A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I had so much fun writing it. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Chapter 11

Bella PoV

Medlina leads us through the room and out into an open courtyard type area. "Okay, I know this isn't in heritage park," Charlie comments, her grip on my hand tightening the further we go. "If it was, I'd have made it my royal courtyard and the Orcs would have to settle elsewhere." At least she's keeping her spirits up.

"Wait here, dears," Medlina requests, pointing at a bench that surrounds a beautiful fountain. We sit down per her request and she disappears. At my feet is a myriad of wild flowers. Some yellow, others purple and pink. They seem familiar, but I can't quite place or name them. It's like they're from a forgotten dream or something.

"Tell me about your case with Dean and Sam," I ask, hoping to fill the eerie silence with inane chit-chat. I notice that the fountain, while bursting with water is completely silent. It's like it's an illusion. "Dean said it had to do with Dick Roman and the Leviathan?"

"Yeah, ruined my life, too," she answers. "I was working IT at Dick Roman enterprises. He showed up at my desk one day asking me to hack into some guy's computer. When I did, it sent an email to Dean and Sam and they ended up showing up at my work. The guy whose computer I was hacking had put in a failsafe that sent an email to the guys, signaling them of my whereabouts and even getting into my webcam. It was kinda creepy.

"Anyway, I had to get into Dick Roman's office to get some super secret file, and had to flirt with the night security guard to do it. If you hadn't already guessed, I'm a lesbian, so that was harder said than done. Dean walked me through it." I snort. I can just picture Dean giving her pointers on how to flirt. "Yeah, it was pretty funny afterwards. At the time, I was scared shitless."

"I'll bet. So you got into his office and got the info?"

"Yeah, and Dean and Sam were able to use it to get a hold of some tablet thingy that ended up showing them how to get rid of all the Leviathan all at once." Wow, the more I learn about these guys, the more I'm amazed by them.

"So, have you noticed how quiet it is here?" I ask after a few minutes of silence. "I mean, we're sitting right in front of this huge and beautiful waterfall and it's not making a sound. Like we're watching it on mute or something."

We stand up and look around. We can see the trees swaying in the wind, but can't hear or feel any wind at all. The whole place just feels wrong, like someone made it up but forgot to add those key elements to make it feel real. "It's like poorly written fiction," I mention.

Charlie laughs. "It totally is!"

I look up and the sky is an odd reddish color. There are no clouds, no sun, no moon, no way to know what time of day it is, nor any indication of where this unnatural light is coming from. "Does it feel like we're under fluorescents, but there's no lights anywhere?"

We look around trying to find the source of light, but there's nothing. "It's like we're under a hallucination or something. Maybe we're in some padded room and we've gone completely insane," Charlie says. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised. Maybe all this supernatural stuff is just my own mind making shit up and I've now cracked and been sent to the loony bin where they have us pumped full of drugs that are making us hallucinate this ridiculously creepy place and that horrible queen lady person."

She makes a valid point. Maybe I've been in a padded room since I left my mom's in Phoenix. Maybe when my mom said she wanted to travel the country with Phil I blew a gasket and got committed. It actually makes a lot more sense than everything that has happened in the past year. But why would I hallucinate Dean. What in my mind would create such a person? If this truly is all fake and I'm simply crazy, I should write everything down and publish. I'd be filthy rich. And in my hallucination, why the hell do vampires sparkle? I mean, seriously? What kind of fucked up shit is that?

"Did you know vampires sparkle in the sunlight?" I ask Charlie. "I mean, legit sparkling like diamonds. In fact their skin is hard as diamonds, too."

"Seriously? Vampires? Did Dean kill them for you? He's good at that stuff." We both start giggling uncontrollably, despite the very seriousness of our situation and the fact that our conversation is really not that funny. "Dude, do you think we're high right now?"

"I wouldn't know, but it sure feels a lot like when I've been hopped up on vicodin after a broken bone."

Hours or days or weeks later, who knows, Medlina returns. All I know is Charlie and I are still laughing despite having lost our voices some time ago. All that's coming out of our mouths is strained guffaws and chuckles that sound more like a frog than anything. "My minions, so good to see you in such good spirits! Allow me to show you to your room. I'm sure you don't mind sharing one, right?"

