Corinne woke up in her bed. The sun was shining through her windows and she wondered how long she had slept in. When she turned her neck, she felt a necklace brush against her collarbone.
What is this?
She rubbed the small flower made of silver. She felt really weird. Her mind was a little groggy and she felt a bit light headed. Her stomach was queasy as well. She sat up and tried getting out of bed but her legs gave way from underneath her and she banged her elbow on the dresser as she fell onto the floor. The lamp tipped off the dresser and crashed to the ground. Mrs. Harrison opened the door.
"Corinne? Corinne? Is it really you? What happened? Where have you been? You're home; you're really home!" She burst into tears and wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"What are you talking about mom? Why are you crying? Are you okay?" Corinne rubbed her elbow confused.
"Do you remember Corinne? Anything? Did someone hurt you? Where were you?" Her mom sniveled.
"Do I remember what? I don't really know what's going on."
Just then Mr. Harrison came through the door.
"Corinne?" He bent down and tears streamed down his face. He hugged her so tight she could barely breathe.
Corinne tried to pull away. "Okay, I don't know what is going on here. I just fell out of my bed. I'm okay I promise. I haven't been anywhere."
Mrs. Harrison kept crying. "You've been gone Corinne. You've been missing for a really long time. Are you telling me you don't know what happened?"
Missing? What is she talking about?
Her father grabbed her hand and stroked the top of it like a pet. "Corinne they found our truck smashed into a tree in the Muir Woods north of San Francisco. Do you remember any of this?"
"No."
"Do you remember leaving with Bria and Gavin?"
"Gavin? No. Where is he?" She asked impatiently.
Mr. Harrison shook his head. "We haven't seen him either, since the night you left. Corinne did he hurt you?"
"What? No, of course not!"
"Well, it's just that you, Gavin and Bria went missing on the night before your sixteenth birthday. We found out that Gavin didn't even have a home in Bayview and no trace of any of you was found until a few weeks ago, Bria returned maimed, and with no memory of what happened to her. Now you show up with no memory either and Gavin is still missing. The press is going to have a hay day with this story. Did anything...uh...bad happen to you Corinne?" He asked petting the top of her hand.
"I...I don't remember. I don't remember anything. I thought yesterday was the day before my sixteenth birthday."
"No honey. It's been almost six months since you turned sixteen and left us that note."
"What?" She muttered to herself in disbelief. She glanced at a picture of Gavin taped onto her bedroom mirror.
Suddenly she remembered the journal Gavin showed her. She remembered him transforming into a hawk. She remembered leaving a note for the Harrisons. She remembered that he said that she was a princess. She remembered the truck crashing into the tree. She remembered everything about that day until they stepped inside of that giant tree and then nothing. Her mind was blank. Something had happened, she was sure of it. She needed to talk with Bria right away.
Where is Gavin? Why am I still here on Earth?"
Her face went pale. "Corinne, are you okay? Do you need some time to yourself? You don't look well." Mrs. Harrison looked over to her husband. "Should we take her in to the doctor John?"
He glanced down at Corinne, "Do you want to talk to someone besides us Corinne? That's fine if you don't want to talk about what happened right now, we understand."
"No. I just feel weird, that's all. None of this makes sense. Is there any way I could talk to Bria?"
Her mom and dad looked at each other and then her mom spoke. "Bria was hurt pretty bad Corinne. She has gashes down her face. Whoever did this to her hasn't been found yet. We just want you to be prepared before you visit with her."
Corinne felt sick to her stomach. "I need some time to myself if you don't mind." She ran to the bathroom and stayed in there for a while. She overheard her parents call the police and let them know she was found safe and unharmed. She also heard them talking about her seeing a therapist.
Where is Gavin?
Her parents also called Bria's family and let them know of the situation. They arranged for Corinne to visit Bria. When Corinne came back downstairs, they told her to get in the car and arrived at Bria's house fifteen minutes later.
Corinne walked up to Bria's room and knocked softly on her door. "Come in," she heard Bria say. When Corinne opened the door, Bria was sitting on her bean bag chair listening to her ipod.
"Bria!" Corinne ran to her best friend and hugged her tight.
"Bria, what happened to us? I'm so confused."
