Free Vaalbara; Visions & Shadows by Michelle Horst Page B

Without thinking, I rose from the bed and saw sparks in front of my eyes. Wobbling, I tried to get to my closet. I needed to get dressed. Thankfully, I managed to get my favorite jacket.
    When his arm went around my waist, he pulled me against his bare chest. I dropped my head in my hands. The dream had upset me much more than I was willing to admit, and I wasn’t able to deal with him. I wasn’t able to deal with his bare chest against my naked back, or the feelings I had for him.
    “Talk to me. What did you dream about? It is important that you tell me,” Ryan stated, confusing me all the more.
    Panic and sadness still surrounded me from the dream. I felt pain from when I fell to the ground. Someone had shot me! I was sure of it - that was why my chest felt like it’d exploded.
    There was also that name, Alchera. Who was she? Who were the other people in my dreams? Who was that man?
    “Aislinn, you need to talk to me!” Ryan shook me hard this time. “Now.”
    “I’m sorry. I’m not sure about…anything.” I tried to turn away but he wouldn’t let me go.
    “Aislinn, I have to know what is happening to you. I am responsible for you.” There was a slight warning in his tone, as if I should not go against him. I wasn’t that stupid. Prince Charming was hiding something, and he needed to come clean.
    “Who are you, Ryan… really ?”
    His hands dropped to his side. 
    I turned on him. “You keep insisting I talk to you. But there is more to your story than mine. Why do you want to know what I was dreaming? Why did you ask if it was a dream?” I was the one asking questions for once, and it felt good being able to finally think coherently in his presence.
    Ryan’s facial expression was blank. “You will not understand everything right now. You need to trust me, Aislinn. I mean you no harm.”
    Normally when people told me to trust them I did exactly the opposite. “You don’t speak like a teenager; there is NO way you’re eighteen. Where are you from? Are you some undercover federal guy? Did you find out about me living here with no identity documents and you’ve come to take me away?”
    Sid, now that really sounded stupid.
    Ryan balled his hands into fists. “I am not here investigating your missing identity. You do not listen when I speak. Do you know I have not once lied to you? Not once! Everything I speak is the absolute truth.” It was Ryan’s turn to move in on me again. “Think back on what I have told you.”
    “ What ?” He was talking in riddles. “The dreams you are currently having are only going to get worse.”
    “What do you know of my… what ?” I rubbed my hands over my face. This whole conversation wasn’t making any sense.
    He sighed. “What I am about to reveal to you might alarm you, but let me first clarify it as best I can before you react.” Reaching out, Ryan pushed the frazzled strands of hair behind my ear. “To really hear me, you need to use that part within you that feels like it never belonged here…in this place…the piece in your soul you know is different from others.”
    “What the hell are you talking about?” I didn’t like this new Ryan. He was turning out to be weirder than me, which was truly impossible.
    He took a deep breath. “Vaalbara is a place. The place I told you about in that bedtime story is very, very real. Your people are awaiting your return. I have been sent to retrieve you, Aislinn.”
    Did he really think I was so stupid that I would believe this crap?
    “I need to take you home, Aislinn. Your parents are waiting to hear of your return.”
    “I…I d-don’t have parents.” My voice was a mere whisper. My body began to shake. “Is this some kind of joke? Because you’ve gone too far. You know I have no family.”
    Ryan shook his head; his voice remained calm and clear. “Have I ever joked with you? You need to take this seriously! Everything that has happened and is happening to you - your mysterious appearance at the