The waiting room was quiet as always, its muted tones and soft lighting meant to soothe. Holly stood in the doorway of Dr. Minlund's office, the warmth of her coat still clinging to her from the autumn chill outside. Her hands were tucked in her pockets, shoulders drawn up, like she was bracing herself.

  Dr. Minlund looked up from her desk and smiled gently. "Holly. I’m glad you came."

  "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice," Holly replied, her voice frayed at the edges. She stepped in and closed the door behind her.

  "Of course. You’re always welcome here. Please, have a seat."

  Holly moved to the familiar couch and sat down slowly, sinking into the cushions like she had a hundred times before. The fabric felt cooler than usual, or maybe her skin was just colder. She glanced around the room, hearing the familiar soft ticking of the clock; the faint scent of lavender from the nearby diffuser. Normally, it calmed her. Today, it felt like a stage too quiet before a storm.

  Dr. Minlund folded her hands in her lap, watching with quiet attentiveness. Her notebook lay on the arm of her chair, closed and untouched.

  For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then, the doctor tilted her head slightly. "You said something happened. Something urgent."

  Holly nodded, exhaling shakily. "Yeah. I... I don't even know where to start."

  Dr. Minlund gestured gently. "Wherever you can."

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  Holly rubbed her palms against her jeans, grounding herself. Her pulse thudded in her ears. "I was in my apartment. I thought it was real. It felt real. But it wasn’t. It was like a dream... or no, not a dream, a prison. A memory... but twisted. I think I was trapped inside it. And there was... someone else in there with me. I think she was my... I don't know. But I knew something was wrong. Something was off. Things kept... is glitching the right word? They would pop in and out of existence or shift suddenly. And.... Ariel showed up. She attacked the person I was with, in a wreath of fire."

  She paused. The name hit the air like a cracked bell.

  "Ariel fought her," Holly continued, her voice growing quieter. "They flew into the sky. Ariel had her in her grip. And as they rose, I saw something ahead of them. Something huge. Faint. Like it was behind a veil. I didn’t understand it at first, but..."

  A memory flashed across her vision: a symbol sketched in golden lines, suspended above a sky that wasn’t real.

  "When I got out, I went to call you. And that’s when I remembered. The thing I saw in the sky looked exactly like the symbol on the back of your card."

  She leaned forward now, her posture tight with urgency. "That wasn’t a coincidence. That wasn’t just my imagination. You’ve always asked me about my dreams, about what I see. You’ve never written anything down. You don’t take notes. You don’t even pretend to."

  Dr. Minlund’s expression didn’t change. She simply watched her, serene and still.

  "I want to know what’s going on," Holly said, her voice unwavering now. "That symbol. It was there. I saw it. And you gave it to me so long ago. What is it? Who are you really?"

  A heavy silence blanketed the space. For a heartbeat, Holly heard only the ticking clock and the sudden rush of her own blood.

  Dr. Minlund didn’t answer.

  And then Holly saw it, on the small side table beside her purse, the therapist’s business card lay half-exposed. The symbol on the back, two intersecting circles with branching lines, was glowing.

  Faintly.

  Softly.

  Pulsing like a heartbeat.

  She stared at it... her eyes went wide.

  And for just a moment, the room seemed to shimmer. Like a ripple had passed through the air, barely visible, barely there.

  “I always end up in fantasy,” Ariel said, caressing the cover of a battered paperback. “Quiet magic—stories that feel real even when they aren’t.”