Last time on Saving Grace: She finished the last piece of the painting and held it up for her to see; however, when she looked across the room the blankets that Piper had wrapped around herself like cocoon were an empty heap on the bed.  

To Grace, it was as if Piper had disappeared into thin air, but to the students on campus, she had never existed at all. Just mentioning her name in passing brought her blank stares and the question of “who?”

Her RA was adamant that Grace had never had a roommate to begin with, and asked her if she was feeling well, recommending that maybe she should go see the nurse — or maybe even the counselor.

Only Alex, Conner and herself knew that that was not the case.

Alex, for whatever reason, wouldn’t talk to her about it. She had tried to bring up the portrait in passing as they walked across campus the other day, but he waved it off as nothing. At this point, he wasn’t even answering his phone.

Which left Connor, who watched her pace the length of her room, from where he sat on her bed.

“She was right there,” Grace explained once again, trying to get it into his head. “She was right there, and then she was gone. I swear, she was right there and I painted her portrait. You have got to believe me!”

“Of course I believe you, Grace.” His response surprised her, for how silent he had been, but his smile threw her off guard. He was sitting there grinning like Christmas had come early. Didn’t he realize that her best friend was missing?

“I told you to paint, after all. I’m surprised that you started so soon, I would have thought it would take more time. Well done.”

She could believe him. The fact that he went as far as praising her.

“What the hell? How could you even say that? She’s gone, Connor, my best friend is gone!”

“She isn’t gone, Grace, she’s a part of you. Don’t you remember what we talked about?” He stood from the bed, taking several steps toward her, pointing at her as he added emphasis to the words.

“None of this is real. You created this world … you need to get us out of it.”

That’s right. She had fallen — no, she had jumped. A part of her urged her to listen to him, to hear him out as he caught her in his gaze. “I don’t understand. Piper was strong and stubborn and … everything that I am not.”

“You’re wrong, Grace,” he murmured with a small smile, chuckling. “You were always stubborn, but by reconnecting with Piper you have found your fire again, your spark.”

“You’ve got to be kidding with me.” Reconnected? As in, they had merged?

“Piper is in your heart now. She is your fire, but you have to keep it burning,” his smile dropped as he glanced toward the door. “A darkness is coming, Grace, and it wants to snuff out your light.”