"We'd prefer it, actually," Charlie replies, wrapping her arm around me. We follow behind Medlina through the courtyard and into a stone hallway. It's like we're in a castle. I touch the stones tentatively. I know where I've seen this hallway before. In the tunnels under the Volturi Castle. And the courtyard we were just in was the meadow in Forks that Edward often took me too. The fountain was the very one I ran through in my haste to save Edward from committing suicide. In my memory the fountain was surrounded by people in red cloaks, so I hadn't recognized it at first, but that was most definitely the same fountain. She's in my head.

"Where are we?" I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

"In the fairy realm," Medlina answers. Well that can't be the truth.

"Yeah, no. Try that again," I retort flatly. "I've been in this hallway before, it's a tunnel under a castle in Italy. And so was that fountain back there. And the meadow it was sitting in is a place in Washington. So what's going on here?"

Medlina laughs, sounding a bit maniacal and says, "My dear, this place is what you make it. It looks different to just about everyone. Clearly your imagination is a bit stronger than hers as she's been pulled into your fantasy land." Now I Feel like she's talking like we're in the Neverending Story and in the land of Fantasia which is powered by human imagination.

The queen turns around and leads us further down the hallway and then opens a door, seemingly at random. "Here you are," she says, gesturing for us to enter. "I'll allow you to rest, then I'll have a servant come and collect you for dinner." Then she vanishes again. I can't help but wonder if by collect us for dinner, she meant we'd be the meal.

"Do fairies eat humans?" I ask Charlie. "I mean every story I've ever read, they're tiny winged creatures. This woman has no wings, is as big as you and me, and seems to be rather sinister."

"I dunno, but this place is getting creepier by the minute," Charlie replies. "Do you think you could do us a favor and imagine a less dungeony room?"

I shrug. "I'm not in control of what we're seeing, Charlie. I mean yes, the places are being plucked out of my imagination, but I would never choose this place as my imaginatory fairy realm. Definitely not." This place holds only bad memories for me. Not a single good one. "It's almost like it's feeding on my fears rather than my happy memories."

"Great. A place that can create itself based on your worst memories. Thank god it's not in my head," Charlie says. I glance at her, but can tell she's unwilling to elaborate. I'm sure the next room we'll see will be that damned ballet studio in Phoenix.

"I'm still working on the we're crazy and committed theory," I tell her. "It makes a lot more sense than anything else does."

The bed in the room seems oddly inviting, though neither of us can calm down enough to lay down at all, let alone sleep. "What do you think she'll do with us?" Charlie asks. "I mean, are we guests, slaves, prisoners, apprentices, what?"

"Well, I told her I was a sorceress in training. Maybe she believed me? I have no idea."

Sometime later, a knock at the door signals the servant Medlina had sent for us. I open the door but see no one. "Down here," a tiny voice calls out, annoyed. I look down and see a little man wearing a green suit and has an orange beard. For all intents and purposes, he looks like a leprechaun. I thought those were from Irish mythology. Why would they be in the fairy realm? And if my mind is creating this, why on earth would I manifest a leprechaun to be a servant? If anything it should be a walking, talking candelabra or a clock.

"Are you a…" Charlie begins but trails off.

"Leprechaun, yes," he replies. "Despite what your mythology says, we're fairy folk, too." He smiles at us and indicates for us to follow him. "We'll stop in the dressing room so you can be properly attired for the meal." Once again I'm wondering if we're about to be the meal. Here I always thought that if anything, I'd be eaten by a vampire. Instead, I'm gonna be eaten by tinkerbell and lucky charms.

Inside another room that's nearly identical to the one we'd just left, two dresses are hanging inside an open wardrobe. "I'll be just outside the door," he says. "Knock when you're ready." As he closes the door, I hear it lock. That's why we have to knock… to be let out.

"If Narnia is at the back of this wardrobe, I'm demanding a life supply of these meds," Charlie states as she digs around in the wardrobe. Sadly nothing but wood at the back of it. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for it to come alive and start speaking to us.

Slowly, we begin to dress in the gowns provided. They fit both of us perfectly, which is a bit of a mystery. It's as if we were expected. There are hair pieces, jewelry and shoes that match each of our dresses. Charlie's dress is a deep jade green with various vines and jewels embroidered onto the bodice. Her hair piece is a greenish metal that also is in keeping with the vine design and has matching jewels on it. Her shoes are black with a jeweled ivy leaf on the top of each one.

