Chapter 18

The glow dissipated from Zalli’s body. She was left standing by her bed, feeling the same as before the glow appeared. She flipped her hands a few times before speaking out loud.

“Uh ... what?”

She stretched her arms in front of her with her hands splayed wide open. With a tongue poking into her cheek, she waited for a semblance of her new power to appear to her. When nothing happened, she collapsed her arms and made noises of complaint.

It looked like she would have to wait for the right moment for the power to reveal itself. She might have to bring it out forcibly by interacting with Yoltzin. Her mind knew to keep guard around him. Now it was time for her body to come into agreement with the assessment.

Either way, it seemed like she was making progress.

Zalli sat next to Huizi on her bed. She rested her elbows on her knees and relaxed her neck to let her head hang low. As she closed her eyes again, the young woman thought to the gemstone.

Kyanite had a reputation as a gem that could ... it could ... do something. Zalli stood up and paced in front of her door. Nothing of inspiration approached her.

Out of some unknown habit, she turned her face to the window behind her. She noticed how some morning light entered around her curtains. It was then she heard a whisper come from her brain.

It told her kyanite was a gemstone that could enhance powers. That must be why Yoltzin wanted it, to enhance his own dream manipulation powers. Whatever he was trying to find here would allow him access to the gem. That was what he was searching for on her farm.

Zalli walked over to the window.

He had really wanted to search by her mother’s tree before. That must mean the answer is there.

She pulled the curtain back and angled herself tightly to the wall. It was not the best view, but in the right spot she could see a portion of the roble tree.

Whatever was buried next to the tree would be the thing to break into the showroom. Zalli just hoped it was maybe a treasure hidden very well, and not the buried bones of her mother. She knew they would not be the actual remains of her mamá, but that did not mean she was inclined to see the visual representation of them.

Another whisper entered her mind. It sounded similar to her mamá’s voice, like what she heard in her dream from two nights ago.

You need to hurry and go back. The gemstone is not safe.

Zalli sighed. She turned her body to rest on the wall and brought her palm to cradle her forehead. A headache formed in her head from stress. She knew about her responsibility, but found it difficult to take direct action on it. She was a prisoner in her own mind.

In order to leave, she had to play stupid mind games here. It annoyed her that the riddles she had to solve were riddles her subconscious was giving her. It was not even Yoltzin making her jump through these ridiculous hoops. He was only trying to trick her into trusting him.

The pain did not leave from Zalli’s head. She ran her hand through her hair and let her head fall back to rest on the wall behind her.

Huizi whimpered from next to her. Zalli turned to look down at where the noise came from. She got on both knees to face her dog.

Some of the pain was subduing, but she still winced from the motion. She downturned her facial features and slumped her shoulders. Then she took Huizi’s head in her hands and petted her softly.

Huizi did not exist in the real world. Zalli did not have any pets back home. Not even Churro existed.

Zalli brought her hand underneath Huizi to scratch her chin. The Xoloitzcuintli brought her head up and closed her eyes in comforted pleasure.

The young woman was not sure what purpose Huizi had in this dream world. Perhaps Yoltzin wanted to give her a sense of comfort, so it would be easy to bring down her walls. Zalli guessed, though, that her subconscious created Huizi to be her protector.

All the canine had done so far was stand by Zalli’s side and remained loyal to her. If Yoltzin had created Huizi for his benefit, she was sure he would have used her as a spy tool.

Zalli brought her head down to touch Huizi’s head. The pair remained like this until Zalli heard noises from outside her room. It seemed like her pseudo family was awake, and perhaps they had been for a while. Zalli brought a hand to her face and covered her mouth in thought.

If she confronted her family about them being fake, it could trigger whatever alarm system Yoltzin might have. Or, it’s even possible it could trigger something in her subconscious to freak out. The young woman had to act with caution.

Then, it was best to act like everything was normal. Although, Zalli would prefer it if she could just avoid them all together. The falsehood of this situation made her muscles tense and brought a forced a laugh out of her.

She stood up and thought about how she enjoyed having family around her since back home she typically lived by herself. As true as it was here in this dream reality, her mother had passed away when she was still a teenager, only seventeen years of age. Solitude had been her lifestyle for the past decade.

Even her friends had left her to live their life in the city. That was not so upsetting to Zalli, though. She knew they had left to follow their dreams. She had stayed in her hometown to fulfill her duty, passed onto her by her mamá.

Zalli sat on her bed and reassessed her rumination. The fairies she had befriended did visit her often. Though they would arrive in sporadic moments, they would stay for some days. It kept her home spirited. But when they left, they would leave behind a dead silence that was a never ending void. To replace the dead calm, Zalli usually had to use music from the radio or another type of background noise.

