“Will,” I say, reaching the camellias. I press my hand against my chest, trying to catch my breath. Deep pinks and oranges stain the sky.749Please respect copyright.PENANAy9tJttc3OO
749Please respect copyright.PENANAgJFac6vZjz
“What are you doing here?” Madame Pommier stands up from behind the camellia shrubs, an emerald pendant in her hand.749Please respect copyright.PENANA0cQyQMjo3C
749Please respect copyright.PENANAiYr5DiXjR6
“What are you doing here?” I say with surprise and a tiny prick of irritation at seeing her in our secret place.749Please respect copyright.PENANAtzlTwH7jha
749Please respect copyright.PENANAP02iFJr0Ek
“The veil is thinnest here,” she says. “This is where I’m sealing it off.”749Please respect copyright.PENANAtuQyN4T9Jt
749Please respect copyright.PENANAw6jugiyiGs
My heart catches. “No, wait. Please. Can you stop it for just a little while?”749Please respect copyright.PENANAAMdisRqOZI
749Please respect copyright.PENANAJzkzpxqqiI
She shakes her head. “Once it starts, it can’t be stopped.”749Please respect copyright.PENANA3keVITYzg9
749Please respect copyright.PENANALVpuH2XSDL
“No,” I murmur, clutching the bottom of my sweater. Will.749Please respect copyright.PENANAulRpbC0PBq
749Please respect copyright.PENANAmEAAzfuJiE
“Cami.”749Please respect copyright.PENANAURHaiA0Bkd
749Please respect copyright.PENANA24Rlkr5bPg
My head snaps up. Roanna stands there, her giant curls wilder than usual. Her specs reflect the sunset, so I can’t see her eyes.749Please respect copyright.PENANAtMO9KMNey7
749Please respect copyright.PENANAtfnrVbs2ST
In my selfish desire to be with Will, I finally see Roanna’s side.749Please respect copyright.PENANAq8JQRvhJNK
749Please respect copyright.PENANAGWXUCzKClS
“You were right, Ro,” I say, my voice breaking. “I’m sorry.”749Please respect copyright.PENANA7LA1w3Z3l4
749Please respect copyright.PENANA9FV72WcY8f
Roanna hurries to my side and hugs me.749Please respect copyright.PENANACtKN0ihsQ4
749Please respect copyright.PENANAYz4fLCv0LG
“Cami,” an even softer voices says.749Please respect copyright.PENANA0SeqMilWUo
749Please respect copyright.PENANAWqzlvQPZC7
All three of us look up. It’s Will, but it looks like I’m seeing him through a frosted window. I release Roanna and take three big steps forward so I’m directly in from of him. I hesitantly reach a hand out, almost expecting it to go through him.749Please respect copyright.PENANAOcA7AtEi4C
749Please respect copyright.PENANAOoadLNsa2w
“Cami! No!” Madame Pommier says sharply. “If you touch him with this closing in progress, we have no idea what it could do. You could be pulled into his time.”749Please respect copyright.PENANAaaPEcyD5Yq
749Please respect copyright.PENANAbOBNBKK6ol
“Or he could be pulled into ours,” Roanna says.749Please respect copyright.PENANAw1tpKUAgQ4
749Please respect copyright.PENANAjMHUJIYewX
Her gaze is off to the side. I follow her gaze and see a pretty, young nurse standing there, faint and transparent like Will is. She watches us with wide eyes.749Please respect copyright.PENANAgw38F5XZse
749Please respect copyright.PENANAnayAIxjT8a
“There will have to be an exchange,” Madame Pommier says. “Equivalent exchange.”749Please respect copyright.PENANAJ5hfGnVjXZ
749Please respect copyright.PENANAwo3lg9rdjM
“Do it,” Roanna says quietly. “It’ll be okay. I understand now. I belong there.”749Please respect copyright.PENANA147JU93VLz
749Please respect copyright.PENANALXZ2FJiCln
There’s a finality to her gaze that terrifies me, but the sun is going down quickly, and there’s very little chance to think about it.749Please respect copyright.PENANAi4g8K5ohf0
749Please respect copyright.PENANAUevMre81fu
“Can’t you both stay?” I ask. My voice barely comes out.749Please respect copyright.PENANAgRXPTWO8Nw
749Please respect copyright.PENANAXNKQcLSkrQ
She shakes her head and walks over to the nurse, holding a hand up. Turning her head to face Will, she says, “Just do it. Touch her.”749Please respect copyright.PENANA1dqiwhkKva
749Please respect copyright.PENANA6UCCt5vomM
“Stop it. I can’t allow you to do this,” Madame Pommier says. But she seems unable to move out of the circle she’s made in the dirt.749Please respect copyright.PENANAfLo27seg4V
749Please respect copyright.PENANANJNPxA14xT
Will’s hand closes around mine, and the image of him begins to sharpen at the same time as Roanna’s image begins to dim and frost over. She smiles at me. Her hand is locked with the nurse’s.749Please respect copyright.PENANA0P8tcELZT4
749Please respect copyright.PENANAYWWBYDg2Ke
“Goodbye, Cami.” Even if I can’t see the tears in her eyes, I can hear them in her voice.749Please respect copyright.PENANAlkT9vTtM2g
749Please respect copyright.PENANAaCwnPZnDQZ
I want to reach out toward her, but Will anchors me in place. He pulls me closer to his body—which is warmer than it’s ever been before—and watches her. Through him, I can see he recognizes within Roanna the longing to be elsewhere and how it feels to belong somewhere other than where you are.749Please respect copyright.PENANAZijnUaHXDi
749Please respect copyright.PENANAnfBsixWwhA
“It’s a psychiatric hospital,” I tell her, even though it’s already too late. “You don’t want to go there. You don’t want to be a patient.”749Please respect copyright.PENANAlYHUi06xZN
749Please respect copyright.PENANABTiiZURu6d
“A patient?” Now I hear the smile in her words. “I intend to be a doctor. Cami, there’s one more thing you need to do.”749Please respect copyright.PENANAsJnIsZSwJG
749Please respect copyright.PENANAtCi6mCkDfC
And somehow, I know what it is.749Please respect copyright.PENANA6t7ZVS4N8o
749Please respect copyright.PENANAgYLZLd4Bqz
“Cami, don’t,” Madame Pommier says, taking a step toward me.749Please respect copyright.PENANAuouxyupk5r
749Please respect copyright.PENANAJ4oXkEjQ61
The emerald glints in the vanishing light. I thread my arms around Will’s neck and pull his mouth down to mine.749Please respect copyright.PENANAGVmfwCyah9
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Wolverhampton House
Author:
TejiReve

ISSUE #20
Cami [9]
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