My dress is purple velvet with a swirling mystical pattern embroidered on it with jewels along the neckline and at each hem. The head piece is silver with diamonds and sapphires all over it. My shoes are silver, too, with large amethysts at the toe. "Alright, I guess we're ready for dinner. I hope they don't eat me," I state.

Knocking on the door, the leprechaun unlocks and opens it. "Ladies, you look simply divine," he compliments. "You'll fit right in here." He turns on his heels and heads down the hallway. We follow after.

He leads us through a labyrinth of hallways and I half expect to see Jareth himself pop up. Or at least Ludo. Maybe we'd find an ally here. "Is it just me or are we in Labyrinth, now?" Charlie whispers.

"I was just thinking I wouldn't mind running into Ludo just about now," I whisper back. "Maybe he'd help us outta this place." Charlie smiles and nods in agreement.

After what seems like miles, we're led into a great dining hall. It's round just like the chamber room in Volterra. Still going off of my memories, I see. Charlie seems glad of the fact that we're still not in her mind's creation. As long as I see zero sparkly vampires, I'll be fine.

Two decadent place settings have been created for us on one end of the table. At someone's silent command, the chairs are pulled out and we are escorted to the seats. I look at the table and every bowl, platter, and serving dish is completely empty. "Alright everyone," Medlina announces from the far end of the table. "Dig in!" How very human of her to say. Who knew fairies used the same colloquialisms that we do. I notice that a lot of the people at the table appear to be human. Then again, so does Medlina. Some of them are very small and more reminiscent of the fairies I'm used to reading about.

Everyone takes ladles and tongs and other serving utensils to the various dishes and pulls whatever invisible foods onto their plates. Charlie and I look at each other trying to figure out what's going on. Then it dawns on me. "We're in Hook now, I think," I whisper lowly. Realization colors her features and she knows she actually will have to tap into her imagination to make this work. I only hope whatever demons lie in her subconscious don't come out to play.

"This is why I LARP, so I can get imaginative. So here goes nothing." She closes her eyes and wills the food to appear on the table. I do the same. It takes a little effort, but soon we're seeing the steaming platters of meat, huge bowls filled with delicious salads, and our cups are full to the brim with a tasty looking wine. The few around us have been staring at us as if we're crazy. Maybe they saw the food on the table all the time, and it's just the two of us that have to imagine. Either way, I am starving. It feels like I haven't eaten in days.

After the meal is over, we're escorted back to our rooms. "What are the odds that our food was poisoned?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "Probably fairly high. I think Medlina wants us complacent for whatever she plans to do with us. But I don't feel any different, do you?" I shake my head. "Okay, good. So now we need to imagine a way out of here. So far it seems that what we see is based off of your memories, right? I mean the castle and courtyard and the dining hall were all places I'd never seen, but the labyrinth and the meal were both from movies we've both seen. How about we try and figure out how to defeat the queen using whatever methods the heroes used in those movies to defeat the villain. Like telling Jareth that he has no power over us, or killing Hook with a giant stuffed crocodile… Okay that one's probably impractical, but do you see where I'm going with this, Remi?"

We pour over the various movies and books we've both seen and read so we can devise a plan to imagine our way out of here. After that it's down to trial and error. Medlina told us this world is what we make it, but I think we need to harness our subconscious so we can actually make it the way we want it rather than this place just plucking various memories from my mind or Charlie's mind.

A few days after we begin, strange creatures started showing up. Hobbits and Dwarves from Tolkien befriend us while ring wraiths and Sauron himself chase us around the labyrinthine halls in the Volterran palace. Treebeard rescues us from an army of Orcs while the goblins from Labyrinth are battling the lost boys and Peter Pan, AKA Robin Williams from Hook. It seems that once we tapped into our subconscious, any character we think of comes to life. We have to work hard to not think of the ones we really don't want like the Staypuft marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. Medlina seems all too amused with the shenanigans going on and tells us it means our magic is becoming stronger. Though I can sense a bit of fear in her eyes. Perhaps whatever it is we're doing will work in our favor, or maybe we'll be stuck here. But I know I will never ever stop fighting. For as long as it takes.

