It was late afternoon when I woke up, Emy was still fast asleep next to me. I decided not to wake her and went to get dressed. I made my way downstairs to make us something to eat, it felt like ages since I'd last eaten. My head was swimming with the events of the previous night. Was it real? Did I dream the whole thing?
I couldn't tell whether I was happy or sad about it either, maybe it did happen but it wasn't real. Perhaps Mr Park was a very troubled man with a remarkable lizard toy, because the other alternative was too ridiculous to consider to be true. I decided to wait and see what the day brought as I finished making our food, just then I heard Emy moving upstairs and I took the food up to her.
When I got up there, she was in her room getting dressed. "Your room or mine?" I shouted to her, clinking the plates together.
"Yours! I'll be in in a second, I can't find my blue cardigan."
"It's folded in the bottom of your wardrobe, I put it there a few days ago after I washed it."
I walked into my room to the sound of her shouting, "Aha, thanks!" and set the plates on the bed. Emy came in a few seconds later in her cardigan and jeans, sitting next to me on the bed and taking her plate.
"So," I started as I placed chicken and rice onto my fork, "How did you sleep after last night?"
I tested her, just in case it had all been a strange dream of mine.
"Okay I guess but did I get really drunk because I had a stupidly weird dream about you, and Mr Park, and-" she stopped when she saw me shaking my head, "What?"
"That wasn't a dream because if it was, we had the same one..."
We both looked down at our plates, stunned that it really happened. We ate the rest of our food in silence, just trying to grasp it.
"Do you believe him then?" Emy asked when we took our plates down to the kitchen and washed up.
"I don't know, I think I'd like to and a lot of it does make sense," I passed her a plate to dry. "But it's just so outrageous and unbelievable," I continued, emptying the bowl and drying my hands.
"I agree, he could be losing his mind and like we've said before, he could be great at observational guesses... also that could have been a breathing, lifelike lizard toy."
She was echoing all of my earlier thoughts.
"Still, I think we should wait and see what happens today because we didn't imagine those guys and Mr Park or 'Merkell'," she snorted, "now that is one bizarro name," she laughed loudly.
I couldn't help but join in, I didn't mean to but it was nice to laugh it off for a brief moment. It felt like we should be more serious in discussing the possibilities, but everything was so outrageously silly.
"Yeah anyway, as I was saying, Merkell," she smiled widely. "Has never tried to harm us or even been nasty in any way, shape or form. We should try to give him the benefit of the doubt, for now."
"I agree but no laughing at his name, okay?" I smiled at her and she reluctantly agreed.
I wandered off into the living room to sit down, she followed and plonked down next to me.
"I won't laugh but it is... different, I wonder where he thought it up," she grinned and I rolled my eyes.
She grabbed the remote, clearly looking for a distraction.
"Let's see what normal, boring rubbish is on today... imagine thinking up a world that doesn't have TV."
She chuckled and was just about to turn it on when someone knocked on the front door. We looked quickly at each other, after the night we'd had, we were more nervous than usual about answering it.
I looked at Emy, "I'll go, it might be Merkell, wait here."
I made my way out to the door and looked through the eye-hole, it was Merkell. I paused for a moment while I thought over what Emy had said about giving him the benefit of the doubt. I would give it a few hours but after that I would call him a doctor myself, I composed myself and opened the door to let him in.
He walked in quickly and I locked it back up behind him.
"Hello Cassandra. You really should check who it is before opening the door in these crucial times... especially after what we discussed last night," he said, walking through to the living room.
I followed him with a frown etched into my face, "I looked through the eye-hole and saw it was you. I'm wary enough for that, thank you."
I sat back down next to Emy and he took the other sofa.
"Oh, I apologise I do forget about those little things, that was smart of you. Hello, Emily, how are you this afternoon?"
I think he was trying to see if she was in the mood for shouting at him again.
Emy must have thought the same because she laughed and fidgeted in her seat.
