Lucid desire

Chapter 10_frozen part

Morning had always been Aria’s anchor. The rumble of traffic, the hiss of brakes as buses pulled up to the curb, the murmur of conversations on phones and the smell of coffee drifting from corner cafés it grounded her in a reality she could trust. Today was no different, or at least, it began that way.

Her shoes tapped against the concrete as she hurried along the sidewalk, weaving through commuters. A man in a suit walked briskly past, muttering into his Bluetooth. A woman balanced a tray of lattes, steam curling in the crisp morning air. Somewhere behind her, a horn blared, followed by the screech of tires as two drivers exchanged impatient shouts.

Aria clutched her bag tighter, her thumb brushing over the edge of her phone. An email from her manager glowed on the screen a curt reminder about the quarterly report she hadn’t finished. She exhaled sharply and slid the phone back into her pocket.

“Work. Focus on work,” she murmured under her breath. Normal life. Bills. Deadlines. Those were the things she could hold onto.

But even as she tried to focus, the tether woven into her skin stirred. A faint vibration thrummed at her wrist, subtle but insistent, like a whisper pressing against her veins. It wasn’t painful, only present always present.

She ignored it. She had learned how to.

Ahead, the crosswalk signal blinked red, halting a line of pedestrians at the curb. Engines revved as cars idled impatiently at the light. Someone brushed past Aria, earbuds in, mouthing the words to a song only they could hear. A cyclist zipped by in the bike lane, the back wheel rattling over a pothole.

Aria stopped with the crowd, shifting her bag strap higher on her shoulder. She glanced toward the bus stop across the street. Almost there. Just a few more minutes.

And then..

Everything stopped.

The man with the lattes froze mid-step, steam still curling from his cup but unmoving. The cyclist hung suspended above the pavement, wheel caught in mid-spin. A child at the corner stood motionless, her shoelace untied, her mouth open on a half-laugh. Even the cars idling at the red light were locked in place, drivers’ hands frozen mid-gesture, expressions carved into stillness.

Silence fell, thick and suffocating. Not the absence of sound, but the heavy kind that pressed against her eardrums until she could hear nothing but the frantic beat of her own heart.

Aria’s chest rose and fell too quickly. She staggered back, eyes wide, her mind scrambling to understand. But even as fear clawed at her, something inside her whispered: don’t fight it.

Her fingers grazed her sleeve, pressing against the mark hidden beneath. The tether flared in response, warmth flooding her veins, threading through her chest like fire.

And the world shattered.

It wasn’t falling. It wasn’t dreaming. One blink and the city around her bled away. Colors drained. Shapes twisted. Reality cracked apart like glass splintering under strain.

Aria staggered forward, her shoes no longer hitting concrete but smooth stone veined with glowing symbols.

When the light dimmed, she was no longer in the city.

The realm stretched vast and endless before her. The sky shimmered with silver streaked in violet, the air alive with faint whispers that came from nowhere and everywhere. The ground pulsed faintly beneath her, the veins of light shifting as if breathing.

Her pulse hammered, yet her body was calm.

“I’m not afraid,” she whispered, testing the words.

And to her own surprise, they were true.

The silence shifted.

Then a voice layered, unearthly, as if many voices spoke in unison unfurled through the air.

“Child bound by threads unseen… to know yourself, you must seek the one who bore you. Find your mother. Trace your origin.”

The tether blazed at her wrist, threads of light unfurling from her skin like veins of fire.

Her throat tightened. “My mother? What does she have to do with this? Why now?”

The only reply was silence.

She stepped forward, her shoes clicking faintly against the glowing stone. The tether tugged gently, guiding her deeper into the realm. Shadows coiled at the edges of her vision, forming and dissolving into shapes she couldn’t name.

And then she saw her.

A figure stood in the distance. A woman draped in pale light, her hair loose, swaying in a wind Aria could not feel. Even from afar, recognition struck her with the sharpness of a blade the curve of her shoulders, the tilt of her head.

Her chest clenched.

“…Mother?”

The figure lifted a hand, reaching out.

Aria’s steps quickened. Her pulse roared, the tether glowing furiously now, wrapping her wrist in a burning band of light. With every stride, the woman’s features sharpened. The same eyes. The same line of jaw. Tears stung Aria’s vision.

Just one more step

The image cracked.

Like glass shattering, the woman’s form splintered and fell away. The realm quaked, the whispers rising into a wail. Colors bled into darkness as the vision collapsed.

Aria lunged forward, her hand outstretched but she caught nothing.

And then

*****************************************************

The air split.

One moment, Aria’s hand reached toward the vanishing silhouette of her mother, the next her body lurched, and the world snapped back.

Noise slammed into her ears. The screech of a bus pulling to the curb. The ding of a crosswalk signal flashing green. Someone’s phone buzzing with a too-loud ringtone.

She blinked rapidly.

The man in the business suit strode past again, Bluetooth earpiece glowing. A woman tugged her golden retriever forward, leash taut. The cyclist who had swerved earlier cut around the corner, muttering under his breath.

Everything was exactly as it had been.

Time had resumed.

Aria’s knees wobbled, but she forced herself to keep moving. If she stopped, if she let the confusion swallow her, she might crumble right there on the sidewalk. The tether burned beneath her sleeve, its warmth pulsing steady as a second heartbeat.

Her mother’s silhouette still hovered in her mind. That voice layered and inhuman echoed:

Find your mother. Trace your origin.

She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, grounding herself. Pedestrians flowed around her, no one sparing her a glance. To them, she was just another face in the morning rush. No one knew she had been gone, even if only for a moment outside of time.

Aria checked her phone with shaking hands. No missed calls. No gaps in her calendar. The digital clock blinked back at her, perfectly normal.

So it hadn’t stolen time. Not here. Not in this world.

She shoved the phone into her bag and crossed the street with the others, moving fast, needing to pretend everything was fine. But inside, her thoughts spun.

Her mother.

For so long, she had forced herself not to think about the woman who had left. It was easier to label it abandonment, easier to lock away the pain of questions that never had answers. Her father never spoke of her, and Aria learned not to ask.

But now… now the realm itself demanded she search.

She stepped onto the bus, dropping her fare into the slot with trembling fingers, and sank into a seat near the back. The city blurred past the window brick buildings, traffic lights, people with coffee cups in hand. Ordinary. Normal.

And yet, her chest ached with something sharp, something new: determination.

She touched her wrist, feeling the tether’s faint hum beneath her skin. “If answers lie with her,” she whispered, “then I’ll find her.”

The words vibrated in her bones, less a whisper and more a vow.

Outside, the bus rolled forward, carrying her toward her ordinary day. But inside, Aria knew nothing would ever be ordinary again.

The tether pulsed once more, softer now, like a heartbeat pressed against her own.

She would follow it. Wherever it led.

Even if it led her into the dark.