TIME AFTER TIME

quattor.

FOUR:

"How To Breath Underwater"

BREE.

JUNE

Nothing matters to me anymore. I don't remember crying or eating or drinking or moving. I just remember the ocean. The pressure. The weight. I remember hearing voices but they sounded so far away. I remember feeling my body moving, water all around me, and then dry land.

I was underwater for so long. The only sound I heard was the crashing waves. Sometimes it was loud, other days it was gentle. But always, always the waves.

JULY

I surface briefly when I roll out of my nightmares. A moment ago I was dreaming, Aurora and I were practicing drills on the soccer field before one of the demons materialized and dragged her into the shadows against her will.

Now Scarlet is holding me and Salem is telling me to breathe. I feel their hands soothe my worries but I can't get the image of Aurora being taken away out of my head. The knife goes into her neck. A sea of blood pours out.

The room I'm in is new. I don't care about the shades that block the moonlight streaming in or the thousands of stars we normally wouldn't see back home. I don't care that we've been reconnected with other witches and that our mother's sister has high hopes for us. I don't care about witch rituals, prophecies, or spells. Nothing matters because two of my favorite people in the world are dead.

Salem and Scarlet lay in bed with me. I'm staring at the ceiling but can feel Scarlet gently massaging my scalp before pulling her fingers through my curls. "Bree, you're not getting better."

All I can do is sigh.

I close my eyes and see Aurora being pulled away from me, I wince to stop the image and force my eyes open. I see Salem's worried expression. Her anxiety pools the room so much so that we're all swimming in it. "You should come for a walk with us tomorrow. We can show you around the Oasis, it'll be good for you to leave the room."

All I can do is shake my head no.

Now my sisters sigh, they exchange a look and Scarlet's fingers pause in my hair. She mouths something to Salem who just shakes her head. Her pool darkens to paranoia but I push away her feelings and go back to staring at the ceiling.

"We brought some things back from the house. Some of Mom's stuff"—

"Stop," I hear myself whisper. I couldn't think about her stuff like that. I didn't want to see it. I didn't care. I let the waves roll over me.

AUGUST

When I surface, I'm sitting at a table in our new home. My hand spins a wooden fork in between my fingers, scraping against my scrambled eggs on the porcelain plate. Beside me is Anubis, who decided he would check on me when Salem and Scarlet were in class. Even though they aren't in class right now. Aunt Pearl is here too. But I don't care. The only reason I left my room was because Scarlet was washing my sheets this morning and after pushing me out of my room said I had to shower and eat at least one meal. I was tired of her tough love so I caved.