Ludo makes an appearance eventually and helps us vanquish Evil Queen from Snow White. Her dwarves and Tolkien's dwarves are at odds with each other, but at least they can agree on a love for all things shiny and sparkly. Ursula meets her end at our hand with the assistance of Pocahontas and Hercules. They showed up in cartoon form which was really weird. Then we started thinking about Who Framed Roger Rabbit and we had two Bob Hoskins running around. One as Smee and the other as Detective Valiant.

Jareth tried to woo us, but was whisked away by Jessica Rabbit. With all the rabbit characters, we couldn't leave out Bugs Bunny of course. So then he and the rest of the Looney Tunes characters started showing up and wreaking all kinds of havoc all over the place. It actually ended up working in our favor as they provided entertainment and distraction to Medlina and her minions.

Weeks and weeks go by as we fight these battles on a daily basis. This is likely the best training I'll ever get in battling the supernatural. Even if they are all simply fictional characters. My reflexes are stronger, I'm physically stronger and faster. Charlie says she feels more and more capable every day. Eventually, we stopped being invited to the dining hall for meals and platters are now simply being brought to our room. They've given up on locking the door, though, as they know we'll simply imagine a way out of it.

"I think we need to bring out the big guns," Charlie mentions one morning after breakfast. Pongo and Perdita from the live action 101 Dalmatians are seated in front of us begging for a morsel of bacon or sausage. Thankfully they're all that showed up apart from Cruella DeVil who is now best friends with Medlina. That's not working in our favor, but I'm glad it's the Cruella from the movie and not the TV show Once Upon a Time. Then we'd be in a real mess, as she has magic.

A fair share of dragons and dinosaurs have trampled their way through the castle, but all meet their end either by the two of us or by one of the characters on our side. More often than not, we work together and can overcome anything.

The past few days, I've felt a tug on my mind and I'm reminded of Dean. Where is he now? Is he hunting? Searching for me? Curled up in a ball crying? What? But getting back to him has consumed my every thought. "Charlie, I think it's time we really try getting back home. We can defeat fictional characters forever or we can use them in our favor and get at the bottom of the spell that's keeping us here. I mean, we came here through a portal of sorts, right? So we simply have to find it and go back through it.

"But we've been all through that courtyard a million times, Remi," Charlie replies. "The room that we were in at the beginning isn't there anymore."

"It has to be. Nothing that we've seen here has ever disappeared unless we willed it to, right? We wanted an easier way to traverse this place so the labyrinth went away and we have normal hallways now. Every villain that we've imagined into existence has been vanquished and disappeared into thin air. The only way things go away is if we make them do it. That portal may be hiding from us, but it's there. I can feel it."

Charlie agrees, but seems skeptical. I need her fully on board for this to work. Something tells me that we simply need to imagine a portal home and we'll be released from this place. Maybe it was that simple all along. And now I'm beginning to feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Though I don't want those ruby slippers. Gotta draw a line somewhere. Stealthily we head back to the courtyard and to the place we entered it from. It's just a wall now, But I simply know there's a room on the other side of it.

I grasp Charlie's hand in mine and place my free hand against the wall. "Come on, Charlie," I grit. "Believe with me." She closes her eyes and then places her hand on the wall, too. Behind us I hear Medlina running towards us, screaming for us to stop. But it's too late. The wall crumbles away revealing the room we came through in the very beginning. So long ago.

We begin tumbling through this portal type thing and I think I see Dean waiting on the other side, arms open as if ready to catch me. I'm sure it's merely another hallucination or trick on Medlina's part, but I can't but hope it to be true. It's been so long.

Dean PoV

Bella walks into another room with the Fairy Queen and Charlie. As soon as she steps over the threshold, she disappears. I run after her only to wind up outside. "Remi?" I call out. "Charlie?" No answer. "Bella!" Sammy and the Shadow King follow and are also surprised to realize the doorway that looked like it led to another room only goes outside. I take out my phone and dial Charlie's number. It goes directly to voicemail as if it's been turned off or is out of service range. "Where the hell did they go?"

"So this is outside," the Shadow King so genius-ly observes.

"Thanks for that remarkable observation, Sherlock! Where the hell did they go. Where did Medlina come from? How did you get her here?" I ask, my hands fisting in the lapels of his shirt. I'm about ready to kill this guy.

