The Bridge Between Worlds
Chapter Three

Regina and Victoria grew closer as the months went on. They would meet up at Rousseau’s when Victoria’s shift ended, on Saturdays, and they hung out until the following evening. Sometimes, they would stay at Regina’s apartment, other times it was spent at Victoria’s house.

Regina loved their sister-bonding. It felt wonderful to have her near. She still felt a slight emptiness in her heart, which should have been filled by meeting her birth-mother. It didn’t hurt the way would have before. But Regina was healing. Knowing Victoria was healing for her.

“I say it again,” said Regina as she looked at the photograph. “You look so much like your father.”

Victoria laughed, “I know,” she said, holding up another photo of her with him. “Mom always joked that I was more his daughter than hers. But we all agreed I have her personality traits.”

Regina smiled at the pictures, which were all spread out on the coffee table. She felt some sadness to only know what her birth-mother was like through pictures and Victoria’s memories. It was better than nothing. For a while, they both fell silent.

“So,” said Victoria a moment later. “Tell me again. You don’t spend time watching TV; cell phones or any sort of technology feels foreign to you. You survive on small amounts of Internet. But only when truly needed. Your mobile phone is ancient. Am I missing anything?”

“You make me sound like I was born in the stone age,” Regina laughed at herself.

“I was thinking more Victorian era, but that’s not a bad thing. You would survive better than I would if the world collapsed.”

The pair laughed at the thought. There was truth in the words. Regina would survive just fine.

“He hasn’t popped up again?”

Regina sighed; Victoria was referring to the elusive Inanis. Regina had a strange yearning to see him again. Not because he was attractive, which he was, but for another reason she could not explain.

“No,” she shook her head. “I’m beginning to wonder if I truly hallucinated the entire thing and you catered to my silliness. I haven’t had any bad migraines like that since.”

“Vicki!”

Victoria groaned and closed her eyes.

“Let me take care of this,” she said as she rose from the space between the coffee table and couch, and went toward the kitchen.

Regina didn’t turned her head, but for some reason, she felt like she was hearing the conversation as if she were in the other room with Victoria. The kitchen had a door and a wall that blocked it off from the other rooms.

“You can’t just walk in my back door,” said her sister, sighing in annoyance. “My sister’s here. And I want my key back.”

“The nut-job sister who sought you out by hiring a private investigator,” came the voice belonging to Victoria’s ex-boyfriend; Regina had been told about him. “You still don’t replace that a little suspicious?”

“No. Actually, I don’t replace it suspicious at all. Mom gave her up at birth, Wyatt. Hiring a PI was probably the only thing she could do. She has every right to seek out any family she might have. And I’m glad she found me. She’s all I have now.”

“There was a time when you used to call me your family.”

“You broke your loyalty when you decided Haley was worth it to cheat on me. Please, give me my keys back and never come around here again.”

“I’m not giving you anything.”

Regina scoffed and decided she needed to be present. Not that Victoria needed her to step in. She could handle herself on her own. But because Regina felt she should at least show her face to this uninvited guest.

She got up from the floor, grabbing her empty glass as an excuse, and went into the kitchen.

“Where should I put this?” she asked, standing in the doorway.

“Oh,” her sister said, motioning to the sink a few feet away. “You can put it there. I’ll take care of it.”

“I don’t consider myself a guest anymore. I’ll wash it.”

Regina walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. She lathered the cup with soap, taking her time in cleaning it. She had a wide peripheral vision, she could see Wyatt from the corner of her eye. The dude towered over her sister. Victoria was much shorter than Regina. Wyatt wore light denim over dark denim. His bottle-blond hair was combed back with a star shaved on the side of his head. Other than his jawline and hazel eyes, he wasn’t much for eye candy.

Victoria went back to asking him for her keys, but she spoke at full volume, letting Regina hear everything said.

“Give me the keys, Wyatt,” said Victoria with a firm tone. “You do not belong here anymore.”

“I’m keeping the keys, Vicki,” he scoffed. “You’ll see. You’ll be calling me again.”

“Okay,” Regina said, turning off the water and crossing her arms as she faced the asshole. “That is enough. If you really want her to call you again, you will return her keys. Like she’s been kindly asking you. If it were me, I’d be using my connections to the police department to get a restraining order on you. Give back her keys and leave. I have the sheriff on speed-dial.”

Wyatt smirked and replied, “Just because you’re her half-sister doesn’t mean you have to defend her.”

Regina uncrossed her arms, clenching her fists to her side.

“Oh, she doesn’t need me to defend her. I’m just back up. Now, so as she has asked.”

She wanted to slap the smirk off his face. The urge to do it suddenly grew stronger. Regina’s vision turned red. The space around her felt oddly warm. Victoria had central Air-conditioning, so Regina thought it was weird. She was sweating all over.

Regina watched Wyatt’s expression change from arrogant to puzzled and afraid. A strong emotion flashed through his eyes.

“Vicki,” he hesitated as he reached for Victoria’s shoulder. “Does she normally get that foggy look in her eyes?”

Regina’s sister glanced at her, but she didn’t flinch the way the douche-bag did. She simply smiled and faced him again.

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “She’s fuming right now. I would heed the warning before a whole-lotta ugly is unleashed.”

Wyatt fumbled for his key chain, removing the necessary keys and placing them in Victoria’s waiting hand.

“Your sister is a freak show,” he said as he back out the door.

“She not the only one.”

Victoria held up her other hand, snapping her fingers together. A gasp sounded through the kitchen. Not just from the asshole who was trying to escape, but also from Regina. Victoria’s fingers were sparking with blue lightning.

“Leave if you want to still have the ability to procreate,” Victoria warned, slowly extending the spark toward his lower regions. He didn’t need to be told again. Wyatt was running to get away.

Regina was still sweating when her sister closed the door and turned a concerned gaze her way.

“Take a deep breath,” she said, holding out cautious hands; the sparks were gone from her fingers. “I don’t know what you’re about to do, but I’m guessing this is not the first time its happened. You need to breathe and take control of it.”

Regina could not speak. The warmth had become a raging heat. Her clenched fists tingled, making it difficult to relax them. A smoke-like swirl filled her vision. She knew she was about to blackout, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it.