Souls Entwined Through Time

Determined to distract her sister's mind and lighten the mood, Dixie decided to tell her about the strange old lady she'd encountered at the yard sale and the book she'd gotten for free.

Flipping the nameless and authorless novel in her hands, Bonnie pursed her lips. "Wow, yeah, that's really weird. So seeing this symbol makes us special? Clearly she was deliberately being ambiguous."

"But she knew you had a sister so maybe she truly was a soul reader."

"There's no such thing, B."

Bonnie frowned. "Don't start again with that ridiculous pet name."

"I can't help it. It sounds so cute. Besides, it was mom who came up with it." Dixie replied with a sad smile. Suddenly her heart felt heavy. Gosh, she missed her mother so much.

Bonnie offered a sad smile as well. "It was cute when she said it because when she gave it to me, I was still a carefree child. I did not know the meaning of burden and grief until we lost her."

Dixie cleared the throat and took her book back. Why were they back to a depressing topic? "So, I'll read this book to you. According to the old lady, it's tantalizing enough to get lost in."

Bonnie lied down and closed her eyes. "Make sure you get into the persona of each character."

Dixie smirked and began her narration:

"Once upon a time, there was a girl living in a happy family of four. She was the daughter of a Grand Duke and born into the powerful Del Montague family. She had a doting mother, an affectionate father and a very protective older brother. Named after her great grandmother and aunt, Felicia Viviane Del Montague was a stunning beauty with flaming red hair, emerald eyes, high cheekbones and snow white skin. Up until age 14, she was a wild child whom everyone adored. She loved to study, loved to get praised, loved to ask questions about everything and loved to run around her father's enormous estate. She was very strong willed and believed that everyone was her friend.

Unfortunately, her life took a turn for the worse when her mother died and she was unfairly blamed for it...."

The story was a heartbreaking one and both sisters were very sullen when they reached the end. There was almost 15 minutes of dead silence.

"Damn...well, that was just depressing. Interesting, but...I was hoping to cheer you up, B...sorry. That was just dark and depressing."

Bonnie folded her arms. "I thought it was going to turn around. I thought Felicia was going to change things for the better."

"Yeah, so did I." Dixie replied. "I was rooting for the female lead, but...I mean, it was kind of her own fault. She did nothing but be a doormat. It's not surprising she got killed off."

"That woman Helena was awful. She is like the embodiment of an evil step-sister." Bonnie growled. The story had an intense plot and was very captivating. Naturally, she had gotten emotionally invested and was now fuming at the injustice.

Dixie felt the same way. "She was spoiled rotten. Makes sense she acted the way she did. Her and her mother wanted Felicia dead from the get go. And her father and brother were so blind. She was suffering so much. Heck, she was starving away in confinement and yet they just chose to see her as the abuser instead."

"But all that stuff Helena accused her of is so childish. Felicia could have easily stood her ground." Bonnie ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "She grew silent anytime someone raised their voice at her. It just made her look guilty."

"Yeah, and her father acted just like ours. Her brother too, but I think he was just following his father's lead." Dixie looked at her wristwatch. "I wasn't expecting the story to be so long."

Though the book appeared thin, it was actually 300 pages long. They took turns closing and opening it to understand how 300 pages could be pressed together so tightly. They also noticed that the book would be cold when closed but suddenly felt warm when open.

Bonnie cried out in shock when she saw the infinity symbol glowing. However, when Dixie looked there was nothing. It didn't glow again. But it did get very hot. Enough for her to drop it.

There was definitely something funky going on.

Spooked by the paranormal and disgusted by the tale, Dixie decided to throw the book directly into the trashcan before turning off the lights and joining her sister on the bed.

Bonnie was scared and insisted the glow was real.

Dixie believed her, but didn't know what to make of it. She let out a yawn. "Maybe there was some truth to that old woman's words..."

Held in each others warm embrace, their initial fear abated enough for them to fall into a deep sleep.

Unsurprisingly, they both dreamt about the book.

They saw so many weird things. Places, people, voices, various shades of pain, actions of the greedy and a longing for something...for someplace they felt they needed to be.

What a strange tale. Were the parallels purely coincidental?