How long had it been? She couldn't recall.Minutes bled into hours,hours into days and days into years. Rekah quit counting and marked her life in trips to the sea and places in between. Today was no different in the physical sense. She woke up, brushed the leaves from her legs, wiped the dirt from her face with a yawn. But, the lingering unease from her dreams kept her guarded.

She'd seen Jasper in the smoke and mirrors of slumber. Through the upside down halls and madness of night. These nights had been different. It was not the brief shadowy figure in dreams that when a person awoke they couldn't recall who precisely. But, in their wanting it to be someone, that figure became who they wanted to see. No, these dreams were different.

Rekah resided between dreams and madness, here and there, physical and metaphysical. She knew difference in dreams of real and illusion. The feeling of someone is different than the idea of that person. She felt Jasper, heard his voice, felt his touch and when she had woken up. It was the first time in many years that she had had hope.

Hope, though, is fleeting when presented with the bleak reality. The smile she woke with fell from her face, and a sob stuck in her throat. It had been easier to not feel, to scratch on the surface of life. It was why she had stayed away from people and friends. Her former self had taken over and her feral ways easily slid into place. But, now there was a spark of hope that magic could be broken. And she wasn't sure how to process it. It hurt. That hurt she had pushed down and ignored. It was bubbling back to the surface. Pain was a great motivator.
She took that spark of hope and that dull coil of pain to make a fire.

He was alive. He was out there. Her family was out there.
Magic could be unraveled. Rekah just had to pull the right thread.