The Bridge Between Worlds
Chapter Four

Regina gasped loudly as she sat up. Her breathing was erratic. Her heart pounding. Her eyes were watering the way they might after escaping a smoke-filled room. What the hell happened?

She glanced around. She wasn’t in her sister’s kitchen anymore. She was underneath a large tree, sitting on a patch of vibrantly green grass. All around her was more green and trees. Some of which seemed larger and older than the one above her.

Regina’s vision was not one-hundred percent. While she could see everything around her, she was not seeing clearly. Similar to a blurred photograph one might enhance on a computer.

“Where the hell am I?’ Regina asked to the air, which was crisp and fresh.

“Whatever it was, I can feel the remaining aura in this area.”

She froze when she realized she wasn’t alone.

“Over here!” came a new voice.

A pair of figures entered Regina’s view. Still blurry, but she could see the approaching silhouettes.

“She doesn’t look so good,” said the first as they paused before her.

“That’s what I am worried about,” replied the second with a sigh. “Help me bring her back to the fire.”

Regina could hardly keep her eyes open after a while. She closed them as she felt something lifting her up. Like she weighed nothing.

Seconds later, she sat upright.

“Whoa, easy,” came Victoria’s voice and Regina found her face. “You okay?”

“What the hell happened?” Regina asked as he breathing slowed to a normal rhythm.

“Well,” her sister grimaced, making a ssk sound in her cheek. “I brought you in here after you passed out. Went to get a cold compress and when I came back, you were gone. After a short freak out, you reappeared.”

“What?”

“I know, now I’m the crazy one. Unless our stories match up.”

Regina hesitated, but she explained what she’d seen and what she heard. Victoria listened, nodding slowly.

“Well,” she said, “If there was any doubt about our blood relation, they’re gone now. We’re definitely sisters.”

Regina blinked, “Why do you say it like that?”

“Because I did wonder if we were actually sisters.”

“Watching me having some freak episode proved I am?”

“I know, it sounds stupid, but yet. It proves you’re my sister.”

Regina closed her eyes, breathing deeply again. Her head was spinning. There was a slight ringing in her ear.

“Rest, Regina. We can talk about this later.”

She nodded and allowed sleep to take over.

* * *

Regina slept through the next morning. She felt well enough to get out of whatever bed she was in. She didn’t feel like doddering, so she left the bedroom and found Victoria at the breakfast table. She was reading something on her electronic tablet.

“Hey,” her sister smiled, setting the tablet aside as Regina joined her. “How’re you feeling?”

“Normal,” she replied, shrugging. “I managed to get our of bed. I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“It is a good thing. By the way, I wanted to thank you for the backup with Wyatt.”

“I think you were on your way to handling it without me. I’m starting to think I was a setback.”

“No, you were incentive. All I had was a mini-spark pen.”

She brought out a steel device the size of her thumb.

“Miniaturized version of a stun-gun,” Victoria explained, smiling as she set the device on the tabletop. “Something my dad’s friend gave me when I left for college.”

Regina tilted her head as she stared at the inanimate object.

“What about my episode?” she asked, keeping her voice calm.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone flip out like that,” her sister replied. “When Wyatt mentioned your foggy gaze, I knew I didn’t need to panic. I didn’t need to follow him out the door. It would have been a serious mistake if I did.”

“Who was the person you saw flipping out?”

Victoria bit her lip. “Mom. I was probably twelve at the time. But I had walked in on Dad pacing around his art studio and he mumbling something about Mom. And then she was suddenly on his sofa. I was old enough to understand that there was something different about her. Turns out, she was not from America. Not even from Earth. I knew Dad carried Celestial blood, but I had thought Mom was a normal human.”

Regina snorted, “Hold up. What do you mean Celestial? And Mom not being from Earth . . . Aliens?”

“No, more like . . .” She sighed, clasping her hands on the table. “I don’t know how to really explain it. A Celestial is like a guardian angel in human form. But without wings. As for Mom being an alien, no. Not an alien.”

“So, your dad was a supernatural being?”

“I believe Mom was too, as far as they told me. We just didn’t really know what. Dad’s parents both had pure Angel blood, so the gene passed down to him. I have the same blood, but I can’t really do anything special. I just know how to detect the tingle when its around.”

Regina made a face, causing Victoria to laugh.

“Oh man!” she cackled, shaking her head. “I’m more crazy than you. But at least we can be crazy together.”

Regina grinned, “That’s a plus. I guess its just a lot to take in. If you could believe some guy disappeared before my eyes, then I think I can believe what you’re saying about Angels and Celestials. The blood, I mean.”

Victoria’s smile widened. “I can prove it. Which means we need to do a little research. There has to be some kind of information to link us with what is happening to you. And what happened to Mom.”

“How do we so that? And where can we possibly go that won’t end up with me under a microscope?”

Her sister raised an eyebrow and smirked. “There is only one place I would ever think about taking you to replace this out. And it’s the coolest place ever.”