Dancing with Shadows ✔

Unwelcome Homecoming

Dancing with Shadows

Chapter 13

A continuous beeping woke Emma from her slumber. She opened her eyes, expecting to see an open field, but instead found herself staring at a white ceiling. Turning her head, she located the source of the noise: a heart monitor. Panic began to set in.

Where am I? Did they find me? How did I get here?

Questions swirled in her mind, causing the heart monitor to beep faster. The rising alarm didn't help her situation. She pushed herself into a sitting position, violently swinging her head from left to right as she scanned the room, trying to take in her surroundings.

While she was still staring at everything and anything, the door suddenly slammed open. There, standing in the doorway, was her family. Tears welled up in her eyes; she was home. Did that mean everything had been a dream? Her dad had a shocked expression on his face while her mom was crying. Unfortunately, her brothers were nowhere to be seen.

"Mom, Dad," she croaked, barely recognizing her own voice.

"Honey, here, have some water," her mom said, offering her a cup. Emma hadn't even noticed it in her hands until it was offered. She drank greedily, almost choking in the process.

"Be careful!" her mom said, giving her gentle pats on the back. Emma rested back on the bed to relax, but her parents' concerned looks were unnerving.

"So what happened that I'm in the hospital?" Emma asked, curious about how she had gotten back home.

"What do you mean what happened? Emma, you were missing for four weeks...we thought we lost you," her mom replied, starting to cry again.

"Missing?" Emma echoed. So they did miss me. Wait, did she say four weeks? But I thought I was gone for months!

"Yeah, you went into the woods to practice and never returned. I was so angry and scared. We searched for you before calling the authorities. It was like you just disappeared," her dad said sadly.

"We were the last to see you and couldn't help the police. We all felt horrible for not going with you," her mom added, tears streaming down her face.

"After the two weeks, I was beginning to think that a wild animal attacked you," her dad said, kissing her forehead. Her mom gently grabbed her hand.

"I was so scared, Emma. Never do that again," her mom pleaded, pushing Emma's hair behind her ear.

"Who took you?" her dad asked, his glare intense.

"Someone took me?" Emma was confused. "Did you run away then?"

"What? No!"

"Then what happened?" Her dad's questioning made her nervous.

"I-I'm not sure," she stammered. If she told her parents she had been in another world, they wouldn't believe her. She decided to keep that part a secret. They sat there at the end of the bed, staring at her.

"So where are my idiotic brothers?" Emma asked jokingly, trying to ease the tension in the room. Thankfully, her father smiled.

"They went to get something to eat," he laughed. When her brothers arrived, everything seemed perfect, except for the fact that she was in the hospital. It felt like everything that happened with Declan and the royal kingdom was just a dream. Emma and her family talked for an hour, and for the first time after all the pain, she felt happy.

While her brothers Matthew, Jonathan, and Nick were making corny jokes, Emma took the time to study her appearance. She was in ugly hospital clothing, her leg and arm were both in a cast, and her skin was pale. She didn't want to know how her head and face looked. She hoped her "dream" with Declan wasn't real and that she got her injuries from something different, but deep down she knew everything that happened was real. Just then, in the middle of her thoughts, the doctor walked in.