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Entry 13

Thankfully everyone was nursing water bottles and quietly tending to splitting skulls the next morning. The silence was welcomed fully by an unaffected Talia. Her body had sorted through any painful imbalances in the night, but she didn't let on to that fact. For all appearances, she was just as disturbed by last night's chacha as the rest of the group. Glancing over at a scowling Caleb, she was assured that she would have her peace today. She needed it. Her top priority today would be sorting through the faded pieces from last night's encounter.

Was it just the longing of her heart combined with the effects of the traditional Georgian drink? Had she really slipped into her world, without even attempting to submerge? If she had gone, whose voice was that? It obviously wasn't Derek's voice. His brain was clearly fractured; he hadn't even recognized her. She stifled the surge of great pleasure, as she remembered ripping him apart. Had that been his essence, daring to beg her to be reunited with his body?

Chills ran up her spine as she shook that thought from her mind. Revulsion was replaced with rage as she thought back to how he had used her- taken everything from her. She inhaled deeply and calmed her emotions. It wasn't him. She wouldn't spend another moment allowing him to influence her stability.

Then who?

There were only two options, and her heart raced at the thought of either possibility. She could feel the dizzying pull of her world and had to push back against it. She was getting ahead of herself. She would need to wait for night, when her motionless body would appear to be sleeping.

She stared out at the hills, thinking about the long day ahead of her. The rising and setting of the sun was subject to her own desires in her world. How she wished that it was the same here! It amazed her that just 12 hours ago, she assumed that she would never enter that realm again, and now she was not only considering it - but longing for it.

The chance that either of those two, precious souls had survived was enough to override any other caution in her mind, but what if she got there and realized it was all the effects of the chacha? Worse, what if she got there and it wasn't? How could she be expected to bring anyone back? Their bodies had been in this world at the time of the explosion - and buried last year. There was nothing left to bring them back to.

There was no point in letting all these anxieties swarm around her like wasps. She would investigate tonight.

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