She peeled it carefully, head bowed in concentration, then held a segment to my lips. "Stop overthinking. Eat something. We've still got over an hour before we land."
I stared at the tangerine she was offering, and my hands went still.
In my previous life, this was the exact moment I'd gotten up to use the restroom because I couldn't hold it any longer. When I came back, Amy was gone.
All that remained was this peeled tangerine.
Right now, the pressure in my bladder was building again. But there was no way I was leaving this seat.
I ate a segment and held on to her hand like a vice.
"From this moment on, you don't leave my sight. Not even one step."
Amy laughed softly, shaking her head. "Okay, okay. I won't go anywhere."
The words had barely left her mouth when the plane lurched violently.
"Attention, passengers. We are experiencing severe turbulence due to strong air currents. Please fasten your seatbelts, grip your armrests, and remain seated."
The announcement blared through the speakers, and the shaking only grew worse. The cabin lights began to flicker—strobing, stuttering—then cut out entirely.
Total darkness.
Every passenger clung to their armrests, frozen, not daring to move.
Two seconds passed.
The lights snapped back on. The plane steadied.
My heart was still hammering. My first instinct was to grab the arm beside me.
My hand closed around nothing.
I whipped my head to the left.
Amy's seat was empty.
She was gone.
She'd been holding my hand just seconds ago.
How could she vanish in the span of a single blink?
Sheer panic swallowed me whole. I tore at my seatbelt like a man possessed, lurching to my feet, head whipping in every direction.
The seats. The aisle. The lavatories. I even dropped to my knees and checked beneath the rows.
Nothing.
She was nowhere.
Amy had vanished again.
"Flight attendant! Flight attendant!"
My voice cracked with desperation. Melissa rushed over immediately. "What's wrong?"
I jabbed a finger at Amy's seat, my voice shaking.
"My girlfriend is gone!"
"She was right here when the turbulence hit, and then the lights went out and she just disappeared!"
Melissa frowned, glancing at the empty seat beside mine.
"Sir, are you sure you're not mistaken?" She tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. "We only saw you board alone. We never saw any girlfriend."
Again.
That same blank, bewildered expression.
That same word-for-word answer.