What Lies Beyond

Chapter 10

My eyes flutter open. My head feels like I am trying to balance over 100 books on my head at once.

"She's awake." Trolella says.

"Do you want me to get your knife collection?" Trobella's mother asks.

I stare at Trobella, paralyzed by what her mother had just asked.

"She has a knife collection?!" I think to myself.

I look at Matthew, who has dark, black circles under his eyes. It makes him look like he's been awake for hours. He probably has. I just woke up, but I think I look so disheveled, anyone could mistake me for a shaggy dog. I feel like I will die in a matter of minutes. This is probably my last day to live. And I know it is. In life, I thought I would have gone to college at Duke, gone to medical school at Harvard, and become a doctor at M.D. Anderson Medical Center, get married, have two children, and the when I'm a grandma, living in a nursing home with Autumn, together and happily.... Now.... I honestly don't know what will happen. I don't know if I will live for one more minute.... One more day.... One more month.... Probably not one more year.... I hope I live one more day. If I don't die, it might be Matthew. It might be Autumn. Or Froggy, or Alex, or Red. If Rapunzel dies, it would be even worse.

But, I know someone is going to die. I just know it. It's an instinct that I have, after many years of being the shadow of Blake and Joseph. Autumn and I were always studious as kids. We still are. We would quiz each other on what we learned during the day. Blake and Joseph were always the ones to cut class, to fail tests... Well not Joseph. Joseph always lived in the shadows of Blake, too. Blake was always the daring one. I am daring, too, but I never bragged about it. Joseph tried his best to blend in with Blake.

He got asked, "Joseph, why is Blake so brave. You're a coward."

Whenever our family sits at the dinner table... It's all about Blake. Joseph's name is sometimes mentioned, then Autumn's if she crashed a car or something.

Trobella's mother came into the room, interrupting my ongoing, never-stopping, trail of endless thoughts. I believe that I am about to die, based on my whole life's memories, crashing before my eyes.

"Which knife would you like?" Trobella's mother asks Trobella, holding up a box, the size of a house.

"My favorite one." Trobella replies.

"Yes, darling." Trobella's mother mumbles.

Trobella's mother hands Trobella a gold knife, with a large blade. The knife looked like it weighed one hundred pounds or more.

"Beware." Matthew mumbles.

"Did I just hear a peep from your mouth, Little Bo Peep's son?" Trobella asked, pretending to be sympathetic.

I look a Matthew, who has an ominous expression on his face. I hope he won't die. I just won't let him die. If he tries to kill himself, it's his choice, not mine. I just hope he won't die. I look at Trobella, who looks at Matthew like he's her newest and most delicious snack
.
"Keep your hands off him!" I yell, unaware of what just slipped out of my mouth.

Trobella turns around, so does Matthew.

"No." Matthew mouths to me.

I shake my head briskly, before Trobella could notice we were communicating.

"Another peep that comes out of your mouth, Summer." Trobella mumbled, "And you're dead. Understand me?"

I nod quietly. Matthew looks a me sympathetically. My eyes were suddenly attached to his. What is happening to me? It's like I'm a freak. I know I'm not. I just know it. I suddenly feel attracted to Matthew.....

"Summer. Snap out of it." I think to myself.

Matthew's bright green eyes mixed with his flawless round jawline.

"Summer!" I think to myself, "Snap out of it!"

I hope I can. I'm not that desperate.... I hope not. We have to escape. If it doesn't happen now, it will happen soon. Trobella leaves the room. She leaves her knife right beside the prison cell. That's not smart. I reach under the bars and grab the knife.

"Summer, what are you doing?" Matthew asks.

"Getting ready for our epic escape." I reply, my eyebrows raised with a smile on my face.

"Pass me the knife." Matthew demands.

I toss the golden beauty to him.

"Would you really throw a deadly object around like a toy?" He asks.

I just shrug. He digs the knife into the window near his cell.

"What about me?" I ask.

"Coming, Summer. You really think I would forget you?" Matthew asks.

I laugh and shrug at the same time.

"We have to be quiet." Mathew whispers. I nod.

He cuts a hole in between our cells, by sliding the knife carefully, like it was his child. I climb through the hole.

"Dirty kids!" Trobella yells like she's drunk.

I hear glass, loudly shattering into minute pieces on the cold, hard ground. Matthew nods in my direction. I nod in reply. Matthew and I scurry out the window as fast as humanly possible. I climb first, then him. When he climbs out, the glass shatters so loudly. Matthew's body collapses next to a tree right out of the dwarf prison. I bend down. I hear his heavy breathing. Oh good. I thought he died. He could die any minute now. Anything is possible. If he dies, then how am I supposed to live? I carry Matthew's body over my left shoulder and run, far away from the prison. Will I ever be arrested again? I hope not.

"Will Matthew die?" I think to myself.

"I hope not." Is my only answer.

"Will I die?" I think, "Well, I know I will, sooner or later. It's just a matter of when. Not a what. Probably a how as well."

So many questions. Only one matters. Two actually.

The first one is, "Will Matthew die?"

The next one is "Will we ever be caught doing this?"

My only answer is, "I hope not."

I feel hopeless, but I also feel infinite at the same time. I feel infinite, the way I'm briskly sprinting through the woods, with Matthew's body draped over my left shoulder. I sprint through the dwarf forests. I want to be a human, despite my fairy heritage. I want to go back, and be with my family, but at the same time, I want to stay with my friends. What will happen to Alex, and Red, and Rapunzel? How could I forget Matthew and the giant frog? I know I always wanted to relive a fairytale, a fairytale of my own. I dreamed of a prince saving me from dying. Now it's like me, saving a prince. Except Matthew's not a prince. And our kiss hasn't happened yet and I know it will never happen. I keep running through the forests, my eyes focused on the journey, and Matthew to see if he was alright. I sprint even faster, making sure to keep my eyes you open, no matter how tired I am. I have to escape. For me. For Matthew. For Autumn.