May, 2019

Midnight's memories meandered in my mind as I stirred late the next morning. Though, instead of getting up or rolling back over, I let them flourish, replaying again and again like a broken record... one that had sharp edges that sliced at my heart, of course.

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An incandescent glow refracted off the pool in the muggy summer air as I brought my drink to my mouth. My eyes were heavy, the surroundings swirling, and I was finally forgetting meaning. But then...

"Hey stranger," an all-too-familiar voice caressed my ears, causing my body to get impossibly warmer as the air clouded with even more static.

Certain I was hearing things now, I reluctantly turned around to prove my delirious brain it had slipped into insanity.

But there she stood. At the edge of the pool gate, copper hair cascaded in loose waves down her chest—longer than I remembered. And the same shining emerald eyes enveloped me, almost assessing the state I had become.

"Olivia?" I replied in disbelief as her face swirled with familiarity.

At once, shame flooded me, and I placed my drink down.

I never wanted her to catch me in such a vulnerable state.

But why would she be here? I wondered. She was never coming back...

And why of all places would we run into each other at Jade's party?

No. I'm definitely seeing wrong. I'm definitely—

"How, um," she stumbled for her words as she stumbled closer, "How have you been?" Her face was consumed with concern as she closed the distance between us.

The manifestation is still speaking... fuck... I've really lost it now.

Instead of responding to my hallucination like the deranged fuck I had become, I clambered to my feet and made my way towards her, convinced that if I got closer she'd disappear like mirages do.

But the closer I got, the clearer she became, the edges of her figure sharpening, the familiar, sweet, hibiscus smell overpowering me. I stopped a breath away from her. Close enough to hear her heartbeat almost matching mine in rhythm. Close enough to see flecks of yellow and brown that mixed together with the green of her irises. Close enough to notice that she smelled like her... but different. Now masked with a perfume unfamiliar to me.

Unable to stop myself, I reached out to touch her.

Once again, I thought she would disappear. Or my hand would go straight through her apparition. But as my fingers collided with a lock of her hair, slowly dancing their way down its silky length—and she didn't pull away from me—I realised there was no escaping this illusion. So I may as well just enjoy it at this point.

"I, um—" she started to say, voice a little breathless.

But I cut her off with my comments of amusement. "I've never been this intoxicated before."

She cleared her throat before she spoke again. "I noticed you've had a few drinks."

"I swear I've had more without this happening. Maybe they're just hitting harder this time... or maybe the witches did something. Not that I'm going to complain."

Once again, she was silent for a moment, as if my mind was trying to manifest the most likely response Olivia would give. But then it tried, "What do you mean by 'this happening'?"

Brows furrowing, I expected the mirage to simply understand. Though with the background still a slight blur and my desperate attempts to focus on her before she disappeared into the air, I slurred back, "That I'd suddenly start seeing you."

She shook her head, her hair now slipping out of my grips. Then she took a noticeable step away from me.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she careened her head up at me as she said, "You think you're 'seeing' me?"

With a roll of my eyes, I corrected her with, "As in hallucinating."

"Yeah, I got what you were saying. Lukas... I get you're drunk, but..." she sighed and stepped closer again, voice a little softer this time, "I'm actually here."

"Sure you are." I rolled my eyes.

"What makes you think I'm not?" she said, a little miffed now.

"Olivia would never actually come back. And, if she did, she'd never come find me."

The curiosity quickly fled her expression as her eyes filled with woe and regret. Her brows turned down as her face opened with sorrow. "I'm so sorry for leaving like that, Lukas. I—"

"Shh," I responded, putting a finger against her plush lips.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

My body felt heavy, almost as if it were glued to the bed. But keeping me from falling back into my deep slumber I so desperately wanted to be in were two pressing matters.

The first being my overly full bladder, which had me finally rolling over and throwing my feet on the floor.

Eyes clamped shut, I started my stumble towards the door, wincing as the warm air blowing under tickled my feet. Today was most certainly a day to spend behind closed doors, hiding from the sun.

But even more distracting was the faint hibiscus scent that lingered almost in every crevice of my room, creating a path out into the hallway, only disappearing as I ventured towards the bathroom.

Last night's dream really doesn't want to leave me, I justified it as I struggled with my pants.

Though as I relieved myself, I let myself fully brush aside the manifestation of her scent. Because I knew I was doing that a lot lately—creating signs and smells of someone who I knew would never return—ever since I dreamt of blood in Emma's shoes.

After flushing the toilet and making my way back to my room, I flopped onto my bed and almost drifted right back into the dream I was having by the sirenic pool.

But keeping me from my sleep was the overpowering smell.

Floral.

Vanilla.

Sweet and sickly.

Her.

My eyes reluctantly snapped open.

