I wake knowing this isn’t real. I don’t know how I know but I do. I feel the tears well in my eyes as I watch her hands kneading the dough. The plain silver band on her finger, worn paper thin and loose, winks in the sunlight that is filtering in through the window above the sink. She’s humming a hymn, and I swallow, fighting to stay calm.

I look down at my hands, blurred through the tears, and see there are no bandages on them. His face shimmers into view, the one I have always dreamed of. I can’t remember a time he hasn’t come to me in the night. I wonder did he change or did I? When I was younger, it was more like I was wherever he was, watching the things he did with him. I felt his sadness at the mask he wore, his anger at the role he had to play, and his longing for something I didn’t understand.

When did the dreams change? I can’t remember. I don’t know him, not really. Shaking my head, I squeeze my eyes shut. That’s not right though, I do know him. Don’t I?

“What’s wrong, Sugar?” Her hands have stopped, and she is watching me. Blinking slowly, I try to shake the feeling, smiling at her until she flickers for an instant. I force my smile to stay even as my terror beats at me.

“Nothing, Grand-mere.” My voice trembles only slightly. I stand and cross to peer in the mirror. My twelve-year-old self stares back with my twenty-five-year-old eyes, eyes that have seen so much.

‘My Cora,’ a low gravelly voice whispers through my mind, and I shiver. I know that voice. I school my features. Staring at my reflection, I try to send out the power I KNOW I have.

‘Help me.’ Pain engulfs my head, my vision blurs, and I feel myself falling. I hit the floor like a ton of bricks. I have one moment of thought before I slide into darkness. I wake to more darkness so dark it is more the absence of light. I whisper hello, but the darkness swallows it. My heart pounds, and I pant in fear but I can hear nothing. Complete deprivation.

Whoever has me trapped here has given up trying to trick me. I’m glad kind of but I wish with my whole heart I could spend one more day with Grand-mere, talk to the real her, get her advice. She would know what I should do… about everything.

I look around, but other than the feeling of my eyes and head moving, nothing changes, just blackness. Somewhere deep inside, I understand I will lose my mind here. I wonder if it will be a slow descent or a headlong, high speed plummet. I’ve never been known to do shit half-assed so I’m betting on the second.

‘Cora?’ It’s a gentle touch, barely there, yet I gasp at the pain lancing through my brain. Sweet Jesus. Gripping my head with my hands, I try to breathe and focus on the thread of power. I know it, have felt it before. I see granite grey eyes framed by dark lashes, red flickers in them. It’s on the tip of my tongue but just out of reach. He, yes it is a he, is important to me and to everyone else. I pound my palm against my skull. Think, Cora; this is life or death here. Mine for sure but I’m almost positive the rest of the world, too.

I focus on the grey, reminding me of the clouds just before a hurricane, drag in a deep breath, and brace for the pain.

‘Find me, please!’ Ice picks slam into my brain, sweat beads on my forehead, and I grind my molars. Focus, Cora, send him a link, give him a path. A tiny silver tendril illuminates my prison before streaking away. It is the last thing I see before a new darkness wraps around me. I wake some time later. I don’t know how much time has passed, as there is no day or night in this place.