My throat tightens painfully.
This isn’t my voice. It’s hers.
Era.
I flip more pages.
Weeks of entries, little pieces of a life I don’t remember living. The sound of rain fills the silence around me. Then I reach the last entry.
Two months ago. The handwriting looks shakier here. Like the person writing it knew something was about to happen. My breath catches as I read.
Sera…
The name makes my hands tremble.
I know you’re about to come out again.
My vision blurs.
I told Dominic that if I get lost and he needs me back, he’ll need to show you this diary.
And I’ll find my way back.
I inhale, but it doesn’t feel like enough.
Sera, don’t be afraid.
I am you.
And you are me.
A tear falls onto the page.
I know about you. I’ve always known. I’ve been here… in the back… watching everything you do without being able to control anything.
My heart pounds harder.
Last time this happened, you took over.
And I just sat there and watched every moment.
You helped me.
You shielded me.
You took my hands and wrapped them with yours.
My breathing falters.
And I will always be grateful for that.
The page shakes in my hands as I stare at the final words because for the first time, I realize something terrifying. Era knew about me all along.
And I never knew about her.
CHAPTER 25
Grief