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At first, everything appeared normal, but then on closer inspection I noticed a strange, magical aura surrounding her. I stepped nearer to the bed, my eyes running over her slumbering body. Her injuries, or at least the ones that had been visible to me, were gone. Had Rita and Mum performed the healing ritual? But why was she asleep? Maybe they’d put her in a magically induced slumber so that she could recover from the spell.
These were the thoughts that ran through my mind before the door opened and Mum stepped into the room. “Darya, I didn’t expect to find you in here.”
“What’s going on with Carra? Why is there such thick magic surrounding her?” I asked, starting to worry when I saw the hesitant look on Mum’s face.
“I didn’t want to tell you last night because you were already so upset, but…” she trailed off, looking guilty.
“What is it, Mum? What’s wrong with her?”
“Rita and I cast several healing spells to mend Carra’s injuries. The spells worked but they also put a toll on her mind. All her past traumas came flooding back at once and her magic sprang forth to protect her.” She paused, blowing out a regretful sigh. “She’s in a coma, Darya.”
6.
I stared at my mother, unsure if I heard her correctly. “Are you saying her own magic put her in a coma to protect her?” I was bewildered. I’d never heard of such a thing.
“It’s a similar mechanism to how our brains sometimes make us forget traumatic experiences in our childhood. Carra’s bad memories came back to her all at once and it was too much for her to take so her magic surrounded her in protection.”
My pulse began to spike. “How long will this last? When will she wake up?”
Mum placed a hand on my shoulder. “There’s no way to tell, but know that we’ll do everything we can to take care of her until she does. She’ll stay in this room and I’ll tend to her personally. No harm will come to her.”
My head hurt. I was so mad at Mum and Rita for doing this because I needed Carra to be awake. I needed her to open the portal to Oreylia. I had no one else to do it for me and there was no way I’d be able to figure out how to do it by myself.
“Darya, I’m so sorry,” Mum said as I left the room and returned to my bedroom. I crawled under the covers and wished for the world to go away. At some point there was a knock on my door and I was vaguely aware of Mum entering my bedroom and leaving food on the nightstand. I had no appetite though, and the food was left untouched.
The next day I wanted to avoid school again but I knew I was going to have to face the music eventually. Besides, if I couldn’t go to Oreylia then the least I could do was attend class and try to get ready for my final exams. They seemed like the very last thing that was important right then, especially since I was still heartbroken over Peter.
The likelihood of bumping into him was high since we shared so many classes, but seeing him was something I’d have to face eventually, too. Even the thought of being in the same room as him made my chest ache. We’d become such intrinsic parts of each other’s lives and now I had to go through each day without him. Tears threatened to spill again but I sucked them back and got into the shower. By the time I was dressed in my uniform and ready to head out there was a knock on my bedroom door.
“Come in,” I called, thinking it would be Rebecca. Instead Belinda glided through, her brown hair hanging in soft curls around her shoulders.
“Oh, it’s you,” I said. “What do you want?”
“I heard about that poor girl being in a coma.”
I sighed, rubbing an aching spot on my neck that I was certain was down to stress. “Mum and Rita’s healing spell didn’t go according to plan.”
“What are you going to do now?”
I shot her a glance while tying my hair up in a ponytail. “About what?”
“About the plan you two had to go to Oreylia and get your boyfriends back.”
“First of all, Vas isn’t my boyfriend, and I’m almost certain Sven and Carra were never together. And second of all, how do you know about our plan?”
Her eyes flicked to the ceiling. “I might’ve eavesdropped.”
“You’re a nosy ghost, you know that?”
“What? It can be terribly boring when basically no one can see you, and besides, I might be able to help.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Help how?”
“I can transport you to Oreylia. I can move between dimensions now that I’m no longer tied to my mortal body.”
