The Queen is Dead

Chapter 1: The New World: Elizabeth

"Wake up Elizabeth, we are almost there," my mother said with gentle enthusiasm. I slowly began to force my heavy eyes open. I checked my smart watch- it was almost 5:15pm. I realized I had been asleep for almost three hours. I admit, no matter how many times I would travel from California to Vloboll , an island I had been to as long as I can remember, I never got used to the twelve hour flight.

I would be restless most of the night beforehand and have a headache in the early morning. My mother would often tell me I was just nervous with an excitement blazing in my unconscious mind. I would laugh at this theory she had told me but in reality she was right, I was always nervous before a flight and admittedly I would cope with my crippling anxiety caused by the thought of planes.

Although I been on planes frequently and there were only 1 in 29.4 million crashes, my aunt had been a part of the low statistic. Though she did survive with minor cuts and bruises, there were others not so lucky. My aunt could have been one of them- I could have been one of them. It took a long time for logic to ensue within me that we had been on plenty flights and nothing bad happened and that we were well prepared for a possible danger. But to this day, though the tragic plane flight my aunt had been on had happened 6 years ago, I still managed to get chills.

I turned to look at mother, trying to blink away the feeling of being tired. My mother chuckled as she caught me blinking. "Well hello there sleepy head," she said with a smile. I returned her gleaming beam though I was sure my smile wasn't as bright as hers.

My mother had a natural glow, the glow of kindness I called it. You could look at her from a mile away and feel the happiness radiate off of her. She was always positive and she never let a negative comment influence her. I admired my mother but I also envied her. I wish I could be more like her, carefree and happy but in a sense I was glad I wasn't like her. It was as if she lived in a fantasy world where everything was full of rainbows; it was hard to talk to her about the real world.

My father glanced over and smirked before his neutral expression returned to his bearded face. "I am surprised you heard your mother. You usually sleep like a rock on steroids," he said playfully. I let a snicker escape me, he was right.

Ever since I was a child, I would have to be shaken awake or I would only awake at the sound of my loud, beeping alarm clock. My parents often found that fascinating about me. However, lately I wasn't sleeping good at all. I would wake up with my heart beating out of my chest. Continuous nightmares would plague me but the theme would remain consistent, I was always running.

"What is the approximate time we get off the flight?" I asked as I quickly scanned the plane. I did that quite often, scanning the area. Most people would call me paranoid but I particularly would call myself observant.

I always made sure the area was clear of danger and I would examine everything I could see; the people, the objects in the room, the proximity of the nearest exit and nearest thing I could turn into a weapon if things got messy. In this world, you could never be too careful and I always tried to come up with a plan.

"Five minutes," my father said incredulously, "I am sure though it is going to feel like another hour." He huffed. I nodded at this and I could practically feel my skin crawl. I knew exactly how he felt. Though my dad wasn't afraid of planes, if he was inside a small space for a long period of time he would get very anxious and annoyed. He has always been a man that strives for the great outdoors and the science of the nature which is one of the reasons we are going to Vloboll. My father is a world renowned scientist having discovered numerous plant cells that have been extracted and improved medicine. His biggest project is the one we are headed to Vloboll for; he is on the hunt to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease.