The Forgotten Few

Chapter Sixteen

Devon lay on the ground, his breaths short, and every one spent carefully

~

I woke up with a gasp. I was having visions again, or was I? I sat up so fast I almost hit my head on the crib next to me. Wait, crib? I looked around.

The room was a beautiful gray color, with white bead board lining the bottom of the wall. On one side, the letters M A Y L E N were spelled on the wall.

I walked over to the wall with a dresser, and I touched it. When I lifted my hand, it was covered in a light layer of dust. When I observed the room closer, everything was covered in dust.

This was my room before I was ripped from my family by that boy. Well, he wasn't a boy, really. More like a lost soul, trapped, trying to get out. But he gave up years ago.

That moment, Emma walked in, carrying a lump of clothes.

"Here," she said, "I thought you might want these." She put the pile on the air mattress I had slept on.

"Where did you get these?" I asked.

She sighed, "Well, I kept the clothes I liked, instead of handing them down to younger kids, when I was young and living in the foster homes," she started picking through the clothes, spreading them out, "I was about your age."

I looked through the spread. There were ripped jeans, gray tank-tops, and other items, "These are so neat!"

She smiled, "Of course, we can always go out and buy new clothes."

"No," I told her, and gestured to the clothes, "these are perfect!"

Killian walked in and too us he was going to make pancakes, and my mom walked out so I could get dressed.

Out of the pile, I picked out a pair of short and a green t-shirt that was a little too big for me. I also worry the same tennis shoes from my foster home back in New York.

As I was brushing out my hair, I started to smell smoke, so I rushed out into the kitchen.

I found Killian hastily trying to take burnt black pancakes off the skillet.

He turned around and looked at me, while Emma was at the kitchen table, laughing.

"Granny's, anyone?" He laughed.

We cleaned up the kitchen and walked out the door to go get breakfast at Granny's.

The crisp air was chillier than in New York for sure, but my parents didn't seem to mind.

We walked past the docks, and I felt an urge to leave my mom and dad and go watch the sea, but I decided I would go after breakfast.

When we got into Granny's, everyone else was there, too. Robin, Regina, and Charlotte were all sitting at one booth,  while Neal, Micah, and Claire were at another.

"Granny's must be the place to be after recovering from a curse," I too my parents, and we sat at a table in between both Neal and Charlotte's booth. They both seemed to be looking at each other.

I ordered pancakes, while my mom did the same with a side of hot cocoa and cinnamon, while my dad ordered eggs and sausage.

After we had eaten, Regina and Robin took a table and chairs from the middle of the room and pulled then up next to ours, and Neal, Charlotte, Micah and Claire did the same.

Emma looked to My friends and I, "About what you said earlier, Maylen, about the curse being broken. Well, it isn't."

"We know that," I told her.

"Well," Regina butted in, "about this well and the portal, maybe we should-"

"We can't possibly go back there!" Killian interrupted.

Emma slapped Killian, "Killian! My parents are there! We have to save them, but I don't know if going through the portal is going to help."

There was a long silence. I had only known Charlotte and Claire for a few days, but we were becoming very good friends.

I looked to them, into each of their eyes. I knew what I had to say.

"No," everyone looked to me, " we have to go. It doesn't matter if we age, what matters is family, our family."

I looked around. My friends nodded to me, so I kept going, "No matter what, family isn't always the people in life who have blood relations," I looked to Regina, Robin​, and Charlotte, "it's about the people in your life who want you to be in theirs," I looked to Neal and Charlotte.

"It's about the people in your life who accept you for who you really are, and support you in the things you do, no matter what," I looked to Micah and Claire, "They're the people who you can count on to be there for you, when ever you need it," I looked to my mom and dad, "That's what family is."

After that, there was another silence.

"She's right," Neal stood up, "I'll sacrifice myself for family if it means getting my parents home safely!"

"Me too," and Micah stood up, and Charlotte and Claire followed.

"If it means finding my parents, I'm in," said Claire.

"Well, I guess it's official," Robin sighed, "we are going back to the Enchanted Forest."

As the group exited Granny's, Emma and Killian and I walked back home. As we passed the docks, I told them I wanted to be alone for a minute.

We agreed I be back at the house in twenty minutes, and then they left.

I sat on the bench, facing the sea. The small waves slightly rocked the boats in the docks. My father's boat, the Jolly Roger, was not among them.

The ocean breeze flowed through my hair, and it calmed me.

Then, instead of appearing out of nowhere, he walked up to me.

"Hey," he said.

I know I shouldn't trust him. I was even more angry at him than I realized, and the words came out of my mouth, "I don't want to talk to you."

"But I want to talk to you."

"Why should I trust you? You separated me from my family for fourteen years!"

"It wasn't my fault you didn't figure it out earlier," he mumbled under his breath.

"Hey!" I got up to walk away, but he tried to sit me down.

"I want to talk," he starred at me, "I'm not who you think I am. I've changed,"

I got up and walked away, but he was still talking to me.

"I've changed," he could slightly hear his voice.

I walked into my house, and Emma was asleep on the couch. A nap does sound good. I lied down on the air mattress and fell asleep, thinking about what Devon had said.

I've changed.

Not yet.