Am I Still Dreaming? ~ Kingdom of the Immortals

Am I Still Dreaming? {1}

-1-

Now more than ever I wished I could live in Wonderland. What day didn’t I wish for that? Sadly, I could only visit the magnificent land in my dreams, and I had been there quiet a few times. 

“Aren’t you going to clean that up?” Selena smirks. She is the only girl my age at the orphanage and for some reason she loathes me. I predicted it had something to do with the fact that she loves the spotlight and when I came along, she wasn’t the main focus of everyone. Ever since my first day here she has made every hour of my life a nightmare. I never knew what was around the corner, and I couldn’t stop it. Cynthia, who usually makes sure we don’t get out line, doesn’t bother to reprimand Selena. 

I look down at the broken glass that is sprinkled on the ground, soap and water puddles scattered throughout the kitchen. I sigh in defeat, there is nothing I can do, but comply. Mainly because I know my nights here are numbered, my eighteenth birthday is tomorrow - luckily for Selena and myself, I’ll be the first one out of this purgatory. 

I go to bed that night and dream of the place, I long to go, but instead I visit a place I haven’t been since I was very young. Right after, I was dropped off at the orphanage - not having a clue what happened to my parents. 

This place is familiar, the last time I visited here I was only eight years-old and I met a boy once who called it the ‘Forbidden Realm’. Every time I visit, I am a princess still only appearing to be six years-old even though I am much older than that now. I wander throughout the castle hoping to find my mother or father, but I never do. 

It is this adventure, that I meet another little boy wandering the castle. We collide and fall to the ground. Instead of being upset we both look at each other and laugh. He is the first to stand and offers me a hand up, “I am Albert.” 

“I’m-” 

“I know who you are, Princess Ambrose.” 

“Where are you from?” 

“The village, but I came here wanting to meet you,” He admits with a wicked grin. 

“Why would you want to meet me?” I ask curiously. 

“I can help you find them,” He whispers, but I still hear him. We both know he is talking about my parents. 

“How?” 

“We can split up and search the castle,” He suggests. 

I go search the bed rooms while he goes to the dungeons. I hear a yell and I sprint as fast as my short legs will allow before I find the crime scene. Albert stands with his mouth gaping like fish out of water. I mimic his expression barely recognizing the faces of my parents as they are rapidly decaying. Their hearts ripped out and laid out in front of them. 

“Who did this?” I whisper feeling hot tears stream down my face.

“My parents,” Albert looks away almost ashamed. 

“Why?” I nearly choke from my sobs.

“They are hunters. They didn’t like your kind.” 

“Kind?” I ask wiping away my tears to stare at the strange boy. 

“They felt like you have no right to cheat life, so they went after the king and queen,” He murmurs. “They were going to go after you too, but I watched the guards kill them.” 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I whisper trying to assure him and myself. Suddenly, I feel terrified of this little boy - who is unaware that I am not really six years-old. He seems too intelligent. 

“And I won’t hurt you,” He wraps his arms around me giving me a tight hug. He pulls a bottle from his pocket, “Here, it’s some juice.” 

I look reluctantly at him wondering if it is a trick, but I decide that this is Forbidden Realm. It is only a dream and I will wake up if anything does go terribly wrong. I drink the juice, it tastes delectable and I finish the entire bottle he offers me before I begin to notice its effect on me. 

“Sweet dreams,” He coos as I begin to feel light headed, leaning into him. 

I wake up and it is grey outside with the sun on the verge of rising. My breathing is in short gasps, I don’t bother to make sense of the dream because as alarming as it was I don’t visit Forbidden Realm often. The concept of my parents being a King and Queen make me snort, but deep down I know that, like every other girl, I would hope to be a princess.

I am barely able to stand in my closet-sized room without falling back on the bed, I manage to change from my frayed nightgown into a worn pair of jeans and an old black hoodie. My light blonde hair is a tangled mess that I don’t bother comb out with my fingers. Happy birthday to me, I think sarcastically. 

I knew exactly where I was headed today. This orphanage was more than a little shady, and since no one ever wanted to adopt me (or so I’d been told), I would be brought to the market to be auctioned off as a maid. I cringed at the meaning behind the title. Sure, maid, if I got a nice person, but more likely than not I would be an abused slave. They had a few open positions to work at the orphanage, but I was sure that they were saving one of those spots for Selena and not me. 

I was able to have a peaceful breakfast, but that was only because I woke up extremely early. I felt anxious about my last hours in this building, and memories came flooding back to me. Nasty pranks, beatings, scoldings, work. There was one good memory I had of this place which started with a little girl named, Bonnie. She came here only a few months after me at the age of four. For someone so young, she was very troubled and the few times I talked to her I wouldn’t have known until the night I caught her in the act.

Bonnie had locked her self in the bathroom, but this particular time the door was unlocked when I walked in catching her with a blade in her wrist. Only seven years old, I took immediate action, I grabbed the blade from the girl and placed my only towel on her wound to stop the bleeding. We talked for the rest of the night while all the other orphans and workers slept, unaware of the problem. I convinced Bonnie that killing herself wasn’t the answer, that her parents had moved on, but did not leave her for good. I didn’t completely believe my words, but they seemed to get through to Bonnie. It was only a few weeks later that she was adopted by a young couple, leaving me alone. 

“Aren’t you paying attention!” I heard a sharp voice. 

I look up to meet the unwelcoming, icy stare of Selena. We were alone in the kitchen, but her normal expression had softened, as if she was actually sad about my leaving. 

“What did you say?” I didn’t really care, but I was afraid that if I didn’t act interested my last hours here would be painful. 

“I was talking about how wonderful it will be once you’ve left! I can get the brat out of my room and into yours. Then, have a huge room to myself!” She rejoices at the thought. 

“Good luck with that,” I say distantly. I move past her up to my room to begin packing the very little that I own. I have a small sack that I came here with when I was young, some clothes that the orphanage donated, and a necklace. I don’t remember anything of my childhood - before arriving at the orphanage, but this necklace was one of my only clues. It was a malachite necklace that I always wore around my neck. The green stone wasn’t worth much, but I was valuable to me. I didn’t realize I was holding the rock with my eyes closed until a knock at the door forced my eyes to open and I turned around abruptly.

“We are leaving now,” Cynthia said. 

I grab my sack of clothes and follow her out of the building. We exit through the alley were where two men are waiting in a pick-up truck - calling this orphanage shady would be an understatement. I sat in the back which barred me off from the front of the truck, I couldn’t even see where we were headed, but I knew. I tried to open the door, by some impulse, but the door was locked. I had a date with destiny today, the destiny where I am an abused slave.