Millie’s sudden change in tone and intensity has the hair on my arms standing up, and a sour feeling starts low in my belly. Something has happened. I just don’t know what.
“I don’t know you!” Anna seems as uncomfortable as I feel.
“Millie, baby. What are you doing?” I ask as I reach for her hand again.
Millie’s head whips around, and what I see has my back slamming up against the couch in shock and horror.
Millie’s eyes are distant and cloudy, like she’s looking right through me. When my trembling hand reaches for her again, she rips it back and says, “Don’t touch me.”
It’s as though she doesn’t know me, and that one look has my heart shattering into a thousand pieces and my pulse beating frantically in my veins. What is happening? “Millie?”
“I’m Lucy.”
Her response stuns the room into utter silence. I stare at the girl I love with my whole heart and I barely recognize her. Her facial features are the same as my Millie’s, but her expression is all wrong.
“Baby, what are you talking about?You’re Millie.” I implore as panic spreads at a rapid speed throughout my body.
Her eyes narrow and she physically recoils at the use of her name.What in the actual fuck is going on?I practically lunge for her then, grabbing her face in between my hands, being as gentle as I can even though on the inside I’m freaking the fuck out. “Millie.”
She reaches up and grabs my hands, trying to yank them off her face. “I already told you, I’m not Millie!” she screams.
It takes everything in me to remain calm because on the inside I’m terrified. “Baby, your name is Millie St. James.” She’s already shaking her head and she’s still trying to pull away from me.
I look over to Anna. I don’t know what for, maybe assurance that whatever the fuck this is, is actually happening. Her wide and terrified eyes tell me it is.
She claws her way out of my grip and stands, making her way towards Anna, who is now standing and backing up towards the fireplace in fear.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
Millie slows right before she reaches Anna and holds her hands up in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you, Anna. I love you. It’s me, your best friend,” she implores.
I watch as Anna’s eyes roam all over Millie, then they start to well up with tears. “How do I know it’s you? Tell me something only Lucy would know.”
I stand there, watching in disbelief. Could it be possible that Lucy has taken over Millie’s body? That seems utterly crazy and impossible, but maybe not as crazy as Millie pretending to be possessed. That seems even more farfetched.
My mind continues to swirl as I watch and listen to their interaction, feeling helpless and confused.
“You have a birthmark on your left shoulder, just above your shoulder blade. It’s in the shape of a heart.”
Anna swallows thickly, obviously nervous and apprehensive. “Plenty of people know I have that,” she accuses, pushing back at Millie.
Millie or Lucy?Fuck. This is crazy.
Millie still has her hands up in the air but slowly lowers them to her sides. “That’s fair.” Millie steps a little closer to Anna, lowering her voice when she continues. “When you were little you used to have nightmares.”
Anna visibly flinches, obviously rattled by Millie’s statement.Nightmares?What is she talking about? Millie never mentioned any nightmares, other than her own.
“You only ever told me about them. Not even your parents know,” Millie whispers, sounding just as emotional as Anna looks.
I swallow hard, my throat tight with anxiety and unease.
“If it’s really you, tell me what they were about,” Anna demands, her voice uneven.
“They were always about me dying.”
A strangled cry leaves Anna, and Millie shoots forward, wrapping her arms around Anna as they both fall to the floor in a heap of tears.
“Lucy?” Anna asks between sobs.
