their world.
I gripped the bag of the last bits of bread in one hand and took Reth's in my other. The scenery spun around us in a blur of gold and green, and suddenly we were smack in the middle of another meadow, next to the lavender stream and surrounded by girls pregnant with future little versions of me.
They blinked curiously, nonplussed by our sudden appearance. "Hello," one girl, a brunette with a heart-shaped face who looked barely older than me, said.
