The Rift

Chapter 2 Part 2

Buzzing. Buzzing scorched the insides of her ears and mind.

"Mar-!...Can you hear-?..."

The young woman tried opening her eyes, light piercing her blue irises. She could not move, and that scared her, paralyzing her even further.

"...Marie! Can you hear me? Marie!"

A loud gasp filled a small apartment room. From the other side of the wall, panicked screeches from parakeets erupted. The young woman clutched her abdomen, looking down at her body. It's fine, she thought to herself. She pushed her long auburn hair out of her face and plopped back down on her bed. "Sorry, guys," she called out to her pets. After a few seconds, they called back with a questioning, concerned chirp. She smiled slightly. "I'm alright," she answered back. I'm fine. She rose to look at herself in the mirror of her dresser vanity.

She had gotten thinner, but not in a desirable way, rather, in emaciated grief. As she looked at her gaunt face and disheveled hair, Marie felt a familiar numbness already take over her. She reached across her bed to grab her phone and checked the time. 2 p.m.? she thought. Marie rubbed behind her eyes, a migraine already starting to build up. I didn't mean to sleep this late. If she was being honest, waking up around this time was normal for her. Marie rose and stretched. By habit, her hands ran across her abdomen. She looked down at her body once more. As usual, unscarred, healthy skin met her eyes. She sighed. Everything is fine.

"...Love me."

There it was. That aching throb within her chest. She paused for a second, that feeling soon being replaced with quiet frustration and confusion. She uncovered her parakeets' cage. Nearly two years ago, Marie, her brother, and her oldest nephew were looking for a missing girl in the forest where Marie grew up. The family that now lived in her childhood home had asked for help searching for their daughter, Layla. What had happened was a blur, but Marie remembered one thing for sure: there was another woman there. She remembered nothing else. As Marie washed out her birds' food container in her kitchen sink, her brow furrowed as she thought of that night. Layla was found unharmed but delirious, speaking of going through some kind of portal into another world where she met "the blonde lady." Marie closed her eyes. She remembered nothing else, nothing, except...

"Take me...have me...love-"

Marie threw the empty container against her kitchen wall in pure frustration. Her birds flinched and chirped loudly. She grasped the kitchen sink before slinking over to them. "I'm sorry, guys," she forcibly said to them in a higher pitched, happier tone. They fluffed up, taking the bait. Marie let herself slouch. "I'm just having a bad day..." As she finished feeding them, she glanced at her clock. It was almost time for her appointment. Marie hastily combed her hair and got dressed, avoiding looking at herself for too long in the mirror. She gave her cheeks a quick slap. "Okay," she said as she positioned her cellphone on her dresser.

Her apartment was built in the 1940's as an efficiency apartment, but by modern standards, it was barely bigger than a college dorm. Her bedroom barely had enough room for her full-sized bed and dresser. She had to crawl over her bed to reach her bedroom window, which was the only source of natural light. The kitchen and living area were the largest rooms despite being small in size. Every person that had entered her apartment immediately commented on the small living space. Her family was especially critical. Marie closed her bedroom door and readied a medical app on her phone. After a minute of waiting, the screen switched images to reveal a middle-aged woman with brown hair and a narrow face. Marie smiled, her eyes failing to portray the gesture. "Hello," she greeted her therapist.