"Andraste preserve me. I must send you to him," could be heard through cheap, tinny speakers for what could have been the millionth time, for all Amaryllis knew. Her sister had a gross obsession with a video game character that Amaryllis never understood.

"How many times have you watched this part?" She asked Akasha around a mouthful of Skittles and flopped back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Dried pieces of putty were stuck, patternless across the white wall where stars and moons used to be, when she and Akasha would go "star-gazing." But the stars had fallen, and her sister had never replaced them. "I swear I hear this guy's voice more than yours."

"Not that many times," Akasha rolled her eyes at her sister but sighed dreamily at the screen of her desktop, cheeks flushing pink as the two characters held each other tightly. When the cutscene was over she saved it and exited the game. Her background was yet another photo of the same blonde guy with an ugly lip scar. "I have to romance him every time I play, he's perfect, and he helped me get over Solas."

"Who?" Amaryllis pushed her chestnut brown hair back with sticky fingers, grimacing when the strands stuck to her palms. She wiped her hands on her sister's sheets and hoped she wouldn't notice. "Is that the bald guy?"

"Yeah, Lis, the bald guy." Akasha laughed. "He's a heartbreaker."

"What's that blonde guy's name again?"

"Cullen Stanton Rutherford," her sister said with a regal tone, stretching her arms over her head as she stood. Her back cracked a little, and Amaryllis winced. "And I will be Mrs. Cullen Stanton Rutherford, just you wait."

"You're weird. He isn't even real!"

"A girl can dream." She sat down on the bed beside Amaryllis and stole a handful of candy from the bag, ignoring her younger sister's protests. "He's my ideal type."

"He looks dumb," Amaryllis said, pulling the bag away and sticking her tongue out at Akasha.

"You look dumb," she retorted, reaching over and snagging the Skittles from behind Amaryllis, who screeched indignantly.

"That's rude! Mom said not to call people names!"

"I didn't, and you said it first, ya dope."

"You're supposed to be a role model, Kash," Amaryllis said, taking on the chastising tone of their mother. "You're sixteen years old. When are you gonna grow up?"

"Says the baby," she sneered, pushing Amaryllis back with her elbow so hard that the younger girl fell from the bed with a loud thump that left her rubbing her sore bottom.

"I'm not a baby, I'm nine!"

"Try that again when you're finally a teenager. Until then, you're a baby, baby."

Amaryllis opened her mouth wide, brows furrowed in anger, ready to scream Mom! when she yelled from the bottom of the stairs, "Girls, it's time to go! Get your coats!"

"I don't wanna go," Amaryllis grumbled, crossing her arms with a pout. "It's cold. I just wanna stay home."

"Dad just got a promotion, Lis, and mom said he's going to take us to Olive Garden."

Amaryllis stood quickly at that. "No way! I call all the breadsticks!"

"Over my dead body!"

She ran as fast as her skinny little legs would take her, down the stairs to the front door, pulling on her warm boots and grabbing her coat from its hook. Akasha bumped her lightly with her hip, grinning when she stumbled and fell to one knee. She reared her fist back to punch her sister in the leg but Akasha jumped away faster than a rabbit, curly brown hair bouncing as she went.

Her mother turned the corner, pulling on her own coat, and smiled. Thin lines creased beside her eyes and mouth. She hated them, called them her puppet lines, but Amaryllis had always thought they made her look like she smiled a lot, which was true. Mom had always been a happy person.

"Come on, Lis, your dad is waiting for us at the restaurant. Don't want to make him wait too long, or he'll eat all the salad."

Amaryllis growled, "NO!" before she took off out the door. Her mother shut and locked it behind her, still laughing as her daughter slid across the icy sidewalk and into the open door of the backseat, streaking snow and dirt from her boots across the fabric.

"Lis, ew! You got my seat dirty!" Akasha yelled and pulled her sister over by the sleeve of her jacket, dragging her across the spot she had dirtied. Her pink coat was stained with salt residue, which just made the spot worse. "You're nasty. Wash that thing for God's sake."

"It's not dirty! And I need it, it's cold outside! This coat is the warmest one I've got!"

"I bought you that other one, the black one from Penny's," her mother said from the driver's seat, popping her seatbelt into the clip. Amaryllis and Akasha did the same, though not before the older leaned over to tickle her sister under her knee, where she was most sensitive. Amaryllis squawked, much like a chicken, and laughed loudly. "I'll wash your coat tomorrow, so wear the black one to school for now."

"Ugh, I don't like that one. It's so ugly." She whined, kicking the back of the seat a bit as she pouted. Akasha rolled her eyes and took her phone from her pocket, slipping her earbuds in and turning up her music loud, so loudly that Amaryllis could hear every word the singer was screaming, though she couldn't understand the lyrics. Her mother reached for the radio as well and turned on whatever station was playing "hit 80's," effectively drowning out her daughter's whining with A Flock of Seagulls.

Amaryllis sighed and leaned her elbow upon the door, pushing herself up to look out the window. It had been a long, dreary winter. When it snowed, it either turned to slush or didn't pack together well. She hadn't made a snowman since last winter, and Akasha had refused to help her try. It has rained that morning too, so whatever snow they had gotten overnight was ruined by the ice that crusted over. Thanks to the ice, they hadn't had school that day, but the roads seemed to be cleared already. Pennsylvania winters were something to be coveted, she thought. In how many other states did kids get so many days off school?

They lived in a decently sized town outside Pittsburgh, far enough away that they weren't bothered by the influx of Steelers fans in the fall, but close enough that they could always smell the smoke from the factories.

"Mom, can you turn on the heat?" Akasha asked, rubbing her hands together to try and warm them. "It's freezing in here."

"It only takes ten minutes to get to the restaurant, Kash, and it's already been five. Just wait."

She scowled and put her feet up on the back of the chair, turning her music up louder than Amaryllis ever thought it could go. She was surprised her sister's eardrums hadn't exploded yet. That's what her dad said would happen when you listened to loud rock music.

As they approached the downward slope of the hill towards the bridge crossing the river, her mother cursed, "Shit," and pressed slowly on the brakes, coasting down the road as slowly as she could. The sky had darkened early, as it always seemed to, and so by six o'clock it was pitch black, save for the street lights. Her mother cursed again. "Hell, it was warm enough this afternoon to melt the ice and I know for a fact that PennDOT came through here earlier with salt. It shouldn't be this slippery."

Amaryllis gripped the belt across her chest tightly and tried to keep her eyes away from the windshield. Her mother looked back quickly at her through the mirror and smiled. "Don't worry, Lis. Mama's got this. I've driven enough winters in this town."

When they finally got to the bottom all three breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. Mom sped up slowly and began to cross over the bridge. Amaryllis had always hated bridges. Ever since she was little, well, littler, she'd had horrible nightmares about crashing into the guardrail and falling into the Susquehanna, drowning. So, she hated bridges, and especially this one in particular. The railing was short and while it looked like strong metal, it wasn't enough to appease her worry.

"See? Mama got it. We're fine, right?" She flashed a wink at Amaryllis who smiled back nervously, still holding tightly onto her seatbelt. She stared straight ahead through the windshield to the end of the road, where she could see the bridge meeting land. Just one minute, and they'd be across. Her mother noticed how tense she was and started talking, trying to distract Amaryllis. "Now, what do you want for dessert? Maybe we can all get a slice of cheesecake with the strawberry topping? I know how much you love —"

It all happened so suddenly that there was no time to react before they went flying.

Amaryllis had always been led to believe that in an accident, everything happened in slow motion, like in the movies. Every action in the scene meant something, like the person had had enough time to think things through before they moved, ultimately saving everyone. But it was nothing like she had thought.

One moment her mother was talking, glancing at her through the mirror, grinning while she talked about cheesecake of all things while Akasha had been bobbing her head to the sound of drums, mouthing the lyrics to one of her favorite songs, when they were hit from behind. The car spun, round and round and round, sliding with a distinct lack of sound across icy pavement until it slammed right into the railing, which broke just as easily as Amaryllis had always feared it would.

They sat precariously on the edge for a split second, not long enough to catch their breath or for the sisters to realize their mother was unconscious and bleeding from a gash across her face from where her face had met the steering wheel. The airbags hadn't activated.

And just like her nightmares, they slid forward with a screech, taking air for a moment before the car landed in the freezing waters of the river. Akasha's phone had gone flying across to the center console, blaring heavy metal. Their mother was slumped against the steering wheel, unmoving.

