Extraordinary Royalty

Chapter 13 - Evangeline

After mom and dad finished visiting, I shew them away so I can get some rest. I snuggle back into the covers letting the warmth of safety lull me to sleep. 

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Dream:

I wake up in a different room. My ankle is broken and splinted. The room is dimly lit by a single candle. The off-white-stained curtains are pulled over the windows blocking the sunlight from entering the room. On the bedside table next to the candle is a bowl with a blood-soaked cloth in it and a small flip phone. My hands and feet are bandaged with cloth keeping the cuts from bleeding. To the left of the bed next to the window is a young man sleeping in a chair. There is a gun in his slack hand lying in his lap. I climb out of the screeching bed as carefully as possible trying not to wake up the man. I grab the phone and tiptoe out of the room to the front door. There is no one else in the house. The wallpaper is peeling in sections away from the boards that hold up the old house. Pictures hang crooked on the walls and the floorboards are scratched up. I quietly open the front door and look outside. The street is awfully quiet. I look behind me to make sure no one is following me then make my way down the street. 

As soon as I turn the corner, I dial my mother phone number into the tiny flip phone. She picks up on the first ring.

"Hello?" she asks into the phone. Hope lines her voice.

"Mommy!" I cry out. I hear shuffling on the other side of the phone but ignore it and keep moving. 

"Darling, where are you?" she finally asks straight to the point.

"I...I...I don't know." I stamper out between breaths. 

"Calm down and focus. Remember what I taught you. Deep breath in and Deep breath out. Keep moving and look for any signs, physical markers, something that could help us find you. What do you see?"

"There are no signs. I am on a cobblestone path. Wait - " I sniff the air.

"I smell fish." I follow the smell and come face to face with a port. Ships are docking unloading fish and other merchandise.

"I'm at a port. There are still no signs."

"It's ok. That helps us narrow it down a little bit. We are trying to get a location based on the phone you're using. Keep it on no matter what." I make the mistake of turning around and see the man from the room plus two other men searching for me. I pick up my pace and move as fast as I can. Their feet pound behind me as I make my way through people. I cut through an ally off to the side and circle back so that I am going to opposite direction. The plan is to wind up behind them instead of in front of them. 

"Please hurry mommy, they found me." I say into the phone.

"Just keep moving sweetheart." I put her on mute and slide the phone into the brace on my foot. I turn around and can't see the men anymore so I duck into another ally and hide behind a dumpster hoping my parents find me first. 

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"Evangeline!! Evie, WAKE UP!!" I jump up in the bed smacking my head on something.

"Oh! Watch it!" Dylan lets go of my arms and grasps his head. 

"What do you want? I was sleeping."

"You were having a nightmare. I had to wake you up before you started screaming." I lean back against the headboard.

"What were you dreaming about anyway? I don't remember you ever having nightmares before, no matter what we faced on the job." Dylan pulls up a chair and sits next to my bed.