"When I thought I could simply die of heartache, your sister found me… Marie´s sister," I clarified. "She never told me how she got past the guards, but I have a fair notion of what she might have done," I whispered.
"My sister? I know I had a sister, but I´ve never seen her or my mother in my dreams."
"Memories, Bella, not dreams. And you know your sister. She was called Angela. Today, you know her as Alice," I smiled and nodded at Bella´s gasp. "Your mother, Tia, was named Esme this time; unfortunately, she died three years ago, as my mother."
Bella burst in tears. When she had calmed, I continued.
"Anthony," Angela whispered urgently. "Anthony, wake up! You have to get out of here and find the Centaurs."
"Angela? I was having a nightmare…" I trailed off as I took in my surroundings, and swallowed convulsively. "It wasn´t a nightmare…"
"No, it wasn´t. But you can undo this, or rectify it… You need to go to the Dense Woods and find the Centaurs."
"The what?"
Angela exhaled, exasperated. "Centaurs, Anthony! You´ve heard of them."
"They are mythical, Ange."
I was thinking Angela had lost it, but she had somehow opened my cell and was urging me to go out.
"Please, hurry. We don´t have time to waste."
I plopped back down on the bed. "Just let me die…" I muttered.
"Arg! No! Get up and let´s go!"
She somehow dragged me out of my cell; it took her a little longer to release me from my mental prison.
I spent a few days hiding in a cave where Angela brought me food that made me cry. It tasted like the meals Marie prepared for me. But she insisted that I´d need all my strength back if I wanted to have a chance at surviving the Dense Woods.
If I had cared about my life, I might have been terrified to go there, but as it was, I was rather hoping I would die.
Angela said that Centaurs had magical powers, and that they knew spells that would make Marie return to life, spells that would make it possible for us to be together; and deep inside, amidst the haze of apathy I was submerge in, I was hoping it was true.
When I was ready, I simply marched to the woods, carrying a bag that Angela had prepared for me with food, water, some medicinal herbs, and a lock of Marie´s hair.