"I'm much calmer now, thanks... Merkell," she smiled through his name.
I had to nudge her, hoping it would remind her not to laugh at his name. He didn't notice what passed between us though, he seemed to be too pleased with something.
"You've accepted what I've told you then?"
He kept looking between us in anticipation, his green eyes were twinkling as though something fantastic was happening.
I decided to tell him the truth, "We're still not sure," I said slowly. "We're not saying we don't believe you, it's just going to take some convincing that you haven't lost your faculties."
I tried to be as polite as possible with the last part.
"I understand but I can assure you I am in full possession of my faculties... and my marbles." He smiled shortly, "This is more than I expected though, I thought it would take days to get to this point."
He was smiling wider, looking pleased with himself and us. Looking back at him I suddenly got the feeling that something was missing. That's when I realised what it was.
"Erm, Merkell... where is that lizard-thing you had last night?"
I looked all over his grey jacket but there was no unusual bumps or movement.
"Ah, the Trokarra? I left him at my house, I didn't think he was needed this time." He was still smiling widely, I think he was happy not to have to deal with more stroppiness today.
"Won't he escape and terrify the neighbourhood or something?" Emy asked, looking out of the window towards Merkell's house with a smirk.
"Oh no, I stored him safely away," he said while digging into his pocket.
A moment later he pulled out some rough brown material, as thin as paper but this had grooves along the surface like tree bark.
"That reminds me, I never answered one of your questions, Emily. Relating to why we don't use pigeons for carrying messages. The answer is, because they were constantly getting attacked for the information they carried. They weren't able to protect themselves or the intel, and so quickly died out." He spoke absentmindedly, all the while arranging his things on the table.
I noticed the material he'd gotten out had strange silver symbols on it.
"So, there are no pigeons where you come from as well as no technology?" Emy asked in a disbelieving tone.
"No, not one and that's why the Trokarra were brought in, they are well equipped to protect themselves as you saw their claws. They're also very smart creatures and they have a special ability to blend in with their surroundings."
I looked at his face, "I thought it looked like it was changing colours last night but I didn't know if it was just my eyes."
At least I wasn't imagining it.
"I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, too," Emy said, tilting her head to the side.
"No, you are both correct, it was changing colours last night. When they are asleep they let the colours flow to whatever they feel like, it's quite nice to watch."
He pushed the material towards us so we could make out each of the symbols on it, though they didn't look at all familiar.
"I thought you might want to see the message it carried, it is in a code but-" he paused, reaching into the other jacket pocket and pulling out some ordinary looking reading glasses. "You can read it with these if you'd like?"
He handed them to me, I glanced at Emy and she shrugged. I slowly put them on and looked at the silver symbols, immediately seeing that they had begun rearranging themselves into actual words.
I read them while they changed.
'The last phase of your mission has to happen now.
Things are becoming worse. Leave as soon as you can with them.
Do not delay, be swift and be safe.'
I frowned at Merkell as I passed the glasses to Emy, he could see the comprehension and probably the worry growing behind my eyes. Emy finished reading a second later and took the glasses off, handing them back.
"Well that was cool but made no sense at all, I guess it's not meant to to anyone apart from you."
She peered me then but I was still watching Merkell with worry and more confusion.
"Cass? Cass what's wrong?"
She shook my arm gently and I turned slowly to look at her.
"It does make sense Emy, don't you see? The 'them' it's referring to is us."
Realisation hit her immediately and she turned back to Merkell.
"You want to take us away to another world?"
I was panicking now on top of everything else, I was scared that he was telling the truth but somewhere deep inside I was excited too, and that scared me even more. It was the adventure I had been looking for, something to happen that would change my boring life.
It was getting much harder to think that it could all be some elaborate prank and if it was real, what about my family and Emy's? I couldn't leave them behind and I doubt they would come with us- our whole lives are here. I voiced my concerns but before he could answer, Emy interrupted.
