I could feel her hand on my shoulder.
I almost lost contact with her at the touch. It felt so real and yet she still lay unmoving below me. I could feel the touch of her skin against mine, the energy of her magic surging at the contact. It was her. My head spun toward the soft touch, my eyes widening at the broken disheveled girl that stood beside me.
It was Joclyn, I could see it in the silver of her eyes and the angles of her face, but everything else was foreign. Her hair, once long and straight, was matted in long tangled masses. Bloodied bits of scalp peeked through the large bald patches where the hair had been pulled out. I scanned her body as my brain slowly began to register what I was seeing, as I began to understand the things that had happened to her. Her clothes were ripped and torn, the tattered fragments covered with dirt and blood as they hung from her emaciated body. Her skin was covered with bruises, cuts, and burns. I looked away from the horrific sight only to come back to the same beautiful face on the couch below me.
I looked back to the battered girl. My soul felt like it was being ripped in two by seeing her there; the giant rent began in my toes and moved through me in an earthquake of regret and fear, ripping my heart into pieces.
She looked at me with her silver eyes, the confidence I had watched her develop over the last few months so weak I could barely see it. Her power had been beaten out of her. As I watched her, I could see a shadow of that power return, the strength of her gaze growing as I stared into her, as I felt her memory click fully back into place.
My eyes darted back and forth from the girl I sat over to the ghostly apparition in front of me, my heart unwilling to accept the horrors I was seeing. My eyes had only returned to hers for a moment before I felt the shadow girl’s hands hard against my chest, pushing me off the living girl’s body. I fell to the floor, just as the hands of both girls rose in preparation to attack.
I yelled at the same time as Joclyn’s broken body, her mouth moving as she spoke to someone that my vision would not allow me to see. No sound escaped her lips, even though I knew she was speaking. Her strength seeped back into her eyes as she screamed at whoever had been attacking her, as once again, she prepared to fight back.
There was barely a warning before Joclyn’s hands exploded with energy, the magic soaring into the physical realm from the hands of the girl who lay sleeping on the faded upholstery.
My magic wrapped her in a heavy shield, her attack impacting with it, my soul acting on its own in response to her need. The attack disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving us in silence once again. I watched for only a minute, waiting to see if more was to come, watching as both girls dropped their hands. I was up in an instant, my heart fighting over which Joclyn to run to, yelling at me to find a way to bring the battered Joclyn home.
I had only made it a few steps before her weak voice met my ears, the sweet sound sending my heart into a frantic strum.
“Goodbye.”
“No!” It was then I knew who I was running to, who needed me more. I ran to Joclyn’s ghostly body, wrapping my arms around her as I surged my magic into both of them through the ?tít. The shadow of her body was so cold, so small, compared to what she really was. I could feel her, the same way I had when the sight was first given to me. I could feel her gritty skin, the grease on her hair. Somehow, she was right there in my arms.
The Black Water had bridged the gap between us again, but this time I knew how to use that magic to bring her back. I could still feel the water burning through my veins, and hers, and even though I didn’t want to, I forced its movement through me, through the ?tít, and right to my heart. I felt the water burn alongside my magic, Joclyn’s magic coming to the edge of the ?tít as my power called to her. It was there that our magic mingled for the second time. The deep strength of it rocked through me with such an impact I was sure I would never be able to let her go again.
Her strong magic raged through me, my muscles tensed at the tingling ecstasy that washed over my nerve endings. The water continued its blissful movement, until it began to pull away. Her magic seeped back into her –bringing her with it.
Without even knowing how, I felt her arms around me, warm and whole. I felt her presence leave mine, her mind whole again.
I pulled away from the warmth of her arms, scared about what I would see, my heart swelling at the unscathed, healthy face looking back at me.