INTRO:
Emily opened her eyes. The world was fuzzy as she was rushed through a brightly lit corridor. A voice blared from a nearby PA system, "Minor car crash, Route 9 vicinity, multiple injuries, patient critical."
“How did I get here?” she thought, her vision fading in and out. Pain surged through her abdomen as she instinctively reached to touch it.
“Sweetie, don’t move, okay?” a voice said, gently but firmly moving her hand back.
“I… don’t feel good,” Emily mumbled, slipping back into unconsciousness.
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Time passed—minutes, maybe hours. When Emily opened her eyes again, she wasn’t in her body. She floated, her form translucent and ethereal, hovering above a scene that felt distant yet urgent. She found herself inside an operating room, watching doctors working frantically on someone.
“Code Blue, room 5!” a voice called urgently.
She drifted closer, her eyes narrowing in confusion. The figure on the table was small, surrounded by tubes and machines. As she focused, she realized with a jolt that the person lying there, flatlining on the monitor, was her.
“Oh… I’m dying,” she thought, the realization surprisingly calm. The pain was gone, and she felt oddly at peace with it.
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A familiar voice broke through the sterile atmosphere.
“Emily, no! Please, God, no!” someone cried in the distance, the sound thick with anguish.
Emily sighed. Well… this sucks. I rather enjoyed this life.
“We both did,” a gentle voice said from behind her.
She turned to see her older brother, Daniel, standing nearby, his eyes focused on her body. He looked sad, but there was a calm acceptance in his gaze.
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Daniel wasn’t her brother in the conventional sense. A year ago, she’d learned that Daniel had been a real person from another universe. His consciousness had inexplicably merged with hers, a reality both of them had struggled to accept. At first, their bond had been chaotic, with Daniel sometimes wrestling for control over her actions, or them fighting to understand how their thoughts and emotions intertwined and interrelated.
Over time, both consciousnesses achieved equilibrium. Their bond had become seamless—so much so that at times, Emily felt like she couldn’t remember a life without him. Daniel had become her protector, mentor, and closest friend, bound to her - her invisible sibling.
Her parents, Sarah and Thomas, had known about Daniel almost from the start. The shock and confusion had been hard for them at first, but they had, somewhat reluctantly, accepted him as part of Emily’s reality especially after they learned of the synergistic nature of this bond, even though the secret of his existence was closely guarded between the three of them. No one else could know—no one else would understand.
“Hey, Danny…” Emily said softly, reaching for his hand and looking up imploringly at him. “I’m sorry for this… I don’t even remember how I got here.”
Daniel was silent for a moment, as though choosing his words carefully. “Emily… we sacrificed ourselves for someone we loved.” He gently ruffled her hair, pulling her into their shared dream world—the dreamscape, as they called it.
Ordinarily, the dreamscape was a place of vibrant beauty. A sunny meadow stretched out beneath a bright sky, with a cherry blossom tree gently swaying in the breeze, birds chirped happily in the distance, and a soft, refreshing wind always seemed to brush through the grass.
Above them, strings of energy floated, like glowing tendrils of light that depicted her and Daniel’s harmonious consciousness bond. Each thread shimmered with life, connected not only to them but also to the individuals who had touched their lives, the ones they were bound to in some deeper way. It was their sanctuary—a world meant just for the two of them, where they could explore freely, relive memories, or simply find peace in each other’s presence.
Today, the dreamscape was eerily still. There was no breeze. The sun, once warm and golden, hung dimly in the sky. The birds were silent, and the cherry blossom stood frozen, its petals unmoving. Emily felt a pang of unease as she looked up. The threads of energy that usually danced so vibrantly in the air now flickered weakly, pulsing as though they were struggling to stay alive. The entire dreamscape seemed to be perilously close to the edge, as if holding its breath and waiting.
“Let’s take a stroll, Shrimp” Daniel said softly, using his affectionate nickname for his little sister. His grip still firm on her hand, without waiting for a response, he began leading her forward, their footsteps soft against the meadow as they walked deeper into a memory.