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“Don’t tell me you already forgot what home looks like.”
“I know what this place looks like, but it’s not home, so what is it?” Olivia pushed back her frustration. Was this the real Betsy, or had the magic made her insane?
Betsy sighed. She twirled the straw in her coffee, a straw that hadn’t been there seconds ago. “Honestly? I don’t know. I just know I’m stuck.”
The tugging sensation in Olivia’s center strengthened. She didn’t have much time. “You’re in a coma, in the real world,” she explained. “I’m trying to wake you.”
Her sister smiled wryly. “What if I don’t want to wake up?”
Olivia frowned. “That’s not funny.”
Betsy waved her left arm. Their surroundings changed to their living room, with the ugly yet comfortable brown couch in the center facing the TV and their dad’s favorite chair. Olivia’s throat choked up with tears at the sight of her father reclining in the chair, watching his favorite baseball game.
“Papa?” Olivia said in a small, girlish whisper.
“He can’t hear you.”
Olivia let out a surprised sob when Mama came in with a bowl of popcorn, a five-year-old Betsy clinging to her apron. When she sat down, Betsy giggled as she dipped her tiny hand in the bowl and nabbed a few pieces of popcorn. Mama chided Betsy for making a mess, but her tone and expression were full of love and joy.
“It’s your memories,” Olivia said past the lump in her throat.
“Yes. And I can live through whichever one I want.” Betsy waved her hand again and they were in the backyard, Papa busy grilling burgers while she and Betsy played on the trampoline, their laughter mingling with the summer bird songs. Olivia’s lips curved as her heart lightened several degrees.
She waved her hand, the magic of the dream responding to her command easily. Their surroundings changed again, and they were on a beach, with Olivia chasing Betsy with a handful of seaweed while Betsy shrieked.
Beside her, the real Betsy chuckled. “I hated you for a week after that. It took me an hour to get the smell of seaweed out of my hair.”
“I know. That was for you ruining my favorite dress.”
Olivia watched her younger self and Betsy run up to their parents, chattering and shouting. God, it’d been so long since she’d thought of the happy days before her parents’ illness. Had she been so young? So carefree? So exuberant?
Since her parents’ death, she’d closed herself off, retreating any time a possibility for happiness appeared. Marek was the latest example. The tugging sensation transformed into a burning fire in her belly. The scene wavered as Olivia jerked back to reality.
“We can’t stay here. It’s not real.”
Betsy changed their surroundings back to the kitchen, but this time with the scent of chocolate chip cookies in the air, Mama’s favorite. “It’s not, but I’m happy here. Happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
Failure and sorrow weighed Olivia down. “I should’ve gone with you to LA. I shouldn’t have let you leave by yourself.”
Betsy shook her head. “Stop blaming yourself. I’m not your responsibility anymore. I want to stay here.”
“But it’s not real!”
“So what? It makes me happy!”
Olivia staggered back. As always, Betsy’s attitude was opposite her own. Her sister lived in the moment, while Olivia constantly fretted about the future and missed out on the present. Her fear of what “might” happen prevented her from taking the final step with Marek.
If Betsy were in her situation, she wouldn’t think twice. She’d already be bonded, living every day to the fullest with her soulmate.
The realization struck Olivia with the force of a thunderbolt. She wanted that, wanted to share life’s joys and hardships with Marek, wanted to be with him every step of the way.
Fiery pain shot up from her stomach to her heart. Olivia gasped and stumbled, catching herself against the kitchen counter.
“Ollie, are you okay?”
Olivia was too busy catching her breath to answer. Shadows crept over the edges of the dream. The calm pool of magic supporting the dreamscape swelled and bulged in an uproar. The tendrils of another presence, malicious and cold and deadly, poked at Olivia’s psyche.
Something was wrong.Run. Get out. Now!
