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( L. BLACK AND BLUE )
WHEN AMELIE OPENED HER EYES, she wasn't sure if she was actually awake or in another dream. Part of her hoped she was still dreaming so that she could see her dad and sister again. But, when her eyes fluttered open, she wasn't in a room or in her house.
Instead, she was sitting on a bench at the beach, one that she'd visited when she was younger with her family many years ago. She could see her younger self playing with her mother in the water, their laughs echoing in the air around her. Her hands tightened around the bench she sat on, looking around her in hopes to spot her dad sitting near the shore with Karly, but she gasped when she found his figure walking up to her, a soft smile on his face.
"Hey, Amelie," He said, sitting next to her and placing a hand on her hair. He chuckled at her shocked expression. His hair was the same as she remembered, and his beard sprinkled like salt and pepper, and the unforgettable twinkle in his eye. Everything about him was just how she remembered him.
"You can see me—?" Amelie managed to choke out.
"Of course I can see you," He smiled knowingly, "This is a memory... and you summoned me."
"How? I'm not even awake," Amelie shook her head, trying to blink away the tears.
"Sometimes, when your body is giving out, the Anchor side of you will call out to the dead. We keep you alive until your body gets better," He explained, grabbing her hand between his. Amelie couldn't speak, she just stared at him. If she looked away for a second, she was afraid he might disappear. "You summoned me before, you know."
She titled her head. "When?"
"When you killed Matthew," He said pointedly, like Matthew was a whole other topic he was about to get into, "You didn't see me, though. You couldn't handle summoning two people at once."
"You were standing behind Allison," She breathed shakily, "That was you."
"Yeah," he chuckled, "I'm so proud of you, Ams."
"Thanks, dad," She gave him a teary smile before leaning her head on his shoulder. "He deserved it."
"Yeah, he was a son of a bitch," He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm. "But, you did it. You did what I wasn't even close to doing. You're stronger than you think."
They both knew what she was thinking. She couldn't stay strong anymore. Every time she thought nothing could faze her, something horrible cascaded down her life and broke everything down into a million unfixable pieces.
