Crossroad: TBB Series Book 2

Part 19

Ryder's POV

"I-I don't understand, how are you here right now?" It was undoubtedly King Calhoun, he appeared weak in appearance,  but he was definitely here.

"We mustn't focus on the trivial as of now, my dear Emory is running out of time, it is your duty to keep her safe from those she calls her parents. They have what she needs..."

My mind was racing, how was I supposed to make sense of this all? "Have you told Ri-Emory any of this?" The name was unfamiliar on my tongue.

"I'm afraid I can no longer reach her, she has succumbed to the depths of the meadow because she is unwilling to see the truth." His voice was low and sad.

"W-what, is she okay? I have to get to her." That didn't sound like Riley, all she wanted was to seek the truth. Something must have gone wrong and it was killing me that I didn't know what.

"No, you must stay and find the heart, it is here...in this realm. Find the heart and it will release Emory should she not discover the truth in time. But you must hurry, as I die, so does the meadow. Even if my daughter doesn't find me, you must bring her home, for her mind will forever been in limbo if she is still there when both the meadow and I are gone." His image was becoming faint, I still had so many questions, where was this heart and what did it have to do with her parents?

"Wait,please...what is this heart? Where is it?" I spoke quickly, as I could see whatever was keeping him here was now bringing him back.

"The necklace I gave her the day I foolishly hid her in this realm. Find it and bring it to her. She will learn the truth about-" He was suddenly gone without a trace of ever being here.

My eyes snapped open and I was in my shower once more, water streaming down my face as I laid with my back against the wall. A sore spot in the back of my head quickly made itself known. I groaned while pressing the tender spot. Had I fallen? 

My brain felt awfully cloudy, there was no way I dreamed all of that. Unless...I had. King Calhoun, like Riley, was a Dreamwalker after all. Everything seemed so real, but had he subconsciously reached out to me? And if so, why had he waited for so long?

I slowly stood to my feet, my bones cracking as I did, the water had run cold, which led me to wonder...how long had I been out? My interaction with Calhoun only seemed to have lasted a matter of minutes, but I knew better. 

I stumbled back into my bedroom in a cloudy haze, searching for my phone. "What?" It was now after 12am...two hours after I first set foot in the shower. I decided not to mull over it too much, there were far more important things at hand right now...starting with Riley's parents.

******

"Let me get this straight, you had a face to face conversation with King Calhoun? How?" Avery was as shocked as the others. They came back first thing in the morning, I couldn't relay everything fast enough.

"I know, I can hardly believe it myself. He came to me in a dream, out of nowhere. One moment I was up and taking a shower, and the next," I shook my head,still trying to remove the daze. "I don't know he was suddenly just...there. I had no idea that I had even been dreaming. Everything was exactly like reality, but after he disappeared, I was sprawled out on the floor in my shower two hours later."

They took in every word I'd said, each with a different look on their face. Winter was the first to speak as she pushed a strand of her from her face. 

"Well it's no wonder Dreamwalkers are so powerful, could you imagine being able to control someone's reality? The implications of what that could entail is almost scary."

"Yes but luckily, Riley nor her father is malicious in intent." We were starting to get sidetracked from what really mattered, I had to reel everyone back in. "As for Riley's parents here in this realm, we need to devise a course of action, there's something we don't know, and if it was enough for Calhoun to muster the strength to appear to me...it has to be big."

"I agree, I mean, Riley's parents never even told her she was adopted, what else could they be hiding?" Avery tapped his chin as he thought.

We were all trying to put our heads together, but there were just so many pieces missing that left us from seeing the bigger picture. 

"He said they had the heart,  what do they think he has referring to?" I pondered  over what it could be that we were missing. "What if...what if it's like the keys our parents gave us all those years ago? What if the heart he's referring to is something he may have enchanted. What if it's-"

"A necklace." We all jumped at the sound of a new voice. "The heart is a necklace."