Something very wrong was happening. Cole was stuttering over his words just like before when I mentioned my fiancé. The baguette was back in my hand, and so was my spoon. I froze mid-bite and looked around.

As if on cue, Evie ran in crying.

Once again, I took this as my prompt to flee. Instead of endlessly roaming around, I tried to recall the areas I had walked in before and did the opposite. Fresh, endless corridors created a wild goose chase of sorts.

Like last time I ran into Rex. Only this was normal-looking Rex, who had a polite expression plastered onto his face. I hate that that face is becoming normal to me. I miss Adam's subtle warmth.

"Wendy, are you okay?" Rex said as he looked me over.

I was more than a little frazzled, and it must have shown. "I don't think so," I said, wishing I had lied before the words had fully left my lips.

These cracks in my perception of reality weren't new. I had them before, but I attribute that to my precog capabilities. What if something else is at play?

"Why are all the windows covered up?" I said as I stepped closer to them. I wanted to look, but Rex had shown up before I could. I don't remember them being boarded up. I know I looked out of them briefly before, but now all the windows were sealed.

Rex's polite expression shifted into a more openly concerned one, "Wendy, they're covered up because it's hard to look at." He said.

I looked. I knew I shouldn't have the moment I did because that strange veil that came down before was back. Only in between the fractured edges was ash falling from the sky.

I'm losing my mind.

I woke up again in Rex's bed. This was becoming too familiar.

I didn't get far before I ran back to the bed. I collapsed, hyperventilating as I tried to rationalize everything. I painfully gathered what was left of my wits together.

"You're aware now, too." Rex's voice came from the room's shadows, and I jumped. Did he watch me calm down and then decide to pop up? "There's something wrong with this world, Wendy."

"I feel like I'm being shuffled around scene to scene, but it's mixed with small changes," I said, opting for honesty. At this point, if I wasn't going crazy alone, I would confide.

"It's always been that way, but no one else has noticed," Rex said, and I watched as he came to sit on the edge of the bed. "You didn't realize it either until today."

I gulped. This world is a book. If things are being shuffled, maybe the writer was making changes to the story or editing stuff in and out, and that caused things to be replayed in real-time? Did that mean no one had autonomy in this world?

Why was I suddenly aware of the scene changes then? My visit with Mordecai came to mind, but that couldn't be the case. It must be the quill he gave me. If the quill gave me access to my literary magic, I could see the writing as it is.

Why did Rex see it, then?

"How long have you been able to notice?" I said, looking at him in the darkened room.

"All my life." He said.

"This world is a book," I said bluntly.

Rex didn't look too shocked or upset about it. Maybe he long suspected that could be the reason.

"What did you mean that I was anchored?" I had to ask this burning question. Maybe I was wrong in accusing him. Had he denied it? My brain was fuzzy in recalling this.

How much have I missed in these scene shuffles before I became aware? Were the intense moments with him genuine?

Rex moved closer to me, and I stiffened in response. He lifted his palm, and his warm skin touched my cheek. "The baby is what binds you here."

I didn't have a chance to react because the scene changed yet again.

This time, I was wearing a hideous blue dress and was outside with Rex, Evie, and Cole. Some other people were milling around, but I paid them no mind. We were on a cracked road of pavement. There were broken cars and metal on the road, and everyone had bags and supplies with them. It looked like we'd been traveling for some time and had stopped for a break. On either side were thick gnarled trees that could hide enemies, so everyone was watching.

I was going to lose my mind. Rex glanced at me briefly before conversing with a man I'd never seen before. If both of us had jumped right into this scene, then he clearly had mastered what the writer of this world wanted.

Not me. I was freaking out and did the one thing I had put off for too long.

I ran for it.

I looked like a loon as I took off into the woods. The trees touched me, comforting me, but I had a more pressing thing to contend with.

I waited until I was decently far enough to shout for Acuzio, but I had just opened my mouth, and yet again, the scene changed.

The torture wasn't over. I lost track of the number of times the world shuffled me around. I was sometimes lucky and had a few moments, while others were less than a second. The apparent insanity of the author was leeching into my own mind. It became a lot harder to recall what I knew as fact.

Relief finally came when I could open my eyes and see the Wishing tree. I noted its change, and my heart felt a sharp pang of pain. It was desolate. Its appearance was reminiscent of when I met Wyatt. This was just the town square, but it looked apocalyptic. What did the rest of the world look like then?

I wasn't alone; Rex was nearby, and he looked like he was soaking up the silence.

"Rex," I called, and he turned to look at me. He was standing near the Wishing tree, and I thought it was Adam for a brief stupid moment.

Something shifted in his eyes, and I could tell he knew about my momentary lapse.

