Chapter 27: Chapter 27
Taking a deep breath, I magic my hair back to the short brown it had been, and my eyes back to the blue I loved so much. I knock on the door. When no one answers, I ring the doorbell, and when I don't get a response, I knock harder and ring more. I get so excited to be home, I forget about proper courtesy with knocking on doors in the middle of the night. Eventually, a light flicks on in the hall and the locks click and my dad answers, looking like he just got out of bed.
I smile, weary. "Heya, grandpa." I say, and his eyes widen and he stares at me for a minute, not even snapping out of it at the sound of mom's voice.
"Honey? Who is it?" She opens the door and her mouth falls open at the sight of me.
"Hey, mom." I say, and she runs around my dad and wraps her arms around me in a death grip. I return the hug, and dad piles on the hug, and we sink down on the porch, one big sobbing heap of hug.
"I knew it wasn't you at the morgue. I knew it. I knew it." My mom chants, and I hug her tighter. "The police wanted to say it was you, but the scar on your elbow wasn't there, and I knew-" She sobs onto my shoulder, and I rub her back.
"It's ok, mom, I'm home now. I'm back, I'm safe. I'm here to stay." I promise her, and dad hugs harder.
We all eventually make it inside, and they insist that I sleep with them, wet clothes and all. We lay in their bed, holding onto each other, and I begin feeling safe, begin feeling loved, for the first time in almost a year.
The next morning is full of more hugs and pancakes. They don't let me be by myself at all, and I understand their fear. I'm afraid I will disappear back to the mess I had come from. I'm afraid the giants will come and-
The memory of the other parents' bodies floods my head, and I have to hold onto my mom's hand to prove that I'm not dreaming, that this isn't an illusion, it isn't a fantasy. After breakfast, they call family and friends, they call everyone they can think of, and in a matter of an hour, everyone is at our home, hugging me and welcoming me back. Even Faith shows up, tears running down her face. I hold her in a tight embrace, promising to explain things to her later. She looks at me confused.
"I'm about to tell a huge lie, but I'll give you the truth of what happened later." I whisper, hugging her harder. She nods at me, and I turn to my family. They want to know where I've been all this time, but I have no idea what to say.
I decide to spin them a tale of how my car had broken down on the side of the road, and how a kind woman had pulled up and offered to give me a lift home, but how it had been dark and I wasn't able to see what her face looked like, and just that her car looked to be a dark color.
I speak of someone in the back seat of her van restraining me with one arm and holding a cloth to my mouth with the other. I tell them about how when I woke, I was zip-tied to a bed, and I broke free of the ties using a bobby pin I had in my hair. How I fought my way out of the basement I was held in, how I ran away from the place and walked along a road until I found a small gas station and gotten directions from a nice old man.
Supposedly I had been taken to Montana, and hitch-hiked down through Wyoming, accidentally into Idaho, then down into Utah where I had chosen the wrong car to climb into. Once again I had found myself in trouble, and this time I had twisted the wrists that tried to restrain me, and jumped out of the car. I wondered around until I found my way into Colorado, then up through Nebraska and all the way back to where the guy had found me last night.
Eventually, the police come and want to hear the story, too. I give them the same story, trying to stick to the original script.
"Tell me about the woman who gave you the ride." Says a young, female officer. Shrugging, I say, "I can't tell you much of anything about her. Her face was in shadow and I wasn't awake long enough to see."
The officers jot down notes and another asks, "What about the assailants? Do you remember what they looked like?" I shake my head.
"I was too busy fighting for my life, I didn't really have time to memorize faces." I respond. They scratch down more notes.
"And the old man that helped you?" The female officer asks, and I think for a moment.
"He was balding, really nice. He had a mustache and a kind smile." They write more.
"Anything else? You've been gone for close to a year." She reminds me, and I nod.
"Once again I had gotten into the wrong car, and this time the guy was dressed as Santa. I was able to get out and found my way to a diner where a waitress had taken pity on me. I started getting afraid of cars, and I didn't know who to trust. I was afraid that an officer could just turn out to be another kidnapper in disguise. I guess I wasn't thinking straight." Mom's hand squeezes mine, and I squeeze back.
"And why didn't you call home?" The other officer asks, and I sniffle.
"I was afraid that the people who had taken me originally would come back for me, and if I got home then they would come after me sooner. I was afraid they would hurt mom and dad if I had told them I was alive, I was afraid."
Maybe this idea wasn't a great idea after all.
After a few more hours of questioning, the officers leave, satisfied with my arrival and story.
After the officers leave, we party. We feast on Wortmal cheese platters and Shimmy Sean's sandwiches and sweet tea. When the word spreads that I'm back, more people come. People I've never met before come over and welcome me home. After a while of partying, I pull Faith aside into my room. Looking around, the room is exactly the way I left it, and the exact way I had left the other room. Memories flood back into my head and fear clenches my heart. What if the giants return? What if I return to that bizarro world, never to return?
"What did you want to tell me?" Faith's voice snaps me back to reality, back to where frost giants don't exist, back to where everything is fine.
I close and lock my door, then drop my voice down to a whisper as I walk over to my bed. "The story was bunk, as you know" She nods.
"The truth of where I've been is bonkers. I was transported to an alternate universe." She looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Oh my god, you were on a drug trip." She whispers, and I give her a playful shove.
"No! Here, I'll prove it." I stand in front of her, and hold out my hand. Focusing, I call forward a ball of flame. At first, nothing happens, but the air right above my palm begins to spark and then a brilliant blue flame appears, hovering above the palm of my hand. Faith's eyes widen and her mouth flops open.
"Turns out, I have powers." I whisper, flicking my wrist to dissipate the flames.
She sits in shock for a moment, and I place a hand on her shoulder.
"Want me to tell you what happened?" I ask, and she nods mutely. Taking a breath, I launch into the events that lead up to now.
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Lilitu_Darling
Lilitu_Darling Don't forget to get the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep, drink plenty of water, and wash your butt!
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