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“Yes. I failed you. The world failed you. You’ve been nothing but perfect. Obedient and true. Everyone has disappointed you. Including me. Most of all, me.”
“You cannot say such things!” Wiggling in his arms, I muster the strength to look up.
His face is a black pit of nothingness.
I scream, but the words turn into silence, the vibration making my ears bleed. The black hole that is Cam, is no one, is Makiah, is The Mother, dips its nothingness head down to suck the life out of me, all that I am being consumed by this thing that holds me tight against it, until I cannot think, cannot breathe. My pulse disappears, and I wake up drenched in sweat, screaming.
Screaming and staring into Cam’s face.
Which is a face.
A real face.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” I shriek, clawing at his arms, tumbling off the bed to get away from him, my heart a hammer against my throat, my legs numb and unstable, bending like rubber.
“Paigelynn! You’re having a nightmare.” He stands, stepping back. “You were screaming in your sleep.”
“You – you! You are my king! And Makiah had me in ice, touching me everywhere, every part of me, with a sick fever. And then you picked me up, but your face became a hole, one that sucked me in and consumed me and then The Mother – ”
“The Mother what?” he asks sharply, his entire demeanor changing.
“She – I don’t know. The – it was a dream?”
“Only a dream. No one can hurt you now. Especially not The Mother.”
“I – I wore a crown. I was in an ice cave. We – we were king and queen. But the crown was so heavy. My shoes were hard to wear. And I was naked.”
“That’s a lot for the subconscious to process.”
“The what?”
Behind him, Winnie jogs in, up on her front legs, whining to be with me.
“Your mind. It’s using dreams to make sense of everything you’re learning.”
“Oh.” When I swallow, my throat tickles, forcing me to cough. My mouth is dry, so dry it hurts to lick my lips. “Is – is there water? Somewhere?”
“Right here, Princess.”
I look at him as he hands me a small glass. “Please don’t call me that.”
“I – sure. Of course not.”
“It feels weird now.”
“I can only imagine.”
We sit in silence, the room dark, a low glow along the floor the only light. The water tastes pure and true, and I finish the glass so fast.
“Please. I need more.”
Cam is holding Winnie now, who strains in his arms, trying to reach me.
“Can you stand?”
I realize I’m on the floor, cross-legged, my calves cold. The sheets are tangled around me, and my stomach feels like someone scooped it out.
“Yes,” I say, proving my words right, though I need to steady myself with a hand on the bed.
