*Waiting* for the time to pass, however, proved to be difficult. Minutes passed and the knot in her stomach became heavier, and Regina could think of nothing else but the poor deceased bodies in the morgues. She again of her mother and the tedious events of the next day. 

Lastly, she wished she had been born a part of a normal family. One that got a funeral finished in a single day, rather than drawn out and extra complicated. Everything had too many steps, too many witches, and too much pomp and circumstance.  

Regina wouldn’t trade in her magic, but she would trade in the steps, and the million rules her family imposed on themselves. She’d practice instead of following.   

What she actually traded, however, was her stale black dress for a pair of pajamas. She turned off the T.V, put her glass in the sink, and slid in. 

*** 

A woman was screaming. Over and over again her voice rose, cutting through the dust and darkness of the street. Her voice held at its highest octave until she ran out of breath. Her desperate gulp for air was loud, and her scream came again.  Nothing could soothe her. 

Regina wasn’t even sure where the sound was coming from, or what might bring such a reaction. Death? Psychosis? Had the woman lost her child? She looked around, unable to focus on anything. 

A helicopter flew overhead. Its blades cut the air, sending pockets of wind and noise down to the street. The sound sat beside the screaming woman as if they needn’t compete — there was enough space for both of them.   

She couldn’t hear herself think, or even find her heartbeat, but her eyes latched onto the spotlights coming down from the metal bird. They highlighted the street ahead of her as it flew further into the city. It felt like the only reasonable direction she could go; maybe it was heading towards people. 

Maybe someone would know what had happened here, where here was, and could help her get back home.  She didn’t remember leaving. She didn’t remember getting out of bed, but her feet could feel the rough asphalt below her, and the shrapnel of fallen buildings touched her face, her throat, her lungs.  

She was alone and felt unsafe.  She felt too vulnerable to stop and track her steps. 

The helicopter wound out of sight, moving faster than she could keep up with. It got far enough ahead that even the sound drowned out, and it left Regina with the screamer. She couldn’t tell if she was moving towards the woman or away from her, as the sound was directly in her ear.  

Forcing her legs to pound faster, she frantically moved from the road ahead of her to the sky, hoping she could catch up. She was in total darkness, wading in thick mist with too much skin out in the open. A lump formed in her throat, and as she turned away from a looming dead end, it became harder to breathe.  

Panic was flowing through her veins. The bottom of her feet felt shredded. She stopped looking ahead, her eyes were frozen on the starless sky and hoping the helicopter would come back. 

When it did, it lit up the area so bright she had to close her eyes. Her arms shielded her face from it. It was the sun and her retinas seared, seeing orbs even behind her lids. 

When she finally opened them again, the pain was gone, but her panic heightened.  The rest of the street was gone — the rest of the city was gone. There was rubble, and beyond the whir of the helicopter blades was more screaming. Woman and children and men, and Regina lifted her arms, hoping to summon a spell that may wash calm on herself so she could think. 

Nothing came.  

Her heart sank as low as it could go, and at that moment, she knew that it was gone. There was no tracing her steps, no calm, no divining. There was no help coming and nothing she could do. 

Ahead of her was the ocean. An ocean she had never seen before. A smell that seemed so unfamiliar — salt that stung her nose and debris that made it hard to see. The helicopter sat above her head, hovering and reminding her that it wasn’t time to relax. 

There was no time to reminiscence on failed vacation plans. 

As she blinked, the scene in front of her changed, and for the worse. Every single time she blinked, or moved, or breathed, things got worse than they had been before. 

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she just knew that nothing would ever feel normal again. 

The nagging thought became vindicated as the waves in the distance roared to life. They grew higher, and higher, and higher. She could feel the mist and foam wash over the city, and although the screams got louder, she felt some pull of familiarity. The sea called to her. 

Out of the water came a black shape that stretched on forever.  A gigantic monster with too many legs, and far too many eyes. The screams around her came to a crescendo, and several moments later she realized hers had joined them. 

Magic may be gone, but monsters were very real. Her feet were torn and bleeding — her hands were useless — her heart was beating out of her chest. 

Regina knew at that moment that she was staring at her death.