Beyond the Veil

Chapter 8

The next day started as every day for the past years have. Sera woke up, ate a small breakfast, and served herself one of her old tea blends. She has been so distracted and stressed out that she hasn't had the time to focus on the things she really enjoys.

Sera had to go to class today. She has been finding it hard to get to her usual tasks because of everything going on in her life so recently. Sera really needed to focus on keeping her scholarship. She just didn't know what to make of it all, and she couldn't understand why no one else seemed to notice anything strange.

After class, she decided she would talk to Quinn about everything, her reaction yesterday confused her, and after reflecting on it, maybe Sera didn't explain things all that well.

Classes ended in a blur, Sera for the first time in days, really put all of her attention into her classes. Quinn was waiting for Sera outside of her last class, Sera walked up to her.

"Hey, Quinn."

"Hey, girl! How was class?"

"Class was fine, it was nothing special. Listen... Can we talk for a sec?" she asked.

Quinn looked at her with concern, leaning off of the brick wall and walking in Sera's direction. "Yeah, of course. What's going on?"

Sera took a deep breath, "I need to tell you something, but I need you to promise me that you won't think I'm crazy."

Quinn's eyes widened, "Okay, I promise."

Sera then proceeded to tell her about her encounters with Tyler and Saul, and the strange energy she had felt from them. Quinn listened patiently, but as Sera finished, she had a confused look on her face.

"Sera, I don't know what to say. It sounds like you're imagining things. Tyler and Saul are both normal guys, there's nothing strange about them. Maybe you're just feeling a little overwhelmed with school and everything else."

Sera felt a pang of disappointment. She had hoped that Quinn would believe her and help her make sense of everything. But she knew deep down that it did sound crazy.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," she said with a sigh.

Quinn gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, we'll figure it out together."

Sera sighed, and said nothing.

As they walked, they eventually reached the end of the campus. They said their goodbyes and parted ways, Sera walked home feeling a mix of emotions. Part of her felt relieved that Quinn didn't treat her like she was crazy, but another part of her felt like she was alone in her thoughts and experiences.

As she walked, she decided to put it all behind her and focus on her studies and her friendships. She couldn't let this consume her thoughts and affect her daily life. She knew she would have to figure out what was real and what wasn't on her own.

Sera took a deep breath and let out a sigh, as she walked into her apartment and closed the door behind her.

Sera was going to take herself to therapy.

She pulled out her phone and made an appointment with the therapist on campus. She was lucky that the campus provided this free resource to students, but she was incredibly nervous and wasn't sure how effective this was going to be. __________________________________________________________________

Sooner than she would have imagined, Sera found herself sitting nervously in the waiting room of the therapist's office. The room was small and cozy, with plush armchairs and a coffee table filled with magazines. The walls were painted a calming blue, and there were several potted plants scattered around the room. Soft instrumental music played in the background, adding to the soothing atmosphere. Sera sat in the smallest chair, closest to the door, next to the battery powered rock fountain.