Black.
And the moment the color changes, something inside my mind shifts. Like two halves of a broken mirror finally separating.
Before we split.
Before Era… and Sera became two different people.
The forest spins around me again. The rain continues falling. And for the first time, I understand why my dreams were never dreams. They were pieces of a life I had been living… without ever knowing it.
Dominic watches me carefully.
Rain runs down his face, but he doesn’t seem to notice it anymore.
“Sera—”
He stops himself.
Then tries again. “You… came out for the first time when Era found out about Evelyn.”
I go still.
Dominic swallows before continuing. “She couldn’t handle it.” His voice softens, almost like he’s choosing his words carefully. “The truth about Evelyn broke something inside her.”
He looks at me with a mixture of sadness and guilt. “Her mind needed a way to survive it.” A pause. “So it created you.”
The rain taps softly against the leaves above us.
“You weren’t something she chose consciously,” he continues. “You were something her mind built to protect itself… to carry what she couldn’t.”
My breathing grows uneven. “After she found out about Evelyn… everything about you changed.” Dominic studies me closely. “Your personality. The way you moved. The way you spoke.”
He exhales slowly.
“Era has always been the opposite of you.” The words land heavily between us. “Era is bright,” he says quietly. “She talks to everyone. She fills a room without even trying.”
A faint, sad smile touches his face. “She’s the kind of person who makes strangers feel like they’ve known her forever.” The smile fades. “But you…” His eyes search mine. “You’re different.”
His voice lowers. “You avoid people. You don’t like crowds. You keep to yourself… like you’re more comfortable hiding in the shadows than standing in the light.”
The world closes in, and I can’t breathe through it.
“You watch people more than you talk to them.” He gestures slightly toward me. “You’re guarded. Quiet. Careful with every word you say.”
The rain falls harder around us. Dominic’s voice grows softer. “Era runs toward the world.” A beat. “You run away from it.” His eyes stay locked on mine. “And that’s how I knew it wasn’t her anymore.”
Rain slides down my face, but I barely feel it anymore. Dominic’s words echo inside my head, repeating over and over.
You were created to protect her.
No.
My mind fights against it, that can’t be real, that can’t be me. I shake my head slowly, trying to push his voice out, trying to force the pieces back into the life I thought I understood.
But the more I resist it…
The more it makes sense.
A sickening kind of sense.
