Legends of Windemere

(Should have put some tissues with the last scene.)

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Unsure if she should scream or cry, Dawn can only sit in the canoe and grip the oar with white-knuckled fingers. Feeling something bump into the boat, she turns to the side and watches a large shark swim by. Tired of running and fighting, she smacks the animal on the nose when it gets close and watches it dart away. Spouts from distant whales and other signs of animals surround her, but nothing dares to get very close. The solitude is crushing and she considers jumping into the ocean. She is on her feet before remembering that Kara wanted her to put an end to the chaos that has consumed the planet. Flopping onto her back, Dawn ignores the sharp pain of hitting the seats and lazily uses the oar without looking. She is not surprised to find that the slightest push sends the canoe jerking ahead. Out of curiosity, she gets up and tries to turn the boat around, but it spins in place until she is about to throw up. She leans over the side and uses her hand to stroke the water, which has the same effect as the oar. Feeling like she has no control over her fate, the exhausted woman goes back to lying down and stares at a sky that is filled with oddly-shaped clouds.

“I have to win a fight against monsters,” Dawn whispers to herself. She raises her hand and stares at her fingers, which are covered in blood and dirt. “They never let me remember how the final battle goes. I walk in blind every time, which means I can’t figure out what worked and what led to my defeat. This doesn’t feel like it did before. The emotions I used to hold were of hope and determination, but now I don’t really care. Addison is going to mess with the game again and I’ll be made to feel like someone else. Why did she revive me with no interest in being the haven this time?”

“She wanted to change the game,” a voice says from the water. Before the woman can sit up, a fish leaps out of the ocean and lands at her feet. “I’m not real. You’re hallucinating while talking to yourself. That’s why I sound like you, but more nasally. Anyway, it’s clear that Addison was getting bored and wanted to se what would happen if you weren’t put in the proper role. Although, it could have been Ian doing it to take you out of the equation, but he seemed surprised to you. It is interesting that you found the path anyway. Shows that some things in life are inevitable.”

“Just my luck,” she mutters while moving her leg. Seeing her knee pass through the fish, she sighs and sits up to stare down at the animal. “This isn’t a sane conversation. I’m not supposed to see things that aren’t there. Have I gone insane? Is it possible that a being born of sanity can still hold a piece of insanity?”

“Good questions and they might be important,” the creature answers before diving back into the water. It comes back out immediately and rubs its gills, which are bright red and shivering in the breeze. “Sorry, but I need to go under for air at times. Where were we? Oh, you should know that you’re not what you used to be. After centuries of being your own organism, you’ve developed your own personality and quirks. This is why Addison isn’t a raving lunatic like she was at the beginning. A thinking being can’t exist with only sanity or insanity in their head. You need at least a little of one to counter the other. If that doesn’t happen then you get someone like Ian, who is all crazy and doesn’t care. That might not be a good example, but I can only work off your personal opinion of him.”

Rubbing her temples, Dawn fights back the urge to swing the oar at the fish. “None of this helping. I mean, it makes sense that I’ve been free for so long that I’ve become an individual instead of a piece of Addison. That still doesn’t help me in the fight. Just brings up more questions. Why would she want to reabsorb someone who has grown into something other than a missing piece? Could it even be done? Maybe it can’t, which is why I keep getting reset. Then again, Ian would simply kill me. Unless he can’t or doesn’t know what’s going on. All he knows is that Addison is weaker without me, but he still can’t defeat her. Ugh, I keep running in circles and making myself even crazier.”

“You truly wish for a simpler time.”

“And when was that?”

“The days when you were in her head and she was contained.”

“I don’t have the power to trap two monsters.”

“Not with that attitude.”

Wondering if her mind is telling her that she can alter reality, Dawn stands and stares at the clouds on the horizon. She stretches her arms and closes her eyes to focus on the beating of her heart. Moving her hands as if sculpting clay, she imagines transforming the distant storm into a herd of fluffy horses. The rocking of the canoe causes her to sit down with her legs folded beneath her tense body. A crack of thunder shakes the entire ocean and Dawn opens her eyes to see that nothing has changed. With a muttered curse, she picks up the oar and hits the water to send herself bouncing along the choppy waves.

