The diary slips from my hands, It lands softly in the mud.
I don’t even notice.
My knees give out beneath me and I drop to the ground. The rain soaks through my clothes instantly, cold water sliding down my face and into my eyes, but I can’t move. I can’t even breathe properly. My mind feels like a prison suddenly. Like I’ve been locked inside it my entire life without realizing the walls were there.
I feel numb. Not the kind of numb that comes with relief. The kind that comes when something inside you breaks so completely that your body doesn’t know how to react. I stare at the ground. My own thoughts feel like strangers, my memories don’t belong to me, my life doesn’t belong to me, my own mind betrayed me.
A crack of thunder splits the sky above the trees. The sound rumbles through the forest, deep and violent, shaking the branches above us as rain pours harder. Lightning flashes between the trees for a brief second, illuminating the clearing.
Dominic steps forward. I barely feel his hands when he reaches down but suddenly I’m being lifted. Scooped up into his arms like I weigh nothing.
My body doesn’t resist. It just folds into him. I look up at him. The man who has been standing in the storm with me this entire time, the man who could have walked away a year ago, the man who stayed. Whowatched me disappear inside my own mind, who learned the difference between Era and Sera, who kept the diary.
Who waited for me to find my way back.
A strange ache spreads through my chest. Dominic didn’t stay because it was easy. He stayed because he loved me. Not just the bright, laughing version of me, not just the one who filled rooms with light. He stayed for the broken parts too. For the version of me that hides in shadows. For the version of me that doesn’t even recognize her own life. That kind of love feels enormous. Too big to even understand.
Rain drips from his hair as he carries me through the trees. Neither of us says a word. By the time we reach the road again, the headlights from his car glow faintly through the rain. He opens the passenger door and gently sets me inside. The seat is warm but my body won’t stop shaking. My hands tremble in my lap as I stare through the windshield into the dark road ahead.
I don’t know what to do.
I don’t know who I am.
And for the first time in my life…
I’m terrified of my own mind.
The drive back to the house is silent.
I sit in the passenger seat, staring through the rain-streaked windshield while Dominic drives. The storm hasn’t slowed. Water pounds against the glass, the wipers fighting to keep up. But I barely see the road. Everything inside me still feels numb. Like someone pulled the plug on my emotions and left me hollow. When we pull into the driveway, Dominic doesn’t say anything. He just gets out, walks around the car, and opens my door.
The rain soaks us instantly as he helps me out. By the time we reach the house, we’re both drenched. Dominic pushes the door open and leads me inside. The warmth of the house hits my skin, but I still feel cold. He grabs a blanket from the back of the couch and wraps it around my shoulders. Then he gently guides me down onto the sofa.
I sit there. Still. Water drips from my hair onto the floor. Dominic stands in front of me for a moment before running a hand through his wet hair.
“I’m so sorry,” he says quietly. The words hang in the room. “I wanted to tell you so many times.” His voice cracks slightly. “But I knew you needed to find your way back to it on your own.”
I don’t respond. I just stare at the floor. The blanket sits heavy around my shoulders. The silence stretches until the question finally slips out of me.
“Why now?” My voice sounds distant. “Why did I come out now?”
Dominic looks at me.
His expression shifts slightly, like he already knows where this question is going.
“If you didn’t cheat on me,” I continue slowly, “then why did this happen?”My hands tighten in the blanket. “Why did I split?”
Dominic hesitates.
The pause is long enough to make my stomach twist.
“Sera—”
He stops himself. His voice softens as he corrects it. “You come out when Era can’t cope.” The words settle heavily between us. “When something hits her too hard,” he continues slowly. “When something breaks her ability to process it… your mind protects itself.”
He gestures slightly toward me. “That’s when you appear.” I stare at him. Trying to understand. Dominic swallows. “And you’re here now because…”
His voice falters.