Reflections; a KOTLC fanficion

Chapter 14

She woke up groggy and tired. Caroline looked up at a nearby window. Snow was gently falling, replacing the foggy environment that San Francisco offered. She pushed herself out of bed and got dressed in a green tunic that she bought the previous day.

Walking out into the little hotel living room, she finally figured out what was so special about the day.

"We're going home!" She exclaimed. Caroline danced around the evergreen that was placed in their room.

Her friends slowly trickled into the room, growing wide-eyed at the sight of the tree.

"That wasn't there yesterday," Christian said.

Amelia ran over to the tree where sparkling presents sat. Caroline stopped dancing like a maniac and admired the scene. From what she gathered about the holiday; this was a perfect Christmas. The lights of the tree softly twinkled, and the tree made the room smell sweet, and a small, but probably fake fire sat in the corner.

Thor sat down and started passing out the multicolored presents. Amelia's eyes lit up.

"This is the best Christmas I've had in years. Ever since Dad died, I've never had someone to really celebrate with."

"Well, now you do. This is true lay a very merry Christmas, Amelia," Caroline said.

Passing out gifts reminded Caroline a little of the mid-term celebrations. Not that she had done one yet, she only heard about them from her brother. The rest of her classmates were probably doing that right now, or relaxing over break, instead of running for their lives.

"Open mine." Thor had dropped a purple-wrapped box in Caroline's lap. She carefully undid the ornate bow and looked inside. Nestled in a wad of paper sat the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. It was a swan charm, like the one they found in Forkle's office, but this time the eye was dotted with sparkling diamonds. Inside the wing was a bubble of glass that seemed to have trapped the northern lights.

"I know you can get more complex jewelry in the Lost Cities, but I had never seen any glass blowing like that. It reminded me of our house. The humans--," But Caroline had already wrapped him in a hug.

"It's beautiful."

Amelia leaned over to look at it. "If you don't mind me asking, how in the world did you get your hands on a diamond?"

"I finally figured out how to work an ATM and then I withdrew the amount of money needed. That's how I was able to pay off your hospital bill," Thor told her.

"The doctor seemed pretty surprised when you gave it to him," Caroline laughed.

"Well, I might have given him a little more than it actually cost. You never know what things will cost in this world."

They went around like that, opening gifts. Eve seemed to have gotten a host of snow globes from everyone.

"How are we going to make this all fit?" Kyreen said exasperatedly.

"Oh, so you finally have bought enough?" Christian smiled. They all laughed when Kyreen growled and smacked him with her new Christmas sweater.

"Well, don't worry, because we'll all be back home soon enough and have to put away all the seven hundred souvenirs we got. Mom is going to scream when we get home."

"Only after she hugs us till all our air runs out," Eve smiled.

They continued laughing until someone knocked on the door. Caroline stood up and hesitantly opened it. No one stood in the hallway, but on the ground lay a small, teal-wrapped parcel. Caroline picked it up and unwrapped it hesitantly. Inside was a small compass.

She quickly slipped the box inside the pocket of her tunic before anyone noticed. Caroline had a pretty good idea of who gave it to her, and she certainly did not want her friends questioning her.

"Who was it?" Thor called from the tree.

Caroline scrambled for an excuse. "It was the maid," She finally said. Making it back to the group, she sat down and enjoyed the rest of the festivities, forgetting about the compass.

An hour later, they were waiting for a bus to arrive and take them onto the last leg of their journey.

"I can't believe it," Kyreen murmured. "After a month of wandering, we're finally going home."

"As long as our parents are there. If they aren't, well, I have no clue what we'll do," Caroline said. She had a skeptical look on her face. "You realize that we're basing this all on hope."

"Maybe," Thor told her. "But the world would be awfully terrible without hope."

The bus came and whisked them off to a beach on the other side of the red bridge.

They could hear the waves crashing against the rocks below the cliff and the wind sped up, flying against their faces. Mist was swirling around their heads like a whirlwind.

"Anyone feeling de ja vu right now?" Thor said. It was the middle of the day for them right now, but Caroline was still able to see every detail of the night when they arrived there a month before.

"It doesn't look nearly as strange as it did," Eve noted. Their feet slapped against the hard-packed dirt as they made their way over to the high cliff.

Caroline shuddered at the memories and nightmares came running back into her mind. Ash betraying her, the pools of blood—it was too much to take in.

She searched for a nearby bench to rest on while she sorted through her thoughts. Her friends were saying something outside her blurry field of view, but she didn't care. She was wrapped up in a swarm of memories. Time seemed to slow down as she sat. Caroline could tell that people came down and sat beside her. After the swarm had cleared, she looked up and saw that the sky had turned a pink color.

"They should be here by now," Thor growled. Caroline did agree with him on that. It had been mid-day when they got there. It was now twilight.

"Well, it has been a month, maybe they left," Kyreen said, her eyes growing wet. Caroline understood her, and all of them. This was their last chance. If they weren't rescued tonight, the probability of going back to the Lost Cities was slim to none. They would be stuck here forever.

Christian waved his hand in front of them. "No guys. We're not leaving; we are staying right here on this horrible cliff. Our parents would not give up on us after a measly month."

Amelia found a nice spot to build a fire for them. They sat in a circle, toasting brats as they did on one of their first nights in the forbidden cities. Fog enveloped them, but the fire kept  them in a bubble of heat—protected from the cruel world outside.

"They will come," Christian said softly.

Soon after their small dinner, they laid their heads on the cold ground to try to get some sleep. Caroline was doubtful that she'd get any until she felt her thoughts slow down and her eyes grew heavy. The red dreams swirled in her brain, taunting her to wake but she would not let herself go so quickly. Her eyes remain closed until outside light flooded her corneas.

"Caroline! They're here!"