"H-her spell b-book," he answers, his voice shaky. "It showed up at my house one day. I thought one of my friends just dropped it off. When I touched it, she showed up at my doorstep, as if appearing out of nowhere. I figured she was hiding behind a tree or something and snuck up on me. She promised me so many things; I couldn't help but believe her.

"You've seen her; she's hot! I thought… I thought I'd won the lottery or something. Then she asked me to put up that tent and that only I was allowed to enter. I mean… a guy likes me starts to get attention from a woman like that, you pretty much do whatever the hell she asks you to. I'm sure guys like you can't relate."

Well, he had a point. Hell, in my weaker moments, I may have fallen for the same thing. "Be that as it may, we need to find them. Where could they have gone?"

"I think we already know where they are," Sam answers. "Medlina took them to the fairy realm."

"You mean that's a real place?" Idiot King asks. "The fairy realm? What's it like?"

"We don't know," I answer. "It's more like an alternate dimension than anything really. It's the same earth, just we can't see them. And trust me, fairy folk are not nice. The fairy tales that we all know… buncha bullshit. They're mean, cruel, and murderous. Trust that."

"What does she want with the queen and your friend, then?"

Sammy and I look at each other. "I don't know," we say together.

I go to the book on the table and flip it open. A weird harmonious sounds comes out of it as if it's got little operetta singers inside it. "Well that's new," Sam comments. "Is it even in English?"

"No, it's… um, well, it wasn't. But it is now," I answer. Before my eyes, the strangely Elvish looking symbols transformed into the English alphabet I know and love. "Why is it translating for me?"

"Dude! We're in a TARDIS! Oh my god that makes so much sense!" the Shadow King exclaims.

"Um, you do know that Doctor Who really is just a television show, right? I mean, maybe the show creators were touched by fairies and that's where they got the idea for the whole translation thing and the bigger on the inside business, but still… that show is fake," Sammy explains.

He slumps his shoulders in disappointed defeat but nods his head in acceptance.

I had no idea Sammy was such a Doctor Who fan. "Amelia got me into it while you were in Purgatory," he adds, seeing my confused expression.

"And yes, dude, Purgatory is a real place. What is your real name by the way, I'm not going to keep calling you the Shadow King," I say. He says his name is Leonard. Awesome.

"Alright, now looking at this book, it's a collection of spells. Now that I can read it, maybe we can find a spell to undo whatever the hell Medlina did to the girls." Sam agrees and we begin poring over the text, looking for anything that might help.

Leonard is reading over our shoulders and keeps pointing out cool but useless spells. "Yes Leonard, fairies are very powerful, they can cast a lot of spells. Let's not waste time geeking out over this," I say, pushing him back. He sits down on one of the chairs and remains silent. Least he takes direction well.

What seems like hours later, we find something that might actually work. "Here's a spell for bringing humans trapped in the fairy realm back to ours. Think it'll work?"

"I think we better call Bobby first before we start reciting fairy spells," Sam suggests. I nod and dial bobby's number.

"Whatcha got?" he asks. I like Bobby, doesn't mess with the hello, how are ya bullshit. Right to the point..

"Remi and Charlie have been taken by a fairy," I say, not bothering to warm him into it.

"Say what?"

"Some idiot here summoned a fairy queen named Medlina into our realm or whatever. She's been killing folks here in Michigan. We found her little hideout tent thing and her spell book. Bella was trying to help and get Medlina to let her guard down and she ended up walking right out of our realm and into hers. Or so we think. I mean they vanished. Walked through a doorway and weren't on the other side of it when I followed right after them," I explain.

"Wait a minute, did you say Fairy Queen Medlina?" Bobby asks. I put him on speaker so we can all hear.

"Yeah, you know the name?"

"Yes, but she ain't no queen," Bobby answers. "Lemme find my fairyfolk book. Hang on."

Leonard steps closer. "Your friend has a fairyfolk book? Is he a wizard?"

"Lord of the Rings isn't real either, genius," I tell him. "We're hunters. We hunt the supernatural stuff that's out there and kill it. Sometimes we save peoples' lives in the process. This is no different, we just really need to save the damsels this time." He nods.

