gone in the morning after a good night’s sleep.”
“Thank you, Claire.” I reach out to hug her,
surprising both us. After a couple seconds, her arms wrap around me
and she hugs me back.
Facing Colton and David, I ask, “Do you know
who those men were? Why did they try to kidnap me?”
The two brothers glance at each other, David
speaks first, “Well they were probably working for Dravin Kione,
he’s kind of the ring-leader for the Gadramicks; A.K.A the bad
guys. They all want power and control and don’t care about who they
hurt in the process. They think that you are their token to getting
that.”
“Oh….is that all?”
Ten minutes later, when I finally wrap my
mind around what they are telling me, I decide that I need a
break.
“Colton, is my bag still in your car?”
“Yeah, I’ll go get it for you. Be right
back.” I walk to the living room, because that is really the only
room I actually know how to get to, and sit on the couch. David
follows me in there and sits across from me.
“You okay?”
Ignoring his question, I ask, “Do you think
you could train me? Just some basic self defense moves, so I know
what to do if I’m ever in a similar situation again.”
“Umm…” he runs his hand through his hair,
“Yeah, I guess I could do that.”
“What could you do?” Colton, who had just
walked back into the room, hands me my bag.
“Ryanne wants to learn self-defense. I think
it would be a good idea.”
“I agree.”
I reach into my bag and grab out my notebook.
Pulling my knees under me, I place the notebook on my legs. Turning
it open to a blank page, I begin to draw. I tune out the brothers
in front of me as I start to sketch the grassy field that I dreamt
about once. I can remember the details as if I had actually been
there. The tall trees with the thick trunks; the rough textured
bark; the way the trees form a circle, leaving a large open field
in the center. Uncut grass covers the area with random wild flowers
dispersed throughout. Butterflies of all different colors fly
around. I remember everything.
The room around me has gotten really quiet.
“You’re really good at that. Can I see?” Before I have a chance to
reply, Colton grabs the notebook out of my hands and flips to the
front page.
“I really don’t like people looking…at…my
drawings.”
He disregards me and continues flipping
through the notebook, nodding occasionally, until he reaches the
flamed one—the one he had briefly seen at school. He looks at the
page for a second and then looks at me, his eyes landing on my
pendent. “This one looks like the necklace you’re wearing right
now.”
I pick up my pendent. “That’s actually a
drawing of a tattoo I saw on someone once. I thought it looked
really interesting.” I pause, glance down at the flame and
continue, “This necklace was actually his.”
“Whose?” asks Colton.
“His name was Liam, is Liam. I…uh…met him in
a dream, I think.” I feel my face turning red again. I know I sound
crazy, but there is no other way to explain it.
“In a dream?” asks David incredulously.
“Well…kind of. I was awake when it
happened.”
“What do you mean, when it happened?”
“Ok, but I’ll warn you; this is going to
sound crazy. I fell through my bedroom wall and landed in a
different world, I guess. I don’t know. Liam was there and wouldn’t
tell me anything. He kept saying ‘You are not supposed to be here.
This isn’t your world.’ Then we got attacked by something called a
gorgoth and later a dragon like thing. I got stabbed by its spiked
tail and woke up in my bed after dying in the field. My stomach
hurt whenever I moved and I found this necklace on my pillow. I’ve
worn it ever since.”
They both stare at me like I have three
heads. Before either of them can say anything, Claire walks back
into the room.
“Ryanne, I would like to work on controlling
the thoughts, if that is alright with you.”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”