“To be fair, I didn’t say you could do stuff like that,” the fish mentions with a chuckle. It refuses to move when the woman throws a punch, its glistening eyes staring down at the extended limb. “Hope that made you feel better. What I meant is that you have to possess some advantage over the monsters. They fear you for a reason even if they don’t understand what that is. Perhaps those driven by insanity worry that the sane can ruin their fun or destroy what they believe makes them special. No way to tell unless you focus on what makes you different from them. Aside from having no powers, being at their whim, and subconsciously focused more on Kara’s purpose than-”

“Hope,” Dawn interrupts, her mind abruptly clearing. Turning to face wherever they are going, she uses all of her strength to move the canoe at a dizzying speed. “If I can change without realizing it then so can the game. Something can be born from all of the rewrites of reality to stop everything from fracturing. Maybe I forged her during my own revival since I would have had access to Addison’s power. I have no proof of any of this, but it would explain why Kara never existed prior to this time around. This whole thing has been different with me not knowing my purpose and her coming into my life.”

“I don’t think this is helping you,” the hallucination mentions with a worried frown. It sticks its tail fin to the side of the boat and leans down to get its gills in the water for a few seconds. “I can see that you need to find a reason for all of this, but you’re trying to place logic on a creature such as Addison. She could have created Kara by accident or Ian might have made her to give you something to lose. That’s if she’s a game piece in the first place. There’s always the chance that she was always around and you never met her until now. Thousands of humans on this planet and you don’t know all of them. Why is this girl so special?”

“Because . . . she’s my haven,” Dawn replies before she lets the imaginary fish dissipate.

Within minutes, a large shape appears in the fog that parts like a curtain to reveal a desolate island. She can see a small pier on the shore, the pylons covered in mushrooms that release threads to snag passing terns. A twisted forest is to the south and a patch of clouds sits above the trees to release a constant stream of prismatic rain. In the other direction is the charred ruins of a large building that is being circled by a flock of ravens. Slowing her advance, Dawn tosses the oar into the water and lets the current take her to the pier. The canoe sinks as soon as she steps onto the creaking boards, a plume of bubbles rising to drift across the familiar island. With no fanfare, a hand-written banner unfurls from an archway at the far end of the pier and welcomes the woman back to Raven’s Hold.

(Things just keep getting worse for our heroine.)

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The ATV skids as they make a sharp turn and narrow miss getting hit by a trio of beer bottles. Checking over her shoulder, Dawn sees that the enormous mob is still following them and seems to have grown. She hears Kara cough behind her and reaches back to touch the girl’s side, which is covered in blood from a stab wound. Cursing at her reckless escape, she is about to suggest finding a place to hide when a bullet strikes the ground to their left. Picking up a flare gun that had been left on the ATV, Dawn stretches her arm and blindly fires in the hopes of hitting the shooter. The blast of fire is bigger than she ever imagined, but the entranced people continue rushing through the flames. Spotting another turn in the road, she decides to go over the small hill and take her chances traveling along the rocky coastline. Another shot rings out and a hole is punched in a birch that they are passing, the damage being at the same height as Kara’s head. Veering from side to side, Dawn struggles to avoid the rocks and trees that are packed just tight enough to make it a harrowing experience. Looking back, she can see the mob flowing into the forest, but only the ones on motorcycles and their own ATVs are able to move quickly through the wilderness. To her relief, they show very little concern with their own safety and several of them crash.

“Drop me off and escape,” Kara whispers as she presses a cloth to her wound. She frowns when her friend puts a lighter in her hands, the thought of burning the gash closed filling her with frustration. “You know this won’t work, right? Even if I stop bleeding, that knife went in deep enough to hit organs. I know you love me and I love you too, but there’s no sense in both of us getting killed. Just leave me with the flare gun. There’s two more shots and I can make them count. You’re the haven, so you have to-”

“I refuse to let the game end this way,” Dawn snaps before she turns to come out on a dirt road. Seeing a tank at the far end, she drives over the path and back into the woods as a deafening blast goes off. “Where the hell did they get one of those? You said something about a border that the monsters wouldn’t cross. That doesn’t seem to be working. Explain what you think happened and take your mind off the cut.”