She looked around her room and noticed something strange. The layout of it was identical to her room back home. In the same corner to the right, it held her desk, and her wardrobe faced her bed as before. The dresser with the broken top drawer was against the same wall as the door, and her two differently sized nightstands were placed the same, with the smaller one closest to her full-length mirror. The only thing that differed was the window currently in front of her. Something else was supposed to be there, but Zalli could not recall what it was.

A feeling of displacement filled her entire room. Her hands trembled on her lap, and something kept her rooted in her spot. She only moved when she heard a knocking at her door. She flinched at the sound, but settled when she heard Ezi’s voice.

“Zalli, mija, are you awake?” She spoke from the other side before she swung open the door. “Oh, qué bueno. El desayuno is almost finished. Come down when you are ready.”

The young woman shook her dazed expression away.

“Okay, uh ... Abue.”

Zalli heard footsteps lead away from her door after the makeshift grandmother closed it with a careful respect. She looked down at herself and decided she would not change her clothes. She did not see the point of it.

The young woman chose to at least brush her teeth. She wanted some sense of cleanliness as she traversed around the figures downstairs. Zalli patted Huizi’s head on her way out.

As she passed by Tepi’s door, she heard movement behind the wooden enclosure.

I should speak to Green Tepi tonight. She might help me find a way out of here. Maybe I should have spoken to her last night or, well, should I say this morning. I am not sure if I would have trusted her, though. Maybe it was better this way for me to figure it out on my own. Zalli pondered from her spot, not moving for a while.

Tepi swung her door open to discover Zalli there and spoke in a chipper voice.

“Buenos días, Zalli! How are you feeling today?”

Zalli kept her face expressionless, but responded in a timely manner.

“I’m doing fine, how are you? How is your rest?”

“I am feeling so much better! I’m not sure what changed, but my insomnia has not returned.”

This was not good for Zalli to hear. She was not sure what it could mean, but it could result that Green Tepi was gone.

She gave Tepi a blank stare, but nodded to appear receptive to her improved condition. Tepi side eyed her sister, before she darted her gaze away to find comfort. She spoke again to break the silence.

“Alright, well, I guess I’ll meet you downstairs for el desayuno.”

Zalli nodded her head again, this time bringing her thumb close to her lips. She moved to the side to allow Tepi to go around her, and bit her fingernail as she tried to determine what she should do if Green Tepi was not around anymore.

Taking away all muscle control in her arm, she dropped her hand down by her side. Zalli had to worry about that later. Now, she needed to control herself to prepare for facing her family.

She stood there for what felt like mere moments, but it was actually longer since Ezi had to call her from down the stairs.

“Zalli! Hurry, because we’re going to say grace.”

Zalli snapped out of her daze and moved to the top of the stairs. She shouted down to Ezi.

“Ah, hold on! I still need to brush my teeth!”

“Apurate, niña!”

“Okay, okay, I’m going!”

She bolted down the stairs and went straight to the restroom to brush her teeth in haste. After spitting her toothpaste out and rinsing her mouth, Zalli looked at her reflection. She angled her head from one side to the other with her teeth bared, similar to what she did mere hours ago.

Satisfied to see no pointy teeth, the young woman left the restroom with a push away from the counter. When she reached the kitchen, everyone was already sitting in their usual spots. Zalli felt all eyes on her as she walked to her chair and sat down.

The smiles they gave her, she imagined, were meant to give her warmth and comfort. Instead, she felt uneasy and out of place.

After sitting, the group bowed their head and held their hands in prayer. As Ezi led the grace, Zalli noticed something about her tone. It seemed weird to her. The grandmother lilt seemed to not be present. Instead, it sounded youthful and clear of the rasp that would occasionally appear.

When the prayer was done, Zalli brought her head up and observed her fake family. Tepi, sitting closest to the refrigerator, looked the same to her. The green of her eyes was vibrant, and her skin didn’t look pale anymore. It had returned to the medium brown shade she shared with Zalli.

The young woman turned to look at Xilo who sat directly in front of her. Her blonde up-do appeared like it carried more volume than usual, as if energy kept it afloat. The little wrinkles she had by her eyes were gone, and her eyes held a spark within them.

At her last sweep of the table, Zalli turned to Ezi, who sat across from Tepi. She had the most change in her facial features out of them all. Her cheeks no longer sagged from gravity and the stripes of grey had disappeared from her blonde hair. The braid she usually had her hair styled in seemed to be thicker. Like Xilo, all her wrinkles were gone, and the excess lymph fluid she had in the bags under her eyes was no longer present. Her pale yellow eyes twinkled with youthfulness.

It prompted Zalli to stare at Ezi the longest. The abuela felt someone staring and looked up, meeting Zalli’s gaze with a curious expression before she spoke.