"Cass! You can't seriously be considering this, it's absurd. We have a life here and our parents won't believe this, they'll call doctors on us all."
"Well if this is a prank it's a pretty complex one. Why would anyone go to this much trouble just to trick us? And what does Merkell get from tricking us?"
Emy shook her head and I could see the frustration mounting, "I don't know but this can't be real, it's just... no, it can't."
"Your parents wouldn't call the doctors," Merkell started carefully. "Because they already know everything."
We both looked at him in shock, Emy was shaking when she spoke again.
"Wait, hold on a second, they know? Where are they? They should be able to straighten this whole thing once and for all. They'd never trick us like this."
I could see tears brimming in her eyes, I didn't know if it was anger or worry. I reached out for her hand and held it tight, looking to Merkell with narrowed eyes.
"If this is some kind of twisted, long winded joke, it's cruel and needs to stop now."
He looked apologetic, "I know this is difficult for you both, I should have explained more before showing you this message."
He pulled the material back and stuffed it back in his pocket.
"This is no prank, I wouldn't be so cruel to either of you. And no, your parents haven't been lying to you all these years either, before you jump to that conclusion.
"Their memories were modified after you were all brought here and your lives were set up. They agreed to it beforehand, knowing it was necessary in order to keep you both safe. Their memories were restored as soon as I told you the truth last night."
He paused there, probably giving us chance to catch our breaths and say something; or maybe he was thinking of what other world changing news he could give to us.
Emy wiped her eyes and cleared her throat, "So, can we talk to them about this? It would help to clear a few things up, or maybe everything."
She sniffled and I squeezed her hand a bit tighter, this was getting out of hand but I couldn't bring myself to put a stop to it.
"I'm sorry but they already left for our world, it's the terms of their mission and the best way to keep you both safe. And this is something you must understand girls, this isn't their home. As soon as their memories returned, they were in a strange place. I phoned them when I went to my house this morning, to make sure everything was arranged and they wanted me to give you this message."
He took out a phone and started playing a recording, my mum's voice came on first.
"Has it started? Oh, okay, Cassandra?"
I smiled, using my full name meant she was trying to be firm and serious.
"I'm so, so sorry about all of this, the secrets and lies, if we could have told you we would have, you must know that. You and Emily must be so confused and probably angry but I promise it was for your own safeties."
She started sniffling at that point. I just wanted to hug her and tell her it was alright.
"Sorry, ahem, we have to go soon, I'm sure Merkell has explained enough for you to know where. We would have called to tell you ourselves but there wasn't nearly enough time and I probably wouldn't have been able to get through it. We love you and hope to see you soon. Also, you can trust Merkell, girls, he's a very good man, one of the best. I know how suspicious you are, Cassandra... look after each other and be safe."
Emy's mum came on the message next, saying mostly the same things. As well as reminding her not to forget anything important when she packs for the trip- though funnly enough she added the words 'if we decided to leave'.
The message finished with a click and Merkell put the phone away.
I peered at Emy and she looked the way I felt, like the air had been knocked right out of my chest.
It was real.
All of it was real, because one thing I knew for certain was that our parents would never play a joke like this on us. We sat in silence for what felt like hours, trying to take it all in but it was too much, too unbelievable.
However, a few more things were starting to fit into place, now that I had stopped denying the entire situation. For instance, the fact that no family members ever visited and when I'd ask about them my parents would say they lived too far away- that was clearly an understatement.
Something occurred to me then.
"Erm, what about Sam?" My voice sounded cracked.
I hadn't noticed the tears coming down my cheeks until one dropped on my hand.
"Sorry, it's just all a bit overwhelming," I wiped the tears away and asked again, "What about Sam? What part does he play in all of this?"
Sam had only recently come into Emy's life, seemingly out of nowhere. He was supposedly here to study, but now I was thinking there was more to it.