“It’s a seeping gash,” the girl retorts, knowing that she will not win the argument. Giving in to the fact that she will not be left behind, she pulls a pistol out of her satchel and turns around to watch their back. “There was half a mile around the camp that was safe. No traps or threat of attack unless Ian was on a rampage. That never got very far and we would have enough of a warning to get inside. We thought there was something you did to block them, but I guess they were playing by a rule that doesn’t exist anymore. Doesn’t matter what that was about since we can’t bring it back. Keeping to the coast because there’s a dock not much further way. Only one boat there, so we have to be first.”

“How do you-” the woman is about to ask when she is jolted by a memory. The surprise nearly causes her to slam into a tree, but she swerves out of the way and skids onto an abandoned road. “I told you about it a year ago? This memory is harder to hold onto than the others. What is it about this place that is now so familiar? I feel like I’m at the end of a long journey, but there’s fog everywhere. There’s one piece that I can’t find at all. What in all the world am I missing this time around?”

As they come out of a short tunnel and turn onto a beach, the pair are tackled off the ATV by someone waiting behind a boulder. Dawn tries to roll with their attacker in the opposite direction of Kara, but the girl is gripped tightly by the arm. Hearing her friend cry out in pain, she straddles their lithe figure and stops when she sees that it is Melissa. Driven into an unbreakable insanity, the scarred woman is foaming at the mouth and trying to pull a knife out of its sheathe. Using her knee to pin her enemy’s other arm, Dawn focuses more on freeing Kara than fighting back. Pressing on Melissa’s wrist with her nails, she violently shakes the limb until the girl wriggles out of her shirt and crawls away. Enraged by the escape, the enchanted human leans forward and bites deep into the other woman’s thigh. The shock of pain is enough to drive her away and allow both of them to stand. Shouts arise from the distance, which distract Dawn enough to allow Melissa to draw her weapon. Catching the glint of metal out of the corner of her eye, she manages to catch her former friend by the wrist and they wrestle over the knife that is already covered in blood. Unsure of how she knows, the brown-haired woman can tell that the blade is the same one that stabbed Kara, who she can hear groaning not far away. With a rough kick, Dawn knocks her enemy back and scrambles towards a pointy branch that she can wield like a gnarled club. Before she can swing, a loud shot goes off and Melissa is struck in the eye by a flare. As if the foam on her chin is made of oil, her head bursts into flames and she screams while continuing to wave her knife. Meeting the blind charge, Dawn jabs the branch forward to stab the other woman in the chest. She falls back to avoid the swinging blade and braces her own weapon against her stomach. The pivot lifts Melissa into the air and she sinks further along the twisted tree limb. With a final shriek, her fiery skull falls off and lands an inch from Dawn’s head. A violent spasm is the final movement of the body before it goes limp and finishes sliding down the branch.

“Get to the boat,” Kara orders before pointing at a small canoe bobbing on the shore. She holds her side as she gets onto the ATV and leans over the handlebars. “You said that this has been going on for centuries, which means it’s more important that you survive. Get away and find a way to stop the monsters. It doesn’t matter if Earth returns to what it was or not. Just as long as those two are gone for good. You can help the remaining humans survive. So, get moving while I stop that mob.”

“What kind of kid talks like that?” Dawn asks while staring at Melissa’s body. The roar of the ATV snaps her out of her trance and she turns to watch the girl driving it into the mouth of the tunnel. “It’s you! Every time I’ve done this, I’ve been alone. There were a few times I ran into Melissa and the Grand Caravan too. All of the monsters, traps, and people have been a part of this game . . . Except you. I have no memory of you, Kara. That means-”

“Absolutely nothing!” she screams, the sudden rage causing her wound to squirt. Her fingers shake as she loads the final shot into the flare gun and she watches as a few figures appear at the far end of the tunnel. “Maybe I’m a new addition to your story or a kid that you never noticed before. None of that matters now that we know you’re the haven and the key to stopping all of this madness. Please stop wasting time and go. Wouldn’t it be worse for you to get hung up on this and we both die? At least if you escape, you can end this and maybe even revive everyone who has died.”