It was a long, tense moment before either girls could move. Water had already begun seeping in.

"Shit shit shit," Akasha whispered and attempted to unbuckle herself with trembling fingers. She missed a few times before it finally came free and she immediately dove forward towards the front, shaking the mother's shoulder. She didn't react. "Mom? MOM? Oh fuck oh shit, oh my god,"

Amaryllis hadn't moved an inch. Her gaze was stuck to the floor in the front where murky waters had already begun seeping in, knuckles white as she gripped her seatbelt even harder.

"Lis, unbuckle yourself and open the door," her jaw was shaking, lips quivering, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "AMARYLLIS! Move!"

With shockingly steady hands, she unbuckled herself and reached for the door, pulling hard on the handle.

It wouldn't budge.

"Kash," she cried. The car was moving ever so slowly, coasting down the river with the current. "Kash, it won't open."

"Push the lock button." Akasha was busy trying to lift her mom up and out of the seat, jostling the car so much that it began to sink that much faster. "Fuck, fuck, fuck,"

Amaryllis pushed the button and tried again. Still, the door didn't open. "Akasha, the door won't open."

"God damn it," she hissed and let go, pulling the handle over and over until the realization hit her. "Driver's side lock. Mom locked it when we got in."

She pulled their mother harder than before, ripping the sleeve of her coat in the process. But she was just one teenage girl, and Amaryllis was just a child. There was no way they could lift a grown woman out and into the backseat, then into the water and attempt to swim to shore while keeping their heads above the water. Amaryllis could see understanding cross her sister's face and she let go of their mother, instead leaning across her to try and reach the driver's lock. Water streamed in steadily through the cracks in the door, and the car began to tip forward. Sinking.

"Shit, I can't get to it," she yelled, stretching her arm towards the front door as far as she could. Their mother was too much in the way, she had to be moved first. "I've got to break the window. I've got to try."

She sat back into her seat and took a deep breath. Akasha closed her eyes and slammed her elbow into the glass as hard as she could, but all it did was rock the car and cause her to scream in pain. "Again, again, I can do it again,"

"L-Let me try, I can try."

"Keep trying the lock and try to wake mom up." She slammed her elbow into the glass again. The water was licking at their ankles, taunting.

"Mom," Amaryllis punched her mom's arm as hard as she could, but nothing happened. She didn't sit up or groan or yell at her for hitting her mother. She did nothing at all. "MOM!" Amaryllis kept pulling at the door handle, shoving her skinny little body against the door in the hopes that it would break open.

"FUCK!" Akasha screamed, sobbing, bashing her elbow against the glass one, two, three, four times, but all it did was bruise. "No, please, no. We have to get out."

"Try the other door," Amaryllis said with a trembling voice, half-heartedly shaking their mother's arm. "Kash, I think mom is dead. I think she's dead."

"Don't say that, don't." She begged, stretching her arm through the space between the passenger's seat to the door handle, but it was locked too, like she knew it would be. "No no no!"

The car tipped forward further, and water began to spill in from the back doors, covering half of the windows. Amaryllis could see flashing lights from the bridge, but they quickly disappeared, and everything went pitch black.

She was soaked up to her chest. Her hair was wet, sticking to her clammy cheeks, and her jaw was shaking. "Kasha?"

Her older sister's fingers found hers and pulled her close, hugging Amaryllis against her chest. She could feel Akasha's heartbeat against her chin. "Yeah, Lizzy-bear?"

She pressed her face against Akasha's shirt and wailed. "I-I'm scared!"

"Didn't you see the lights? They're coming for us." She reassured Amaryllis, running a comforting hand lightly over her damp hair. "It's okay. We'll be okay."

"Akasha, I love you." Fat hot tears slid down her cheeks to her chin, dropping off into the water, which had risen to her shoulders.

"I love you too, Lis. Even when you wiped your grubby hands on my bed."

She giggled, a bit hysterical, and pushed her face harder against Akasha's collarbone. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine, I like your dirty little face. You're my favorite sister." Akasha pressed a kiss against her hair with quivering lips.

"I'm your only sister."

"Exactly."

It had reached her chin already. Amaryllis lifted her head up and tried to breathe what little air they had left.