"I don't know Corinne. I woke up in my bed with my face disfigured. My parents think that some sicko kidnapped and tortured us and somehow I got away first." Bria's head bent down.
Corinne touched her cheek softly, "Bria, what did they do to you?"
Bria looked away and her eyes welled up with tears. "The thing is, Corinne...I don't remember."
"Did we leave Earth Bria? Do you think we really left? I mean, what happened to Gavin? Where is he?" Corinne asked as she stood back up.
Bria shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't seen him since the day before your birthday Corinne."
"Do you recognize this necklace?" Corinne pulled on the chain.
Bria shook her head, "No."
"I woke up with it around my neck and I have no idea how it got there, weird right?"
"That is weird."
"The last thing I remember, is stepping inside the tree in the Muir woods." Corinne said.
"Me too." Bria responded.
"My mom and dad say that six months have gone by. How is that even possible?"
"I don't know, but the cops are dying to know what really happened to me. My story has been all over the news. I'm sick of explaining to people that I honestly don't remember." Bria shook her head. "Gavin warned me not to go. Maybe I should've listened."
"I'm so sorry Bria. I don't know why we came back to Earth. Maybe the Queen wouldn't let Gavin come back with us. Or, maybe it was too dangerous there. Or, maybe I was a disappointment as the princess and they sent me back. Whatever the reason, I know Gavin wouldn't just send us back without a good reason. He's still out there, I know it." Corinne sat down on Bria's bed and put her arm around Bria. They would figure out this whole thing together.
*****
Corinne had already made the front page of the news. She stayed in her house like a hermit. She didn't want to talk to anyone about it. She spent her days researching other worlds, portals, time travel and legends and spent her nights afraid of the unknown. Shaun and Grace helped her pass the time by catching her up on things going on at school or playing games. Her parents wanted her to speak with a therapist. She knew a therapist would never really understand what happened to her, so the only other person she felt comfortable talking to was Bria.
After a few weeks home, Corinne was sick of staying at home and decided to go back to school. Bria had already gone back and Corinne knew she needed to start acting normal again. The following morning while getting ready, she heard a familiar chirp on her cell phone. She checked her text messages.
"There is a new guy in our class! Hurry up and get here already." Bria had tried to take a picture of him, but it was blurry.
Corinne replied, "Haha! See u in a minute."
When Corinne arrived at school, all of the girls in her class were buzzing about the new senior boy that had just moved in that looked like he should be in college. When she saw him, she knew immediately what Bria was talking about. He looked as though he had just walked off the cover of GQ magazine. He turned his head towards Corinne and did a double-take. He stood frozen, his eyes never leaving hers. Corinne had his attention somehow and he stared so hard it scared her.
She leaned over to Bria. "Seriously, why is he looking at me like that?"
"I don't know." Bria said with a twinge of jealousy in her voice.
Corinne shyly looked away and tugged on Bria's arm to try and get out of there. She saw him a couple more times during the day. She caught him staring at her and he even smiled once. She tried to smile back and almost ran into her locker door. Mortified, she heard him choke down a laugh. She never got flustered like this with boys.
What is wrong with me?
The new boy was headed down the hall in her direction after school.
You have got to be kidding?
She tried to play it cool and pretend like she didn't notice him. She pulled out her phone and put her earphones on, acting busy, yet trying not to hyperventilate.
"Hi. My name's Calix," the corner of his lip curved up, "what's your name?"
She took her headphones off. "Um, Hi," she said shyly, "My name is Corinne," she shook his hand and her fingertips tingled, "Nice to meet you."
He held onto her hand, lingering. "It's really nice to meet you too Corinne," he said and paused for a long moment while he brushed his thumb gently across the top of her hand. A huge smile slowly spread across his face. The way his eyes were looking at her felt like he was staring deep into her soul, almost like he knew her and Corinne smiled back.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>A/N:
Alright guys- Finished!!! What did you think of the ending? They ended up being together. Maybe not in the way you thought they would in Aladarien but on Earth.
Thanks so much for following Corinne along on her adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you, thank you to all of you who finished my whole book. It means the world.
Don't forget to vote and comment. I love to hear you thoughts.