“I want to ask you a question.”

“I’ll only answer when you’re on the boat.”

“What’s your hair color?”

Kara is about to answer when she covers her mouth and waves for Dawn to head for the canoe. Seeing that the mob is halfway through the tunnel, the woman gives her friend a final hug around the shoulders to avoid the stab wound. A gradual warmth and stickiness touches her stomach and she realizes that blood from the gash is seeping through her shirt. She gives the girl a kiss on the top of the head and considers trying to carry her to the boat. Knowing that even a small scuffle could lead to a quicker death, she finally gives up and ends the embrace. Sprinting for the canoe, she kicks the stake out of the ground before hitting the icy water. She hoists herself into the boat and holds up the only oar without looking back at the shore. A sudden pop is followed by an explosion that sends a wave of heat across the beach and over the ocean. Stricken with fear, Dawn whirls around to see that the tunnel is filled with flames that have been blasted into the approaching mob. Walking to the water, Kara is still holding onto the flare gun until she can sit in the shallows. Throwing the useless object away, she kicks her legs and enjoys her first time being in the ocean.

“My hair is brown!” she yells an instant before a wall of fog consumes the coast.

(That was a rather ominous final line yesterday.)

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“We’ll handle it right away,” Melissa declares before leaving the tent.

Startled by the sudden change of scenery, Dawn looks in every direction and touches her body to find that she is fully healed. Hearing voices outside, she reaches out to touch the dark green wall and press it enough to convince herself that she is not dreaming. The tent shakes when a breeze strikes it and the flap opens to briefly reveal a vast camp sitting among the ruins of a small town. The smell of the ocean hits the woman’s nose, which twitches at the memory of being chased across the bridge. A pile of damp hand towels are next to her cot and she wipes away beads of sweat from her forehead. Within seconds, Kara is out of her sleeping bag and putting a wet cloth on Dawn’s face. Having not noticed the girl until now, she is overcome with relief and joy that she is unable to control. She gives her friend a tight hug and is thankful that the embrace is returned. Warm tears fall on both of their shoulders and they are unsure which ones belong to who.

“I remember being nothing,” Kara whispers as she sits on the cot. She continues using the cloth until it is too warm to be of help. “Everyone else was dead and now they’re back, so they don’t know anything happened. With me, I got separated from you in the water and placed in darkness. I had no body or mind, which was fine at the time. Now, I just have a strange sense of being part of a void. Makes it hard to sleep, but the doctors made a medicine to help. Do you still have a fever? It hit you four days ago near the end of an influenza outbreak. We lost one hundred people before it was controlled. You know how the monsters enjoy causing outbreaks since they refuse to cross the border.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Dawn admits in a daze. Getting to her feet, she sees that she is wearing a soft gown of satin that is embroidered with a crimson heart. “You remember what happened, but are talking like this is reality. Addison must have done something, but I don’t know what. There are so many questions that I have and my brain isn’t able to focus on any of them. Maybe I just need something to eat.”

“I made a bison stew from the last hunt,” the girl mentions while she gets a bowl. Putting the food in a microwave, she hops onto a bike and pedals to power the machine. “I can’t tell you about what happened after we were separated because I didn’t exist. All I know is that I came back as your adopted daughter and you’re the haven. After a year of being in your forest, you ventured out and gathered as many humans as you could find. Melissa is your second-in-command and the two of you made the Grand Caravan that led us to this town. It’s been three years since we arrived and made it a home. It’s still hard living because the winters are bad and food isn’t always available, but it’s better than the old world.”

“You remember how the world used to be?”

“The two of us are the only ones who do.”

“Addison said she made me the haven because it would be fun.”

“She does enjoy poking at the camp.”

“Then, what’s stopping Ian?”

“Your other self, which we all know about, fends him off once a month.”

