Crossed - The Karma Crusades (A Wattpad Featured Story)

CROSSED - Chapter 17

From the soft plush carpet of her bedroom floor, Bette seemed to float to the bed. She was surprised at the softness below her. Gone was the hard cool plastic chair. Bette blinked her eyes again and looked around. It was her room.

Her real room.

Familiar.

Her things surrounding her.

The sense of home rushed back into Bette. Her knowledge of her self-identity penetrated deeply through her entire being as she reconnected with her body. Bette was back. She was no longer her, Lana Fier. And she could now be herself. In her life.

She stood up, cautiously, to look at her reflection in the mirror. As her eyes met the face she'd always known a sense of relief came over her. She really was back. Her body. Her hands. Her face.

Bette wondered what awaited Lana. Her secrets were exposed. Her roommate Susan knew the truth. Maxwell knew where to find her. He might have already gotten Lana. Either way, she wouldn't be able to escape and would have to deal with whatever happened five years before.

Bette hoped she'd do it the right way. With sadness she knew, from her brief glimpse into who Lana Fier was, Lana would choose otherwise. But that was there, not here. And Bette was here.

She was home! Her part of the ordeal was over. And then she thought of Susan. Susan, who had helped her through the ordeal. And now she was now back in the dorm with the girl who was willing to let Bette die to keep her secret. Or was Susan still in the closet with that maniac on the outside!?

Bette was home but she still wasn't done. She found her phone near the pillow on the bed and scrolled through a dozen missed calls from friends to find Susan's number and call her back. After a few rings, a scared voice answered in a hushed whisper.

"Hello?"

"Susan. It's me. It's Bette Locke. I'm back in my body. I'm calling the cops to come to the dorm. Just hold on. I'm going to use three-way so don't hang up. It's going to be okay."

"Thank you. I called but they couldn't hear me or get my location. Can't talk," said Susan who stopped speaking so Maxwell wouldn't come in.

As Bette waited on the line with Susan, she heard the sirens in the background. Moments later Bette heard Maxwell yell "She killed him. She killed my brother!"

Susan was again banging on the closet door. Bette could hear the clanging of the chair being moved and then the screeching of the closet door opening.

"She did kill his brother. I don't know what happened but she did. But I believe this man came here to get her. And Mr. Jenkins needs help. I just want out of here."

Bette heard her strong new friend Susan break down as an officer led her away from the madness. The phone went silent.

The plush bean bag chair looked inviting. It had always been her favorite place to sit in her room. She let herself sink into it so she could take it all in. After a moment of letting the malleable chair mold with her, a crawling sensation overcame Bette and she shot up from the chair.

Lana Fier had been here. In this room. With her things.

It felt tainted, like Lana's residue was left all over everything. But this was Bette's life and she intended to keep it.

Bette stood up and felt the carpet, her carpet, under her bare feet. She opened the bedroom door and stuck her head out. "I'm back!" she yelled out the door and her voiced seemed to echo through the house reverberating off the walls.

"Where'd you go?" Rebecca yelled upstairs confused.

Bette quickly thought about all that had happened. Lana hadn't gone to school that day. And Bette was still in the orange pajamas she'd put on the night before. Her mom had no idea what had taken place.

"Nowhere. I guess I must've just been dreaming."

"Well come on down and eat something. You must be starving."

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