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“Then what’s it about?”
“It’s about who you are, and what you deserve.”
“I deserve to make my own choices,” I said, feeling angry now.
Mom smiled. “You have enough energy to be angry. That’s a good sign.” She pressed her hand against my forehead. “We’ll talk about this another time.”
Dad agreed.
I lay back on the pillows, suddenly exhausted, and looked up at my parents. I was upset they didn’t want me to be with Oscar. My parents—my family—meant a lot to me, and to not have them agree with my choices… but I was old enough to make my own choices, whether they liked who I chose or not. They didn’t know Oscar the way I did. They didn’t understand. They just?—
Fire erupted in my room. The sound of metal scraping on metal sounded, and there was a loud crash all around us. My bedroom folded in half.
“Mom!” I screamed. We were in a car now.
“Hold on!” Dad shouted, but the car crumpled, cutting him off.
I reached for them from the back where I was strapped in, but I couldn’t get to them. I tried to undo my seatbelt, but it was stuck.
“Mom! Dad!” I tried to reach them, but they were suddenly gone. I was in my room, alone, and everything had faded to gray.
“Mom?” I asked in a small voice. I rubbed my hands over my arms, cold in the empty room.
“Mom,” I whispered again, opening my eyes at the sound of my voice.
I lay on the cot in the room where the men had put me. I shivered, chilled to the bone.
It had all been a dream.
Guilt twisted violently in my chest, and tears squeezed out of my eyes. Why was I dreaming about them now?
But I knew why. I was in a bad space. I was sick, and the truth was, I needed my mom. I’d needed her for a long time, but she wasn’t here. She and my dad were both gone, because I’d been too selfish. Because I’d chosen myself over my family.
Look where I was now. Alone, without anyone to save me, without anyone to look out for me. Cold, and probably about to die.
I tried to push myself up on the cot but found I couldn’t. I reached for the bottle of water. My fingers grasped for it, but I missed, knocking over the bottle instead. It rolled away from the cot, out of reach. I didn’t have what it took to get up and get the water. I was too sick, too weak.
When I closed my eyes again, I sank into a different dream.
I walked through the trees, the sunlight dappling across my skin through the canopy of leaves overhead. The trees around me rose to the sky, stretching to find the sunlight. The breeze on my skin was warm.
When I stepped into the clearing, the lake lay before me, shimmering in the sunlight. All around the edge of the water, dryads stretched out, bathing in the sun. Their green skins glittered as if they had diamonds embedded in their skin and their laughter skittered across the water like pebbles. Druses stood in groups, watching the girls, laughing and joking.
“You’re here,” Ash said. I turned to look at him when he stepped up next to me. “I didn’t think I’d find you.”
“I didn’t think you’d be here, either,” I said.
“You know I wouldn’t just leave you.”
I studied his face. “Do I know that?”
Ash nodded. “Of course. I promised I would keep you safe, didn’t I?”
“But I’m not safe,” I said.
“Tell me where you are,” Ash said.
I frowned at him. “I’m right here.”
