***
“Gemma,” a voice calls out to me. “Can you hear me?”
My body tenses as light encircles me. “Who’s there?”
“Come toward me,” the voice echoes around me.
I lift my hand to my forehead and try to shield my eyes from the blinding light, but I still can’t see a thing. “Whoever you are, I can’t see you. The light’s too bright.”
“Yes, you can,” the voice assures me. “You just have to look harder.”
The voice sounds familiar, but I’m certain that it doesn’t belonged to Nicholas, even though it seems like something he would say to f**k with my head. The voice is much deeper, though, and sounds older and wiser.
I blink a few times and the light begins to dim. Slowly at first, and then more quickly, until there’s nothing left other than a soft glow orbing around me. I can see my hands and arms… my feet… I start to get my bearings when, suddenly, my legs are ripped out from under me.
I fall for what seems like forever until, finally, I land on my back. My vision comes into focus and I’m shocked to my very core at what I see. A midnight-blue marble floor rests below me, a cathedral ceiling painted with intricate art above me, and tile walls made of sapphire blue and shimmering silver surround me. It’s beautiful. Too beautiful.
“I have to be dead,” I mutter, getting to my feet. I examine myself. My skin is pale, but that’s normal, yet I can feel the air coming in and out of my lungs, my heart still beating in my chest. I have to be alive, but where the hell am I?
“Hello!” I call out, turning in a circle as I take in a row of columns on each side of me forming a hallway that leads to a colossal statue.
I walk toward the statue, taking each step carefully, afraid that any second someone—or something—will jump out from behind one of the columns. Quite honestly, though—deep down—I think I’m hoping Alex will appear from somewhere. Surprise me. Tell me he’s okay… that he didn’t… die.
I start crying again as I reach the end, thinking about where Alex could be and if he’s alive. My heart feels like it’s shattered. Broken. I’m broken. Just like the statue with a crack down the center, although it’s still in tact. Made of flawless, white marble and perfect edges, it forms a figure that looks like a tall man. Looking closer, there is something about the angles of the face that look familiar, and there’s a crystal ball chiseled in his hand.
“What in the hell?” I lean closer, squinting at the plaque mounted on the statue’s feet. As soon as I read it, my pulse quickens to the point that it knocks the breath out of me. “Julian Lucas. Lucas? No. There is no way.” I cover my mouth with my hand and back away. Where am I? What is this place?
“Don’t worry, it’s just a statue,” someone says from right behind me.
I spin around and jump back when I come face-to-face with a man that has a striking resemblance to the statue, only he’s alive and breathing with shoulder length, brown hair and violet eyes.
“Oh, my God, you’re… you’re…”
“Hello, Gemma,” he says calmly. “I’m so glad you finally found me.”
“But you’re… how… why…” I can’t form sentences. I’m in too much shock to process reality.
Thankfully, my dad understands. “Don’t worry. I’m here to help you.”
“Help me with what?” I finally get a full sentence out.
He smiles. “Fix the past and create a better future.”
I glance around at the strange place. “What do you mean? Where am I?”
“You’re in the only place I can be,” he says, turning around and putting a hand on the small of my back to guide me with him as he walks forward.
I walk nervously with him, my heart still erratic in my chest. “What do you mean by fix the past?”
“I mean, we’re going to do what probably seems like the impossible,” he says as we walk up the tiled path. “We’re going to reset time and erase some of the past to hopefully create a better future for the world.”
My heart quiets inside my chest. Calms. For the briefest moment, I swear I can feel the sparks. If what he’s saying is true—if we’re going to erase some of the past to hopefully help the world—then maybe I can also help Alex.
Maybe I can reset it so he doesn’t die.
Maybe I can bring him back.