"Alright, I found it," Bobby says, having come back to the phone. "Medlina is a powerful fairy sorceress, she's related to the royal family but was shunned do to her dark magic and meddling with the human realm. Looks like she was banished from the magical community a long time ago. Any magic she even was must have been stolen. You said she's got a spell book?"

"Yeah, it's sitting in my lap."

"Did you open it?" he asks.

"Yes," I confirm, hoping it wasn't a bad idea.

"Good, that should mean that whoever's book that is will be summoned to it," Bobby replies. "When you opened it, did you hear some kind of music or something?" I confirm that I did. "Also good. Whoever belongs to that book should be there soon. And that person can read the spells and get Remi and Charlie outta there."

"Um, Bobby, the book translated itself into English when I started looking through it," I tell him. I hope that doesn't mean anything.

"Yeah, those books are designed to alter themselves for the reader. Even if you're not the spell-caster, they'll still let you read them. No worries there." Oh thank god. The last thing I need is some magical hold over me. "So just sit tight, whoever's book that is will show up shortly, I'd imagine."

"Thanks Bobby." I hang up the phone and put the book back on the table. We sit there waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. Just when I think Bobby was wrong and go to call him back, we hear a rustling outside the tent. Then as if someone turned on a windmill in front of our faces, everything gets blown around. We fall out of our seats and hold our arms over our faces to deflect debris.

"Who hast stolen my book?" A deep baritone voice bellows. "Who would dare?!"

I wait for the wind to calm down and move my arm. There stands a man who looks like Gandalf himself. He's tall and glad in a grey robe, has the hat and beard and everything. "I am Fairy King Naldazar! Who would dare take what's mine?" He glares down at me, seeing as the book has landed in front of me during the wind storm that I assume he created.

"Not I," I declare. "'Twas… Medlina, my lord," I answer, bowing down. I figure it's the best way to get in his good graces. Sammy glances over at me and looks at me as if I've lost my mind. Well, Bella's been taken, so the degree of sanity left in my has definitely decreased.

"That Meddling Medlina!" He hollers. "Where hast she went?"

The three of us point through the door she led Bella and Charlie into. "She disappeared through there," I tell him. "With two of our own. Please, sire, we need them back."

"She has taken them for her final sacrifice," he says, his voice calmer now. "Medlina has been planning her revenge on me and the fairy realm for many millennia," he sits on the bed which is now just a bare mattress, as the bedding was blown all around. "She finally hatched the perfect plan and somehow stole my own spell book out from under my nose."

"Okay, so now that you have your book back, can you use it to undo what she's done and help us get our friends back?" Sam asks. Naldazar looks at the book and it's instantly in his hands.

"Since you opened it, the spell she cast on it has broken," he states. "Mortal eyes looking upon the magicked pages breaks any spells cast upon them. You opened the book, thus calling out to me, and you looked at the pages, thus breaking her hold on them. I can defeat her now."

Guess I did something right without even meaning to. Naldazar pages through the book until he gets to the spell he wants. As he speaks the words, the tent walls begin to shake. Objects on the ground start rattling around. Sam grasps my shoulder searching for balance while it feels like the world itself is tilting the wrong way. "Her magic has gotten stronger," Naldazar groans through gritted teeth. He's holding onto the bed post to keep from falling down. "I can't open the portal until your friends unlock it from the other side.

"How do they do that?"

He looks at me. "They have to believe that they can." Well what the hell does that mean? If Bella and Charlie don't even know a portal exists how can the believe they're able to unlock it?

I close my eyes and send the will to believe to Bella. I have never put much stock in wishful thinking, but it's literally all I've got right now. Sam and I are holding onto each other for dear life as the world spins and sways unnaturally. I have to wonder if the entire planet is feeling this or if it's just us here in this tent.

After a few minutes, a portal of some kind opens right in front of me and Bella and Charlie come tumbling through it. Sam and I scramble to our feet to catch them so they don't injure themselves. One look at Bella and I can tell she's been to hell and back. Her hair is at least three inches longer than it was when she went in there. "Dean?" she asks, touching my face. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, darlin', it's me," I reply, pulling her close.

"I thought I'd never see you again." She begins to cry. I hold her tighter.

"Sweetheart, why is your hair so much longer?" I ask, stroking her silky hair with my fingers.

She looks at me strangely. "Dean, it's been six months since I last saw you."