Amaris
Amaris’s heart racedagainst the wind biting at her cheeks. She could hardly breathe. Her throat was dry and burning against the warm air. She panted, but a powerful surge continued to propel her forward, whispering to her to keep running. She followed its command without question and no fault. All that surrounded her was darkness, but her feet kept moving until she blinked.
The scene shifted before her eyes, distorting the world around her in a watery haze.
She stopped abruptly, nearly causing her to fall and skid across the pavement. She whirled in circles. A road, a real asphalt road. Even through the rippling vision, she knew she was on her street, only a few blocks from her house. She sprinted home, her arms pumping at her sides. A smile spread across her face as the front porch light flickered against the night. Her heart was about to leap from her chest.
“Derek!” she shouted and didn’t care if it woke the neighbors. She didn’t care what time it was or who would hear her. She was home.
Derek’s head popped out with widened eyes, and his lips parted in agasp. The rickety porch bowed beneath his weight. His hair had grown, and stubble scattered his face in a rugged beard. She wanted to leap into his arms and kiss that beautiful face, feel his arms hold her as she told him she was sorry for running away.
“Derek, I’m home!”
She wiped her eyes, but her vision still held the murkiness. Her feet bounded up the steps to embrace him. She closed her eyes, waiting for their bodies to become one, but she was met with the hard ground as she slammed into the hardwood foyer.
“Amaris?” he shouted, sounding muffled.
She rolled onto her back, propping up on her elbows. “Derek,” she whispered, unable to comprehend what was happening. He towered over her. “Can you not see me?”
With defeat in his eyes, he came back into the house, ramming his shoulder into the door to get it to close. He sulked past her into the living room, where clothes were discarded across the couch and empty takeout boxes piled on the floor.
I’m dreaming.Reality caved.
Amaris’s body ached from the tumble, but she picked herself up to follow him. Something crunched beneath her boot. She pulled back to find a shard of glass. It was all over the foyer and scattered into the carpet. Her eyes followed its trail. Where their coffee table used to be was a pile of splintered wood and larger chunks of glass. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
She scanned the living room, assessing the damage as she navigated the disaster. Empty bottles of scotch and beer cans littered the side table shoved into the corner. Her vision faded around the edges like her world was tunneling.
Her hand hovered over the swinging door. The last time she’d passed through it, her heart had been cleaved in two. She bit her lip, debating whether to open it again. Theodoric had seen the signs before she’drecognized them herself. With a single mark and a name, he knew what had happened.
Amaris reached out to open the door, but her hand passed through. With a single breath, she stepped into the kitchen. Derek leaned against the counter in his usual stance beside the sink, swirling the scotch in his glass. She expected her feet to carry her to the fridge for a beer, to jump on the counter, but she didn’t move. She was glued to the entrance of the kitchen, forced to watch from the outside as the fight that ruined her life unfolded again.
Derek’s phone rang, startling her.
“What do you want?” he snapped, the veins in his arms puffing out. “I told you to take care of it.” An inaudible voice whispered on the other end, and Derek’s brows furrowed. “That bitch is crazy. Why the fuck are you dicking around?” He grasped the edge of the counter, throwing back the remainder of his glass.
Amaris was thankful it was only a dream, and she couldn’t breathe in the nauseating scent of his scotch.
“Because if I go near her, I lose my job! You owe me this.” He hung up the phone and tossed it on the counter.
Amaris jumped as it skidded to a halt against the fridge.
A knock thudded on the door, and Derek bounded toward it. He passed through her, and an icy sting surged through her. It brought her to her knees.
“What the fuck!” Derek shouted.
Each movement was excruciating, but she pulled herself up. It wasn’t unfolding like she thought. Something was wrong. Her body passed through the door, becoming transparent, as if she were a ghost in her own home.
“I told you we aren’t through!” Viv’s voice rolled through the house.
Amaris ran for the hall and tripped, falling through the recliner in the living room. Crawling the rest of the way to the entry hall, she poked her face over the edge of the carpet.
“Get off my property, Viv.” Derek reached behind his back, gripping the gun in his waistband.
Her heart caught in her throat, but she couldn’t move. Her body was pinned to the ground.
“Where’s Mar?” Viv snapped.
“You’re fucking crazy.” His fingers flipped off the safety, but he kept the gun poised behind him.
