Page 12 of Presence

I swing my legs off the bed and stand up, tossing the note back onto the bed as I head to the living room. My phone must be around here somewhere, probably in the desk drawer where I stash it to avoid distractions during those endless, sleepless nights. I need to find it now.

But just as I stumble into the porcelain-white room, the cream-colored floors the only break in the brightness, my steps falter. There’s a huge black pentagram on the floor, one I totally forgot about. Suddenly, the memory of last night floods back— chanting, the candles, the eerie shadows, and my hallucination in the mirror. The ritual... that’s what she was talking about in the message!

“How could I have forgotten?” I mumble, rubbing my temples and feeling like a stranger in my own life. This amnesia episode is drowning me.

Shaking my head, I move past the drawing on the floor, grateful for the daylight. Darkness is a huge deal to me. When it’s present, it fills my life with nothing but abhorrence. If it were darker outside, for instance, I’d be looking for those shadows again, the ones from my nightmare. I’d be paranoid. Delusional. Completely hysteric.

The way I am now? I’m simply a tad bit neurotic.

I make my way to my desk and pull open the drawer. My phone sits on top of a pile of documents. I grab it and unlock it, noticing the battery is down to just five percent.

Shit. I have to hurry.

I scroll through my contacts until I find Cam’s picture and hit the call button. I don’t have to wait long before the ringing stops and her cheerful voice comes through on the other end.

“Well, hello there, Sleeping Beauty!” Camila’s cheerful voice greets me. I hear the familiar clattering in the background—she’s probably making coffee at work, her favorite cup clinking against the worn countertop, mingled with distant chatter. “I was starting to think you’d sleep through the whole day!”

I’m too exhausted to even roll my eyes. I just place a hand on my aching belly and squeeze the fabric of my shirt.

“Hey, don’t even joke about that,” I whine, my voice embarrassingly whiny. “I seriously have no clue what went down last night.”

I hear her sigh. “What do you mean? Didn’t you get my note? You were out like a light!” she says with a happy chuckle. “I’ve never seen you sleep so peacefully.”

I glance at the drawing on the floor, surrounded by candles and the ashes of sage. It’s just too good to be true that I’ve slept through the entire night. There has to be a catch somewhere.

“I got your note, but…” I trail off, unsure of what I’m trying to ask. “Let’s say I believe you and I really was just sleeping... did I, I don’t know, sleepwalk or something?”

“Sleepwalk?” she echoes. “Nope, not even close. After the ritual, you just laid down and went right to sleep. You didn’t stir at all, Claire. I kept checking on you through the night, just in case. Honestly, if it hadn’t worked, I’d be kicking myself right now. Working on no sleep is a pain in the ass. I don’t know how you’re doing it.”

I snort. “I’ll tell you how. I don’t,” I admit. That’s the honest truth. I’ve been living off the savings from back when my business was thriving. Now, it’s a different story—every day, there’s a bit less in the bank. “But... are you really sure?” I circle back to the topic. It’s just too unbelievable. I’ve been battling this disease for so long, it’s been slowly killing me. To find out that I finally made a step forward… I need to hear it again.

“Yes, I’m sure!” exclaims. “I told you the ritual would work, and it did! Now instead of mulling it over, just try to relax. This wasn’t supposed to be just a one-night solution, it was supposed to be permanent!”

I raise my eyebrows. She can’t see me, but if she could, she’d probably rush over to give me a hug. Tears start to well up in my eyes, and I try my best not to let any sniffles get picked up by the microphone. I don’t want her to know I’m crying. I’ll save this one for when we actually meet in person. Then I’ll shower her with my gratitude.

Honestly, how will I ever repay her? First, she gave me a place to stay when I ran away from home. Then, that place became the closest thing I ever knew to a sanctuary, with her mom making dinners, her dad teaching me how to garden, and her two brothers joking with me regularly. And now, she helps with my insomnia. If this really got rid of it for good, then...

No, I can’t hope that it did. It’s been just one night. Just one night.

“I mean,” I begin, clearing my throat, “let’s not jump the gun, alright? I still had some nightmares and stuff.”

“Who knows? Maybe your protective spirit will chase those nightmares away soon,” she answers, unfazed. Her positive thinking is so over the top.

But just as her words register in me, the tears in my eyes dry up. A strange feeling bubbles up in my stomach, and I swallow hard, staring off into space, my mind spinning. What protective spirit? Did I forget something again? There was a mention of it in Camila’s note on the pillow, wasn’t there? I didn’t get it then, and honestly, I’m lost now, too. The holes in my memory make me nauseous.

“Wait, what?” I ask.

“You know, the thing we summoned last night,” responds. “I’m pretty sure it’s not just for falling asleep. It should help with all sleep-related stuff—the quality of your sleep, your dreams, stuff like that…” She keeps talking, but I’m already drifting away. Some overwhelming urge to remember something hits me hard and fast, leaving me breathless.

I hate feeling like this—like I’m tumbling into an abyss, and the only way to stop the fall is to remember, but that’s exactly how I’m feeling now. There’s a terrible sense of time pressure hanging over me, like whatever I’m supposed to remember is time-sensitive. That thing… it’s right on the tip of my memory.

Any second now… Come on… I’ll either figure it out or lose the chance to grasp it forever. I feel it.

“You know what? Let me, uh… think about this for a bit,” I mumble into the phone, ending the call. Rubbing my forehead, I toss the phone back into the drawer and pull out the chair from the desk to sit down.

Come on, Claire. Think! A guardian spirit. Did you meet someone in your dream?

No, I can’t quite grasp what was happening exactly, just that terrible sensation of being devoured, consumed. One minute, I was happier than ever, and then... suddenly, I was terrified, with shadows closing in from every direction.

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