Still confused and worried, Dawn opens a nearby dresser and hunts for clothes that would be comfortable to travel in. Finding a t-shirt and jeans that are identical to what she wore in her forest, she changes in time to receive the stew. She blows on the hot food that smells so good that her mind settles into the present instead of running through hundreds of scenarios. She follows Kara back to the cot and silently eats the meal while listening to the noise outside. The voices are lacking the spark of despair and anger that she had noticed in most of the humans she has met over the years. Children run by laughing, their silhouettes briefly shown on the tent until the shadow of a passing truck covers them.

Finishing the stew, Dawn is about to look for a place to put the bowl when she suddenly remembers that there is a basin of soapy water. The abrupt realization causes her to sweat again and she puts up a hand to stop Kara from putting another cool towel on her forehead. More memories of the unfamiliar world creep into her mind, the flow quickly turning into a flood of thoughts. The pain causes her to clenches her fists and tense her arms, which creates enough pressure to break the bowl in half. The sensation continues for several minutes and she begins to see images that do not match the others. Even though she knows they are her own and take place on Earth, Dawn sees differences in the landscape and events. A quick flurry of visions batter her mind and show her leading an army of humans, which is promptly wiped out by a wave of boiling water. The horrific site is replaced by one of her living alone on a mountain for years until she eventually throws herself from the cliff. With a snap that pops her ears, the barrage of memories stops and she is left gasping for air.

“It’s like I remember the lives of hundreds of people,” she says in a strained voice. Feeling a warmth on the side of her head, she touches her neck to find that her ear is bleeding. “I gave myself flesh out of frustration with Addison and she made me a source of hope. We’ve been playing this game for . . . centuries? Always restarting when things get boring or I’ve been eliminated. Something is different this time, but I can’t figure out what it is. Oh my god, how many times have people like Melissa been killed and revived just because I decided to be free of Addison? Maybe this is my fault.”

“But that’s silly talk,” Kara points out as she takes the broken bowl away. Coming back with a rag, she wipes the stew off her friend’s lap and does her best to smile. “You wanted to help us and have done so many times. I don’t know about all of these other lives, but I know you gave me hope for the one I had. What if you look at the old memories and figure out what you did wrong? There might be a way to stop this that you missed.”

“That’s possible,” Dawn admits with a smirk. Feeling more comfortable with the situation, she is about to close her eyes and concentrate when a shiver runs up her spine. “I definitely sense that something is different this time. The whole thing is strange. Ian is almost an afterthought in my memories. He’s there and a danger, but he’s nothing more than a destroyer to Addison’s twisted creations. I remember Gemma being whole and on my side for a few adventures until she was split . . . again. There’s just too much to sort through in one day. How about you show me around the camp and I can get my mind off things?”

“But it sounds like we have a lot to talk about,” the girl argues even though she grabs her satchel. Noticing that it feels oddly heavy, she turns it upside down and watches as several rocks fall out of the bag. “Why did I have all of these? Looks like there’s some blood on it too, but I could have forgotten about the stain. Addison might not put things back exactly as they were in order to avoid boredom. Please let me know if you begin feeling sick or tired. We can rest at one of the mobile home restaurants until you’re better. Nobody minds you hanging around even if you don’t buy anything. Oh, money isn’t a thing, but people do trade. We’re surrounded by abandoned towns and cities, so every adult does a weekly venture into those to find things they can trade for necessities. Nobody goes starving, but sometimes you want a little extra or something fun like a toy.”

“Sounds rather convoluted,” the woman mutters. Spotting a book hidden under a table, she picks it up to find that it is a collection of fairytales. “I need to relax because I’m jumping at anything that could be a clue. Last thing I want is to fall for a trick. At least my headache has gone away.”

With Kara holding her hand, Dawn steps out of the tent and is about to greet those who are nearby. The words get caught in her throat when she sees that everyone is standing still and staring at the sky. Following their gaze, she quickly covers Kara’s eyes when she sees that the sun is a vibrant purple. The color changes to red, which acts as a switch and causes the humans to explode into activity. Violence breaks out in several directions while packs of foam-spewing people rush into tents to rob those inside. Naked figures dart through the chaos that flows through the camp like a virus. Within minutes, the entire place has succumbed to the insanity and the sun has returned to its normal hue. Nobody pays any attention to Dawn or Kara until they take a single step. As if sharing the same mind, the thousands of humans freeze and look in towards the two unaffected people. Their eyes turn bright crimson and many begin to make faint cawing sounds without opening their mouths. Refusing to wait until the mob attacks, Dawn picks Kara up and sprints towards a nearby ATV. The instant the motor roars to life, the humans rush forward and those approaching from the front are killed by the unnaturally fast vehicle.