“Mija, is everything alright? You’ve just been sitting there and staring. You’re also wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Did you not change?”

Zalli blinked and pursed her lips. Her hands underneath the table wrapped around each other a few times before stopping at an interlock.

“Yes ... Abue. Everything is good.”

Ezi put her fork down and stared at her nieta with soft eyes.

“Are you sure? If you’re not feeling any better, you can continue to relax in your room. And if Don Callip returns, I can send him away until you’re ready for guests again.”

Zalli wondered if her mind was trying to protect her by allowing her to avoid confrontation. She sighed, knowing that would only push back the inevitable.

Lost in thought, Zalli did not respond to Ezi. This caused Tepi to call out to her to see if she could get a response.

“Zalli?”

Hearing her name was all she needed to snap out of her thought circle. She stood up with a firm push of her chair, causing it to scrape across the tile floor.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m actually going to work on the farm today. I have to start the cleanup.” Zalli let go of the fork she clutched in her hand and dropped it next to her untouched breakfast. As she reached the back door, she turned to her fake family and said one more thing before leaving. “If Yoltzin drops by, allow him to go to the back. I suppose there is business we need to discuss.”

Without waiting to see if any member would respond, Zalli left and stepped onto her back porch. The screen door behind her clacked a few times from her letting it fall.

She stood there with her hands on her hips and released a heavy breath she had not realized she was holding in. She contemplated on what to do next. Zalli left the room, using her farm as an excuse to get away from the awkward atmosphere she had placed herself in. Now she had to actually do something about her burnt farm, especially if she did not want to arouse suspicion from the others inside.

Zalli thought again about whether her subconscious would attack her or not from exposing herself to knowing the truth. If she remembered correctly to what an old high schoolmate had once told her, she had to blend in as much as possible when dreaming.

When the old friend picked up the peculiar hobby to lucid dream, she spoke to a person in her dream. She had let them know she was aware they were not real, and that she was dreaming. By her description, her doing so had seemed to piss them off. The school mate said she felt all eyes turn on her the more she spoke, and before she knew it, all the surrounding dream people kept grabbing at her until she woke up.

Zalli shivered at the thought. Being attacked and clawed at was not something she wished to ever experience.

She went straight to the barn, intending to grab a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Zalli saw Churro there and went over to him first. He grunted in her direction as an acknowledgement.

Even though Churro was more of a companion to Tepi in this reality, Zalli still felt her expression go slack, knowing he did not actually exist. His sassy behavior to others always entertained her.

The young woman grabbed his brush that was nearby and went over to his pelt. She felt his head nudge her body. She smiled at his affection. Zalli had a feeling he did it to provide her comfort.

Once his coat looked to be shiny, and in order, Zalli continued on with her original task. She hooked the cart onto Churro and grabbed a shovel with a rake to place them in the cart.

Then, she lead him to the burnt area of her fields with soft tugs. She felt no rush to work today, which encouraged her to move at Churro’s languid pace. The young woman brought a hand up to cover her eyes from the morning sun. She cursed at herself for forgetting to bring a hat out again.

Zalli knew clearing her fields would be a mundane task for her to do. It was not something that would bring actual physical results. Beyond the pretense she gave to the enchanted replica fairies inside the house, she did it to occupy her hands—to help her think. She could only spin around in her room so many times.

Plus, it gave her a reason to be outdoors.

She made it to the divide where she intervened and stopped the fire from continuing to expand. Zalli pulled her bottom lip up to form a frown as she observed all the damage up close. She squatted down and dug a bare hand into the soil. Her hand contained a pile of leftover ash and crisp leaves that had not yet completely burned through.

The would-be farmer grunted and threw the soil away. Farming knowledge flooded her brain, and Zalli thought about how the soil was most likely suffering from severe erosion. The chemistry balance had to be all messed up, and she would need to take care of the top layer if she wanted to fix the issue.

Zalli’s brain went fuzzy, and all thoughts stopped moving. She was not sure what the source of her assessment was.

She concluded it must be because her dream reality brainwashed her into believing she was a farming expert. With a shake of her head, she moved to the cart to find the heavy duty gloves she usually left there. The young woman placed one on each hand, then got a firm grip on the shovel.

On the first stab into the ashened soil, she heard a commotion come from the front of her house. It sounded like a car had arrived. Zalli brought her head up to see if she could figure out who it was.

In the space between the barn and her house, she saw a Shelby Cobra drive down the road. Zalli took a cleansing breath and rolled her shoulders back to prepare for what was to come.

There was only one person who drove a car that was that shiny and that blue. It was loud and obnoxious from where Zalli stood. Either way, it looked like the unavoidable happened earlier than what she expected.

Yoltzin had arrived.