"Sam? Oh, Emily's cousin, Sam? Yes, well his name isn't actually Sam, it's Kayle." Merkell spoke slowly, like he was explaining maths to a child.
"He really is your cousin but he has lived in our world his whole life. He came here last year to help me protect you girls and also to help with preparations for the move when the time came. He has taken your parents through and I will be taking the two of you... if you decide to come that is."
Emy found her voice again, although it was shaky. "Why do you all keep saying that, 'if' we decide to come? Like we have a choice in the matter."
Her voice didn't contain any anger but I could tell underneath it all she was angry, her hands were shaking still and she was glaring.
Merkell must have noticed it too because he used an extra calm voice, "We say 'if', Emily, because you do have a choice, you can stay here if you like, nobody is forcing you. It has to be your own decision anyway, otherwise you can't cross over into our world."
Emy calmed a little but she hadn't given up yet, "It's not much of a choice though, is it? Our parents are gone and there's someone who apparently wants to harm us, so we probably can't even live in this house for much longer."
She huffed, along with the anger now present on her face there was also a stubborn look and I had a feeling this was all going to be extra difficult.
By this point I think I had already made my mind up to go, there was nothing here for me now, apart from Emy and if she wasn't going then I'd have a really hard time choosing to leave.
"Emy, look at me," I tried a diplomatic tone of voice, she sighed and turned slowly. "What's there to stay here for? Your fashion course? It's not like you need it, really. But look at the facts, our parents are gone already, Emy and if we don't go we may never see them again."
I could see she was battling internally with what I was saying, the indecision was clear in her eyes and I wasn't sure which side was winning. She loved her parents as much as I did mine and the thought of never seeing them again hurt too much to bear.
"You've already made up your mind, haven't you?" She asked and I could see that she knew the answer before I confirmed it.
"Yes, I have but I won't go without you, you're my best friend and I love you to bits. If you choose to stay then so will I, no regrets or hard feelings."
I hoped she knew how sincere I was. There was nothing left to say, she needed to make up her own mind now and I left her to it. I went to get some juice, mostly just an excuse to be on my own for a bit. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I couldn't believe what I was actually considering. How had everything changed so quickly? Somehow, this time I was the confident one, going for what I wanted and what a strange situation for it to finally happen.
I could hear Merkell talking to Emy, asking her what bothered her the most. I got my drink and went back in, I had my own assumption about what her answer would be.
"It's the whole starting a new life there, I have goals and things I want to achieve here. Plus we don't know this new world or anyone there, it already sounds like it's going to be dangerous for us and we're not even there yet."
"That may be true but Emy, there's nobody left for us here now... except maybe David."
I rolled my eyes which pulled out half of a smile. Her worries echoed some of my own but there was one factor that I just couldn't get passed, and I knew she wouldn't be able to either.
"Emy, think about your parents and never seeing them again, could you bear that? I know I couldn't."
That was it, I saw the fence that she'd been sitting on, fall down and she sighed.
"No, I couldn't bear it. I guess I'm coming too then."
I grinned and hugged her tightly the moment she finished, she chuckled despite the worry I knew she still felt.
"Just think, this new world may have weird fashion sense, something an expert like you could really get to grips with."
I pulled out of the hug and she was smiling widely, it wasn't exactly an important factor but I just wanted to make her decision a little easier.
"I already said I'm coming, you don't have to sell it anymore." She laughed and I squeezed her again.
"Okay, okay but you are awesome, do you know that?"
I pulled away still smiling and she nodded matter-of-factly, "Yep, I know."
Merkell stood up at this point, grinning from ear to ear.
"Now that it's decided, I'm going to need you to start packing, only important things because you're going to have to carry it all. I'll leave you to it while I go and finish a few preparations, and I'll be back over so we can talk about the journey ahead of us." He was beaming by this point, "I am thrilled you're both coming, what a wonderful day."
And with that, he walked out. I followed to lock the door behind him.
