Finally, the tremors started to die down. Fifi blinked and wiped her face on her sleeve, then sort of slumped in on herself. I settled for a quick, "I'll be right back", and hustled to the kitchen for water, then came back to find both girls sitting on the mattress, the metal bed frame bent at a weird angle.
Huey had full claim on Fifi's lap now. She gripped his coat with both hands, as if she let go, gravity might kick her out of reality again.
"Nobody's going back to bed after that," I said, meaning it as a joke, but it didn't quite land. "You want to talk about what happened?"
Fifi spat hair out of her mouth, then huddled cross-legged, shivering in her nightshirt and pajama bottoms.
"It's not like the other times, Mom," she said. Her voice was raw as though she'd been screaming at a concert all night. "This isn't just dreams or whatever. I mean, I know the difference. This was real. It's like…" She groped for words, kneading Huey's ear between her thumb and finger. "It's like something's trying to hatch inside me."
I braced but kept my face blank and let her talk.
"It started normally. I was just dreaming, like always. Then everything went bright. Like, too bright, even with my eyes closed. And I saw, I don't know, flashes? Scales, I think, like huge ones. And fire. Not metaphor-fire. Like, actual flames. At first, it was in my head, but then it got hot. All over."
She paused to catch her breath. Mere and I swapped a look. Hers was unreadable, and mine was fake-calm.
Fifi looked at her trembling hands, like she half-expected them to catch on fire. "It felt like my bones were melting, but as crazy as it sounds, it was in a good way, kindof, except the rest of me lost it. And I heard that voice. It wasn't even my own, which is… I know how that sounds. But it kept saying, 'Wake up, little spark. It's time you know who you are.' Over and over."
Huey groaned and rolled so he was belly up.
Mere tucked both legs up under her and leaned in. "You think it was, like, your anxiety? Or maybe hormones, mixed with all the stress? Westillhaven't gone through puberty. It's got to be happening soon. Because sometimes people get physical symptoms, even really strong ones, when?—"
Fifi cut her off, her teeth flashing in a half-hearted grin. "Yeah, because hormones typically make you Hulk-smash furniture and dream about breathing fire. Should we check WebMD for 'is this puberty or possession'?"
Mere nodded, a teasing gleam entering her eye. "I read this Halloween article about a movie with an old priest and a young priest. Maybe watching it will help."
Fifi snorted and whacked her with a pillow, and Huey jumped to his feet, barking. A moment of pure chaos, but then they were laughing and gasping for air, almost normal. Relief poured through me, but under it was a faint tremor. The moment felt too alive, tooclose to the buzzing under my skin that had been building for days. I hated how familiar that feeling was. I remembered it from only one night in my entire life, and I'd spent seventeen years making sure it stayed buried.
But I saw the aftershocks. Fifi's hands still trembled. Mere laughed a little too loudly, eyes darting back to the busted bed frame every few seconds.
I parked myself on the edge of the mattress, careful not to make the wreckage worse. "Okay. So, next steps. Fifi, you can sleep in Mere's room on the floor, or we can invade the living room and set up camp. Or, if you two are feeling brave, we could attempt French toast at three in the morning."
Mere perked up immediately. "French toast."
Fifi shrugged, still hunched, but her lips twitched. "Definitely French toast."
I'd have promised them a trip to France if it meant they could keep this up.
"French toast it is." I squeezed Fifi's arms, then started shepherding everyone toward the kitchen.
Fifi shuffled with Huey mashed up against her shins, and Mere trailed behind, hands twisting in her sleeves.
I put the eggs and milk out on the counter. It wasautomatic, but for some reason, my hands wouldn't stop shaking. The kitchen felt safer, though. With the lights on, everything read as normal. Or as normal as it got in our family. Even so, that strange warmth hadn't let go. It sat low and steady, the same inexplicable pull I'd felt a few days ago while sampling near the creek. I told myself it was stress, but stress didn't make your stomach flip like that.
Fifi took her place at the table, Huey still on guard. She slumped, but her breathing was better now. "Sorry for the drama."
I waved her off. "You didn't ask for this. It's just your brain running overtime. If anything, I'm impressed with your upper body strength. I've heard about people flipping cars to save their kids in emergencies. Though if you wanted a new bed, you could have just mentioned it."
"Well, I've had it since I was little," she muttered, but there was a spark of amusement there. I'd missed that attitude.
Mere sprawled across from her, chin in her hand. I tried to focus on their banter, but my thoughts were drifting again. Back to the water. "Do you remember exactly what the scales looked like? I mean, were they, like, shiny, or dull? I wonder if it's your brain trying to process, like, some animal thing. Primal instincts orwhatever."
Fifi shot her the most skeptical glare known to humanity. "Yeah, my primal instincts are to torch the furniture. Makes sense."
Mere grinned. "I still think we should try an exorcism, just to rule things out."
"You're going to get beaned again if you keep it up," Fifi threatened, but her smile was real this time.
I cracked the eggs, measured the milk, and let the reality settle in. Sometimes, things got weird. Sometimes you just made breakfast at three in the morning, pretending the shocks and shakes wouldn't still be there at sunrise.