“And I’m forced to run again,” Dawn angrily growls.

(Sorry about the swearing yesterday . . . Blame Lloyd.)

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Covered in cuts and missing an eye, Dawn stands gasping for air and clinging to the blood-soaked satchel. Her shoulders are numb from wielding the heavy weapon and she swears that at least one tendon has snapped. Turning in a circle, she gazes at the sea of ravens that is already sinking into the sand. Most of the birds are dead, but the exhausted woman can still see a few twitching wings. She considers going to put them out of their misery until her knees buckle and she drops the satchel. With a loud sucking noise, the desert devours the bag and releases a tiny belch at Dawn’s feet. Staring at the shifting earth, she gives in to her fatigue and flops onto her back. The feeling of bloody sand sticking to her matted hair is enough to make her sit up and scratch at her scalp. She stops when she pulls away a piece of skin that one of the ravens had nearly torn off at some point during the hours of battle. Seeing the tattered scrap between her bruised and callused fingers, she closes her remaining eye and waits to see if sleep or death will save her from reality.

It is the jingle of metal that causes Dawn to stir a few minutes later and witness the sun sinking below the horizon. The moon is a second behind the blazing orb and comes to a screeching stop directly above the woman. She sighs when the ravens emerge alive and whole from the sand, the flock taking to the air without a sound. The birds blend into the starless sky and stay away from the two beams of moonlight that pierce the darkness. One of the ephemeral shafts lands on Dawn while the second goes into the distance. She can see that it is slowly moving closer, which means someone is approaching. Lacking the strength to worry or fight whatever is coming her way, she lies down with her arms folded across her chest. The itching of her wounds causes her nose to twitch, but she refuses to give in to the sensation. By the time she hears footsteps on the sand, her entire body is shivering and twitching from the pain that has finally set into every cell.

“Now we really are mirror images,” Addison says as the moonbeams merge. Having taken the form of an old woman, she leans on Gemma to help her walk. “I thought this body would put you at ease, but I think I wasted my time. It was going to be a whole production. You running from my friends until you see a shack on top of a cliff. You scale the wall while getting pecked and I give you sanctuary. We eat and drink throughout the night to become friends. Then, I give you advice that makes it clear that we should become one once more. It would have been so much fun, but you had to ruin it by being angry and brave. To make things clear, I wanted to leave the child along. I have my kitty, so I don’t see why you shouldn’t have a pet. I’d have happily adopted her after you were gone.”

“Nothing you say can make me agree to join with you,” Dawn replies before coughing up a jet of blood. The jerky motion causes her more pain and she arches her back until the agony subsides. “There’s one thing I could never figure out this world. How could you have let things get this far? I understand Ian going berserk since he’s truly psychotic, but you always wanted to have fun with humans. Sure, the games were lethal, but you would never go to the point of genocide. So, why didn’t you stop any of this?”

“Because I underestimated my enemy?” she states while returning to her youthful form. A gray hair remains dangling down the middle of her face and she bats at it like a distracted cat for a minute. “You keep asking me questions that only you can answer. I lack the focus and spark of sanity to think beyond the now. Not that you were helping much when this started anyway. I remember a lot of warnings with very few suggestions. Why didn’t you try to stop any of this while you were in my head?”

Annoyed by the accusation, the injured woman struggles to her feet and winces when her left shoulder becomes dislocated. “You never listened to me. By the time, I’d given up on getting anything more than a slight reining in of your impulses. I know losing me means you can’t focus and a shiny rock can draw you out of a battle, but none of this is my fault. Even if I told you how to stop Ian years ago, I doubt you’d have listened. He was the puppy that you could play with and you didn’t care that the world was getting ruined. Just as long as Addison gets a few laughs, the rest of existence go to hell and beyond. I dare you to tell me that I’m wrong, you self-centered overpowered toddler!”

