"Mommy!"
"Cass?"
Too many voices! I moaned, rolled over. Ronnie, my husband, shook my gently. "Cass, you need to get up. Honey?"
"I'm up," I sighed. I knew I had to get up. The animals needed to be fed, as well as the humans. I rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
And pushing the nightmare out of my head.
I had taken over the Wildlife Refuge a few years ago, so I had the poor creatures out in the barn to take care of, as always. But I also had my little five year old girl, Rachel, to look after as well.
"I'm running late," Ronnie said. "Can you take Rachel to daycare? I know it's my day to do it , but I'm really late," he groveled. "I do it tomorrow and the next day, I swear."
"Unless you're late again," I said, rolling my eyes. "Go then, you louse of a husband. I don't know why I put up with you."
He kissed me on the mouth, gently, teasing. "Now do you remember?" he asked softly.
I smiled, but I could still feel the dream in the back of my mind. Would they ever stop plaguing me? "I thought you were late. Go."
"I'll be right there honey," I called to Rachel as I walked out the front door to grab the paper. I bent down to pick it up- and froze in my tracks.
It was a man. An ordinary man, standing out there, almost as if he was waiting for me. There was nothing strange about it, really, he could have been anyone.
But I knew, deep down, I knew. This was no regular man.
My blood froze in my veins and I stared at him, hearing my heart beating in my ears. "What do you want?" I whispered.
He smiled then. "Want, Cassie? I want nothing. We want nothing. We do not interfere with the matters of other species."
"Ellimist," I whispered, shaking. I turned expecting the girls- but no. We would not be interrupted. "Why are you here?"
"To help you save a timeline that must be saved."
"Without interfering, huh?" I was crying, I realized, real tears. I hadn't cried since the last time I had said my final good-byes, finally letting go of the others. But no, I realized now. I had never let go of them. They were part of me, they made me me, and if I thought otherwise, I was only fooling myself.
I was no longer afraid of what news the Ellimist brought. I knew it would change everything. But I had nothing to fear.
Was I ready? No, never. But I was willing.
"The One has them, your friends, he has had them trapped in his world for the past five years. You must stop him, for I cannot."
"You can't stop this… being?" I said, startled. "But you think I can?"
"The One is a creature of Crayak, far more powerful than anything else he has ever had. Long ago The One was made, but before he could be released, I was able to stop Crayak. But I am too late now, and I am powerless here." He looked so sad, so grave, and I felt pity for the great creature that appeared as a man.
"The Rules?"
The Ellimist nodded. "You are the last hope for the galaxy, Cassie. Will you fight once more?"
His words sent a chill down my spine. "My daughter, my husband… what will happen to them?"
"One cannot live in two timelines, not even you, anomaly that you are. It will be as if you were nothing but a dream to them."
A poetic way of saying I would have never existed for them. I nodded, accepting the answer, it was what I had expected. I felt a heaviness on my heart. How could I say no? How could I say no, when they needed me, all of them, after I had said no to Ax? I would never live with myself. I could barely live with myself as it was.
"Yes, Ellimist," I said. "I will fight."
FIGHT CASSIE. FIGHT AND WIN.