When I came back into the room, Emy had her phone out.
"What are you doing?"
I walked over and looked at the screen to see that she was dialling her parents. I pressed the loud speaker so I could hear too, the operator came on after a few seconds.
"It has not been possible to connect your call, please try again later."
Emy put the phone down, "I was just checking... I wanted to get rid of my doubts, but their phone is never unreachable. My mum keeps it with her and charged all the time, just in case there's an emergency."
This seemed to remove any of the doubts she might have had left.
"I guess we better start packing then, I wonder how much 'important' stuff I have." She smirked and we dashed upstairs.
"Just remember, you'll be the one carrying the bag with it all in."
That took the smirk off of her face.
We separated to our own rooms and I took a good look around at my possessions. Where to start? The most important things first, I looked around again and picked out my photos and memory box, filled with little reminders of happy times with my parents and Emy.
I pulled my big rucksack out of the bottom of my wardrobe and placed them in. Next would have to be some clothes; I put my favourite hoodie in, a purple one Emy had got me for my birthday the year before. Then I packed some T-shirts, jeans and other essentials. There was my jewellery box that my mum had given me many years ago, it stored the only two necklaces I own.
The box itself was dark brown wood with intricate little patterns carved over every inch of it. It was beautiful, she said it had belonged to my grandma and she was passing it on to me. As of this moment I didn't know how much of that was true, I made a mental note to ask her about it once I'd packed it.
I put a few of my favourite books in as well, wishing I could take them all but it was getting full and I wasn't sure what else I would need. I took another look around. I knew there wouldn't be electricity, Merkell had said there was no technology where we were going, so anything electronic would have to stay. I had a little room left so I figured we should pack some food for the journey. I went into Emy's room to see what she wanted and I could hear her muttering when I walked in.
"I need this but if I take this... I won't be able to take this," she sounded frustrated.
I gazed around her room, there were items everywhere, her bag was empty and she was sat on the floor between two piles of clothes.
"Emy, what are you doing? You can't bring all those clothes, we have to travel light. Pick enough for a few days and leave the rest."
She glanced around at everything and then looked at me with a frown, it seemed like a much harder decision than it should have been.
"Yeah but we don't know the weather conditions there, it could be hot or cold right now, or the rainy season."
I shook my head in dismay and amusement, I couldn't help smiling.
"We have our coats for any bad weather and just pick a few nice tops in case it's warm, leave everything else. Oh, make sure you pack your jewellery box, and then just decide what else you couldn't live without." She smiled widely and I knew what she was thinking.
"Not the rest of your clothes."
She narrowed her eyes playfully, throwing some balled up socks at me.
"I came in to ask what food you want for the journey, it will probably be cold stuff though."
She told me a few things and I left the room, throwing the socks back at her as I did. I laughed to myself on the way downstairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed the food, some chocolate in case we needed a boost and some hot chocolate powder to surprise Emy if we have a rough day. I carried it all back upstairs and packed it into my bag, filling it up almost completely. I hid the chocolate things in a side pocket and had space for one more thing, but what?
I decided to see if Emy needed the extra space instead. I went into her room expecting her to still be sat on the floor but she was stood at the window, her bag was packed and waiting.
"Hey, do you need any extra space, I have a bit of room left."
I sat down on her bed as she came over, her expression was troubled.
"We're really doing this? We're really moving our whole lives to a new place, and a strange, unfamiliar one at that."
I looked at her closely, she was nervous and anxious, emotions I was feeling in buckets.
"Yes we are, and we're doing it together, no matter what happens, we'll have each other."
This seemed to make her, and me, feel more reassured.
"Right, let's get our bags downstairs so we're ready to go when Merkell comes back." She said this with a little more feeling and confidence.
Whether she was faking or not, I wasn't sure but it helped me to put a brave face on for the moment.
"Oh and I don't need anymore space, thanks," she grinned and nudged me. "I have everything I need."