Chapter 21

[Valerie]

Layla left me alone in the room - to rest, she said. But it’d been almost three hours, by my calculation, and sleep never came.

It was sometime around three a.m, when the wind that blew outside assisted the spirits in getting to their respective destinations. My mind and body felt exhausted, but the urge to throw up was nagging my insides again, so I tiptoed to the bathroom and waited. Nothing came up, except my own saliva and a fiery feeling in my throat. I washed my face with cold water, and dabbed it dry with a hand towel.

The woman who stared back at me looked different somehow. Her brown eyes were lighter, her jaw more prominent, and hair fell in waves instead of curling. I’d always remembered my face being rounder, lips smaller, and eyes blank and forgettable. This woman was different.

While I stared at myself in the mirror, I looked down at my belly, my hand moving on its own accord as I tried to feel what Layla had felt. I was always