Luka leans forward, watching carefully.
Lily’s curiosity is officially piqued. “Which part?”
Millie’s hand tightens around mine. I pull our clasped hands into my lap and start drawing soothing circles with my thumb that’s sitting on top of hers. The motion seems to help relax both of us.
“Your dreams.”
My response catches her off guard.
“Oh.”
Luka instantly becomes more guarded, which I don’t blame him for. This is a sore subject to talk about with any of us, but I believe it is a necessary one in order to help Millie. At least I hope it is.
The waitress comes and puts a plate of focaccia in front of us.
Lily grabs a piece of it immediately. “Did you know that focaccia bread predates pizza?”
“Really?” Millie asks.
“Yep, a precursor of sorts. Without focaccia we may have never had pizza dough!” Lily answers.
“And what a shame that would have been,” Millie adds.
“Right?!”
Millie seems to relax even more with their banter and that makes me smile. I want that for her. She deserves to have that kind of friendship with a girl and Lily is one of the best. She’s kind, honest and loyal. Attributes that attracted Luka and would make a great friend for Millie.
Once the waitress is gone Lily leans in, dropping her voice so it doesn’t carry past our table. “What kind of dreams?”
Millie shifts uncomfortably, her mood instantly changing to guarded. I give her hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay, Daredevil.”
Lily smiles sympathetically before saying, “Maybe it would help if I tell you my story first?”
“Oh, no. That’s okay. It sounds pretty personal and I don’t want to intrude like that—”
Lily shakes her head interrupting, “It’s okay. I want to.” Lily’s smile is soft and understanding. “I’ve dreamed of how I would die since I was a little girl.”
Millie softly gasps, surprise written all over her pretty face.
“Sounds crazy I know. For the longest time I didn’t realize that’s what it was until—” She looks over to Luka, an intense wave of emotion passes between the two of them.
“Until she met me,” Luka finishes.
“I thought it was just an overactive imagination. That’s what my parents told me my entire childhood.”
“What was it really?” Millie asks, her voice trembling with apprehension.
“A premonition. My family is cursed. For over four hundred years the women in the family have been haunted by their own deaths until their untimely demise.”
“How can that be?” Millie asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Like I said it sounds crazy," Lily responds.
“It’s true though. I was in her dreams, and it wasn’t until she met me that she realized that what she was seeing was her actual death,” Luka says, solemnly.
It’s got to feel surreal to say this out loud. I know it is to hear it, and I lived part of it with them. I look over to Millie. Her eyes are wide with disbelief, and her cheeks have gone pale. Her free hand reaches up to touch her pulse point, her lifeline. I hateknowing that she’s in distress. I want to fix it all for her, but I can’t.
“We did everything we could think of to figure out a way to stop it but couldn’t.” Lily’s smile dips down, her eyes becoming watery.
