DR. LORENNE DENCH could be gay.

Everything that she had done yesterday was beginning to become clearer; the little subtle things that I had written off as her being friendly. The revelation was like an indicator on a car; blinking consistently. I couldn't seem to digest it when we then drove to the ferry that would take us across to Isla Cozumel.

The hopeful part of me, ironically, had become allergic to all forms of interaction with Lorenne, and caused to me to avoid finding myself in any situation where we had to exchange more than a short sentence.

She began to realise that I was avoiding her, and I could barely look at her crestfallen face. I had no idea what she might be thinking. Maybe she would think that she had been incorrect, that I wasn't in fact into women, and that she had ruined whatever we had.

Just as I had been afraid of doing.

But if she began to see me as the awkward, discouraged loner that I was, I wouldn't blame her for revoking her interest in me.

I shivered as I stood, leaning on the railing of the ferry.

Interest in me. Interest in me.

No one had ever had any interest in me —apart from Valdez Lors, and had actually been very clear about his intention being only to cross me off of a checklist. Thankfully my queerness gave me the confidence to shut him down...the first time.

He didn't know that I wasn't attracted to men, which was why he kept on trying.

"Maya," his voice suddenly said beside me.

I jumped and clutched at my chest, startled. "God, Valdez, don't sneak up on me."

"Sorry," he apologised, leaning against the railing with me. "I guess you really are pissy. What happened this morning? You were fine. Now Lorenne is complaining that you're trying very hard to ignore her."

I pressed my lips into a line and hung my head. "I'm not doing it maliciously."

"But you're ignoring her on purpose?"

"I'm just working through something, okay?" I clipped firmly. "And frankly, it's not any of your business. Stay out of it —you wouldn't understand."

Valdez sighed. "I'm only trying to help."

I massaged my temples and breathed deeply. "I don't think that there's anything that you can do."

I turned away from him. He then took the hint and I heard his footsteps retreating. I let out a breath and glanced out at the horizon. I wanted to talk to Lorenne —but I wouldn't let myself. Guilt flooded my stomach. I wasn't sure if I had been too harsh with Valdez as well.

The sensation of something sliding along my leg suddenly made me jump. I looked down —and saw the jade snake wrapping rapidly around my shin.

The snake had never materialised so close to me before, in direct contact with me, but I knew that if it got its fangs into me, it would be excruciatingly real.

Panic and fear paralysed my reflexes to kick it off. Smoke then curled up around my ankles with it, rising faster than usual. I opened my mouth to scream, but a gargled yelp and air bubbles came out instead.

The deck vanished beneath my feet, and I suddenly fell, through what felt like water. But I had no buoyancy —I sunk fast like a stone into distorted and dark murky depths. I soon couldn't see anything, even my own hand in front of my face.

My lungs burned.

I could drown here, I realised. The gods must have no concept of mortality.

A sudden green-blue light then illuminated the abyss below me. I flipped around to start sinking head-first towards the light, hoping for some explanation. I squinted, making out a sandy seabed and tall dark tangling seaweed. My descent then slowed, and I was not quick enough to swim away from the seaweed as it then grabbed at my ankles and held me where I floundered.

Air bubbles bubbled up into the darkness above me.

Then a distorted female voice said, "Child."

I turned my head to meet the glowing topaz eyes of a giant woman dressed in flowing azure and emerald and ruby and gold. Her skin was a beautiful glowing cocoa, and her head was bedecked with a large headdress which was lined with amaranth seeds. In one of her golden hands, she held out a shard of bone.

"...Been here...before," she continued in the same ancient dialect as Tezcatlipoca had. "Fate...your curse."

Those two words. Your curse.

Did she know about what had been happening to me? My eyes widened as my mouth unwisely opened and I lost more air —before I clamped it shut again. I wished that I could ask her what she meant.

"All bones," she clipped. "...dust...return to dust. But you...her...no end. You...come again."

I frowned at the mix of words, my brain attempting to make something coherent of them, but with its oxygen deprivation I couldn't grasp anything.

My eyes began to lid, my senses shutting down.

The woman frowned as consciousness continued to slip away from me. And the last thing that she said to me was, "Remember...time before. Another...life."

Everything was black for a moment, and I felt nothing. Then flickers of light flashed in the corners of my vision. The light turned to brief images: fire and ash filled the sky, and faint screams echoed in my ears. I was enveloped by heat, and I was running somewhere.

My hand was holding someone else's. All I caught was a flurry of blonde hair and a white silk skirt.

The images blurred out of focus as her voice screamed at me, and an overwhelming heavy sensation gripped my body. I began to sink again, through what felt like oil. And then my eyelids fluttered closed.

Time might have passed, but I couldn't tell. And then, halting my descent, "...Maya!"

I gasped and sat bolt upright, light flooding my eyes. I doubled up and coughed up water, though my lungs then felt as dry as my throat. I rubbed my neck uncertainly as I glanced around to find a frantic Valdez knelt beside me, his hair unbound and whipping in the breeze.

"Maya," he breathed, throwing his arms around my shoulders. "Are you all right?"

I looked downwards. I was completely dry.

"...Maybe?" I murmured.

The click of a tongue caught my attention. Lorenne Dench was looking on from around the corner. My heart skipped a beat. Guilt. Even from this distance, I could see the emptiness in her eyes. I gave her a look of confusion, and she pressed her lips together as shook her head in response. "Don't say that," she rasped, before turning on her heel and marching off.

Valdez put a hand on my shoulder. "She was terrified when you collapsed and stopped breathing."

I frowned. "How long was I out?"

"Longer than usual," he murmured. "Three minutes."

I started. It was normally mere seconds, if that long at all. "No way..." I whispered.

"Yes way. I suggest that you go and comfort her," Valdez said, nodding in the direction that Lorenne had left. "If you explain, maybe she'll calm down."

My fingers curled against the deck. "I can't," I said pathetically. "I want to, but I don't think that I can face her right now. I...don't want to cause her stress."

"She's already stressing," Valdez suddenly said firmly. I blinked at him, his dark eyes set and more serious than I had ever seen them. "Telling her will help."

I looked down into my lap. "She...already knows," I admitted. "About the visions. I had one right in front of her when we were out the other evening."

"Really?" he said, rather surprised. "How did she take it?"

"I don't know if she completely believes me," I sighed. "Maybe she was so worried this time because of the oddity. Maybe me being unconscious for that long started proving my case. It made it real."

It was starting to feel awfully fucking real to me too.

These visions were suddenly life threatening. This wasn't about smoke and dead things anymore. Gods were trying to get my attention. Now I had to listen.