The thunder rolled in around a half hour after midnight, rattling the windowpanes and causing the neighborhood dogs to bark.
Eliza startled awake.
She’d learned that about herself in these past few months, that she was a light sleeper in modern times. Easily startled awake by sounds she couldn’t immediately place, like the refrigerator cycling on, or a car alarm down the street. The particular hiss of a radiator, the hum of a medical helicopter flying distantly overhead.
In her own time, she had slept through storms that shook the house, had usually been the last to awaken.
Here, every unfamiliar sound pulled her back to the surface of consciousness.
Wrapping herself in her down purple quilt, she padded downstairs, drawn by the thought of food. Aunt Ivy had made banana bread two days ago, and there was still half a loaf left on the counter.
She was busy sawing herself a thick slice when lightning flashed through the window over the sink, and she instantly noticed an outline in the kitchen doorframe.
Eliza startled badly, jumping with alarm and nearly taking her finger off with the bread knife.
“Don't be scared, it’s just me!”
Lucy was standing there in the kitchen doorframe in an oversized Shrek t-shirt.
"That's a big knife ya got there, might wanna put that down."
“Luce, you really frightened me!” Eliza said, pressing her hand to her heart.
Lucy crossed to the fridge, deftly opening the door and pulling out a tube of Pillsbury cookie dough, the chocolate chip variety. “So Lils and I always used to bake these during storms and watch trash TV.” She held up the tube. “You want some?”
“Wait what?”
“That's a yes, because you have to try it.” Lucy was already pulling out a baking sheet.
They sat plopped on the couch twenty minutes later, the cookie sheet cooling on the stovetop, the TV casting its comforting glow across the living room. Lucy had navigated to something called Laguna Beach, tucking herself into the corner of the couch and pulling her blanket back up.
“What's reality television again?” Eliza asked.
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“Reality TV? Ok, so they’re real people, but everything is also kind of staged.” Lucy bit into a cookie.
"Staged?"
"Scripted, you know. Written. They give them plot lines and tell them what to do. It's kinda like they're acting, except some shows are more real than others."
"So everyone is playing a part then?"
“Kinda. So this one is different, Lils and I have watched this one a lot. It's the realest one 'cause they were friends first before they filmed the show. Lils always pretends she doesn’t care about the drama, but then she gets so mad when Stephen picks Kristin over LC.” She affected a higher voice, apparently doing an impression: "Stephennnn!"
Eliza watched LC on screen, talking to her friend on a sun-drenched beach that looked nothing like the beaches of New England. She picked up a cookie, noticing how warm and yielding it was and bit into it, enjoying the burst of gooey flavor.
Lucy was quiet, watching the screen. Another roll of thunder moved through the house, slightly gentler this time.
“Lils had a lot of plans for next year,” Lucy said finally, as if she'd been holding it in, bottled up, waiting for a moment to release. “She was going to get her license finally, and Aunt Ivy promised to teach her parallel parking. And she was gonna take me to the mall, and the Witch House. She wanted to go to this weird folklore convention in Providence, and showcase her graphic novel there, the one she started with Stevon.”
Lucy’s voice had shifted, higher and faster now. “She had this whole thing about Stevon’s birthday too. She was going to do something for it, I don’t know exactly what.”
Eliza set her cookie down.
"Lils had a life here. A whole life. And I love you a lot and I wish you could stay... but..." Luce rubbed her nose. "But not if it means losing my real sister. I know Aunt Ivy and Holly said it's your choice, but I wanted you to know how I feel."
Not if it means losing my real sister. Ouch. On screen, someone was crying around a bonfire. Lucy’s words stung Eliza, even though she’d never admit it. Wasn’t she just as cool as Lils?
Another lighting burst cracked through the sky as the thunder rumbled all around.
"I appreciate you being honest with me, Luce, I understand. She's your sister, of course." Eliza's eyes began watering, but she turned away so Lucy couldn't see.
Eliza thought about the way Holly had taken her hand in this same room a week ago. You don’t have to decide anything tonight. She thought about Becca’s smile, how the warmth of it directed right at her made her melt. She thought about the constant pull she still felt, low and thrumming in her chest like a compass needle that wouldn’t settle.
The refrigerator hummed as rain streaked down the windows.
But Eliza had a sinking feeling that there wouldn't be a way to stay in these times, that this week here with Lucy and Ivy and Holly and Becca would be her last.
"Luce," Eliza said, squeezing her hand. "Tell me more about Lils."
“She used to let me sleep in her room,” Lucy said, eyes flicking back to the TV. “During storms. She’d complain about it every time, said I kicked too much and I needed to learn to sleep in my own damn bed.” Lucy picked up another cookie. “But she always moved over anyway.”
Eliza thought about the intense girl on Halloween night, desperate enough to use a blood spell to call out to supernatural forces, trying to reach out to something across the veil. A girl who seemed so very different than the one who would be sitting here with Luce, watching TV and eating cookies.
She wondered how Lils was faring back in 1692 in Old Town Salem. Was she being pursued? Had she been captured? Did she miss her life back here, or was she too busy trying to survive?
“Eliza? Earth to Eliza?”
Eliza turned to see Lucy looking at her directly now, the blanket up around her shoulders, eyes steady and serious in the way that occasionally reminded Eliza that Lucy was not entirely a child anymore.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
“If we can't find a spell to keep you here, would you even want to go back? Go back to your time, I mean? Or do you want to trade places with Lils forever?"