They held each other for what seemed like an eternity but was likely only a minute or so. Amaryllis spared a thought for their mother before she realized just how high the water had gotten, and how they were not both struggling to keep their mouths above it. It wouldn't be long now.

Amaryllis scrambled to grasp her sister's hand again, grip unyielding even though it hurt.

When the water finally overtook them and they began to panic, they didn't let go. When Akasha seemed to float, and her lungs burned hotter than a fire, Amaryllis still didn't let go.

The last thing she remembered as she finally took a breath and water entered her lungs, turning them to ice, was the feeling of losing her grip on her sister and her consciousness, like sand slipping through loose fingers.

There were trees above her. A thick green canopy, blocking out a majority of sun. Birds sang from the trees, too loud, like screeching, and Amaryllis clapped her hands over her aching ears. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, as if she had been running up a long flight of stairs. With a start, and a stick poking her bottom uncomfortably, she realized where she was.

It was a forest, obviously, full of tall trees of a size she had never seen before. She sat up, dazed, and blinked away fuzzy tendrils of sleep, rubbing at her eyes with balled fists. The ground was covered in a thick blanket of grass and moss that bounced a bit under her feet when she stood.

Naked feet. Naked legs. Naked… what had happened to her clothes?

Her body was streaked with dirt, as if she had been dragged through mud, and she hurried to cover herself though there seemed to be no one around. She began walking, looking around in a stupor but the forest seemed neverending, and she began to panic.

"Akasha?" She called out, stumbling over a thick root that seemed to be reaching out towards her. Amaryllis stopped to stare a moment but it didn't move, and she knew it to be a trick of her mind. She was afraid. "Mom?" She yelled again, cupping her shaking hands over her mouth. She could taste dirt on her tongue, the crunch of soil between her teeth. Her tongue was dry. "Dad? Mom! Akasha! Dad! Someone!"

The forest was silent around her. Even the birds had stopped singing.

She whirled around, searching, screaming, crying, but the woods stayed silent save for the soft crunch of her step. Amaryllis took off into a run, dashing in and out and around the mighty trees but all they did was drop leaves and shake their limbs. She pushed herself harder, screaming "Mom! Dad! Kash! Akasha!" as she ran, tearing through the brush when suddenly a root tripped her up and she fell, scraping her knee along its rough bark.

Amaryllis laid in the dirt, trying to catch her breath, when she finally noticed how much her feet hurt. She sat up to look at them and saw blood smeared across her toes, her soles torn up and oozing, and the nail of her big toe split down the middle, dirty from where it had made contact with the root. The pain was nothing compared to the hollow feeling in her chest and the hopelessness that came with it.

Mom was dead. She knew that. So was Akasha. And she should have been, too.

So where was she?

It couldn't have been heaven, no, it was too real: the bark of the tree too rough against her skin, the moss too spongy under her feet. It was real. How had she made it into a forest?

Amaryllis dropped her head into her hands and sobbed, unaware of the snot dripping from her nose, mixing with the dirt spread around her face. If she hadn't died, then she was going to. Stuck in a forest, all alone, with no one around to save her. Just like before.

A light tap at her shoulder had her sitting up straight, head springing up in surprise. "Mom!"

She pulled her legs and arms in tighter around her to cover her body when her blurry green eyes met another's. A woman's.

Amaryllis froze for a moment, terrified into still silence. The woman leaned closer. Her long white hair fell forward across her shoulders to the front of the strangest shirt Amaryllis had ever seen. It looked like it had been cut from a burlap sack, ends frayed, but the color was a muted red instead of tan. She wore a short sleeved cardigan over it, off-white embroidered in gold, with pants to match. It wasn't her choice of clothing, though, that surprised Amaryllis the most. No, it was her eyes, wide and ethereal, a brighter blue than the sky in spring, and her ears, which elongated at the tip, pointing upwards.

She burst into tears again, chest heaving with the force of her emotion. Gentle hands caressed her arms, pulling bits of debris from her matted brown hair. When her crying didn't seem it would end, the women pulled her closer and into her arms, shushing her as she rocked her gently back and forth, attempting to soothe her like a mother would. Like her mother would.

"Oh, da'len. Ga te'son, everything is alright. Do not fret. I will help you."

A/N: If you enjoyed this, please leave a review! Let me know what you liked and what you would like to see! :) Thank you for reading.