“The—” I looked down at my empty palm.
What…?
My sword?
I could have sworn it was there. Blood everywhere. My boots were slippery.
What boots?
I stared down at a pristine pair of white shoes. Spotless. Too clean for Hell.
The ballroom lighting brightened around me—like someone turned up the saturation in a dream. My head throbbed so hard I winced and clutched my forehead.
“Are you okay?” Dad asked.
His voice was still too smooth. Too kind. It didn’t match the flicker I saw behind his eyes.
“Just…there’s something important I’m forgetting,” I said, teeth clenched.
“More important than doing our re-watch of the Tremors movies?”
I looked up.
We were in the ballroom. No blood. No Hell. Dad was smiling, motioning behind him with his head.
“Really?” I laughed, startled. “What gives? I thought you said I couldn’t force those awful movies on you anymore.”
“You made everyone in the castle watch those movies every other day for a year when you were nine.”
“Because they’re good,” I said, voice faltering. “Giant monsters in the ground and mortals are doing their best to win against them. Top tier stuff.”
“At least the humans have improved drastically in filming since,” Dad muttered.
A sharp stab pierced my temple. My knees buckled slightly. Something was wrong. Thinking about humans felt like trying to breathe underwater.
“I feel strange,” I whispered.
“Strange?” Dad’s voice sharpened, enough to make me stiffen. “Like you, perhaps.”
I cocked my head slightly. Dad’s lips were twisted into a grimace, almost like disgust. I didn’t have time to ponder his expression.
His expression twisted again—anger? Disappointment?
A new pang hit me, sharp enough to make me stumble. I grabbed the edge of a table that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Dad,” I gasped, glancing past him.
The kitchen. That was the kitchen. I needed food. No—wait, that wasn’t it. Or was it?
The longer I stared, the more the ballroom blurred. Like I was trying to remember a dream before it slipped away.
“What were we doing?” I asked, panic bleeding into my tone.
“You don’t remember?” he asked, tilting his head. His smile didn’t return.
I shook my head slowly.
He lifted his chin. “Do you think I’d forgive you just because you can’t remember?”
