Before I could protest, Diana stepped forward. She hooked her arm through mine, leaning in with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Sister-in-law, come here. I have something to tell you."
Déjà vu hit like a nightmare.
In my previous life, Diana used a "heart-to-heart" to trick me into a room, locking me away for nearly an hour. When I emerged, I only saw children throwing snowballs at a snowman—unaware my son had already stopped breathing inside that red suit.
I violently shook off her hand and marched toward the mascot.
I didn't make it two steps. Aunt Brenda and two other relatives swarmed me, forming a human wall.
"Oh my, what's wrong with you?" Brenda's massive frame blocked my path, her face beaming with fake warmth. "Diana just wants to talk. Why act like this?"
"It's rare for the whole family to be together," Cousin Linda chimed in, grabbing my arm in a vice grip. "Come inside. It's freezing."
They pushed me toward the house, their collective weight a barrier. I struggled, twisted, but against three women, I was helpless.
I wrenched my head back. The children had already surrounded the mascot.
"Ride the horse! Ride the horse!"