Avie strokes Clara's hair.  She leans her head in close to her sleeping daughter and whispers "I love you, Clara" into her tiny ear.  These words, so simple and so often repeated throughout the eighteen months of her daughter's life, will become the possible made impossible soon.  Marcella has travelled to the pocket realm and has come back to describe it to Avie in order to prepare her for what it truly is.

It is worse than what she expected.

Marcella says that it isn't painful.  In fact, after the initial panic wears off, the effect is rather peaceful.  And, Marcella notes, she came back fully intact, if a bit dizzy.  Avie should take heart in that.  She will be able to visit her daughter every now and then.

Avie cannot take heart, however, not when said heart has been burst apart by sorrow and remorse.  Nothing is truly alive in the Fold.  The Fold connecting all of the realms is only a gateway between lives.  And so, this inflated one of Marcella's creation can only contain a life in transition.  It will keep her in existence, keep her safe, and Marcella swears she will grow at a normal rate despite the fact that she will not need to eat... but she will not be like other human beings. 

Clara will have a growing body sustained by the energy of the realms her pocket realm is layered upon.  She will have her mind, as curious as any other child's.  But she will not be able to breathe.  She will not take air in and out of her lungs.  She will be a being of energy solidified imperfectly into a corporeal form.  And, unless things change drastically in Avie's realm, she will stay that way for the rest of her life, which will stretch on and on until who knows when.  No one exactly knows how long creatures of solidified realm energy live.  Clara will be the first and only one, except when Avie visits her.

Marcella places her arm around Avie's shoulder.  "I tried to speak there but could not.  Without breath, there is no way to create sound."

Reflexively, Avie takes in a deep breath.  The thought of not being able to do so and yet still existing without the need is incomprehensible.  Clara is just beginning to say more and more words, sometimes linking two or three words into simple sentences and phrases.  How will it be for her to be suddenly unable to do so?  Will she give up talking all together or mouth the words soundlessly. 

Avie laughs humorlessly.  What would be the point of her speaking anyways if there's no one there to speak to?

Avie continues to hold her daughter to her as she naps.  She tells her over and over again that she loves her. She says her name, the name Clara's father gave to her.  If there's any kind of solace to be found, it's the fact that Clara carries with her so much of her father, so much more than just her name.  She has his energy, literally.  How can anyone be completely dead if their energy still exists?

Marcella makes her way over to the bed where Avie and Clara are lying.  "It's time."  She's washed her face and has put on a brave front, but Avie knows she has been crying.  The woman is not as cold as Avie once believed her to be.  She has helped Avie when she least deserved it, becoming more of a mother to her than she remembers her own mother being.  "We can't wait any longer."

It's true that they cannot.  They've waited months beyond what they should have waited.  Cascadia is not the same place it was when she brought Oliver to live here just over two years ago.  The anti-other realm militias have gained traction amongst the people.  The suffering of their victims, whether innocent or guilty of other realm crimes, has escalated. 

The authorities' scans are bad enough, but the militias—they come in the middle of the night with no warning.  Marcella knows someone who knows someone who says the hotel has been left un-scanned for far too long.  Avie shutters when she imagines what will become of her daughter at the hands of the crazed and power-hungry militias.

Marcella is right, as she so often has been over the years.  In the past, Avie was most resistant to accept Marcella's guidance, but not anymore.  Avie can no longer afford to let Marcella's advice go unheeded. 

If she is to save her daughter, she must give her up.  Now.

A/N:  Things are starting to come full circle. If you've read Unseen, you'll recognize that many elements of this chapter tie in closely to that story.  See if you can spot them!  Also, if you've wondered at all why this book was named Unheeded, I think this passage spells it out for you!...

Today's dedication is for @OliviaPlaysMC, a fledgling paranormal writer and an avid Unheeded fan who has promised to do what only Marcella has done so far—create a brand new realm.  We can only hope she can use her realm to travel back in time, rescue Oliver and bring him there to live (and naturally, she'll have taken care of that pesky realm sickness problem).  But seriously, I love when my readers take my story in ways only their imaginations can.  Olivia?  Well, she's about as imaginative as they come, and I'm so glad she's decided to read my work! :)

Next up... the FINAL chapter of The Fold, book two!