Love Conquers All _The Sequel_

Chapter Thirty One - Rejoinder

Michael's POV:

My eyes sunder wide with a frantic scare. Sweat dapples the worry wrinkles creased into my forehead, my eyebrows twisted in a frightened manner. Despite the bodily fluids leaking from my forehead, frigid shivers shimmy down my spine, and my lips quiver in my dark room.

Torn from my dream, I immediately know something isn't right. As I sit up, a sob-like sound squeaks from my throat, which catches me off guard.
I'm not sure why, but my heart is throbbing violently in my ribcage. I swallow hard, my throat tight with anxiety, and stand.

Something urges me to ask, "Hello?"
I tiptoe over to the light switch and gingerly flick it on. My room is empty, but chills still dot my arms, making them look like freshly plucked chicken breasts.

What if it's Mary? What if she came back?

Or... What if it's nothing...?

I venture out into the dim living room, barely illuminated by the glowing moon.

The house is eerily silent; the only sound around me is the hardwood floor creaking beneath my bare feet. Looking left and right, I decide that no one's in here, and continue my search out front.

As I step outside, the brisk night air hits me and refreshes me. It's not cold but it's not a very comfortable temperature either; spring is nearing, and I can't wait. Stars pepper the twilight sky, and I can sort of make out the constellation of Orion. As I gaze at the stars, my anxiety is temporarily assuaged by their beauty.

Out in the distance, I can see a prick of a figure, wobbly standing and looking around.

"What the-?" I murmur to myself. I find myself suddenly becoming hostile, wanting whoever this is to be gone.
"Hey!" I call, in a voice I try to make sound threatening.

The figure's head whips to the side, looking at me.

"Michael!" It calls back.

"Oh my god," I utter, and break out in a sprint across the unkempt grassy fields towards the figure.

I collide with him in a heartfelt embrace.

"Tex!" I yell, holding him tightly to my chest. I grab his shoulders and look him in the eyes. As I glance at him, I can't help but laugh with excitement. He's laughing, too, hysterically.

"How the heck did you get back?" I ask, my heart leaping around in my chest as I start to cry tears of joy.

"I don't know! I just appeared! Oh my gosh, is this real?" He asks, the same amount of hysteria in his voice as there is in mine.

"Well, yeah! I just woke up randomly with this weird feeling, so I came out here and here you are!"

"Is it Mary? Did she do this?" He asks, smiling a wide smile.

Despite his cheeks pulled ear to ear, my grin depletes entirely at the mention of Mary.

"I don't think so," I sigh, "she's still gone."

Tex stops laughing when he notices how much my joy has faded, and once again I've put a damper on the mood.

"Well, hey," I say, "you're back! That's good for now. How 'bout we catch some z's? You haven't slept in how long?"

"Years, Michael," Tex says with a stone expression.

"How is that even possible...?" I whisper.

"Michael, I swear, I was there for an unimaginably long time." He looks at me, and I can tell he's entirely serious.

"You don't look any different... Older I mean," I say, then search his face for wrinkles, finding none.

Tex still looks at me, absolutely petrified.

Then my eyes shift up to his head. There is a crown of flowers sitting neatly upon his scalp.

"Hey!" I say, and point to it.

He doesn't respond.

"Years, Michael," he mutters.

"Okay, let's thinking of possible explanations," I say, becoming slightly disturbed.

"I was in Neverland."

He looks me square in the eye, and his rigid expression shakes me to the core.

"Trust me. I've had years to think about it, and it makes perfect sense. Time flew by, for you at least, but here I am, not a minute older."

I swallow. It does make perfect sense... Was it really Neverland? How was I capable of sending him there? Better yet, how does Neverland even actually exist?

"Uh... Maybe... Um, okay, let's just go to sleep," I say, grabbing his shoulder and urging him alongside me as I turn back towards the house. This is all mind boggling. He suddenly returns with no reason why claiming that he was at Neverland. The real Neverland.

My mind just needs to rest.

We step inside and head upstairs, the both of us entirely silent. As we get in bed, I am relieved that I am no longer alone. Now all we have to do is get Mary back, find her or something.

It's a bit hard for me to fall back asleep, what with my mind stirring like crazy, but I eventually fade away.

As I rest, my dreams no longer consist of transporting to Neverland. For once, in a long, long time, I have a normal, peaceful dream, and I am content in my sleep.

When I wake up, I'm going to do two things:

Get Kim, and then do whatever I can to find Mary.