The Forgotten Goddess by Rebekah Sinclair

Author:Rebekah Sinclair [Sinclair, Rebekah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rebekah Sinclair
Published: 2023-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

The pale-yellow ceiling spins like a carousel slowing down so riders can exit. It takes several attempts to open and close my eyes before my vision focuses and the room stills. Turning my head to the side, I find Atlas sweating and breathing hard. His forearms are resting on his knees, and he’s removed his gold-rimmed glasses to rub his eyes. Athena is next to me with her fingers on my wrist, counting the pulse of my heart. My body is stiff as if I haven’t moved for ages, but looking at the clock on the wall, only an hour has passed since we arrived.

"How do you feel?" Athena asks, looking over my face. My hands shake, and I’m still lying down.

"That was weird. It was a dream, but it was like, on a loop." I reply. "What happened, Atlas?"

"I was trying to guide you through the memories, to move around the fabricated edges of the fake memories so we could see what was on the other side, but they have been woven too tightly." he explains as Athena hands me a bottle of water.

“What does that mean?”

“You believe in the lie too much, so it’s too deeply rooted.”

I drop my head, and my chest constricts with disappointment in myself. Every time I cling to a ray of hope, it bursts into flames in my hand, and I’m constantly scalding myself with the anticipation of something I’ll never have.

“We’ll get there.” Atlas places his hand on my shoulder with a reassuring squeeze.

The session must have been tiring for him as well. Athena studies the tablet, scrolling through the contents. My mouth drops when I realize it is a recording of the dream, and I see my nightmare play out on the screen.

“Oh my god.” My eyes remain fixed on the screen. Athena notices my attention on the device and presses a button, making the screen turn dark.

“Rhea, we must study this and understand how your memories were manipulated.”

I move my large round eyes to hers and nod in agreement as if I understand. But thinking about watching the horrors of that crash like a movie turns the taste in my mouth to acid.

“What I can tell you is you are no killer, Rhea. You did not do that.” Athena’s stare into my eyes is intense and full of conviction. I want to believe her. I want nothing more than to believe I didn’t murder them, but that day changed my life. I’ve relived it so much it's etched onto my soul.

Applying my carefully constructed mask of indifference, I head to the portal. I’ll pretend my world is not falling apart until I return to the seclusion of my little room and break down in peace.

"Thanks for trying. I will run by the library for a new stack of books before I head back to Callie’s."

Atlas smiles. "I find much more comfort in a book's bindings than in a room full of people. Let me help you with the portal." He inputs the code for the library and closes the portal door with a wave.

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