Page 206 of Victorious

Her sister had come all this way to save her. To protect her. Even if she hadn’t always, she was here now, and that had to count for something.

“Let’s go home,” Serena said again, a new edge in her voice.

Syd swallowed. “What happens when we get there?” Her sister cocked her head as if she didn’t understand. “We can’t stay inside your dream forever.”

Serena’s smile returned, a little more fixed. “Of course we can. I can make it anything we want. We’re safe here, Sydney. I can keep you safe here.”

“But I don’t want to stay here,” she said, teeth chattering with cold. “I want to wake up.”

Serena frowned. The sky darkened and the wind picked up. A sudden gust slammed into her back, and she felt herself forced forward, toward her sister’s outstretched hand.

“Syd, wait!”

She twisted around to see Mitch hurrying toward her on the ice, as if he’d followed her straight out of her dream. Only he wasn’t a figment. He was real. She could tell, by the sharpness of his edges, the strength of his voice, the anger that swept over Serena’s face when she saw him.

Sydney pulled away from her sister and started running toward him, the ice splintering beneath her feet, but for once, she didn’t care.

He was alive.

He was okay.

He was reaching for her and—

She should have known it was a mistake.

Worry swept over Mitch’s face. “Syd, get down!” he shouted, voice echoing across the lake.

Too late, Syd spun back, and saw the gun in her sister’s hand as it swung up.

But Serena wasn’t aiming for Sydney.

The gun went off just as the ice beneath her shattered, and she screamed, plunging down into the frigid lake as the first bullet struck Mitch squarely in the chest.

VIIINOW. THEN.

“ORDER up!” called the cook.

June glanced toward the grill. As she looked back, Sydney flickered, giving way to Abigail again. Only, this time, neither disappeared. The two sat there, superimposed, overlaid like red and blue to make a 3D picture. As if June’s mind couldn’t decide what she wanted to see, so it was showing her both.

It was showing her both, she realized, because neither was real.

June shook her head, trying to focus, to remember. It was just a dream. She needed to see through it. She dug her nails into her palms, but of course that didn’t work because they weren’t her palms, so she felt nothing.

June knew, of course, the way to summon pain, but exposure was a last resort. Instead, she got up from the table, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?” asked Abigail.

“We haven’t even gotten pancakes yet,” said Syd.

“Sorry,” she said, without looking back. “I have to go.” But the dream didn’t want to let her. It was like there was a strong wind pushing against June, cold dragging at her limbs as she forced her mind and body toward the door. It chimed, the way it always did, when at last she stumbled through.

“God dammit,” muttered June.

She’d hoped, if she just got out of the diner, the dream would fall apart. But she was standing in a parking lot, lit only by the restaurant lights. The lot stretched like a black lake in every direction.

There was only one option, and June really, really didn’t want to do it.

“Okay,” she said, psyching herself up. “It’s just for a moment.” She took a deep breath and shed the shell. The moment she was back in her own body, pain bloomed dully in her side, the ache of still-healing skin, and the illusion splintered, giving way to glimpses of the world beyond. EON’s white walls, and beyond them, a voice, faint, but so familiar.