"Wendy." He turned back to the tree to stare at it.

I pulled out the quill from my space and tried to tap into my magic. I had to be able to leave this place. How could I live the rest of my life trapped in a world that moved through scenes more like a movie than a book? The writer is an idiot!

Nothing happened, of course. So I stubbornly opened my mouth, "ACUZIO!" I shouted. It echoed despondently and received no response.

"Please, uncle." I pleaded before shouting his name again. Nothing happened, though, and I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

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I turned to look at Rex, whose eyes closed as he lifted his face to the sky. He seemed to be content with the stillness of this moment. It was just the two of us here, and I had no idea what had passed until now. There were too many scene changes to track.

"Is it always like this?" I said, loathing to break the quiet, but I had to know.

"No," Rex said. "Before you became aware, it was periodical, but with your awareness, it was severely sped up."

I held up the quill. Maybe my magic was interfering with the writer. I needed to mess things up even more. Could that cause the writer to have a block and become unable to write?

My fingers burned with the desire to do just that. If I ran away from what the writer desired, it might cause another scene change. The scene changed anytime I made a break for it or did what I wanted.

My hand was grabbed before I got far. I turned to meet Rex's gaze.

"Stay." He said. "If we keep outside of the scenes the writer wants there's peace for a brief time."

Something in his words and expression trickled a memory. "Wait, when I appeared in this world…is that what you were doing on the boat?"

He gave a terse nod. "I've tried to escape, but it's impossible."

"It's not," I said, holding my quill like a sword. "I'm not living like this any longer."

The words were barely out of my mouth before the scene started to change. That weird veil was back and it was wrapping itself around Rex. I jammed the quill into it without thinking, shattering the nearly useless thing into pieces.

The two of us stared at it blankly, unmoving for a heartbeat. The leftover quill shards grew hot in my hand and started shaking. I dropped them, and Rex moved me just before it exploded.

"Well, that was useless," I muttered, peeking between Rex's arms. The quill could have been grand, assuming Mordecai hadn't nerfed it, but he did, and now it was gone.

"What did you do, Wendy?" Rex said, and I looked up to see him staring in wonder at the ground.

"Nothing. It didn't work." I said with a frown. Only the stupid veil was gone, and so was my quill.

"You stopped the scene change," Rex stated, and I looked around the two of us. The scene hadn't changed like it was supposed to. Oh shit. Maybe I had.

"Now what?" I said, looking at Rex.

A huge smile split his face, and I became mutely dumb while looking at it. This was the first time I'd seen happiness from Rex.

"Freedom Wendy. You've given me freedom."

He disappeared after that, and I felt strangely numb at the emptiness this brought. I was happy to see the smile, but my emotions, like my heart, felt fuzzy and strange.

I squatted to inspect the remains of the quill. What wasn't char might hold magic I'll need for later. I spent a few minutes gathering the slivers and sending them into my space.

I wiped my hands clean when I was done and looked around...now what? What do I do when I'm stuck in a world that I may have accidentally broken?

I apparently reached my qouta of brain power as a wave of exhaustion rocked me. My eyes grew droopy, and I sat on the park bench before the wishing tree. Before I realized it, my body sprawled on the bench, and I watched the sky above me. The clouds looked like a beautiful, expensive painting.

How many hours had I spent staring at them with Adam?

"I've already told you. I'm not interested." The harsh masculine words drew my attention, and I noisily peeked to get a good view of the arguing couple. My noisy butt almost ignored the fact that the voice sounded familiar, that is, until I saw the man.

It was Wyatt. Holy shit. This must be the moment I met Wyatt in the second timeline. Did that mean this was truly the second timeline? A knot I didn't want to acknowledge loosened in the pit in my stomach. I had massive doubt that Rex had fallen for me, but Wyatt was here, and maybe that meant that everything else would happen as it should.

I could still get my Adam.

My joy was wiped away at the sight of who Wyatt was yelling at. Is he talking to Lucia like that?

"I know that's not true. I can feel something between us." Lucia said with a fierce voice I never would have seen as her own. She was squaring off to Wyatt and was fighting for their love.

I cheered for her mentally, but some of it must have slipped out loud because the two turned to look in my direction.

"Who's there?" Wyatt said protectively, moving Lucia behind him. See, the giant oaf does care.

Before I could dwell in my own self-satisfaction, Wyatt, fast as a breeze, appeared in front of me. Holy shit, this must be how fast he is when he's not hiding his power.

"Wyatt!" I waved at him eagerly, and he blinked at me.

"Who are you?" He said.

What a prankster. I laughed, shaking my head indulgently. "It's me, Wendy."