“I’m not a toddler.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I have breasts and-”

“Mentally, you idiot.”

“I wouldn’t be an idiot if you came back.”

“Of course you would because you ignored me all the time.”

A surge of pain drives Dawn to the ground, her arms unable to stop her from landing face-first in the sand. Blood seeps from her mouth, which makes her fear that the ravens managed to punctured her organs. Desperate to get back to her feet and face her other side, she squirms and twists on the ground. She finally gives up when she pops several blood vessels in her remaining eye and the entire world takes on a crimson hue. With a whimper, Dawn stretches out and presses her face to the sand to avoid looking at Addison. She cannot do anything when she senses someone standing over her and the fear of being absorbed sticks in her mind. The possibility of her defiance being the only thing keeping her safe all these years becomes more logical as she mulls it over. Memories of being nothing more than a bodiless voice in a chaotic landscape of color makes her quiver, which snaps one of her ribs. The break jogs her senses to the point where she wonders how the ravens caused so much damage with their small beaks and talons. A renewed rage begins to grow in her chest, but she finds it impossible to use it to push through the pain. When a plastic arm moves under her arms and helps her stand, Dawn is nothing more than a limp and angry woman on the verge of death.

“I believe you have gone too far,” Gemma states, her mannequin side cradling the human like a large child. She runs a finger down the seam between flesh and plastic, which causes a line of blood to appear. “At least remove the poison that is eating away at her. The cuts and bruises should have been enough to make her regret having flesh. I know you are still angry about her leaving, but she is right. You acted like she was a hindrance, which is why she decided to leave so long ago. Need I remind you that she didn’t do this alone.”

“You’re not supposed to say that when she’s awake,” Addison whispers with a demure smile. Giving in to her annoyance, she turns Gemma into a red-haired hat rack and watches as her sane double falls to the sand. “She’s talking nonsense. I mean, the desert heat must have melted her plastic parts and you know how toxic that can be. To think that I’ve known all this time that you’re the one who caused our separation. Sure, I’d be the type to wipe your memory out of anger while letting you remain because it meant the nagging would end. What kind of a person do you take me for? Yes, I guess having you walking among the humans could give them insight into myself and Ian. Possibly even find a way to stop this fight since I was having too much fun. Maybe I created the rumor about there being a haven, but I kept mixing up the name and forgetting to mention that it was a person instead of a place.”

“What?” Dawn asks from the ground. With a snap of her double’s fingers, her bones heal and she is able to stand in spite of the blood seeping from her wounds. “All of that is the truth because you’re smiling too much. My freedom and life has been one big game. Not only for myself, but for all of humanity? You let me stay in that forest instead of being this haven and helping everyone? Give me more answers!”

Creating a silver eyepatch in her palm, the reality-bender slaps it on the woman’s face and waits for the scream to stop echoing. “You’re welcome and stop being rude. As you can see, we can touch without merging, which is a lie that I’ve had fun maintaining as punishment for you being such a brat. Every day I had to listen to you whine about us hurting humanity with our games. I said that if you were so concerned then you should do something about it. So, you told me to give you a speck of control during our next fight with Ian. Figured it would be funny, but you got the last laugh. Used the tiny, itty bitty, teensy weensy bit of power to steal enough of Ian’s power to knock yourself free. He thought he did it, I thought I burped, and you ran away like a naked coward. I’d say you made it a few miles before I caught up to make you important and wipe your memory of being the architect of your own birth. So, do you give yourself presents on Mother’s and Father’s Day or do you pick one per year?”

“Why make me the haven instead of absorbing me?”

“Because I thought it would be fun.”

“Then you should have let me play the part.”

“That does tend to be more entertaining.”

“And that’s what you care about more than anything else.”

“You have a good point.”

“I always did.”

“Don’t be cocky when you’re bleeding all over my desert,” Addison says with a yawn. A clap over her head causes Dawn to disappear with only her wounds left hovering in the air. “I want to see how you handle being a source of salvation. Even I know it won’t be nearly as easy as you think. Do over time again!”