I squirmed in my bed, fluffed my pillow, and rolled a few times trying to get comfy.

Finally coming to a still position on my side, I started to close my eyes, taking deep breaths and doing my best to not notice the hint of her lingering on my pillow. But just as my eyes almost fluttered closed, a glimpse of silver had them flying right back open.

My heart started to pound in my chest.

My eyes opened impossibly wider.

And, ever so slowly, as if it would make the apparition disappear, I reached out to the bedside table, expecting, hoping, it would disappear once my fingers collided with it.

But as my skin caressed the textured metal, a gasp left my mouth. At once, I scurried back in my bed, gripping my pillow close as I stared at the silver bangle sitting atop my bedside table, a whisper of my memory coming back in painful throbs.

"Just so you don't wake up tomorrow thinking this was a dream, I'm going to leave this here," she said.

"Mhmm, yeah, sure," I mumbled as my eyes already shut before I could see what she was talking about.

Snuggling into my pillow, I didn't hear her leave. I simply let the slumber take me.

"She can't be," I breathed. "If she is, then... Last night I... Ugh!" I groaned into my pillow, hoping I could fall deep into the bed and make this all fade away... hoping I'd just wake up already. Because if last night really was real, then I made a complete fool of myself.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

As my finger collided with her mouth, I was instantly met by a series of shocks. A yelp escaped me as I retracted my hand, but it was quickly followed by a snort.

"Sorry," she gushed apologetically, "I didn't expect you to just... I would have... I—"

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I shook my head at her as I calmed the lingering laughs shaking my body. "No need to apologise, fake Olivia. I just can't believe my subconscious has gone this far to even make me remember the pain of touching you."

She heaved a sigh in response, head cocking to the side as her eyes studied me.

"What?" I pressed.

"I think it's time you go home and to bed," she explained.

But I shook my head. "I'm not ready to go yet. Not when you seem this real."

"I'll still be here tomorrow. We can talk then. But only then might you actually believe I'm here."

"I don't want to go home though. I hate it there. I hate how alone I feel being there with you no longer in the room next door. I'd rather stay in this moment right now where everything almost seems normal again. Where my reality and dreams are starting to mix."

She didn't say anything back this time, merely responding with a sorrow-filled smile. But then, eventually, she wrapped an unelectrified arm around my back and ushered me into the house, all the while I complained about not wanting to go home.

Making it worse was when Erica joined us in the hallway, asking what had happened. Though again, I laughed about how I had manifested Ollie beside me.

Ri quickly bid goodbye to others and joined ghost Ollie in walking me home as I continued to ask Erica what she had done to my drinks to make this effect happen... and if she could do it again.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

Leaning forward, I gingerly gripped the bangle in my hand, studying it for a moment as last night continued to come back in flashes.

Then, almost at once, my mind was set.

Leaping out of bed with a newfound energy, I fled from my room, down several flights of stairs, and checked every room along the way.

"Lukas," Ri greeted me in shock as I found her in the basement, laptop on her lap with the television running in the background. "What the heck are you doing—"

Though I held up the silver bracelet in response. "Tell me I manifested last night and simply found this laying somewhere in the house."

The witch glanced between me and the object for an insurmountable amount of time—long enough for me to realise just how loud my heart was pounding in anticipation. But then she heaved a sigh, finding her resolve in whatever dilemma she was facing as she softly said, "You may have drank a lot, Lukas, but you didn't imagine her. Ollie is back. But before you—"

Though I never let her finish.

Turning on my heel, I headed back out the door, up the stairs, and towards the front of the house.

Slipping on my shoes in haste, Erica had just made it up to the ground floor as I opened the door.

"Lukas, slow down!" she breathlessly shouted after me.

"I can't," I snapped back, hesitating only for a moment. "She might—"

"She's still going to be there tonight. Just go back to bed, and—"

"No. I need to check. I need to be sure."

"I understand that this is a shock, but it's over thirty degrees out there now. You can't—"

Before she could finish, I stepped outside into the crisp summer air, the world around a coloured in vibrant brightness that had my eyes squinting and my skin instantly scorching. I could barely see. I could barely feel anything other than the searing heat permeating my flesh.

But I had just enough direction in me to figure out which way I had to go.

"Lukas! Get back inside," she shouted after me. I heard her footsteps echo through the house towards the front door.

Though, before she could play any magic tricks on me to coax me back in, I yanked the door shut, sealing the lock with a quick spell to buy me some time to get away.

Then I leapt down the steps and started to run.

And so begins part 3... what are our predictions?

Also some housekeeping updates. This part will most likely come fortnightly given my lack of energy these days and that my time is heavily taken up by work and setting up my house for my expected little one, who is almost 23 weeks along inside of me! 

Thank you for your patience, my lovely readers! Looking forward to sharing this next part of Salvage with you.