Nothing dawned on his expression, and I hiccuped in surprise. There was no way he forgot about me, right? No, because he saw me in the second timeline. He told me as such. This could mean he didn't have his memories from the first timeline.

"Wyatt, who is this?" Lucia's voice arrived before she did. It was strange to see her nervously coming forth to inspect me.

"I don't know," Wyatt said with a confused shrug.

My mouth fell open as I floundered. My stomach, which had taken the time to soothe and be quiet, started to rumble again. I wrapped a hand around it and closed my flapping mouth.

"Where are your people? It's not safe out here alone for a woman." Lucia said. Her expression was concerned, and her voice was sweetly caring.

Pain laced through my heart as I looked at the two. Unwelcomed tears gathered and threatened to fall.

Both of their eyes were cordial but distant. No recognition or warmth was emitting from them. I was just a stranger, not someone who grew up with them. Our years of memories and moments were wiped clean like they never existed.

This sucks.

No words across the handful of languages I could speak or read came to mind for my grief at this moment. I was blankly numb. A canvas wiped clean of everything but the overwhelming desire to flee far far away.

How could I trigger that teleporting thing like I did last time? I closed my eyes and tried to push myself to disappear, but I couldn't.

"What's going on here?" Rex's voice interrupted my failure of an attempt to flee.

I opened my eyes to see him standing to my right. "Wendy?" He said. He sounded concerned, but his eyes were on Wyatt and Lucia. My hand, on sheer instinct, reached for Rex's arm, and I held onto him like he was a baby blanket and I was a mere fussy toddler.

The strength that came to me from this could never be priced. Every iota of tension escaped my body. I leaned into Rex's warmth as shamelessly as Morgan accused me of being.

"Nothing, we were just worried about her," Lucia said politely. Her warm eyes showed nothing but civil responsibility. There was no love or familial kindness that I was used to.

I stared at Wyatt, scanning for some semblance of recognition in his steely blue eyes. His orbs gave away nothing of the sort. My last trace of hope was squashed at this moment.

"Is that so?" Rex said. I turned at the closeness of his voice to look up and could see he was looking down at me. I met his eyes and spotted a crack in his never changing, emotionless eyes. My throat tightened at the glimpse of care.

I fought around the stiffness of my throat to no avail. My voice couldn't come out, so I settled for a stiff nod. My fingers held on to him, securing him to me. I was afraid that, like everyone else, he would disappear. He wasn't Adam, but he was as close as I could get to him.

"We were just worried about her being alone," Lucia said, ever the peace broker. She was the only one still talking at this moment. Everyone seemed to have become silent, like myself. She was also the only one smiling. "It's good to see she's not."

"Wyatt, let's go," Lucia said, giving us a small smile before dragging Wyatt away.

I watched them unable to speak for the life of me. It became too much to see, and I rubbed my face on Rex's arm.

"Wendy," Rex said, but I couldn't respond. Not now, maybe not ever. I was emotionally unstable, and the hits never seemed to keep coming, which made it impossible to stabilize myself.

As if it agreed with this sentiment, my stomach rumbled fiercely. I want to be gone. I want to go back home. Why can't I go home? Yet again, I wasn't where I belonged.

When I opened my eyes, I discovered I had wound up in the clearing before the Unruly Forest. Only the Unruly forest was no more. It was a mountain now, and it took me a few moments to realize this was where the Unruly Forest should be.

Before I could stop my feet, I walked up to the rocky side to touch it.

"Where are we?" Rex said, and I snorted softly at his voice.

He came with me. I was so entranced by the sight of my continual failure I hadn't noticed. My voice returned to me finally, and I rubbed my throat as I turned to look at him. "Where my home should be."

Now, it was just all mountainside. Everything that had become mine had been written into this world and, without me, was erased from Grandpa Evans and where he ended up in the family plot to the old house handed down through the generations. All the hard work I had put into returning its former splendor was deleted from existence. It was just as my grandmother said it would be.

A growing sense of dread formed in the pit of my stomach as I took in the mountain. Maybe I hadn't gone to the second timeline. I might be in the true story of the book. If that was the case, why was I still here? Had my exit from the previous world created a weird time loop, or had everything been erased because I left the world?

Bile rose from my gut, reminding me of what was growing in my stomach. I looked down at my stomach. Could my pregnancy be keeping me tied to this world instead? Rex said my anchor was the baby...How could I undo this and leave? I couldn't kill myself like I planned before. That would mean hurting my baby. Our baby.

"I've lost everything," I said between short breaths that could barely slip from my lips. Broken sobs erupted from my heart, and I gave in to the tumultuous feelings.

Solid and warm arms caught me as I collapsed towards the ground.

"Not everything," Rex said. His voice was strong and empoweringly protective, but not what I needed to hear.